16th April

Only six of us today to explore the most important questions we can ask about who we are and what this is. We outlined what was learnt about the Universe over the last 3 meetings the vastness of the stars and space taking a trip to the end of the universe with YouTube. We looked at the minute atom and its volume compared to the actual matter it is composed of. We tried to imagine what there should be - no space - no time - no consciousness but instead we are, we exist as part of existence. A way of seeing the wholeness of reality rather than the normal duality. We then watched a Jim Carrey short video about how everything is intended. Following that we explored the wisdom of Richard Carlson.

You Can Be Happy No Matter What
by Richard Carlson, Ph.D.
The Principle of Thought
1. Your thoughts, not your circumstances, determine how you feel. Blaming our unhappiness on our
circumstances makes us feel powerless over our lives.
2. We need not constantly be in conflict with those around us. You may have no control over what
another person does, but you can be immune to the negative effects of your thinking about that person.
3. It isn’t the circumstances, but our interpretation of them that determines our level of well being.
4. Because our thought systems are filled with our memories of the past (information we have
accumulated throughout our lifetimes), they encourage us to continue to see things in the same way.
5. If you understand the nature of thought systems, you can begin to see beyond them and sense the value
in other points of view. What we did interpret as criticism we can see merely as an opinion from
another person with his/her own thought system.
6. We can virtually eliminate unprofitable arguments in our lives and eliminate feeling resentful,
confused, or angry at others who don’t see things our way. When we understand the nature of thought
systems, we will not expect others to see things our way...........................