From Chapter Two: The Challenges of Earth Life

Section Two: Illusions

(8 of 28) I hope this will be a helpful perspective. As you shake off the illusions of the world, smile to yourself that they have seemed so real that you have allowed yourself almost to believe them, and then return comfortably to your true identity as a child of God.

Jack Armstrong © 2010

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From Chapter Two: The Challenges of Earth Life

Section Two: Illusions

(7 of 28) This is an appropriate way to view your time on earth. You are attending a fantastic magic show—a demonstration of illusions that seem so real you can’t explain them—yet you know and understand and fully accept that they are illusions, and you enjoy them and then return to your true “reality.”

Jack Armstrong © 2010

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But once I finally gave in and decided to listen to the persistent inner urgings to share the writings with others, the response was surprisingly supportive and encouraging, and folks still always seem to have lots of questions to ask.

Frequently (and surprisingly to me), one of the first things people want to know is when and where it all began.  I think that, if I were in their shoes, I probably would be inclined to jump in with questions about what the process was like, how I knew it wasn’t just my imagination, what people were going to think when I told them about it, etc.

Maybe asking about the where and when is a polite way to get a conversation started without wanting to seem skeptical, but it is a common question, so I’ll take a minute here to tell you.

I’ve always tried to put dates on the things I’ve written, and the first dated writing I could find was from December, 1978.  While there was no dramatic, sky-opening/lightning-flashing moment that stuck in my mind, I am virtually certain that my first experience with this kind of writing happened at the Self Realization Fellowship’s Lake Shrine in Los Angeles.

If you haven’t been to the Lake Shrine, I would encourage you to visit if you have a chance.  It’s a peaceful, beautiful setting where Paramahansa Yogananda lived during his final years, and it’s a very comfortable place for meditation and contemplation.

My family was living in Washington, DC at that time, but our extended family was in California, and we were visiting them during the holidays, and I always made time to go to the Lake Shrine when I was in Southern California.

For some reason, I decided to take a pen and a pad of paper with me during that visit, and I soon found myself writing down thoughts.  The first sentences written during that very first experience were:

“What is it you are seeking?  You must define the limits of your desires before they can be realized.  Live to manifest joy and happiness.”

Most of the rest of the communication either had to do with specific personal issues I was facing or was intended to convince me that what was happening was real.  But there were several other snippets that still stand out, and they all relate to joy:

“You are in the midst of a joyous manifestation.  You will grow through expressing joy and opening your channels to the truth.”

“Express love, be happy, enjoy your family, have faith, be patient, know that you are in the midst of the stream of life.”

“Enjoyment is the key, and it is so easy.  It is a natural life process, but you sometimes make it so difficult.”

I’ve had lots of other experiences writing at the Lake Shrine over the years, as I have in other beautiful outdoor settings.  For some reason, the words always seem to flow more freely when I am out in nature.   If you are exploring with this kind of communication, you might want to see if that proves to be the case with you, too.

From Chapter Two: The Challenges of Earth Life

Section Two: Illusions

(6 of 28) Yet, through it all (the magician’s performance), there is an overriding understanding that these are simply illusions, and the audience has fun enjoying them. Being there and experiencing them is a diversion. They laugh and applaud and shake their heads in wonder and gladly pay money to enjoy the spectacle.

Jack Armstrong © 2010

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From Chapter Two: The Challenges of Earth Life

Section Two: Illusions

(5 of 28) Persons who are grounded only in human consciousness see a magician perform and are very impressed by what seems to be the astonishing reality of what he is doing. Yet, they know and understand all during the performance that they are witnessing illusions—that, even though what they are seeing seems absolutely real, they are close to allowing the magician to convince them that his illusions are reality.

Jack Armstrong © 2010

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My life’s journey has been a wonderful adventure, and I’ve been richly blessed by people, experiences and opportunities I never would have imagined.  Then, a few years ago, my adventure took off in an entirely new direction.

I have no idea why I was the person chosen to receive the teachings in Lessons from the Source.  In fact, for many years I had no frame of reference for channeling, and consequently no idea what was happening to me, and I was afraid to let anyone outside of my family know anything about it.

But the same voice that speaks to us through the teachings in the book had made it clear for a very long time that these lessons were not intended strictly for my own personal use.  There was no doubt that I was supposed to share them with others who would find them helpful ― but I resisted fiercely.

My decision finally to “come out of the closet” and admit to the world that I had been writing lessons about spirituality that came from somewhere other than my own conscious mind changed all the ground rules and made my life even more fun and exciting ― and unpredictable! ― than ever.

We’ll talk later about what the experience of receiving that information is like (and it’s important that you know about it), but for now I want to let you know about the part of my journey that brought me kicking and screaming into the world of blogging.

I’ve been a student on the spiritual path for most of my life, and I understand and can explain to people pretty well the spiritual teachings presented in the book.  But I still struggle with them and am a long way from mastering them, and I wasn’t willing to present myself as some sort of spiritual guru ― because I certainly am not one.

So three years ago, when I finally was able to surrender to the Universe’s persistent nudging and agree to share the writings, I decided it would be best to keep myself out of the picture and simply allow the book to speak for itself.

But I’ve found out that book marketing doesn’t work that way.

Deciding in my mid-60s to take on an entirely new venture that I knew next to nothing about offered a unique set of challenges ― especially when I was doing it with little or no budget.  So I’ve been learning by the seat of my pants.

Until last spring, I had never paid much attention to social media and had almost no interest in things like Facebook or Twitter.  In fact, the whole thing seemed like a pretty silly exercise.  But folks kept encouraging me to get involved because it would offer an inexpensive way to get the word out about the book and potentially could reach millions of people.

So, in spite of a generational/technology gap that means it takes me quite a while to master what for most of you are fairly intuitive steps, I took the leap of faith, and the experience has been more fun and energizing than I ever expected.

But the real blessing has been the remarkable community of people I’ve met online.  Your friendship, love, support and encouragement mean more than I will ever be able tell you.

Well, I assumed that, once I was got involved, it would be easy to develop interest in the book just by sharing some quotes and excerpts (again, keeping a low profile for myself and allowing the book to speak for itself) ― and then waiting for the masses to inundate Amazon with demand for it.

But that didn’t happen.

Your response to the snippets you’ve read from the book has been very gratifying.  But it became clear that the quotes alone were not sufficient to motivate many people to get a copy of the book for themselves ― and I began asking why.

The answer I got most frequently was: “People want to know more about you.  You may not be a guru with the answers to all of their questions, but you’re the guy the Universe chose to give the lessons to, and they want to feel like they know who you are and what makes you tick.  Like it or not, you are the personification of the book.”

It’s taken a while, but I’ve gotten to the point of understanding and accepting that and being ready to take on a more visible role.  Many of you have told me how powerful and important the book has been for you and how profoundly it has touched your lives, and I’m going to do whatever I can ― for as long as I can ― to help get the word out about it to as many other folks as possible who also might benefit from it.

So that’s the long story of why I finally decided to start a blog.  It seems to me that, if you really do want to know me better, this is one way I can help make that happen.  I’ll share my experiences, joys, doubts and observations with you, offer my thoughts on certain topics (while making it clear that they are only my opinion – not some message delivered directly from the Source), and probably will let you read some of the voluminous pages of other writings that have come through me over the years that didn’t make it into the book.

Well, you’ve just read my first blog post, and it feels good to have it done.  I’m hoping the rest won’t be anywhere near this long.  Many blessings.

From Chapter Two: The Challenges of Earth Life

Section Two: Illusions

(4 of 28) Your view of a magician’s tricks is an appropriate analogy. If you compare your existence in the physical world and your understanding of it in your conscious mind to your true identity in the universe and your new acceptance and understanding of it, then think of a magician’s stage performance as your earth life as seen from your elevated consciousness.

Jack Armstrong © 2010

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From Chapter Two: The Challenges of Earth Life

Section Two: Illusions

(3 of 28) See it (your earth life) as such in the context of your true identity and it will be much easier for you to reject the temptation to latch onto the illusions of the world and give them power over you.

Jack Armstrong © 2010

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From Chapter Two: The Challenges of Earth Life

Section Two: Illusions

(2 of 28)  Enjoy this adventure in the physical world. It is a gift to enjoy—not a struggle to endure. If you can center your consciousness in the truth of your being—in your true reality/identity—you can then see your earth life for what it is. It is an enjoyable diversion, a lesson in truth, a challenge for future growth.

Jack Armstrong © 2010

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From Chapter Two: The Challenges of Earth Life

Section Two: Illusions

(1 of 28) The disorder that you and every other human experience to one extent or another as part of this life is a false reality. It is created by the conscious mind when it is out of touch with its true essence. These experiences, which cause fear, anger, worry, mistrust, uncertainty, feelings of lack or inadequacy, etc., are only illusions. They are smokescreens that keep you from seeing and experiencing your good.

Jack Armstrong © 2010

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