WELCOME 7

In the past few weeks we have done a lot of stretching. We have deliberately and consciously worked on going beyond our current belief systems. These have not been simply intellectual exercises, we have literally changed the vibrational level we are operating on.

Now one of the things that happens here is that we find ourselves in a uncomfortable and perhaps even terrifying space. The solid ground we stood on a short time ago from our old belief systems is no longer there, and like a rock climber, without even knowing it, we are desperately reaching out for the next hand hold.

And so we begin to ask all of these questions: “What about this; what about that; what do we do if this happens; what do we do if that happens; how can you explain this, and on and on. This is my intellect, the attempt of my limited ego consciousness to get back in control. MY personality self does not like me being “in my knowing;” it would much rather have me be in my understanding, to be in control, to have the ability to predict what is coming next.

So here, at least in part, is our challenge— to go beyond our need to prove or understand and to be in your knowing, beyond feelings, beyond words.

On a very practical level, this means that we focus on ourselves and what we need to do or how we can become more loving, more caring, more compassionate. Prayerfully exploring how we can use the creative energy of the divine that flows through us to be able to transform this world of ours. To be able to go beyond our seemingly normal dualistic and separate mindset to a stance that embraces the truth of Oneness.

When caught up in the mind’s incessant chsatter, story-telling,  and need to control and understand, when you realize you are in that quagmire, stop for a moment; Breathe. Rely on that marvelous prayer from Emilie Cady—“God, I do not know the answer; You do. Show me.” This is not giving our power away, it is an affirmation of our own inner wisdom—that “wee small voice within,” “Be still and know..”

Be aware, life is not asking questions such as “What about this or that,” but directing me to create the space and the strength to do I need to do—“How do I raise my vibration around this; how do I open my heart. Although most of us are not called to be a Gandhi or Mother Theresa, we are, each one of us, called to create from our heart’s love rather than from fear. 

If we feel the need to protest, write letters, carry signs, donate to causes we believe in, by all means do it, but do it with love not hatred, resentment or fear.

Years ago, I became aware that whenever I am angry or outraged, if I look deep enough, I will find that something/someone I care about deeply is being threatened. So I begin to choose to focus on that which I love, and make that my direction and the source of my energy.

It was Gandhi’s love for his people and the ideal of freedom, not hatred of the British, that allowed for this transformation to take place.

Many of us find ourselves in political turmoil that is polarizing this nation even more than it was. We can stay in outrage or self-righteousness and continually experience ourselves as victim or controller, OR we can find ways of being that unique expression of the Divine—for me, at least in part, being part of this class is an aspect of my service.

Acceptance, love, surrender, are not wimpy—they are not expressions of passivity or victimhood. Just ask yourself this question—

“Do you believe in the transformational power of love?” 

One aspect many of us have experienced is the HO’OPONOPONO. If you are not familiar with that you might  want to Google it.

There is an expression I recalled for many years ago, and although the language is dualistic in form (God up there and me down here) I think you can get the message: “We need to pray as if everything depended on God, and work as if everything depended upon us.

It is a paradoxical place. On some level of our being there is nothing that needs to be done. If all is love and there is nothing else what is there to do? Then again, we are also material beings in a wounded world that seems to be intent on destroying itself. 

Because we are uniques expressions of the divine—each of us has a unique way of contributing to the solution.  Part of our spiritual journey is discovering those unique ways that we can serve. 

I know it is hard to believe, but we have actually moved from page 41 to 42.

WELCOME 6

Interesting group Sunday—lots of questions/discussion. 

I think we set a record—we covered ONE paragraph! Good thing we are not on a fixed schedule.

We began by sharing an awareness that the material we are exploring is not new and also shows up in varying different ways. Even looking back, we find that teachings of this sort existed before we even knew it. The example one of our classmates offered was watching [reruns of]the Bill Moyer’s interviews of Joseph Campbell and the discussion around mythology and the energies connected with myth. (A myth is far more than just a story; myth carries with it an energy,  a creative force. A simple example would be your astrological sign. If you are a Leo, for example, as I am, you will notice that there are certain energies, patterns of thought and behavior that help to personify you. 

You will also notice that at certain times a “story” becomes much more than a story. The early Star Wars movies are a good example of that. Harry Potter is another. The story becomes a phenomenon, an energy that many connect and identify with. It goes beyond our intellectual understanding. [Obviously, this is a very brief if and limited description.])

Before we even got into the book we begin to explore various levels of consciousness, each of which carries with it a vibration. We exist and interact on many energetic levels and one of the things we are working on is to become more aware of those energies.

I shared a model that I came across a number of years ago. 

If you could imagine that you have a channel selector on the side of your head and you could click your awareness from one channel to another, here's a way that would be like.

Channel 1 is your physical reality, where the primal energies are most in force. Here is where we are taking care of our physical needs. Hunger, food, warmth, shelter, reproduction, are all the focus of this channel.

Channel 2 is what we might call the personality channel, the soap opera channel, the story channel, all the stories we are making up about ourselves and all those around us.  This is an easy one to get lost in or to overly identify with because most of us are naturally taught to think this is who we are. You might also call this the ego channel, and when I am living from my ego people fall into three categories—those I am controlling, those who are trying to control me, and those that are irrelevant. Power, Control, Drama are all part of living in this reality of channel 2.

When I flip into channel 3, I begin to realize that life is bigger than my overly simplistic story. This is what is sometimes termed the mythological realm. It is a bridge to the spiritual, but not quite there yet. We still see ourselves as individuals, but it is more as the hero or a heroine on a quest, a prince or princess seeking a lost love. (In some more “primitive” cultures as you reach a certain angel, you become a crone, a wise woman, or a grandfather, not in the literal sense, but as a keeper of the tribes wisdom and history.)  I find myself living out a role much bigger than my personality self, and if I am willing to, I see you doing that as well. There is quite a bit of creativity and creative energy that flows from this awareness. There is a connectedness with other beings on this channel that has not been previously part of our awareness.

And then we moved to channel4. This is a place where are sense of the spiritual deeply connects. It is from this awareness that we can love, show compassion. We begin to realize that even though we are on unique journeys and that each one of us is a unique expression of the Divine, that we are also linked together with the sense of oneness. That our purpose no matter what personality we might be wearing is the same–to love as deeply as possible and to identify with the divine than we are as the essence of our truth. I believe mother Theresa expressed this beautifully when she described her job, her mission on earth, “to see Christ in all his distressing disguises.”

(I might note here that we occupy all those channels simultaneously, it is our awareness, constricted or expanded that makes the difference.)

Even though this was not a planned part of our book discussion it does fit in, giving us a model for awareness and a way of being able to identify when we are in lower vibration or limited awareness of the truth of who we are. 

I also became aware that another word or term or explanation for what is referred to as “illusion” would also be the concept of limitation. When I am looking at you or me in limitation I am in illusion. In other words, I am not seeing you or myself the way we truly are.

A few weeks ago I came across this idea: “We all know the truth of who we are, but we just don't completely believe it yet.” How do we know that? Simply put, the world would be a very different place if we all believed the truth of who we are.

The thought also occurred to me that the only reason I can think of, at the moment, of why we would not fully believe the truth of who we are, is that somehow or another the thought or the energy of unworthiness still remains. Like a dandelion whose roots go deeply within the earth, we can keep pulling them up but unless we get to the roots it will keep growing back.

Now here is our dilemma, I do not dig up the roots of my unworthiness through my personality self. That is just an impossible task. It's apples and oranges; it doesn't work. The only way I can up root my unworthiness this through my divine self and identifying wiht my Divine Self, which doesn't have any unworthiness about it at all.

The only way I know how to deal with this is through a continuing act of surrender. “See me, feel me, touch me, heal me, guide me, love me.” That is one of my prayers. Another is “Lord that I may see” that I may see myself as You see me. Or in words we are more familiar with—“May I see myself with the eyes of the Christ,” and, of course, when I see myself with the eyes of the Christ, I see all other beings that way as well.

Along similar lines, an interesting question came up about this sense of worthiness. A classmate described  having a good sense of their own worthiness, but having a difficult time seeing some others as worthy as well. Here is another of those “sneaky” pieces of awareness that shows up every once in a while.

Let me give you an example of my own. A Course in Miracles suggests that every human interaction is either an “act of love or cry for help.” The way I initially interpreted that was that I was in charge of deciding whether this other person was either in an active love or a cry for help. I did not realize it but that was my personality self’s interpretation. If I see you as helpless or hurt or angry or lost or  confused, I am actually seeing you through my own sense of limitation. In other words, I am not seeing you as you truly are. I am the one who is crying for help, because I am seeing with the eyes of limitation.

Another example of that comes from scripture is a brief parable that Jesus spoke called “The Publican and the Pharisee.” Rather than paraphrase, let me quote it here for you:

“He spoke also this parable to certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness, and who despised all others. "Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: 'God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn't even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

— Luke 18:9-14, World English Bible

Now there is a real catch to this story. Everyone wishes to identify with the humility of the publican, which is fine, but what we are saying without realizing that is “Thank God I'm not like that Pharisee over there.” So here we are falling into that same trap of judgment we were wanting to avoid!

The truth we are dealing with here is that either I hold everyone in the light or no one. This is one of those few absolutely clear cut  decisions. As a line from the song goes “You can't hold your brother in the dark and expect to see the light.”

Thank you all for walking each other home.

Interesting group Sunday—lots of questions/discussion. 

I think we set a record—we covered ONE paragraph! Good thing we are not on a fixed schedule.

We began by sharing an awareness that the material we are exploring is not new and also shows up in varying different ways. Even looking back, we find that teachings of this sort existed before we even knew it. The example one of our classmates offered was watching [reruns of]the Bill Moyer’s interviews of Joseph Campbell and the discussion around mythology and the energies connected with myth. (A myth is far more than just a story; myth carries with it an energy,  a creative force. A simple example would be your astrological sign. If you are a Leo, for example, as I am, you will notice that there are certain energies, patterns of thought and behavior that help to personify you. 

You will also notice that at certain times a “story” becomes much more than a story. The early Star Wars movies are a good example of that. Harry Potter is another. The story becomes a phenomenon, an energy that many connect and identify with. It goes beyond our intellectual understanding. [Obviously, this is a very brief if and limited description.])

Before we even got into the book we begin to explore various levels of consciousness, each of which carries with it a vibration. We exist and interact on many energetic levels and one of the things we are working on is to become more aware of those energies.

I shared a model that I came across a number of years ago. 

If you could imagine that you have a channel selector on the side of your head and you could click your awareness from one channel to another, here's a way that would be like.

Channel 1 is your physical reality, where the primal energies are most in force. Here is where we are taking care of our physical needs. Hunger, food, warmth, shelter, reproduction, are all the focus of this channel.

Channel 2 is what we might call the personality channel, the soap opera channel, the story channel, all the stories we are making up about ourselves and all those around us.  This is an easy one to get lost in or to overly identify with because most of us are naturally taught to think this is who we are. You might also call this the ego channel, and when I am living from my ego people fall into three categories—those I am controlling, those who are trying to control me, and those that are irrelevant. Power, Control, Drama are all part of living in this reality of channel 2.

When I flip into channel 3, I begin to realize that life is bigger than my overly simplistic story. This is what is sometimes termed the mythological realm. It is a bridge to the spiritual, but not quite there yet. We still see ourselves as individuals, but it is more as the hero or a heroine on a quest, a prince or princess seeking a lost love. (In some more “primitive” cultures as you reach a certain angel, you become a crone, a wise woman, or a grandfather, not in the literal sense, but as a keeper of the tribes wisdom and history.)  I find myself living out a role much bigger than my personality self, and if I am willing to, I see you doing that as well. There is quite a bit of creativity and creative energy that flows from this awareness. There is a connectedness with other beings on this channel that has not been previously part of our awareness.

And then we moved to channel4. This is a place where are sense of the spiritual deeply connects. It is from this awareness that we can love, show compassion. We begin to realize that even though we are on unique journeys and that each one of us is a unique expression of the Divine, that we are also linked together with the sense of oneness. That our purpose no matter what personality we might be wearing is the same–to love as deeply as possible and to identify with the divine than we are as the essence of our truth. I believe mother Theresa expressed this beautifully when she described her job, her mission on earth, “to see Christ in all his distressing disguises.”

(I might note here that we occupy all those channels simultaneously, it is our awareness, constricted or expanded that makes the difference.)

Even though this was not a planned part of our book discussion it does fit in, giving us a model for awareness and a way of being able to identify when we are in lower vibration or limited awareness of the truth of who we are. 

I also became aware that another word or term or explanation for what is referred to as “illusion” would also be the concept of limitation. When I am looking at you or me in limitation I am in illusion. In other words, I am not seeing you or myself the way we truly are.

A few weeks ago I came across this idea: “We all know the truth of who we are, but we just don't completely believe it yet.” How do we know that? Simply put, the world would be a very different place if we all believed the truth of who we are.

The thought also occurred to me that the only reason I can think of, at the moment, of why we would not fully believe the truth of who we are, is that somehow or another the thought or the energy of unworthiness still remains. Like a dandelion whose roots go deeply within the earth, we can keep pulling them up but unless we get to the roots it will keep growing back.

Now here is our dilemma, I do not dig up the roots of my unworthiness through my personality self. That is just an impossible task. It's apples and oranges; it doesn't work. The only way I can up root my unworthiness this through my divine self and identifying wiht my Divine Self, which doesn't have any unworthiness about it at all.

The only way I know how to deal with this is through a continuing act of surrender. “See me, feel me, touch me, heal me, guide me, love me.” That is one of my prayers. Another is “Lord that I may see” that I may see myself as You see me. Or in words we are more familiar with—“May I see myself with the eyes of the Christ,” and, of course, when I see myself with the eyes of the Christ, I see all other beings that way as well.

Along similar lines, an interesting question came up about this sense of worthiness. A classmate described  having a good sense of their own worthiness, but having a difficult time seeing some others as worthy as well. Here is another of those “sneaky” pieces of awareness that shows up every once in a while.

Let me give you an example of my own. A Course in Miracles suggests that every human interaction is either an “act of love or cry for help.” The way I initially interpreted that was that I was in charge of deciding whether this other person was either in an active love or a cry for help. I did not realize it but that was my personality self’s interpretation. If I see you as helpless or hurt or angry or lost or  confused, I am actually seeing you through my own sense of limitation. In other words, I am not seeing you as you truly are. I am the one who is crying for help, because I am seeing with the eyes of limitation.

Another example of that comes from scripture is a brief parable that Jesus spoke called “The Publican and the Pharisee.” Rather than paraphrase, let me quote it here for you:

“He spoke also this parable to certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness, and who despised all others. "Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: 'God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn't even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

— Luke 18:9-14, World English Bible

Now there is a real catch to this story. Everyone wishes to identify with the humility of the publican, which is fine, but what we are saying without realizing that is “Thank God I'm not like that Pharisee over there.” So here we are falling into that same trap of judgment we were wanting to avoid!

The truth we are dealing with here is that either I hold everyone in the light or no one. This is one of those few absolutely clear cut  decisions. As a line from the song goes “You can't hold your brother in the dark and expect to see the light.”

Thank you all for walking each other home.