1996-10-01-Personal Counsel

Session

Opening

Teacher Contact

TRIESTE: I am Trieste. Good evening to you, my sisters. It is a privilege, a joy, an honor and an occasion for me to be granted this audience with you. Having attained grace, I bring my self to conjoin with you to help you in your grace also. Michael has been with us, has embraced us. Tomas is discreetly in the wings, as it were. He asked, for your information, if it would be desirous that others in attendance make an appearance, so to speak, in order that you might be made more aware of the many myriad personalities there are who attend you and aid you in your many paths.

I am, as you may know, a personal teacher. I am the personal associate of your sister, Gerdean. We have worked together consciously for four years your time but I have been with her since she was a child. I work also with my companion Adrian who is another spirit helper. We are intertwined, shall we say, in our efforts. The various destiny plans of the many individuals in the kingdom call for different help in different cases. I would say that each of you here (Abram arriving) have accompaniments well adapted to your particular needs and proclivities. I will step aside now for another who would like to share.

JASMINE: Yes, I am your friend, Jasmine. I was hoping you were looking forward to my being with you thus. You are not disappointed nor am I. It gives me great pleasure to greet you my precious charge, Hunnah, and to also meet with your friends and our friends in these more radiant realms of truth, beauty, and goodness.

(Abram departing) I observe Gerdean's concern for the movement about your area and remind her that the area in the unseen realms would overwhelm her if she could but see how we play musical chairs in order that we may all attend your time together. It is not to say that we are crowded, but we do amount to some stir.)

Getting back to you, my dear. How have you been?

Dialogue

Hunnah: Is it my imagination or have I received some assistance from you these last few days, helping me to apply what I've been taught? And I guess the fruits are trust -- it was very obvious to me that the trust was the fruitage -- and I'm just very grateful for the help I've received in the incoming challenges. But to make it clearer for the sake of the transcript, I would say that I was reminded through a Christian doctrine that "He perfecteth that which is given me to do"[1] and I could feel myself sliding, and when I describe myself sliding, it's like -- it's like all the life is going out of me, as I allow myself to accept the lesser way. And when I seemed to take hold and ask for a new definition and a new perspective, it was like Presto! I was reminded that all is well, I'm not to be concerned, that I didn't have to carry the concern.

I really appreciate it. Thank you. I hope that's not too generalized, because it's so exciting. When you see your belief system actually. . . .

JASMINE: I share your excitement in that regard. It is a fascinating vantage point that we have from here, as we observe your lights grow more and more constant. You discussed your lights earlier this evening. We observed and have found your faint flickering to have become more steadfast, and so yes, it is gladsome to make that observation. And when you make it within yourself, that your faith is becoming more whole and less faltering, you reinforce yourself from within yourself, and this brings about a solid conviction. It is not so difficult then to trust your own faith. You begin to hunger for that same living faith in others and therein is the service aspect.

I will not embark upon a lesson, but will greet you and converse with you and encourage you in your work. It is always a source of encouragement when you realize you are not alone. In your acknowledging my assistance, my steady presence and my devotion to your development, in your trust of our association, in our mutual goals, you have latched onto a comrade-at-arms and no longer struggle alone. I am gratified by your growth, your response to your awareness of me, of our joy in one another. My child, I am called aside for there is another here who seeks a moment at the platform. Be advised of my untiring affection.

Hunnah: Thank you very much.

RAJ: I am a secondary midwayer in this locality. My name to you is Raj. It is a friendly name, if somewhat exotic. I have come to greet you, Loreenia, and acknowledge your many sojourns. You beat a path upon the face of Urantia, and I have many times encountered you as I myself beat a path hither and yon across the countryside. I share with you, Loreenia, many things, and although I am not designated a Teacher (as you are familiar with the Teaching Mission Teachers or personal teachers), you well know that any seeker can be taught by and through any source, for when one is willing the lesson is revealed. And so perhaps you may think of me as a companion of sorts, for it seems that we traverse many of the same paths.

I, in fact, work much like you and, therefore, to some extent with you. The midwayers, as you may know, are much like you. We have been called your "cousins" for we feel many of your emotions and have deep affection for you. Having been around for many, many years, many generations, and having plans to be here a while longer, we take life in its stride. We are quite excited at how far you have come -- you as a race, you as forerunners, and you, Loreenia, as an individual -- into spirit awareness. Although we have far to go, we acclaim our accomplishment.

Oftentimes we midwayers who work in the field are sent upon assignments from the angelic orders who have a higher view of things than we have, even though we have perhaps been here longer. All of us are in ministry on behalf of the Eternal Paradise Trinity, more particularly through the Infinite Spirit, the Universal Mother Spirit, like you, Loreenia, who is much guided and influenced by the Mother Spirit.

As you cross-stitch the realm with your knowledge, energy, enthusiasm and agenda, remember our presence and, as we are eager to serve and we work just outside your vision, it would be a marvelous experience for us if you could learn to work with us.

Loreenia: I'd love to, if I haven't already been doing so. I need help. I need to understand how to do that.

RAJ: It is not so much comprehension, as it is faith. Be open to spirit guidance, to spirit pressures, as you have been in the past. Glorify the Infinite Mother as you have, also as you do. Delight as you will to serve. You will learn, you will grow. You will discover. You will rejoice. Ever. That we work indeed together.

It is Tomas' request that I convey to you how pleased he is to have you in our loving embrace again in the configuration of his students, with your sisters in this flock.

Loreenia: I had received your name before as part of my names, but I didn't know you were a midwayer. Secondary, you say?

RAJ: Secondary midwayer.

Loreenia: I'll have to read up on midwayers. It seems like the Urantia Book has so much knowledge, but it seems like it leaves . .. it's like reading the encyclopedia. There just isn't enough knowledge there to satisfy me.

RAJ: Let me equate this as if you were a sponge and as you come along you are dry, you read, you become saturated, you go on your way. You utilize that which you have absorbed until you have evaporated that which you had absorbed. You return and saturate yourself again with the Living Water, with food for thought, and you return to the field to water your crop. It is in the process that you become established in the ways of the kingdom. Always are there new lessons to learn and new experiences to be had leading to new lessons to be learned, leading to new experiences to be had.

The Book provides invaluable information and your path in faith with that information then provides invaluable experience for you and for the greater good. Yes, learn what you can by any method that you can, for then you are more fully equipped to carry your knowledge into the realms where you and we can work together.

Loreenia: If you are one of those who have been with me the last couple of days, where I've been knocked off my rocker, more than a little bit, by happenings in the physical world, I sure do appreciate the help because I've had a lot of help the last couple of days. Especially because of the . .. always feeling threatened it felt like, and the animals that are in my care. I do appreciate the help, especially this evening. I received phone calls from people that don't call. I got to come here again tonight. Your coming right now is just a blessing that I needed.

RAJ: One moment.

MACHIVENTA MELCHIZEDEK: I am Machiventa Melchizedek. It is always an honor for me to attend a gathering of believers, a powerful group of followers of Lord Michael. I have not met with you in some time. I have observed, however, your gatherings and the growth on-going in this small pocket of Urantia. Your individual faiths have been greatly strengthened by your constant association.

Although you are aware of your spirit helpers and also apprised of your Indwelling Adjuster, although you have memories tucked aside in your deep recesses of earlier wondrous events, spiritual awakenings, momentous pronouncements, tumultuous celebrations, the frail human creature is inclined to fade if he does not keep pace with his companions.

When you feel yourself fading, when you are aware that you are fading from lack of sustenance, it is your responsibility to seek out that which you need. Not only does it validate and confirm your own soul needs, but it provides occasion to teach by the very nature of your needful approach to your brothers and sisters. It is true that the shepherd will go in search of the sheep who is lost, but if the sheep is not lost and can see the flock, if it is aware of the dangers of isolation, it is the responsibility of that sheep to hasten back to the fold.

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. We are together, my children, my friends. We are, as Abraham indicates unceasingly, soldiers. I commend your efforts, the strengths you have acquired and the grace which clothes you. Daughters, be at peace. Shalom. (One moment)

MIGHTY MESSENGER: Good evening, ladies. I am a Mighty Messenger. I am somewhat of an old-timer in this business of working with mortals. It is with great pleasure that I present myself here among you. I have not had this occasion here [with your group] before and I have not manifested [my words] in some time, but my experience goes back, way back.

When I had spoken before, as a result of some of the questions that were presented to me in my early times of exposure to the human personality, I gave myself a handle to help you appreciate the range of assistance which I am qualified to provide, and so I am identifying myself to you by that handle, that being "Doc." You see, therefore, that although my ranking is in the upper echelon, I am a regular guy who makes house calls, and this is the nature of the Good Doctor who has authorized my ministry with you here and abroad. If, therefore, you have occasion to inquire about emotional health, mental health, physical health, spiritual health, you may ask for an appointment with me.

Loreenia: I could use your help all the time! Especially . ..

MM/DOC: Well, my dear, your approach is rather reminiscent of those people who, on bended knee, ask for peace on earth. That is rather vague and indistinct as far as how we might go about bringing about results, and so if we are to work together, I would require that you think through some of your ailments, establish perhaps an understanding of the priorities, and be a little more specific about where that ache is or when that pain occurs. Do you see my point?

Loreenia: Yeah, I see where you're coming from.

(One moment)

TOMAS: Hello, my friends. This is Tomas.

Group: Hello, Tomas. We have quite an array this evening!

TOMAS: Well, we have what you might call a smorgasbord. The array of personalities in attendance is not unusual. I have not called upon anyone not willing to attend and eager to speak with you. I would like, however, at this juncture in the evening, to pause (so) that you among yourselves might take a deep breath, to ascertain the range of available personalities, each and any of which are here in abeyance of your desires, since we are met to develop and proceed in whatever manner will serve.

Hunnah: Well, it sounds like a 20-pager tonight, Tomas. I must confess that we wanted to take a break, but when Doc arrived my lights went on, and it wasn't just because he announced that he could help with physical problems and mental problems, but I felt . .. he said something about calling on him, well, I'm interested in talking with him. But if you want to, we will take a break.

TOMAS: We will take a break.

[Take a break]

TOMAS: I am Tomas. I am glad to be back. I understand, Hunnah, that you have the answer to the problem.

Hunnah: I have an idea how to keep us from fighting to see who asks the first question! We were pleased to have the presence of Doc arrive. We felt a receptive feeling because of the nature of his gifts of understanding, and I thought perhaps he could address us and perhaps everything might fall into place; it might be more coordinated, if that's alright.

TOMAS: Well, we are willing to whet your appetite, but be advised that Doc has a rather extensive degree and he is not quite like writing to Heloise or Dear Abby for your solution . ..

Hunnah: No, I didn't have that in mind.

TOMAS: . .. to your illnesses.

Hunnah: My question is about humans.

TOMAS: Shall I ask Doc to come in, then?

Hunnah: Yes.

TOMAS: Very well. One moment.

Manner

DOC: Greetings, once again. How are you? I understand you are well enough to inquire, and so what have we on the table at the moment?

Hunnah: Well, first of all, because I live with and work with human doctors, I would like to have you send your recipe of your bedside manner down here because it could be used.

I have a question regarding the human condition, human disposition, and the human and his want to ascend into the light, it has trappings of accumulation of living habits, and among these habits (I'm talking about physical habits) and it could be a disposition to craving foods and the nutritional balance, or it could have to do with dependency on different substances and chemicals. I find it amazing, probably because I rely so heavily on the promises of grace, as I understand it -- I am just amazed at the limitations that a believer is held bondage to. Now, whether that's in the form of an addiction or whether it's a physical handicap, those that don't go away in spite of being bathed in the light and continually guided, why are we continually burdened with that?

DOC: All right.

Hunnah: I hope I've phrased that.

DOC: Let me commence. First of all, let me preface my remarks, as you prefaced your remarks, having to do with your current dispensation of doctors and their bedside manners. I cannot bestow my manner on them, they need to reach for mine, and in order for that to take place, they must begin to follow the path of the Great Healer themselves. As they become more responsive to the true Creator of life they will think more sensitively toward the miracle that He has created and not so much of their part in the maintenance of it. Involved in that is a thorough understanding of the fruits of the spirit which are your current studies.

Human beings suffer abjectly because they are treated as if they were an object, as if they were a statistic, indeed as if they were a mass of cells, flesh and blood, and this is a general sweeping remark not exclusively focused on doctors. In fact, the phrase "bedside manner" is an odd one, implying that anyone who has an ailment should be in a prone position, and I trust that many of you and your ailments are such that you will rise to meet the challenge. But I digress.

Health

You have in fact spoken to me of such behaviors as conditioning, most particularly consumption and gratification, which have become part of the norm. Let me contribute for your thought this:

When an individual has risen above the earthly plane sufficiently to walk in joy and health, how many peers do you suppose she has? How many among you are that healthy that you would deign to stand alone in perfect health? The truth is that few people can stand to feel too good. One of the problems in feeling really, really, good is that there is some insidious and primal defect in the animal which seeks to pull down and destroy that which is healthier, that which is higher, that which is wholer. That insidious destructive element is available not only in your societal realms, but within the structure of each individual. So while you may be aspiring to feel really, really good, there is that peculiar quirk which is undermining your efforts all the while.

Tell me. Talk to me some more.

Human Condition

Hunnah: Well, I think your reply is fascinating, and I'm going to be able to utilize it for myself, I think, in a positive way. There is a line called, "deny yourself" and I think of it as we deny the conditioning. I would have you speak of this, but I think it's someone else's turn to ask a question.

DOC: I'd like to say, however, that it is not a good idea to deny the conditioning. It is a good idea to be aware of the conditioning, for once you are aware that you have been conditioned, then you can re-condition yourself by your awareness. If you have been appropriately conditioned, if you have been conditioned in a healthy manner, do not just take that for granted, but rather examine that as well, and ascertain if that is for you. You have acknowledged that is a positive conditioning, one that you will accept. This process of observing your condition puts you in a position, then, of being able to handle the ailments more conscientiously.

Hunnah: It lends itself an objectivity.

DOC: Right.

Hunnah: Depersonalization.

DOC: Right.

Hunnah: It was Yogananda who once said that it was just as easy to learn good habits as it was to learn bad ones.

DOC: It is not easy to learn good habits if no one has shown you what a good habit is! If all you have learned are bad habits, they have been far easier to learn than something you have never seen before, you see.

Hunnah: Because of that information you revealed about the tearing down aspect? Like taking the easy way out?

DOC: Remember your origin. Remember the animal, which loves comfort, which does not want to think, which does not like to work, but which likes to indulge and take. Remember your origin. Many individuals simply choose not to evolve. They prefer wallowing in the primal ooze. Your desire to ascend, your yearning to break free of the fetters of human bondage into realms of free will dignity set you apart.

You cannot altogether compare yourself with the individual who has no desire to evolve. You are in a position, however, to compare yourself to your peers, those who have had similar conditionings, if you choose. It helps you to understand yourself, yes, and it also helps you to understand the conditionings of others. Some habits which have been evolved as a result of the civilizing process of humanity, have immeasurably benefited humankind, but by the same token, many of the remnants of these habitual practices are dead wood which much of your society and your self are still hauling around.

Hunnah: It's that hauling around that we are sort of addressing. It just amazes me. I think it's passed off as fear, as a student, but it just amazes me that someone can be just as "devout, connected, responsive and willing" but they can still be saddled with the different flaws that we live with. I don't have to think of anyone else, I can see my own! And I don't -- I know we're not supposed to be getting rid of them but we're supposed to be rising out of them so that they don't have this hold on us that they do.

DOC: So that they are no longer troublesome.

Hunnah: Yes!

DOC: And so that they no longer interfere with your effective and cheerful interassociations with your fellow men and women.

Hunnah: Yes. We are representing our belief system, and it's so traumatic when it doesn't go well. It really makes me feel bad when I don't . .. when I get off the rail. When I get derailed. It's a disappointment because there are people who are searching, who do observe, and . ..

DOC: It is interesting to see, then, how you have gotten derailed.

Hunnah: Yes.

DOC: Have you derailed yourself? Has someone derailed you? And if they have derailed you, why have you allowed the derailment? This is the issue. Certainly as you follow the teachings of your companion Tomas, as you practice these spiritual truths, your emotional, mental and physical health all conspire to improve and perfect as well. It is helpful, however, to your spiritual nature, to know how to and be willing to address those emotional, mental, psychic and physical illnesses which are inherent in your condition, your global situation.

Let us pause here to allow another friend to . ..

Hunnah: Thank you.

DOC: You're welcome. Be at ease. I am not intending to pontificate. I will apply my most gracious bedside manner, if you will. Let us lie down together and discuss the issue at hand. I realize, daughters, that the session is not as long as your cases will require, but it would be to your benefit to greet me and we could have a preliminary interview, shall we say, before we establish our second appointment.

Hunnah: "The doctor is in."

Leah: (Laughing)

DOC: Leah! I see you there, child, in "the waiting room."

Menopause

Leah: Actually, I'm very very glad you're here and . .. I always have so many things going on in my head at the same time, but . .. initially, as I spoke before (during the break), I was curious about what menopausal women could do about these hot flashes on a physical level. It seems to be a common thing . .. and I've heard of Premarin but I've heard it's pregnant mares' urine and I don't want to do that. I'd prefer to avoid it. I hear they keep the mares together and pregnant all the time to make cat food or dog food out of them and it sounds just awful, but that's the only thing I've heard that's supposed to be able to help this. I'm sure that it would help my emotional health if that could be relieved.

DOC: Well, physician, you have healed yourself, but you have not stopped to take notes long enough to hear yourself, much less your own diagnosis. You poor thing. You are to be commended for withstanding, for enduring, the difficulties of this metamorphose.

Much of the discomforts of menopause are mental, but much of it also is truly not your fault. You will recall that childbirth was made more difficult subsequent to the Adamic default. It is also true that menopause, another natural aspect of womanhood, is more difficult than was originally intended, or is necessary. Yet you who resist these natural processes make them ever so much more difficult. There are, for example, some women who deliver babies as if they were shelling peas, while some labor unmercifully. (I will not share with you some of the phrases that have come up to my ears describing the agony of the childbirth experience for some women.)

The same is true for this natural metamorphosis of menopause. The onset of womanhood, in the menstrual cycle as it begins in a young girl, is most frequently a happenstance which alarms them more for the seeing of the blood and for the responsibilities which lie ahead of them in terms of society conditioning, sexual expectations, womanly responsibilities and so forth, than the mild-mannered cramping of a pubescent lass, and so conditioning plays a great part in the acceptance of womanhood and conditioning plays sometimes an overwhelming part in the setting aside of those conditionings of what womanhood represents and has been throughout her entire adult life.

It is, in many cases, a matter of histrionics, for you have to set aside your procreative aspects in a society that places supreme recognition on those who procreate. Your society has lifted motherhood into the realms of sanctity, akin to Mother Mary. It is totally fallacious to accede to such a belief system. There is life after menopause. The difficulty in the psyche is this adjustment and the resistance to the awareness that you are an individual.

It is extremely difficult for some people to accept their own individuality, but find it far more comfortable to be part of the collective unconsciousness of their society. (One moment)

[Brief intermission; visit from Abram]

Growth

DOC: I am back and I am glad to be here. I would like to convey for the information of those present (and not present) that indeed under certain circumstances, I am willing to discuss economic health, financial health, educational health and so forth; however, I am primarily concerned about psychic health, as that enables you to have the mind to then function more clearly when you address these other matters of health, including your physical health.

Your intermission discourse was somewhat provocative. I am impressed that your mind was impressed with certain phrases having to do with ego, id, libido, subconscious, superconscious, conscious and so forth, for these truly are my words of expertise in a way. The psychic realms are the realms in which you make those decisions that will further your spiritual growth or retard your spiritual growth and you will live to experience the results of those decisions.

It is a fact of life that your decisions are not the most altruistic. It is a fact of the matter of time (that you are time- and space-bound creatures), that allows for the leisure of steady growth. In fact, overmuch rapid spiritual growth is detrimental, and so when you pause to spend time in your psychic realms you are enabling yourself to clarify your understanding of yourself as an individual, why you behave the way you do. It gives you an understanding, then, of why your fellows behave the way they behave and it all contributes to "The Great Cause."

It is, therefore, not necessary that you incessantly clamor for spiritual perfection. One of the purposes of the Teaching Mission, of the Teachers, is to help you develop an integrated personality, one which incorporates your spiritual nature as well as your physical nature, the human and the divine, in a well-balanced personality. Now when we come to the realm of the personality and its behavior manifestations, including physical health, financial health and so forth, this is where I work. This is where we work together.

I would like to say to each of you that I would very much enjoy speaking with you in private in an unpublished session. Each of you crave an audience that you might further understand yourself, in order that you may further heal yourself of various ills and responses. There are even some of you who would like to delve into realms previously unrecognized.

Menopause

Having said that I would like to return my attention to menopause, but briefly, and I hope that you understand from what I was just saying that much of the distress of menopause is a psychic situation. It is obvious that there are physical manifestations, but it is not obvious that the physical manifestations are in large part a result of the psychic disturbances taking place in the metamorphosis from a female who produces to children (who produces eggs, who produces a certain amount of hormones) to a woman who is productive now in other ways, in other realms, in other manners.

Much of the excitement of menopause, and therefore the terror, is because of the new life that is presented once you have passed through the passage. Unfortunately, your societal/cultural approach to "old age' and your morbid fear of dying discolors the wonderful experience of adult living. Instead of becoming a useless vestige, you are truly coming into your own. Now that you no longer have to consider the family unit and the rearing of children, the societal values and home devotions that your culture requires of you as a parent and even as a spouse, you are free to investigate actually a whole new life, if you are of a mind to.

And so this dichotomy of directions is quite a torment to many, as it is to you, Leah. You are faced with a turning point and you can go in many scattered directions, never finding a central path, or you can investigate these psychic realms and let the rest of your glorious life unfold before you. It will not, however, be based on your conditioning as much as has been your egg-producing era. Let us discuss it more in detail and at leisure at another time.

Leah: Thank you.

DOC: Indeed. You are welcome.

Hunnah: I have a question.

DOC: Yes?

Chakras, Body

Hunnah: It has to do with my real heart. I've been having palpitations -- probably for a couple of months off and on, but I've associated it with the opening of my heart chakra. I'd like to think of it as that. Would you address that for me?

DOC: Let me say, without further examination, that as you become more sensitive to your chakras, to your evolving nature, to your true self, you become more sensitive to the mechanical aspects of the body. As you focus on that area, you will be more inclined to notice the subtleties living in and taking place in that area. It is also not uncommon for mild fillibration to occur, but it usually goes by unnoticed. It may be that you're simply being more aware of these natural and occasional fillibrations, as you become more aware of your heart area.

It is wise to be aware of your body and its behaviors, not only its disturbances but also its natural mechanistic movements. It is of benefit when you can move through the universe of your body and not lose your way, when you find the body is opened and in full sway. There are little glitches in the body that happen much like little glitches occur in Mother Nature. Sometimes it rains. Sometimes there are earthquakes. They may or may not be damaging to the physical body, but remember, you are a physical being and your earth plane has a major influence on its behavior, on its electrochemical system, on its water balance and so forth. It is through the mind, in being aware of your physicality, that you can greatly aid the mechanism of the body that it then may serve you in your material existence and house your spirit most capably.

Keep your eye on your ticker and feel the miracle of life, appreciate that it is beating, watch it activate you and breathe in accordance with your understanding of the great cosmic flow. Then observe as it naturally relaxes; observe your mental state during before and after this activation; ascertain if there is any pain or any resultant effects such as tingling or temperature adjustment; notate the frequency of this condition.

If it increases, it is probably wise to have it seen by a professional of your realm. It is easy for the mortal to put spiritual reasons on physical disturbances and vice versa. It is truly well to be objective, to see each realm in its own light and appreciate the reality of that realm in its wholeness. Has that been helpful?

Hunnah: It's the human condition to worry about. The only heart sensation that I respond to is what I call love. It's like warmth, and the human is like a distraction. It's physical, but it's part of the personality to say, "I don't want any part of it." "Heel!" Thank you very much.

DOC: Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Hunnah: Yes.

DOC: I am not a miracle worker by myself. I do not have a magic wand by myself, but we can do wonders together.

Closing

My dear daughters, I am delighted with our rapport, our time spent this afternoon. I will look forward to our next engagement. I will turn you back to your host, your teacher Tomas, for his salutations and greetings. Good evening.

TOMAS: Well, my friends, I see that you have had another bountiful feast. It has been a pleasure to present this array of aides. [End of tape] Farewell.