The Universal Teacher

          John 14:15-17&25-26  “If you love me, keep my commandments.  And I will ask of my Father, and he will give you another Comforter, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it has not seen him and does not know him; but you know him because he abides with you and is in you…. I have spoken these things to you while I am with you.  But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom my Father will send in my name will teach you everything and remind you of everything which I tell you.”

         

          John 16:7&13 “It is better for you that I should go away; for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I should go, I will send him to you… When the Spirit of Truth is come, he will guide you into all the Truth.”

          The Holy Spirit is that third phase of the trinity – a third way to experience the Divine.  First is Father, the Presence of God, Life everywhere present.  The second is the Son, the Christ Spirit, the Divine expressing through humanity (Jesus called it the Light of Life). And the third is the Holy Spirit, God in action.  This is the dynamic aspect of God that you interact with constantly.  Presence “is” – Spirit “moves”.

          This experience of God comes when you speak to God and get a response, when you have a conversation with God, when you ask for something and things start to happen in your world.  This is the part of God that tailors your life events to meet your individual needs in order to wake up as a spiritual being.  The Holy Spirit is the “Teacher” and we encounter it on a daily basis whether we know it or not.

          Jesus wanted us to connect with the Holy Spirit as our teacher and not depend on his earthly presence for our spiritual security.  That is why he said it was better for him to “go away”.  He urged his disciples to keep applying the spiritual practices he had taught them so that they would live in the higher part of their being where they would have access, through higher consciousness, to the Universal Teacher just as he did.  He explained that this “Spirit of Truth” (the Holy Spirit) would become their master and teach them everything they would need to learn to follow Him fully into the Christ Spirit.  He explained that the Holy Spirit would be their teacher forever, as it is for everyone. 

          Jesus always empowered his disciples.  He did not want them to be “dependent” on him.  He wanted them to be dependent upon God.  A disciple who was able to express Jesus’ relationship with God, was a truly worthy disciple – one who had followed Him all the way.

          So, the task that is before us now is to connect with the Holy Spirit as our teacher and set up a dynamic interaction with this personalized movement of God in our lives.  Jesus told us that the Teacher is invisible to human eyes, but that “he abides with you and is in you”.  This is a good place to start.

          If the Holy Spirit is within you, when you speak to it or even think, the Teacher hears you. So, strike up a conversation.  Start talking (silently or out loud) and then listen for response.  The Teacher can hear you.  The real challenge becomes, “Can you hear the Teacher?”  By conducting a running conversation with the universal teacher within, you have begun the process of honing your ability to hear.  That is, if you continue to give moments in your conversation to listen for response.

          Of course, you are going to need a name by which to call your teacher:  Holy Spirit, Spirit of Truth, Comforter, Mentor, God, Father, Teacher, etc.  If “Holy Spirit” sounds too austere and causes you to feel removed from the presence of the Teacher, drop the “Holy”.  Just call the Teacher, “Spirit”.  Choose whatever name brings you closer to the teacher within.

          Eventually, you will sense response.  You may have thoughts that bounce back at you from what you have spoken.  You may have feelings that sweep through you in response to your queries.  You may simply receive a sense of being heard and a subtle knowing that things are moving in response to what you have voiced.  And some people may hear what actually seems to be a voice speaking back to them.  But don’t get caught in the trap of waiting for a voice when the Teacher can communicate with you in a multitude of ways.  Look for instructions on every level and be grateful for whatever response you get.

          If you truly want to have a relationship with the Teacher you must have an awareness of the “schoolroom” within which you are being taught.  Your life and the world you live in is that schoolroom.  And you’ve got to quit thinking that things in this world are haphazard.  Everything, absolutely everything you encounter in life is part of the lesson plan set up by the Teacher. 

          Make this subject a major part of your inner conversation with the Teacher.  “What am I supposed to be learning here?  Do I really have to do this?  How best can I approach this assignment?  Am I heading the right direction?  Is there another approach I should take?”

          Life is such a wonderful spiritual training ground.  Some experiences lead us forward with beauty and joy, while others kick us in directions we would not choose to go and push us beyond our comfort zone with pain.  It’s all part of the program laid out by the Teacher.  And, the pain is generally self-imposed resistance.

          Hard experience will force you to expand, even when you refuse.  Our most difficult challenges often force us to build soul-strength that enables us to experience life more deeply.  No matter how hard you try to hang onto the “status quo”, the experiences that come to you will force you to expand.

          The lessons that Spirit has to teach you come in two ways:  either by revelation or hard experience.  Those who are truly tuned-in awaken step by step through the inspiration of the Teacher from within.  That is the path of revelation.  But, when we drag our feet, plan B kicks in.  We are taught by hard experience.  If the inspiration or “revelation” is unheeded or seems too scary to embrace, then Spirit uses life to hit us with a two by four, and knock us back onto the path.

          If we are constantly looking for the spiritual purpose in everything in our life, revelation flows rather freely.  This is where someone may become illumined while taking the garbage out.  After all, much of life could be compared to taking the garbage out.  And everything we do is designed by the Teacher to give us opportunity to wake up spiritually.

          Much of what I have learned came from hard experience.  And I am grateful for this back-up plan.  It has often molded me into the way God wanted me to be, even when I resisted.  But as Charles Fillmore put it, “Experience is the school of fools.  The truly wise do not take their lessons within its doors.”  Direct inner revelation is to be sought after, cherished, and immediately heeded whenever it is offered.  However, whether I have learned by revelation or hard experience I am always grateful to Spirit for teaching me.

          Prayer is one of the ways that we encounter the Holy Spirit – especially when we ask for our life aspirations or our spiritual aspirations and things begin to move in our lives. 

          We learn about the spiritual law of attraction and begin to think that all I have to do is want something and Spirit will bring it into my life.  But, “You do not attract what you want.  You attract what you are.”  Consequently, remember that every time you pray, you are actually asking Spirit to mold you into the person who belongs in the state of affairs (either physical things or spiritual aspirations) for which you have prayed.

          Every prayer is a prayer for “transformation”.  Prayer is not simply asking Spirit to change the world to accommodate my desires.  It is a request, “God mold me as you will, knowing this is my aspiration.”

          Transformation is the ultimate gift of the Holy Spirit.  It is where you go into a life experience one person and exit it someone else.  It is as if Spirit has swept through your being and changed all the dials – the way you see things, how you feel about things, what you yearn for, and what fulfills you.  It can happen in a moment of meditation, during an illness, while adoring a great beauty, or even in the middle of taking out the garbage.  You cannot earn it.  You cannot force it.  But you can call out to it, ask for it.  When it comes it is always a gift.  You expand in consciousness instantly, without the laborious step by step work.  And in that moment you have intimately experienced the Holy Spirit.

          Call out, “Holy Spirit, take command of my life!”  Affirm, “God, sweep over my being and change all the dials as you will.”  Pray, “Spirit, change me at depth!” A surrender to the Holy Spirit can catapult you through areas of life that would have taken you years to master.  It can mold you into someone you never imagined that you could be. And the Teacher can reset your life through transformation over and over if you are truly open and receptive to Spirit’s flow through you.

          There is one further approach we can take to deepening our relationship with the Holy Spirit – Commune with it as the “Spirit of All Life”.  Spirit is God moving in everything.  When you adore the Spirit moving through all of life you are communing with the Holy Spirit.  When you feel yourself in “harmony” with All Life, you are embracing harmony with the Teacher as it moves through every aspect of life. 

          This sense of harmony puts you in perfect accord with the Teacher’s purposes as they are moving through everyone and everything.  This harmony sets you on your highest path while blending your life with the highest for all around you.  Within harmony there is amazing abundance to experience and to share.  And when you are in harmony with all life, revelation flows freely within you.  It is resistance and disharmony that strangles this flow.

          Commune with the “Spirit of All Life” while you are in prayerful meditation.  Or open your eyes, get up and move around.  Use an eyes open moving meditation to commune with the Spirit moving in everything in life that you encounter.  And all the time be open and receptive to “revelation” about anything in life.

          Developing a deep, trusting relationship with the Holy Spirit is a truly important step on this wonderful path we walk, following in Jesus’ footsteps.  The Holy Spirit relationship is one of the most dynamic, all-encompassing, and satisfying God experiences that we can seek.

         

PRACTICES:

1.  Conduct a “Running Conversation with God”

2.  In every experience remember “Life is a Spiritual School”:

          a.  Look at everything as interacting with you as the Holy Spirit assigns.

          b.  Discuss the Lessons with the Holy Spirit.

3.  Set your Life Aspirations & Spiritual Aspirations in Prayer  –  And, Trust

     Spirit to provide what you need to enter that consciousness.

          a.  Pray: “God, mold me as you will, knowing this is my aspiration.”

4.  Call out for TRANSFORMATION: “Holy Spirit sweep over my being &  

     change all the dials! Change me at depth!”

          a.  Ask the Holy Spirit to “take command of your life”!

5.  Commune with the “Spirit of All Life”: Within you in meditation & in the

     world around you in (eyes open) meditation in motion.

          a.  Experience & ADORE the SPIRIT moving through ALL of LIFE!

          b.  Feel yourself in HARMONY with All Life!

          c.  Be Open & Receptive to any REVELATION, the Holy Spirit is ready to

              inspire in you.

A Loving God

Matt. 6:9 “Pray in this manner: Our Father…..”

John 20:17 “Jesus said… I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.”

Luke 15:11-14 & 20-24 “And Jesus said to them, A man had two sons; And his younger son said to him, My father, give me the portion which is coming to me… and (he) went to a far country, and there he wasted his wealth in extravagant living.  And when all he had was gone… he began to be in need…  And he rose up and came to his father.  And while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion on him, and he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.  And his son said to him, My father, I have sinned before heaven and before you, and I am not worthy to be called your son.  But his father said to his servants, bring the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet; and bring and kill the fat ox, and let us eat and be merry; For this my son was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.”

          If you look in your Bible, the section starting with the Gospels is labeled, The New Testament.  This is because Jesus presented a whole new way to relate to God.  The God of the Old Testament is a demanding deity who is called, Lord.  The God of Jesus is an ever-loving, forgiving, caring God and Jesus called him “Father”.  Your role according to the Old Testament is that of “serf”, serving your Lord.  Jesus knew that the Divine loves each of us intensely.  He knew that the role we play is more that of son or daughter.  Though our human personality may be nothing more than “serf”, our inner essence, the part of us that is eternal is a divine expression of God and dear to Spirit.  The question is “What part are we living our life from?”

          Each of us as the child of God can experience this love as if for a Father’s “only begotten son” (or daughter).  No one is loved more than another.  You cannot earn this love and you cannot have it rescinded.  It is your Divine Inheritance! 

          You can turn away from God’s love.  You can journey to the far country where you block out God’s love.  You can pretend there is no God, and do terrible things.  But, God never turns away from loving you.  God is there to embrace you the moment you turn back to live in the Father’s Presence.   

          Within you is the human serf that lives in the far (separated) country and also, the child of God that lives in the harmony of God’s loving presence.  It is we who must choose where we live our lives – in the belief in human separation or the understanding of our divinity as a beloved expression of God.  Living in the presence of God’s love is the choice Jesus urged us to make.

          Jesus knew God as Father – always there to love him, to inspire and guide him, to provide for him, to work miracles through him, and to give him life.  He knew that he was never alone for “the Father” was always with him and wishing for him, his highest good.  And, Jesus expected his disciples to establish this same child-father relationship with God that he demonstrated for them. 

          Over and over he asked us to step up to the plate.  In the Lord’s Prayer we do not pray, “Jesus’s Father, who art in heaven.”  We are instructed to pray, “Our Father”.  And he could not have been clearer when he said, “my Father and your Father, and my God and your God”.

          One of our first tasks is to leave Old Testament concepts behind and learn to experience God as Jesus experiences God.  You may say, “Of course!”  But this sense of “unworthiness” that follows the serf is deeply ingrained in us and subtle in the way it affects our spiritual thinking.  It often seems a bold and frightening leap to embrace that you are the beloved son or daughter of the Most High.  But, without embracing this position – the relationship that Jesus taught over and over – you can only go to the threshold of the kingdom of the heavens.  You cannot actually enter in without the consciousness of a “wedding garment” – that deep bond that exists between you and the Father-God. (Parable of the Wedding Garment – Matt. 22:11-14)

          So, this step involves making a decision to leave whatever “far country” consciousness we presently find ourselves in.  We need to “humbly” commit to a much deeper, more intense relationship with God as Father, Mother, Beloved. 

          God, the Father, always allows us to explore being on our own – pretending that we are doing this life as a separate being and that we must only please ourselves.  But this path causes us to lose contact with the flow that is our source and “lack” results.  It may be physical lack or it may be emotional.  But, in the end the path of believing we are on our own ends in lack.

          But, the Parable of the Prodigal Son illustrates that God’s Presence comes alive in your life the moment that you turn toward home.  It may be a long way back to living in perfect harmony with the Spirit within you.  But the moment that you humbly choose to live in accord with this “something greater” that lives within you and exists throughout your world, you will feel a shift.  It is as if the Father is coming out to meet you long before you finish the journey yourself.

          Your Divine Father, like any father, wants the best for you.  God wants you to succeed.  God wants you be he happy.  God wants you to have abundance in all things physical and non-physical.  It is we who hold ourselves back.  It is never God.  If something we desire is not for our highest good, God sets in motion something greater. 

          The Father does not want us to suffer.  We do that to ourselves.  God wants us to experience the heights of Joy, the depths of Love, overwhelming Beauty, and the glory of Life.  We are allowed to explore all the other stuff.  And thankfully, the Father is not the punishing type.  We are not punished “for” our sins but “by” them.

          Quit thinking that God might not want you to have some good thing, or God might enjoy your having to struggle.  Quit making God in our human image.  Realize God wants us to prosper.  Even in the Old Testament it says, “Lord… they shall prosper who love you!” (Psalm 122:6)  God is ready to give you everything.  We, however, must figure out how to accept all the good that God has for us!  To be in a space where we can receive the robe, the ring, the shoes, & the celebration of the parable, we have only to reach toward home – reach out to love the Father more deeply.

          There is one more point on which we must be very clear.  You cannot “earn” your place as a Son or Daughter of God.  It is already yours by divine decree.  It matters not what terrible mistakes you have made or how good you have tried to be.  You are a beloved child of God and always will be. 

          If you choose to live out of harmony with the Spirit of all life, if you choose to think yourself separate and in conflict with others around you, you will learn the lesson of the prodigal who discovered that self-centered pleasure is directly connected to self-centered pain.  It hurts to be out of harmony with the Divine. 

          But the moment you choose to quit playing the human fool and turn toward the Father, you are divine, the beloved Son or Daughter of God.  To God, you always have been.  To God you are cherished even when you place yourself in a space where you cannot feel that you are cherished.  There is no re-instatement exam.  There is only the Father, welcoming you home.  It’s time to humbly commit to live in the constant presence of a loving God.

PRACTICES:

1.  Affirm your relationship with God:

                    “My desire is to Live my Life, Immersed in God’s Presence!”

                   “God Loves Me & I Love God!”

                   “Life Loves me & I love Life!”

                   “Be Still; God’s Presence is Within me!”

Listen with your heart following each affirmation until you feel the energy of what you are affirming.  Then take a quiet time to contemplate – think about –  each Truth as it applies to your life.

2.  Affirm God’s wonderful will for good in your life:    

                   “My Loving Father wants me to Prosper & be Happy!”

                    “God is constantly drawing to me, my Highest Good!”

                   “I am a child of God; & I am meant to succeed in Life!”

                   “I am a child of God; My Divine Inheritance is Life, Love,                                                                                                     Abundance, Wisdom & Fulfillment!”

3.  Look out at your life and realize:  “Anything is possible, for it is not I,  but God’s Loving Spirit within me, that does the work through me!”

The Christ Spirit

John 1:9  “He was the true light which lighted every man who came into the world.”

Colossians 1:25-27 “I became a minister… to preach the word of God everywhere, even the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations…which is Christ in you, the hope of our glory.”

John 8:12 “I am the light of the world; he who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but he shall find for himself the light of life.”

          There is one Spirit that unites all humanity.  We call it the Christ Spirit.  Jesus not only knew the Christ Spirit.  He knew that he was the Christ Spirit expressing as an individual human life going by the name Jesus.  This Spirit, this “true light that lighted every man” who has ever come into the world is our spiritual source.  Without it there is no life for us.  But it is buried beneath layers of temporal human identity that we cling to ferociously.  Jesus mission was to awaken us to the glory that lies underneath this illusion of separate human identity.  And only when our deepest aspiration is to find for ourselves “the light of life”, the glory of “Christ in you”, can we truly follow in the masters footsteps, do the things that he did, and join him in the Christ Spirit.

          Humanity lives under the illusion that we are all separate beings, competing for life here on this planet.  Jesus understood that we are a part of each other, forever connected by the Spirit that flows through us all.  That is why he taught to love your enemies, “so that you may become sons of your Father who is in heaven, who causes his sun to shine upon the good and the bad and who pours down his rain upon the just and the unjust.” (Matt. 5:45)  Jesus lives in the one Christ Spirit that gives life to everyone.  He knew he was this one Spirit even as he taught his disciples. 

          Only from a consciousness of “Oneness” can we grasp where the master is taking us.  In a very real sense “the belief in separation is the cause of all evil”.  To enter the Christ Spirit, we must rid ourselves of the belief that it is “us vs. them” and replace it with the realization that it is only “us”.  This defies everything that humanity teaches.  But, Jesus understood a far expanded reality.  He knew that you are not “only human”.  There is something glorious underneath – an expanded reality of Self that reaches beyond the frailties of this separate human identity that we defend. 

          We can enter the Christ Spirit where everyone has their roots.  Others may call it by another name.  But there is only one divine spirit of humanity, one true light that has been sown into the soul of every human being.  There aren’t competing teams here in the earth.  We are all children of God (no matter how badly some seem to handle their individual freedom).  It is the spirit of the whole, “the light of life” that gives life to an unlimited number of individual expressions exploring all the possibilities this world has to offer. 

          Herein is the crux as to how to follow in the master’s footsteps.  Jesus was an individual expression and often spoke as an individual.  Yet, he also was the whole and could speak powerfully as the Christ Spirit, the very spirit that is in everyone.  That is the challenge before us if we are to follow him into the Christ Spirit.  We must learn to fluidly move identity from the perspective of the individual to the perspective of the whole, so as to live in awareness of both at the same time.

          But we already dabble in this awareness.  When someone sacrifices for another, they have recognized that the whole is served by their action.  This is why Jesus taught that leadership is expressed through service, not individual power.  Service makes you part of something greater than yourself.  And that places you on the path to Christ consciousness.

          Shortly before Jesus left his disciples, he suggested that they would see him again soon.  He added, “In that day you will not ask me anything.”  Jesus expected that his disciples were well on the path to Christ Spirit awareness, and that they would join him there in this illumined realm where we all know that we are directly connected to God.  He expected them to joyously discover that he was within them.  We all share a space within where there are no boundaries between us.  Entering the Christ Spirit is the greatest experience of intimacy available in any dimension of life.

          Therefore, I suggest that we begin this quest to follow the master (not just talk about it) by realizing our teacher and way-shower is already available within us in that “light of life” from which we draw our every breath.  If you desire the ultimate companion and help-mate on this journey into higher realms simply call out within and feel the response.  The further you go the clearer your teacher’s presence within you will be.  You must still take responsibility for mastering yourself. It’s not a free ride.  But ask for help and you will get it.

            Intellectual understanding is not enough.  We must turn each piece into an experience.  We must feel, in our hearts, what we say in our minds.  We must make it a part of us, not just something we have considered.  To this end, we will apply spiritual practices over and over until the energy that they elicit becomes part of “who we are”.  This is how we “hear the words and do them”.  This is how we “build our house upon a rock”.  It’s time to walk the talk.

PRACTICES:

AFFIRMATION:  An affirmation is positive prayer statement of a Truth that we aspire to express.  Thus, when facing illness we might affirm, “I am filled with the Healing Life of God.  I am Healthy & Strong.”

           Some will tell you that an affirmation is designed to put a positive idea in your subconscious mind.  Though that will happen, I do not believe that to be the purpose of this practice.  We are not trying to put something “in”.  We are calling something “out”.  We are calling into expression a truth that already lives in our “soul” but is not presently expressed in our outer life.

          When using an affirmation.  Declare it with sincerity and deep feeling.  Then listen for an inner energy response.  Try to feel the response to these words from deep within you, though it may be so subtle at first as to almost miss your attention.  Keep affirming until you feel something.  Then, each time you repeat it, the energy response should be stronger.  Thus, it becomes a joy to affirm.  What we are reaching for is not in the words.  It is in the energy experience that the words merely symbolize.  This energy experience of the Truth you desire to express weaves itself into the very fabric of your daily consciousness and becomes part of the identity  you are expressing.  This in turn has an impact on your outer circumstances.  Always listen with your feeling nature for the energy behind the words.

1.  Call within to the Master Jesus Christ as your Teacher:

          a.  Call “Jesus Christ” within yourself & listen for response.  Put sincerity  and desire into your inner call.  The response could be a subtle emotional flow, a quiet knowing, or something unmistakable.  Everyone is different and subtle is more common than dramatic.  Keep calling until you feel a response.

          b.  Affirm:  Jesus Christ is my Teacher.  I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.

          c.  Affirm:  The Spirit that is in Jesus Christ is in me Now!

2.  Contemplate ONEness (being the Whole):  In quiet meditation move from being your individual human expression to the perspective of being the “whole” of the Spirit of God expressing as humanity – the Christ Spirit – the spiritual archetype from which we all find individual expression.  Be the identity that expresses through every human being.

          a.  Affirm:  “I am (your name).”  Then, switch & affirm, “I am the Spirit of  Humanity!”  Keep switching back & forth.  Try to feel both possible identities.

          b.  See yourself in harmony with everyone and everything.  Affirm:  “It’s all God!”

3.  Affirm your desire to merge your consciousness with the Christ Spirit:

          “I am an expression of the Christ Spirit.  I belong to the Christ Spirit!”

          “I desire the Light of Life!”         
          "I serve the Whole!"

The Jesus Practices - THE VISION

Matt.7:21 &24  “It is not everyone who merely says to me, My Lord, my Lord, who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven… Therefore, whoever hears these words of mine, and does them, he is like a wise man who built his house upon a rock.”

          Jesus Christ left us extensive instructions on how exactly to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven right here, right now.  He intended each of his followers to enter into this heavenly awakening and discover how to use higher consciousness to accomplish the miracles that he demonstrated as examples. 

          Jesus lived in the higher realms and this earthly expression at the same time.  He knew that we are sleeping sons and daughters of God, dreaming that we are only human.  His mission was to awaken a sleeping humanity to the realization that we are so much more than we have believed ourselves to be.  When we fully grasp that we are spiritual beings, and that this human self is but a costume we have dawned in order to participate in this particular party that we call earth life, we will function as freely in the kingdom of the heavens as he does. 

          In fact, we will awaken to the realization of the Christ Spirit within us. We will see that the same spirit that is in Jesus Christ is sown into our souls.  And, I am only truly a disciple when I join Him there from within. But, this is a big jump for you and me.  So, Jesus left a trail of bread crumbs – instructions for things that we can do (spiritual practices) that will lead us step by step into awakening.

          We fall short when we treat Jesus’ teachings as list of rules for behavior.  Jesus functioned freely in the higher realms of consciousness.  What he had to show us is invisible to human eyes.  Yet, it is real and the very cause of our existence.  Jesus had at his disposal language that addressed only physical existence and he masterfully used earthly examples to describe a realm that is not physical, often with the admonition, “For those who have ears to hear, hear.”  To tromp through His teachings with only physical understanding of the words is to almost entirely miss the point. 

          Jesus’ goal for each of us was to enter the Kingdom of Heaven realization right here and right now.  To this end He described spiritual practices that we could focus upon that would lead us into an expanded state of mind, or more precisely an expanded state of heart.  Combining higher mind and higher heart we arrive at higher consciousness, and begin to see the vast realm of the heavens in which Jesus functions. The overwhelming majority of life is invisible to human eyes.  But as we awaken realization of the Christ Spirit within us, we begin to discover this higher vision that can see what is beyond the reach of physical perception.  Only then are we truly following in Jesus’ footsteps.

          A disciple is more than someone who stands on the side and cheers for the master.  A true disciple does the inner work necessary to enter into the master’s consciousness.  Declaring your love of Jesus Christ is a beginning, not an end.  It takes real courage to reach toward something as high as Christ consciousness. But is there anything more worthy of your efforts.  It’s time to quit looking at the mountain and whaling that we are not up to the task.  It’s time to put our fears and inadequacies aside, and climb.  It’s time to painstakingly placing one foot in front of the other.  Can you hear the master’s call, “Come unto me!”? He’s beckoning to us from the higher realms right there within us.

          We are beginning the journey that Jesus laid out for us – a journey that we may repeat over and over, each time at a deeper level.  Step by step we will apply the spiritual practices that He said would lead us into the higher realms.  Our prayer is not that our outer world be changed, but that we ourselves be transformed into what God truly intended us to be.  Our commitment is to “do the will of my Father in heaven”.  We will do the inner work.  We will strive to follow the master all the way – one step at a time.  And if we can begin to see the kingdom of the heavens, even just a little, it will be more than worth all the time and effort that we give.

Discontent vs. Surrender to Christ Spirit

I've been on a trip to Colorado and back to pick up my father who will spend 3 months of the winter with us this year.  It was a long drive and I did not make any posts during that time.  But having now returned, I am going to share some observations on the world around us and their spiritual impact.  I'm going to cover one negative observation and one positive one that I believe is, in the end, its antidote.

Let's start with the downside.  "Discontent" seems to be rampant with people I encounter around me in life right now.  It's a quality I am quite familiar with.  However, I don't believe that we fully understand how dangerous this "pet emotion" is.  Anger, resentment, fear, are all pretty straight forward.  There is no denying them.  They stand out for all to see - even ourselves. But, discontent is insidious.  Like termites it seems hidden from view, eating away at the structure from the inside, and only becomes apparent when inner supports are half gone and things start to collapse.

Discontent isn't all bad.  In fact it can have a positive affect upon our lives if it is converted into the commitment to change for the better.  But like "guilt", it is helpful for only a few seconds -- the time it takes to make the commitment to do better.  Then it needs to be released.

I see around me, people who are trying to control things that they cannot control and in most cases, shouldn't.  Their failure fuels a deep discontent that eats away at them.  I see others discontent with their lives and unable to escape.  Many are discontent with the people around them, because surely they must be the cause of this inner knawing.  And of course, we are discontent with government, the state of the economy, the opportunities offered us, the stupid people who disagree with us, and even the weather.  For some, this coaleses into a discontent with God.  Surely He is not the loving father/mother that we've described him/her to be. 

Discontent is an acceptable game to play when things are sunny and some new shift in the currents of life will eventually lift us out of our morass.  But it is downright dangerous when the world as a whole is facing the heavy pressures that are part and parcel of a transformation into higher human consciousness.  Since we are likely to be part of this historic shift in human consciousness for the rest of our short lives (by human history standards), maybe we better get a little better control of our discontent - something that we do have in our power to control.

Right now, discontent is epidemic in human consciousness and it is trashing institutions that for generations have given us stability.  It is trashing individual lives.  Just as positive prayer has the possibility to spark miracles, discontent is a form of prayer that has the power to destroy everything in its path.  The world needs those of us who can turn away from the strong human current of discontent and etch an alternate path of "seeing the Light" that will eventually balance this slide down the hill.  It takes an act of will to turn away from the negative sucking action that many events draw out of us -- an act of will to surrender to the Christ Spirit.

Sunday I told the story of my trip back through a snowstorm and then a rain - no sunlight for 8 days.  At the beginning of the hard part, I realized that this didn't need to be my trip.  This was an opportunity that the Christ Spirit brought together.  I'd tried personally to make this happen for many years without any results.  So, it wasn't up to me to force a good outcome to all the challenges that were coming my way.  I just needed to do whatever was in front of me - be willing to do whatever life required rather than flail my hands in the air over the difficulties - and turn it over to the Christ Spirit.  I'm just the go-for.  I began declaring "This is your trip, Christ Spirit!"  And that declaration alone seemed to give me great relief.  And at the worst points, in spite of the difficulty, things worked out.  Spirit truly was in charge.  I still had to do hard things.  But Spirit would show itself when things seemed most threatening.

Arriving back home and noticing all the discontent, I realize that the auto trip was just the primer.  Now it's time to keep affirming, "This is your trip, Christ Spirit!"  I encourage you to join me.  And I believe the world needs each of you to join this endeavor.  Surrender to the Christ Spirit, is the quickest path through the difficulties of the transition in world consciousness that we are fielding right now.  And it certainly is the most powerful antidote for that insidious disease of discontent.  "Christ Spirit, this is your trip!"  Can you feel the soothing relief already flowing?

Multi-Faceted Waves of Life

Ever since our in-depth study of Walter Russell's concepts last Fall, I have been intrigued with his experience of going into an elevated state for something like 40 days and during that time he "knew" the universe.  From this "knowing" of the universe during his spiritual experience he was able to apply what he had seen scientifically and several others who took his work and expanded upon it, ended up getting Nobel Prizes.  So, we must conclude that his "knowing" of the universe had physical validity behind it. 

Consequently for the last year I have added to my affirmation that "I know the universe", hoping to embrace a little of his experience.  Actually I say, "I see the Light.  I know the universe."  And for a moment as I say each line I reach to embrace the experience behind those words.

Walter described what he KNEW about the reality of the universe as waves.  Everything is a wave of life.  Everything is "expressing" out into form from the Source.  Thus if we see how the waves interact with one another we know what causes this kaleidoscope of life to express in the way that it does - how things come & go, change, etc.

These days, I've come to believe that I can almost see all those waves of the myriad forms of life expressing and interacting.  This is especially true during my walking meditation.  Some waves are solid and hold their form relatively stead for a time (like buildings).  Others are complicated expressions of intent exploring with what seems a life of their own (like people).  But, bird, animal, tree, grass, water, rock, sunlight, people - each is a unique almost joyous expression of life no matter what they are doing.  One can almost see the waves carrying out their intent (some harmoniously, some violently interacting with other waves).  We can see this huge symphony of waves expressing life in all manner of ways, winking out, and other waves coming into expression behind them, each on a different time frame.  And together we call it ALL ----- Life!  Actually it is the expression of Life.  Life itself is the Whole out of which each individual thing flows.

Just spending some time being the whole -- the observer that is beyond individual expression, enjoying each one & the dance they create together -- is amazingly uplifting.  There is nothing like concentration on ONEness to expand our consciousness.  And when that happens, I feel I can almost see all the waves flowing.  Maybe "knowing the universe" is not as distant an experience as it first seems.