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1.1.1 FNS

There are so many fantastic and delightful, enchanting experiences that can be had, as well as those experiences which are most unpleasant. In the delightful realm of experience, there is both that which is bright and glamorous, and that which is agonizing. Both of these potentialities are within the realm of human experience, and both of these types of experiences are very likely to happen in the life of each and every human being. So in life you may find there are times when great joy and happiness comes to you, when all of your desires have been fullfilled, when you feel you ride atop of the crest of the wave, delighted with yourself and all that you have. And there are times when you may feel that all have turned against you, that all that you have loved you have lost, and that sorrow is upon you. Both of these experiences may happen in the life of a person. And so in life a person may be drawn to the heights and plummeted to the depths of dispair.

In this contrast of experience, what is there that has continuity? What is there that is lasting amid the oscillation of human experience - the oscillations that are likely to take place in the lives of each and every person? What is there that is continuous through all of these highs and lows? What reamins the same? When you are very high, and all of the delights of life have come to you, what is there that is in you, that will be in you, when you have lost everything? For in the very experience of the crest of the wave is the fall of that wave. For as the wave rises and crests, it is naturally pulled down again. And when it reaches the depth, the momentum will pull it back up. So within the depths of despair and loss is the very momentum for the rise to happiness, and within the very peak of happiness lies the downfall of sorrow. One lies within the other. That which is joyous and fulfilling is followed by that which is empty and hollow; that which is empty and hollow will by its own momentum become fulfilled. And so it goes, on and on.

But amid all of these oscillations, there is one thing that does not change, and that is you, the one who experiences the high and experiences the low, the one who is the witness of great happiness and joy and who is the witness of pain and sorrow, the one to whom each of these experiences occurs, the one who is born and the one who dies. That one who is the experiencer of all of the highs and lows of life, that one is your own self, the witnessing entity - not the one who says, "I am the owner of such and such; I am the doer of so and so; I am the great this or that," not the one who identifies with external activities and accomplishments and achievements. For that one will be in the high, be in the low, and will rise and fall. But the one who witnesses all of this activity, the one who is the experiencer of life, the witness of the experience of life, that person to whom happiness comes and to whom sorrow comes, that witness, that self is the thread of continuity through all of the highs and lows of your human existence.

It is that one on whom you may rely. For if you identify yourself with that witness, that one who has continuity through all manner of experience, rather than with the experience itself, you will find that you have a certain power over your life, a certain capacity to go through life without being so devastated by the fall, or without losing yourself altogether in happiness. You will be able to maintain a sense of your own self, of your own identity once you have come to know this self who is the witness of your life.

This witnessing self is a great being. Do you know why? The witnessing entity is a great being because this witnessing entity has greater percentage of conscious awareness. This being is simply not caught up in the liila, in the dance of human existence, in the pain and in the joy. This witnessing entity has self-awareness, self-reflection. There is a higher percentage of consciousness in this witnessing entity. This entity is self-aware. And if you activtate this consciousness, if you draw your attention, your conscious attention to the witnessing entity, if you become that witness of all that you experience, the one who is the knower of your existence, then you will find that you are in a neutral position, not swept away with the heights, not plummeted to dispair. You maintian your autonomy in your own self, and in that automoy you become free, free of the bondages of attachments.

The more you maintain autonomy in the self, the less there is the idenification with external experience. You become simply the witness of what is done, what occurs. It is a great dance, a great panorama that is being played about you, and you are watching the panorama of your life. Your actions, you begin to realize, are not yours at all, for the very strength that you have is in your body because the Divine has put it there. The very body that you inhabit is not yours. It has been given to you to utilize in this life, and the great dance around you, the great drama that is being played is the dance of the Divine in creation. You are the delightful witness; you are the audience to the great drama which is being portrayed in this very life of yours. You are an appreciator of the art which has been acted out in your life, both the scenes of sorrow and tragedy and the scenes of joy and happiness. For each lends to the finess of the presentation. And you are not longer caught in the play, unable to separate yourself.

Having become aware of your own self as the one who has continuity, as the witness of the drama, you may then may then be in a place of self-reflection, and you may reflect upon the drama that is being played out. Utilizing your clear intellect, untainted by the highs and lows of the drama itself, you may see that all of this delightful play has been orchestrated by the greatest dramatist of all time - the Supreme Being painting in the colorful play of creation the drama of your existence. As the witnessing entity of this existence, you come to see his artwork in your life.

[rest of discourse lost on the tape]