View source for 1996-04-24-Good Fortune, Learning How To Pray

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==Heading==
===Topic: ''Good Fortune, Learning Hot to Pray''===
===Group: [[Pittsburgh TeaM]]===
==Facilitators==
===Teacher: [[Tomas]]===
===TR: [[Gerdean]]===
== Session==
===Opening===
TOMAS: Good evening.

Group: Good evening, Tomas.

TOMAS: I ask you: How did you know it was me?

I am glad to be here with you, and glad, too, that you continue to [[manifest]] an interest in matters of the [[spiritual]] realms and that you, in your [[altruism]], grant that we possibly might expand our [[understanding]] of our own place in [[the universe]] in terms of our [[spiritual evolution]] and [[ascension]] with and through our [[association]] and under the [[guidance]] of our Creator [[Michael]].

How [[fascinating]] your discourses have been this evening. I am certain we will refer to them again before the evening is out, but I would like to first take a moment to [[discuss]] with you a thing or two, which I have saved up for such a moment as this. I would like to discuss with you [[Good Fortune]].
===Lesson===
===='''''[[Ideal]]'''''====
In bringing up the phrase "[[good fortune]]" it is [[necessary]], certainly, to take a look at what is fortune, and in a [[material]] realm, the [[reference]] immediately falls upon the material [[abundance]] available to [[humankind]], the "fortune" as is indicated in your [[economic]] system and your [[arts]] and so forth, but I am not [[focusing]] on that fortune. I am focusing on the good fortune of [[fellowship]] and [[sonship]], which indeed is [[the gospel]].

How is it that some of you have had the good fortune to have come upon such [[concepts]] as we [[share]], the good fortune of seeking and finding those who would [[share]] with you such [[philosophies]] and [[ideologies]] as have been presented in your [[social]] aspects this evening, such as the Hispanic guru, the Miracles maverick and others? The good fortune of sharing the [[inner life]] is a fortune which is the [[pearl of great price]], for which a man will sell all that he has in order to acquire this great [[treasure]].

This treasure is where your [[heart]] is, and where is your heart in this [[good fortune]]? There are many who are [[aware]] of the advanced times and would capitalize on the advanced movement of spiritual [[awakening]] (and to them there is good fortune, indeed!), but the good fortune of [[sonship]] is a [[treasure]] which comes to you not by your [[intellectual]] understanding of a [[philosophy]] or even of certain social [[resonance]] of [[acceptance]], but that which you hold in your [[heart]] as [[divine]] and worthy of the greatest respect, the highest [[esteem]], indeed, the highest price.

I ask you to [[examine]] your good fortune to determine if it is a fortune which is worth selling [[everything]] for its acquisition, or is it a [[manifestation]] of social [[mores]], a [[social movement]]? There are many movements afoot which would capitalize on the aspiring spirit-bound [[personality]]. Do not allow yourself to lead these [[infants]] astray by the dazzle of diadems that fall short of the [[light]] of [[truth]].

Are there questions of me this evening?
===Dialogue===
===='''''[[Commitment]]'''''====
Mrs. M: Well, I'm [[confused]] quite a bit by this lesson. My particular involvement with the [[Urantia Book]] is not, certainly, an easy thing, because I've chosen to be part of the organized [[church]], and so I can't quite put it together with the [[fact]] that -- I thought I [[understood]] you to say, Tomas, that some people are going to capitalize on our good fortune of having [[the Book]]. But nobody that I know is, frankly, interested! Unfortunately!

Mrs. P: You [[interpreted]] that wrong.

Mrs. M: Then please [[explain]] it, Tomas.

TOMAS: Your good fortune, daughter, is [[Thought Adjuster|that which dwells within you]], which has given you [[life]] and given it more [[abundantly]]. It is that [[spark]] of [[divinity]] which is that which you would not forfeit, which you would not trade, which you would not sell for it is your own [[reality]]. I am speaking beyond [[books]] and [[philosophies]] and [[movements]] to that [[Thought Adjuster|Treasure within]]. Has this helped [[clarify]]?

Mrs. M: Yes. Yes, thank you.

Mrs. Ml: I know I wouldn't want to return to my [[fear]]-filled [[consciousness]] that I have had [[companioning]] me for so long that it's -- because it is, I would say, the last ten years that I feel that I have been able to [[experience]] some of the [[meaning]] of the answers to questions that I had, and I would never want to go back. It is really the [[pearl of great price]]. And uh … that doesn't mean that anybody knows that we [[feel]] we found it. There are many people who are not interested in knowing what makes me [[smile]]. It's your [[personal]] . .. if we care to tell someone that we [[think]] it's a treasure, then it still doesn't make that much [[difference]] externally except, really, to you. Others benefit from your [[behavioral]] [[change]], but it is, indeed, a [[pearl of great price]].

What about price? Price paid for? I hadn't thought of that pearl of great price. I don't think I've paid a price. I feel just like it was kind of a box that I could open and a present was there. I don't feel that I was "paying the price" to obtain it. Unless you look at it from the [[consciousness]] of the [[journey]] of all [[mankind]] and someone came to you with great [[experience]] and wanted to give you [[enlightenment]].

TOMAS: I will grasp that and run with it, for indeed, what do you give up in order to have this pearl, this [[gem]], this diadem of [[sonship]]? What have you got to give before you have It? You have [[fear]] and [[pride]] and [[ego]] and [[consciousness]] of [[death]] and [[prejudice]] and want. You have all those things which you [[suffered]] before giving your [[life]] and will to [[the Father]], the great [[First Source and Center]].

Having attained sonship and [[awareness]] of your [[connection]] with [[divinity]], you then weigh moment by [[moment]] the [[temptations]] which come your way and pay the price of each moment's [[decisions]], either in [[assuming]] your [[path]] as before or in falling prey to a lesser fortune. Many of these lesser fortunes are [[experientially]] valuable, indeed, and you may rest [[assured]] that once you have set upon your [[path]] you will be reminded of it and given [[opportunity]] to return to it, and when you have ventured away to the experiential depths and have judged and found yourself wanting and have returned again to [[First Source|your Source]], your fortune is [[renewed]] and you bestow then your [[wealth]] of [[joy]] and eventual [[wisdom]] as you go, as you pass by, as you learn.

There is an interesting lesson in [[your text]] about counting the cost, the cost of being a [[disciple]], an [[apostle]], or whatever capacity you [[feel]] you have to offer. Assuredly, your spiritual reward is in your level of [[commitment]]. If you have committed to the [[values]] of [[family]] life, you will [[appreciate]] and defend and [[honor]] and enjoy those values. If you commit yourself to a cause with your whole [[heart]] and your whole [[mind]] and believe that this is your [[calling]], then this is your treasure and you will give and garner the results of your [[devotion]] to this cause.

Questions?
===='''''[[Judgment]]'''''====
Mrs. M: I have a question about [[righteous]] [[judgment]].

(Before you came, Tomas, we used to invite Nero to our [[readings]]. Maybe some evening you'd like to do that. In the course of [[conversation]] of our [[reading]] we would ask Nero a question. He was a [[philosopher]], wasn't he? As I recall. Wasn't he a philosopher? Nero? Anyway, he would assist us with the -- whatever it was we were reading in [[the book]] and if we got to going we would stop [[everything]] and ask Nero to join us and he would comment.)

I was talking about [[righteous]] [[judgment]] this evening and wondered if you would be … or is it too large a subject to make a comment about it?

TOMAS: [[Judgement]] is not a good path. There is no [[righteousness]] in judgment. [[Assessment]] is one thing, but reserve your judgments, for they have no place in [[the Kingdom]].

How did you intend to be [[righteous]] in [[judging]]? Are you talking about righteous [[indignation]] or what?

Mrs. M: I think "righteous indignation" possibly would have been a very good phrase to use, because we were talking about a human [[social]] situation that was repugnant and "righteous indignation" would be a justifiable [[response]], but, dwelling upon it and letting your [[energies]] stay with it very long, unless you, like you pointed out, are [[devoted]] to a cause of [[justice]] or some such version of that -- I thought that that was a Biblical quote that Jesus was using when he was teaching. He says, "Judge not . ..." and you've just corrected us right there. He went on to say use righteous [[judgment]], and that was a good reminder what you just said was to "judge not" but to be [[sensitive]] enough and [[discerning]] enough that you might come to a point of [[understanding]] of what would be appropriate [[behavior]] when these things come up.

TOMAS: You described a [[discourse]] you had earlier this evening in [[discussing]] an [[individual]] who was repugnant, and it is not for individuals to determine the repugnancy of other individuals. If his [[acts]] are repugnant, they may be [[discussed]] and judged according to the dictates of the [[sovereignty]] of your [[government]] or your [[mores]] -- and I believe the instance you discussed was an example of your mass [[consciousness]] investigating its own [[mores]].

As a follower of [[Jesus]], we are not in a position to judge any [[individual]]. It is [[wise]] to [[assess]], but judgment casts a pall upon the accused and causes separation and boundary. In a discussion such as you referenced, there is no call for righteous indignation in searching for the motives/intents of your fellow beings.

This is a very [[distorted]] world. I [[realize]] that it is tedious, time-consuming and bothersome to look into the [[souls]] of the many, and these [[individuals]] who are on your [[media]] whose souls are on [[parade]] for [[the masses]] to [[dissect]] and [[condemn]] -- and judge -- are resultant from the [[evolution]] as it is at this time.

There are many evolutionary [[steps]] coming into being, and the [[study]] of the [[personality]] is certainly one of them. As has been said earlier in your [[discourse]], there will be those who will need to officially take the [[time]], and [[study]] each nuance, in order to render a [[decision]], a [[law]], an action affecting lives, affecting [[families]], affecting your [[society]], and it is no longer as cut and dried as it was in the more [[materialistic]] age.

Entering a [[new age]], which involves more [[thinking]], more [[feeling]], more rationalizing, more justifying, more [[discovery]] of the [[human condition]], [[motivations]] and so forth, is time-consuming. It is not [[necessary]] that everyone become involved in this on every level, but it is a part of [[communication]] as it is [[becoming]]. It is a [[method]] of communication that can be turned into [[prayer]].
===='''''[[Proselytism]]'''''====
Mrs. P: Tomas, you were mentioning that we should be very cognizant of the [[fact]] that the effect that we will be having on other people . .. something about the dazzle or something? Could you enlarge on that for us just a little bit?

TOMAS: I would like to remark to the effect that impressionable young aspiring newborns are tantalized by [[glamour]], for they are still impressed by the ways of immaturity, and whereas more spiritualized [[beings]] have within them something which the [[fledgling]] may not yet be [[aware]], it is [[cruel]] to bedazzle them with personal inflections of some [[radiant]] [[glory]] to come. It is hard to [[express]]. It is better, shall we say, to impress a [[fledgling]] [[soul]] with your [[confidence]], deep [[awareness]] and [[satisfaction]], by your [[calm]] and [[sober]] demeanor than by the bedazzling flashing eyes of one "who really knows the [[truth]]." [[Beware]] of those who flash their [[insights]] around like gold sheckles. The [[pearl of great price]] has a deep lustrous sheen that [[endures]]. I am having a hard time conveying what I would like to convey.

Mrs. Ml: Would you be speaking about people who are talking about their [[faith]], how people are going to go to [[heaven]] or something?

TOMAS: No, but that does tie in. You have broadened the palette for me, but I do not mean to [[focus]] on [[Christianity]] exclusively. Anyone who professes to "know" is [[suspect]], and so I say to you to [[consider]] your good fortune and appreciate this [[pearl of great price]] rather than bedazzle your children, do you see?

Leah: When you're speaking of children, do you mean actual physical children or …?

TOMAS: I am speaking of [[fledgling]] [[souls]] who will be coming forth. The [[harvest]] is great. And as you have within you, each and all, great reservoirs of [[strength]], [[inspiration]] and [[guidance]], in your attempts to [[proselytize]] your [[values]], your [[truths]], you will be more effective if you work [[quietly]] and surely than if you try to promote.

Dr. B: What I [[perceive]] that you were saying was this treasure . .. that one can actually stop and [[accept]] lesser than the highest.

TOMAS: Indeed.

Dr. B: And that wherever one's [[energy]] goes, that that's where somehow you get caught in the [[glamour]] which may be okay because later you might get other [[chances]] to return to the highest treasure or to [[examine]] where exactly you were placing your highest treasure. And within the [[possibility]] of that ("where your [[intent]] goes or your [[energy]] goes"), you can just fall off sometimes; it's not the highest treasure -- which I thought you were saying is a more [[subtle]] thing.

And you asked a question: how did we get here tonight and that more [[subtle]] treasure is this direct [[relationship]] with [[the Father]], and to stop off at some other, whether it's another movement . .. you can get off on some other path. Is that . . . ?

TOMAS: Very well said. And many of these [[experiential]] [[adventures]] are [[necessary]] for your own [[growth]] and delightful for your partaking and necessary too for the [[maintenance]] of [[civilization]]. In this [[discussion]] of good fortune, no matter what approach you take to your [[spiritual]] life, it is your spiritual life and that is your good fortune. As a promoter of your spiritual life, your spiritual [[reality]], it is wiser to [[quietly]] promote your own [[values]] by living and enjoying them than by selling them.

Mrs. L: Does this fit into the part where [[Jesus]] said don't [[force]] by [[dramatic]] [[pronouncements]], that is to believe, that you should not try to convince them, which is a part of [[the book]] that [[surprised]] me when I read it since the [[church]] that I was in was always trying to be very forceful in its presentation and I always had wondered about that, so is that part of what you are referring to?

TOMAS: Yes; I am not singling out, as you well know, the churches.

Mrs. L: It was a style that I learned in the church. I mean I was presented with [[dramatic]] [[ideas]] about [[God]] and [[Jesus]] when I was growing up and I -- that was the style that I was accustomed to, so I was quite surprised when I --

TOMAS: Perhaps they were followers of [[John the Baptist]] rather than [[Jesus]], for John was quite vociferous, but [[Michael]] was well-[[balanced]] and soft-spoken and his [[calm]] [[understanding]] of his [[relationship]] with his Father enabled him to walk calmly through great [[trials]] and [[difficulties]], enabled him to bring great [[comfort]] and good cheer to multitudes, enabled him to [[impact]] and affect adequate numbers of peoples who kept his [[message]] alive for over 2,000 years.

As followers of [[Jesus]], in your attempts to also affect the lives of your brethren on [[Urantia]] and subsequently the [[evolution]] of Urantia, I point out these things that you yourselves may become better [[teachers]] and more sincere [[believers]].
===='''''[[Prayer]]'''''====
I will [[share]]/impart one thing further with you this evening and that is in my assignment to you, my friends. I want you to begin to [[pray]] aloud and conscientiously. I would like for you to take the plunge and hear your own [[voice]] address [[Our Father]]. I would like to hear this in your group session and in your [[private]] lives. Begin to ring out your [[association]] with [[divinity]]. Allow yourself to hear your own voice address your God. Acknowledge to others in your [[society]] (in this intimate society of fellow-believers) that you are in [[communication]] with the [[First Source and Center]].

It will add tremendously to your [[strength]]. [[Trust]] me. We may have time for one further question.

Mrs. H: I'd like to make a comment. I've been sitting here [[thinking]] about a line of [[scripture]] and I was seriously [[thinking]] about [[speaking]] up about it and decided not to and you came around and gave it a [[definition]], and the line of scripture coming to my [[mind]] was, "make a joyful noise unto the Lord," and I was going to ask you to speak about that and you did. And speaking up, perhaps we should use a tape recorder to get over the [[shock]] of trying this. This is a giant step that you've asked us to take. And I [[suppose]] it could be rehearsed in [[private]] and then, [[spontaneously]], it could take place at some other point. Thank you.

TOMAS: First, daughter, pray [[alone]] aloud, perhaps in the back yard, perhaps in the car, perhaps in the laundry room. Become accustomed to [[discussing]] things with [[God]]. Eventually and in time you will feel [[comfortable]] enough with this [[process]] of sharing your [[inner life]] with God that you will be able to then pray and offer [[thanksgiving]] in a group setting. It is not a command [[performance]]. It is a [[gradual]] [[growth]]. But it will impact you. It is not a performance, my dear. It is a [[vital]] life-line of [[reality]] for you with [[your Father]].

Mrs. H: Doesn't it take the same type of [[surrender]] to do that, what you've [[described]], as it would of willingness to learn to tone? When I first heard myself tone I was very uncomfortable with the ugly [[sound]] that came out of myself, but I was judging myself. What it was, was a [[rehearsal]]. It was something new so it couldn't come out in its projected -- or I should say [[anticipated]], future sound, because that would come with rehearsal. There are some people who don't speak up. This would be a good time to [[practice]].

TOMAS: Let me say that toning is a [[prayer]], an [[attitude]] but without the [[words]] and, although it is perfectly acceptable to [[the Father]] to receive prayer without [[words]] - indeed he hears the [[soul]]'s [[attitude]] -it is important for you, the [[mortal]], to utilize [[words]], for as you [[read]] this evening, it is a [[communication]], and you think, at this point, in terms of words and so I will ask you to not bypass the communication by going directly to toning but to sit down and talk to your Father who [[loves]] you.

As if you were his daughter and he were your earthly father, sit on his lap and talk to him about your day or your [[problem]] or your [[joy]] or whatever comes to [[mind]], for he [[earnestly]] seeks to hear you address him. Why else has he splintered himself into so many [[personalities]] and characteristics except to hear the [[reflection]] back to himself of your adoration for him?

Mrs. L: Tomas, this just really [[amazes]] me. I don't know when this happened. It must have been within the last month, but I had this exact [[idea]], that I should say . .. I got the idea that I had to say it out loud. I was in my car. I mean, I did it, and it was really a [[weird]] thing to do. In the car. And now hearing this . .. it amazes me that we're now being told to do this.

TOMAS: The [[self-consciousness]] will pass.

Mrs. L: I'm excited about the [[fact]] that this will be on paper and it will go out to people who need to see it, who will [[appreciate]] seeing it in words, transcribed.

Mrs. P: I didn't know we were going to have THAT part of it done.

Mrs. H: My mother's going through this right now. She's been asked to describe [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reiki Reiki] to a [[hospice]] group. She's . .. and she . .. it says we are given the [[words]], and so if we're given the words, then we are being [[encouraged]] to open our mouth.

Mrs. M: Tomas, is this for everyone? Or is this just for our [[group]]?

TOMAS: I am not much in a position to instruct the world, but if you are my [[students]] and you [[honor]] your [[teacher]] and your own [[spiritual development]], then you will [[experiment]] with my [[words]] by abiding with my suggestion. I am not ordering you, any of you. I am asking you to allow yourself to grow through your own [[faith]] by learning how to [[pray]].

Mrs. M: Were you also suggesting that we tape this and have it written up? I thought that's what you were saying.

Mrs. P: No, no.
===Closing===
TOMAS: I can see that my suggestion has dazzled you (group [[laughter]]), so I will take my [[quiet]] dusty pearl back with me to my own realms and leave you to your own realms for now but I will not go before conveying to you how much [[entertainment]] I receive from my position here with you in your [[community]].

[[Fascinating]], [[stimulating]], challenging, and all the positive adjectives I dare muster -- as I could not possibly revert to other judgment.

[[Blessed]] be art thou, my friends. Good evening.

[[Category: The Teaching Mission: Dialogues]]
[[Category: Pittsburgh TeaM]]
[[Category: Tomas]]
[[Category: Gerdean]]
[[Category: Ideal]]
[[Category: Commitment]]
[[Category: Judgment]]
[[Category: Proselytism]]
[[Category: Prayer]]
[[Category: 1996]]