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Marin TM Group—Mill Valley, California--U.S.A.

 

 

Dear Mother Spirit and Michael: Around this time of year we celebrate a national holiday of Thanksgiving, and we feel very blessed we get to give thanks each week for your being here with us. We are especially thankful for lessons instructing us and reminding us of the kinds of beings we are, even defining what spirit is for us. It helps us realize this dimension in our lives, and how it pervades everything we know and do. So for this we are very thankful. Amen.

Dear Mother Spirit and Michael: Around this time of year we celebrate a national holiday of Thanksgiving, and we feel very blessed we get to give thanks each week for your being here with us. We are especially thankful for lessons instructing us and reminding us of the kinds of beings we are, even defining what spirit is for us. It helps us realize this dimension in our lives, and how it pervades everything we know and do. So for this we are very thankful. Amen.

Last week Michael spoke of how a comprehensive spiritual viewpoint of your past gives you the strength to accept, even to welcome all that has happened to you. This is that profound and all inclusive understanding that does stretch to grasp the meaning of life itself, for this is just another definition of spiritual value, the dimension that makes life worthwhile--including all the pain and anxiety and uncertainty that it does contain.

Last week Michael spoke of how a comprehensive spiritual viewpoint of your past gives you the strength to accept, even to welcome all that has happened to you. This is that profound and all inclusive understanding that does stretch to grasp the meaning of life itself, for this is just another definition of spiritual value, the dimension that makes life worthwhile--including all the pain and anxiety and uncertainty that it does contain.

 

 

But since this is a pearl of great price, since spiritual assurance is at the very heart of living a full life by opening your arms to experience, and seeking to discover, then transcend, anything within you that would rather limit experience, would rather sleepwalk through life and not take any risk whatsoever; since this assurance is so valuable, it does have a price. If you will forgive the slight play on words, you have to pay attention. You have to establish a spiritual awareness almost distinct from your consciousness itself. For it is from this detachment or remove that you are able to notice the fluctuations in your consciousness, and what causes them.

But since this is a pearl of great price, since spiritual assurance is at the very heart of living a full life by opening your arms to experience, and seeking to discover, then transcend, anything within you that would rather limit experience, would rather sleepwalk through life and not take any risk whatsoever; since this assurance is so valuable, it does have a price. If you will forgive the slight play on words, you have to pay attention. You have to establish a spiritual awareness almost distinct from your consciousness itself. For it is from this detachment or remove that you are able to notice the fluctuations in your consciousness, and what causes them.

We have often mentioned before the principle of feedback, of how, if you are paying attention and open to whatever reality is telling you, you can see yourself as others see you. You can have an evaluation of your present consciousness. There is a kind of super-consciousness by which you can get some feedback, and evaluate what things mean to you. Think about this a moment, of how necessary this is in your day-to-day life. For even a good and wonderful spiritual ambition, a desire to grow in truth and understanding, does call upon you to evaluate your life and what you are doing. Are you growing or are regressing? Are you becoming more aware or sinking into deeper habits? How can you tell? How can you measure this? I’m sure now, as you feel for this, you can understand the anxiety that this occasions. Even Michael’s Spirit of Truth within you does encourage you to have this desire for ever greater truth, to keep up with the universe reality of God’s will, the Supreme Being, who is growing.

We have often mentioned before the principle of feedback, of how, if you are paying attention and open to whatever reality is telling you, you can see yourself as others see you. You can have an evaluation of your present consciousness. There is a kind of super-consciousness by which you can get some feedback, and evaluate what things mean to you. Think about this a moment, of how necessary this is in your day-to-day life. For even a good and wonderful spiritual ambition, a desire to grow in truth and understanding, does call upon you to evaluate your life and what you are doing. Are you growing or are regressing? Are you becoming more aware or sinking into deeper habits? How can you tell? How can you measure this? I’m sure now, as you feel for this, you can understand the anxiety that this occasions. Even Michael’s Spirit of Truth within you does encourage you to have this desire for ever greater truth, to keep up with the universe reality of God’s will, the Supreme Being, who is growing.

Think of some of the ways people feel compelled to measure themselves along

Think of some of the ways people feel compelled to measure themselves along

If you have any questions or comments this evening, Michael and I always delight when you exercise yourselves this way.

If you have any questions or comments this evening, Michael and I always delight when you exercise yourselves this way.

 

Student: Dear Nebadonia, maybe you could help with me some new insights into different fruits of the spirit. I’ve always liked many of them that are mentioned in the Urantia book, like altruistic benevolence, confiding trust, different than the Bible, but nonetheless easily understood. These insights would help me as a guide to know that I am growing, that I am more easily yielding up some of these fruits like enlightened honesty, undying hope. I know there must be thousands of them, even more! But any help in that department would be great.

Student: Dear Nebadonia, maybe you could help with me some new insights into different fruits of the spirit. I’ve always liked many of them that are mentioned in the Urantia book, like altruistic benevolence, confiding trust, different than the Bible, but nonetheless easily understood. These insights would help me as a guide to know that I am growing, that I am more easily yielding up some of these fruits like enlightened honesty, undying hope. I know there must be thousands of them, even more! But any help in that department would be great.

NEBADONIA: Yes my son. Well, those you mentioned are not too bad. (laughter) Just keep in mind the fundamental principle here, that you know a tree, or in this case, your life, by the fruit it bears. This is what my lesson this evening was all about. It’s how your deepest meditation can give you the surest measure of the fruits you bear day to day. This is a kind of extreme self-honesty, and the method for achieving it. Perhaps the greatest hurtle to cross in this endeavor is one of impatience, especially for those of you who are just generally so busy. When you first start to meditate, it’s very hard to be still. We’ve even suggested you set out a certain amount of time for this, shall we say twenty minutes or so in the morning or evening, rather than trying to meditate for a certain psychological result, for this can lead to your hurrying yourself along to being still.

NEBADONIA: Yes my son. Well, those you mentioned are not too bad. (laughter) Just keep in mind the fundamental principle here, that you know a tree, or in this case, your life, by the fruit it bears. This is what my lesson this evening was all about. It’s how your deepest meditation can give you the surest measure of the fruits you bear day to day. This is a kind of extreme self-honesty, and the method for achieving it. Perhaps the greatest hurtle to cross in this endeavor is one of impatience, especially for those of you who are just generally so busy. When you first start to meditate, it’s very hard to be still. We’ve even suggested you set out a certain amount of time for this, shall we say twenty minutes or so in the morning or evening, rather than trying to meditate for a certain psychological result, for this can lead to your hurrying yourself along to being still.

Student: On the same subject, I think I’ve noticed in some of the Teaching Mission transcripts I’ve been reading, someone used the word love as in, using love as your compass, and I realized that my ego’s led me most of the way through my life by fear, and fear, and more fear. Now I look at myself and I’m really starting to understand this--the value and meaning of using love as my compass. I can feel…if I’m trying to evaluate my actions toward someone, and I just hear the old me starting to come out and go negative, I can realize: well, that’s the old me. The new me is starting to use love as a compass. It’s when I’m in spirit, rather than my ego which was always afraid, and always felt attacked. So I really value the words you’re giving us tonight because I have been evaluating myself. And I do see some growth. Thank you for your words. I’m very excited to be here!

Student: On the same subject, I think I’ve noticed in some of the Teaching Mission transcripts I’ve been reading, someone used the word love as in, using love as your compass, and I realized that my ego’s led me most of the way through my life by fear, and fear, and more fear. Now I look at myself and I’m really starting to understand this--the value and meaning of using love as my compass. I can feel…if I’m trying to evaluate my actions toward someone, and I just hear the old me starting to come out and go negative, I can realize: well, that’s the old me. The new me is starting to use love as a compass. It’s when I’m in spirit, rather than my ego which was always afraid, and always felt attacked. So I really value the words you’re giving us tonight because I have been evaluating myself. And I do see some growth. Thank you for your words. I’m very excited to be here!

NEBADONIA: Yes, my daughter. Thank you for that wonderful notion, because I think when most folks think about a compass, they think of some device exterior to them. We’ve often suggested in the past that your Father Fragment, the Mystery Monitor in your mind, is your most true compass as to where you are going. But I really enjoy your notion of this other compass being part of you, and signaling whether the emotions going out from you are life-affirming--a kind of beamed beneficence to someone else, or whether the needle swings radically the other way and shows a kind of self-collapsing, withdrawing, fearful avoidance of contact, or being judgmental. That’s a very valuable thing to have and to be aware of, and to accept!

NEBADONIA: Yes, my daughter. Thank you for that wonderful notion, because I think when most folks think about a compass, they think of some device exterior to them. We’ve often suggested in the past that your Father Fragment, the Mystery Monitor in your mind, is your most true compass as to where you are going. But I really enjoy your notion of this other compass being part of you, and signaling whether the emotions going out from you are life-affirming--a kind of beamed beneficence to someone else, or whether the needle swings radically the other way and shows a kind of self-collapsing, withdrawing, fearful avoidance of contact, or being judgmental. That’s a very valuable thing to have and to be aware of, and to accept!

NEBADONIA: My son, very well spoken! I am very impressed, my children, how you have tuned into the real essence of what I had to offer this evening, and have responded with your own success stories of how you’ve discovered spirit and are experiencing its reality. You’ve discovered how experiencing that reality within you changes all that universe out there surrounding you.

NEBADONIA: My son, very well spoken! I am very impressed, my children, how you have tuned into the real essence of what I had to offer this evening, and have responded with your own success stories of how you’ve discovered spirit and are experiencing its reality. You’ve discovered how experiencing that reality within you changes all that universe out there surrounding you.

Yes, my son, in Urantia book terminology I would say that this recognition of how things seem so effortless when you’re all-of-a-piece, this is your personality discovering its prime function. It absolutely is, but what it does to a greater or lesser degree of success is to unify the disparate elements of body and mind and spirit, by both discovering and creating a harmony between these elements. This success is perceived as a kind of effortlessness because everything is flowing together. Once you establish even some small background of this success and its recognition, then the disharmonies of one element working against another become all that more perceptible by contrast, and can be addressed.

Yes, my son, in Urantia book terminology I would say that this recognition of how things seem so effortless when you’re all-of-a-piece, this is your personality discovering its prime function. It absolutely is, but what it does to a greater or lesser degree of success is to unify the disparate elements of body and mind and spirit, by both discovering and creating a harmony between these elements. This success is perceived as a kind of effortlessness because everything is flowing together. Once you establish even some small background of this success and its recognition, then the disharmonies of one element working against another become all that more perceptible by contrast, and can be addressed.

NEBADONIA: You are very welcome, my son.

NEBADONIA: You are very welcome, my son.

Last week Michael mentioned in brief the sequence in which you encounter these different elements of yourself does require you to exercise effort and courage to discover spirit, to get the confidence and trust of faith. But because of this requirement you truly earn your souls. There is always something genuine for you to do in this your first phase of eternity. Let it come to you.

Last week Michael mentioned in brief the sequence in which you encounter these different elements of yourself does require you to exercise effort and courage to discover spirit, to get the confidence and trust of faith. But because of this requirement you truly earn your souls. There is always something genuine for you to do in this your first phase of eternity. Let it come to you.

When we see your soul and your personality--to correct an impression of yours one time, my son--this is not all light. We see all the dark, terrifyingly fearful mistakes you’ve made– in terms of your own self-evaluation, especially at a younger stage of development. The final achievement of a truly spiritual viewpoint includes all of this, and even sees the necessity for it. Someday, in spite of all the pain you have known, you will forgive God for creating you and the universe this way, in an all-encompassing embrace.

When we see your soul and your personality--to correct an impression of yours one time, my son--this is not all light. We see all the dark, terrifyingly fearful mistakes you’ve made– in terms of your own self-evaluation, especially at a younger stage of development. The final achievement of a truly spiritual viewpoint includes all of this, and even sees the necessity for it. Someday, in spite of all the pain you have known, you will forgive God for creating you and the universe this way, in an all-encompassing embrace.