INCARNATION 9

P. 100-102

I shared this quote last week from Eckhart Tolle:

“Many people who are going through the early stages of the awakening process are no longer certain what their outer purpose is. What drives the world no longer drives them. Seeing the madness of our civilization so clearly, they may feel somewhat alienated from the culture around them. Some feel that they inhabit a no-man's-land between two worlds. They are no longer run by the ego, yet the arising awareness has not yet become fully integrated into their lives.”

After being insulted at being called a beginner, even though I am, I decided to examine this quote more deeply.

I know I can identify with his observation, but I have to clarify that this perception of being lost or confused or hanging out in the void is the perception my limited personality self. My true nature/Christ Consciousness, knows exactly who he/she is.

I would suggest that what he is getting at is that as our consciousness/awareness shifts from simply a human/personality identity to the living Truth of who we are, we find that how we relate to the world and the personalities we are surrounded by, changes. And because we are still somewhat identified with our personality self, our old judgmental reactions are still here. Unfortunately, then we get into judging ourselves, thinking; “I’m better than this; I know I am not my body and neither is this other person. I really do know I am a child of God and so are they, but her eI am reacting in my old self-self-centered way.”

Awareness equals choice equals freedom. We are all moving along that path to deeper and deeper awareness of Who we truly are, and responding to life within that awareness. Let us bless that, and know that even the stumbling blocks we encounter are there for our learning—not for our judgment or guilt, but for our awareness, love and forgiveness.  

Again, Jesus was a marvelous way-shower here. What is sometimes referred to as the Sermon on the Mount  (Matthew chapter 5-7)* is an absolutely beautiful account of how to relate to the world from your divine nature rather rain your personality self.

I have no idea what you came here to learn. I have no idea how to interpret the situations in life you are creating in order to complete your agenda. I have enough difficulty getting in touch with my own stuff, how could I possibly understand yours?

Now the personality self looks at all this as been very passive, as being another way of being a victim. I believe the message of “turning other cheek” is not about victimhood so much as it is about the encouragement to know that “you can choose to love no matter what.”

Each one of us is going to need to decide in times of difficulty or confrontation how we are to respond in the most loving way. There is no rulebook; there's no way of defining one situation even as compared to another. How I respond lovingly to you today might be different to loving you tomorrow in the highest way.

“But we will offer you this: When you remember the one before you, regardless of what he has done, how he has hurt you, what she has destroyed, and you remember this being as on her own road to learning, his own road to discovery, you become a bit more compassionate.”

When I was working as  a chaplain in various treatment centers one of my major tasks was to encourage the practice of self-forgiveness. I cannot tell you how many times I heard, “Well I can forgive others, but I cannot forgive myself.” Even if we have not said those words out loud we probably know what the experience is like internally. Most of us are much harder on ourselves than we would be on anybody else, and here is the essence of what needs to be transformed. I cannot see myself as being unconditionally loved if I remain shielded in my own guilt and shame.

What have you done in your lives that you believe you cannot be forgiven for? That is an act of arrogance, you know, and you may accept that in a certain way by looking at the one next to you and deciding that it is safe for her to be forgiven for what she believes she has done or may have, in fact, done. All forgiveness is, we will say, is a releasing of fear. When you release the fear of another, they may be in forgiveness as well, and you may move to a new vibration in the light of love.”

We could spend a lot of time  trying to get rid of what we referred to as blame shame and guilt but most of the time what happens when you're focused most forms of negativity is that instead of eradicating them which is our intention simply become more and more entrenched.

A simple reminder might be helpful—when you become aware that you are punishing yourself whatever form that might be taking, stop and open yourself to love. Pray, ask for help, do something nurturing for yourself. Those things and hundreds of others can help us open space where we are both aware and more receptive to the unconditional love of the Truth of who we are.

We ended with a very practical directive which I suspect would be quite useful to us, perhaps every day. You can decide for yourself if this is a useful tool for your spiritual practice.

“Now we will offer you this: This teaching for the day, “Incarnation,” is about responsibility to how you attend to your lessons as the one in choice. If everything is an opportunity for growth, what are two challenges you face today in your life, environment, family, relationships, anywhere? What are two challenges you face and how might you claim your worth within them? How might you decide anew in a place to bring you to a higher level of knowing? How might you attend to each lesson in a productive way that will not keep you in fear, or in languishing or blame? How might you grow? What is the opportunity being presented to you in this circumstance, and how might you go forward in attendance to it?”

“We offer you this: If you attend to these two things today, we will support you as we can by illumining this thing as you allow us to show you the new possibility that you may call to yourself in your relationship to the situation, or the person, or the thing. If you invite us to work with you to illumine the new possibility, in your relationship to the situation, or the person, or the thing. If you invite us to work with you to illumine the new possibility, you must be prepared for the possibility you will not like it, because it will mean you have to change something you initially invested in that made you party to the creation in the first place. Do you understand this?”

*except for a couple of passages that appear to be more judgmental rather than loving.

Finally, I’m including a paragraph from one of Paul and the guides later works which bowled me over with its beauty and simplicity.

“You don’t understand, yet, that even when you smile at a stranger, you may have changed the course of history. You do not see this, but you will when this life is ended and you witness your life as you have claimed it. You will realize that the response to that one smile saved someone’s life, offered him an opportunity, perhaps, to make a different choice than he would have. He was going to leave his spouse. The smile reminded him of his spouse’s smile, and they stayed together forever after.” From The Book of Freedom