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Michael040306MarinTM_TheMeaningOfSpiritualValue_Jesus&HisTA
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[[Image:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Teaching_buddha_small.jpg|right|frame]]
Michael—April 3, 2006
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Marin TM Group—Mill Valley, California—U.S. A.
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MICHAEL—T/R-JL
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  1.
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      (Spiritual and natural {physical} law)
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  2.
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      (The meaning of spiritual value—your intrinsic morality)
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  3.
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      (Recognizing ones Thought Adjuster)
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  4.
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      (Jesus’ relationship with His Thought Adjuster)
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  5.
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      (Finding and sharing the joy that sustains you)
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  6.
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      (The need to experiment)
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  7.
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      (Departing from dogma)
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  8.
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      (Falsehood and relative truth)
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  9.
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      (You live in a historical context)
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  10.
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      (Living in spirit)
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==Heading==
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===Topic: ''Meaning of Spiritual Value''===
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===Group: [[Marin TeaM]]===
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==Facilitators==
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===Teacher: [[Michael]]===
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===TR: [[JL]]===
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==Session==
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===Opening===
 
Dear Michael and Mother Spirit, Here in Marin we’ve kind-of had Winter hanging on, but the trees are budding, the flowers are coming out, and it’s once again a time of renewal. So this brings to mind what a wonderful springtime in our souls it is that You are initiating with Your lessons--giving us the ability to tap into new life, to feel ourselves blossoming, and best of all, notice how all the folks around us seem to be blossoming too. This is the most amazing and remarkable proof of the value of faith, and we thank You very much. Amen.
 
Dear Michael and Mother Spirit, Here in Marin we’ve kind-of had Winter hanging on, but the trees are budding, the flowers are coming out, and it’s once again a time of renewal. So this brings to mind what a wonderful springtime in our souls it is that You are initiating with Your lessons--giving us the ability to tap into new life, to feel ourselves blossoming, and best of all, notice how all the folks around us seem to be blossoming too. This is the most amazing and remarkable proof of the value of faith, and we thank You very much. Amen.
    
MICHAEL: Good evening, My sons, this is Michael. Mother and I do enjoy your spiritual discussions for, being human, you still enjoy and need some feedback, some proof that the spiritual efforts you are making, and these new desires in your hearts actually work. These are Morontia Mota or spiritual laws that you are discovering, and while they have parallels to what you know as physical or natural law, there is something distinct about the spiritual realm and what works there, and this is what you are discovering.
 
MICHAEL: Good evening, My sons, this is Michael. Mother and I do enjoy your spiritual discussions for, being human, you still enjoy and need some feedback, some proof that the spiritual efforts you are making, and these new desires in your hearts actually work. These are Morontia Mota or spiritual laws that you are discovering, and while they have parallels to what you know as physical or natural law, there is something distinct about the spiritual realm and what works there, and this is what you are discovering.
 
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===Lesson===
(Spiritual and natural {physical} law)
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One fact that spiritual laws have most in common with physical ones is the degree to which both are not obvious unless you actually look for them. Your anthropology and your mass media have given you a much broader contact with different societies and cultures around the world, as was never available before, and so you’ve actually experienced interviews with the other peoples in these cultures, and can understand how the human mind is so creative that at every stage of development, the mind is capable of creating a context within which things do make sense--somewhat. Whether it was conceiving the world being balanced on the back of a gigantic turtle, or perched on top a tree where it required a balance of forces, that were disturbed by such things as storms and earthquakes, other cataclysmic events; all peoples at every time have been able to create the context to give their lives meaning and significance.
 
One fact that spiritual laws have most in common with physical ones is the degree to which both are not obvious unless you actually look for them. Your anthropology and your mass media have given you a much broader contact with different societies and cultures around the world, as was never available before, and so you’ve actually experienced interviews with the other peoples in these cultures, and can understand how the human mind is so creative that at every stage of development, the mind is capable of creating a context within which things do make sense--somewhat. Whether it was conceiving the world being balanced on the back of a gigantic turtle, or perched on top a tree where it required a balance of forces, that were disturbed by such things as storms and earthquakes, other cataclysmic events; all peoples at every time have been able to create the context to give their lives meaning and significance.
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But then, overarching the mental and the physical aspects of your lives is the spiritual, and in this you transcend all the other animal life of your planet. For even animals enjoy meaning. You can think of your favorite dog or cat and definitely realize how much meaning there is in their lives--of places, of events, of the day’s routine--how opening the refrigerator door has great meaning for them, like getting out the can opener to open a can of their favorite food.
 
But then, overarching the mental and the physical aspects of your lives is the spiritual, and in this you transcend all the other animal life of your planet. For even animals enjoy meaning. You can think of your favorite dog or cat and definitely realize how much meaning there is in their lives--of places, of events, of the day’s routine--how opening the refrigerator door has great meaning for them, like getting out the can opener to open a can of their favorite food.
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(The meaning of spiritual value—your intrinsic morality)
      
So let’s look at spiritual laws and how they penetrate and impact these other dimensions of being human. Very much depends on the meaning you put into the word "value." We speak of spiritual value, so when We say that you value some material object, or value the meaning and understanding you have of some person, this is a reflection of your spiritual nature. This is an exercise of your spiritual power of discernment. This is something that no animal is capable of doing. Your creative ability enables you to question and evaluate the meaning of things.
 
So let’s look at spiritual laws and how they penetrate and impact these other dimensions of being human. Very much depends on the meaning you put into the word "value." We speak of spiritual value, so when We say that you value some material object, or value the meaning and understanding you have of some person, this is a reflection of your spiritual nature. This is an exercise of your spiritual power of discernment. This is something that no animal is capable of doing. Your creative ability enables you to question and evaluate the meaning of things.
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For this, My children, is what you have to give. While you enjoy the comradeship and the society of all your friends with what you have in common, still what you have to give to the group is this unique essence, this viewpoint, these realizations that belong to you alone. I think you can see now how these Morontia Mota, these spiritual laws have their origin in that part of you which already has, shall we say, one toe in the Morontia realm, and that, of course, is your soul. Isn’t this truly what you wish to know of yourselves, this essence of your life co-authored by the presence of God? Isn’t this treasure what you most deeply desire to share with others? And so We show you where to look. This is the true treasure hunt, and I really enjoy the enthusiasm with which you are looking. I enjoy your lively discussions on what you are finding. So carry on. If you have any questions or comments this evening, that too is part of the adventure.
 
For this, My children, is what you have to give. While you enjoy the comradeship and the society of all your friends with what you have in common, still what you have to give to the group is this unique essence, this viewpoint, these realizations that belong to you alone. I think you can see now how these Morontia Mota, these spiritual laws have their origin in that part of you which already has, shall we say, one toe in the Morontia realm, and that, of course, is your soul. Isn’t this truly what you wish to know of yourselves, this essence of your life co-authored by the presence of God? Isn’t this treasure what you most deeply desire to share with others? And so We show you where to look. This is the true treasure hunt, and I really enjoy the enthusiasm with which you are looking. I enjoy your lively discussions on what you are finding. So carry on. If you have any questions or comments this evening, that too is part of the adventure.
 
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===Dialogue===
 
Student: Michael, perhaps I can start off with some questions?
 
Student: Michael, perhaps I can start off with some questions?
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But more and more I recognize, in my brothers and myself, this ability to have a conversation with that Indwelling Spirit, as we are doing now with You. And so I would just like to know what I am discerning, what truth is
 
But more and more I recognize, in my brothers and myself, this ability to have a conversation with that Indwelling Spirit, as we are doing now with You. And so I would just like to know what I am discerning, what truth is
 
there in that--this gift of the re-pattering of our mind circuits that is taking place on the planet now? Is it helping us open up circuits of communication to a higher level than we have experienced in the past?
 
there in that--this gift of the re-pattering of our mind circuits that is taking place on the planet now? Is it helping us open up circuits of communication to a higher level than we have experienced in the past?
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(Recognizing ones Thought Adjuster)
      
MICHAEL: My son, the most critical thing you touched upon, and what I tried to address this evening, is this quality of recognition, of recognizing the source of what you are capable of perceiving and thinking. If you recall, in many of Our lessons We have stated that the Thought Adjuster is so pervasive in your life, it is hard to isolate what this Presence has done for you.
 
MICHAEL: My son, the most critical thing you touched upon, and what I tried to address this evening, is this quality of recognition, of recognizing the source of what you are capable of perceiving and thinking. If you recall, in many of Our lessons We have stated that the Thought Adjuster is so pervasive in your life, it is hard to isolate what this Presence has done for you.
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Student: Quite uniquely, Michael. It gives me a wonderful expansion of my understanding of my spiritual growth, and that’s all I can ask. I would like to ask a more personal question along these lines. In your human life as Jesus, I don’t recall from the Urantia book at what point were you able to consciously commune with your Adjuster. The last time I spoke to You about this, You told me about when You would go off into the hills with this comforting Presence that You could recognize. What was the point of transition where this comforting Presence could be recognized as a personality that You could communicate with and talk to as a friend?
 
Student: Quite uniquely, Michael. It gives me a wonderful expansion of my understanding of my spiritual growth, and that’s all I can ask. I would like to ask a more personal question along these lines. In your human life as Jesus, I don’t recall from the Urantia book at what point were you able to consciously commune with your Adjuster. The last time I spoke to You about this, You told me about when You would go off into the hills with this comforting Presence that You could recognize. What was the point of transition where this comforting Presence could be recognized as a personality that You could communicate with and talk to as a friend?
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(Jesus’ relationship with His Thought Adjuster)
      
MICHAEL: Well, My son, in this I was most human, just like yourself. And so, as for you now, the development was, even at its very best, so gradual I never gained a complete understanding of the full nature of even My own Though Adjuster until I regained Myself fully--as Michael. But at that moment--when My Thought Adjuster was detached and became a personalized being--that was, as you could imagine, part of an enormous event for the both of us. For it was only then that My Thought Adjuster achieved personalization. But this had always been the presence of God, and for the most part I had always considered our conversations as talking directly to God, My Father.
 
MICHAEL: Well, My son, in this I was most human, just like yourself. And so, as for you now, the development was, even at its very best, so gradual I never gained a complete understanding of the full nature of even My own Though Adjuster until I regained Myself fully--as Michael. But at that moment--when My Thought Adjuster was detached and became a personalized being--that was, as you could imagine, part of an enormous event for the both of us. For it was only then that My Thought Adjuster achieved personalization. But this had always been the presence of God, and for the most part I had always considered our conversations as talking directly to God, My Father.
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Student: Yes, it does. And I want to thank You for paving the way--such a remarkable journey!
 
Student: Yes, it does. And I want to thank You for paving the way--such a remarkable journey!
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(Finding and sharing the joy that sustains you)
      
MICHAEL: I enjoyed Myself in doing so—it’s indescribable. If there is any part of My life that has not been captured so fully yet, it is this profound, unbelievable joy we shared—I and My followers, My friends, My brothers—and I mean My real, biological brothers, as well as those who later devoted their lives to what we shared. If you will, it was the fun we had, the joy of discovering and actually doing God’s work. This is truly what sustained them later, when I was gone. It was the remembering of these wonder, joyful moments we shared that enabled them to keep going. And so it is My heartfelt wish that you too can know this joy that will sustain you, and help you carry on. So be in My peace, My son, and be in My joy as well.
 
MICHAEL: I enjoyed Myself in doing so—it’s indescribable. If there is any part of My life that has not been captured so fully yet, it is this profound, unbelievable joy we shared—I and My followers, My friends, My brothers—and I mean My real, biological brothers, as well as those who later devoted their lives to what we shared. If you will, it was the fun we had, the joy of discovering and actually doing God’s work. This is truly what sustained them later, when I was gone. It was the remembering of these wonder, joyful moments we shared that enabled them to keep going. And so it is My heartfelt wish that you too can know this joy that will sustain you, and help you carry on. So be in My peace, My son, and be in My joy as well.
    
Another Student: Father Michael, You said something that complimented what I found out in a discussion with Welmek earlier this evening, and that is: do something and see what happens. I’ve been caught in a bind of not wanting to do something and make a mistake, but it kind-of freed me of that. So...thank You!
 
Another Student: Father Michael, You said something that complimented what I found out in a discussion with Welmek earlier this evening, and that is: do something and see what happens. I’ve been caught in a bind of not wanting to do something and make a mistake, but it kind-of freed me of that. So...thank You!
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(The need to experiment)
      
MICHAEL: You are very welcome, My son. It is why Mother and I encourage you to keep, and actually expand all the so-called scientific discipline you’ve been raised with; and why matters of faith only require a suspension of your dis-belief in order for you to try them. So yes, you must experiment, especially with what you do not know. You really exist in ways you are still discovering. You really exist in a here-and-now that is transcendent. All you once knew, and all you are now experiencing, is, in a way, constantly being swept into the past… (laughter)…but ahead of you is that chasm of the unknown that has not happened yet, and is to a certain degree impenetrable—try as you might. Wonder all you can about what is going to happen next. There will be some quotient of what cannot be predicted, or anticipated--even—if you are paying attention—even your own thoughts. But as you are discovering, this is partly due to your Thought Adjuster making suggestions. (Yes)
 
MICHAEL: You are very welcome, My son. It is why Mother and I encourage you to keep, and actually expand all the so-called scientific discipline you’ve been raised with; and why matters of faith only require a suspension of your dis-belief in order for you to try them. So yes, you must experiment, especially with what you do not know. You really exist in ways you are still discovering. You really exist in a here-and-now that is transcendent. All you once knew, and all you are now experiencing, is, in a way, constantly being swept into the past… (laughter)…but ahead of you is that chasm of the unknown that has not happened yet, and is to a certain degree impenetrable—try as you might. Wonder all you can about what is going to happen next. There will be some quotient of what cannot be predicted, or anticipated--even—if you are paying attention—even your own thoughts. But as you are discovering, this is partly due to your Thought Adjuster making suggestions. (Yes)
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Student: As You were speaking, I was just realizing how much of this fear I have of experimenting and taking that step comes from early religious training where you don’t stray from the straight and narrow. And I’ve found that off the straight and narrow is were the excitement is, where the valuable growth is. And I don’t want to be on that so-called straight and narrow path, even though it’s safe. (heavy sigh)
 
Student: As You were speaking, I was just realizing how much of this fear I have of experimenting and taking that step comes from early religious training where you don’t stray from the straight and narrow. And I’ve found that off the straight and narrow is were the excitement is, where the valuable growth is. And I don’t want to be on that so-called straight and narrow path, even though it’s safe. (heavy sigh)
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(Departing from dogma)
      
MICHAEL: That‘s the irony, is it not? It’s not safe. It can end up killing you long before you die. I can only ask here, My son, you open your heart and truly forgive those who so indoctrinated you, for they meant well, even while they made the colossal, and somewhat egotistical error of thinking they could capture a living, expanding reality in their dogma. Open your heart and forgive them, and wish them well, and trust, as Mother mentioned last week, God has a few surprises in store for them—delightful surprises--to save them from themselves. (laughter) It is nice you are finding other paths.
 
MICHAEL: That‘s the irony, is it not? It’s not safe. It can end up killing you long before you die. I can only ask here, My son, you open your heart and truly forgive those who so indoctrinated you, for they meant well, even while they made the colossal, and somewhat egotistical error of thinking they could capture a living, expanding reality in their dogma. Open your heart and forgive them, and wish them well, and trust, as Mother mentioned last week, God has a few surprises in store for them—delightful surprises--to save them from themselves. (laughter) It is nice you are finding other paths.
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Student: I was contemplating, over the week, what Mother Spirit said to me last week about risking everything. Then I asked, what is everything? And Mother said—if I remember correctly—whatever is familiar to me, and what I think I know. Then I was thinking about that, and I thought about what You and Mother have expressed before about God’s reality being all there is. God’s reality is absolute—love, and truth, and beauty, and wealth, and prosperity, health and wholeness; and so much more than we human beings can possibly conceive of. And I thought to myself, that if God is the only reality, and is absolute reality, then all I have grown up with, and learned through school, and family, and religions, media, it’s all erroneous! It’s false! It’s based on falsehoods. Because God’s reality is absolute reality. And…so it’s like…I don’t want to live in that place. It’s so limiting, so lifeless. I want to live as God created me to live—here and now. I don’t want to live an erroneous life.
 
Student: I was contemplating, over the week, what Mother Spirit said to me last week about risking everything. Then I asked, what is everything? And Mother said—if I remember correctly—whatever is familiar to me, and what I think I know. Then I was thinking about that, and I thought about what You and Mother have expressed before about God’s reality being all there is. God’s reality is absolute—love, and truth, and beauty, and wealth, and prosperity, health and wholeness; and so much more than we human beings can possibly conceive of. And I thought to myself, that if God is the only reality, and is absolute reality, then all I have grown up with, and learned through school, and family, and religions, media, it’s all erroneous! It’s false! It’s based on falsehoods. Because God’s reality is absolute reality. And…so it’s like…I don’t want to live in that place. It’s so limiting, so lifeless. I want to live as God created me to live—here and now. I don’t want to live an erroneous life.
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(Falsehood and relative truth)
      
MICHAEL: My son, I‘d like you to entertain as best you can, now, the very deep and spiritual distinction between something that is false, and something that is only relatively true. For this is exactly what I just mentioned to C in looking back upon your own immaturity, looking back on all the phases you had to go through to get to where you are now. Think of these things not so much as false—which deprives them of the reality they had at each step of the way—but see them as being only relatively true, for if you attempt to measure everything from the viewpoint of God’s absoluteness, this would be the most colossal error you could make. (Yes…) Number one: you cannot even begin to assume that viewpoint. As We have pointed out, there are only two other Beings who share with God His absolute realization, His absolute reality. Second: this is not how God sees your past life. He sees as falsehood only that which was deliberately and knowingly misrepresented, for as We have also pointed out, even denial, even the times when you denied some reality to yourself, were, at times, a necessary aspect of your freedom just to keep from being overwhelmed.
 
MICHAEL: My son, I‘d like you to entertain as best you can, now, the very deep and spiritual distinction between something that is false, and something that is only relatively true. For this is exactly what I just mentioned to C in looking back upon your own immaturity, looking back on all the phases you had to go through to get to where you are now. Think of these things not so much as false—which deprives them of the reality they had at each step of the way—but see them as being only relatively true, for if you attempt to measure everything from the viewpoint of God’s absoluteness, this would be the most colossal error you could make. (Yes…) Number one: you cannot even begin to assume that viewpoint. As We have pointed out, there are only two other Beings who share with God His absolute realization, His absolute reality. Second: this is not how God sees your past life. He sees as falsehood only that which was deliberately and knowingly misrepresented, for as We have also pointed out, even denial, even the times when you denied some reality to yourself, were, at times, a necessary aspect of your freedom just to keep from being overwhelmed.
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Student: What I want to say about that, (laughing) is that, if I had been exposed to some of what I’ve come to experience the past few years--when I was younger—my whole life might be totally different. And I realize You’re probably going to say I wasn’t ready to have this knowledge or understanding, these experiences at a younger age. I just feel that if I’d had access to what I’m experiencing recently…but I didn’t.
 
Student: What I want to say about that, (laughing) is that, if I had been exposed to some of what I’ve come to experience the past few years--when I was younger—my whole life might be totally different. And I realize You’re probably going to say I wasn’t ready to have this knowledge or understanding, these experiences at a younger age. I just feel that if I’d had access to what I’m experiencing recently…but I didn’t.
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(You live in a historical context)
      
MICHAEL: True enough, My son, this is how you are now feeling your life existing within a historical context, which is not only you and your immediate family and companions, but the evolution of culture, the maturing of culture and society. If you had been born a hundred years ago, you would never have heard of something called an Urantia book. And yet if you were to be born some years in the future, when certain truths of the Urantia book will be taught in grade school, then again, you are correct—you would be a very different person. (Yes) The thing to do is to appreciate all you are now, especially, in all humility, realizing how much greater your soul is than what you can yet encompass. Just take Our reassurance that it is there, and you will experience its fullness someday.
 
MICHAEL: True enough, My son, this is how you are now feeling your life existing within a historical context, which is not only you and your immediate family and companions, but the evolution of culture, the maturing of culture and society. If you had been born a hundred years ago, you would never have heard of something called an Urantia book. And yet if you were to be born some years in the future, when certain truths of the Urantia book will be taught in grade school, then again, you are correct—you would be a very different person. (Yes) The thing to do is to appreciate all you are now, especially, in all humility, realizing how much greater your soul is than what you can yet encompass. Just take Our reassurance that it is there, and you will experience its fullness someday.
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Student: No—I’m fine. I feel legs sprouting out! (laughter)
 
Student: No—I’m fine. I feel legs sprouting out! (laughter)
 
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===Closing===
(Living in spirit)
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MICHAEL: I do believe we have touched on a bit of joy this evening. It is My deepest hope that this too sustains you, because as Mother points out, for you human beings it’s a constant process of leaving home base in order to rediscover it, just as you leave your home most every day to go out and make your living, and then return with another day’s experiences in your souls. Some Oriental philosophies see this as the biggest game being played—how the One Being forgets It is One in order to become the whole multiplicity of the universe, only to rediscover after some billions and billions of years, that It is One again. You are able to do this each time you tune into spirit; your stillness helps remind you of its reality. You may feel you need to let go this awareness to re-immerse yourselves in the physical or mental situations confronting you, but still--you are growing, you are maturing—you are learning how you can take this spirit with you. You are learning how you are this spirit, and how it penetrates all aspects of your life. This is what is meant by living in spirit, and seeing it everywhere. So welcome those little soulful legs sprouting out, and be not worried that your materialistic tail is getting smaller. Good evening. Be in My peace.
 
MICHAEL: I do believe we have touched on a bit of joy this evening. It is My deepest hope that this too sustains you, because as Mother points out, for you human beings it’s a constant process of leaving home base in order to rediscover it, just as you leave your home most every day to go out and make your living, and then return with another day’s experiences in your souls. Some Oriental philosophies see this as the biggest game being played—how the One Being forgets It is One in order to become the whole multiplicity of the universe, only to rediscover after some billions and billions of years, that It is One again. You are able to do this each time you tune into spirit; your stillness helps remind you of its reality. You may feel you need to let go this awareness to re-immerse yourselves in the physical or mental situations confronting you, but still--you are growing, you are maturing—you are learning how you can take this spirit with you. You are learning how you are this spirit, and how it penetrates all aspects of your life. This is what is meant by living in spirit, and seeing it everywhere. So welcome those little soulful legs sprouting out, and be not worried that your materialistic tail is getting smaller. Good evening. Be in My peace.
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END
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[[Category: The Teaching Mission: Dialogues]]
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[[Category: Marin TeaM]]
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[[Category: Michael]]
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[[Category: JL]]
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[[Category: 2006]]

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