Your hike toward a higher life passes thru three
main areas:

1. Exploration of yourself.
2. Exploration of human society.
3. Exploration of Higher Truth.

1. Self-exploration must come first.
Out of this self-knowledge grows favor-
able change, both within yourself and in
exterior events. Feeling as if they live
dangerously close to the edge of a cliff,
people want to rebel against fearful
conditions, but they don’t know who
or what to rebel against. This unpleasant
feeling fades as they become students
of the secret life. They move away from
scary inner places to high and safe
ground. With self-wisdom this can also
be your new residence.

2. Your exploration of human society
reveals many surprises. You may
have heard that people are not what
they seem-now you shockingly see its
full horror for yourself. Gone are all
the dangerous delusions that people
are basically nice and will express love
if just given a chance. If given a chance
they will grab your gifts and attack
you for not giving more. But you need
not be the victim of a society in which
man hunts man. One of your finest
discoveries is that a cruel man can’t
be in two places at one time. Wherever
he is, you can be elsewhere.

3. Higher Truth awaits the explorer
who has happily lost confidence in
human solutions. Your real purpose in
life is to discover how spiritual medicine
cures personal ills. This is also your
delight. The cure begins as you see
how society has given you certain roles
to play which at first look like fun but
which finally turn into nightmares.
Haunted humans are frustrated hourly
by trying to live up to society’s demands
to be financially or socially successful.
Don’t listen to defeated society. Your
pleasant duty is to unlearn all such
nonsensical roles and live your own free
life in your own sunny way.

Like an interesting life? These discoveries
offer the only truly interesting life there is.
Take all you want."....VERNON HOWARD