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 First Chapter


The Strength
In Knowing

The Truth Beyond Our
Belief Systems, and a
Fresh Path Finding
Love, Peace, and Joy

I. Alan Appt

HBP

Hartford & Baines Publishers

Charleston South Carolinat © 2012 by I. Alan Appted and distributed in the United States of America by: Hartford
& Baines Publishers, 164 Market Street Suite, 166 Charleston, South Carolina 29401- Phone: (888) 293-5547

All rights reserved, No part of this book may be reproduced by any
mechanical, electronic or photographic process or in the form of a
phonographic recording; or copied in any manner for public or private use-
- other than “fair use” as brief quotations-without previous written consent
of the publisher.

The author of this book does not dispense medical recommendations
or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical,
emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either
directly or indirectly. The intention
of the author is only to offer information
of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual
well-being. In the event, you use any of the information in this book for
yourself, which is your right to do so, the author and the publisher assume
no responsibility for your actions

ISBN-13: 978-0615673806

ISBN-10: 0615673805

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012909971

Hartford & Baines Publishers
Charleston, South Carolina

Printed and bound in the United States of America


Praise for

The Strength in Knowing
“The Strength in Knowing is a heartfelt depiction of one man’s journey
to spiritual enlightenment and self-discovery. This book will be
a wonderful read for those who are beginning to search for more
meaning, love and direction in their lives. The author suggests several
valuable and realistically attainable ways to begin one’s path to a more
fulfilling, joyful and God-centered journey on the physical plane.”

Thomas S. Lipsitz, PhD
Clinical Psychology, Saint Louis Missouri



“The Strength in Knowing is truly inspirational reading, enriching and
thought provoking. The world would be a dramatically better place if
even a few of us would be guided by its powerful ideas. The busier you
are, the more revelations you will find.”
Anthony S. Shen, M.D.
Missouri Baptist Medical Center


“When your thinking is unlimited, so is your potential. Appt, and his
new awareness, is a true emergence and unveiling where he explores
and identifies the specific skills you need to make your potential for
success explode into results.”

Nadim Nasrallah, M.S. D.C. M.A.
Saint Louis Missouri





Contents

Dedication viii
Foreword ix
Authors Preface xi
Acknowledgements xv
Introduction xvii
Section 1 Pursuit of Awareness 1
Chapter 1 The Beginning 3
Chapter 2 Physical Awareness 13
Chapter 3 Life and Associations 21
Chapter 4 Realization of Purpose 27

Section 2 Spirituality 35
Chapter 5 Belief Systems 37
Chapter 6 Spiritual Events and reality 61

Section 3 Meditation 73
Chapter 7 Meditation Defined 75
Chapter 8 Meditation Awareness and Techniques 81
Chapter 9 Enlightenment 97

Section 4 Why do Bad Things Happen to
Good People and Children 103
Chapter 10 Perception and Duality 105
Chapter 11 Is Destiny Why Bad Things Happen 113
Chapter 12 Cause and Effect 119

Section 5 Love 137
Chapter 13 Romantic Love 139
Chapter 14 Flawed Relationships 145
Chapter 15 Types of Love and Fear 153

Section 6 Time 161
Chapter 16 Awareness of truth 163
Chapter 17 Plateaus of Life 171
Chapter 18 Time is Passing Faster 181

Section 7 Energy 189
Chapter 19 Being in the Present 191
Chapter 20 Receiving Energy 207

Section 8 Purpose of Existence 219
Chapter 21 Humanity’s’ Sensitivity 221
Chapter 22 Perception and Existence 231
Chapter 23 Purpose and True Happiness 235

Afterword 249

Quotations 251

About the Author 253




Dedication

De gratia Dominus illuminatio mea

By Favor of Grace, the Lord is My Light





Section I

Pursuit of Awareness

Chapter 1

The Beginning

I suppose it all began when I was ten or eleven years old, that is, this
sense of a need to have answers about life’s purpose and my purpose. I
engaged in a lot of existential thought for my age, or perhaps for any age.
I still, to this day, do not know what possessed me to be so interested in
existentialism, as young as I was. Have you ever thought about where we
came from? What are we, that which is called a human being? Where are
we going? I do not mean the fact that we originated from our mothers’
wombs. Childbirth is a result of the act of making love. However, how
did the act of making love to perpetuate childbirth originate? From
Adam and Eve? In addition, are we anything else besides human beings,
with our intelligence and physical presence? Where are we going on our
journey, and what does life really mean?

Processes and evolution enable the acts and methods we have
learned and utilized. As, people grow and with age, they gain empirical
knowledge. Nevertheless, where did the processes and techniques that
we now know about originate? What am I, besides this identification
as a human being with what we call a flesh-and-bone body—the
intelligent life-form that each of us is and this physical entity that
evolves? What is our purpose—do we have a purpose? What is our
ultimate destiny? Where are we going when we depart the planet?
Though those questions were phrased differently at the time of
my youth, I do not suppose young as I was, that I realized that the
questions I pondered had such a tremendous amount of philosophical
depth.

I recall arriving home from school when, rather than playing, I
felt a desire to go to my room. I picked up a piece of paper and began
writing. I do not recall what the impetus was to begin writing; I can
only suspect it had something to do with my life’s purpose. What I
wrote was a poem, and it began like this:

To Be

To be for me to be is to be.
And to be is being and being
Is to be. Therefore so shall I be.

A friend of my mother, named Beth, was visiting; my bedroom
door was open, and she walked in. She asked what I was doing, and
I replied, “Oh, just writing.” She asked if she could see what I was
writing, and I replied, “Sure.” She read the poem and looked at me
with the most peculiar expression. She said the poem was nice, but
I did not understand the meaning of her expression for some time.
If I was able to correctly identify the look she had, it was most likely
astonishment at the content of the poem. I suspect she wondered
how the poem could be so profound when written by someone so
young.

Nothing of any significance, with respect to my inquisitive nature,
occurred again for some time, that I can recall. I believe it wasn’t until
several years later, when I was in my early teens that anything unusual
occurred.

I returned to this philosophical state periodically, asking the
proverbial questions: who am I, where did I come from, and where am
I going? These thoughts I do not believe ever left my mind from the
time of the poem “To Be.” I was plagued with these questions and found
myself feverishly reading books relating to existentialism. I had hoped
that they would give me the answers I needed. At times, as I continued
with this pursuit, I would become mentally overwhelmed with my
identity issue. I became very anxious and somewhat depressed, as the
exploration seemed to overload my brain. I felt like my problems were
similar to those of a computer when it could not digest data because
of the unusual volume or the complexity of the content. The computer
may become overloaded and end up crashing, or perhaps shorting out
due to the lack of a circuit breaker. I felt, at times, that I might be losing
touch with reality. There were actually periods of time when I did not
understand who I was.

I knew that I was this entity described as a human being. I knew
my name and the other essential aspects of my nature, and I had all the
functions we normally possess, but somehow that knowledge was not
enough. It seemed as though there was an awareness that was lacking
in my consciousness that was crucial to my identity issue. I find it
extremely difficult to describe exactly how I felt then. It was almost as
though my brain was able to comprehend my state of mind, but I was
unable to formulate a description of how I actually felt because the
way I felt was indescribable. I had a sense of knowing, but it was just
an inexpressible feeling. Why could I not simply accept the fact that I
was an intelligent life form called a human being and leave it at that?
Was I attempting to find answers to questions that perhaps did not
have any answers?

I became frightened and tried not to think anymore about the
subject. The answers I needed were difficult for me to comprehend
because of my inability to discern that which, perhaps, I might never
know about existentialism. The answers given in the books I read
were subjective, stemming only from authors’ observations and their
understanding. The philosophical aspect of virtually anything may
stem from one’s own perception rather than resulting from scientific
documentation. So deductions based on knowledge or values, logical
reasoning, and critical analysis of fundamental assumptions or beliefs
about a subject would then be based strictly on perception, rather than
on pragmatic evidence.

Continually plagued with my identity issue for about six months
in my mid-twenties, I sought psychological help, which at first I was
not certain would be beneficial. The help was therapy for despair, I
suspect, because of my anxiety and inability to resolve my identity
issue. Despondency accompanied this state of mind. Where did I come
from, what was I, and where was I going? My inability to understand
these aspects of my existence was becoming overwhelming for me. In
addition, during some of these uncertain periods, I felt I was actually
beginning to lose touch with reality. On rare occasions, I also had
thoughts of suicide, either by taking some sleeping pills or by crashing
my car into a tree off the side of the road. I do not believe the suicidal
thoughts would ever have come to fruition, but the fact that I had
them was very disturbing to me just the same. I believed and realized
that the thought of the loss of my life should be God’s decision and
not mine, regardless of the circumstances.


As much as therapy does, sometimes it causes one to look at
questions and concerns from a different perspective. Somehow,
when another person poses questions or makes statements, it
perpetuates a different approach to a better understanding of the
subject. Therapy would help me find reasons and answers for some
of my questions.

But ultimately, we in essence answer most of our own questions
and concerns in the course of therapy. The therapist’s expertise in
knowing when to ask the proper questions and when to make the
necessary statements facilitates success for the patient. The therapy
and the accompanying medication helped me reduce the fear and
despondency with which I had been plagued. This, in turn, enabled
me to find a greater acceptance of that which is, was, and shall be.
However, the acceptance was still not enough of an explanation or
understanding for me. I continued to struggle to comprehend the
questions that still plagued me: where did I come from, what am I, and
where am I going?

Occasionally when an individual is in a low emotional state, a level
of anxiety may catapult him or her to a higher state of being. Perhaps
this higher state of being or awareness may even extricate the person
from a state of depression and into a more normal state of mind or
even a higher level of consciousness. Many times, states of depression,
anxiety, and ruin can be stages in life by which some of us may be
elevated to higher states of mind or even states of change.

Devastation can be a reward and a path to regeneration.

Let us compare anxiety and depression, which are low points
in one’s life, to throwing a football or baseball. The thrower’s arm is
lowered behind him or her in order to obtain the greatest height and
distance. In shot put or javelin competition, the competitor bends to the lowest
position in order to obtain the greatest height or distance.
Anxiety or depression may be the low points or the vehicles, on occasion,
that transform us to higher mental states or states of change.

We are sometimes able to free ourselves from negative states such
as alcoholism or drug abuse with programs specifically tailored for this.
I believe that these programs may be supplemented or accomplished
with this type of viewpoint. When the intensity it takes to extricate one
from a negative state is equal to or greater than the intensity that perpetuated
the state, then the person can be freed of that state.
The application of this
process for depression or other conditions is appropriate when the
individual has an extreme commitment to success. I say “process,” but
I mean that which would require concentrated focus and willpower
to facilitate release from a negative state. An intense commitment
to success is key to and fundamental for extricating oneself from the
negative situation.

Sometimes people do not have the will and motivation for a cure.
In some instances, this might be due to a fear of facing reality or of
facing situations one just does not want to deal with. Another instance
might be when someone needs attention, usually because of his or her
current state of mind or despondency. The original process I mentioned
to extricate oneself from the negative state, may require therapy to
facilitate, first, the inspiration and motivation necessary to enable the
essential concentration needed to accomplish the cure. The situation,
mental pain, and degree of dysfunction of the individual would dictate
the degree of focus required for success.

Understanding the ingredients that brought this state of mind or
level of pain to the present status is paramount and essential. If we
search our hearts, souls, and minds for answers to why we are who
we are, the answers are there, waiting to be brought to the surface.
We must permit ourselves to access the truth from the deep abyss
it dwells in, in spite of the pain the truth may produce. Success for
the individual is based on an awareness of the causes of a problem
coupled with the proper focus, dedication, and trust in God that will
ultimately make possible the release. If therapy is necessary, it may
reveal the aspects of the personality that brought about the negative
state, if one isn’t successful in identifying by them self. And again, if
treatment is necessary, and if it is accompanied by a strong enough will
for success through intense focus and dedication and trust in God,
it will unequivocally generate freedom from that which plagues the
individual.

The purity of all that is, an awareness of the divine in the entire
splendor of what exists is expressed in the devotion of one’s ability to
discern the eternal (without a beginning or end.)



The Strength In Knowing

Summary of Belief Systems

1) The philosophical aspect of virtually anything may be one’s perception
rather than the result of scientific documentation.

2) Analysis of fundamental assumptions or beliefs about a subject would
strictly involve perception rather than pragmatic evidence.

3) If we have a stronger awareness and appreciation of what we possess,
it will ultimately enable greater peace for us.

4) One should search their heart, soul, and mind for the answers to why
you are who you are.

5) If identification of our own causes of negative states of mind is
unsuccessful, therapy may be necessary.

6) It is essential to know the ingredients that brought these states of mind
or levels of pain to the present status.

7) One must focus in order to access the truth, regardless of how painful it
might be.

8) Success for the individual is based on an awareness of the causes, coupled
with the proper focus, dedication, and trust in God that will ultimately
make possible the release.

9) Many times, states of depression, anxiety, and ruin can be stages in life
that elevate us to higher states of mind or states of change.

10) If the intensity needed to extricate one from a negative state is equal
to or greater than that which perpetuated the state, then one can be free of
that state.

11) This particular process would require intense focus and willpower to
facilitate release from a negative state.

12) Intense commitment to success is fundamental for one’s extrication from
the negative situation.

13) Inspiration and motivation are necessary to enable the essential strength
needed to accomplish the goal.

14) Intense focus, dedication, and trust in God will unequivocally generate
freedom from that which plagues us.

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