1995-03-31-Limits

Session

Opening

Opening prayer

DANIEL: (TR#4): Greetings friends, I am Daniel. I am most joyed to greet you this beautiful day, spring upon Urantia. Just as the natural world has its seasons, has its ebbs and its flows, has its cycles of renewal, and decline and renewal, so do your lives. The good news is that you can be assured that cycles of decline will forever be followed by cycles of newness, of new growth, of new opportunity.

Lesson

My friends I know your lives have been varied. However I would say that the overall tenor this week has been one of introspection and questioning. When one is in a place of questioning and introspection, it is not always comfortable; but from this, is the promise of much newness, great strides -- love and joy abounding. Always you end up in a higher place than where you were before so that when, again, life moves through its cycle with a new time of questioning and drawing within, of feeling the discomfort of growth occurring, you are not where you were before but have progressed.

Limitations

My friends, know that you are human, and when I say know I mean that in several ways. Think of it intellectually. What does it mean to be a human being? What does it mean to be a material being? It means that you are subject to material law. You cannot break free of these laws. You cannot circumvent them. You cannot move outside of them. You are mortal. And I would ask you to know this in another way in the sense of accepting your mortality, accepting your humanness, accepting your limitedness. And this is what Tomas and I desire to discuss with you tonight. Limits.

You see, some limits are in fact real, some limits have their existence in the material world, in the laws of nature, while many limits are self-imposed limits. The great -- (the word the T/R and I keep coming up with -- We are searching for the right word and not connecting so we will go forward in PamElla's somewhat slang language) -- the great trick to life then is to learn to distinguish between limits that are self-imposed and limits that are real, for one can err in either direction.

It is error to limit oneself, to say, No, I cannot do that! No, that would never work for me! No, the world is against me; that is not possible! No, I will not even try, as I may be hurt, etc., etc., etc. Those are self-imposed limits that limit your experience of life, that limit your joy of life, that limit your knowledge of God and limit God in God's desire to give, nurture and love you. God knows you as His/Her most precious children and has every desire for your great happiness, for your material comfort, for your physical, spiritual, mindal well being, but God is limited by your free will because God has so chosen to give you the gift of free will.

You may use this free will to build barriers around yourselves, to isolate yourselves, to stop goodness from flowing in, to stop material wellbeing from flowing in, etc. Or you may use this free will to turn your will over to God's will and allow God to love and give to you, particularly in spiritual and emotional support. For you see, no matter what your material circumstances are if you do not limit God's nurturance, God's support, God's love and all of God's administration, all the support, all the love, all the nurturance that one could ever desire is there. Also does God work through your brothers and sisters and also will you find brothers and sisters available and there for you if you do not impose limits.

To go in the other extreme is also error. To believe that somehow this mortal existence is complete illusion and that you are somehow separate from it, above it, or can transcend it is error! You are mortal beings. You, this group, are toddlers in your spiritual growth, in your existence you are infants, you are newborns; and so it is error to believe that you are somehow the equivalent of God. You are definitely part of the I AM. You are definitely within God, an expression of God, but you are not the Creator. God is the Creator. You are the offspring.

And friends, how wonderful to be the offspring of God, to be God's precious children! It means that you can let go of control! You can quit trying so hard to manage things, to make them work, to feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problems that you see and experience. You can allow the lightness of allowing God to be God and you to be the infant. When you were the infant you did not worry about how to fix the world. You did what infants do. You sought nurturance; you sought sustenance. And in that you were fed, you were loved and you were taken care of. And if you can recognize yourselves as infants and turn to the Source of sustenance you will be fed, you will be nourished, will be at peace.

Of course there are the social problems that you will play a role in addressing. But you most successfully address them not by taking over God's job but by recognizing your place in the universe and coming into alignment with God's will and letting God work through you. It is not your job to save the world no matter how you define that world, from the very small to the very large! It is just your job to know God, to look for sustenance, to follow that guidance on a daily basis. How much easier that is! What a relief! You can let the burden slip from your shoulders. You can let the weight slip from you heart.

So this week I, Daniel, ask you to think about your limits. What are your true limits and what are the limits that you impose on yourself and for yourself, self imposed limits? Free yourself of taking on what is not yours. Come into oneness with our Grand Parent, with our First Source and Center, with our Father/Brother Michael, with our Mother/Sister Nebadonia. Tomas?

TOMAS: (TR#2): Good evening. I am Tomas and I have naught to add to Daniel's intriguing words except to say that what has transpired is that we have an analogy, a parallel of toddlers in a crib. A toddler in a crib is confined, is limited by the bars of the crib, which encloses, enfolds, protects and comforts it, where all its needs are supplied. How often you erect walls of your own crib through your imaginings. You find yourself imprisoned in the limitations of your perceptions.

Remember also that there is tremendous freedom within a given limitation, that within, for example, the fidelity aspects of marriage the realm of mating is no longer an immediate or social concern providing thus the freedom to be engaged in the unique trappings of the relationship. The security of lifestyles, jobs, careers, addresses, neighborhoods, national roots, these all provide certain comfortable yet constraining restrictions.

How these limitations of perception affect your doings is a matter for your review as Daniel has indicated. How, in your environment are your limitations imposed by culture, by economics, by tradition, by your own choosing? How often are you in a position to lament the limitations which you yourself have established? The release from restriction limitation is to be had in appreciation for your own ascension wherein your cycles of growth, your ongoing upswing of energy is without limitation in terms of eternity where you may bask in as much spirit reality as you are capable of experiencing and handling. In your crib, in your nursery the limitations of your human condition are not to be decried but to be appreciated -- for the pillow.

It is [true] in the long view, limits is a nearly limitless discourse! Many facets abound and yet it is constructive to behold how you limit yourself, how you perceive others limit you and what limits are good and which are evil. My cohort and I open the floor for any questions you might have, barring limitations of shyness. [Long pause] Please do not limit yourself in addressing the teachers. Although there is of course a topic, it is not our intention to constrain you to the topic at hand. Any offering of your searching minds is desirous.

Dialogue

Discernment

Isaac: Greetings, Daniel and Tomas. This is Isaac. Thank you for the topic tonight. I think my silence has been because I am meditating on how significant this very issue has been in our planetary history. If I understand the Lucifer Rebellion correctly it was Lucifer's misunderstanding of his limits as a Son of God that led to his expansion of pride and the whole disastrous idea of unbridled personal liberty, where his limits and anyone else's limits, as he taught it, were virtually unrestrained. And this has led to a total collision with the limits of other people's freedoms and rights.

And then I think about the fact that Adam and Eve chose a method that was contrary to the instructions that they had from the Melchizedeks. They did not abide by the limits that they were given and the result of that was default. So I say my silence has been just pondering the magnitude of the importance of this issue. I personally don't have a question that you can answer for me -- well, I guess I do have a question. I think I will have to find the answer as we each will, and that is, where is the dividing line between the self-imposed limits and the true limits? And how do we discover that? I guess that would be my question. Thank you.

DANIEL: Yes, Isaac, thank you for your comments. Indeed, do the misunderstanding and the purposeful disregard of limits lead to disaster and default in global terms. And, yes, as one looks at their own lives, I think you will discover these same patterns of disaster and default when you or others have disregarded limits or have not respected or even been aware of the limits of others. Yes. And such is also true of the reverse; to impose limits where they do not exist also leads to disaster and default.

In addressing this question of which limits are self imposed and which limits are real, I suggest that you personally spend time in the silence; in addition, realize that this is not an easy answer, for in the realms of science and metaphysics even now are such issues being addressed. Much that science deemed to be real limits, metaphysics is discovering are not true limits. Take for example the work of Native America shamans and eastern yogis. They perform many feats that are considered by science to be impossible from science's view of limits. What I would suggest to you, however, is that indeed there are limits set by material law. As science and metaphysics come together you will have greater understanding of what those true limits are. But from that side of knowing where true limits exist, I would suggest you begin with the notion that you are mortal beings, that you are infants in the entirety of time; and that you consider what it means to be a mortal being when you look for your limits.

On the other side I would suggest that you examine your belief structures whenever you find yourselves feeling discouraged, negative, despairing, and etc., and see if it is not, in fact, a belief that is limiting you and not a material law. My friends, as you undertake this examination I suspect that you will begin to understand that many limits are self imposed; and by examining the other side you will understand more what it means to be mortal beings, to be material and divine. Isaac, does help in any way?

Isaac: Yes. I think you have provoked, in addition to what you actually said, further thought in my mind about this whole issue. Yes, it is most thought provoking and I will be thinking about this the rest of the week. And I guess that is what you want us to do. So, thank you, Daniel. I appreciate that.

DANIEL: You are welcome, Isaac.

TOMAS: I would ask you all a question. In considering limits, consider whether or not you regard limitation itself as negative or positive. Your discourse earlier indicated a general not being inclined to talk often with your teachers. On the other hand there were remarks about a human mortal doing deeds based on motives and intent. Now let me ask you -- to what extent do you feel that the effects of the Lucifer Rebellion are still influencing your own appreciation of your limitations? If, in fact, the Manifesto spoke of unbridled liberty then with good intentions and well rationalized motives it would seem that liberty can continue indefinitely unless restriction / limitation is placed upon some aspects of your thinking processes and subsequent behaviors.

Rutha: Thank you, Tomas. What the lesson was on tonight was quite, appropriate for me for what I had been thinking about the last couple of days is in regard to the Pope coming out with his encyclical on abortion and euthanasia and all of those kinds of moral issues. This is exactly what you are saying. He is placing limitations. But I guess what I found myself [doing was] going back and feeling very guilty, the Catholic religion being my history. I really feel deeply about certain issues but I really feel that people do need pro-choice in all areas. And it really upset me that he came out this week so against all of these things with so many tragedies occurring across the globe with children who are not being taken care of and for him to sit there-- Well, I'm not going to get off on that -- but what I am saying is--

At what point do we as people know what is really right and where do we set those limitations; and where does just plain guilt for what somebody else has imposed play a part? I really found myself vacillating back and forth feeling guilty and badly, and then I -- It's all tied in with a lot of things. And then I saw the Life and Times of Jesus on the Learning Channel last night and here again they were talking about maybe he wasn't even the Son of God, and they had all these different viewpoints. And I just found myself being very confused and feeling very limited in my understanding of everything! It seems like, sometimes the more you understand through science and metaphysics the more confusing it can become then! I don't know! I just-- I don't know; what's happening but I just feel very confused and in this confusion I am feeling a lot of limits which I thought had been lifted. And now I seem to be under a real ceiling with a lot of limits! So -- I don't know if that's a question, it's just what is happening with me right now. Anyway I will keep working on, thinking about it.

TOMAS: My dear friend, your question is, as usual, felt deeply, thought provoking for not only yourself but others. Your selfless inquiries benefit many. Your quandary here is not necessarily one of limitation but one of loyalty. For who among us does not seek an authority that will tell us how to feel within the certain limitations which are imposed. How now to answer the question 'who is imposing a limitation?' and for what purpose.

Your question is social and therefore political. The issue is one in which the evolving races at this time are engaged in heated battle. The points and counterpoints are being reviewed ad infinitum and only when the subject is saturated will truth begin to slowly emerge. [It] will not come from any authority but the authority of those individuals who must make those existential decisions in the deep corners of their own soul. Rest your mind, child, as to these social issues except to continue to scratch the many layers of belief systems, noble loyalties, and inheritance to find that core of truth which speaks to you in your ongoing relationship with your indwelling all wise God Fragment.

It is an evolutionary issue, an exciting issue which will unfold in its due course. It is not a limitation for you, truly. Do not limit your appreciation for what this phase of planetary evolution is representing. The plight of your world, Urantia, is dependent upon those decisions which will provide the best soil in which to plant the seeds of civilization, and indeed, human beings. The solution is unfolding. Be it peace.

Rutha: Thank you, Tomas. Those last words you said are very reassuring because this is what Daniel had said to me about the solution being unfolding. That is very helpful in a time when one begins to question all aspects of faith. I appreciate that. I appreciate both you and Daniel; you know that, very much. Thank you.

Leetah: I have been in and out tonight, Daniel and Tomas, but I think I have followed the sequence of what has been asked. I think that this very issue is the thing I have been dwelling on this week. An expression from my childhood comes to mind, 'the way to hell is paved with good motives'. I think on both sides of this issue there are people who have the good motive that they would swear to and yet to try to sort out the ends and get there with a good path is a very difficult thing. So I appreciate so much the comments that have been made.

The comment that you made about the solution is unfolding reminds me of something that was said last Saturday in the video we saw, 'A White Hole in Time' -- that human beings are indeed looking inward, and I see unfolding everywhere if we have our eyes open and we are positive. I was reminded of a comment that Janet made in that she said that in the healing process sometimes the patient gets much worse just before healing begins or completes itself. We see such continuation, it seems, of error and sin; and yet we hear the promise that the evolution is happening, that the solution is unfolding. I just thank you for these encouraging words!

DANIEL: Leetah, I will answer that. You are, of course, most welcome. And might I add, my dear, that your musing upon motive will pay off; and yes, you have brought forth a significant point that -- as is always the case with social/political issues -- people on both sides of an issue have good motives, desire what is right, desire what is good. But what I would have you think about is that one or the other does not have to be right. Part of the limitations of this planet is simplistic thinking: right /wrong, black/white, red/green. And this in itself can lock solutions to social/political problems.

It is only in opening up, seeking for guidance, seeking for higher understanding, opening up to the possibility of one's understanding of an issue not being complete, by both sides, that solutions can be had. So, friends, as you think about social/political situations I ask you to look beyond one side or the other. Find what is worthwhile in both positions. I assure you that most always neither one nor the other is correct. An understanding that is in greater alignment with God's will, will be round as evolution takes place, as understandings evolve.

I/we, apologize for the stilted commentary. Our TR is nervous in being the mouthpiece for answering questions, particularly questions from a family member. Tomas, do you have further words on this matter?

TOMAS: Thank you. Certainly. I have chewed upon the reference to motives and your behavior. It has been brought up more than once recently. I have reflected upon the aspect of decision-making from a genuine belief that any decision is going to be experiential. You are human. The path to perfection is strewn with petals of imperfect decisions yet the path is clearly that which you want to follow. It is not often that toddlers are in a position to so profoundly impact the course of planetary destiny that you should worry. Your level of decision-making is, of course, the crux of your endeavors. But do not lament that you have not all the answers or all see visions. Even in your appreciation for devotedly doing His will, there are so many considerations, colorations, [and/or] ramifications that your motives and intentions are taken acutely into consideration. Indeed the celestial hosts act upon your decisions, even those which are less than ideal. Therefore, appreciate that it is understood that you are limited by fetters of imperfection and that your striving for perfection is the grand trick.

I have no further commentary, but I will take the opportunity to convey again my deep commitment to you all and to this mission which we hold dear, which is activated and accelerating at an incredible yet uncharted pace.

Closing

DANIEL: Thank you Tomas. And now friends, that time of the evening has come in which we open our hearts wide that you may get the full benefit of the love that we bestow upon you. Yes, thank you. Remove your limits that block your experience of our love for you. Love is tangible. If you remove the limits you will know this. And so, friends, this week consider your limits. I am your friend, guide, and teacher, Daniel, wishing you farewell. Good evening.