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Vernon Howard was my destined teacher. He has been gone for a few decades now and his imprint remains on my soul.

He taught the difference between the False Self and the True Self. As a teaching method, he yelled at us to wake up.

I still have trouble waking up and I know that you do, too. In spite of repeated advice, we choose ego over soul again and again.

He used shocks to get our attention.

You see, our attention is on things that we want and impressions that we want to make on other sleeping people.

Sleeping people have nothing to give each other but an endorsement that leads nowhere.

In the middle of nowhere is where we find ourselves as long as we prefer sleep to awakening.

All we hear are echoes and no change is possible in the Canyon of Echoes.

He used to say, “When the pain gets too bad, come back.” And he knew we were all in pain.

I do everything in pain,, as do you. It is the pain of being apart from God.

Seeing this pain is essential, for it presents itself to us again and again. It comes disguised as pretense and use of “the showcase personality” to make people like us. They are doing the same things!

So it is a good idea to sit in silence and watch your thoughts, which are always born from a state of sleep.

The watcher is who you truly are. The True Self is the Watcher on the Hill.

Vicki Woodyard