Excerpts - Misconception

Excerpt from April, 1990 Workshop in Tampa*
(*Audience participation is in parentheses--notations in brackets have been added for clarification )

We join the tape as Dr. Bob is talking about the vicious cycle and different diagnosis we hear about.

The point is to get rid of the fear and anxiety that's associated with most of these, [diagnosis) ok? Slowly get rid of the anxiety, the misconception, about all these things that you hear and are given names for.

(Would you talk a little more about that? When we think of something, we don't know whether it's a misconception or not.)

That's true. You think it's for real. But if you look where you got the suggestion, it will put a little gimmick on it, ok? Look where you got it. You were feeling fine, you went and somebody examined you and said you had cancer, ok? Look where you got the information. I'll probably never know when I'm going to die 'cause I don't ever go to the doctor to find out what's wrong with me anyway, so I think I'm fine. I won't get a diagnosis. If I don't have a diagnosis, I haven't got anything.

(So it could happen that I say, "I'm feeling fear about this thought." "I think this is so." I could then trace that back and say "Where'd that come from." It sounded logical to me. Then I could throw it out.)

You think that if it sounds logical, that it's true. Logic doesn't mean it's true. Ok? You can get where you can throw all these suggestions away. You don't have to go along with them.

(If you have an adaptation and you come to the conclusion that the doctor says you have to have surgery; and you can take the cycle backwards. You realize, oh, I was in a lot of turmoil with misconceptions. If you recognize it……)

Yeah, when you calm down, it will quit. The adaptation will go away. When there is nothing to adapt to, it quits adapting, ok? So that's the major thing to do is to see that you're not having to adapt to every little anxiety you have.

(We had a relative who passed away and they did an autopsy on her and they discovered in some point in her life, she had cancer--the signs were there. I don't know if she ever knew she had it.)

Oh, she'd have been dead years ago. There is a lot of cases where there is only scars of carcinoma left.

(She never got excited about it.)

If somebody had told her she had cancer, why she'd probably have departed this life years ago.

(But I'm not hearing you say, if you cancer stay away from treatment. Is this what I'm hearing you say?)

Did I say that? I didn't say that. You can play any game you want to. I do know that people live longer on an average that don't have carcinoma treated than those who do. I'm not telling them to do that, that's their business. They can go get all the treatment in the world. If they want to go to Greece and get treated…..

I know a lady that has been all over the world trying to get an alternate cure of some kind. She's still alive, but she's not in excellent health.

No, I'm not saying not to have it treated, that entirely everyone's prerogative if they want to. I only said that I do know that people with carcinoma live a lot longer if it's untreated than if it's treated. That's just my observation. They probably will go get all the treatments.

(If I find myself being anxious and I say "OK, I don't know what's going on and what I made important; but I made something important and I will stop making it important, even if I don't know what it is." Just admitting that makes a change and breaks …..)

the vicious cycle. Then you start the living cycle. We'll put that one down here. True perception. Seeing what's going on. You have a true feeling. You'd have chemical balance and neuromuscular tone; and you'd have creative action. You can live on that cycle very much easier than you can on the other one. Simple and easy and works, ok? It works very well.

Just like the lady this morning said she used it and it works very well; but she forgot to use it any more.

(But you have to stay awake for that true perception.)

It would help a little bit. That's not the only thing it would help--it would help everything else.

(Why does a person call you and ask you to report for them?)

Because they are so nervous they can't do it for themselves. So I do it for them; because I'm not upset about it, I know what's going on. They're nervous about it so they have to ask, ok?)

(You sound like it's a game.)

It is to a certain extent. When they get so they can do it themselves, they don't call anymore. Sometimes they quit calling after once or twice, sometimes after 20 times. But in the meantime we'll be of assistance if we can.

(By your reporting for them, you say true perception is what is necessary.)

Yes, I get them to calm down a bit while I'm at it. One of the things I report is that they will be calm and serene instead of being all agitated, ok? I tell them that it's a Band-Aid and they'd better do it themselves.

(I found myself in a cycle once; but I had to search it back further than what it appeared to me to be the original not "I"--really get to the root. At the place where I was working, I wasn't happy because the people didn't run the place the way I knew it ought to be. When I looked at it first I thought they were stupid. I couldn't get at ease; so I kept doing it. I started seeing I wanted to control these people and make them do what I think they should do.)

What you knew they ought to do, not what you thought.

(By back stepping from the original not "I" to another and another; I was able to stop the cycle. But at first when I wrote down the original not "I", it didn't seem to do it.)

Cause you kept on going at it until you put some good solid effort in it; then you finally said what's the use and quit. That's really the way it works. It's gone and then you felt fine.

(In that sense you can almost just stop doing it; it's irrelevant to do all this searching.)

Just tell the not "I's" to shut up. Say "SHUT UP." It does remarkably well. Tell them to shut up.

(You just gave a good example of taking control of your circumstances.)

No I didn't, I was just talking about waking up.

(Telling the not "I's" to get out? Sounds like you were in control.)

You mean telling the not "I's" to shut up. He's not a reality. He's an illusion anyway. So why not shut the illusion off. It's not anything real. A not "I" is an illusion, not a real thing. There's nothing wrong with telling them to shut up.