The Tone Of Your Voice

An excerpt from a talk by Vernon Howard given on 11-17-78, Side 2, at 40 minutes.

Let me explain something now. The tone of your voice when it is relaxed, when it is conscious - follow now - your natural tone of voice belongs to God.

What doesn't belong to God? Anything that is unconscious, that is strained, that is artificial, that trying to impress, that is speaking from egotism. All that doesn't belong to God. It can't have anything to do with God; it belongs to undevelopment, it belongs to darkness.

This is why as you work and become aware of yourself, aware of the unnatural voice, the false gestures - whatever - as you become aware of these, that very awareness is telling you that this type of voice, strained as you said, is unnecessary. There's no point in it.

There is no need to be strained because you're not trying to get anything, prove anything, go anywhere. Not trying to impress anyone. You don't have to impress them that you are right, for example.

You're beginning to see what doesn't belong to natural energy. You like that word better for now? You see what doesn't belong to natural energy. And the very knowledge that that is unnatural makes you want to get rid of it because you feel it's ripping you, it's hurting you. But that was a long leap. When now you're conscious of your voice, of your gestures, of your shaking your head, your nodding - whatever you're doing - that belongs to natural expression, that belongs to God.

This is what real spiritual development is. Which is simply being what God, Truth wants me to be, wants you to be. Which is something that is not separate from Him. When I'm aware - when I am aware - I am not separate from God. It's only when I think, when I strain, when I want to impress that I'm separate. So true spirituality is simply nothing more than being natural and coming to that naturalness by seeing my unnaturalness.

Pretty embarrassing. You know that. Pretty shocking. You mentioned that a little bit ago. You got more afraid as you began to look inside of yourself. What do we care - let me rephrase it. What is a more joyous - to use that word - thing in life than to get rid of everything that is burdening me?

So if I am embarrassed or hurt by anything I see inside myself. I've defeated the higher aim, haven't I? I should be delighted. I see what a liar I am! I've lied so long and so hard I never knew it. All day long in fifty little tiny sentences to people I lied. I lied that I didn't care about this or I lied that I understood that. Or I lied that the - you should be delighted - I should be delighted to see what a liar I am because that means I am releasing myself from the contradiction in it.

But it is very very hard and the devil begins to work with extra energy when you begin to get to this point where you suspect what is happening to you by agreeing to the yes of the devil.