The other night I had an unusual, but revealing dream which, now that I reflect on it, seems part dream and part reality. In the dream I was learning to fly in the air similar to the way that a swimmer swims in the water. It all seemed so natural-—there I was flying, moving my arms with a simple breast stroke.
I remember how it started-—I was in a back yard. The wind was blowing gently and there was the sensation that I could go into the air. I tried it and actually ascended. It was a little awkward at first but it became easier every time I tried. Soon I began to be more sure about clearing the utility lines and the treetops.

I flew only when it seemed to be the natural thing to do. Just flying from time to time didn’t change my life or my habits—until one day, I was standing on a street corner waiting behind several people. Rather than wait, I just soared over their heads and started flying across the street. When I chanced to look down at their faces, I saw looks of horror. It made me suddenly aware of what the ordinary person’s reaction would be to my flying. Also, at that instant a car underneath me stopped with a lurch and was hit by the car behind. The drivers were looking up in the air, shocked. All I could do was to continue my effortless soaring over the buildings that were across the street and then kept high enough to be out of sight of people.

After that experience, I was uneasy. Things would not be the same after that; the incident would surely be reported by the horrified people. Here was this man performing the most supernatural of acts. How was it possible? How could he do it? What did it mean? It caused me to reflect on many things. I knew then that I now had a potential that could have a profound effect on other people. I could go around the world reforming people and starting a new religion. But that would mean sacrificing my whole life to this cause. Once started, I could never return to my normal life. And would it really change people, or would they just be interested in watching me fly rather than listening to what I said?

Furthermore, what was there to be said? Why was I even thinking about some connection between flying and other people’s lives? I thought back on all my flying experiences—what was there in the air that I was reaching for and propelling myself with? There were certainly some kind of invisible waves; when I was feeling them I was also intensely aware of the presence of other people. I was sure that in a region where there were no people it would no longer feel natural to fly. Nor would it feel natural to fly in an area where there were only hostile people.

The outstanding fact about flying and about the warm exhilaration that came from it was that flying put me in touch with all the shared feelings that flow from person to person. I gradually began to realize that flying was made possible by the power from all these bonds that flow through the air. In a crowded friendly community these bonds were so strong and I felt so much a part of the people about me that flying was easy.

There was a simple answer. I was making use of the bonds that exist among people. And I was sensitive to them. When I became better at flying it was because I was becoming more sensitive to the bonds. The bonds existing among people are formed by the thoughts of goodness that are inherent and that flow from one person to another. Yes, in fact, I was flying by use of Goodness Bonds!
When flying I could also achieve a complete knowledge of Goodness Bonds. It must be true that the person with the most Goodness Bonds will be the happiest of all. It can’t be otherwise. The more Goodness Bonds flowing from you and back—the happier you must be. You don’t have to guess about this. Happiness is a state of being that is most directly influenced by your relations with other people. And it follows that it is better to have a good relationship than a bad one. A good relationship is also better than no relationship at all. I can see a direct connection between all this and Goodness Bonds. That is all I need to know and why I must fly.

After my dream ended and I was fully back to reality, I saw Athena, my mythical daughter. She first said: Will you teach me to fly?

I replied: I tell you in all openness that I would not know where to start in giving a flying lesson. It is a capability I don't know how to pass along. If I could pass it along I wouldn’t be happy to do so. I am still disturbed about the horrified reaction from the people as I flew over their heads making use of their own Goodness Bonds. If I could just get them to realize that, flying or not, there has to be such a thing as Goodness Bonds between people and that taken all together these add up to the Total Goodness (or the God) that exists in the world.

Flying has convinced me that just as surely as the earth is filled up with soil and water so is the air filled with Goodness Bonds. Now that I have accepted that intellectually, I can go ahead and use the bonds concept to make my choices.

Goodness Bonds come from people and they go one to another; and I am sure you could extend it to all creatures who think or have thought; and not necessarily limit it to those still living. That much is settled-—about where bonds come from-—but what we must think about is the character of these bonds, particularly the “intensity” and the “duration.” These are the two characteristics to maximize.

As a starter, I can’t imagine a very strong Goodness Bond to exist between strangers. So, “knowing” a person is the first step for establishing a Goodness Bond. Knowing a person is a mental phenomenon. The more intellect that you have the more you can know someone; and the more intellect they have, the more they can reciprocate and the stronger the bond that you can share. There are two parts to the intellect—the “reasoning” part which makes strong bonds; and the “memory” part which makes long enduring bonds.

So study, study, study to train your intellect so you can have the strongest bonds. It suggests that you must become as educated as possible and at the same time know as many people as possible—but this suggests that a bond with one person is just as good as a bond with another person.

I started out by saying I wanted to maximize my total bond strength. And this does suggest that all bonds are equal. Sixty bonds with one person would be the same as thirty bonds each with two persons. But I also said that bonds are realized through intellect. This means that as you share deeper into the intellect there is a multiplication effect on the bonds. If the conditions of knowing a person are favorable and you already have 30 bonds between you then the second 30 would be easier than getting the original 30 with some new person. And as you get more and more understanding and share deeper and deeper love, the total bond potential with one person expands more.

Probably the real reason for the strength of the mother-child bond is the total time spent together. But even this type of bond doesn’t exist to its fullest until the child develops reason.
Another example of a fundamental source of Goodness Bonds may be from physical pleasures. But these pleasures only form Goodness Bonds insofar as they can become intellectual pleasures—the mutual contemplation of past pleasures and especially the anticipation of future physical pleasures with the same person. The last sunset would not be a pleasure if it were not for the memories that follow. The last meeting is not death. Death is a beautiful lesson showing how to hold past bonds in memory and cherish others in that fashion.

Goodness Bonds can be analyzed and compared for different situations. I can see how this information would be helpful in everyday life. The final postulation of my dream is that we live our lives in terms of Goodness Bonds!

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