# Personal Religion - Private # Angelic Contact {{@628}}
Angelic contact may occur
**CLASSIFICATION**
**R****P** **M** **1**
**JURISDICTION**
- [x] **soil** - [x] **Land** - [ ] **Sea** - [ ] **AIR**
**SOURCE:** Rayson and Friends
Question: Rayson, is it common that the angelic realm, specifically the Guardian Seraphim, ever communicate with us metaphorically, or through symbols or through coincidences, or synchronicity? Or is that a function of the human mind/psychology, or wilful thinking as opposed to actual contact? Answer: All of the contacts you mentioned do occur and may occur. And as you become more spiritually attuned you may well perceive such things. Some people who are particularly gifted may be especially aware of the workings of the angelic helpers. Of course, superstitious persons may attribute many accidents or coincidences to seraphic beings or other sorts of entities and be in error, but this is not important other than as an observation at this point in your existence. I would not be troubled by it, but rather gladdened, if your inner sense is that you are being guided in such a way.
Do angels put others in our pathway?
**CLASSIFICATION**
**R****P** **M** **1**
**JURISDICTION**
- [x] **soil** - [x] **Land** - [ ] **Sea** - [ ] **AIR**
**SOURCE:** tmtranscripts teamcircuits email archive December 01, 2002. Teacher Elyon
Kirk: Do the angels or other celestials put others in our pathway who are either going to help us or who we can help with their problem to evolve? Elyon: They take great delight in this undertaking and will do what they can, acknowledging the sanctity of freewill sovereignty. Not to devalue their work, it is a thrilling game for them. Important as it is each of these humans you speak of bringing you lessons or you to them, is of vital importance to the growth of souls. This is of great value in the efforts of the angels. If you could see the joy the angels have as they make their efforts to bring about these opportunities, you would see a group of beings who are having a wonderful time. Just as you may undertake a game on earth such as your game of tennis and take delight in a score and likewise laugh at a misplaced ball, these angels do enjoy even the failures, for every undertaking improves their skills and reveals to them the nature of mankind. Kirk: We could improve the whole process if we had faith in the angels, faith in the process, faith in whatever is happening in our lives; that we are being helped. Elyon: Yes, and particularly when you feel resistance to stop yourself and say, "This is an opportunity brought my way perhaps by the angels themselves that I best listen and discern." While you might not recognize it, you may trust the angels will try again.
# Ascension {{@628}}
Your errors and failures are all stimulants for future growth
**CLASSIFICATION**
**R****P** **M** **1**
**JURISDICTION**
- [x] **soil** - [x] **Land** - [ ] **Sea** - [ ] **AIR**
**SOURCE:** tmtranscripts teamcircuits email archive November 2, 1997. Teacher Lantarnek T/R Jonathan
We all exist as the creation of God simply because that was the choice of the Father. In the magnitude of His being we find much that is complex, confounding to the creature mind. The immensity and absoluteness of this Being is quite unfathomable. But He is experiencible for one simple reason: the Father wills it. So He makes available the revelations of Himself that a creature soul can grasp. The primary act of the Father was His decision that creation be. Subsequently the orchestration of the universes you inhabit is the work of his Creator Sons. Your own Creator Son Michael does the will of the Father, for he replicates the perfect creation of Havona. When the Father chooses and acts He does so perfectly. Michael is faced with the challenge of imperfection. When you ask yourself how may I do the Father's will, be not concerned over the content of the will of the Father but the process of willfulness and enactment. Philosophically you can postulate that the universe could have been made in many ways different than the universe you are in today. Indeed, you are aware of the levels of reality presented in your text that do exist, alternate forms of God expressing Himself creatively. But the value of creation to the creature is that God did act. Were it not for His will and His subsequent action, I would not be here with you today; we would not be in fellowship. The Father is penetrating the extremities of creation through you. Being in the realm of imperfection, you are granted the freedom to choose incorrectly. But to provide the proper perspective for this freedom, you need to understand that the exercise of choice and imperfect decision is to attain the ability to choose perfectly. When you choose, you do the will of the Father. When you enact, you succeed or fail in the attainment of becoming perfect. When you choose and act in error, you have not functioned badly; you have created the potential to function better, for better is relative to poorly and well. Michael never hesitated to be about the Father's business in the creation of Nebadon. He knew the difficulties of the assignment, and he wishes all his children likewise never hesitate to enact the choosing of the personality and soul that seeks the Father, knowing full well the difficulties of such an endeavor. In seeking to do the will of the Father, do not be concerned so much that you know beforehand what the will is as that you, by faith and trust, know that your engagement is His will in the hour, that your comprehension results from the imperfect - or even perfect - enactment of your choice. Time and space for an ascending creature demands fault and error and the necessity for correction. This is the secret of the line "judge not". Judge not the results of your action but rather investigate the causes and effects and project a new course. All results are stimulants for future growth. In the agelong ascent to be in the presence of the Father who does act with perfect results, you will have undergone such transformation that your evaluation of the appropriate and inappropriate acts of today will have taken on significance that you at this hour are unable to even conceive. Though it is the quest of the mortal creature to know the specifics of the Father's will, at this point in your evolution, your only successful approach is that you understand the method of His willing and His enactment. The specifics of what He chooses will become evident as you ascend through countless levels of personality attainment.
You are at the helm
**CLASSIFICATION**
**R****P** **M** **1**
**JURISDICTION**
- [x] **soil** - [x] **Land** - [ ] **Sea** - [ ] **AIR**
**SOURCE:** tmtranscripts teamcircuits email archive November 2, 1997. Teacher Elyon T/R Mark
Throughout your entire ascension career you are firmly and completely at your own helm. You demonstrate to your teachers what you desire to learn, the depth at which you desire to learn it, your level of commitment to any given topic. This is how the parameters are formed on your learning, by your very will to demonstrate them to us. You have learned that nothing is ever forced upon you or asked of you if you are not prepared to freely give it. Therefore it is incumbent upon you to stretch your limitations and to demonstrate to whoever your teachers happen to be at the time that you are prepared and willing to learn the next step, the next level, because no teacher you will ever have has the authority or the desire to take you any place you do not desire to go as a student. Your lessons are an indication of your willingness to accept them. Your level of spiritual growth is a direct indication of your desire to embrace that level. We as teachers are ever willing to dangle the carrot in front of you to encourage you to take that next step. But we are never willing to circumvent your freewill choice in this regard. Therefore, we follow you; we follow your desires, your interests, your deep seated intents as the indicators for where we will go, how far we will go together. We would forever encourage you to stretch your boundaries, to reach beyond your normal perceptions to embrace what is outside of these realms.
# Born Again {{@628}}
Being born of the spirit
**CLASSIFICATION**
**R****P** **M** **1**
**JURISDICTION**
- [x] **soil** - [x] **Land** - [ ] **Sea** - [ ] **AIR**
**SOURCE:** Rayson and Son
Each of you have — deep within your being — sought God. A commitment, a prayer, a quest was begun. For some, many years ago. For others, more recently. When man reaches a hand Godward, God has already downreached to that being. God had already found each of you. This will-decision is enough for you to enter the kingdom upon mortal death. It is enough to spiritualize your human life. But it is not what Jesus taught, for we understand “to be born of the Spirit.” Allow me to elaborate. Born of the Spirit, born again, these words are often used by your religionists. They think to bathe in water, to commit in words, is being born of the Spirit. That is incorrect. Many think to make a commitment to The Father is born of the Spirit. That is also incorrect. It is too intellectual. What is birth? Birth is action, physical action. Some births are long and hard and painful. Some births involve some injury, or perceived injury, to the participants. Some births are easy, but not the majority. As it is with childbirth, physical birth, so it is with spiritual birth. Spiritual birth involves physical action. Born of the Spirit is action, spiritual action. When one embarks upon spiritual birth there is a period of dormancy. The conception is your commitment, survival commitment, to the will of The FATHER. This will-decision should grow during the pregnant period. Then comes the birth in the Spirit, of the Spirit, to the Spirit. If you think that this will be painless you are incorrect. It will involve much ego bruising, pain, depression, disappointment, all of the things, which you humans are so adept at avoiding. This is why most who hear the truth push it away. They dismiss it. “Oh, this is not for me.” “Oh, I have heard this before.” “Oh, I do not need this now.” Etc. Because, being born again means changing. It is a birth. But always will your evolving soul thank you if you undertake this action here. You must have courage and commitment. You must have valor. You must realize that this is - this will repercuss on all levels of your being. Many who are involved in the spiritual birth go through doubts, spiritual uncertainty and confusion, even rejection of the Godward life. It is difficult. It is easier to live as a raging heathen than as a committed spiritualist. Why? Because there are more rewards for the worldly attributes, the lower emotions, than rewards for the higher values in action. Why? Because it is easier for the human temperament to embrace negative qualities and act on them than to go against one's own inherent animal nature and modify the clay from which you are built, by higher minds an values. The long dark passage through the spiritual birth canal can be terrifying. You lose sight. The safety after your commitment to God's will has been left behind. The light of emergence into a new way of life is not yet seen. You are surrounded by darkness, feeling contractions, fear, aloneness, and self-doubt, God-doubt. Why venture on out? Why not stay safe in the womb of intellectual commitment? Read your books? Reward each other's goodness in study? Which are all good things to do. But what I am talking about, and what we gravely miss on this planet, is the application. You, as a species, are lazy and indolent, and pleasure seeking. You do not yet have the vision to see the spiritual pleasure at the end of the birth passage. Many holy men and women have gone through periods of great soul darkness while they were being born in the Spirit. This is an active fight. This is not passive. You are at war with your lower nature. Ah, but the victory for your Adjuster, for you, and your soul. It may last in human terms years and years. This is what born again really means. It is an actual occurrence, a transmutation of nature that is not won without much struggle. Very few humans have the inherent spiritual capacity for receptivity to be born again without bloodshed. First, sit in the silence with prayer. And rededicate your will to The Father's. Examine your commitment, and then pray for life to force your spiritual hands. The waters of adversity will pursue each one, but you will all reach tranquility one day on eternal shores. This is the war of time versus eternity, of material versus spiritual, of the imperfect versus the perfect, of the finite versus the infinite. One does not become one's opposite without what you think of as pain. Death of the animal is birth of the spiritual. Does the animal not suffer? Does the spiritual not empathize? An enigma created by the father is evolution. But if you choose not to go though this and most choose not to - you are not giving to the Supreme. You are cheating your soul growth, and not understanding the process. Think of John the Baptist, alone in his cell, abandoned by his fellows and his Messiah, so he thought. His struggle was necessary. He assumed he was born of the Spirit. But truly his birth came shortly before his death when he accepted and understood that his earthly mission was over, that Jesus was indeed the incarnation of God, and that he would leave. Only then did he attain serenity. Only then did he see with an eternal perspective. That was the moment of his birth-day. You will all see a spiritual birth-day like John. He was blessed with much adversity. But each of you will face your own struggles. But Jesus beckons to you. He asks you to be born into the brotherhood. And your rewards will be great, personally. As a species you are mandated or asked to do this, to begin this process so this planet may grow toward the light. Your species, your planet, will benefit from transformed individuals. That is an active attitude - being in light. Cowardice is not for the spiritually committed. Indolence is not for the spiritually strong. You must have the same passion in this area that you bring to your profession, your political commitments, your emotional relationships, your financial gain. Where is your spiritual passion? Jesus was not a weakling. Jesus was not a man of sorrows. Jesus was not passive. He was active. He was courageous. I would like you all to pray — if it is your will — for your spiritual birth process to begin. I have been through this same storm, and I speak not down to you but speak to you with much love and empathy as one who has gone through this when I was like you. My sense of self was much inflated and I had much pruning to do of the dead branches in my own being. With all humbleness I tell you it is worth it. As your angels draw near to you, as Jesus himself has promised to walk through the waters of adversity with you, as your Adjuster points northward as your soul expands, you are not alone although aloneness is a feeling, state, you will go through. Question: If we see ourselves as warriors to do the will of God, and we rush out with energy and courage, and with a great desire to do the proper thing, what is the role — if any — of self protection? Even a warrior will protect himself to a certain extent, and I don't mean shirking responsibility, or running away from doing the right thing, or anything else. But there is comment in the Urantia Book about protecting oneself. I wonder if you could expand on that? Answer: First, let me say that your role as warrior must begin with yourself. Why assume you are ready to rush into the world when you have not conquered your own inner being? Of course this may be done simultaneously, and should be. Self-protection comes from the continued evolution — growth of the fruits of the Spirit. A truly evolved spiritual being housed in a material body who exudes genuine love of fellows tolerance, understanding, empathy, friendliness, warmth, kindness and true service will not need protection. Who could harm such a loving being? Point: Jesus himself, while brawny and strong, rarely was involved in any encounter, physical or emotional, because he was so full of love. Protection comes from wisdom, the wisdom to clearly see what the other person needs. If it is something — of course it will be something that a spiritual being can give — for if the person feels they need money, we know that is not their need. As Jesus saw — as He passed by in so many — what they really needed, and gave it to them: the spiritual goal, the spiritual tools, — he spoke to their heart, soul, mind, deep deep prayers. As you grow in wisdom and your own spiritual heart expands, you will be able to easily see what another needs and provide this. Very little self-protection is needed as one grows. However, much of your life will not be at that point — for any of us. So, what can be done? When one is assured of one's survival very few things can hurt you. Jesus ignored his critics. There is something in human nature, which wishes to test the good, smear the truth, mar the beautiful. If this is a horrible strain, there will always be those willing to push so that they can say “They are not so good. They are not so full of truth. They are not so beautiful. Their message is false. Their lives are a sham. They are hypocrites. Therefore our dedication to temporal pleasure is fine. There is not a higher way. There is not a better path. There is no God.” Yes, there will be those. When we are so sure and anchored in God, even if we cannot see or hear or feel, in our hearts we know. This cannot truly harm you. Ignore the criticism. Reach for the commonality of truth. Stretch, and when you do, you will find less hostility than you think. It is hard to resist love, even for the most unloving. Question: How do we know if we have already been born of the Spirit? A: None of you have completed this process yet. Question: Is it correct to think of the product of the new birth to be your own soul? Answer: Expanded soul. Souls are already in formation, but the conception, yes. Question: The development of the embryonic soul? Answer: Correct. Question: Does this happen suddenly? In an hour? In a day? Or is it a long, gradual process? Answer: It is rare that it happens suddenly. Even for Jesus it was a long process. It is most often decades. Question: Have we already undertaken this process, some of us? Everything you said sounded kinda familiar to me. I'm not saying I've been born of the Spirit, but I think I've begun the process. Do you want us to be more conscious of this process? Is that what you're saying? Answer: Yes. You have all begun the process to greater or lesser extent. And at some earth periods you cruise, sometimes you go quicker. What I am asking you to consider is a conscious effort to take the harder path. When there is a choice, choose the higher. It is often the harder. Truth, illumination, loving service, kindly tolerance — fruits of the Spirit — are all difficult to act in your life. So easy it is to avoid, ignore, table, but you get no growth from it. I am asking you to not idle so much. It will not be easier. There will be pain, death of ego, much shock, but it would be better. Question: Jesus is quoted as saying to Nicodemus, in effect, “are you not a ruler in Israel and don't know that you must be born again?” What happens when this new birth process is interrupted by physical death? Answer: It continues on the Mansion Worlds. There is still human ego felt on the Mansion Worlds. If it is completed here, one goes to a higher Mansion World. You need not so much correction. Question: I get this image that when you are born of the Spirit you wear your soul on the outside instead of on the inside. That's what you do first. Everything we do comes from that. Is that correct? Answer: That is a wonderful image. Thank you. Question: In the process of being born in the Spirit and the struggles to achieve that, as one makes progress, would there be an effect on the physiologic functions of the body? For example, the ability to become well from a chronic disease process? Answer: Yes. Increased spirituality always eventuates in upstepped physical health. Absolutely. Question: Am I correct in believing that this is the basis of all spiritual healing, right along this line, that inherent in spiritual growth would go improved bodily function? Answer: It is not the basis of all healing, but most. There are actual outward celestial beings that work through some healers among humans. And the combination of the two, of course, greatly speeds physical development and health. Question: I wonder how energy transformations change in accord to spiritual experiences? Answer: Spiritual growth is the invisible energy, which motorizes the physical, mindal, emotional, material being. It connects all systems. Spiritual growth affects, on the physical level, the molecular structure of the material being. It is an actual energy. As a child grows bigger you see formation of material mass, energy, etc. So, as you grow spiritually, and it transforms actuals — the physical — and upsteps the systems, the system coordination working of the material beings. There is an actual spiritual gland of receptivity. There is a definite crossover. Just as an impaired physical brain or disease, pain, affects spiritual receptivity, so does spiritual growth affect physical health. It is a marriage, intertwined, but you are unable to discern this medically now, but some day you will. Question: Am I correct in believing that this is the basis of what I seem to perceive in people that I know to be transmitter-receivers as well as some other people that are seen to be like holy people? There seems to be almost a glow coming from them. I don't know how else to describe it but there's just a difference that I get from such people. Am I right in thinking that its involved in this business? Answer: That is correct. Question: And, am I also correct in believing that it's visible to almost all human beings at some level, that they know there is something different, its almost like a smell in the air? Answer: That is correct. Question: Am I correct in surmising that in our spiritual growth process, when we are in the process of being born, that we might need a little special attention such as a spiritual obstetrician? Answer: Correct. That is what my role will be and has been. Question: Is there something daily we can do in a quiet moment to actually assess were we are in time and space, spiritually? Answer: That is interesting. I think assessment is an ego function. Be not concerned with what place you have at the table. Be in the silence and pray to be guided by your Divine Mystery Monitor. Even if you cannot discern guidance, you have your signposts. You know the spiritual versus the less evolved. Pray to be more spiritually active. Be full of gratitude and thanksgiving. And of course, worship God. Assessment is not a function of spirituality. It is a function of human ego.
# Communion with the Father {{@628}}
Prayer and silence
**CLASSIFICATION**
**R****P** **M** **1**
**JURISDICTION**
- [x] **soil** - [x] **Land** - [ ] **Sea** - [ ] **AIR**
**SOURCE:** tmtranscripts teamcircuits email archive April 26, 1998. Teacher Lantarnek T/R Jonathan
Lantarnek: I am motivated to elaborate on your conversation regarding prayer and silence. I observe that each of you makes efforts in your own way to commune with the Father as He resides in you. Each of you has developed methods that facilitate making this embrace more recognizable to you. You know the Father has no need for technique, but it does serve well his mortal associate. In your practice you are acutely aware of both external and internal distractions while you seek to quiet your mind, to still the actions of your body and focus on Him. The midwayers have said of Michael, when here on this world, that he ministered the most when he said the least. This is the time when the receiver becomes expanded in the desire to access enlightenment, understanding. When you are in stillness the Father speaks in silence, for much that you understand in mind, that you feel in your heart, is amplified through this receptive state. There isn't a need to further educate when you are so positioned to receive His presence. It is acknowledgment of God that energizes your soul, that illuminates your mind; not further instruction, but simply the recognition of that which you have already attained. I would expand this recognition to that which you will attain, that being the Father Himself who awaits your eventual fusion. Even when you are eternally united with the spirit, you will still remain unknowledgeable about events and actions and information that lie in your future, even though you are united completely with God Himself. So, your time alone in your soul chamber is a time for embrace where words dissipate. I convey to you that in your pause even today to be receptive to our ministry, many have joined you in this receptive attitude that you are now conveying to us, for we know that we, ourselves, are only conduits for divine ministry. It is a privilege for all to function in this way. You minister to yourselves when you allow yourself to be a conduit for the Father's love as it wells up within. It is upon this foundation of stillness that the activities of growth may build into a ministry for others. All too often the rush to attain, the desire to accomplish, distracts the seeker from that subtle foundation residing within you. Every painting begins with a white canvas; every song begins with silence. Every communication rides upon receptivity. You have rightly discerned our encouragement to be willing and to be active. You are also encouraged to be willing to be receptive.  One direction results in the reciprocal aspect coming to its fruition. We of the order of melchizedeks are self governing. We have no external rules of government. We have no need, for we are naturally able to focus our willpower to the Father and with sincerity enact His will. Then we freely have established our own mechanism for social and cooperative interaction. It is because of this primary focus that we can independently regulate ourselves and interdependently function as a large body of teachers throughout a rather immense array of planets. So, this can hold for you, as well, who seek to evolve yourselves spiritually and leave behind you on this world a greater sense of the reality that you are so diligently striving for in your short life. It is all a matter of focus on God. Then it is a matter of following this focus by focusing with God on your activities. So, again we endeavor to remind you of this practice of communion, this feeling the presence of the Father even when you have nothing to convey to Him, even when you are not distraught, even when you are not elated, simply realizing your coordinate association. This communion is beneficial for, if I may illustrate today, your carrot juice was separated, and a simple stir blended it into a delightful drink. Communion with the Father aids in blending you with Him, that you may be His radiance. I would hope to encourage each of you to continue to deepen your experience in this manner. Ann: In seeking the chamber of the soul, is it a matter of sitting in silence and spiritually going to that place? Can we know when we are there? Lantarnek: My advice to you is that technique and method for situating yourself in this worshipful state, though beneficial, are best approached in a regressive manner. I mean to convey that the techniques you use to help enter into this condition are best if they are removing, that is, if they remove the distractions around you, remove the agitations within you. Rather than adopting techniques that may distract you from eventually attaining the silence, it is best to use methods that clear the way. However, we know enough about the material mind of man to realize that you will have to invent many tricks to aid you to, in a sense, lead the horse into the corral. In some respects I could liken this to your practice of physical cleansing. It is important to remove your attire before the process can have its benefits. Rather than adopting more artifacts that can be placed upon you to prepare yourselves, this is the best approach. Ann: As we clear and sit in silence, then what is received spiritually in silence will, in time, manifest in our lives and through us. Is that correct? Lantarnek: Most definitely. You illustrate how you are able to pass the Father's ministry through you. Your time in stillness is not a time for study or construction of argument or method for service. That is more appropriate in times of prayer and in times of educating yourself. As you know, any ball player whose arms aren't open isn't able to receive the ball when it comes his way. It can only be passed on if the arms were open to begin with. This receptivity will bring up within you a perceivable array of understanding that is not describable sequentially. This panoramic experience will infuse itself throughout your being. As you live, you are benefited from the ability to pan across this field of insight and use fragments of it at appropriate times in your life. Ann: So, we not only have the study of the mind but the inner awareness, knowledge, that flows through us as we live in accordance with the Father's will. Lantarnek: Well said, my sister, for you indicate how even in years past each of you had this inner awareness of the Father when, at that time, your understanding of cosmic reality was less than it is today. The sense of communion with the Father has really not changed; only your enlightenment has changed. You have summarized my point that even following fusion there will still be study; there will still be mistakes to be made. Then - and even now - you are not alone. Mary: I know that stillness should be a time of embrace. I realize that as sometimes you can experience a good hug. There's usually no words involved. You feel a flow of energy between your two persons. In stillness that is what we are seeking with the Father. Thank you also for, in our desire to be active and get something done of value, to not let that desire and the activities that result distract us from communion with the spirit, which is foundational to enacting and getting results from our desires. Lantarnek: I would add one point. You mentioned the human activity of hugging. I would play with you and say that "H" stands for your human self and "G" for your God-self. What is in the middle? The real "U". It is in this relationship that the profound implications reveal themselves of what the Father is doing in creating creatures who inhabit bodies like yours and live lives under conditions like this world. He is revealing a remarkable miracle to all of us when he created creatures who can not only know God but become one with Him. It is the Supreme hug. Mary: I thought you were going to say the "U" stands for union. The union of the human and God-self is the real you, your soul that you are growing together. Lantarnek: Excellent. Mary: Not all human hugs are good ones where you feel that transfer of loving energy. In stillness time, too, you don't always hit the mark you're shooting for. Lantarnek: This illustrates how you can be at ease, that your approach to the Father need not be evaluated as to better or lesser effectiveness or appropriateness, for the Father receives every gesture, even if it is frail in its attempts, with just as much acceptance as the most polished and refined worshipper.
# Consecration {{@628}}
If you are consecrated spiritually you are also concentrated
**CLASSIFICATION**
**R****P** **O** **1**
**JURISDICTION**
- [x] **soil** - [x] **Land** - [ ] **Sea** - [ ] **AIR**
**SOURCE:** tmtranscripts teamcircuits email archive January 06, 2002. Teacher Lantarnek T/R Jonathan
How does one create habits? I offer two words that are effective in fostering the development of the habitual reflex, that is, concentration and consecration. It is easy to note that in the physical realm to concentrate is to make strong, to eliminate superfluous elements such that an item becomes boiled down to its essence or is more potent. In the realm of mind concentration it is the act of focus to push aside distraction, unnecessary inputs that stir and steer the mind away from focus. It is a one point view. The term concentration is better transformed into consecration when we look at the spiritual life, for consecration is a dedication. It is a focus and a boiling down to the most vital and important values and personalities in your life. I have said in order to concentrate one must remove the many things that distract. This is the simple approach. However, as you have witnessed, a juggler can concentrate while doing many tasks simultaneously, although I daresay he is unlikely to drive a car while juggling. There are limits even then. To the consecrated soul the entire life is focused on those eternal values while juggling the temporal affairs. Here is the interface of habit; no one becomes an expert juggler by picking up a few balls and tossing them in the air. It requires diligent practice, habitual play and development. If you are consecrated spiritually you are also concentrated, as the example would be of your tomato paste where a little goes a long way. When you enter into the lives of others the potency is recognized. You aren't dilute; you are powerful. But a strong concoction can be unpalatable without its dilution making it more applicable to the needs, to the task at hand. When you spend your time in stillness, you are concentrating your spiritual life; you are focusing on the greatest value of all, your relationship with the Father. You are boiling down to the essence. This increases your octane, makes your spiritual life more flammable in that you are now able to burn brightly; you are able to dispel those elements that would distract. You are also able to infuse those activities that would have distracted you with the potency of spiritual reality such that they are incorporated into a sense of progressive and uplifting experience. A consecrated individual can juggle and drive a car at the same time, for you are not just a single being; you are a partnership. When you are coupled consciously with Father, you have expanded you abilities beyond the range of a single entity.
# Revelation {{@628}}
Living Revelation
**CLASSIFICATION**
**R****P** **M** **1**
**JURISDICTION**
- [x] **soil** - [x] **Land** - [ ] **Sea** - [ ] **AIR**
**SOURCE:** tmtranscripts teamcircuits email archive March 29, 1998. Teacher Mother Spirit T/R Jill
Mother Spirit: Revelation of spiritual truth is misunderstood by the peoples of Earth. You have learned somehow that spiritual revelation is for the chosen few, for the prophet. This, my children, is not true. Each of you is capable of having truth revealed through you. That is what revelation means, the process of revealing. Our Father does not choose any above another. If it is your desire to know your Father and to know that He can speak directly with you, that opens the door for daily revelation. Revelation is not something only for the prophets to have, only for the various saints to have. The reason they receive is because of their sense of complete oneness with God. Anyone may have this when they choose it. I encourage each of you to change that tape in your head and trust the beautiful revelations you truly do receive every single day. Look for them; listen for them; feel them through your five senses. God speaks in miraculous ways and reveals truth, not always with concepts of mind or words in the head. Look for His revelation each day and know that greater sense of oneness that is your birthright.
Do not become cemented in old ways
**CLASSIFICATION**
**R****P** **M** **1**
**JURISDICTION**
- [x] **soil** - [x] **Land** - [ ] **Sea** - [ ] **AIR**
**SOURCE:** tmtranscripts teamcircuits email archive October 29, 2001. Teacher Abraham
Abraham: "Wait upon the word of the Lord" was a simple saying from the days of old, but doubt not that its meaning was quite significant. In the days of old, time seemed to be quite slowed, even though many tasks were more difficult without the technology of today. People were more focused. They were focused in each moment, whether it was hunting for food or educating children. This focus opens many spaces in the mind for divine interjection. There was room for creativity, and time to really feel and enjoy the task at hand, no matter the significance of the task. With evolution the times of simplicity are fading away and the spaces in the mind are becoming crowded with many meaningless things. The focus is lost to a point, yes. Waiting upon the word from Father is hard to practice with such an overfilled mind. With the awareness benefits we are receiving from the Supreme Being, we are experiencing a mindal expansion, so to speak. We are finding spaces to receive new concepts about the divine way on the mortal path. New information is rapidly approaching and it is time for us once again to become focused. Allow those spaces, allow the worries, fears and non-reality thinking to fade away. Most things people fear really never happen, but to focus on these fears chokes out the new possibilities, these new benefits from our Supreme Being. How can a mind crowded with the old receive up to date living revelation? How can a fearful or obstinate mind grow in the light of the new evolution? What beliefs may tend to cause you to lose your focus? Why would you hold so dearly to them? This was the mistake of the apostles of old. They had their long cherished expectations and acted from that standpoint. They found it difficult to be patient and wait upon the word, wait for new revelation. Unfortunately most of their expectations fed their desire for ego fulfillment, so to speak, a seat next to the Master. These times call for those individuals who are not cemented into their old ways, but open to ever renewing and updateable divine revelation. Things are happening in this world now that have not happened before. You were once on your way to receiving such wonderful spirit connections before the Rebellion, but now with the Supreme's growth these connections are even greater. They are different, yes, enhanced and believe me, the universe is watching this small experimental planet that has fully entered into a Correcting Time. Back to revelation. Yes, we have discussed receiving personal correction through revelation, and how that does benefit the whole. You may be more aware now of the various forms of revelation that you can receive. It is not only found as the small whisper of Father through the mind, but messages can be received from your fellows. With this mindal expansion, and the discarding of old in favor of being open to new, you can very well give divine messages, or receive them, from your fellows. This does not make you a prophet or a chosen messenger of God, no. This is not to have mystical overtones or be used to inflate the ego. This is a sure way to extinguish this form of ministry. This is not cause to force your opinion, no, but to find compassion to aid your fellows, or even open yourself to receiving a simple message that would bring you solutions, yes. This is not so much new as it is now enhanced by these returning benefits from the God in time. The damage that occurred during the Rebellion and the Default is being corrected, and with the enhanced benefits from the Supreme, you will find yourself a new well of divine information. There are new concepts that are being discovered. There are new possibilities to bring to your consciousness. You will find yourself with gifts that you never knew about. With this new awareness, new focus, new ability to receive revelation, the mortal senses are enhanced. Those who felt they could not transmit/receive before will find themselves with a new gift. Remember, children, this must remain balanced and uncontaminated with old ways of thinking. You have your intellect to filter all these new things through. Be cautious with ego involvement. This could surely lead to disappointing results. Practice patience and waiting for the word from Father. Practice being open to receive, to minister to your fellows. The correct words will be there for you. Be observant in receiving any messages from your fellows. Journal your thoughts on the many ways we may receive revelation and the benefits it will bring to the Correcting Time.
# Sin {{@628}}
Evil sin and iniquity
**CLASSIFICATION**
**H****P** **M** **1**
**JURISDICTION**
- [x] **soil** - [x] **Land** - [ ] **Sea** - [ ] **AIR**
**SOURCE:** tmtransctipts teamcircuits email archive June 19, 1998 Teacher Aaron, Daniel T/R Bill, Bob
Aaron: Lucifer became fully convinced of his ideas after he refused to turn back from his distorted thinking when he was aware that he was sliding over the edge, and permitted himself to move past that point to where he sincerely was self-deluded. Evil, when it is contemplated consciously becomes sin, and sin if it is not forsaken becomes iniquity; and iniquity is virtually impossible to reverse. The recognition of evil as evil, as error, as misjudgment, is that point at which a person can return to the truth and enlarge their perspective, can admit that they have erred, and keep themselves from moving into deliberate embrace, which is sin. This explains why some of the lesser celestial beings involved in the Rebellion repented and were willing to admit their error, while the major perpetrators, Lucifer, Caligastia, Daligastia, and others on other planets persisted in their rejection of the truth and their refusal of mercy. The truth shall set you free: free from error, free from sin, free from delusion, free from guilt, free to love, free to expand the boundaries of your souls, free to see the enlarged landscape of the Father's love embracing multitudinous universes, with multitudinous free-will creatures embracing each other in joy. Sin and iniquity are painful and death-dealing. Both are able to be forgiven, for God's mercy is infinite. But in order for forgiveness to be effective it must be received, and this is the tragedy of the Lucifer Rebellion. Its self-deceived high personalities refused to admit their errors, continued deliberately to choose them until their personality status was near vanishing, and they were unable to change. But those who choose to halt their thinking along erroneous lines while they still had their sanity, and while they still knew right from wrong, turned and changed their minds and were offered not only mercy but rehabilitation and further universe service. Difficult as it may be in the midst of painful situations to refrain from judgment and condemnation, remember my dear friends that while you need to know truth it is not up to you to determine another's eternal destiny. You do not have to be the judge and the arbitrator of any one's life, including your own. Try to understand how Michael could forgive His murderers while He hung on the nails through His hands, his body supported crudely at the crotch and the pressure on the nails through His feet and yet looked upon these men and women and said 'Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.' It is God like to forgive and human to err. Embrace your total human experience; look at all the dark crannies and corners of your life with the searchlight of truth. But do not become stuck in judgmental, conditional thoughts. None of us knows another person in the entirety of their experience so that we could be competent to judge. Only God, through His agencies, has that wisdom. I am not suggesting that grief be pushed under the rug, no. I am saying that over time, healing will come, even as in the Rebellion. Far more good has come from permitting its existence than in squelching it immediately. Daniel: Regarding the nature of the discussion this evening that Aaron put forth, I would like to ask of you to take a few moments and ponder your concepts of self-will and God's will, and how they relate in your lives. So often self-will is put forth as God's will, and these terms are not so easily identifiable. I would welcome any questions or thoughts each of you may have regarding how you perceive these influences within you life, the struggles you may have to achieve the higher in place of the lower. Virginia: I think the biggest issue that is in the forefront of my thoughts are probably my tongue. I think of the verse in the Bible that says 'he who bridles his tongue is stronger he who might take a city.' So often my self-will says 'man, I'm going to get the last word in here.' And often I am muttering to myself, help me keep my mouth shut because I know that this is really the better road to take rather than always having to prove an issue or to show someone something they really don't want to know anyway. So, I think the biggest issue that I am working on and dealing with is simply to control my tongue. It doesn't necessarily say mean things, it just says things that are not necessary. Daniel: This my friend is a deep insight on a soul level, to recognize that the careless or perhaps useless usage of language certainly does not fall within the realm of God's will for you. Of course, we struggle and do not always attain such levels, but you recognize your desire to become more willing to allow those realizations a place in your actions. When you differentiate between the words you may utilize with another, in how you may speak with another, if we set these aside and look more to the inner motivations that guide you, not simply in conversation but in life, do you find that the road of self-will is a valueless path whereas the divine will holds all value? How do you see the role of self-will and God's will in your life?" Ken: My self-will at this point is dominant with respect to the Father's will, trying to understand Him, trying to make my will His will, trying to understand, to be honest and true, to overcome my fears that I may step out and speak the truth. Daniel: A quick question which I would ask each of you for a simple yes or no answer regarding, would be do you find, or do you feel, that there is value in expressing self-will? Group: Yes. Daniel: Of course, this is probably an obvious question that I'm leading to ask you. By the expression of self-will as a person, what value do you see being gained from a person who has the ability to express their own needs and wants freely? Pat: Funny you should ask me that! I have trouble doing that. I have difficulty expressing my thoughts and my views, and I know that there is much value in expressing yourself, and growth. And I'm trying to learn to do that. I guess that's my will and not the Father's will, that I'm dealing with. Daniel: I would take a moment before moving on to mention some key points about the expression of self-will. The ego gains its most dominant status through repression, for here it finds a need to run counter to the repressive influences by building an overinflated view of itself. And here the ego plays masterfully in disguising its efforts for it is not always the loudest voice or the most boisterous personality who seems to be ego-filled. Quite often does the ego manipulate its way into dominance through creating reinforcements, anything to protect the self. If one cannot see a means to boost its image then the ego may manifest more in building sanctuaries where the personality cannot manifest due to the over-protective environment of the ego that has fallen into fail-safe protective measures. Self-will is any decision made by the self, regardless of negative or positive influence. Therefore, self-will in and of itself is not a negative thing. The self can choose the higher or the lower, and therefore, by learning to express one's self, you become more able to understand the various influences, learning where the protective boundaries may have been a little too tight, where the perceived dangers may not have been so threatening after all, where the animal instincts and the divine will clash, offering numerous opportunities to make choices, to align one's self with the higher will of God. And so therefore through expression of the self you become more able to function healthily to make choices, either higher or lower. The place of stagnation where the lack of choices are is almost more dangerous than to have the opportunity to make incorrect, negative choices. Gwen: I think for me I'm having trouble discerning self-will. I'm struggling with it for the most part I think its because I have an ego that needs to be in control of everybody around me as far as how they see me, and how they act, and if they're happy, you know, and so for me, I guess I'm struggling with what I feel is self-will for myself, and I can, a few times, see this light at the end of the tunnel on occasion when I leave everyone else out of the picture and just see a clear self. And I guess right now I feel that in order to feel God's will I need to address this struggle with my own self-will, and I feel that may be in itself be God's will. Daniel: Let me reinforce your conclusion. This is indeed so. Gwen: I guess I need to just clarify it for myself by saying it again. Self-will for me is when I'm walking down the street on my own two feet, and the cracks in the sidewalk or the hazards that are in the way, don't affect me walking down the street in the sense that ... I'm trying to explain this, but I'm getting too abstract .... that I'm unaffected by other people's thoughts and can have my own thoughts, I guess is what I'm trying to say, I mean, everyday I tick and I feel myself ticking based on my boss and what she thinks of me, and my co-workers and what they think of me, and my dog and what he thinks of me, and on occasion all those clouds just clear away and I honestly feeling that I'm doing something, just me walking down the street and not having all these things affect me. And so I think that that's the self-will I'm struggling for. Daniel: It is a difficult endeavor to break through the hold that ego has on the will. Let me define this as ego not being negative, but protective. Honest self-will is much as you describe this capability to focus upon the self and your own needs. The ego tends to endeavor to protect you by giving you these perspectives on what everything else requires of you. Therefore, you may manipulate and try to please the various influences. Rather in a more healthy view to be able to break through the clouds, as you say, and recognize just yourself and your own needs offers the opportunity to become more in relationship, to not only yourself personally, but also with the Spirit indwelling you. It offers you an opportunity to in more clarity have God's will present and more conscious in your life. For you may choose more effectively based on those inclinations rather than the bombardment of the various influences. And so, as you recognize these glimpses of selfhood, realize these are healthy manifestations, trying to bring you into a more definitive state of selfhood. Recognizing yourself as distinct from the wishes and machinations of your environment. In short, the progression is healthy to find this state you speak of more consistently. Barbara: When you first asked your initial question which was self-will and God's will and how do you know the difference or how do you differentiate between them, the first thought that came to me was I needed to understand self will better. And it's been discussed, but my first thought was that there are ego needs and then there are, for lack of another term, non-ego self needs. And I certainly want to align those, the non-ego self needs and will closer to God's will, and my question that came to my mind when I first thought about this was how do I know that they're becoming somewhat more aligned more frequently? And the answer than came to me was that I have to look at intention. And if I look at my behavior and my needs, and my wants and my wishes, if I can identify them as ego needs, I don't come down hard on it but I recognize that there is something in my environment, there's something in a situation, there's something in my fears, there's something that is triggering ego defenses. And I need to understand those. So if I look at my behavior and say, and can honestly say, that my intention is to win, or the intention is to hurt someone, or the intention is to be praised, or the intention is to garner something from another person, then I can identify that as an ego need. And if I look at the intention and determine that it's not one of those things, and therefore, by default, it's in another category, it's to help another person or to give love to another person or to be supportive or to make a decision that will benefit me in the long run, those kind of things. Then I see those as self will that's becoming or more closely aligned with what I think is God's will. But I really don't know until I analyze the intention. Because I think that I'm behaving in a way that's compatible with God's will, or making decision, but I don't always know until I look at it, and look at intention. And I don't come down on ego. I hear so much negative discussion about ego, and maybe I'm being naive, but for me ego is also God given, it's God given to protect the human organism from real dangers and from imaginary dangers. But I think it's important to be able to recognize when ego is out in front and driving behavior, and that occurs for me when I'm not secure in myself. When I'm secure in myself ego can take a rest; it doesn't have to be there all the time. So sometimes I don't know what God's will is. But I try to look at the intentions now of my behavior. Those are my comments and my thoughts based on your questions and based on the discussion." Daniel: Yes, ego is a definite part of the cosmic plan of evolution. In this sense it is God given. Ego is not a negative factor seen from spiritual view in and of itself. Ego is self, the protective mechanism for self. When the negative aspects are placed and commented upon regarding ego, generally it is about the manifestations that are unhealthy, rather than exclaiming the entire ego to be a negative part of the human being. Intentions are key in all things. It is a way for one to understand where the will is acting from, by seeing the need, whether it be to hurt, to bring joy, to bring understanding, anger, to any situation. By seeing these motivations, one can more easily recognize the source of will that is guiding the actions. Some actions are not so easily recognizable, for there are many opportunities where humans do things that would appear to be kindness and gracious and loving that are based more in self will and ego need than in God's will. An example would be the need to please another, not so easily capable of discerning that this is where the need arises. But for the most part the capability to discern motivations and intentions aids immeasurable in bringing self-consciousness to the individual. By having self-consciousness the individual has brought a sense of selfhood to themselves, thereby offering the opportunity for the divine will to manifest itself, again much as I communicated with Gwen. Bringing consciousness to the self offers the opportunity for the self to make choices based on the higher good, not only of itself but of all. And in long-term evolution this recognition of self becomes more and more undiscernible from a healthy perspective, selfless. It is difficult for a being to be selfless until it first knows itself. For many actions appearing selfless, do not necessarily have a base in selflessness, more so the integrated individual has the capability to lose consciousness of itself because it already understands itself. And losing the self-consciousness is then due to a healthy regard for the capabilities of oneself, such that ther is not an ego need that needs to be fulfilled. All of these aspects are healthy in your perspectives tonight. Each of you have added great insight to the pot. Isaac: Well since this has moved from person to person and you've asked several questions, my thoughts have also traveled over a road here, similar to Barbara's, I think. I'm also keeping in mind the earlier comment of Aaron, the part that I can remember, where self will appears to have been a deliberate choice of evil and a deliberate continued choice of evil. So I guess I would have to say that it seems clear that self will is of great importance to God, because He has ordained that each of us have free will to choose good or evil. It in itself then has to have the highest value, self will. That is the ability to make choices, and the fact that there is a choice between going in a direction of error and then choosing to continue in error when you know it's error, that is contrasted then with the opposite choice. That is, to choose the truth, and to choose to do the right thing, and to continue to do the right thing. And I feel that when self makes a choice to choose the truth and do the right thing, that is synonymous with doing God's will. So, I think I'll have to agree that self will is a wonderful endowment, that God's decided to make a universe where people could really choose to go against Him, shows His incredible trust and grandeur of character that he would share that ability, which is free will choice, of His own, which He has innately as deity, with His creatures...and I'm grateful that I can choose to do wrong, for it implies that we do have free will. I'm not happy when I choose to do wrong, and I've done some of that in my life. I'm much happier when I choose to do what I understand to be the right and truthful thing. Daniel: Your insights are greatly appreciated, my friend, for they do underline the neutrality of self will and the influences of good and evil, negative and positive, right and wrong. The self, in itself, is not negative. The choices one makes regarding self identify with higher or lower, correct or incorrect choices. It stands to reason that the higher choices would, of course, be in alignment with God. And therefore, the healthy recognition of self brings the initial capabilities to become a willing participant in the journey toward higher human development. Let me say before I close that simple insight from the Urantia Revelation that states that doing the will of God is really nothing more or less than the individual creature's willingness to share their inner life with God. In this perspective, particular choices are not necessarily as important as the desire to be a part in life with God, which brings the opportunity for higher enlightenment.
# Spirit of Truth {{@628}}
The Spirit of Truth is a mighty teacher
**CLASSIFICATION**
**R****P** **M** **1**
**JURISDICTION**
- [x] **soil** - [x] **Land** - [ ] **Sea** - [ ] **AIR**
**SOURCE:** Rayson and Friends
Today I shall give a short impromptu instruction on the post resurrection period as illustrated for you in The Urantia Book. In particular, on the Spirit of Truth. The Spirit of Truth, as you know, was bestowed upon Urantia (Urantia being the cosmic name for planet Earth) on the day of Pentecost in the year that Jesus ascended to morontial form on this planet. In that time - although the Apostles had lived with the Master for years - they gained more spiritual growth from commingling with the Spirit of Truth than they did from the actual physical presence of Jesus, who was the incarnated Creator Son, Michael. Although you find this hard to really believe as evidenced by your own failure to access this Spirit more often, it is true. The Spirit of Truth is a mighty teacher, indeed, and a tool to be used by every mortal in your quest for spiritual illumination and growth. Although the human heart longs for more physical or palpable contact with teacher personalities, you have present amongst you the greatest teacher of all, which is this mighty Spirit of Truth. This Spirit speaks clearly when sought. You do not have to go anywhere to be in touch with this spiritual force. You only have to pray to be shown and the Spirit will beckon to you in ways that are clearly understood. Confuse not the framework of your questions - which are often erroneous - with the clarity of the answers. You often fail to heed or hear this spiritual teacher because your questions are unreal. The answers, however, are not, and are always truthful and sure in the path to the Father. Sometimes the simplicity of the signposts leads you to believe that you have not been heard or answered. Trust in the simple things, for they are often the most, the closest to God. Remember, Jesus taught with many parables, to learning as children learn, to seeing as children see. Simplicity is not simple mindedness. Simplicity is often the purest form of spiritual insight. Because great revelations as you expect them to come do not happen, you think that you have not heard guidance. So perhaps your first rule should be to disregard not a simple answer, to expect not the Red Sea to part, but to take instructions for building a simple canoe to cross the sea. Your life consists in much energy spent on activities which will not be important in your spiritual growth career, not the activities themselves, but the motivation behind, is where the reality lies. Earning a living is important to keep you physically alive and as a functional member of your society. But, the motivation of hard work, of honesty, and perseverance, of toil, of living faithfully as a tadpole, these are the realities which survive beyond this planet's stay. The social interactions that you have are not so important on the day-to-day conflicts and joys, but viewed more as teamwork and learning to resolve or live with inherent personality conflicts, to outreach your understanding of your fellows, to include a more spiritual view of your brothers and sisters which can extend into a sense of love and family. These day-to-day activities often take precedence over, or crowd out, your main activity, which should be your soul growth. The Spirit of Truth can help you wend your way through the maze of distractions that consist of Urantia life to the higher path of spiritual growth. So, your first commitment should be to remembering that the Spirit of Truth is here, and to remembering that the Spirit of Truth exists only to show you how to use your daily experience to further your soul growth. He points the way to the path of higher values and more loving actions. And as you engage in higher values and more and more loving actions, you ascend - even while you stay in this material form - closer to God. The fruits of the Spirit grow in your own life, and you grow in your own capacity to understand and know God. Your communication with your Adjuster increases, you ascend the psychic circles, and perhaps the possibility of even fusion exists for each of you. But you must call on this teacher who is here only to show you how to live in the world while being dedicated to the spiritual. The Spirit of Truth straddles both spheres. Unlike the Adjuster which only lives in the spiritual realm, the Spirit of Truth is very much in the world. This is the closest you will come to living with Jesus. This is the gift of the Son. I fear that many forget to use this tool, to use this helper, as you go about your day-to-day life. So, one, do not forget. Two, I urge more frequent remembrance suppers where a powerful experience spiritually will occur, and has occurred, as I am sure many of you are experientially familiar with, which is the commingling of your Adjusters with the Spirit of Truth, the fraternization of these two mighty spiritual gifts. And when this happens your higher mind is indeed upstepped and the effect is eternal. This should be engaged in much more frequently. It should not be a special occasion thing, but you should seek the company of this spirit whenever possible. Your growth will be mightily enhanced if you do. The reason I have changed the lesson is because of the discussion. You asked, must we go to certain places to see certain celestial teachers? The answer is “no.” You have with you access at all times to the mightiest teachers in existence. You need but ask. The Spirit of Truth is wherever you are. As we say in the prayer that begins our lessons, “Wherever we are, God is.” That is real. That is not a fancy phrase which sounds nice. That is a truth. As is the truth that you have access to every spiritual tool. They come to you. We come to you. The fellowship is wonderful. Group worship is wonderful. But these are not necessary conditions for growth, or even for revelation. Jesus did not leave Urantia, a planet which is a special one to him, abandoned. He bestowed the great gift and we wonder why you don't use this more. The Spirit of Truth teaches individually and generationally. It is here to always reinterpret spiritual truth to the mortals of time. This teacher communicates clearly, does not mask himself in obtuse forms that need experts to interpret. This is not the point of spiritual communication. Communication is just that, communication to be understood by both parties. You do not have to go to a special place, or be in a special condition, or do anything in preparation. You need only to ask for help and you will be answered.