A Letter to the Next Generation By Wayne Dyer October 17, 1988 As I prepare this message for people living in 2088, I find my thoughts are not about futuristic or scientific wonders you enjoy. My curiosity is not about your ability to travel to outer space. My curiosity has to do with this: Have you evolved into a higher human being than those of us on earth in 1988? My message to you centers on the hope that you are more humane than we are now. I wonder if you are practicing the vital lessons a few of us in 1988 believe humanity will some day master. I wonder if you have been able to move beyond distrust, fear, and hostility. My message of hope is addressed to you in the form of four questions. Your answers will describe where you are in the evolution of this higher human being, now stirring to life here in 1988. 1. Have you learned that your humanity lies beyond the boundaries of the body? Do you know and live the idea that a person is much more than a pile of bones, blood, gristle, and skin? Do you recognize that within all form is an invisible intelligence? Is there general acceptance and delight in knowing that persons are much more than their packaging? Is it “socially acceptable” to develop the invisible aspect of yourself as we do today by choosing aerobics or jogging for physical development? Can you see yourselves as spiritual beings having a human experience, rather than human beings who may be having a spiritual experience? This is what I mean: My three-year-old daughter presented me with a make-believe meal on her plastic toy dishes. On that level, it was a physical, form-only interaction that could have been considered unimportant. On another level, the invisible, the formless part of her was expressing, “Daddy needs to eat something warm, and I want him to have a special dinner. I love my Daddy, and I want to take good care of him.” My awareness of that invisible part of her, her thoughts and feelings which are pure love, transformed the plastic toys and make-believe food. I could almost touch those beautiful caring thoughts in back of her actions. 2. Have you learned and adopted the understanding that we are all connected? Here on Earth, in 1988, we seem to know intellectually that we are living in the same house, and that when you live on a round planet, you can’t afford to choose sides. But we continue to choose sides. Do you live with the awareness that each human being is a “me that is we”? Do the majority of people see that one cell within an organism, which has no reference to the whole, will destroy adjacent cells, eventually killing the entire being while destroying itself in the process? Are you guiding your young people to develop serenity and ease within themselves, so they will cooperate with the cells adjacent to them? Are your nations at ease within, or are they still acting out their aggressive images on their neighbors? Are you in 2088 seeing and experiencing the belief that each human being on our planet is just as interconnected as geographic neighbors, and that the total being called human being cannot function harmoniously when the components are in conflict? 3. Do the majority of you see that what you think about expands? As I write, some of us are nurturing these ideas like seedlings: • The power of thought is enormous. • We can create thought. • Out of thought comes the entire direction of our lives. • We act on our thoughts. • We become what we think about all day long. • In the dimensionless world of thought, everything we think is here. • We have the ability to turn any thought into form with the power of mind. • Thought is a formless energy which comprises our essential humanity. • Our lives are what our thoughts create. We are just beginning to recognize the importance of thought as the most powerful force in the universe. There is a new awareness and application of these ideas. Instead of being against terrorism and war, we are shifting our thoughts to being for peace and cooperation. We are beginning to recognize that a war on drugs, poverty, hunger and crime is not as effective as being for an enlightened, educated youth, a higher standard of living for all, and respect for each other’s rights and possessions. Do you understand that what we think about expands into action? And therefore, cultivating thoughts of what you are for results in a healthier, happier and more peaceful society. Do you recognize that being against anything weakens you, while being for something empowers you? 4. Have you discovered the other side of “I’ll believe that when I see it”? In 1988 there is an awakening to the idea that the development of a higher human being is a process involving the understanding that you see what you believe, rather than you believe what you see. Has this belief system led to the development of a higher human being? In 1983 I wrote a parable in which a higher human being named Eykis visits our world. She brings gifts in the form of thoughts to assist us in transforming ourselves and our planet. Her message proclaims, “You’ll See It When You Believe It.” Did these beliefs which Eykis describes move you toward this kind of thinking in 2088? • Quality rather than appearance. • Ethics rather than rules. • Knowledge rather than achievement. • Integrity rather than domination. • Serenity rather than acquisitions. If the answer is “Yes,” then indeed a higher human being is in process, and the trend toward destroying this being called human being has been reversed. My connection to you is pure, formless, dimensionless thought, and so too is your link back to me in 1988 and forward to infinity.