Well we did not cover many pages, but I felt as if we worked with this material very deeply. (I am reminded of something Marion Williamson once said, “We do not need to gather any more information; we need to go more deeply into what we already know”).
The primary lesson which flows throughout all of these works is to become aware of our identification or over identification with our personality self. We are using the term “personality self” rather than ego, although they are very similar. Ego, however, gets a lot of bad press; we can attach a lot of negativity to it without realizing and as soon as we do that we fall into judgment and sometimes even guilt, neither of which helps us in our growing.
So we are using the term personality self as a group of ideas or structures or beliefs that we have both gathered from others and created ourselves during this lifetime. We have begun to define ourselves according to all of those labels, behaviors, perhaps some of which we have formed ourselves and many of which we have inherited from others. Probably the most significant influences contributing to the creation of this personality self are our families, our church of origin, if any, and our schooling, our educational system.
As we become challenged to grow spiritually we begin to realize this personality self is not who I am, even though it is what I was told I am. The first hurdle that we begin to reckon with comes about when we attempt to spiritualize our personality self. It seems to me we could spend lifetimes on that one. The predicament is that the personality self, by is very limited nature cannot grasp or understand the spiritual principles we are attempting to teach it.
The lesson for today exemplifies that brilliantly. In simple terms it is not Gandhi being Christ, or Mother Theresa being Christ, or Thomas Merton being Christ, or Buddha being Christ, or even Jesus being Christ. It is the Christ manifesting itself uniquely through Gandhi or Merton or Mother Theresa or Buddha or Jesus. It might seem as if the distinction here is rather subtle, and perhaps it is, but it is one of the most significant distinctions that you will make.
So instead of attempting to be the Christ through your personality self, you instead begin to release your attachment to that personality self and all of its attributes, and as you do, the Light of the Christ which is the Truth of who you are, begins to shine through. It is like cleaning off a dusty piece of glass so that the light can shine through it. You do not curse the glass or attempt to throw it away, you are simply cleaning it off. You are releasing it from all that seems to prevent it from being a channel of the light.
The apostle Paul also reflected on this truth and summed it up by saying, “I live now, not I, (not my personality self) but Christ lives in me.”
Now on the very practical side of things we might ask, “Well how do I do that? And see that is a very interesting question because my personality self is asking that question. We need to go back to our knowing. Each one of us knows within our hearts, and we also carry with us experiences of our divine nature, our Christ consciousness. When we have consciously chosen Love over fear or light over darkness, when we have released judgment, when we have been willing to see the Christ in another, even though, on a personality level, they might make our skin crawl.
There are many instances that each one of us can recall or connect with, it is only the personality self that is attached to the drama. Sometimes the simplicity of the thought or the action as we allow our divine self to shine through is majestic. The thinking mind might not think so, the “story teller” within the personality might not think so, but the knowing inside you, the knowing within your heart, your soul knows when you are vibrating at a frequency that shines forth from you as your divine being.
“So as the Christ becomes you, and aligns those aspects of you that are in distortion, that are in fear, that are in blame, that are in heresy against the true self, the knowing of the true self comes forward and claims her purview. John as the Christ, yes. The Christ as John is much more true.”
Think I missed this paragraph a few times, and I also almost missed it this time. There is a very powerful message here that most of us have experienced without consciously realizing it. We are emphasizing here our Oneness and how the healing within you or another affects all beings. The result of cleaning up some aspect of your life gives other people the opportunity to do a similar kind of work themselves.
If I have healed or transformed a particular fear in my life, then I am offering that same grace to all others. They might or might not be conscious of that opportunity but it is there just the same.
Let's just take a couple of practical examples that many of us can identify with.
Take going to a 12 step meeting for the first time. You're lost and confused, you know you need help but you're not even quite sure what kind of help you need. You don't mingle very much, you try to blend into the woodwork, and most people will respect that and then you listen to some people talking especially about how they are involved in the process of healing and you begin to realize perhaps on an unconscious level that you don't have to do what you've been doing anymore. “I don't have to drink anymore; I don't have to be a victim anymore; I don't have to indulge my compulsive behaviors anymore One Day At Time.
This is a perfect example of being in the frequency of those who have healed a specific area of their lives and how this vibration, this frequency can positively affect you. Even if there are no words exchanged, even if you are not consciously aware of what is happening energetically.
Unity itself is a good example. One of the most significant of healing is the realization that we no longer need to be attached to our old issues of blame shame and guilt. Being in the presence of many people who have learned and practiced that created a vibratory filed that affects everyone. This is why so many people describe their initial Unity experience as “Coming Home.” They might not have any conscious idea of hoot define that, but is is true nonetheless.
I certainly do not want to limit this phenomenon to 12 step recovery or Unity because I believe this sharing of vibrational energy happens all the time, and we are just beginning to become conscious of that. There are some people in our lives we simply enjoy being around. It's kind of like basking in the sunshine. Now certainly one of the reasons for that is that these individuals are living in a high vibration of love and awareness and we are attracted to that. However, I believe this is much more then simply a passive act of resting in someone else's glow. The beings that we enjoy hanging around with have worked through many of the issues that might have previously blocked their light, because of that we can begin to realize either consciously or not that we can do that to.
You see that is another aspect of what higher vibrations bring to us and that is the openness and the possibility of transformation and healing.
This is such a powerful lesson, I am so grateful that we can share it together.
I became consciously aware this Sunday that we have all called one another to us for this continuing process of growth and healing. Isn’t that wonderful?
Peace
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