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Lester
Makes a Million Dollars
The primary
thing he talked about in those days
was the inner perfection of
Beingness
of each one. As he talked, in his
mind he would see the other person
as all-perfect, all-knowing, all-powerful--a
perception that gave the other one
quite
a lift.
However,
from his long-time experience in business,
when asked, Lester would occasionally
offer guidance on a practical level.
And, in 1953, it occurred to
him that
despite all his accomplishments, he
still had not made a million
dollars.
He had also noticed that many of his
new friends had the impression
that only
by being poor could they have the
freedom they'd read about. Many of
them had
interpreted the tranquil state as
one of lack. Admonitions such as
"Let
go of your attachment to things"
and "Things cannot make you happy"
had been
misinterpreted as meaning that one
had to give up ambition, money,
prosperity,
and abundance in order to achieve
inner tranquility.
Lester
knew that this was not so, that it
was the attachment to money and
things
that created the non-freedom and that
this attachment was itself only a
feeling.
He was also very sure, based on his
own experience, that all feelings
could
be corrected, let go of released.
So he set out to make his million,
to prove
both that one could have and accomplish
things in the world without the
deadly
attachment and that spiritual freedom
didn't mean deprivation. On the
contrary,
it meant the ability to have, to be,
and to do anything and everything.
But talking about it was one thing.
Actually doing it was the only
way to
prove it. He decided to prove his
point with real estate in New York
City.
In
1953, he began buying apartment buildings
with no cash down. He would
either
run them for profit or sell them for
quick profit. Within six months, he
had acquired
well over a million dollars equity
in property.
I
started in the real estate business
with no cash and bought apartment
houses using
mortgages and loans. With no effort,
I acquired twenty-three apartment
houses
of twenty to forty units each. I found
it was easy to do.
Every
deal had to be a very harmonious one.
Everyone in it had to gain. If
there
were a broker involved, I made sure
he got his full commission. The
seller
benefited by getting what he wanted,
his building sold. And if there
were a
lawyer involved, he got his share.
Everyone benefited in every deal.
That's
the way all deals should be. There's
no need for anyone to suffer.
Everyone
should get what he wants out of it.
Everyone should benefit.
Every
seller wants to sell. Every buyer
wants to buy. I found that harmony
is the
basic law of the universe and when
we're in tune with it, things can
be done
with little effort.
"What's
the next step?" he wondered.
He had proven he could apply his new
theory
to business, he had over a million
dollars; what was left to prove?
Then
it occurred to him that the need to
accumulate wealth was not security.
It could
all be lost. Also, the need for accumulation
indicated a lack of conviction
in one's ability to produce what one
needed at will. Therefore, he
decided,
"From here on, I have everything
I need as I need it," and
proceeded
to test out still another theory.
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