[tmtranscripts] 02-10-96.PGH "Parable of the Bent Tree"

[Gerdean]

DATE: February 10, 1996
LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
T/R: Gerdean

TEXTUAL STUDY: Urantia Paper 103
"The Reality of Religious Experience"

  1.. Philosophy of Religion
  2.. Religion and the Individual
  3.. Religion and the Human Race
  4.. Spiritual Communion
  5.. The Origin of Ideals
TEACHER SESSION:
TEACHERS TOMAS AND DANIEL
The Parable of the Bent Tree
Emotional Experiences
Did We Choose to Come Here?

TOMAS: Good afternoon, my friends.

Group: Good afternoon, Tomas.

TOMAS: Yes, I am Tomas, your friend, your teacher, your companion and your host for this afternoon's gathering, to which many have hastened in order to observe your development, your devotion, your disciplines, your discourse and your many divisions.

I indicated to you last week that I would attempt to prevail upon a visitor who might visit and address you today and, as is the case, more have volunteered than we have time for in one afternoon's session, but I will inform you I have been and we are pleasured to have in attendance this afternoon for at least some portion of our gathering: Daniel, Abraham, Will, Tarkas, Welmek, Machiventa Melchizedek and Michael, in addition to many myriad others who rejoice in your presence in the illumination of your communion.

What a challenge you present to us, my dear class, my loyal students, for your diversity is manifold. Even so, as you may or may not be aware, the unity of this group is becoming more viable and steadfast, and this gives us great pleasure and great hope.

I am going to ask Daniel if he would provide a lesson for you today as a visiting teacher, and I would like to say, for your record, that although my transmitter/receiver has worked with Daniel, he requires different energies from her than I am inclined to, and therefore, be advised of the fact that she is going to become, in her words, a "total air head" for Daniel to be able to speak his message without her observation. I have faith in her and in you and in Daniel. I shall return in a few moments; I observe from my post; and now I turn this platform over to my co-teacher for whom I have great admiration. Daniel, you may take charge.

DANIEL: I am Daniel, a teacher in the Teaching Mission of Correcting Time. I have been teaching now for quite some time and have known the processes and have seen my home group grow greatly under their willingness to abide by my tutelage. Your group shows me the same promise as I have seen in other areas. The promise of future and further harmony and solidarity leads then and naturally to increased spiritual fruits and abundance and satisfaction, which alters your soul for the better. The confidence, which is born of faith in your teachers, in yourself, in your destiny and in our purpose, provides tremendous strength and an anchor in the storm -- a calm in the eye of the hurricane.

What hurricane am I talking about, here? I am not talking about the Florida Keys. I am talking about the hurricane of mis-creation, of manifold misperceptions, the confusion wrought by the contagious aspects of chaos, the malignant virus of fear, the downside of emotional experience, and the arena in which you work out your destiny. This maelstrom of confusion is like a torrent, a torrential storm which will sweep up "everything in its wake and carry if head over heels downstream into a vast ocean of void and obliteration if you are not aware of its power and if you are not grounded in your root s of faith.

I recall the tale of the young tree, which grows on the side of a mountain, in the rooks, and where the winds of life have beat upon it, and bent its trunk, flattened against the cliff, and yet the sapling free has dug in deep its roots, into the crevices of rock, the fissures in which a fragment of nourishment can be found, where the source of life has embedded nutrition in the deep cracks, and this tree has sought out that food, has reached its roots deep into the hard ground to find those rich veins of fossil fuel that feed its strength and ability to hold firm, and with each passing season its roots are hardened and strengthened and with each storm its grasp on reality is firmer and more secure, and this has now allowed the young sapling to grow into a sturdy tree in spite of its shaky origins, its dubious potential.

In the face of a struggle to survive, it has learned to thrive because it has learned how to take root, and no matter how hard the hurricane beats upon the tree, attempting to rip it from its foundation, no, matter how bitter cold or how hot, no matter the sleet and rain and snow beat upon it, in season, if begins to bud and cast its welcome shade upon the rocks to provide a mossy, fertile home for other life. 

It this tree were not well grounded, did not have its roots holding fast to the inner earth, to the source of its growth, it could not prevail. And so I compare you each and all to this young tree which has been born into this troubled world and that has been beaten by hardship and great devastation to the spirit, to recognize the saving grace of emotional harmony, to hold fast to intellectual security and to withstand physical pain. You young trees will survive to nurture others in the face ... One moment.

(I have a problem with this T/R. She is undisciplined and chooses to observe what I say. Now she is picturing this tree in the rocks and is not paying attention to what I want to say, so I need to yank her back so that I may proceed. Do not mistake me; we are dear friends.)

But, I want to also say that this tree, which has been forcefully bent by the winds of time, has, none-the-less, the potential of growing to be an upright and stately creation. Our hope, our purpose, our work in Correcting Time is to help you become a strong and sturdy tree, with your roots firmly embedded in the sustenance of the Source. Picture your own tree and see that it is good. See that it has its own beauty and characteristics. See also how it has stuck to the side of this cliff and endured the hardships, that it has been nourished by the challenges presented in survival, and watch as over the weeks your tree fills out and rises up to bear fruit.

We will watch with you and call to your attention those ways in which you may draw fuel and nourishment from the soil, which is deeply embedded in the rock, the fissures in the rock. We will help you stretch your branches. We will help you have the courage to prune yourselves of unwanted twigs and old bark. We will help you face the sunlight of the spirit.

It has been my pleasure to experience your presence today in this fashion. I am close to Tomas and I am pleased that he invited me here today to share his teacher base with me as I shared my teacher base with him for many seasons in Pocatello. We miss him there. Do be good to him for we love him very much, and I now return you to Tomas for his further instruction and entertainment,

Students: Thank you, Daniel, for coming. Thank you so much.

TOMAS: I am Tomas, again, and I trust you liked my friend, Daniel. He is an experienced teacher and has a very large heart and much wisdom.

I will ask you about your capacities now before I proceed. Shall I delve into a lesson or is Daniel's lesson for you this afternoon sufficient for your food? Shall we begin our discourse between us? I give you the option.

Mrs. M: We have enough time to do several things. 

Mrs. Ml: Tomas, would you like to give us a short lesson? (Group chuckle) 

Mrs. H: Or a long lesson?

TOMAS: I would love to, and I appreciate your inviting me to do what I have come here to do, although, trust me, my social intercourse with you is equally important.

I have been thinking this week about what to address you with, and have reviewed my lesson plans available, but as always, it is the true calling when I hear you all entertain yourselves and find the fruit of your labors to point up to me what your needs appear to be from how you relate among yourselves. Today in your study, in your Paper, there was adequate material to provide lessons for several months, but the element which I heard prevail and which also ties in with what I had been thinking about this week, has to do with the emotional realms of you as aspiring unified personalities, as up-and-coming morontial beings. And of the diversity and philosophic differences which are presented in this diverse group, one thing that is uniform in all of humanity is the element of emotion, and in many ways it is the emotional arena which, in fact, is the winds and storms which press you against the hard wall.

The emotional realms are common to everyone, no matter what creed or philosophy you bring with you. In the heart of all there are those feelings which, once activated by social contact with other beings, emotes in a reflection of the status of that individual's character, belief, wholeness or fragmentedness. Can you not observe, for instance, a jealous rage in process and recognize the emotion as jealousy because you yourself have known this emotion? Have you not watched a heroic battle being portrayed and identified with both the victor and the vanquished, for you have experienced those feelings in your own being? And what of love? Have you not known the heart's delight of sex attraction and romantic aspirations? Have you not all been awed by the grandeur of Mother Nature and have not you all known sorrow and grief?

In this one realm you can clearly see that you are like one another. How often it is, however, that when you see someone having, let us say, a temper tantrum, you will, look and say, "How childish!" rather than understanding that that child apparently needs to have a tantrum! You may see someone grieving and say, "Oh, get on with it!" But how much grief do you yourself carry in your being which is too horrendous to grapple with, and so you refuse your own grieving and then decry the luxury that another experiences when they deign to grieve?

Joy can only be experienced through sharing, and I will call to your attention the song you sang earlier today, "In The Garden" . and the joy we share as we tarry there. Joy is a "we" thing, and you may feel joy only because you know the joy of your Maker. When you deny yourself that joy and you behold another experiencing joy, you react in anger and with feelings of frustration and you renounce that person's joy for it is not yours. When, however, you find that all joy is known because of the supreme Joy of creation, then you can find comfort and satisfaction in appreciating the joy of others.

The emotional realms are those realms which beat upon you and twist your personality, and it is through tapping in to the Source of Life, in the deep mulch of composted nourishment, tucked away for you deep in your being, deep in your foundation, which enables you to appreciate the flavor of your emotional experiences, the flavor of the emotional experiences of those around you, and protects you from being carried downstream in the torrent of ungrounded emotional power. 

We will discuss more about the emotional realms as time goes by, but for today, flock, my heart swells with pride, appropriate pride, to be here in session with you, to perceive your eager spirits, to recognize your ears to hear. You are well loved. And now, radiant ones, shall we open our forum to group involvement?

Student: Well, I would like to thank you, Tomas, for the joy of your presence and the joy of your lessons always.

TOMAS: You are most welcome. As you well know, it is my pleasure, and you will discover in the course of your own growth that to respond to the in-depth needs of your friends, as well as your enemies, is the greatest service and pleasure and satisfaction, for you then realize that you are giving back what you have received, you are promoting the mysteries of morontia mota, and you are marshalling in an age of harmony for your progeny. We are a team, and as you appreciate me, I appreciate you, for I know that it is a law that as your heart swells to overflowing, as your cup runneth over, it will be poured out in ways which will nourish the soil of Urantia and its children.

Mrs. Ml: Tomas, thank the large group that has come today, all the teachers coming together to be with us. It's fun knowing that they're there ~ Christ Michael and all the rest, I'm sure, that we haven't heard about.

TOMAS: There are many angels. Incidentally, some of those I mentioned earlier have gone on to busy themselves with other things, but do not feel abandoned for it is our practice to have many staff meetings and we are constantly updating one another as to your growth steps, much as you would do if and as you take on a creative project or sire an offspring. All the details of your project or your progeny are delightful to you. Each first sale or each first step is noteworthy of sharing with those of like mind, and even the stranger. And so we share among ourselves our relationship ship with you, our students.

Mrs. Ml: Somehow I get a beautiful picture of a bunch of mother hens clucking over her children to each other. (Laughter) Not to be derogatory! I think that's a very beautiful picture. 

TOMAS: I see many eggs to be hatched, also. 

Mrs. Ml: It takes time.

Mrs. M: Tomas, we're very happy that Welmek did come because he has a connection with this group, which you are aware of, I'm sure, and very grateful that Michael might have been there, and Tarkas, too, who is important to us because of our connection with the transmitters. 

You were talking about character, and so ... I wanted to ask about a place in the Book that I thought indicated a way to grow spiritually. I thought you might enlarge on it because it was very exciting to me, and that was the place where, I believe, it intimates that if you are experiencing some very wonderful feeling, as you react to art or something like that, this wonderful emotion can be used at that time to pull in some character decisions and you combine them and then you grow. I'm not explaining it very well but maybe by some incredible ability to understand us, you could know what I was referring to. I'd really appreciate your making a couple of remarks about that, because I'm still thinking about this character thing.

TOMAS: I am glad you are thinking about character and the development of your character, but I must say that while I can sense your spiritual light, I cannot read your mind, and so your footnote regarding an excerpt from the text is elusive. But as to character, you can ascertain that character is an offshoot of those morals and values which arise out of your genuine religions experience, not to be construed with the disciplines imposed upon the self through the concept that "if I behave in a certain way, I will then be that way," for that is backwards. Character is developed from the genuine growth of the soul in concert with the developing God-directed personality. Would you . . . Are you offering to your peers those character aspects which you hope to improve'?

Mrs. M: I probably want to refine my concepts a little bit better before I even attempt to discuss them with my peers. I think I didn't think through it, perhaps, prayerfully enough, but I think I'm getting closer and I'll be able to do that if anybody would be interested, but I think I'm going to look up this place in the Book because I'm sure I have some notes, and next week I hope I will be able to ask my question and, in the meantime, I'll sit back and perhaps some others have questions, and if they don't, one of our members did give me some questions that we might want to ask today.

TOMAS: I would like to say that I do appreciate the tenacity manifested in reintroducing those themes which have been introduced in the lessons such as character, acceptance, belief, emotions and so forth, for these are seeds which, hopefully, take roof and grow. And, as you well know, you cannot, expect a seedling to have developed already the faith that a full-grown flowering and fruitful tree will manifest.

Each budding soul must develop its own spiritual reality and this growth takes time. Even those who have had a conversion experience have to integrate that which they have known into that which they are learning. And so it holds true that the teacher may always he a student for always are there refinements in learning and teaching.

A pre-recorded question, perhaps.

Mrs. M: There is a question from one of our students. This student would like to know if we or some part of ourselves chose to come here to Urantia to live out this life experience.

TOMAS: It is well documented that the Thought Adjuster volunteers to indwell the mortal, and it is thought that many offer to come to indwell the potential immortal soul, but that one is selected based upon certain proscriptions of divinity assignment which then eventuate in the animal of the realm, who has attained a moral consciousness, being then receptive to the arrival of that Mystery Monitor which will then attend that mortal's growth and development throughout its human life experience - and on into eternity - providing the experience is appropriately effective.

I will use this opportunity to state that all mortals on Urantia are new beings, born here of the flesh and not ever having lived before. There is no standard of reincarnation in the universe, excepting the sporangia, which you may read about. The popular concept of having experienced previous lives is the dubious luxury not of the mortal but of the experienced Thought Adjuster who has likely indwelt other beings in other times and in other places.

Mrs. M: That's very helpful. Thank you very much for that. 

Mrs. Ml: Yes, thank you.

Mrs. H: Then the conscious memories that one sees are that of the Thought Adjuster?

TOMAS: I will break down your sentence for you, "The conscious memories that the mind sees..." The mind has the memories. But this is error; this is interpretation. The Thought Adjuster may have recollection of the value which it has brought forward, but whether it has a memory or not, whether it has a mind or not, it is in a realm unattainable by you at this juncture in your evolution.

I will soften my remark by validating your experiential approach in your perceptions, for the mind is an amazing device in and of itself, even without construing your own interpretations with those of your Indwelling God Fragment. The mind assimilates those things which it aspires toward, which ring true, which promote hope, which generate intellectual peace, which entertain, which provide comfort, and all of these mental approaches to perception have a way of beneficially interweaving your conceptions and perceptions into your conceptual reality. 

Your experience is not unlike the experience of all mortals who have been rained upon and shined upon in ways which cannot be understood. In order to understand and assimilate life's experiences, the mind is equipped to incorporate those impulses and impressions in such a way as to give you credibility in your own awareness of your own reality. These vary from individual to individual depending upon their life's experiences and many other influences. By and large they are part of your creative approach to the experience of living and each interpretation, of course, has its own color.

Each personality in developing is like a palette upon which [there are] are many squiggles of various colored paints. Some palettes are exclusively pastel; some palettes are primary colors exclusively; some, all too many, are in black and white. But this palette which your personality begets is vulnerable to misinterpretation and error. Fear not that this is to be regarded as a bad thing, a negative thing, a wrong thing, no. It is part of the human condition and part of the evolving consciousness of a very complex mind and coupled with very dynamic emotional content.

In time and in faith the kaleidoscope of life's experiences will begin to focus and stabilize more and more on what you can bring to yourself today in terms of who you are today and what you can altruistically do today that you will affect your world, your realm, your life, your universe, today. This is being in the now and this is also finding joy in the experience of being all that you can be, here, this time around, in your personal natal experience of discovering for yourself the personal God of your origin and destiny.

Mrs. Ml: I experienced some of this teaching last night and I was forming a question of whether I was working properly in the things I perceive I'm to be working on, and I received an answer that-- to continue working on them. If they were wrong, that's okay; but if they were right, it was very, very important that they continue. It would be better that I be perceiving it wrongly and continue to work on it than if it was right to work on what I was doing better than not to do it at all.

TOMAS: One of the wonderful things about the adventure of the ascension career is that if and as it is right, it will continue to be right, and that rightness will become so strong as to allow the error of incorrect perception to fall away like autumn leaves or apple blossoms in the face of the living fruit.

Mrs. Ml: Tomas, you really are a true friend. I can't wait to read what you've just said. (Group laughter)

TOMAS: I am your friend, indeed, and we are becoming more aware of what that term means for our Great Friend, Michael, is our personal mentor, and we would learn to love one another as he loved us and as he loves us today.

Mrs. Ml: Is that why you sit up most of the nights with us? To give us lessons? Since most of us can't sleep half the night?

TOMAS: It is not my fault! You see, I understand the emotional qualities of guilt and shame also, but as I indicated in an earlier session, your potential is greatest when you are not resisting the noise and energy of your external environment, and if this occurs at night, it is no small wonder your mind soars. S-o-a-r-s! (Group chuckle) This can also be done in the morning, "while the dew is still on the roses" which also is a quiet time, but if you were to suddenly find yourself getting up at 4:00 in the morning to mull over your mind's eye about things, that is not my fault either!

Where and as you allow yourself those musings and reflections which will garner understanding and lead to wisdom, is you r personal spiritual experience, which is fostered by Michael and His Father's ascension . Our Father's ascension plan. So I am your friend, but I am not responsible for your nocturnal musings. (Group chuckle)

Mrs. Ml: I thought you were there because I was getting the same lesson you were talking about today.

TOMAS: I will confess that, as I am mindful of your nightlights burning, I might stop by for "a cup of caffeine-free tea" (Group chuckle) but I will not stay long.

Mrs. Ml: You're welcome. At any time. 

TOMAS: Thank you, daughter and friend.

Mrs. M: Tomas, I just have to ask you if you have any reaction to our beautiful painting. 

TOMAS: I have reacted to it in a way, which is to say I stopped in on occasion during its development, but as for modern art in your realms, I withhold my opinion for, one, I am biased -- I like everything. And two, my own personal preference runs more toward what I might find on the fifth or sixth mansion world and so that would mean little to you, but I am very happy to see this young one being productive and tapping into her confidences as a creative being, as indeed an artist, for are we not all artists in our own way? And as we are opened to the guidance and illumination of the Creative Parent, our avenues of expression are all artistic outpourings of one sort or another in service, in truth, beauty and goodness. I appreciate mechanics and cooks, also. (Group laughter)

Mrs. P: We have an artist who bakes cakes!

Mrs. M: My thinking about this character thing goes on. I was wondering if it would be beneficial for us to sit around and some time or another sort of talk about evidences of great character that we've encountered personally. For instance, I was talking about a movie that, for- a change, had something about a wonderful display of character in which the woman declined to lake advantage of a situation in order to be faithful to a promise, and that was in "Of Sense and Sensibility." That movie particularly had that. I was wondering if we could-- I would like to talk about character in the group and see if we could come up with ways that we personally thought we could improve our characters.

Mrs. H: That's a hard one.

TOMAS: I would very much like to see your social intercourse advance to a new plateau. Your desire for expression of values and personal growth concepts is remarkably in keeping with the inclinations of the Morontia Companions. I would and they would and many of us would very much appreciate and indeed work to foster higher, more well developed, gracious, in-depth methods of comporting one's personality in a social situation, social setting, which brings forth discourse regarding these values, without judgment, which could then encourage and inspire and foster the development of these qualities in yourself, in one another, and as a working group.

This group has its own unique potential in terms of outreach. The graciousness prominent in this geographic area, that is to say you here, are good candidates for inculcating individuals because of your many facets of social fragrance, and if and as that were and is complimented by and conforming to the qualities of character such as are evidenced in the personality of Christ Michael, your circle here is guaranteed to draw and retain and empower tremendous growth.

Mrs. M: Tomas, I'm going to Florida for six weeks. Would you come and visit me there? (Group laughter) And my daughter is going to visit me for three weeks and I wish that somehow you could reach her. I'm sure that deep within herself she loves Jesus and Our Father. 

TOMAS: Yon know she does.

Mrs. M: I want her to start to admit to it. 

TOMAS: No pressure, now.

Mrs. M: No. None.

TOMAS: I promise to look in on you and on her and I remind you that there is a bevy of powerful teachers in Florida and I will remind you once again that your own personal teachers will be in attendance with you also and so you are not alone.

Mrs. M: Thank you, Tomas.

Mrs. H: Tomas, a new helper came for Karen, Gerdean, who's artistically bent. Do you have any words to bring through about this colorful character that we are now learning about? Personality?

TOMAS: Only to say that he is indeed colorful, and is quite cultured, and has tremendous character. There are those who indeed feel that he is a character, and no doubt it is because of his natural affinity for the character of Gerdean that they will make a dazzling duo, but I reserve my assessment of Bernie as he is called, for I reserve my assessment of the many in the unseen realms, for you yourselves are aware that we're all wonderful (group chuckle) and, for the most part, we think you are all wonderful, and so what shall we do now? Shall we dance? (Group laughter) Indeed, we shall.

Mrs. M: Good!

TOMAS: I now will take my leave and allow you all to go your various ways in faith and in joy. I will set upon you once again the assignment to recognize where your roots are, your attachment to your reality base, much as your Thought Adjuster is attached to you; that as the winds of change and emotional turbulence come your way, you are fastened securely to that Foundation. 

Go in peace. Farewell.




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