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    Conversations With God, Book 3: Embracing the Love of the Universe
    Conversations With God, Book 3: Embracing the Love of the Universe
    Conversations With God, Book 3: Embracing the Love of the Universe
    Ebook468 pages8 hours

    Conversations With God, Book 3: Embracing the Love of the Universe

    By Neale Donald Walsch

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    About this ebook

    Discover the answers to the questions of God, meaning, and existence.

    This is the final book of the original three-book Conversations with God series. The series deals with “universal truths of the highest order, and the challenges and opportunities of the soul.”

    In Book 3, the dialogue expands to include more about the nature of God, love and fear, who we are and who we may become, and the evolution of the human species that’s about to take place. This is an engaging and profound conversation about the culture, philosophy, and spirituality of highly evolved beings (some of whom we call “aliens,” or “ETs”) in other realms of the universe, and how they have learned to view life, love, and the pursuit of happiness. CWG3 is meant to inspire readers to look at their lives in new and fresh ways and to question everything. It encourages readers to embrace the mysteries of existence and to live each day with love and joy.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHampton Roads Publishing
    Release dateSep 1, 2020
    ISBN9781612834634
    Conversations With God, Book 3: Embracing the Love of the Universe
    Author

    Neale Donald Walsch

    Neale Donald Walsch devotes his time to sharing the messages of his books through writing, lecturing, and facilitating spiritual renewal retreats. The creator of the School of the New Spirituality and founder of The Group of 1000, a nonprofit organization supporting global spiritual awakening, he lives in Ashland, Oregon, and may be contacted through NealeDonaldWalsch.com.

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    Reviews for Conversations With God, Book 3

    4/5

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    • 1/5
      This book directly contradicts the Bible, and I was not very happy that I found it in the Christian section of the library. It worries me that people may follow what Walsch said, believing they are the words of God.
    • 5/5
      An amazing book! It was recommended by a friend, and so I thought I would read it to see if it would give me any new insights into the age-old questions about the purpose of life etc. I didn't really know what to expect, but it blew me away! It's a conversation between an ordinary man called Neale Donald Walsch (with a lot of problems in his life) and God (you may not accept that it's 'God' talking, but then that's up to you) and it's written in a very easy to read style. From the first page it had me riveted and I couldn't put it down. You learn about the importance of trusting your feelings, expressing appreciation, how all human feelings are rooted in either fear or love and that we have been taught to live in fear. As it says in the book 'precious little is said about the glory of the most loving', but an awful lot is said in our society about being 'better', 'stronger' and 'cleverer' than others. Fear motivates us to be this, because we don't want to be considered failures. All the big questions are answered: why are we here? Why is there evil in the world? Is there sin? Is there a hell? If so, what is it? Why do things happen as they do? What happens when you die? How can I have successful relationships? Is having a lot of money a bad thing? And inbetween times there's also humour, because we're told that God has a great sense of humour! So many of my questions were answered in a totally new way (going to church or reading the Bible had never given me answers like these) and not only did they make sense to me, they were also liberating! If you're remotely curious about any of the above questions, then I would encourage you to read this book and decide for yourself whether the answers are for you or not.
    • 5/5
      I read this marvellous book in Danish which made it a bit difficult for me to get an overview of it when writing this review.The book, and the whole Conversations with God series, is filled with wisdom, so that there was no doubt in my mind that it was dictated by “God”, or at least came from a high, high source.One day in 1992 when Neale Donald Walsch was going through a difficult period, he decided to write a letter to God containing a lot of angry questions about his life. Great was his surprise when suddenly his pen began to move by itself and he started getting answers from God, Later he said he heard an inner voice dictating it.Thus began this illuminating work.God told Neale that he talks to everyone constantly, but not everyone listens.Feelings/emotions are the language of the soul.As a means of communication, God uses both emotions, thought and images from experiences. When these don’t work, He uses words.Your highest thoughts, clearest words and strongest feelings always come from God.The highest thought is the one containing joy. The clearest words are those containing truth. The strongest feeling is that which you call love.The most powerful messenger is experience, and this we generally ignore.God has given us free will and he never forces us to do anything.The first “shocking” statement God makes to Neale is that as regards the nature of God, the church fathers, theologians, rabbis, priests and the Bible are NOT authoritative sources. Ha, ha! I like this.God has no specific form, though he can assume any form he wishes.He reveals himself by means of our inner experiences (I will attest to that).He tells us that the correct form of prayer is never a begging prayer but a thankful prayer. (This is what the New Thought Church and the like have been telling us for years.)We should never beg but appreciate. We should have faith that God gives us everything we ask for.God is the observer, not the creator. He created us in his image. He does not interfere in how we live our lives.God doesn’t care what we do.We have created the mythological being we call the Devil.Life is not a school; we are here to remember who we are.God knew that in order for love to exist, the opposite, fear, had to exist too.God divided himself into all of us so as to experience Himself. Thus he gave us the same power to create as He Himself. We are made of the same substance and have the same qualities and abilities, including the ability to create physical reality out of nothing.God cannot experience Himself except through us. He has given us the ability to experience ourselves as Him.We are divine parts of the divine whole. Our work here on Earth is not to learn but to remember who we are.We do not become ill without it being at least in part our fault, and we can become well again in a moment just by deciding to become well. (Easier said than done!)God does nothing to stop negative events because He would then be taking away our free will. It is up to us to change things. There are no victims in the Universe, only creators. Every soul is a master.Pain is a result of wrong thoughts. A master can make the worst pain disappear. Pain stems from judgement of something. Remove the judgement and the pain will disappear.There is no “should” or “should not” in God’s world. Do what you want to do. But don’t judge or condemn, because you don’t know why something happens or what its purpose is. What you condemn condemns you, and what you judge you will become one day. And bless everything, for everything is created by God.Hell is to experience the worst conceivable outcome of what you choose, decide and create. Hell is the opposite of joy.God assures us that the (negative) experiences after death which we have constructed in our fear-based theology do not exist. (Though some of those who experience NDEs have temporarily experienced a “place” reminiscent of Hell – they can quickly move on to a better place, if they ask for help, for example.) It is ourselves who create the experience of Hell every time we separate ourselves from our own highest thoughts of ourselves.We are not punished by God but experience natural outcomes of our actions, What we experience as punishment or what we would call “evil” is nothing but a law of nature that comes into play. (I was thinking this just the other day in connection with someone I know having a bad experience.)There are no coincidences. All incidents and experiences are created by ourselves so we can experience who we really are.We are the creator of our own reality and life cannot give us other opportunities than those we believe it can.God says that he has sent humanity teacher after teacher. We don’t listen to his teachers, we kill them.The first law is that we can be, do and have everything that we can imagine.The second law is that we attract what we fear.The laws are simple:1)Thoughts create.2)Fear attracts.3)Love is all there is.The purpose of a love relationship is not to have another person who can perfect you, but have another with whom you can share your perfection.Our focus on the partner, our obsession with the partner is what makes the relationship fail.All illness is created by ourselves. People smoke and wonder why they get cancer. They eat animals and thus animal fat and wonder why they get blood clots. They are angry their whole lives and wonder why they get heart attacks. They compete with others and wonder why they get strokes.Most people worry themselves to death. Worrying is meaningless.Health improves as soon as worrying stops. Hate is an extremely harmful state. It poisons the body. Fear is excessive worrying. Worry, hate, fear attack the body at the cellular level. It is impossible to have a healthy body under these conditions. All disease is first created by the mind.There is nothing in life that is not first a thought.You can heal yourself by changing the way you think,You don’t train your body so it gets weak from lack of use. You don’t eat proper food, which makes you even weaker. You fill your body with toxins and the most absurd substances that are supposed to be food. You read this information and return to the poor treatment of your body. Why? Because you don’t have the will to live.The body was not supposed to consume alcohol. It weakens the mind.Our bodies were intended to last forever.God says:“You are my body. Everything I experience I experience through you. Jesus of Nazareth said, ‘I and the father are one flesh’”.Then He says: “For just as you are my body, I am another’s body.” I seem to recall that God talks more about this in Book 3. If so, in my review of Book 3, I will recount a spiritual experience I had when I was 19 which showed me this.God says that we are already God, but just don’t know it.This book presents information on much, much more than I have touched on here. I highly recommend that everyone read this book and the whole Conversations with God series.
    • 4/5
      Thought provoking ideas about the universe and the meaning of life.
    • 1/5
      I have a problem with someone saying God doesn't have any problem or differentiate between good and evil and he loves everyone the same and that Hitler is in heaven.
      If God didn't have a problem with it then why did he call Eve out about what she was hiding? etc. etc. etc.
      And even if you don't want to bring the Bible into this; according to this author (who may be trying to start his own religion?) I don't feel good about his feel good religion. According to the first paragraph I can go on a killing spree just like hitler and still go to heaven.
      His religion is not for me.
    • 4/5
      Did he have a conversation with God? I dunno, but at least this imagining of God is more plausible than most of the others I know of.
    • 5/5
      Phenomenal book!! I have read this book before but I was at a different point in my life, I was younger and less experienced then, so I took from it only what was relevant to me at the time and I am reading it again to renew and further my knowledge as I am in a different point in my life again so other parts and points in the book will apply to me now!!! There are those that will say the book is blasphemy etc etc yada yada yada but I don't read the book as my gospel I read it because whether he was genuinely communicating with GOD or not I agree with a lot of what is being said in the book. The book spoke to the things that I already knew in my heart and soul but couldn't put it into the "least effective communicators...WORDS" Pg3.
    • 5/5
      I have always believed that books find us when we need them. That was the case with Conversations With God. This author said what what I needed to hear at that time so it was a powerful, thought provoking experience. I reread chapters from time to time and it still brings me comfort and something to ponder. I like how the author relates to God. I haven't decided which way I lean yet - but I like the idea of a collaborative, loving creator. I also liked the idea of us as creators.
    • 3/5
      A Conversation with God: If You Could Ask God Any Question, What Would It Be?, written by Alton Gansky, is a book containing questions and their answers that Christians/people may wish they could ask God. Each answer is drawn from the Bible and each topic comes with spiritual references so they can be read directly from the source.What I like about this book is that while it is great for solo readers, it is also suitable for groups. The book is split up into 55 questions, and each one is written as if answered by God, Jesus, and whomever else who could add any insight (such as Peter, Job, John, Simeon, etc.). The length of the answers to these questions, as well as the discussion that can be derived from them makes each question suitable for a weekly group reading/discussion. The topics range from talking about hell, heaven, the sexes, forgiveness, sin, the end of the world, and more. Each answer, while written in the first person, is taken from the Bible and I think the way they are written (not in verses, but as if the speaker were having a conversation with the reader) will appeal to nearly everyone. One thing that could prove to be a negative, however, is that because of the way it is written, this could be considered "Gansky's interpretation of what the Bible says" and there may be some out there who would disagree with any of the question and answer sessions. I know that for myself, while I did not disagree with the words he had written, I did disagree with the "tone impression" they were leaving me with. In my mind, the main speaker (God) should be a little more authoritive (yet loving), yet each speaker had the same voice. A Conversation with God would make a nice gift book, or a companion (not replacement) to the Bible
    • 2/5
      I found this book a bit contrived. It was just a little too smooth for me.
    • 2/5
      Interesting, and thought provoking, but I had difficulty with accepting that the messages were from God.
    • 5/5
      Another book that all of humankind should read, it speaks for its self.
    • 2/5
      Neale claims God talks through his pen. If you get by that, then there is some interesting thoughts on how we’re suppose to live and what life is about.
    • 5/5
      I'm not good at writing reviews like this. This book changed my life. I call it my "bible". If that offends people, I apologize. But that's how strongly I feel about this book. Everything written in here is what I believe about love, life, and God.

    Book preview

    Conversations With God, Book 3 - Neale Donald Walsch

    Forethoughts

    CHAPTERS 1—7

    One of the most information-dense, data-filled, and deeply insightful entries in the Conversations with God series (it is the longest book of the nine), CwG—Book 3 challenges us from the very beginning. You will see immediately what I mean as I present here a little preview of what you'll find in just the first seven chapters.

    I'm not going to offer this kind of preview for all of the book's chapters. Rather, in two other Forethought entries that I have added to this book, I am going to comment more deeply on my experience in living and applying the messages found in this text since it was first published.

    But just now, I want to give you an idea of just what you are stepping into as you plunge into this remarkable document.

    The text begins with a review of one of the most important pieces of data ever found in any book anywhere (and a centerpiece of CwG—Book 1): the Be-Do-Have Paradigm

    This is not something that, to this day, very many people know about. If they did, it would change their lives forever and alter life significantly for the World Entire. Revisited here, I am hoping that this second look at Be-Do-Have will cause you to pick up Book 1 again and read about all this in even more detail until are you certain that you've got it. We are talking here about what could be described as The Operating System for All of Life—and that is not something to be glanced over lightly.

    From this, Book 3 moves immediately to a discussion of another of the most important principles in the entire CwG cosmology: What you choose for yourself, give to another.

    There is nothing that has impacted my life in a positive way more than those eight words. Jesus put this another way (Do unto others as you would have it done unto you), but the message is the same—and it is a message that, not surprisingly, will be found in every major religion and all the spiritual traditions in the world.

    And on the heels of that, Book 3 then reviews (the initial look at this was also offered in Book 1) what is probably the single most challenging message in all of the Conversations with God books: We are the creators of our own reality.

    Here God says to us . . .

    You may assume that if a thing happens to you, it is perfect that it did so—for nothing escapes perfection in God's world. The design of your life—the people, places, and events in it—have all been perfectly created by the perfect creator of perfection itself: you. And Me . . . in, as, and through you.

    Now you may be getting the impression, from the chapter previews I have given you so far, that all Book 3 does is restate the information already offered in Book 1. Nothing could be further from the truth, yet this third entry in the CwG series does recap some of those earlier messages—and for good reason.

    It was clear to me when Book 3 was coming through (and clear to me again today as I re-read it ten years on) that some of the most important messages of CwG—Book 1 have been difficult for me to hold as my truth. I am not, therefore, even a bit surprised that in Book 3 God led me back into a discussion of them before pushing forward into brand new areas of spiritual expansion (which this text does, I assure you).

    I have, after all these years, come to embrace the key Conversations with God messages, but it has not been easy—and I won't even begin to try to kid you about that. We are talking here about spiritual renewal, not simply some new thoughts here and there that we might wish to contemplate. We are speaking here of spiritual revolution, not merely spiritual exploration.

    The messages of all nine Conversations with God books carry us to the farthest reaches of our traditional spiritual understandings. Yet it is true that, as CwG itself tells us, life begins at the edge of your comfort zone.

    Put another way (and as I have often said), CwG is not for sissies.

    The purpose of the Conversations with God books is not only to bring us statements of eternal truth, but also the tools with which to utilize this wisdom, applying it to our day-to-day lives. And just how do we utilize the truth—to use the present example—that we are the creators of our own realities? By bringing an end to our story of victimhood and thus empowering ourselves at last to change our story.

    (Specific ways to do this are offered in wonderful detail in the newest book of the CwG cosmology, Happier Than God.)

    Only through the realization that nobody else is doing it to us can we move to a place of asking, Then why is this happening to me? The answer to that question has the power to cut humanity free from its puppet strings forever, releasing, finally, any thought that any other person or event has the slightest power over our personal experience.

    This gives us back to ourselves. And, indeed, that is the aim of all of the Conversations with God. The insights offered provide us with tools with which to radically shift both our individual experiences and the collective experience of humanity.

    The explanation of the Five Natural Emotions alone is capable of doing that. And this, along with everything else I have thus far mentioned, is all in chapter 1.

    Amazingly, this opening chapter also includes . . .

    A brand new idea relating to how we might raise our offspring

    A wake-up call regarding human sexuality and how we are talking to our children about it

    A re-evaluation of the role of elders in our society

    A discussion of the disintegration of family units, communities, and the world itself

    And then we get into chapter 2!

    It is as I said: CwG—Book 3 is the one of the most information-dense, data-filled, and deeply insightful entries in the Conversations with God series.

    A look backward in time opens chapter 2, as the dialogue explores the ancient matriarchy versus today's patriarchy, the origin of the myth of Satan, and the matter of karma and its role in human affairs.

    Chapter 3 brings us one of my very favorite CwG messages, The Parable of the Rock, with its unique explanation of the often-heard description of God as The Unmoved Mover.

    Does God forgive us our sins? Are we, imperfect humans all, even worthy of God's love and acceptance into the Kingdom of Heaven? These questions have dominated theological inquiry for millennia. Now, in this book's fourth chapter, we are given an answer that begins the Earth's spiritual revolution.

    Equally revolutionary is the dialogue in chapter 5 about life following death. And then, in chapter 6, the present dialogue offers an utterly fascinating discussion of how everything that has ever happened, is happening now, and ever will happen is occurring in this present moment, followed by an equally absorbing look at psychics and so-called psychic power.

    Are you getting the picture here? But wait. The final chapter of this first section of the book, chapter 7, provides an in-depth exploration of the whole idea of reincarnation.

    Now, my point in giving you this chapter-by-chapter breakdown is, as I said in the beginning, to offer you fair notice. Book 3 is jammed. It is packed. And it is daring.

    So go ahead now. Turn the page. And let the revolution begin.

    1

    It is Easter Sunday, 1994, and I am here, pen in hand, as instructed. I am waiting for God. He's promised to show up, as She has the past two Easters, to begin another yearlong conversation. The third and last—for now.

    This process—this extraordinary communication—began in 1992. It will be complete on Easter, 1995. Three years, three books. The first dealt with largely personal matters—romantic relationships, finding one's right work, dealing with the powerful energies of money, love, sex, and God; and how to integrate them into our daily lives. The second expanded on those themes, moving outward to major geopolitical considerations—the nature of governments, creating a world without war, the basis for a unified, international society. This third and final part of the trilogy will focus, I am told, on the largest questions facing man. Concepts dealing with other realms, other dimensions, and how the whole intricate weave fits together.

    The progression has been

    Individual Truths

    Global Truths

    Universal Truths

    As with the first two manuscripts, I have no idea where this is going. The process is simple. I put pen to paper, ask a question—and see what thoughts come to my mind. If nothing is there, if no words are given to me, I put everything away until another day. The whole process took about a year for the first book, over a year for the second. (That book is still in process as this is begun.)

    I expect this will be the most important book of all.

    For the first time since starting this process, I am feeling very self-conscious about it. Two months have passed since I wrote those first four or five paragraphs. Two months since Easter, and nothing has come—nothing but self-consciousness.

    I have spent weeks reviewing and correcting errors in the typeset manuscript of the first book in this trilogy—and just this week received the final, corrected version of Book 1, only to have to send it back to typesetting again, with 43 separate errors to correct. The second book, meanwhile, still in handwritten form, was completed only last week—two months behind schedule. (It was supposed to be done by Easter ’94.) This book, begun on Easter Sunday in spite of the fact that Book 2 was unfinished, has languished in its folder ever since—and, now that Book 2 is complete—cries out for attention.

    Yet for the first time since 1992, when this all began, I seem to be resisting this process, if not almost resenting it. I am feeling trapped by the assignment, and I've never liked to do anything I have to do. Further, having distributed to a few people uncorrected copies of the first manuscript and heard their reactions to it, I am now convinced that all three of these books will be widely read, thoroughly examined, analyzed for theological relevance, and passionately debated for dozens of years.

    That has made it very difficult to come to this page; very difficult to consider this pen my friend—for while I know this material must be brought through, I know that I am opening myself up to the most scurrilous attacks, the ridicule, and perhaps even the hatred of many people for daring to put forth this information—much less for daring to announce that it is coming to me directly from God.

    I think my greatest fear is that I will prove to be an inadequate, inappropriate spokesperson for God, given the seemingly endless series of mistakes and misdeeds which have marked my life and characterized my behavior.

    Those who have known me from my past—including former wives and my own children—would have every right to step forward and denounce these writings, based on my lackluster performance as a human being in the simple, rudimentary functions of husband and father. I have failed miserably at this, and at other aspects of life having to do with friendship and integrity, industry and responsibility.

    I am, in short, keenly aware that I am not worthy to represent myself as a man of God or a messenger of truth. I should be the last person to assume such a role, or to even presume to. I do an injustice to the truth by presuming to speak it, when my whole life has been a testimony to my weaknesses.

    For these reasons, God, I ask that You relieve me of my duties as Your scribe, and that You find someone whose life renders them worthy of such an honor.

    I should like to finish what we started here—though you are under no obligation to do so. You have no duties, to Me or to anyone else, though I see that your thought that you do has led you to much guilt.

    I have let people down, including my own children.

    Everything that has happened in your life has happened perfectly in order for you—and all the souls involved with you—to grow in exactly the way you've needed and wanted to grow.

    That is the perfect out constructed by everyone in the New Age who wishes to escape responsibility for their actions and avoid any unpleasant outcomes.

    I feel that I've been selfish—incredibly selfish—most of my life, doing what pleases me regardless of its impact on others.

    There is nothing wrong in doing what pleases you. . . .

    But, so many people have been hurt, let down—

    There is only the question of what pleases you most. You seem to be saying that what now pleases you most are behaviors which do little or no damage to others.

    That's putting it mildly.

    On purpose. You must learn to be gentle with yourself. And stop judging yourself.

    That's hard—particularly when others are so ready to judge. I feel I am going to be an embarrassment to You, to the truth; that if I insist on completing and publishing this trilogy, I will be such a poor ambassador for Your message as to discredit it.

    You cannot discredit truth. Truth is truth, and it can neither be proven nor disproven. It simply is.

    The wonder and the beauty of My message cannot and will not be affected by what people think of you.

    Indeed, you are one of the best ambassadors, because you have lived your life in a way that you call less than perfect.

    People can relate to you—even as they judge you. And if they see that you are truly sincere, they can even forgive you your sordid past.

    Yet I tell you this: So long as you are still worried about what others think of you, you are owned by them.

    Only when you require no approval from outside yourself can you own yourself.

    My concern was more for the message than for me. I was concerned that the message would get besmirched.

    If you are concerned about the message, then get the message out. Do not worry about besmirching it. The message will speak for itself.

    Remember what I have taught you. It is not nearly so important how well a message is received as how well it is sent.

    Remember this also: You teach what you have to learn.

    It is not necessary to have achieved perfection to speak of perfection.

    It is not necessary to have achieved mastery to speak of mastery.

    It is not necessary to have achieved the highest level of evolution to speak of the highest level of evolution.

    Seek only to be genuine. Strive to be sincere. If you wish to undo all the damage you imagine yourself to have done, demonstrate that in your actions. Do what you can do. Then let it rest.

    That's easier said than done. Sometimes I feel so guilty.

    Guilt and fear are the only enemies of man.

    Guilt is important. It tells us when we've done wrong.

    There is no such thing as wrong. There is only that which does not serve you; does not speak the truth about Who You Are, and Who You Choose to Be.

    Guilt is the feeling that keeps you stuck in who you are not.

    But guilt is the feeling that at least lets us notice we've gone astray.

    Awareness is what you are talking about, not guilt.

    I tell you this: Guilt is a blight upon the land—the poison that kills the plant.

    You will not grow through guilt, but only shrivel and die.

    Awareness is what you seek. But awareness is not guilt, and love is not fear.

    Fear and guilt, I say again, are your only enemies. Love and awareness are your true friends. Yet do not confuse the one with the other, for one will kill you, while the other gives you life.

    Then I should not feel guilty about anything?

    Never, ever. What good is there in that? It only allows you to not love yourself—and that kills any chance that you could love another.

    And I should fear nothing?

    Fear and caution are two different things. Be cautious—be conscious—but do not be fearful. For fear only paralyzes, while consciousness mobilizes.

    Be mobilized, not paralyzed.

    I was always taught to fear God.

    I know. And you have been paralyzed in your relationships with Me ever since.

    It was only when you stopped fearing Me that you could create any kind of meaningful relationship with Me.

    If I could give you any gift, any special grace, that would allow you to find Me, it would be fearlessness.

    Blessed are the fearless, for they shall know God.

    That means you must be fearless enough to drop what you think you know about God.

    You must be fearless enough to step away from what others have told you about God.

    You must be so fearless that you can dare to enter into your own experience of God.

    And then you must not feel guilty about it. When your own experience is violating what you thought you knew, and what everyone else has told you, about God, you must not feel guilty.

    Fear and guilt are the only enemies of man.

    Yet there are those who say that to do as You suggest is trafficking with the devil; that only the devil would suggest such a thing.

    There is no devil.

    That's something else the devil would say.

    The devil would say everything that God says, is that it?

    Only more cleverly.

    The devil is more clever than God?

    Let's say, more cunning.

    And so the devil connives by saying what God would say?

    With just a little twist—just enough to get one off the path; to lead one astray.

    I think we have to have a little talk about the devil.

    Well, we talked a lot about this in Book 1.

    Not enough, apparently. Besides, there may be those who haven't read Book 1. Or Book 2, for that matter. So I think a good place for us to begin would be to summarize some of the truths found in those books. That will set the stage for the larger, universal truths in this third book. And we'll get to the devil again, too, early on. I want you to know how, and why, such an entity was invented.

    Okay. All right. You win. I'm already into the dialogue, so apparently it's going to continue. But there's one thing people should know as I enter this third conversation: Half a year has passed since I wrote the first words presented here. It's now November 25, 1994—the day after Thanksgiving. It's taken 25 weeks to get this far; 25 weeks since your last words above, to my words in this paragraph. A lot has happened in those 25 weeks. But one thing that has not happened is this book moving one inch forward. Why is this taking so long?

    Do you see how you can block yourself? Do you see how you can sabotage yourself? Do you see how you can stop yourself in your tracks just when you are on to something good? You've been doing this all your life.

    Hey, wait a minute! I'm not the one who has been stalling on this project. I can't do anything—can't write a single word—unless I feel moved to, unless I feel . . . I hate to use the word, but I guess I have to . . . inspired to come to this yellow legal pad and continue. And inspiration is Your department, not mine!

    I see. So you think I've been stalling, not you.

    Something like that, yes.

    My wonderful friend, this is so much like you—and other humans. You sit on your hands for half a year, doing nothing about your highest good, actually pushing it from you, then blame someone or something outside of yourself for you not getting anywhere. Do you not see a pattern here?

    Well . . .

    I tell you this: There is never a time when I am not with you; never a moment when I am not ready.

    Have I not told you this before?

    Well, yes, but . . .

    I am always with you, even unto the end of time.

    Yet I will not impose My will on you—ever.

    I choose your highest good for you, but above that, I choose your will for you. And this is the surest measure of love.

    When I want for you what you want for you, then I truly love you. When I want for you what I want for you, then I am loving Me, through you.

    So, too, by the same measure, can you determine whether others love you, and whether you truly love others. For love chooses naught for itself, but only seeks to make possible the choices of the beloved other.

    That seems to directly contradict what You put in Book 1 about love being not at all concerned with what the other is being, doing, and having, but only with what the Self is being, doing, and having.

    It brings up other questions as well, like . . . what of the parent who shouts at the child, Get out of the street! Or, better yet, risks his own life to run out into swirling traffic and snatch the child up? What of that parent? Is she not loving her child? Yet she has imposed her own will. Remember, the child was in the street because it wanted to be.

    How do You explain these contradictions?

    There is no contradiction. Yet you cannot see the harmony. And you will not understand this divine doctrine about love until you understand that My highest choice for Me is the same as your highest choice for you. And that is because you and I are one.

    You see, the Divine Doctrine is also a Divine Dichotomy, and that is because life itself is a dichotomy—an experience within which two apparently contradictory truths can exist in the same space at the same time.

    In this case, the apparently contradictory truths are that you and I are separate, and you and I are one. The same apparent contradiction appears in the relationship between you and everyone else.

    I stand by what I said in Book 1: The biggest mistake people make in human relationships is to be concerned for what the other is wanting, being, doing, or having. Be concerned only for the Self. What is the Self being, doing, or having? What is the Self wanting, needing, choosing? What is the highest choice for the Self?

    I also stand by another statement I made in that book: The highest choice for the Self becomes the highest choice for another when the Self realizes that there is no one else.

    The mistake, therefore, is not in choosing what is best for you, but rather, in not knowing what is best. This stems from not knowing Who You Really Are, much less who you are seeking to be.

    I don't understand.

    Well, let me give you an illustration. If you are seeking to win the Indianapolis 500, driving 150 miles per hour might be what is best for you. If you are seeking to get to the grocery store safely, it might not.

    You're saying it's all contextual.

    Yes. All of life is. What is best depends on who you are, and who you seek to be. You cannot intelligently choose what is best for you until you intelligently decide who and what you are.

    Now I, as God, know what I am seeking to be. I therefore know what is best for Me.

    And what is that? Tell me, what is best for God? This ought to be interesting . . .

    What is best for Me is giving you what you decide is best for you. Because what I am trying to be is My Self, expressed. And I am being this through you.

    Are you following this?

    Yes, believe it or not, I actually am.

    Good. Now I will tell you something you may find difficult to believe.

    I am always giving you what is best for you . . . though I admit that you may not always know it.

    This mystery clears up a bit now that you have begun to understand what I am up to.

    I am God.

    I am the Goddess.

    I am the Supreme Being. The All of Everything. The

    Beginning and The End. The Alpha and Omega.

    I am the Sum and the Substance. The Question and the Answer. The Up and the Down of it. The Left and the Right, the Here and the Now, the Before and the After.

    I am the Light, and I am the Darkness that creates the Light, and makes it possible. I am the Goodness Without End, and the Badness which makes the Goodness good. I am all of these things—the All of Everything—and I cannot experience any part of My Self without experiencing All of My Self.

    And this is what you do not understand about Me. You want to make Me the one, and not the other. The high and not the low. The good, and not the bad. Yet in denying half of Me, you deny half of your Self. And in so doing, you can never be Who You Really Are.

    I am the Magnificent Everything—and what I am seeking is to know Myself experientially. I am doing this through you, and through everything else that exists. And I am experiencing My Self as magnificent through the choices I make. For each choice is self creative. Each choice is definitive. Each choice represents Me—that is, re-presents Me—as Who I Choose to Be Right Now.

    Yet I cannot choose to be magnificent unless there is something to choose from. Some part of Me must be less than magnificent for Me to choose the part of Me which is magnificent.

    So, too, is it with you.

    I am God, in the act of creating My Self.

    And so, too, are you.

    This is what your soul longs to do. This is that for which your spirit hungers.

    Were I to stop you from having what you choose, I would stop My Self from having what I choose. For My greatest desire is to experience My Self as What I Am. And, as I carefully and painstakingly explained in Book 1, I can only do that in the space of What I Am Not.

    And so, I have carefully created What I Am Not, in order that I might experience What I Am.

    Yet I Am everything I create—therefore I Am, in a sense, What I Am Not.

    How can someone be what they are not?

    Easy. You do it all the time. Just watch your behaviors.

    Seek to understand this. There is nothing that I am not. Therefore, I Am what I Am, and I Am What I Am Not.

    THIS IS THE DIVINE DICHOTOMY.

    This is the Divine Mystery which, until now, only the most sublime minds could understand. I have revealed it for you here in a way that more can understand.

    This was the message of Book 1, and this basic truth you must understand—you must deeply know—if you are to understand and know the even more sublime truths to come, here, in Book 3.

    Yet let Me now get to one of those more sublime truths—for it is contained in the answer to the second part of your question.

    I was hoping we were going to get back to that part of my question. How is the parent loving the child if he says or does what is best for the child, even if he has to thwart the child's own will to do it? Or does the parent demonstrate the truest love by letting the child play in traffic?

    This is a wonderful question. And it's the question asked by every parent, in some form or another, since parenting began. The answer is the same for you as a parent as it is for Me as God.

    So what is the answer?

    Patience, My son, patience. All good things come to those who wait. Have you never heard of that?

    Yeah, my father used to say it and I hated it.

    I can understand that. But do have patience with your Self, especially if your choices are not bringing you what you think you want. The answer to the second part of your question, for example.

    You say that you want the answer, but you are not choosing it. You know you are not choosing it, because you do not experience having it. In truth, you have the answer, and have had it all along. You simply are not choosing it. You are choosing to believe you do not know the answer—and so you do not.

    Yes, You went over this, too, in Book 1. I have everything I choose to have right now—including a complete understanding of God—yet I will not experience that I have it until I know that I do.

    Precisely! You've put it perfectly.

    But how can I know that I do until I experience that I do? How can I know something I haven't experienced? Wasn't there a great mind who said, All knowing is experience?

    He was wrong.

    Knowing does not follow experience—it precedes it.

    In this, half the world has it backwards.

    So You mean that I have the answer to the second part of my question, I just don't know that I do?

    Exactly.

    Yet if I don't know that I do, then I don't.

    That's the paradox, yes.

    I don't get it . . . except I do.

    Indeed.

    So how can I get to this place of knowing that I know something if I don't know that I know?

    To know that you know, act as if you do.

    You mentioned something about that in Book 1 also.

    Yes. A good place to start here would be to recap what's gone before in the previous teaching. And you just happen to be asking the right questions, allowing Me to summarize in short form at the beginning of this book the information we discussed in prior material in some detail.

    Now in Book 1, we talked about the Be-Do-Have paradigm, and how most people have it reversed.

    Most people believe if they have a thing (more time, money, love—whatever), then they can finally do a thing (write a book, take up a hobby, go on vacation, buy a home, undertake a relationship), which will allow them to be a thing (happy, peaceful, content, or in love).

    In actuality, they are reversing the Be-Do-Have paradigm. In the universe as it really is (as opposed to how you think it is), havingness does not produce beingness, but the other way around.

    First you be the thing called happy (or knowing, or wise, or compassionate, or whatever), then you start doing things from this place of beingness—and soon you discover that what you are doing winds up bringing you the things you've always wanted to have.

    The way to set this creative process (and that's what this is . . . the process of creation) into motion is to look at what it is you want to have, ask yourself what you think you would be if you had that, then go right straight to being.

    In this way you reverse the way you've been using the Be-Do-Have paradigm—in actuality, set it right—and work with, rather than against, the creative power of the universe.

    Here is a short way of stating this principle:

    In life, you do not have to do anything.

    It is all a question of what you are being.

    This is one of the three messages I will touch on again at the end of our dialogue. I will close the book with it.

    For now, and to illustrate this, think of a person who just knows that if he could only have a little more time, a little more money, or a little more love, he'd be truly happy.

    He does not get the connection between his not being very happy right now and his not having the time, money, or love he wants.

    That's right. On the other hand, the person who is being happy seems to have time to do everything that's really important, all the money that's

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