WISDOM 21

On the road of experience, I'm trying to find my own way.

Sometimes I wish that I could fly away

When I think that I'm moving, suddenly things stand still

I'm afraid 'cause I think they always will

And I'm looking for space

And to find out who I am

And I'm looking to know and understand

It's a sweet, sweet dream

Sometimes I'm almost there 

Sometimes I fly like an eagle

And sometimes I'm deep in despair

(John Denver, Looking for Space)

 

P. 152

 

“You true soul’s yearning, we say, is to be embodied in the Christ manifestation.That is the true soul’s journey for all men. The times that you stand in now offer the opportunity for a rising, for an escalation of consciousness in a way that has never been possible on this plane. And the choice that each one of you makes to incarnate at this level supports all of mankind in doing the same.”

 

That first sentence contains all the Truth we will ever need. But is some ways the statement also embodies Paradox we live in. We know the truth of that first sentence, but then immediately my mind kicks in send says, “Okay, fine, but how do I do that?” You see, we have come to this crossroads fairly often, and it is the one we refer to as the ‘personality self attempting to become the Divine consciousness.’ Now the personality or the ego self can be blessed, can be sanctified can be raised to a higher level of vibration, but no matter what we do with it, it is never going to be the essence of Who We Are. So it is not going to transform itself into the Divine consciousness.

 

This is not to deny its role in our continuing journey. As we have said many times before, the personality or the ego consciousness is the lens through which the Divine shines through in its own unique way.

 

Now there are beings on planet Earth where this shining through happens automatically and with ease. These beings are called babies. They are not conscious of their process, but the lens through which the Divine shines through is so clear at this moment that there is very little that is blocking the light. Soon, however, the process of life begins with a lens becomes “dirty” or fogged with judgement, fear, blame, and self-doubt. All of which are not necessarily created from within, but come from outside of ourselves, and yet we are responsible for taking it in and thinking it is the truth. Then comes the continuing evolution of our earthly trip-- a realizing that there is something I have missed; I've somehow become lost “myself” along the way. No matter what metaphor or story we might wrap around that forgetfulness, it is also the beginning stage of our remembering. Some people mistakenly think then we need to literally become a baby again. When Jesus Spoke of becoming as a little child he was speaking on many dimensional levels one was returning to innocence, Another aspect that we are emphasizing here was coming to a conscious awareness of our divine nature. The big difference here is that the child is not consciously aware of itself as this unique expression of Divine Light, whereas the responsible and functional adult can bring this truth into their awareness and consciousness.

 

Also as we have stated before as we evolve in this awareness we realize that our thoughts and our actions affect all beings all creation. When I raise my vibration I raise the vibration of all.

“We must say this one more time for the reader who becomes frightened when we speak of the Christ manifested. The Christ, as we describe it, is simply the aspect of you, seeded by your Creator, that seeks realization as you. And the Divine Self you are, you must trust, knows his own path, knows her own path, and may know more than you know as you sit in your chair deciding what things should look like.”

 

 

 A good bit of our study this morning came about through the exploration of the difference between judgement and discernment.

 

We've all become familiar with what we might call the negative energy or lower vibration of judgment. Now this is not a judgment about judgement, it is simply an awareness that the process of thought which produces judgment is also a process or an energy of lower vibration. The reason for this is that judgement, by its very nature, reinforces a sense of duality and anything that reinforces a sense of duality automatically produces a sense of separateness. As we have learned so often through our own life experience, a sense of separateness leads us into anger, fear, isolation and sometimes even helplessness. All of which are lower vibration states of mind.

 

That is one level of what we might call the lower energy that surrounds judgment. If there is good there has to be bad, if there is left there has to be right, if there is up there has to be down, if there is joy there has to be sorrow, if there is love there has to be hate, etc. Notice what Francis did in his wonderful prayer. He named one side of the duality and owned it, but did not dwell on it. He did not try to deny or erase it, but his open-hearted prayer asked that this energy that I might be using producing lower vibration or resonance might be transformed to a higher vibration a higher resonance.

 

Let us take a simple example. If I am angry about something, probably nine times out of 10 if not 10 times out of 10, if I look closely and honestly enough I will discover that something I love is actually being threatened or I think it is. Now we could choose to stay in this lower vibration mindset of anger and fear with the mistaken notion that somehow or another it is keeping me safe, or I can put my energy, gratitude and open heartedness intp that which I love. Granted, to the personality self this feels quite vulnerable and it is! To my ego and the personality, my small self, being open to the light and grace feels quite exposed. Just notice how my ego responds to that statement from A Course in Miracles “In my defenselessness my safety lies.” 

Now we can make that into a struggle or we can realize that our soul is being called to move beyond or move past these petty attachments that do nothing except to produce more anger and fear.

 

The other level of energy surrounding judgment is what Jesus spoke of when he spoke about when he said, “Judge not and you shall not be judged.” It is the same sort of energy that we are expounding on in the Lord's Prayer when we pray that we might be forgiven as we forgive those around us. In reality it cannot happen any other way. If I am lost in anger and blame at my brother or sister, then there is no way that I can be open to a the higher vibration of forgiveness and release. It just can't work that way. It is also a reflection of that wonderful perception of Merton when he said “The arrow with which I shoot my enemy has to pass through my own heart first.”

 

Jesus also explained how easy and seductive it is to point out or focus on what I think is wrong about somebody else and miss what I need to work on myself (because that is all I can work on anyway.) He spoke about trying to “remove the speck from my brother's eye while neglecting the log that is in my own.” Or this other marvelous image when he warned the Pharisees about “straining at gnats yet swallowing camels.

 

I too struggled with this one about judgment and discernment. It seemed as if everything had to be a judgment one way or another and when I heard the word “discernment” and people attempting to describe to me what that was, it sounded as if I was just playing with words. Later I found out there is a truth here. Again, that goes beyond the personality or the ego self. Discernment has to do with inner wisdom, inner knowing and inner listening and because of that it requires focus, concentration and practice because these are not gifts that we are used to using. We are much more comfortable with a list of rules and laws. It seems as if we if we rest on inner knowing and inner listening and are left to our own devices then “How can we be sure?

 

And then of course we are called into trusting or learning how to trust our own inner knowing, our own inner wisdom. All through these works that we have been studying, there are some truths that we continue to come back to. One of them is this whole sense of inner knowing. We might not have any outside proof and yet we all sit with this dilemma of knowing that we know and thinking that we need to reinforce that knowing. So we all show up on Sunday morning, all of us somehow knowing that we know, and yet thinking we need confirmation that what we already know is real, is true, is okay. And believe me I find myself there as well. What is fascinating, however, is that at the end of our 45 minutes together, we all seem to be resting in that place of peaceful knowing. Will we forget? Will we be sidetracked? Probably, and yet we can embrace the forgetfulness with love just as well.

 

And then someone asked “Is it possible to live without judgement?” That's a real kicker isn't it? I recalled a couple of things that can offer us some reflection on that question. The first one was the opening lines of a Zen poem called the Hsin hisn Ming.

 

It begins by stating: “The great way is not difficult for those who have no opinions. 

          When Love and Hate are both absent 

          everything becomes clear and undisguised. 

          Make one distinction however 

and Heaven and Earth are set infinitely apart.

 

In the biblical story of what is sometimes called “Jesus and the woman taken in adultery.” After all of her accusers leave, he asks her “Does anyone condemn you?” and she replies “No one Lord,” and he says, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way.” This is a marvelously beautiful simple story because not only does Jesus notice that all of the external accusers or holders of judgment have left, but, in the light of his love and forgiveness, the woman does not even condemn herself and because of that is blessed and encouraged to move on with her life.

 

Here is an additional thought to ponder: We can observe without necessarily judging.For instance, we could have observed that the person standing next to me as being quite tall. I had that experience this morning when Jim and I were talking. I was looking up while he was looking down. There was no judgment there, however, it was simply an observation. Now, interestingly enough, my observation called for an adjustment in my action. I had to choose to look up to look in his eyes just as he need to choose to look down into my eyes.

 

Now it would have been different if I was standing or sitting next to someone and held on to the thought this person I am sitting close to is really fat. The language seems familiar or similar to what we said a moment ago but you see how quickly and observation can turn into a judgement. What I am suggesting here is that observation does not have to turn into judgment but often times it does because we have been trained that way. A “cleaner” observation would be recognizing that the person I am sitting next to is “really big.” No judgment, just observation.

 

Is it possible to live without judgement?

                        First, we will emphasize--what creates the highest good for ourselves and all creation is affirming the POSSIBILITY of this being true--in this case, through my willingness and intention, the possibility of life without judgment.

This morning I had an experience of what A Course in Miracles calls a “holy instant.” In this moment of quiet meditation, as we closed our process this morning, there was a quiet and a spaciousness that was essentially devoid of judgment. There was no this or that or good or bad or right or left or up and down or black or white. There just IS.

 

I would encourage each one of us to help create those moments of ISNESS. As we have said many times before, they do not need to be dramatic. They could be as simple as playing with the cat or raking leaves or listening to a good piece of music or a book or a movie or a piece of poetry or being hugged or wrapping ourselves in the warm memory and experience of being with another that we love and who loves us. Not only are those moments priceless, they are also free of judgment and free of negative vibration.

 

What we are referring to as discernment here is what is also claimed as a gift of the Holy Spirit, but it is not a written down rule or law. In fact, the actions or the responses that I might be called upon today might be different than the ones I am called upon tomorrow.

 

Discernment is inner knowing, inner listening and, what we might call, inner guidance. In its simplest terms it is being open to The Knowing of what is best for me right now in this moment, in this situation. I certainly have free will to follow this prompting of the Spirit or to go with what I think is the most logical explanation or direction (what my thinking mind or ‘habit’ behavior might tell me. Sometimes they might be the same, sometimes not.

 

There have been many times when I have worked with people as a psychologist or spiritual director when I have been totally stumped about what to say, what to ask you or even what the next direction might need to be. Often times, I have prayed, “God I don't know the answer. Show me the way; give me the words to speak.” Inevitably the words, even though they might not have made complete sense to my intellectual mind, have turned out to be exactly what the other person needs to hear.

 

Another example of discernment was expressed in class this morning. For instance, if I felt the need to speak to another person, to point something out to them. Then I felt needed to be heard, not just for my own sake but for theirs as well. That instead of simply trying to frame what I thought would be the best presentation in my thinking mind, I might begin to apply the Buddhist principle of Right Speech which ask the questions “Is it kind; is it true; is it necessary?” And after passing through those filters to notice what is left in terms of my expression to another. 

 

Now I realize there are going to be times when we might not hear that inner voice or it might seem to be in conflict. Any of those times it might be advisable to do nothing, to let go of the demands of the mind, to do only what is necessary in the moment.

 

Also, since many of us, myself included, have not been overly involved in taking care of ourselves. When we are asked to do something by another, we might automatically respond, “Yes” perhaps because we think we should, because we don't want to be disliked, perhaps we just do that out of habit. Saying “Yes” is fine, but if it happens to be to the detriment of my own physical, spiritual, mental, emotional well being, remind me to look at that again.

 

I understand there are also times when we need to stretch ourselves, to go beyond our self-imposed limitations, and at the same time there are going to be times when we need to say “No” when we realize that we need to take this time for ourselves to heal to grow or to nurture.

 

You see there is no rule here. There's no little book that will give you the nice neat little answers or judgments that will make it either right or wrong, good or bad, this or that. Discernment is much more than a middle way, it will lead us and will guide us but it will not tell us what to do we are the ones who choose.

 

 

Peace.

 

 

 

WISDOM 20

P. 151-152

 

When we open our hearts in compassion there are all sorts of emotions that get stirred up inside of us. In what I am going to say next, I am asking you please do not this do not use this information as a form of judgement. The essential elements of our “study” are awareness and healing.

 

Although, initially, it seems, as we open our hearts in compassion, that our feelings or our emotional response is towards the other person, and I certainly do not deny that piece. However, for the most part, what is triggered off within us are those aspects of our lives that need to be addressed and therefore they are brought to our attention so that we might be able to work on and heal them. Certainly not alone/by ourselves. There are times when we might need the help of therapeutic energy so we can move through some stuff that might be deeply embedded. There are other times when prayer and meditation is called for. There are other times when other forms of catharsis might be helpful. Not only speaking to another person, but sometimes writing down or even speaking it outloud, what is going on with us. It allows us a certain amount of objectivity and through release, we create a way of moving some of that anger fear and desolation through us.

 

As we have said before, we cannot fix another, but we can be prayerfully attentive to their needs. Another piece that I learned so powerfully from a therapist friend of mine when I started entering the counseling field myself, he said, very simply, “If you find yourself working harder than one of your clients, then there is something out of balance with this picture!”

 

Many of the questions that arise in our spiritual search and which are open to healing have no definitive answers. Or perhaps the answer we get today is not the same as we will get tomorrow. The personality-self would love to have an answer to everything so that all of my conflicts, my desires, my wishes, my hopes, my joys, and my fears could be all wrapped up in a nice neat little package and I wouldn't have to deal with them anymore. That might be a great wish, but it is not how most things work.

 

Just because we are becoming more aware of our spiritual trip--that does not mean that we ignore or deny our emotional and psychological needs! I will leave that one up to you

 

There are two chapters from Kahil Gibran’s book The Prophet that I was being called to share with you all: Pain and Joy and Sorrow.

 

These are not explanations but more like meditations. Sit with them; even with conflict, let the readings pass over and through you. Allow the Solutions and the healings to emerge from your own heart, because that is where they begin and that is where they end. 

 

 

On Pain

Kahlil Gibran

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.

Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.

And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;

And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.

And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.

 

 

Much of your pain is self-chosen.

It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.

Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity:

For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,

And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.

 

 

On Joy and Sorrow

Kahlil Gibran

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.

And how else can it be?

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.

Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?

And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. 

 

Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow," and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater."

But I say unto you, they are inseparable.

Together they come, and when one sits, alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed. 

 

Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.

Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.

When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.

 

“You true soul’s yearning, we say, is to be embodied in the Christ manifestation. That is the true soul’s journey for all men. The times that you stand in now offer the opportunity for a rising, for an escalation of consciousness in a way that has never been possible on this plane. And the choice that each one of you makes to incarnate at this level supports all of mankind in doing the same.

We must say this one more time for the reader who becomes frightened when we speak of the Christ manifested. The Christ, as we describe it, is simply the aspect of you, seeded by your Creator, that seeks realization as you. And the Divine Self you are, you must trust, knows his own path, knows her own path, and may know more than you know as you sit in your chair deciding what things should look like.”

 

​This is the essence of today's lesson. In the Now moment there is no “this or that, up or down, right or wrong, good or bad.” There simply IS. Far from the now moment being empty, it is the moment of pure potential, when we have the ability to create and to choose.

 

We can always choose a higher vibration. What that will look like? How that will affect us? How might that influence the people, places and things around us? We do not know. So at the moment of creation, this now moment, we are also releasing and letting go of all preconceived notions of what we think this should look like or how we think it should be. Again, far from being empty, it is the openness to the realization of the Divine truth within us. 

 

I emphasize this again and again because of my own need to remember. We live in a world of created duality. even our language is set up to be dualistic by comparing everything. If there is one side of a coin there has to be another; if there is a right there has to be a left; if there is an up there has to be a down; etc. The essential difficulty lies in how we define or perceive ourselves. Our language divides us into a human and divine, and, of course, the mind likes to think that one is better than the other, but we are neither one or the other; we are both; one is not better than the other.

 

I am a Divine Being expressing myself through the human energy of my body, my mind, and my personality. Because of that, what I refer to as “me” is a unique expression of the Divine here in this atmosphere of the planet Earth. Even when I leave my body behind and my personality or my ego consciousness is no longer a necessary part of my being, because I am an aspect of creation, I will continue to be a unique expression of the Divine. When my intellect no longer interferes or attempts to define me, I will be in that mysterious place where I am both the unique expression of the Divine and One with the Divine as well.

 

Can you get a sense of that? We probably all experience that one way or another. I know there have been different ways of describing this, what Joseph Campbell calls “being in your bliss,” but there are so many opportunities and times when we have found ourselves being “out of time” in a place of joy or playfulness or wrapped up in artistic beauty or some other way or form that does not have to be dramatic at all. And yet the separate sense of self, for whatever reasons, has dissolved and for a moment, at least, is no longer an attachment.

 

So much of what we have talked about and discussed is also an examination and healing of different aspects of the self. We do not deny anything and so there are times when it is extremely important that we might find a way to heal emotionally so that we might be able to live more spiritually. We are never about denying physical or emotional needs. They need to be cared for; not only are they part of Who We Are, but they are also part of our chosen Journey here in classroom Earth.

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

 

 

May all beings be at peace; may all beings be free of suffering; may all beings remember who they are.

 

 

WISDOM 19

 

P. 150-151 (kind of like Henry the 8th by Hermin’s Hermits--”second verse same as the first”)

I'm afraid I might have muddied the waters a bit by bringing up what I perceived as a severe dilemma in today's world, but I will dive in right here without apology.

It seems as if one of the aspects that contributes to the severe polarity, not only in politics but in everything, that we seem to be living in two different worlds or a world in which we have views that are so deeply different from one another there doesn’t seem to be any ground for agreement or even understanding. That predicament saddens me and I'm sure it does you as well.

And this brings us to the point that is emphasized in the next section from the book.

I noticed that there is sometimes a fine line of distinction between judgement and awareness. I emphasize this is not about judgement. I do believe that we can be aware that someone is in a lower vibrational state without making a judgment about them being bad or wrong. This is the line we walk when we open our hearts in compassion. I do not decide what another person needs nor how they need it. I can recognize a lower state of vibration in another just as I can recognize within myself. By raising my vibration, I literally raise the vibration of those around me. Now, again here is a fine line of distinction. I don't raise my vibration because there's something wrong with you or I think there's something wrong with you; I raise my vibration because it is the thing to do, for me and for the universe. If you desire to participate in that higher vibration then you are always more than welcome to it, but I have no say in how that happens nor do I have any say in what that will look like. You might be deeply affected by the higher vibration of love and compassion and yet you might not show that. In other words, your external appearance might be exactly the same.

If I am doing this just to feel good or just feel good because I'm making you feel better, I am losing something in the process. I'm not sure about you, but often times I find myself with mixed motivation, and so I did not want to wait until my motivation is pure before I act on my behalf or yours. As a stumbling fumbling human being I'm doing the best I can with what I've got and today I am grateful for that and I am certainly grateful for all of you in my life.

 “There are many ways to doctor someone. There is medicine and there is love. There is true recognition of worth, and there is the authority you bring as a conscious being who no longer aligns to a lower vibration. When you are encountered by somebody who holds low vibration, the opportunity that you have is to lift them to a new ideal, and this is done through your vibration, not necessarily through language or intentional action.”

My sense is that we spent most of our energy and exploration on this particular paragraph. When that happens (long focus on a seemingly small amount of material), it speaks to me that the energy contained in these few words is extremely powerful and vital to our own process of growth and evolution. We are not picking them apart intellectually, but we are listening to the reverberations and echoes of the energy behind these words which are resonating within us on a level of Truth beyond that which we could create with the intellect.

I was reminded of how we describe the miraculous healings of Jesus, and that was to say or to be aware that the reason people got well in his presence was because he did not see illness or disease. He did not see sickness or imbalance. “I see you as whole and complete,” he might say. “And because my vision of your wholeness, completeness and perfection is so strong and powerful it overcomes your limited vision of yourself as being sick or ill or incomplete.

I dare say, there have probably been people in our lives who have loved us so deeply, despite our seeming imperfections, that we have allowed our heart to open in profound and deepest ways.

My physical eyes might not be able to see you as being perfect, my emotional or personality self might be lost in argumentation and being right, and yet when I sit with you in the highest vibration available to me, I see you as a soul, as a spiritual being, very much like me, wrestling with your demons and looking for peace. When I can hold you that way I literally heal both of us.

Because so much of this happens on a non-verbal level, we sometimes miss the depth and importance of someone else's presence. When I look back on my early education there are some teachers that stand out for me. I know that I might remember very little, if anything at all, of what they might have taught me in terms of subject matter, but the experience of our connection, which they usually made much more directly than I did— the experience of our connection, their presence to me, remains outstanding and clear. They did not offer me a thing or a thought or an idea or a book or a script, but somehow or another they communicated to me beyond words, “I am here for you; I trust you; you are worthwhile; I care about you as a human being; you are an integral part of my life.”

I related that story of the traffic stop in Chicago where I saw this little street pageant unfold, when a woman walks by homeless person with an empty coffee cup, drops a dollar in the cup and then I saw her deliberately stop and turn around and go back and engage this person in conversation. I did not get to hear the conversation at all, but I have a sense of what transpired perhaps even beyond words— “I want to know who you are; I want to know your name; you are more than empty cup sitting in a chair outside of department store; I want to tell you my name; I don't have to hear your whole story, but I want you to know that I care; I want you to know that I am present, and even though we might never meet again that we have met on a level of understanding that goes beyond money, goes beyond need goes beyond words.

I often quote this examination of love from Sheldon Kopp’s book If You Meet the Buddha on the Road Kill Him. He says this: “Love is sometimes living with the helpless knowing that I can do nothing about another person’s pain. You can sit with that one for a while.

I came across the meaning of that years ago. It was fairly soon after I had read the book and I was with my mother in Upper New York State right after my father's passing. I started trying to do everything I could for my mother-- cook dinner, take her out to dinner, take her to a movie, do this do that, until finally she said to me “Stop, I need to grieve.” I realized what I was doing. I was hurting because she was hurting, and I wanted somehow or another to take her pain away. Surely I wanted her to feel better, but I also wanted to feel better myself.

When she told me to stop, the quote from Sheldon Kopp came into my mind and I realized that all I could do was to be with her and her pain. I couldn't carry it; I couldn't fix it; I couldn't quickly make it better, but I could be here with you. So I am amending that quote by saying, “I can do nothing about another person's pain, but I can be here with you; I can offer you my presence. I can offer you my love, my compassion, my embracing you as a fellow human being. And even though I can't take away your pain, even though I would like to, I can be here with you as you move through whatever it is you need to move through.

What a blessing that teaching was and continues to be. 

This was such a powerful gathering this morning with all of our sharing, our questions, our doubts, our fears, our pain, our joy, our ability to be together and to create a Sacred Space.

For all of this, for all of you, for all who we are together, for all of those who are on this journey with us, those we know and those we do not, my prayer continues to be “May all beings be at peace; may all beings be free of suffering; may all beings remember who they are.

Be at Peace. Amen

 

WISDOM 18

P. 149-150

 As we began this morning, I was reminded of another wonderful statement by Ram Dass who said very simply, “The only thing I have to offer you is who I am in this moment.” I would certainly ask you to recognize that is true for me and for all of us. And,if I could enhance that message just a bit, I would say, “All I have to give you is my perceptionof myself in this moment.” You could sit with that one for a while.

“Now, as we work with you, we pave the road.”

There are so many messages that come from this truth.

The simplest of which is you are not alone. If the books have not made it clear by now then we have been missing something. Those whom we call the human race are not the only beings that are continuing to discover and expand on their Divine inheritance. There are many beings with bodies and without, that are moving in a similar direction. An aspect or role of our participation in this continual evolution of love is that we help one another move forward. This is not about being better than or weaker than, it is simply a reminder that as others have “boosted” and energized us, so we boost others to their highest capacity.

“We pave the road.” I was reminded of how John the Baptist defined his role in relationship to opening to the Christ consciousness, personified in Jesus. In quoting Isaiah he repeated “to make the crooked ways straight and the rough ways smooth.”

We spent a good bit of our time exploring those seemingly unexplainable events in our lives that led us from one thing to another to another, all of which seem to culminate in an Awakening or an awareness that was beyond our thinking minds, beyond what we might have or could have planned for ourselves.

Simply put I was calling that “being led by the spirit,” but we need to keep in mind is even though most of us can identify with that language that for some other people or perhaps many others, their expression of that phenomenon would be different. No matter how it is expressed, it is only within awareness and openness that allows our sense of Truth to emerge.

I brought up these seemingly synchronistic or serendipitous chain of events in our lives because when we step back and look at them objectively, we realize that a power greater than ourselves, a power greater than our ego or a personality consciousness, has been helping to lead us in this direction of the evolution of Spirit.

Of course free will exists all through this process. At any time we could have laughed it off or told ourselves we just spaced out for a moment or that it was just a coincidence that had nothing to do with spiritual reality or many other forms of denial and rationalization.

We have all recognized, however, that when we are aware open consciously at a higher vibration that it is almost impossible to deny the power of Spirit working through us and teaching us. Often times, we might not realize this until the process is complete or maybe even years later.

There were any number of life circumstances that I could have talked about this morning. The one that seemed to be “up” for me was this particular chain of events: I moved from Columbus, In. to Louisville again, was hired by Charter Hospital in LaGrange, working in the field of alcohol and drug rehabilitation. During my stay in Columbus, I was just beginning to be open to the ideas and sense of metaphysical truth. Soon after coming to Charter, I was talking to one of my coworkers who mentioned that I might enjoy going to a psychic fair that weekend. I said “Fine” piquing my interest. At one of the booths there a lady who told both of us then we needed to buy a package of Blue Pearl incense and to read the message on the back. Well, interestingly  enough there wasn't any Blue Pearl at the psychic fair but my friend mentioned, “I know, they sell that at the Rainbow Blossom.” So we went to the Rainbow Blossom together each picked up a package of blue pearl incense and read the back. It was all about God being within you and around you and knowing yourself as a divine presence as well. The message was written by this Indian Guru name Muktananda. Now he had made his transition a few years ago but he had put his ministry in the hands of a young lady by the name of Chidvilasananda also known as Gurumai.

Soon after reading the incense package, Carol, my co-worker, said “Oh you know what, one of her monks from the ashram is going to be giving a talk at U of L tonight would you like to go?” Again my interest was piqued and I said “yes.” it was an interesting talk but did not relate to it a whole lot until he showed a video of Gurumai, and I found myself quite touched by her presence. He then mentioned that she would be having a weekend retreat in South Fallsburg New York and gave the dates. It just “so happened” I was going to to be in New York over that time and the dates fit in with the last part of my vacation, so I decided I was going to go. For the most part, over that weekend, I felt like a fish out of water, but at the end of the retreat I had a profound experience of what we might call higher vibration or higher awareness of a Deeper Self beyond what I ever realized before. All of these seemingly non-connected events that I seemed to have no conscious control over, except  accept them, occurred gently and powerfully, one after the other, to lead me to that deeper experience of Self.

At any point I could have said no or denied it but I did not.

A much simpler example came about this summer. Margo and I had stayed a week or so at a bed and breakfast on Lake Michigan. It was a really nice relaxed beautiful time. Because I am so directionally challenged my GPS has become a godsend and so as we were leaving the bed and breakfast I set it for home. We began driving down the main drag which was going to lead us to the highway when surprisingly the GPS directed me to turn left and go down this side street. I could have overridden that advice but I figured there must be a reason behind it. So, I'm going down the side street turn right turn right again another block and started traveling back to the main road that we had just gotten off of for no particular reason at all. Exceptthat on the corner of one of those turns when I stopped, there was a young mom walking by with her little son holding his hand and just as he walked past us in the car, he turned around and looked at us with this marvelous smile on his face and waved. I never saw him again, but I knew the reason why we took that detour was to experience the love and the joy of that little being that he wished to pass on. It was that simple and that profound.

We Are Paving the Way for You.

 “As each one of you encounters yourself, accepts yourself, embraces what you have known and releases those things you no longer need to carry with you on your journey, you move into a kind of liberation of the soul. The personality, who has decided for so long what things must look like, how the path should unfold to conform to some ideal that somebody else once said was so, will be moved into proper alignment. And the withstanding of this, we say, in true recognition of the Divine Self as the aspect of you that has been born again, born anew, born through your expression, is what will heal others.”

Although we have explored this area before, it struck me as important to repeat again. One of our jobs is to release or to let go of those patterns of thought and behavior that no longer serve us. Now what I realized was this release or letting go doesn't happen just because I want it to or just because I think some ideas or objects have outgrown their purpose. The release only happens when I am ready to allow it to be released, and most of the time, if not all of the time, what is happens spiritually within me, even beyond the conscious level of awareness, is that  a new pattern of thought and behavior have already entered into my life that make the old pattern irrelevant or absolutely unnecessary.

What was fascinating this morning was that no one(not even me) was dwelling on what they needed to get rid of. The focus, without even thinking about it too much, wais the realization that new patterns of thought and behavior had been created in a way that allowed us to easily to let go and release those old ones that no longer serve us.

It was evident to me and probably most of us but there was a palpable energy of realization and transformation in our room together. There are no words for that.

The spirit knows with the Mind cannot comprehend. When we are awake and aware, not only is anything possible, but we can truly see and find God-- love, peace, compassion, serenity-- in all things all creation.

Thank you thank you thank you 

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!