The Book
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What it's about
In January 2018 I had four revelations over a few days. They answered, for me, what God is, what we are, and what we are here for. The rest of the book is about living that out: why our instincts for sex and financial security make us selfish without our noticing, why unconditional giving and forgiveness are the way through, and what changed in my own life when I started practicing them.
The chapter list below is the best short summary of the book there is. Each heading is a section you can read in a few minutes.
Contents
- Revelations
- Revelation 1: I Am
- Revelation 2: The One Became the Many
- Revelation 3: Everything Is Yours, Not Just Some of It
- Revelation 4: The Download
- Beliefs
- Our Beliefs Create Our Reality
- If You Believe Something, Does That Make It Real?
- Knowledge Comes from Opinions, Facts, and Personal Experiences
- Making Decisions and Judgments Based on Very Limited Information and Experience
- What Is Truth?
- Faith Is Trust
- Explaining God
- A Light Bulb Analogy
- Consciousness Versus Conscience
- Projecting Our Human Perspective onto Our Definitions of “God”
- The Illusion of Separation Hides the Fact That We Are One
- Ignore Logic to Proceed
- Faith Is Always Required Because Awakenings Become Memories
- Ignorance Causes Conflict
- I Am
- Truth—You Know It When You Hear It
- God Is…
- Stop Ignoring the Suffering on Earth
- Free Will Has Consequences
- Our Painful Experiences Can Be Used to Help Others Later
- Needs — Instinctual Drives
- Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
- Needs = Instinctual Drives
- Our Needs for Sex and Financial Security (Money) Are the Primary Drivers Behind Our Selfishness
- Life Is Stressful When Physiological Needs Are Not Met or Are Threatened
- How Much Money Is Enough?
- Finding a Balance Between Saving and Hoarding
- Asking Others for Money
- Inheritance Can Be a Curse
- Can Money Buy Love?
- If You Could Be Granted Any Wish, What Would It Be?
- Lottery Winners
- Happiness Is in the Future Once I Get…
- Happiness Is Not a Choice
- I’ll Be Happy When I Get More…
- Instant Gratification Versus Delayed Gratification
- Instincts: Sex, Sex, and More Sex…
- Human Partnership Is Usually a Conditional Trade for Sex and Financial Security
- Nature Is Balanced
- The Perfect Circle of Giving and Receiving in Nature
- What We Give Is What We Get
- Life Is a Boomerang
- Drug Dealers Say, “Someone Has to Supply the Demand”
- What I Dish Out Comes Back
- If You Give Insults, You Will Receive Insults
- Do You Get Away with Stealing If Nobody Sees It?
- The Results of Making Money by Benefiting Others Versus by Harming Others
- Unconditional Giving
- Feelings from Unconditional Giving
- Spiritual Awakenings Result from the Action of Unconditional Giving to Others Over Time
- Continued Giving Is Required to Maintain a Spiritual Awakening
- Are Poor People the “Happiest”?
- Happiness Is Only Real When It Is Shared
- Self-Focus Is the Problem—Other-Focus Is the Solution
- Unconditional Giving Is Sometimes Inconvenient
- Helping a Stranger Who Asks
- Helping Those Who Don’t Give in Return
- HALT!
- Keep Giving Consistently, Regardless of Your Circumstances
- Say “Yes” to Giving Opportunities
- “I Will Help, But Only If I Get Something Out of It”
- Are All Your Interactions with People Conditional?
- Setting Limits on Giving
- Giving Money
- Delaying an Answer to a Financial Request
- Drug Addiction Increases Selfishness
- Sometimes Not Helping Others Financially Helps Them
- Trust
- We Trust Givers
- When Losing Trust in Others Is “Wising Up”
- Healing Takes Time and Patience
- Trusting That Unconditional Giving Is Possible Allows Others to Practice It
- Do Not Convert Unconditional Giving to Conditional Giving
- Relationships
- “I Can’t Love You Until I Love Myself”
- Stress Is the Test for Every Relationship
- The Current Trend Is to Make No Commitments
- Communicating Your Needs
- Saying “I Love You”
- Real Love Is the Most Valuable Thing in Life
- What Are You Teaching Others?
- We Are Always Teaching Each Other by Example
- Reacting to Anger
- Who Are Your Heroes and Why?
- Givers Are Our Favorites
- The Full Cycle of Human Life
- Attention Is the Most Important Thing I Can Give My Child
- Down Syndrome Teachers
- Dog and Cat Teachers
- Attractive Qualities
- Every Choice Matters
- Following My Heart, Not My Head
- Ideas for Giving
- The Most Valuable Thing I Can Give to Others Is My Attention
- Giving Compliments
- Text Others Meaningful Words from Your Heart
- Free Compliments—A Great Idea
- Smile Often
- It Feels Good to Give Others Opportunities to Give
- Always Having to “Get the Deal” Is Not Very Giving
- Traffic Provides Opportunities to Practice Giving
- Always Be Nice to People in Service Positions
- Listening to My Heart with a Homeless Couple
- Nothing Feels Better Than Giving to Others
- I Asked My Daughter, “Why Be a Giver?”
- Be Real
- Business Giving: Give with No Catch
- Exercise = Better Mood = Better Giver
- Forgiveness
- Forgiving Means Giving Before It Is Deserved or Earned
- Never Lend Money
- Asking for Forgiveness
- Forgiveness Is Always the Solution
- Thumbs-Up and Smile—I Forgive You for Being an Idiot
- It Takes Courage and Humility to Apologize When We Are Wrong
- Forgive Others When They Apologize for Being Wrong
- There Is No Defense Against Love
- The Solution to Racism Is Forgiveness
- Homosexuality Exists by Design—Live and Let Live
- What’s My Purpose in Life?
- Is Your Life’s Purpose Expressed in Your Occupation?
- Persistence Is Required to Complete Your Goals
- Clarity on Christianity
- Accounts of Jesus in the Bible Were Not Written Down Until Decades After His Death
- The Core Message of Christianity
- Christianity Has 30,000+ Versions, with Each Claiming Absolute Interpretation of the Truth
- Religion’s Rules, Traditions, and Rituals Were Not Part of Jesus’ Message
- My First Attempt at “Getting Saved” Was in a Trailer Church in Louisiana
- “Jesus, Save Me”—What Part Do I Play?
- What Is Hell?
- What Is Sin?
- Christianity’s Mainstream Interpretation of “Jesus Died for Our Sins”
- Grace, Karma, and Forgiveness of Sins
- Two Thousand Years Ago, Selfish Instinctual Drives Were Defined as the Devil
- In the Year 2000, I Learned the Truth About the “Devil”
- “Jesus Is the Only Way”
- Become Like Children Again—Return to Innocence
- The Core Message Is That “Simple” Works: Focus on One Thing and Do It Well
- Oxymoron: A Wealthy Spiritual Leader
- Despite Its Shortcomings, Christianity Gives Big
- Actions Speak Louder Than Words
- What Is God’s Will?
- Prayer
- A Method of Meditation I Find Easy to Do
- The Goal Is Progress, Not Perfection
- Death Is Not the End
- Our Ego Dies, Not Our Spirit
- Spiritual Death Does Not Exist
- The Illusion of Separation
- Fear Is Mostly Imagined
- What Really Matters at the End of This Human Life?
- My Life Experiences with Grief and Miracles
- My Experiences with Grief
- The Miracle Healing Story of My Dad’s Pancreatic Cancer
- My Dad Contacts Me in a Dream
- World Goals
- World Goal 1: Clean Drinking Water for Those Without It
- World Goal 2: Adopting Just One Homeless Person or Family
- Judging the Homeless in Five Seconds
- Four Categories of Homeless People
- World Goal 3: Getting Rid of Nuclear Weapons
- World Goal 4: Population Reduction
A chapter about Expert Giver Groups used to close the book. The groups now have their own site, where that material is kept current, so it has been taken out of the book. Why the two are kept separate.