Mystical Mentor: Breaking Through Barriers Finding Peace of Mind

By Dick Warn

Written in the style of "Tuesdays with Morrie"-Mystical Mentor, based on a true story, is a powerful pathway filled with simple exercises anyone can use to break through barriers. If it feels like something is missing and you have yet to find your rightful place, this book may have been written for you.

Richard was well-dressed and attempting to impress others when he met Russell Swank, a humble self-made multi-millionaire. The real Richard, the man behind his mask, had trouble making ends meet but instantly felt Russell had the answers. Through a series of weekly meetings and eye-opening assignments, Richard was inspired to transform his life from just over broke to a grand adventure.

This journey that Richard took did not reveal new truths-there aren't any. Russell helped Richard see life's most powerful truths in new light. If you are willing to dive in and apply some of the concepts, doors will open and rewarding changes will occur.

Mystical Mentor is not a religious book-it is a spiritual book.

When Richard (Dick Warn) told Russell that he would be writing this book, Russell made Dick promise to not share any concept that he had not proven. The proving took 20 years. The actual writing - first draft to final - demanded 10 more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Feb 14, 2008
• ISBN: 9781425161668

Dick Warn

In 1978, Dick Warn formed Richard S. Warn & Associates to help business owners, managers and leaders achieve greater success in sales, management, and team building. He has written and delivered over 800 custom workshops, 2,000 keynote speeches, and audio versions of these Miracle Minutes can be heard on KTDD-AM (Riverside, California) and KMYT-FM (Temecula, California). You can hear samples by visiting: www.TheMiracleMinute.com. For the past 27 years, Dick Warn has been invited back to deliver the opening keynote speeches at the Association of Washington BusinessÕ Business Week summer programs. Week-long programs sharing with high school students the principles of free enterprise, insights from business leaders, and the skills required for team building. Additional insights available at: www.wbw.org. In 1984, while working at The Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center in Pasco, Washington, Dick began to focus on the connections between success in business and a successful life. His work with people at the center clarified the unbreakable bonds between the two. His own struggles with alcohol strengthened his resolve to help others by sharing what he has discovered. Dick Warn is an author, speaker, consultant, coach and friend. For additional insights into his life and career, please visit: www.TheMiracleMinute.com.

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© Copyright 2008 Dick Warn.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval

system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

Note for Librarians: A cataloguing record for this book is available from Library

and Archives Canada at www.collectionscanada.ca/amicus/index-e.html

ISBN: 978-1-4251-6165-1

ISBN: 978-1-4251-6166-8 (ebk)

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

IN CLOSING

Dedicated to my mentor and friend,

Russell Swank

Anchorage, Alaska

There is no need to run outside For better seeing,

Nor to peer from a window. Rather abide

At the center of your being;

For the more you leave it, the less you learn.

Lao-Tzu

600-? B.C.

Chinese philosopher

This is my way,

What is your way?

There is no the way.

Friedrich Nietzsche

1844-1900

German philosopher

ONE

Ω

Meeting My Mentor

Have you ever met someone so calm, so at peace, that you thought, just maybe, they were on drugs? I had spoken at a Toastmasters International meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. After that meeting a stranger stepped forward, saying, That was great. You have most of the math right, but the most important parts are missing. Then he handed me his business card and turned away. The card read: Russell Swank, Toppers Oil, Inc.

The instant he was out the door I turned to other people, seeking information. I learned that Russell Swank had left school when he was 13 to help his mother raise a fatherless family.

I learned that Russell was a highly respected businessman who had climbed from being deeply in debt (a total of $800,000), to amassing $16 million without filing bankruptcy or harming anyone. That he owned several businesses, including a chain of gas stations. That he drove a new Lincoln Continental and lived with his wife in a double-wide trailer.

I called Russell’s office the next morning to see if he would meet me for coffee. I was shocked at how fast his receptionist put me through and, without hesitating, Russell agreed.

Within the hour Russell and I were seated in a restaurant. I ordered coffee and he ordered tea, requesting that he be allowed to place the tea bag into the water. When the water and tea bag arrived, Russell pushed the tea bag aside. He drank water as if it were tea.

When questioned about the hot water, Russell explained that he no longer desired coffee or tea. However, ordering only hot water caused problems. Some servers came unglued trying to put a price on the water, and others acted as if he were stealing.

Rather than ruffle feathers Russell ordered hot tea, and asked for the tea bag on the side.

With that mystery solved, I moved toward my primary objective by asking Russell, How did you become so calm, peaceful and strong?

Without hesitation he replied, "I wasn’t born this way. My father’s sudden death forced me to become a wage earner before I could legally drive, and I learned about life and the games people play at a very early age. There is a difference between thinking we know, and knowing we know.

"Richard, how did you learn to respect hot stoves? Was it when someone told you they were hot? Or was it after you got burned? To truly know—with every cell of your being—you must have an experience. Without that experience, the best you have is blind faith in something that may or may not be true.

"One of the reasons life seems so difficult is that most of what we have been led to believe is based on myths and rumors. The collective insanity of mankind is passed down from generation to generation.

"Since time began, people have gathered to pray for peace. Today, more people are praying, but less peace exists.

"How many people, Richard, have died fighting over a god in the name of peace? Not the God, but images of gods that do not exist. Blind-faith followers willingly kill and die for the myths they believe in.

"Don’t get me wrong—there is a God. There is a Higher Power—an unseen, unknown Intelligence that cannot be defined. Something tells radish seeds to grow into radishes, acorns to grow into trees, and cells within your blood to rush to heal cuts. Behind everything that can be seen there is Something that cannot be seen.

"People who refuse to accept the possibility of a Higher Power have yet to look deeply into the eyes of a newborn child—or ponder the annual flights of birds, the beauty of flowers, the sounds of music, the cycle of seasons, or the creatures of the sea.

"Now that I’ve discovered a few Truths and have begun to see through the smoke and mirrors, I’ve changed my mind about how much I know. I now believe that life is 50% mystery, 50% miracle, and that the very best we can do is to work our way through the fog with love in our heart. Love is the most important part.

"One of my earlier mistakes, which I repeated for years, was telling God what I wanted and asking for favors as if I were ordering pizza for home delivery. That didn’t work for me—I no longer believe it is God’s responsibility to bring us anything. That which we need we have already been given.

"And please remember, Richard, God is just a name, the same as Larry, Mary, Peter and Paul. Power isn’t in the name, but in the meaning behind the name. There is a source of universal power, a cosmic guidance system and infinite knowingness that cannot be explained. This It, whatever It is, can only be experienced. We can prove the existence of It through personal experience, but no living person can explain what It is.

"Spaceship Earth, this spinning mass of natural resources, was a gift, a toy to be shared. Yet, self-centered leaders, like children playing in a sandbox, fight over its resources as if they can steal from another person’s garden.

"In a universe governed by absolute law there are two sets of rules. On the one hand, we have Universal Rules, like the laws of music, the law of gravity, the law of cause and effect, and all of the other laws that govern life as we know it. And these cosmic laws are the same for everyone, everywhere, whether or not they are aware of them.

"On the other hand, we have man-made rules and regulations. Officials in most governing bodies feel the need to establish their importance. In some places, leaders accomplished this by killing people. In other places, nations die as a result of over-regulation.

"Yesterday someone on the radio claimed that we have over 48,000 laws on the books, with more being written every year. Why are there so many rules and regulations? And why are most people trying to avoid the really important ones?

"One example of a really important one is the Golden Rule: ‘Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you.’ It’s a karma thing. What goes around comes around. What we sow we eventually reap. What we do to another we have done to ourselves.

"Another example comes from West Point’s Code of Conduct: ‘I will not lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate those who do. ‘

"These two rules are all our nation needs to rise from the ashes of insanity and the graves of greed, yet most people don’t see it that way. They want what they want when they want it, and honestly believe in discretionary ethics. But, right now, saving this world isn’t our job.

"At birth, Richard, you were given the mind of a genius, the desire to play, no common sense, and free choice. That means you are going to make mistakes and you have lessons to learn, yet there is only one person who can truly tell you what to do. That is you. You do have the freedom to make your life a living hell, or a grand adventure. The choice is yours, as it is for everyone.

"Heaven and Hell are not distant places we go to, they are states of mind right here. And, time has three compartments—past, present, and future. The past consists of all the mental pictures you hold of all your yesterdays. The present is the ever-present now that moves with you. And your future is only one nanosecond from now.

"The error, easily made, is paying too much attention to the compartments we cannot live in. Now is the only time that matters—the only time we can change anything.

"If you dug deeply into the lives of people who have experienced rich, full lives, you would discover one thing they all have in common: they mastered the art of focusing on the tasks at hand.

"Technically speaking, now is the only time where you can change anything; being born again means to begin anew. And it really doesn’t matter how many sins we’ve committed—we are not going to burn in Hell. In cases where the clinically dead have come back, none have returned with burns.

"In terms of being born again, you can begin anew the instant you make up your mind to become a different person. The day I quit smoking I didn’t quit smoking. I became a person who no longer smoked. And, you can do the same with smoking or any other bad habit you have.

"Every day is a new day, and every day can be a new beginning. People who remain stuck are stuck mentally. Most prefer to remain where they are, rather than change their minds.

Richard, have I lost sight of your original question?

Not really, I replied. I asked how you became so calm, peaceful and strong. I don’t know what it is, but I know you’re different. And, whatever it is, I want to become more like you, if that’s possible.

Russell replied, "It’s