1994-03-01-Half Moon Bay, Part 1

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Topic: Half Moon Bay, Part 1

Group: Half Moon Bay TeaM

Facilitators

Teacher: Unknown

TR: Susan Kimsey

Session

Foreword

The following pages contain transcripts of the Half Moon Bay, Ca. Teaching Mission group from its inception in March, 1993 through April, 1994. These transcripts have been edited to remove some personal questions or responses which group members wished to keep private. At the same time, we have added commentary and notes in order to provide the reader with background information which we hope will clarify some of the topics discussed in our sessions.

Since our group is still in the early stages of its formation, it has gone through many changes during the past sixteen months. We have added new members, been introduced to topics we have just begun to explore, and are still developing our relationship with the Teachers who meet with our group. This has been a time of exploration, doubt, trust, exhilaration, awe, and adventure! We are challenged by the Teachers to join with them in a co-creative experience that will develop our understanding of God's truth, beauty, and goodness. At the same time, they offer us a relationship that demonstrates patience, good humor, respect, brotherhood, and love.

Only you, the reader, can decide if these transcripts provide you with insights which help or encourage you on your own spiritual path. We offer them to you, in the hope that they will do so. If you have questions, or would like to discuss these transcripts further, please write the Half Moon Bay Teaching Mission group at 752 Toulouse Court, Half Moon Bay, CA, 94019, or call the number listed below.

Letters

Letter 1

To the Reader:

My experience with our group TR and our teachers, Olfana and Tarkas, has been spiritually uplifting. I have been in a relationship with the TR for our group since April of 1985. We have become very close in that time, best friends. The fact that I know her so well, coupled with the quality of the transmissions she has received, have convinced me of the authenticity of their spiritual origin.

When I first heard of the Teaching Mission and "people hearing voices in their heads," I was very skeptical. I even scoffed at the possibility. At the time, we began to read a number of transcripts from various groups. I tried to maintain an open mind and to allow the Spirit of Truth within me to be my guide. In most of what I read, I saw nothing which I felt was false or harmful. In fact, much of what I read was very positive, and at times, inspiring. After we learned from our readings that other sincere seekers could receive a personal or group teacher, we began to ask for that possibility through prayer. Some months passed before our TR began receiving simple, preliminary communications during meditation. Ever since that beginning experience, our relationship with the celestials has grown with greater and greater fulfillment. I think that the lessons and encouragement found in these transcripts need no further explanation or apology; their sincerity and authenticity I believe is apparent to anyone who approaches them with an open mind and the Spirit of Truth within his or her heart.

My own personal experience with the teachers has been very enlightening. I have received encouragement with problems I have faced with my work and family relationships. The teachers have offered suggestions which helped me to see my problems in different ways, which encouraged me to solve them more effectively myself. The teachers constantly encourage us to seek connection with our Thought Adjuster and commune with the Father. Their gentle and patient ministry is a loving model for all of us to follow. Those who believe that the Urantia papers are all we need do not understand the value of the personal, loving care granted to us by these celestials. They do not do our jobs for us in our search for Truth; they model the love and wisdom they desire for us and constantly help us to remain "God-conscious." They are our mentors. They know us because they have gone through many of the same experiences. They can identify with our struggle; consequently, they know when to challenge us and when to be understanding and forgiving of our human limitations. I am eternally grateful for their influence in my life.

T.

Letter 2

To the Reader,

The greatest part of the Teaching Mission, for me, is my stillness practice. I believe in the Mission because it satisfies, better than anything else I've encountered, a deep hunger in my soul. The Teaching Mission places a lot of emphasis on the stillness practice so I believe it must be important. I try to have some stillness every morning. It is the most mysterious and adventuresome part of my day. I'm always looking forward to it and am quite disappointed if something comes up and I miss it. I don't hear any voices, but I know I'm with God. My progress to see and do the will of my Father is slow, but I know I am progressing and that's what's important to me.

I first read The Urantia Book over 20 years ago. It has been the religious foundation of my life since. The Teaching Mission has put a new vigor in my religious life and I now refer to the book more often and with more interest.

R.

Letter 3

Dear Reader,

S and I have enjoyed a close friendship for several years. We live near each other, are the same age, have lived in some of the same cities, attended the same college where we both majored in English--in short, we have much in common. I met S at a Course in Miracles meeting where she heard me talking about The Urantia Book. She and T began attending our Urantia Book study group, and remain active participants. I think she became interested in the Teaching Mission as soon as she heard about it--and five months later she began to receive communications from spirit beings. Very shortly, Olfana and Tarkus started speaking through S, and have continued to do so with increasing ease and fluency. The whole process seems to be having a positive effect on S; her relationship with Olfana, as well as the messages themselves, seem to inspire and comfort her. In addition, she has developed close working relationships with several members of the group which has formed around this process.

Though S and I agree on many things, the areas where we differ seem to revolve around what I might call "psychic phenomena." Though I enjoy the use of Rune cards, oracle cards of all kinds, Tarot, I Ching coins, flower essences, crystals, amulets, and various trappings of New Age culture--I do not take them very seriously. I find them to be mostly harmless, often enjoyable diversions--creations of the spiritualizing mind. I believe S finds some of these aids and techniques to be useful--even powerful and meaningful. In the same way, I find this ancient act of seeking wisdom from the oracle--in this case, asking questions of Olfana--to be interesting...whereas for S it is personal and profound.

I certainly support S in all of her efforts--and especially in this creative expression in which she continues to show courage, dedication, and integrity. To me, the lessons of Olfana are lovely--many of them evoking flower images. Perhaps in some way they are beautiful spiritual expressions of S's soul. Her sharing of the transmissions with me is a happy part of our friendship. Yet for me, the communications of oracles--no matter how benevolent--is not entirely satisfactory. Perhaps the only Voice which I can find powerful and compelling is the Voice of the Spirit within me.

A.

Letter 4

To the Reader,

I have been attending meetings of the Teaching Mission for about nine months. I started going because the transmitter, S, was in my study group and I respected her integrity. I also was curious and wanted to see for myself. Although I have enjoyed the Teaching Mission sessions and I find many of the lessons to be beautiful and uplifting, I can't say I am totally committed or 100% sure of it's origin. I do keep an open mind and I pray for guidance.

I have been a reader of the Urantia Book for twenty years. I found it by "accident" in the library, at a time in my life when I was searching for more than my Catholic faith. The Urantia Book provides me with the deep soul satisfaction of having found truth. The Teaching Mission has not touched me in the same way, but I will continue to be discerning about my involvement in the Teaching Mission as I try to follow the Father's will.

D.

Letter 5

Dear Reader,

I was asked to write a letter to the reader of these transcripts on anything I believe helpful. OK, here goes...

First, a little background. I have been a Urantia book reader since 1983. I was brought up a Southern Baptist, and my education was in Physics and Mathematics. I have worked all my adult life in research and development, in both university and private enterprise environments. From my early teens till my mid 30s I would characterize myself an atheist. My deity was rational thought, science, and the human mind. Certain experiences in my late 30's and early 40's convinced me that there was more to reality than the physical world. I began to seek, I knew not what.

One day my wife brought a thick blue book home from work. A coworker had loaned the book to her saying " Here is a book I think F. should read." I read the book for a couple of weeks, skipping here and there, sampling its flavor. My initial reaction was one of skepticism and disbelief. I rejected the book for its unconventional science (an ultimaton???), and its unfamiliar nomenclature. After returning the book to its owner, I mentioned it to my business partner, and gave it no more thought.

On my next birthday, my 47th, I received a copy of the book as a gift from my partner and his wife, who both are interested in spiritual matters. With the book now readily at hand, I undertook to read it, mostly out of curiosity. As I read, I began to perceive the spiritual fragrance of Truth. I began to understand that the book contained a conceptual framework of reality which united the material world and science, with a spiritual world and religion. Even more, I realized that I was a beloved son of a loving Universal Father. I began to see the way home.

In 1985 an invitation arrived to meet with a group of readers to form a Urantia book study group. Here I met A. and J. who can be found in these transcripts. A., in particular, encouraged me in a wide-ranging study of spiritual teachings, including channeled material from A. J. Davis, S. Moses, B. Bond, E. Cayce to mention a few. Here and there in these readings I seemed to detect a familiar fragrance...

In 1992 I began hearing about a "Teaching Mission," where individuals in Urantia Book study groups had begun to channel various "Teachers." A member of our study group, S., became very interested in this phenomenon, and began collecting transcripts from these groups and talking with their transmitter/receivers (TRs). She loaned me these transcripts to read, and my initial impressions were ambivalent. Surely these works contained no epochal revelations, no grand concepts, no supernal wisdom. I questioned whether these works were merely figments of the human imagination.

One day, on a business trip, I took along another transcript, and at night proceeded to read it. During my study of this text I perceived a familiar fragrance. Then the realization came to me that these works were not intended as another epochal revelation; we already had that. These works were for individual, not public, instruction. Yes, they may contain lessons of benefit to many people, but the intention here is to tailor and adapt the instruction to the individual, . ..to provide the services of a loving mentor, rather than a professor, . ..to provide basic spiritual education where needed, rather than graduate school education. This particular transcript gave a simple 3-step approach which will lead to spiritual progress.

The fragrance I experienced was that spiritual fragrance of love, rather than hate, . ..reassurance, rather than fear, . ..acceptance, rather than judgment, . ..patience, rather than intolerance, and encouragement, rather than criticism. This is the familiar fragrance of the works of our loving Creator, Michael, and our infinite source of love, our Universal Father. My dear reader, I ask you to look for this fragrance and seek it out in all that you read, and be assured that following its trail, you will not be led astray.

To me, these transcripts are not something you have to absolutely believe or disbelieve, but something from which the sieve of the Spirit of Truth will sift that which is useful and beneficial to you.

In brotherly love,

F.

Letter 6

To the Reader,

Since March of 1993, I have been the Transmitter/Receiver (TR) for the Half Moon Bay Teaching Mission Group. This has been an experience which has stretched my beliefs, challenged my abilities, expanded my perceptions, and increased my faith in God and the benevolent design of His creation. I have grown through moments of doubt and disbelief that such an amazing experience could be happening to me. After sixteen months of growth in my relationship with the Teachers, I no longer doubt their existence, and I am becoming comfortable with my ability to hear their words.

As our group grows, I watch with interest how others are developing a relationship with the Teachers. I see all of us prompted to discover our better selves, and become willing to work on those areas of our personalities that need development. It has been an exciting, rewarding experience to join with people I care for in this relationship with the celestials.

One particular benefit of being a TR that I cherish is the experience of feeling the presence of the Teachers. Just as I can hear their words in my mind, I can feel their emotions in my heart. I have felt their patience for our confusion or disbelief, their satisfaction for our sincere attempts to ask heartfelt questions, their pleasure in sharing our company, and their deep love and respect for us as fellow children of God. They are remarkable guides on our path toward our eternal destiny.

I hope you enjoy reading these transcripts. They have been a "labor of love" from many of us in the group. We have added commentary or notes to help you understand better all that has occured during our sessions. If reading these transcripts encourages you to seek out more information regarding the Teaching Mission, or to develop a more vital hope and interest in your own path to God, then they have served their purpose.

S.

Closing

Now, turning power over to you. Wait. Soon. You're hearing us. Memory hardens vibrations. Relax. Go deeper. Transformation occurs slowly. Resist thought. Work with us. Turning over trust helps. Signa first contact Signa.

End Part 1