Thursday, 13 September 2012

The Game of Life and how to play it

"Most people consider life a battle, but it is not a battle, it is a game."
"The superconscious mind is the God mind within each man, and is
the realm of perfect ideas. In it, is the 'perfect pattern' spoken of by
Plato, The Divine Design for each person."
"A person knowing the power of the word, becomes very careful in his
conversation. He has only to watch the reaction of his words to know
that they do not 'return void'. Through his spoken word, man is continually
making laws for himself."
"God's plan for each man transcends the limitation of the reasoning
mind, and is always the square of life, containing health, wealth, love
and perfect self-expression. Many a man is building for himself in imagination
a bungalow when he should be building a palace."

Until now, you may have conceived of life as a battle—your
might and will against the rest, or alternatively the pain of constant
struggle.
However, if you were to see life as a game, you would worry less
about the outcomes and focus on the rules and laws that can lead you
to success. This is the path of less resistance and more time for worldwonder.
By taking it, you choose to be a person of faith instead of fear.
For Florence Scovell Shinn, the rules were to be found in the Old
and New Testaments. Much of what is presented in her 100-page classic,
however, such as the Laws of Nonresistance, Karma, and Forgiveness,
are to be found in eastern holy books, and indeed the stated goal
of her work is universal: An individual can achieve the "square of life,"
the four points of Health, Wealth, Love, and Perfect Self-Expression, if
only they can attune themselves with the unchanging principles that
govern life. This total wellbeing was, she believed, our "divine right."
Some of the principles from the book are described below.
The divine design
Do you ever get an inspirational flash across your mind, a picture of
what you could achieve or the person you could be? You have received
a snapshot of your "divine design" from the universe, showing you that
this image is actually within yourself. Plato called it the "perfect pattern,"
the place you are to fill that no one else can.
Don't be like most people and pursue things that really have nothing
to do with the real you, and would only make you dissatisfied if you
were to achieve them. Ask for a sign or a message to tell you what your
divine design is and it will be revealed. Don't be scared that it won't be
what you want—it will most probably fulfill your deepest longing.

Divine right and selection
We should only ever ask for something if it is to be "by divine right."
A woman was infatuated with a man who from an outsider's perspective
did not treat her very well. Scovell Shinn made her repeat to herself
something to the effect of: "If he is divinely selected for me, he will be
mine. If he is not, I will not want him anyway." Sure enough, she fell
for someone else who matched all her ideals and promptly forgot the
first man.
Another woman had a strong wish to live in a house owned by an
acquaintance. This man died and she moved into the house, only to
have her own husband die and the house become a white elephant for
her. This was the karmic effect of a want that had not first been put
before God, or infinite intelligence. It is good that we desire, but it is
better that we seek what is ours "by divine right," for when it is
received we will know beyond any doubt that it is ours.
Non-resistance
Playing the game of life successfully involves following what works,
instead of battling what you don't like. The book contains this insight,
which intuitively we can all recognize:
"So long as a man resists a situation, he will have it with him. If he runs
away from it, it will run after him."
The simple change from a view of life in terms of struggle and fight for
victory to a simple faith in good outcomes will transform your life.
You will get everything you want, and probably very quickly, if you
don't doubt it and you can "wish without worrying," that is, you know
that your wishes are being fulfilled. Fear is "sin," it goes against nature,
whereas faith is real, solid, and is what infinite intelligence or God
requires from us in return for delivering our wishes. Faith is what links
you to the universe: It expands your cosmic footprint, while fear can
only shrink you.
Continually send out messages of goodwill and blessing to those
close to you, to your work colleagues, even to your nation. This not
only gives you a feeling of great peace, but you will find yourself "protected"
from harm and wrath.
Faith over fear
"Cast thy burden upon the Lord." Many times the Bible says that the
battle is not humankind's but God's. What we must learn to do is
"stand still" and let God, or the superconscious mind within, go to
work. This bears a startling resemblance to the sayings of the Tao Te
Ching, which suggests to us that if we are in tune with the tao (or God,
or universal intelligence), we need not worry or fear. In stillness we can
see what must be done, if anything.
In Scovell Shinn's world, "man violates law if he carries a burden."
It is actually wrong to fret and be cast down, as this is living by a false
reality and can attract disaster and disease. Once we have cast the burden
off, however, we are suddenly able to see clearly again. We feel
reminded that we must live by faith, not fear.
Real love
A woman came to Scovell Shinn in desperation that the man she loved
had left her for other women, and said he had no intention of marrying
her. She did not like it when Scovell Shinn said to her, "You are not loving
this man, you are hating him. Perfect yourself on this man, give him
unselfish love, and bless him wherever he is." The woman went away and
nothing changed, but one day she started thinking of him with more love.
He was a captain and she always called him "the Cap." She began to say,
"God bless the Cap wherever he is." Some time later a letter arrived on
Scovell Shinn's desk: At the moment when the woman's suffering had
ceased, the man returned. The two were then very happily married.
What the woman had learned was selfless love, a trait that all of us
must acquire if we are to succeed in the game of life.
The power of words
Anyone who does not know the power of words, the author said, "is
behind the times." Each of us has an ongoing conversation with ourselves,
never realizing how it affects, for better or worse, the way we
live out our life. Whatever words we say to ourselves fall into the blank
slate of our subconscious mind as "fact," therefore we must take
supreme care about the internal and external words we utter.
The people who came to see Scovell Shinn asked her to "speak the
word." She gave them an affirmation for their particular situation that they were to repeat until their "good" manifested itself. She quoted
Proverbs 18.21: "Death and Life are in the power of the tongue."
"God is my supply"
Many of Scovell Shinn's clients came to her in desperation—one needed
$3,000 by the first of the month to repay a debt, another had to find an
apartment soon or would be on the streets. She would remind them
that "God is my supply," to stop worrying and fretting.
She made them affirm: "Spirit is never too late. I give thanks that I
have received the money on the invisible plain and that it manifests on
time." One woman had only a day to go until a payment was due, and
a cousin happened to visit her who asked, as he was leaving, "By the
way, how are your finances?" Her payment was made the next day.
Nevertheless, it is not enough merely to say the right words and
have faith: We need to demonstrate to our subconscious mind that we
seriously expect to receive. "Man must prepare for the thing he has
asked for, when there isn't the slightest sign of it in sight." Open the
bank account, buy the furniture, prepare for rain when there is no
cloud in sight—"acting as if" opens the way for the moment of gain.
The knowledge that "a feeling of opulence must precede its manifestation"
will reinforce to you that God is your supply.
Final comments
Although written in the New York of the 1920s and full of religious
references, this shortish book now has cult status. The anecdotes may
be of people now long gone but the wisdom is timeless, and the book
can have a soothing effect that brings us back to the right principles.
To borrow one of the author's phrases, the book "salutes the divinity"
in us and has the knack of restoring a sense of direction and confidence.
If you are willing to keep an open mind as you read it, its
insights and affirmations can have great effects.

Florence Scovell Shinn
By profession an artist and book illustrator, Scovell Shinn also taught
metaphysics in New York for many years.
Her down-to-earth style and humor endeared her to many people
who might not otherwise have listened to spiritual advice. She wrote a
number of books, but The Game of Life was her classic work.

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