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1. Thou Shalt Not Covet the Fruits of Thine Own Efforts
(The journey is both the Goal and the Means to the Goal)
All thought, action, and reaction were set into motion billions of years ago. We cannot take credit for these thoughts or actions. We are merely actors who dutifully play out the lines of the script. Similarly we cannot yearn for our actions to yield certain results and be elated or dejected at the outcome. This is the reason that all religions and philosophies admonish us to remain humble in the face of worldly triumphs and accomplishments. The results have already manifested themselves at the instant of creation. Perform your duty diligently as a great actor, and enjoy the play. The applause, if and when it does come is also scripted, so expecting it is futile – if it is to come it shall.
2. Thou Shalt Not Judge Thy Fellow Man
Just as we should not take either blame nor credit for the outcome of events, so should we not blame (or be overly awed by) others. Whether friend, antagonist, or enemy, their actions and consequences are also subject to the same deterministic forces which govern all events. They are merely actors playing their respective parts and cannot be judged for the roles they play and the lines they speak. In this way, debilitating emotions such as anger, resentment, enmity, jealousy, and so forth become things of the past, and cease to drain our spirit and life energy. To go a step further, one should have even a greater respect for ones adversaries and antagonists than one has for one’s friends. It is such antagonists who continuously test us and help us to grow in our quest for merger with our Greater Self. Without their constant presence the quest for the Greater Self would be soon forgotten and almost impossible.
3. Thou Shalt Not Believe in the Illusion of Duality
Concepts such as “good” and “bad”, “honor” and “dishonor” are all colors on the great canvas of life, without each color, the painting is incomplete. No one color used within the painting is more or less desirable than another. Can one say that he has a favorite color in the painting of the Mona Lisa - it would be absurd. Try to view all of life’s so called ups and downs as various necessary (and ultimately beautiful) colors in the painting.
4. Thou Shalt Respect the Earth and All of Its Elements
Recall for a moment the mental exercise in which we engaged, in the chapter titled “The Personal Nature of the Cosmos”. Here we showed that the Greater Self (in the form of that Primordial Energy at the Singularity of the Big Bang), pervades every animate and inanimate object with which our senses come into contact. Every human being, animal, plant, flower, fish, forest, meadow, lake, stream, hill and mountain possesses an awareness which is a part of the original creator. As such we owe it our respect, our protection and our reverence.
5. Thou Shalt Act One’s Lines in the Drama of Life With the Greatest of Vigor and Enthusiasm
As they say, “The Play Must Go On” - even if you didn’t write the script ! The message of this book is a positive one, not a negative one. Although the ego will no doubt be badly bruised, the result of the realization that free-will is an illusion and that all things are preordained, is that we are freed from the burden of what appears at times to be a chaotic universe. Relieve yourself of this burden and simply act your lines. Being an actor is fun, especially in the greatest play ever written - do it with vigor and enthusiasm !
6. Thou Shalt See Thine World as a Reflection of Thine Own Self
You, the individual, certainly did not write the lines of this great cosmic play - any attempt to rationalize otherwise is merely the plea of a defeated ego. However, You, the Greater, Eternal Self, which rests within, did create this entire play (just as your individual self creates dreams which appear to contain individual characters, each with their own personalities, egos, etc). As such, everything you see around you (the individual you), is a reflection of that Greater Self (just as the characters and events in a dream are a reflection of the inner psyche of the creator of the dream). Understand this, understand what symbolic meaning is contained in each person with whom we interact, and in each event that plays out before us. In this way, we will slowly begin to understand our Greater Self and become one with it again.
7. Thou Shalt be Quiet for at Least Ten Minutes Each Day
Start by simply sitting in one place without talking or doing anything for ten minutes a day. Once this is mastered, don’t even think (but remain alert !). This part is much more difficult. At first you will only succeed for a few seconds before some stray thought enters your mind. Don’t despair, put the thought away and continue. As your mental discipline begins to increase in strength, you will be able to do this for longer and longer periods of time until you will be able to remain completely silent in thought and action for ten minutes. Then something marvelous will begin to unfold from deep within you.
8. Thou Shalt Seek Only The Eternal Self Within
The source of the greater dream of life is the only thing in the universe which remains constant. Everything else is as transient as our nightly dreams. Why then should we continue to focus so much of our energy chasing things which will not last. Spend at least some time on the only thing in life which will last for an eternity - the Eternal Self Within.
9. Thou Shalt Rebuke the Sixth Sense Like the Plague
After some time, once we begin to feel the presence of our Greater Self, some additional capabilities begin to manifest themselves. You will have more energy, a keener awareness about the world around you, your senses will be more powerful. And lastly some new senses may emerge. Ignore these new senses. They are a grand distraction on your path to Inner Awareness and merger with the Eternal Self. They are simply new toys for the child within you (the individual self) to play and remain mired in the sandbox.
10. Thou Shalt Unify the First Nine Principles into a Single Unified Principle of Life
There is only one basic principle which defines the illusions which we perceive around us, the illusion of separateness. No single Principle can be taken in isolation. They must be taken in unison as a result of the realization of the true nature of the waking world which we have been conditioned to see around us. Live life in the constant awareness of this Unified Principle of Life and all else will follow naturally.