I Don't Do The Past
An Interview With Terry Cole Whittaker
By Ronald S. Miller with Kathy Julie, Contributing

  Continued...            

What has been your personal experience, Terry,  with all those pitfalls you warn against?

Terry: Certainly I've suffered from depression and negative thinking. All of us have, I believe. The lives of most of us reflect that negativity. But I'm learning to move on through it and into the present. The emphasis in the 1980s was on processing and analyzing the past. This approach was damaging, I feel. Not doing the past has made an enormous difference in my life. As I have been able to stay more in the present, my experience has changed. This is why as we grow in awareness, we periodically need to let go of old, unworkable relationships and unfulfilling jobs in order to attract new, more harmonious relationships and fulfilling work. If we want to keep climbing up the ladder of consciousness, we need to give up attachment to old, habitual patterns of thinking and behaviors that keep us stuck in less than desirable lifestyles. We also need to keep on keeping on, since there will inevitably come those times when we slip. We have to be determined in our heart and mind to reach the heights of our potential, whatever field or area of experience is involved. If we remain committed- that is, if we persevere, no matter how daunting conditions appear, we will eventually reach our goal.

What are some positive changes that have occurred in your life?

Terry: I handle criticism better now. I used to take it too much to heart. Everyone has an opinion and when people criticize you, it often means that they just want you to do things their way. That was a big issue in my life. I would change, depending on who I was talking to. People want you to be like them. Very few people have real knowledge of what you really should do. By not having firm guidance and knowing what you want to do and then sticking to that, you move with the wind. This comes from wanting to be liked and wanting people to approve of you. But we all have to make decisions, based on what our goals are. The trouble is, many times we don't have clear goals in mind. We all need to know what we want to achieve and where we're going; then we can make decisions based on that knowledge.

Isn't there too much emphasis on "getting what we want"?

Terry: Yes, there has been, and still is. I now teach people to develop a personal, heartfelt relationship with God that stresses surrender and service to humanity as a way of life. Instead of accumulating everything for ourselves, let's serve humanity a little more selflessly.

How did your personal relationship with God evolve?

Terry: I found that dealing only with an impersonal power all the time was a very lonely experience. During a sad time in my life, it was depressing to think that this impersonal power was all that existed. I almost became an atheist. The teaching that God and I are one had led me to a wrong understanding of God. I saw God as some kind of power within me, or just me alone. So I began to reach out to a personal God beyond myself, and discovering that personal God gave me hope again. It gave me the same feeling I used to have as a little child when I would pray to God. My faith changed dramatically after that discovery. I began to trust again. I also realized from this experience that the statement, "The Divine Presence is within me," can lead us into wrong thinking. It has a tendency to foster egocentrism and arrogance.

Can you say more about that sad time in your life?

Terry: Yes. In 1985 I left my ministry and went on a sabbatical, aware that something was missing in my inner life. Although I was at the top of my profession, I felt an emptiness that none of my successes could fill. Unable to keep going like that, I decided to leave it all behind and, in an act of faith, I jumped into the abyss without a safety net and without knowing where I would land.