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2001-09-13-The Oliver Question (view source)
Revision as of 18:08, 8 January 2017
, 18:08, 8 January 2017→Closing
===Group: [[Costa Rica TeaM]]===
===Group: [[Costa Rica TeaM]]===
==Facilitators==
==Facilitators==
===Teacher: [[Legion]]===
===Teacher: [[Legion]], [[Alana]]===
===TR: [[S. Butterfield]]===
===TR: [[S. Butterfield]]===
== Session==
== Session 1==
===Dialogue===
===Dialogue===
Legion : Yes, this is Legion.
Legion : Yes, this is Legion.
David : Thank you. We are about ten minutes before Oliver is to arrive. I wish to thank you for your presence here today…(Legion : Thank you.) and the lovingness of your concern…(Legion : Thank you.) and the wisdom and respect with which you treat us.
David : Thank you. We are about ten minutes before Oliver is to arrive. I wish to thank you for your presence here today…(Legion : Thank you.) and the lovingness of your concern…(Legion : Thank you.) and the wisdom and respect with which you treat us.
===Note===
The original document had the [[2001-09-01-The Oliver Question b|following lesson]] directly following from above even though it was dated two weeks earlier.
== Session 2==
===Dialogue===
Alana : Have the bandages been removed, and the wounds look clean?
Oliver : I think there is healing going on right now.
Alana : Yes. So much fear. (Oliver : Yes.) Such fear to reveal the self as less than you wish your preferred self to be. This is the difficulty. Human beings, are social animals, they desire to interact, to come together, to organize, yet they would have this organization be a group of…such lovely…such perfect…such gracious people. Yes? (laughter, Oliver : Yes.) And this, my beloveds, you can sustain only so long as there is nothing of consequence to achieve. But we, we are of consequence to you. Yes? And you are thoroughly embroiled in the consequences of welcoming us into your group. Yes?
This is a time of growth. It is wise to examine the values, the goals, and the consequences to surrendering your preferences, your preferred self. Surrendering your preferences to the task, the uncomfortable task of growing toward love, of fine tuning your abilities to transmit love, and transmit this love to all, to all those you meet along the way. Yet, remaining truthful. Speaking directly, without hiding behind that curtain of the preferred self, that curtain of graciousness without true grace.
I point my finger, not. I criticize, no. I speak to the daily challenges presented to the grown up child who has learned the practice of the presentation of what is preferred by the self, or preferred by the other. This, my beloveds, you have been told is how to get along. How to get along with each other. Smile. Bow down. Pour your love out. Even more, spill your milk across the land. Let them lap it up. And so, unlearning must take place. I do not say the ordinary graciousness that comes from loving hearts and goes no deeper than a pleasant time is to be considered false. No. I speak to the difficulties, the difficulties between human beings. This is when true grace…this is the time for true grace, when the difficulties scratch deeply to the multifaceted diamond wound each individual treasures within himself. Or herself, yes. Do you understand that I speak of the need for surrender, for discipline, and true grace, given by God, when you have entered into the deeply real, according to your belief, according to the many years of training you have received from your fellow human beings, by the way, in the same predicament.
This, my friend, is why we speak like a broken record. Every one of you has been wounded. Every one of you has fear to conquer. Every one of you will suffer from the consequences of doubt. And so, your favorite broken record, Legion, says…discipline. And your favorite broken record, Alana, says…do not fear. Do not doubt. And your delightfully broken record, Devina, flits about, fluttering her wings upon your turmoil, your mental disturbance, and she says…Surrender. It is, indeed, most difficult to surrender. Yes? You do it once. You do it twice. You do it three times. And you think you are out! But no, she returns, ever present, to say, once again, Surrender.
So, we have an opportunity, now. Yes? To learn. To grow. To deal with something so difficult it has turned brother against brother, brother against sister, sister against brother…the sisterhood, well, the sisters stayed together. This is not to be taken as feminine superiority. Yes? The potential is always there, to choose war, to choose argument, to choose one against another. But we are here to work with you, working together, to grow in love and how. How now to approach your brother, your brother who carries disturbance with him like a familiar cloak, so well know to him, the owner, that it bears no disturbance at all, but disturb it does, his cloak. One of you has said, “Out!” Another of you has said, A little bit out! One of you has said, “I have no disturbance, so I can say, Out! And speak the truth with love.” And the transmitter struggles to say, Out, or In. For her position has an additional complication; she recognizes her gift and knows her gift is to be given away, and yet she equally must respect her human need to grow in human ways. And so I will not put pressure upon her now…(long pause)…she is quite relieved and struggles with her inclination toward guilt, and recognizes that familiar screen will not work, for guilt has no room in her conversations with me, so thank you, we took a moment to relieve the need for a break.
I return to you, Sir Oliver. To you, Sir David. What shall we do with this brother? There is no harm in releasing this brother with love. There is no harm in releasing this group to regain its human confidence in one another. My question to you is this, can you release this brother with love? Or do you harbor secret fears, secret doubts, guilt or shame. For surely, now, you recognize surrender means to surrender all. And if you retain your private hesitations, you refrain from the full invitation and humble welcome of God’s grace. It is God’s grace that always wraps the tongue with love, around love, the tongue becomes love by God’s grace.
We welcome this brother. We can tell you, either way, our love will flow through to him. It is a human difficulty that, I must say, requires a human respect for a human solution. Do you intend to invite this person out for ever? Do you intend to invite this person out for a period of time? What in your time framed minds do you suggest is appropriate? Can you give this brother reason to choose? To choose either to wait, or to invite himself away? Now, Legion suggests that I have scrambled your minds well enough, and he would take a firm grip on things. So I give you a moment to reflect, do you have anything to say to me, to ask, to remonstrate, if you will, before I step aside for one whose discipline is eager to take hold.
Oliver : Alana, you said that you are welcoming our brother.
Alana : Yes.
Oliver : And can we not consider before we meet with him again before we have another meeting…particularly for me to have a talk with him about the topic of respect, and the purpose of our meetings, which is the contact with you and the other teachers. And remind him about the manners that the other group members have decided upon being in the group..the discipline that the other group members have shown. Might that not be a way of talking with our brother?
Alana : My beloved, I ask you…”the other members manners?”
Oliver : What I mean by that?
Alana : Do you speak with this brother of” others” or of you? That my friend, you must clarify in your mind. You have had some ambivalence. Yes? Ambivalence toward “others” in your compassion for this one. Yes?
Oliver : I don’t think I really understand. I have had some ambivalence with my other brothers about inviting this brother?
Alana : My friend, what I would communicate to you is this, speak from your heart to this man. Do not try to describe for him “the others.” Allow him to know the unique connection that you feel, that prompted your spontaneous, open-hearted reception to his entreaty to belong, to his pointed request, his single minded desire to join you in this group. Share with him the open-heartedness that responded in you, and with reservations to which you need not speak, welcomed him. Then, my friend, it will come time to acknowledge to him your open-hearted, compassionate, spontaneous, “Yes” to his desire, was true, and served him well to the extent that it was true for you. Yes?
Oliver : Yes.
Alana : The error, my friend…(long pause)…no, we shall not speak so much of error, as we shall speak to your greatest desire, which is to be of service. To be of service to God’s children. To be of service in God’s love. God’s love is no respecter of persons, yet God’s love respects all. What does this mean? You do not serve when the force of another’s desire disallows your ability to say No. Some of your human difficulties, my friends, and I speak, not alone, just to you, dear Oliver, although you are indeed my favorite little target right now.
Oliver : (laughter) I love that.
Alana : Yes. I love you too. You see, many of your difficulties, may I use the word, could have been avoided, but you still have much to learn, as do you, and you, and you. You need to be able to discern when the force of another’s desire has allowed you to ignore that which you already know. It came as no surprise to you that our beloved Sandy reared up upon her high horse and turned her face away, when you with a tender voice announced the beloved gift about to appear upon the very doorstep. Yes?
Oliver : Yes, right.
Alana : So, we learn. We learn by that to which we attend. We learn by that which we ignore. Yes?
Oliver : Yes.
Alana : Yes. This, by the way, is a lesson that can be learned by your friend. And if, my friend, you have the courage to speak the truth to him…and beloved Legion says, I will, I will give him the discipline of love…well, back to my nattering…if you have the courage to speak with your friend of that very moment in which your eyes looking into his eyes, saw through the eyes of God and welcomed him…as you then proceeded in this marvelous, indeed, experience of seeing through God’s eyes, even as if you were God himself…proceeded, unlike God, I might remind you, proceeded to ignore your human others, as you say, the others in your group. They have much to learn as well. And you, through a great deal of pain, my beloved, Oliver, so much pain, so much suffering…you have learned. This can be your gift to him. You did not need to suffer. He does not need to distribute distress and disturbance like so much confetti upon the street. You can not be a man of God and ignore man, or men, or women. For all men and women are God’s. Yes? And if one is tormented to believe God ignores me, he is mistaken. God is always, and ever will be, by your side. Just turn. Just stop, look, and listen.
Legion says that is enough. And you, Sir David, Sir Oliver, is this enough of Alana for now?
Oliver : (laughter) If Legion says it’s enough, it’s enough.
Alana : Very good. I agree.
Legion : Yes. I am here. (T/R coughs.) Immediately, her little tickle of fear. No, I am not here to tromp around. I am here to offer love. I am here to offer comfort. The discipline of love is not easy. But, yes, it will demand and require of each of you, your full attention, your loyalty to the work that has been done, your remembrance that truth always brings you to an understanding and recognition of love.
So, speak to me now of what you have understood Alana to say, and how you have begun to arrange, in your minds, the next step along this way that has been opened to you by the ever present guidance of those unseen, as well by your own learning (by that I mean the learning required as well as the learning, let us say, past, present, and future). OK? So speak to me. I am here to give you comfort. To hear your need.
Oliver : Yes, my friend, Legion. What I have come to understand that is in a moment of compassion, I did not consider the repercussions that I have now, let us say, suffered with ever since. I am willing to talk with this brother, and Alana has given me some aspects of how I can do this. My doubt is not that I can be loving with this brother, and also not that I have to speak with him, it is just what I will be able to say to him depends also upon a decision that the others make. I don’t see a reason to un-invite him. And I don’t see a reason to tell him my problems that have arisen through my spontaneous invitation if the group will embrace him longer. What I was asking Alana before was, would it not be helpful if I spoke to him one more time of what I cherish in this group, and how I behave and how important the message of the teachers is to me being there on Sundays. And to share from my own experience, because it seems to me that this brother’s behavior disturbed others. And I believe that by talking lovingly to him, his behavior might be able to be influenced. What do you think about that Legion?
Legion : I would always counsel you to speak from your experience, to share from your heart, to speak the truth to one another without fear. You must, of course, get clear with your fellow group members the parameters of their welcome. You recognize this one needs a friend. This one wants friendship. You have the opportunity to learn friendship with him.
Compassion does not require that you suffer. Suffering is a human desire. There is an attachment to suffering. The human mind, seeing the many possibilities, believes one should be his and not another. And in the refusal to surrender, becomes filled with anger, envy, pain, and suffering. A picture has been painted. Compassion welcomes all. But do not be too cavalier. You do not sacrifice your self to compassion. You do not sacrifice another to compassion. Compassion, like the discipline of love, is a compassion of joy. Joy resides in the very center of true compassion. When you suffer, it is better to examine the method by which you arrived at your suffering. Not to complain. Not to demand for information, for answers, for missing pieces to a puzzle you already have in your hand. When you suffer examine the method by which you released your joy in the name of compassion. You can not ignore your own needs, any more than you can ignore the needs of your fellow companions. This one would have you ignore your needs. This one would have you ignore the needs of your fellow companions. For his need is so very strong. You say you have no need to dis-invite him. You would place the burden of this need upon the others, and so, willingly carry the message to him from them. No, my friend. If the need is theirs, then they must express the dis-invitation. But if the need is theirs, is there no need in you? Let us examine. What is your need? What truth must you express to your fellow human being, a truth not to change him, but a truth that expresses what is true about him now, and true about you now, and true about the situation? My friend, I do not want to take you by the hand and fill in all the details, but it is a great enough task for you to acknowledge the very tiny lack of respect you secreted away in the glow of your compassion with him. And when you draw this little tiny lack of respect out in front between you, you will have an opportunity to allow him, perhaps, to reveal that little tiny lack of respect in him, which lack of respect has created the discussion of dis-invitation to one who was welcomed. You see, the dis-invitation is not an edict coming down from Rome. This group would welcome. Dis-invitation, just as the invitation, was created by the two of you from the very beginning. Do you see the discipline of love is a very strong task master with a scrutiny that misses not the little tiny disrespect here, the little tiny disrespect there. The discipline of love sees all. Yes? And speaks to it, the truth that it sees and once the truth is genuinely clear, like the fine point of the razor, all suffering goes away, and joy is here.
No, I can not advise you to carry the edict from Rome. I can only remind you that the discipline of love demands clarity of thought, clarity of communication. It is out of discipline that spontaneous joy is real, and can be trusted. Many spontaneous moments of what has been called “pure” love, “I feel your pain,” graciousness and welcome, comes up against the rocky shores, simply because somewhere one and the other secreted away a tiny moment of disrespect, a little bit of disrespect here, a little bit of disrespect there. God’s love is pure. Man arrives and becomes God;s love through discipline. God’s love is a gift, freely given, to be given away, but each of you must discipline the body, the mind, the tongue, that you may manifest this love truly.
Do you understand? Each of you? The invitation and the dis-invitation are one and the same, and reside in the very moment of invitation already within that open-hearted compassionate response to desire. Already the seeds of the dis-invitation resided. Do you understand this?
Oliver : Are you saying that in the moment of birth, death is filled in. Or are you saying that in this particular case, I invited him without considering others in the group at that moment, which I should have, and this caused a lot of upheaval. Or are you saying that in this one instance the dis-invitation was already included in my invitation?
Legion : The potential for suffering was there. My friend, I have heard your call. You do not understand, why is this happening to me? Take this little event and try to understand. To ignore the other is no different than to ignore the self. You are challenged either way. To reign in your desire and to pay attention to the discipline, always respect, respect others, respect your self. And when you see truth, speak it truly. When you see one has spoken rudely, do not try to explain it away. Say, quite clearly, this is rude speaking. Does it matter who your mother was? Does it matter who your father was? Yes, all of these things matter in the development of the human being,, but in the moment, my friend, “is this rude speaking” is the issue at hand…another example…if I have given you an instruction, “Strengthen your body.” (The transmitter is allowed to squirm, now.) If I give you an instruction to strengthen your body, and today you “slack off,” as you say. Do I come to you and say, “Hello, my fellow brother, sister, beloved one. I have no quarrel with you. I have nothing but joy to share. I love you so.” Or do I say, “You did not follow my instruction, beloved.” And do I say this to be cruel? (Let us say that is the opposite to “Hello brother and sister, I love you.”) And do I say this to create shame? (Let us say this is the opposite of “Hello, I love you. I share my joy.”) Or do I say this simply because it is the truth, you did not follow my instruction. Then, without excuse, shehas the option to examine the truth and speak the truth as well. “That is true, Legion. I did not follow your instruction. Oh it is so hard!’ Yes. “Oh I got distracted!” Yes. So, my beloved, transmitter, you did not follow my instruction. Do you wish another? “Oh yes, Legion, help me! Guide me! Tell me what to do!” Good, my beloved. So, every morning I want you to practice your stillness, to take care of your body, to strengthen your body at least 10 minutes a day. “Yes, Legion, I will.” This, of course, my friends, is an exercise in patience with our beloved. She has many reasons to avoid, to explain her lack of commitment to her body. I listen. And even, from time to time, in our discussions, I point it out to her. See? You were walking that way, and suddenly you went this way. Hmmm, is that familiar to you? A familiar pattern, you say! She knows her patterns as well as I; she observes herself following those old and useless patterns. Useless, I say, in terms of accomplishing her goal, which is the discipline of love, which is the discipline of joy. And I have said to her, and I will say it again, strengthen your body. You must strengthen your body to carry this great power of love. And so, she is loving here, she is loving there, but ever and always, when Legion arrives, he says, And so my friend, did you follow my instruction? “Oh, I was busy loving here. And I did so much love there. But no, I did not follow your instruction.” Good, my friend, you speak the truth. Do you want more? “Yes.” Good, my instruction now is, strengthen your body, strengthen your body at least ten minutes a day. Practice the stillness, at least ten minutes a day. “It looks rather simple minded,” she sometimes says, “And life is so complicated.” My friend, attend to your instruction. Strengthen your body. Practice the stillness. Respect your worthiness. Respect your intelligence, your powers of observation. And speak the truth.
There can not be an invitation that hides away those little facets of disrespect and have that invitation remain whole, sustained lovingly with welcome, for that little bit of disrespect will return to bite you on the ass, as you say. There can not be trust when trust has been broken. You can not stand tall until the truth is spoken. I wish to acknowledge that the three of you survived your discomfort and spoke the truth and restored the trust between you. Do not become lackadaisical in these matters. The transmitter is suffering some fatigue. It is not always noticeable that to genuinely solve a little problem, by the nature of the learning required, allows one to solve the greater problems. Arrogance, your beloved Devina suggested her wings needed to brush the dust off arrogance so that it could be seen. There is an arrogance so visible you have no difficulty recognizing, but with me, my friends, as your beloved Sir David may be willing to testify, even the smallest arrogance, the slightest pride, will suffer the scrutiny of my discipline of love. For there is not room for the self-deception of arrogant pride in the discipline of love, which is the discipline of joy, which allows the pride of joy to stand tall. Thank you. Yes…ask now, for she will wane shortly.
===Closing===
Oliver : Thank you, Legion. I have nothing more to ask. What I have heard and been taught is a lot to consider. I thank you for being with us. I thank you very much.
David : Yes, thank you.
Legion : And have you followed my instruction?
David : Which one, you have given me many.
Legion : Yes, the discipline of writing my discipline of love, which is the discipline of joy.
David : I take that to be a rhetorical question, Legion, because you know that I have. I take it so because I felt you helped me with what I have written, is that not so?
Legion : Yes.
David : Thank you for the help, by the way. There was a wonderful peace and ease that came over me as I did my last lesson. And I felt like I wrote it from the point of stillness, and I was conscious of my openess to you and to being led in what I said in that lesson. So thank you. As you know I have been following your strengthening advice, and I have been following the discipline of stillness. I would like to go to the beach right now, if I had my druthers.
Legion : Yes. Thank you. It gives me great pleasure to work with you. I will ask more.
David : Thank you. Thank you. I am feeling a little…I’m fatigued now, because the work we’ve been doing this afternoon has been intense…I don’t see how our transmitter keeps on going, she is like a mule in her endurance. But I am feeling badly about that whole scenario with P when I went over there to talk with him with Devina, and fell flat on my face. I am feeling naked shame for having booted that so badly. But I don’t want to keep the transmitter any longer at this point. Perhaps we could talk about it later when she is more refreshed. I just wanted to get it out. Thank you for your attention.
Legion : Yes.
David : The work you have set for us is very humbling and very difficult work. It’s not tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum.
Legion : And perhaps you and your brother, here, can support each other in cutting through the bull shit, as you say, to speaking what is upon your mind without hesitation or the need to allow bull shit to replace the discipline of love. Thank you.
David : Thank you.
Oliver : Thank you, Legion.
[[Category: The Teaching Mission: Dialogues]]
[[Category: The Teaching Mission: Dialogues]]
[[Category: Costa Rica TeaM]]
[[Category: Costa Rica TeaM]]
[[Category: Legion]]
[[Category: Legion]]
[[Category: Alana]]
[[Category: S. Butterfield]]
[[Category: S. Butterfield]]
[[Category: 2001]]
[[Category: 2001]]