Changes

NEBADONIA:  Good evening, this is Nebadonia.   

NEBADONIA:  Good evening, this is Nebadonia.   

===Lesson===

===Lesson===

Tonight I would like to carry a torch of Michael’s a little further on, one he gave you in his last lesson and on the Thursday night before that, when he gave a rough definition of the total personhood of a human being.  I’ll just briefly mention that he started with the person you know yourself to be right in your own consciousness, your self-consciousness-self.  This is the you that comes into being when you awake in the morning and lets itself be extinguished in sleep each night.  His main point here was that this was by no means all of you.  This “you” exists within a broad field of consciousness that is partly you and partly other, and in which you are sometimes self-aware and sometimes not.  You may be lost in a piece of demanding work, or self-forgetful in the midst of some engrossing pastime.

Tonight I would like to carry a torch of Michael’s a little further on, one he gave you in his last lesson and on the Thursday night before that, when he gave a rough definition of the total personhood of a [[human being]].  I’ll just briefly mention that he started with the [[person]] you know yourself to be right in your own [[consciousness]], your self-consciousness-self.  This is the you that comes into being when you awake in the morning and lets itself be extinguished in sleep each night.  His main point here was that this was by no means all of you.  This “you” exists within a broad field of consciousness that is partly you and partly other, and in which you are sometimes self-aware and sometimes not.  You may be lost in a piece of demanding [[work]], or self-forgetful in the midst of some engrossing pastime.

   

   

* Being (All that you are)

* [[Being]] (All that you are)

   

   

You have your human body and the type of mind that comes directly as a result from it, the material mind of a human being.  Also, giving birth to the creativity within your consciousness, you have your unique personality and the creative/spiritual component of it.  Your personality is the creative aspect of yourself, the creative and unifying aspect of you, the deep and fundamentally unchanging essence of you projecting yourself into ever changing time and space whose events you experience with your physical body, mental consciousness, and spirit insight.

You have your human [[body]] and the type of [[mind]] that comes directly as a result from it, the [[material]] mind of a [[human being]].  Also, giving birth to the [[creativity]] within your consciousness, you have your [[unique]] [[personality]] and the creative/spiritual component of it.  Your personality is the creative aspect of yourself, the creative and unifying aspect of you, the deep and fundamentally unchanging essence of you projecting yourself into ever changing [[time and space]] whose [[events]] you [[experience]] with your [[physical]] body, mental consciousness, and [[spirit]] [[insight]].

   

   

In addition, right within this consciousness of yours there is the great spiritual, or should I say, quasi-spiritual entity you are literally earning out here--your own soul, co-authored by a presence of God, lending meaning and value to your life as you grow more soulful.  Finally, along with the presence of God there are the presences of your Guardian Angel, Michael’s Spirit of Truth, and my own Spiritual Adjutants augmenting various aspects of your own mentality--intuition, courage, worship and wisdom.  This is the complexity of the human being, what we refer to as your completeness.  Every normal-minded human being has all these constituent components that make up the totality of their living being.

In addition, right within this consciousness of yours there is the great spiritual, or should I say, quasi-spiritual entity you are [[literally]] earning out here--your own [[soul]], co-[[author]]ed by [[Thought Adjuster|a presence of God]], lending [[meaning]] and [[value]] to your life as you grow more soulful.  Finally, along with the presence of God there are the presences of your [[Guardian Angel]], Michael’s [[Spirit of Truth]], and my own [[Adjutant Mind Spirits|Spiritual Adjutants]] augmenting various aspects of your own mentality--[[intuition]], [[courage]], [[worship]] and [[wisdom]].  This is the [[complexity]] of the human being, what we refer to as your completeness.  Every normal-minded human being has all these constituent components that make up the totality of their living [[being]].

 

 

   

   

On the question of free will: remember we define a human being as a creature--a deliberately created being--of free will dignity.  No animal has this dignity of being able to choose its own destiny, its own life day to day.  Yet in considering your moment to moment experience of life, think of all the conditioning with which you were raised that can so greatly determine what choices are available to you, even how reality itself appears to you.  This conditioning, if remaining largely knee-jerk reactive and unconscious, limits your perceptions and interpretations of reality, yet, if fully conscious, gives even more meaning and value to your life--as you put it: you know where you’re coming from.  Your conscious sense of the past is more than just your material-mind’s memories--if you will, just your brain’s activities; it’s also your soul--all your experiences realized as well from the point of view of God’s presence within you--that kind of totality.

Also, consider how blessed you are, my children, living in your modern age of electronic [[media]] being able to portray for you what Michael called all the hundreds of thousands of little mini-[[cultures]] all over the world.  You are able to see and hear at least a little something of other people’s lives so [[profoundly]] different from your own.  There you see poor [[individuals]] literally starving to [[death]], dying of exposure without more than a few rags to cover their naked bodies as they sit on a bare piece of ground; all the way to the most fantastically opulent palaces and life-styles of the so-called rich and famous: all the vicarious experience--hundreds of [[film|movies]], thousands of hours of [[reading]] and TV--you have within you so variously accessible.

   

   

Also, consider how blessed you are, my children, living in your modern age of electronic media being able to portray for you what Michael called all the hundreds of thousands of little mini-cultures all over the world.  You are able to see and hear at least a little something of other people’s lives so profoundly different from your own.  There you see poor individuals literally starving to death, dying of exposure without more than a few rags to cover their naked bodies as they sit on a bare piece of ground; all the way to the most fantastically opulent palaces and life-styles of the so-called rich and famous: all the vicarious experience--hundreds of movies, thousands of hours of reading and TV--you have within you so variously accessible.

* [[Stillness]] (Accessing your soul--prayer and meditation)

   

   

* Stillness (Accessing your soul--prayer and meditation)

Tonight I would like to pick up the torch and take it a little bit further on how you can access this totality of your [[being]].  How do you let your soul come forth to augment and [[enlighten]] your [[consciousness]]?  How do you get a [[feeling]] for the [[character]] you’re developing?  As Michael said, this brings you to the [[necessity]] for some kind of [[inner life|inner]] [[reflection]], some kind of [[meditation]] in which you can [[relax]] and take a break from all the more pressing immediate demands of your life, even take a break from those [[things]] which are of the most meaning to you, in order to let something new come in from [[creative]] [[spirit]].

   

   

Tonight I would like to pick up the torch and take it a little bit further on how you can access this totality of your being.  How do you let your soul come forth to augment and enlighten your consciousness?  How do you get a feeling for the character you’re developing? As Michael said, this brings you to the necessity for some kind of inner reflection, some kind of meditation in which you can relax and take a break from all the more pressing immediate demands of your life, even take a break from those things which are of the most meaning to you, in order to let something new come in from creative spirit.

You can do this in a very directly [[focused]] way as [[prayer]].  You formulate the appeal within your [[mind]] and ask of the spiritual influences within you--your [[Father Fragment]], [[Michael]] and [[Nebadonia|myself]]--for our help, for our [[guidance]]. The more detailed, the more exacting you can articulate this need of yours, the better the [[context]] will be in which we can provide an answer.  The better you can put up a [[framework]] here inside, the more fully we can fill in the picture.  

   

   

You can do this in a very directly focused way as prayer.  You formulate the appeal within your mind and ask of the spiritual influences within you--your Father Fragment, Michael and myself--for our help, for our guidance.  The more detailed, the more exacting you can articulate this need of yours, the better the context will be in which we can provide an answer.  The better you can put up a framework here inside, the more fully we can fill in the picture.  

It is possible for you to pray for someone else and actually have them affected in a positive way.  If you tried any kind of prayer for something bad to happen--([[Mother Spirit]] chuckles)--the petition wouldn’t go any further than your own skull.  But you can devotedly direct and [[focus]] pure loving [[energy]] towards someone else, that they may be able to use it in their life as best suits them.  This is the [[power]] of [[love]] [[transcending]] your own [[wisdom]], the choices you might have for them.  This is just a pure well-wishing and [[desire]] for them to live life and live it more fully, the [[ultimate]] caring of one [[personal]] [[being]] to another.

   

   

It is possible for you to pray for someone else and actually have them affected in a positive way.  If you tried any kind of prayer for something bad to happen--(Mother Spirit chuckles)--the petition wouldn’t go any further than your own skull.  But you can devotedly direct and focus pure loving energy towards someone else, that they may be able to use it in their life as best suits them.  This is the power of love transcending your own wisdom, the choices you might have for them.  This is just a pure well-wishing and desire for them to live life and live it more fully, the ultimate caring of one personal being to another.

So when you’ve formulated your prayer, my children, be sure then to open your minds as best you can and just [[listen]].  It’s very rare that you will hear a [[voice]] speaking within your mind, a very clear “other” talking to you.  Remember the [[presence]] of [[God]] is called a--[[Thought Adjuster|Thought--Adjuster]].  This response can be so [[immediate]], sometimes, the [[thoughts]] that follow your petition can be that answer, yet can be missed if you don’t credit this.

   

   

So when you’ve formulated your prayer, my children, be sure then to open your minds as best you can and just listen.  It’s very rare that you will hear a voice speaking within your mind, a very clear “other” talking to you.  Remember the presence of God is called a--Thought--Adjuster.  This response can be so immediate, sometimes, the thoughts that follow your petition can be that answer, yet can be missed if you don’t credit this.

Just accept so you can look at and consider and entertain the [[thoughts]] that come into your [[mind]], regardless of their apparent [[origin]].  You’ll be developing the ability to recognize [[truth]] irrespective of its source, and this ability is something that will stand you in very good stead throughout your life, whether praying or going about your daily [[activities]].  Get a [[feeling]] for that [[resonance]] within you that tells you that something resonates with your own deepest feeling of what is true or, even better, what may be more [[truth]] than what you’ve yet encountered.  That’s a great feeling.

   

   

Just accept so you can look at and consider and entertain the thoughts that come into your mind, regardless of their apparent origin.  You’ll be developing the ability to recognize truth irrespective of its source, and this ability is something that will stand you in very good stead throughout your life, whether praying or going about your daily activities.  Get a feeling for that resonance within you that tells you that something resonates with your own deepest feeling of what is true or, even better, what may be more truth than what you’ve yet encountered.  That’s a great feeling.

This is the [[value]] of [[prayer]] to help you realize what you feel you need, or someone else needs, and so, asking for help from the whole [[spiritual]] [[community]].  This is what the spiritual community lives for in part.  It’s our delight; it’s our extreme [[joy]] to be able to help this way.  As you said in your introduction, just accept what comes to you and look at it.  [[Embrace]] it with an open mind, whether you are able to do it or not.  As your [[Urantia Book]] puts it: modern people do not lack for [[ideas]] so much as they lack for [[ideals]].  So entertain these ideals as best you can.  Do your best without any kind of reservation or self-[[judgment]].

   

   

This is the value of prayer to help you realize what you feel you need, or someone else needs, and so, asking for help from the whole spiritual community.  This is what the spiritual community lives for in part. It’s our delight; it’s our extreme joy to be able to help this way.  As you said in your introduction, just accept what comes to you and look at it.  Embrace it with an open mind, whether you are able to do it or not.  As your Urantia Book puts it: modern people do not lack for ideas so much as they lack for ideals.  So entertain these ideals as best you can.  Do your best without any kind of reservation or self-judgment.

Another way of accessing the totality of your personhood is what we call meditation, or [[stillness]], that is not focused so much as highly-consciously unfocused, broad and deep.  What does that mean? It’s a way of opening yourself to that which you don’t know you need, maybe some more [[understanding]] and [[wisdom]].  It’s a way of suspending the past and all that you feel you’ve been to--I’ll use the [[expression]]--hang out in the present [[moment]] and see what comes up inside.  You will be opening to what you cannot anticipate.  It’s like being on the edge of the [[unknown]]--consciously experiencing the next moment’s unknown rather than filling it up your own desires or entertainments--the radio, the TV, going to a movie, meeting with [[friends]]; all your activities.  It may raise a fear or anxiousness of not being able to anticipate and have expectations about what is coming next.  Being still, seemingly doing nothing, [[touches]] a primal fear in your [[animal]] [[nature]] toward this not-knowing what’s coming next.  You’re just hanging out in this special kind of present moment, open-minded with [[patience]] and [[attention]].

   

   

Another way of accessing the totality of your personhood is what we call meditation, or stillness, that is not focused so much as highly-consciously unfocused, broad and deep.  What does that mean?  It’s a way of opening yourself to that which you don’t know you need, maybe some more understanding and wisdom.  It’s a way of suspending the past and all that you feel you’ve been to--I’ll use the expression--hang out in the present moment and see what comes up inside.  You will be opening to what you cannot anticipate.  It’s like being on the edge of the unknown--consciously experiencing the next moment’s unknown rather than filling it up your own desires or entertainments--the radio, the TV, going to a movie, meeting with friends; all your activities.  It may raise a fear or anxiousness of not being able to anticipate and have expectations about what is coming next.  Being still, seemingly doing nothing, touches a primal fear in your animal nature toward this not-knowing what’s coming next.  You’re just hanging out in this special kind of present moment, open-minded with patience and attention.

Now for those of you who have tried this, you know how difficult it is because your mind is ever active.  There is no way you can hold your mind still for that very effort, that very holding will keep away the substantive input you hope will come--the new idea, the new ideal, the next step to take, fresh [[reflection]] on something you’ve done; perhaps, hopefully, even some suggestion from your [[Father Fragment]], or Michael, or me.  But without any anchor, without anything to hold on to, you quickly find that you get caught up in some mental story, some [[drama]].  You may have such a [[habit|habituation]] to being entertained, your mind most anxiously wants to entertain you.  So off you go, until several minutes later you realize you’ve been away on some great melodrama, unconsciously reliving a part of your life or worrying about something that might happen.

   

   

Now for those of you who have tried this, you know how difficult it is because your mind is ever active.  There is no way you can hold your mind still for that very effort, that very holding will keep away the substantive input you hope will come--the new idea, the new ideal, the next step to take, fresh reflection on something you’ve done; perhaps, hopefully, even some suggestion from your Father Fragment, or Michael, or me.  But without any anchor, without anything to hold on to, you quickly find that you get caught up in some mental story, some drama.  You may have such a habituation to being entertained, your mind most anxiously wants to entertain you.  So off you go, until several minutes later you realize you’ve been away on some great melodrama, unconsciously reliving a part of your life or worrying about something that might happen.

Michael mentioned that a [[seraphim]], an [[angel]], doesn’t have to worry about all the [[pain]] and injury that your [[body]] is at risk to experience--the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.  But there is, in meditation, an advantage to being human and having a physical body, a living continuity independent of your personality; so let’s make use of this living mind/body of yours, my children, in your meditation.

   

   

   

   

   

   

First, you can tune into your heart center.  If you are still enough you can feel your heart beating in your chest without having to feel for your pulse in your wrist or your neck.  You can marvel with gratitude that you are not even keeping your own heart beating.  By keeping in touch with this living part of you, you are in touch with a transcendent reality that so many of you nonchalantly dismiss and very rarely experience so directly.  Consider how so many of the modern peoples of the more developed nations live in really poor health out of such a disregard for the marvelous body they were given at self-consciousness.  They live in the most terrible conditions of bad health in order to feed that mind-construct of theirs--their ego image of themselves, even risking their lives foolishly for some vain glory.  But if you can be still and feel your heart beating, you can let the experience swell to suspend that inner, anxious self-clinging.

On another level both more immediate and yet more [[subtle]], it’s quite an accomplishment to be able to observe your [[breath]] without affecting it.  This is something different from your [[heart]] because this is something you can immediately and directly control.  You can hold your breath--for a bit; you can take huge, gulping breaths; you can pant quickly and shallowly like an overheated dog.  But to just observe your breath coming and going in and out only as your body needs and uses it, this is something else.

   

   

On another level both more immediate and yet more subtle, it’s quite an accomplishment to be able to observe your breath without affecting it.  This is something different from your heart because this is something you can immediately and directly control. You can hold your breath--for a bit; you can take huge, gulping breaths; you can pant quickly and shallowly like an overheated dog.  But to just observe your breath coming and going in and out only as your body needs and uses it, this is something else.

Try it, my children.  See if you can just feel yourself breathing, continuously, if only for several minutes at first.  It begs, but immediately answers the question: what is the [[relationship]], the connection, between you and all the rest you are, between what you can consciously control and what is simply given each [[moment]] of life? See if you can feel with [[gratitude]] and [[respect]] this living [[encompassing]] of yours that’s so very rarely [[conscious]] throughout your days and nights.  This is why every [[religion]] you have evolved over the millennia has [[discovered]] these exercises of heart and breath meditation.  It’s how men and women have discovered a way of accessing their larger selves by focusing their minds on some actual part of them that is alive beyond their own doing, and in so doing, are able to relax the anxious [[busyness]] of their [[minds]].  The [[purpose]] of this, apart from honoring your living body, is to let your mind become still of itself and allow something present and new to occur.

   

   

Try it, my children.  See if you can just feel yourself breathing, continuously, if only for several minutes at first.  It begs, but immediately answers the question: what is the relationship, the connection, between you and all the rest you are, between what you can consciously control and what is simply given each moment of life?  See if you can feel with gratitude and respect this living encompassing of yours that’s so very rarely conscious throughout your days and nights.  This is why every religion you have evolved over the millennia has discovered these exercises of heart and breath meditation.  It’s how men and women have discovered a way of accessing their larger selves by focusing their minds on some actual part of them that is alive beyond their own doing, and in so doing, are able to relax the anxious busyness of their minds.  The purpose of this, apart from honoring your living body, is to let your mind become still of itself and allow something present and new to occur.

Michael mentioned how strange this seeming non-activity must be to someone who is so outwardly oriented and inwardly self-centered and selfish with themselves they are consumed with busily building up and maintaining a sense of [[momentum]] in their lives.  Now to suggest they deliberately bring that momentum to a halt in a [[profound]] [[stillness]]?  <u>How silly it must seem to them if you were to turn around your familiar saying to suggest: don’t just do something, sit there!</u>  You can see how difficult this is, how immediately it brings about a near-[[existential]] [[fear]] of losing themselves, losing control by [[relaxing]] their grip that they so desperately feel they need.

   

   

   

   

* Ambition (Let go craving ambition)

Yet unless one lets go their craving [[ambition]] completely and then discovers they survive the [[event]], how else are they to discover that they are already complete?  Unless something new is allowed to come into their [[Inner Life|inner world]], they’re only going around in the same-old, same-old [[circle]]s and actually starving their [[souls]] of the very completeness that is their birthright to discover.  This is why it takes [[patience]] and [[courage]] to let a hyper-conscious [[stillness]] come into being, for your complete personhood, my children, the totality of yourself, though always real to us, is only [[potential]] to your self-aware experiential self--you.  It does little [[good]] for some religious [[dogma]] to tell you how complete you are if you yourself cannot experience it.  This is what we offer you, a way of testing out what we say.  One of the greatest gifts we can give you, my children, is a way for you to [[discover]] and fulfill yourselves with all you are, a way for you to access your own soul, your own [[higher consciousness]], and your own creative spirit independent of the past.

   

   

Michael spent much of his last lesson trying to give you a feeling for how you are constantly creating, if mostly unconsciously, your own [[interpretation]] of the [[reality]] around and within you.  Now you need to let go some of the [[busyness]] in your normal [http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2734358809/ waking life], if only for twenty minutes or so, to be still and experience what your incessant [[creativity]] is doing.  Look around: feel within.  This is how you access the [[encompassing]] and [[transcendent]] truth of all you are always doing, for this realization is something you will be engaged in for all [[eternity]].  Why not start now?  Have [[faith]] that you are all this full personhood and [[consciousness]] we’ve offered for your [[understanding]] and [[wisdom]].  Have the [[courage]] to let go your habitual need to be entertained.  Just be still and see what happens.  We’ll be right in here pulling with you, so be still that you can feel our [[presence]] too.

Michael spent much of his last lesson trying to give you a feeling for how you are constantly creating, if mostly unconsciously, your own interpretation of the reality around and within you.  Now you need to let go some of the busyness in your normal waking life, if only for twenty minutes or so, to be still and experience what your incessant creativity is doing.  Look around: feel within.  This is how you access the encompassing and transcendent truth of all you are always doing, for this realization is something you will be engaged in for all eternity.  Why not start now?  Have faith that you are all this full personhood and consciousness we’ve offered for your understanding and wisdom.  Have the courage to let go your habitual need to be entertained.  Just be still and see what happens.  We’ll be right in here pulling with you, so be still that you can feel our presence too.

   

   

Now if you have any questions or comments this evening, this is something you can bring forth.

Now if you have any questions or comments this evening, this is something you can bring forth.

===Dialogue===

===Dialogue===

Student:  Thank you, Mother, for the wonderful lesson tonight.  The question I have is, when I pray for someone else, and also myself, what do I pray for?  What do I ask for?  I can think of a lot of things--health, prosperity, well-being--but then if the Father already knows everything, how can I go about praying for someone else?

Student:  Thank you, Mother, for the wonderful lesson tonight.  The question I have is, when I pray for someone else, and also myself, what do I pray for?  What do I ask for?  I can think of a lot of things--health, prosperity, well-being--but then if the Father already knows everything, how can I go about praying for someone else?