Jonesboy

Hi Jetsun, A little long but good. http://www.angelfire.com/space2/light11/diction/ramana.html#11 Self-Enquiry – The nature of the Heart (Hridayam, Sphurana ) Evidently, self-consciousness is in relation to the individual himself and therefore has to be experienced in his being, with a centre in the body as the centre of experience. It resembles the dynamo of a machine, which gives rise to all sorts of electrical works. Not only [does] it [maintain] the life of the body and the activities of all its parts and organs, conscious and unconscious, but also the relation between the physical and the subtler planes, on which the individual functions. Also, like the dynamo, it vibrates and can be felt by the calm mind that pays attention to it. It is known to the yogis and sadhakas by the name of sphurana, which in samadhi scintillates with consciousness. (Ramana Maharshi, GR, 82.) Wise men say that there is a connection between the source of the various psychic nerves and the Self, that this is the knot of the heart, that the connection between the sentient and the insentient will exist until this is cut asunder with the aid of true knowledge, that just as the subtle and invisible force of electricity travels through wires and does many wonderful things, so the force of the Self also travels through the psychic nerves and, pervading the entire body, imparts sentience to the senses, and that if this knot is cut the Self will remain as it always is, without any attributes. (Ramana Maharshi, SI, Chapter 2, Question 12.) What is called the heart is no other than Brahman. (Ramana Maharshi, SE, answer to question 8.) Call it by any name, God, Self, the Heart or the Seat of Consciousness, it is all the same. The point to be grasped is this, that HEART means the very Core of one's being, the Centre, without which there is nothing whatever. (Ramana Maharshi, MG, 72.) [The Heart] is the Centre of spiritual experience according to the testimony of Sages. The spiritual Heart-centre is quite different from the blood- propelling, muscular organ known by the same name. The spiritual Heart-centre is not an organ of the body. All that you can say of the Heart is that it is the very Core of your being, that [with] which you are really identical (as the word in Sanskrit literally means), whether you are awake, asleep or dreaming, whether you are engaged in work or immersed in Samadhi. (Ramana Maharshi, MG, 73.) The Heart … is different from the blood vessel, so called, and is not the Anahata Chakra in the middle of the chest, one of the six centres spoken of in books on Yoga. (Ramana Maharshi, KOL, 150.) This heart is different from the physical heart; beating is the function of the latter. The former is the seat of spiritual experience. That is all that can be said of it. Truly speaking pure Consciousness is indivisible, it is without parts. It has no form and shape, no “within” and “without.” There is no “right” or “left” for it. Pure Consciousness, which is the Heart, includes all; and nothing is outside or apart from it. That is the ultimate Truth Skipping ahead ... But people do not understand this. They cannot help thinking in terms of physical body and the world. For instance, you say "I have come to this Asramam all the way from my country beyond the Himalayas''. But that is not the truth. Where [is there] a “coming” or “going” or any movement whatever, for the one, all-pervading Spirit which you really are? You are where you have always been. It is your body that moved or was conveyed from place to place till it reached this Asramam. This is the simple truth, but to a person who considers himself a subject living in an objective world, it appears as something altogether visionary! It is by coming down to the level of the ordinary understanding that a place is assigned to the Heart in the physical body. (Ramana Maharshi, MG, 73-4.) Heart is the seat of Jnanam as well as of the granthi (knot of ignorance). It is represented in the physical body by a hole smaller than the smallest pin-point, which is always shut. When the mind drops down in Kevalya Nirvikalpa [samadhi], it opens but shuts again after it. When sahaja [Nirvikalpa Samadhi] is attained it opens for good. The granthi is the knot which ties the insentient body to the consciousness which functions in it; that is why when it is loosened temporarily in Kevalya Nirvikalpa there is no body consciousness. (Ramana Maharshi, GR, 96.) God is said to reside in the Heart in the same way as you are said to reside in your body. Yet Heart is not a place. Some place must be named as the dwelling of God for those who take their bodies for themselves and who comprehend only relative knowledge. The fact is neither God nor we occupy any space. We are bodiless and spaceless in deep sleep, yet in the waking state we appear to be the opposite. (Ramana Maharshi, GR, 97.) Skipping again... Self-Enquiry – The mind’s origin is in the Heart That which rises as “I” in this body is the mind. If one inquires as to where in the body the thought “I” rises first, one would discover that it rises in the heart. That is the place of the mind's origin. (Ramana Maharshi, WHO, 13.) If one inquires as to where in the body the thought “I” rises first, one would discover that it rises in the heart. That is the place of the mind's origin. (Ramana Maharshi, WHO, 13.) It is true that the throat is stated to be the location of the mind, the face or the heart of the intellect, the navel of the memory, and the heart or sarvanga of the egoity; though differently stated thus yet, for the aggregate of these, that is the mind or internal organ, the location is the heart alone. This is conclusively declared in the Scriptures. (Ramana Maharshi, SE, answer to question 7.) I ask you to observe where the “I” arises in your body, but it is not really quite correct to say that the “I” arises from and merges in the chest at the right side. The Heart is another name for Reality and this is neither inside nor outside the body. There can be no in or out for it, since it alone is. I do not mean by “heart” any physiological organ or any plexus or nerves or anything like that; but so long as a man identifies himself with the body or thinks he is in the body, he is advised to see where in the body the “I” - thought arises and merges again. It must be the heart at the right side of the chest since every man of whatever race and religion and in whatever language he may be speaking, points to the right side of the chest to indicate himself when he says “I.” This is so all over the world, so that must be the place. And by keenly watching the emergence of the “I” - thought on waking and its subsidence on going to sleep, one can see that it is in the heart on the right side. (Ramana Maharshi, TBSRM, Chapter 1.) As instruments for knowing the objects the sense organs are outside, and so they are called outer senses; and the mind is called the inner sense because it is inside. But the distinction between inner and outer is only with reference to the body; in truth, there is neither inner or outer. The mind's nature is to remain pure like ether. What is referred to as the heart or the mind is the collocation of the elements (of phenomenal existence) that appear as inner and outer. So there is no doubt that all phenomena consisting of names and forms are of the nature of mind alone. All that appear outside are in reality inside and not outside; it is in order to teach this that in the Vedas also all have been described as of the nature of the heart. What is called the heart is no other than Brahman. (Ramana Maharshi, SE, answer to question 8.)

Hi Bindi, That is a very good observation. Sorry I was wasn't thinking about emotional energy in that aspect. Now it takes a lot for me to feel this but I know others who are sensitive to the emotional energy of others. The flow of negative energy is felt in the 3rd chakra. For some it can feel like a stabbing pain in the side depending on the intensity of the emotion. If we share the issues/obstruction we start the process of feeling the physical sensation and then up to getting lost in mind stories. It is all energy. Integrating the obstruction allows the energy to flow through and just like in meditation ones daily life can be ecstatic by learning to reside in such a manner. I can't recommend The Presence Process enough. It is in no way easy to do, but the lessons learned have been invaluable.

Maybe to get back to the topic of the Kingdom. Any thoughts? 22. Jesus saw some babies nursing. He said to his disciples, "These nursing babies are like those who enter the (Father's) kingdom." They said to him, "Then shall we enter the (Father's) kingdom as babies?" Jesus said to them, "When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom]."

Oh Bindi, Why are you on a spiritual website if you don't believe the teachers or the teachings? Don't believe me that thoughts are energy and they start from the heart. Don't believe Ramana. Trust in science to tell you that you are thoughts and it starts in the gut.. Or You can spend some time working on that technique and see if I am right. You can even read up on the Presence Process which is a 10wk course. A great thread over at AYP on it. Good luck.

Thank you for those quotes. Now if you would go through them and look at when each of those was written. For instance. The Gospel of John was written by three different authors over a period of 200 years. EDIT: I may have been off a few years but close. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_John#Historical_reliability The gospel identifies its author as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." Although the text does not name this disciple, by the beginning of the 2nd century, a tradition had begun to form which identified him with John the Apostle, one of the Twelve (Jesus' innermost circle). Although some notable New Testament scholars affirm traditional Johannine scholarship, the majority do not believe that John or one of the Apostles wrote it,] and trace it instead to a "Johannine community" which traced its traditions to John; the gospel itself shows signs of having been composed in three "layers", reaching its final form about 90–100 AD The Gospel of Matthew https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Matthew: Most scholars believe the Gospel of Matthew was composed between 80 and 90 CE, with a range of possibility between 70 to 110 CE. A pre-70 date remains a minority view. The anonymous author was probably a male Jew, standing on the margin between traditional and non-traditional Jewish values, and familiar with technical legal aspects of scripture being debated in his time. Writing in a polished Semitic "synagogue Greek", he drew on three main sources, the Gospel of Mark, the hypothetical collection of sayings known as the Q source, and material unique to his own community, called "Special Matthew", or the M source. The Gospel of Luke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Luke:The majority view is that Luke the Evangelist, the companion of Paul, was not the author of Luke-Acts. The anonymous author took for his sources the gospel of Mark, the sayings collection called the Q source, and a collection of material called the L (for Luke) source; the most probable date is around 80-100 CE, and there is evidence that it was still being substantially revised well into the 2nd century. Not trying to start anything Bindi. Just my view that when you see anything that say's Christ in the bible it was put there by the church. We can each believe how we wish. Take care.

"...flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 1Corinthians 15:51-54 In this verse Paul claims that the kingdom of God is neither within nor without for the living, but will only be inherited by Christians that have died and are raised in their bodies and transformed when Christ returns. This is a third alternative view of where the kingdom is, and to some Christians not without merit, but it is a view that is not really relevant to me at the moment. Hi Bindi, To me this is about oneness. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— This is not all will end in cessation. 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.- What is that, that never dies that is one with all things? Those who belong to samsara (perishable) must clothe themselves with the imperishable (Oneness), and we will be changed. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 1Corinthians 15:51-54 - When you have achieved oneness and moved beyond samsara you will come to understand the meaning “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” I would also point out that Jesus never called himself a Christ. The term Christ was coined hundred of years later by the church. P.S. My browser upgrade messes with things so I can't do a proper quote.. weird.

Bindi, All thoughts start from the heart. Ramana agrees with me on this one. Emotions start as a physical sensation in the heart. It is that sensation that our mind uses to create mind stories. This technique teaches one how to dismiss the mind stories and integrate the emotional charge, the obstruction. Learning to work with the emotional upset in the way has been very powerful in not only working with emotions but also working with energy as well. There is a lot to residing in energy like that.

This is a little long but I have found this to be a powerful technique. P.S. His website seems to be down at the moment or I would link to Michael Brown's The Presence Portal. LANDING OUT OF THE MENTAL PLANE The common denominator within any encounter of being upset is that we feel a level of discomfort. Instinctively, when confronted by an upset, we react through an expression of: Emotional feelings. By entertaining mental thoughts forms or stories. Through outwardly projected physical behavior. Whether we are aware of it or not, no matter what reactive approach we take when upset, by reacting to the upset we are attempting to sedate and control what we perceive is happening to us from our awareness. And, all sedation and control in the face of an upset is "the pushing of our shadow away from us", and consequently, a forced ascension of our awareness into the mental plane. The more we push away at the experience of "being upset", the more ungrounded we become. When we consciously observe an upsetting experience we real eyes there are three distinct aspects to it; a physical, mental, and emotional: The physical aspects are the circumstances or person/s that triggered the upset, and they are also the physical behaviors we are considering initiating as a consequence of whatever occurred. The mental aspect is the story we are telling ourselves about what happened, who did what, why it happened, and whose fault it was. The emotional aspect is how this upset is causing us to feel. The emotional aspect of any upset is accessible to us as both an uncomfortable feeling state, and emotion which we may call fear, anger, and/or grief, and as a corresponding physical sensation anchored within our body. Here are a set of instructions inviting you to consciously enter the grounding experience we are discussing: Remember the most recent occasion in which you felt upset. Notice how you use the mental plane as a corridor to recall the details of the incident; it obediently delivers your attention to the moment of the incident that initially triggered you. This is a useful application of the mental plane; using it as a means to fly your attention from one moment to another – whether this moment is currently unfolding or is already past. To enter a portal of upset you may also choose an upsetting experience from the past that has been festering within your thought forms right up to this present moment. You will find that your awareness of any past unintegrated event diminishes and seemingly completely disappears when you are busy and engaged within life’s demands, (which may be why you engage yourself so actively in so many "doings"). However, as you try to go to sleep at night, or as you awake in the morning, its resonance of disquiet dutifully returns. This type of upset is ripe for the picking. Whatever is upsetting you, whether something happening right now, or something from the past that is still nagging at you, is a way in. As you recall the upset of your choosing, instead of engaging in the mental aspect of the experience, or upon the physical actions you may be considering, place your attention fully on "the feeling" accompanying it. Take note of where this uncomfortable feeling is located as a physical sensation in your body. It does not matter what you call this uncomfortable feeling, whether it is fear, anger, and/or grief. Your only task is to feel it, and while feeling it, to simultaneously take note of where it is within your physical body. Whatever the uncomfortable emotional state is that accompanies the upset, it is also reflected as a physical sensation within your body. Your task is to place your attention within this physical sensation and to "cradle it". How? Momentarily bring to mind the image of The Madonna & Child: She is gently cradling the child in her arms; there is no movement within her posture, and no attempt to change or understand anything. Her only intention is to embrace the innocence contained within her arms. As you place your attention upon the uncomfortable feeling of this upset, cradle it in this manner; there is no physical movement required from your body, nor any mental participation in this practice other than using the mental body as a means to place and hold your attention fully within your physical body upon the sensational location of your emotional discomfort. As you cradle the uncomfortable feeling with your attention, keep your eyes open. Yes, open. As you place your attention upon the feeling within, do not close your eyes and escape from the outer physical reality of the moment you are currently engaging. The eyes you place upon this inner discomfort, the eyes that have the capacity to "feel", are the eyes of the heart. While the eyes of the heart attend to this inner feeling, allow the eyes of the physical body to rest in stillness, open, gently embracing the presence of the outer world. Notice how, as you place the eyes of the heart on the inner feeling, you instinctively want to close your eyes and disappear. This is the old habit of "mentally running away" which has often been disguised as "a spiritual practice". Do not leave, do not fly off, stay here. Now, if you choose to, place this piece of writing down, and enter this practice for a few minutes. Pay attention to the inner and outer experience it initiates. Here are the instructions for brief review: Remember the most recent occasion in which you felt upset. As you recall the upset, instead of engaging your attention in the mental aspect of the experience, or in the physical actions you are considering taking, place your attention fully on the accompanying feeling. take note of where this feeling is located as a physical sensation in your body. Cradle this feeling in that location. As you cradle the uncomfortable feeling with your attention, keep your eyes open. Simultaneously watch both the inner feeling and the outer world. Do not be concerned if you struggle to keep your attention hooked onto the feeling aspect of the recalled upset. Remember that the eyes of the heart are weak because we live upon a planet that does not consciously develop them or appreciate what they are able to show us. The eyes of the heart develop organically through our consistent use of them. When approaching an upset consciously in this manner, by placing our full attention on the felt-aspect of the experience, instead of escaping into mental activity or any physical behavior the mental plane encourages, we notice almost immediate occurrences: We begin feeling more grounded into our life experience. This is because these uncomfortable feelings lead us directly into an awareness of the shadow we run away from, and by consciously drawing the shadow towards us, we approach the runway of reality. Approaching the experience of "being grounded" may be so unfamiliar to us, that as we consciously engage our landing gear, we experience a sense of anxiety. It is a bit like the moment just before a plane’s wheels impact the runway; there is a sense of "holding on" or "holding back". However, the moment we allow ourselves to relax into the uncomfortable felt-resonance within the upset we are recalling, we gradually come down to earth and appreciate the groundedness initiated by the experience. This grounding causes a sense of relief, just like the moment after touching down on the runway and knowing we are once again safely upon the earth. Once we are grounded into the physical location of the feeling within our body, we notice that an energetic movement begins within this sensation. The actual sensation through which the uncomfortable emotional state is anchored into our physical body, which has been stuck or blocked, starts transforming. It transforms because our awareness is our tool of transformation. Often this inner movement is experienced as an upward rise of energy through our chest area and up into our head which may culminate in tearing up. Yes, as we sink down into it, it rises up! Who would have thought? outwardly, we also notice that the more grounded into the inner feeling we become, the more alive, vital, and animated the world around us becomes. Our experience of being here upon earth ceases to appear as a flat inanimate encounter, but instead takes on a textured hue, an energetic aura. This is because we, through consciously grounding ourselves, arrive more fully into the present moment of our current experience. Only when we allow ourselves to engage fully with the moment we are in now do we real eyes how heavenly this earthly experience is. GARDENING OUR HEART It is up to us to give ourselves the experience of the consequences of consciously gardening our heart. If we require "understanding" before we are willing to take on this responsibility, it is only because we are trying to comprehend what is being offered here from our seat within the maze of the mental plane. The heart cannot be understood; it can only be engaged. Only when we engage our heart do we enter a marriage made in heaven. The following simple practice, when engaged consistently, shows us, through personal experience, that it is the garden of the heart from which all the fruits of a joyful, healthy, and abundant life experience are seeded, cultivated, and harvested. It is also from within the garden of the heart that we consciously awaken to the experience of the conscious death that fruits eternal rebirth. By tending to the garden of the heart consistently each day, we experience the miraculous. It reveals to us what it really means to "love and take care of ourselves"; to stand by ourselves no matter what. To initiate this encounter with the heart it is recommended we tend to our garden for a few minutes at the beginning and the end of each day, and also in the midst of any unexpected upset. This is how simple it is: We sit comfortably in a quiet place where we will not be interrupted. (If we truly seek to be authentic when entering this practice, we switch our cell phone to "off". Otherwise, we are just doing this because nothing else is currently stealing our attention.) We recall an upset, whether it is something that happened recently, or something currently festering within our physical, mental, and emotional experience. We drop the story and the details of the physical events surrounding it, and instead place our attention fully on "how we feel about it". Where seek out where we feel this discomfort within our body? We place our attention within this location and "cradle it". While keeping the eyes of our heart upon the uncomfortable feeling within our body, we simultaneously keep our physical eyes open, and in a relaxed manner, we observe the world before us. We observe how the inner feeling moves, and how, as it does, the outer world simultaneously increases in presence. When we stray off into the mental again, we gently bring our attention back into the inner feeling within our body and simultaneously upon the presence of the outer world. We cradle this experience for as long as we feel necessary. NOTE: If we do not have an upset to consciously work with, we enter the practice by consciously placing our attention within the center of our chest and hold it there, following the above instructions, until we feel complete. The practice of consistently placing of our attention within the center of our chest is equally powerful in initiating "the death experience" that invites the blessing of rebirth within all unintegrated aspects of our life experience. Eventually, through this practice, we discover that the feelings of discomfort underlying our unintegrated upsets are gradually integrated and replaced by stillness, silence, and a sense of balance and peace within our heart. Over time these feelings of balance and peace organically radiate into our thoughts and are reflected back through our outer physical circumstances. As a consequence of daily and consistently facing our shadow and grounding ourselves through it, we begin also decreasing our addiction to escaping into the mental plane as a means to initiate a change in the quality of our life experience. We discover, when consistently attending to the garden of the heart in this way, by watering, weeding, and fertilizing it with our cradled attention, that it gradually lifts unnoticed veils and reveals the depth of the immensity of the life experience available to us all in each moment. By attending to the heart in this manner, the teachings we receive internally through revelation free us of "following others", of wandering through endless conceptual spiritual mazes, and of "the seekers seemingly unscratchable itch". This practice gradually frees us of "spiritual delusion", or "the spiritual disease", as Adyashanti aptly calls it. As we become familiar with "the death experience", and surrender to the companionship of its divine presence within the ever-changing currents of our life, we are reborn, again, and again, and again. This rebirthing nourishes a deepening awareness of what it means "to live fully within the radiance of the present moment". Entering life more fully, by consciously and consistently entering the heart, really is this simple. However, to fully receive the revelation of the simple teaching shared here, requires experientially entering "the heart of the matter" as a way of being in this world and not as "something we need to do, and get over with, so that we can get on with something else". This teaching and the consequences it initiates is the Dharma of The Sacred Heart. "It’s not about feeling better – it’s about getting better at feeling."

I always think of the Heart Sutra when I read this one. 50. Jesus said, "If they say to you, 'Where have you come from?' say to them, 'We have come from the light, from the place where the light came into being by itself, established [itself], and appeared in their image.' If they say to you, 'Is it you?' say, 'We are its children, and we are the chosen of the living Father.' If they ask you, 'What is the evidence of your Father in you?' say to them, 'It is motion and rest.'"

Hi Bindi, Non duality. Jesus is saying the same thing as Krishna and the Buddha. We are one with all things not separate. Pretty clear and beautiful if you ask me. To finish the above quote: 3. Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father's) kingdom is within you and it is outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty." That last part is pretty interesting Thank you for the quotes. Tom

It has it's positive and negative aspects to it. It can have a negative effect in meditation because of the increased thoughts. It becomes easier to get caught up in them. Over time this gets easier to deal with but if you have trouble with that aspect in meditation then don't smoke before hand. It can really increase the sensitivity to energy. This a real benefit when doing energy practices or just residing. Negative emotions are energy as well and if dealing with strong anxiety don't smoke because it can increase the anxiety. It also magnifies the after effects of a meditation session . It can and with steady use block dreams. It is part of the yoga shiva? Tradition where they have been smoking pot for a long time. It has its plus and minuses and each individual would have to decide for themselves.

Thank you Jeff, If you send me energy/light transmission. An example of you just thinking my name with the intent to send energy. I receive the energy and see snakes and other things with the energy. Is that me/local mind or is that you? Can you also explain why some may feel nothing at all, others a little warmth while some may feel the energy as ecstatic or a silent mind?

Jeff, When a master sends energy/transmission to an individual. They will receive that which they are open to receive. My question is when the person is feeling the energy from the transmission can a person associate such energy as an attack or in a negative fashion? Even after agreeing to such a contact? Is there an astral aspect to such a transmission?

Hi, I consider dreams like that dreams of learning, a blessing. You were in the shower and you could see the ladies, both naked of attachments. Once you noticed, then you started to have clothes and no matter how hard d you tried you couldn't remove the clothes. You are grasping thinking trying to control. Once you stopped part of you became naked again. In the end you were sinking into calm water. Your mind was becoming silent, I.e. The calm waters father/male aspect. It was a dream teaching you how to let go. Very beautiful and blessed. Congrats.

I agree it is very powerful. I actually was able to teach this at work this year. It is our diversity theme of the year A powerful book that goes along with it it Real Love by Greg Baer. Amazing book on loving unconditionally and taught me to love what is. Highly recommend them both together. In addition I would very highly recommend The Presence Process by Michael Brown. An amazing book that teaches you how to integrate emotions. Very powerful and a very good thread at ayp on it for more information. Hope this helps, Tom

I would agree that The Work by Byron Katie is very powerful and based on some of the comments needed. Is it true? (Yes or no. If no, move to 3.) Can you absolutely know that it's true? (Yes or no.) How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought? Who would you be without the thought?

Hi 3bob, I would say Jeff is helping people achieve in a real way what he posts. Like this: Best wishes, Tom

Hi Apkallu, In answer to all of your questions above. Yes That is very true. I don't even think he made his progress using AYP either so that is kinda funny.

Hi, I have a few friends that are members here and it looks like a good place. Thank you, Tom