WISDOM 17

“Religion is the emulation of the adult by the child. Religion is the encystment of past beliefs: mythology, which is guesswork, the hidden assumptions of trust in the universe, those pronouncements which men have made in search of personal power, all of it mingled with shreds of enlightenment. And always the ultimate unspoken commandment is “Thou shalt not question.” But we (do) question; we break that commandment as a matter of course. The work to which we have set ourselves is a liberating of the imagination, the harnessing of the imagination to humankind's deepest sense of creativity.”

From Children of Dune, by Frank Herbert

P. 148-149

We went a little far afield exploring some psychic phenomenon, but if you would like to get a look at how Paul operates and how the Guides operate through him, you might just want to check out Paul Selig on Google or YouTube. You will find plenty of recordings. 

Paul notes that he is perfectly conscious and aware of when the Guides are speaking through him and is very aware of what they are saying, and, at times, as we as we have noticed in the books, the Guides can also pick up Paul's thoughts, especially if something is troubling him.

Along with being a channel for the guides, Paul has also allowed himself to be sort of a measuring stick for each one of us by asking the questions that maybe we are afraid to ask or don't even notice within ourselves, and also to respond to many of those internal challenges that come about when we might have the desire to change but are fearful or reluctant or confused about the mechanism of change or transformation.

We continue with the theme of being aware of our history and changing its influence on us, if we choose to. It is already presumed through study of the brain and behavior that about 80% of our actions are controlled or dictated by the unconscious mind. The conundrum here is that we have free will, but have to be conscious enough to be able to use it.

In some ways we have really been exploring that question “How free are we?” Yes we have free will, but how often during a day am I actually using it?

A gentle reminder for me, and perhaps for you as well: although many of the ideas on a thinking- intellectual level appear to be repetitious, there are at least two important realizations to bring to consciousness. One is that every insight can be examined and applied more deeply. How often have each one of us discovered that we have a deeper awareness of a particular spiritual principle as we continue this work? Again, the mind/ the intellect would like to be able to categorize everything into a nice neat little packages and then put it on the shelf and wait for the next idea to come along and essentially say “Oh that is just like what was on page 56.” 

Just look at how often have we delved more deeply into a poem or song or another form of music or a book or even a conversation with a friend. We do not turn it off or throw it away simply because it seems to be somewhat familiar. Imagine what it would be like to follow through with the thought “Oh, I listened to my wife or my husband or my friend yesterday. I really don't need to listen today. They probably have nothing new to tell me.”

We do not ignore or struggle with the intellectual mind’s need to categorize and control, but we do realize that it is not within the intellect that our understanding and the energy of transformation lies.

The Second quality that calls for our continuing awareness is a fairly new piece of agenda that I need to keep calling my attention back to. I am paraphrasing the Guides here for a moment. What they have suggested is that along with the physical book you hold and the words that are written there and even the ideas that are called forth--all of that is  simply the backdrop for the raising of your vibrational energy. By picking up the book or listening to a class recording or even reading one of these reflections, you are demonstrating your willingness and your intention and by doing so opening yourself up to a higher vibration. A higher vibration energy(of healing, evolution and transformation) is being made available to you through the loving energy of the beings that are guiding this work.

Suppose you are at a museum or an art gallery or a theater or with an orchestra. Simply because your senses are involved or aligned with the art and beauty that is in front of you your vibrations are being raised without any conscious effort on your part.

In the last sharing I used that image of the Olympic sport of Curling, where the sweepers represent the Guides working like crazy to clear the way( so far that is the best image I can come up with.--you can also check it out on youtube). It is important to realize that we are moving ourselves like the stone on the ice, but we are also being helped and guided at the same time. Perhaps just as important is to know the efforts that each one of us makes, seemingly on an individual basis, contributes to the growth in the evolution of the whole.

(This is not quite an image, more of a metaphor--but sometimes I Imagine myself reading from the book and all around me is this gigantic chorus of angelic beings filling my space, singing/chanting a loving mantra. So I am doing my work in reading and study, and at the same time, in the background, my inner and outer vibration is being raised in a way that I could not do all by myself).

Nothing is wasted. All beings are affected by our choice to be in higher or lower vibration. 

 All of this fits in a way to be aware that old, ingrained  patterns of behavior and thought require a certain amount of energy to move through, to move through the natural inertia that comes with an established pattern of thought or behavior. In other words, it is perfectly natural to either go back to or to be influenced by a pattern that has already been well established. Although we are focusing on moving through old patterns of thought and behavior that are directly related to our spiritual growth and evolution, we are also encouraged to realize that so many things that we do and think are also the product of old programming or patterns that exist within us both on an individual basis and also as part of a racial consciousness.

“Now Paul is interrupting. “It is too hard. I can’t get through a day without getting angry or being worried or projecting my fate in some uncomfortable way.” You must understand, each of you, that so much of what you attend to is habit. This is habit, and a habit can be broken if you attend to it. If you have always gone to work left, right, and left, down the same road every day for many years, the impulse is to do the same regardless of the new path that has been laid for you. And the new path, we are telling you, is a much lighter path. It’s a much more wonderful path. But so often, you revert to what the known has been, because you are challenged by the prospect of change, that it may not be what you want, what you seek, what you thought you were going to get when you made the choice to go on the journey.”

Paul was objecting here about how difficult, how hard all of this seems. It seems so difficult to stay awake all the time; so difficult to transform all of these patterns of thought and behavior that seemed to keep us stuck.

And yes we recognize the difficulty here, but much of the problem is the result of you holding onto this work as a struggle. It is only a struggle when you make it such. If you realize that the transforming old patterns of thought and behavior requires work to move through the inertia, then the work you are doing is simply part of the process. In other words, I am not struggling with the old or trying to pound it into submission, I simply realize, ”Oh in order to be able to move from point A to point B, I need to do this or I need to do that.” 

It is interesting that we apply this principle quite often in our lives without even thinking about it.

If I want to grow potatoes, I realize I have to till the soil, plant the “eyes” and dig up the taters in the fall. I’m not struggling with anything, I’m just doing the necessary work required.

Let's suppose we took another simple example--you want to get your body get in better shape. Well we realize there is work involved. I might need to set some time aside to exercise; remind myself to drink more water. I might have to change my diet; there are some foods I might need to drop and other foods I might need to make more use of. Now we realize that there is a sense of work here that must be done. There is also can be a sense of awkwardness as we are moving from one space to another. When I can realize that these responses are perfectly natural, I do not have to make what I am doing into a struggle, I simply accept the reality of things. In moving from where I am now to the place I want to go to is requiring me to do some things differently. Again we are not denying the work that is involved, but there is a huge difference if we make it into a struggle compared to just simply realizing it is part of the process.

We take a few moments to examine the thinking mind again, and realize that part of its nature is to have a preconceived notion of what the results of a particular action or movement will look like. Again that is a natural response of the mind. However I am reminded of that marvelous quote from Chogyam Trumpa, “Enlightenment is the ego's greatest disappointment.”

You see the ego or the personality has an idea of what enlightenment is going to be what it's going to be like.

“Now, when we tell you that the path before you may not be what you expect, we are simply telling you that it may not adhere to the promises you have made to yourself about what a life should look like. “Because I am now spiritual, my needs will all be met effortlessly, I will love my neighbor, I will see the beauty in everyone, and I will have to attend only to my own thoughts.” Well, that is all well and good. But you do not arrive to a place of enlightenment without encountering those parts of you that would keep you in abeyance, that would keep you in the darkness. And we promise you this: There is no one who goes on this road who does not encounter herself, in all her fear, all her creations, and must come to the understanding that she is still loved. The aspect of you—and there are several aspects of you that would deny the darkness—will call you forward, and the aspects of you that would fear the light will keep you, as they can, in shadow.

Now, as we work with you, we pave the road. We pave “those parts of you that would keep you in abeyance, that would keep you in the darkness. And we promise you this: There is no one who goes on this road who does not encounter herself, in all her fear, all her creations, and must come to the understanding that she is still loved. The aspect of you—and there are several aspects of you that would deny the darkness—will call you forward, and the aspects of you that would fear the light will keep you, as they can, in shadow.”

That second Last sentence deeply moved me 

“And we promise you this: There is no one who goes on this road who does not encounter herself, in all her fear, all her creations, and must come to the understanding that she is still loved.”

I was still thinking about that Enlightenment quote and was pleasantly surprised when Love showed up again. I was reminded of the Apostle Paul's reflection that “nothing absolutely nothing can separate you from the love of God.”

Now those attributes might or might not be so but notice what we are doing here we are using the small self to Define what is occurring was in higher consciousness. Do you get the impossibility of that.

Again we are not denying the need or the ability of the thinking mind to do whatever it is it needs to do. We simply realize it is creating an illusion or an image that sort of serves as a pacifier for a moment, but that the real work is being done on a higher level of consciousness, in a realm of Mystery it goes beyond the grasp of the thinking mind.

 As quoted before, the saying of Jesus “Eye has not seen nor ear heard nor has it entered into the heart of man…” A simple yet direct way to let you know that we are not talking about earthly material or intellectual understanding, we speaking of opening to a Truth beyond those limited levels of awareness. 

Thanks to John Russell for this marvelous piece of wisdom!