[tmtranscripts] 01-19-96.PGH Lesson on Acceptance

[Gerdean]

DATE: January 13, 1996
LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
T/R: Gerdean

TEACHER: TOMAS
TOPIC: ACCEPTANCE 

Q&A: What is Metaphysics?
How to Attain Stillness


TOMAS: Good afternoon, my friends, faithful followers of truth and light. I am Tomas, your teacher. I greet you today on behalf of the celestial hosts who hover in anticipation of your continued growth and understanding of spiritual concepts and, indeed, religious experience in your lives and in the lives of those whom you touch and with whom you associate.

Many things come to mind in this moment of greeting and I will follow through with one initial thought which might help to focus the minds of all present, that being the concept I like to discuss about the symphony, and surely your group here s a sterling example of the symphony, which is in the process of warming up prior to its production. And as you well know, the individual instruments, in fine-tuning themselves, create a raucous and inharmonious noise in preparation for the disciplined strains of music that will eventuate in their working together.

How we enjoy and appreciate you, the instruments, who have shown up and who take your musical devices in hand in full awareness of your contribution to the orchestra. In considering yourselves each as part of the orchestra, I call to your attention the full range of instruments, from the delicate and lively piccolo to the clashing cymbals to the blaring trumpets to the slide trombone to the drums and the scores of strings which resonate their tones throughout. 

Each of you, dear students, is its own instrument. Each of you has your own particular sound; each of you is valuable in the overall performance.

Today I would like to spend some time discussing acceptance, for in your upcoming symphony, the piccolo must accept that it is a piccolo -- not a trumpet, not a drum. And, by the same token, the cymbal knows that its contribution is pinnacle, but too much cymbal would drown out the rest of the show.

And so each personality brings with it its own unique facets and each instrument is, indeed, important to the production, but only as they are played in league and in alignment with the Master Conductor is the music telling, does it rise and fall with purpose, and affect the hearers with soul-satisfaction. 

The personality of the mortal individual in search of serenity and purpose must first accept itself with its many aspects and relative drawbacks. You, individually, must take a look at yourself and accept yourself as you are. In pretending to be other than what you are, you are not giving full tone to your own instrument. In denying your delicacy or your strength, you are, again, trying to be an instrument that you are not. 

The phrase "to thine own self be true" has some bearing here but is limited, for it is not that you are being true only to yourself but you are essentially aspiring to be true to that which, within you, peals the harmony and truth of the Divine Coordinator of your life and the music thereof.

Also, and here also is a challenge, it is necessary for each of you to accept the other instruments in the orchestra. Because you are a cello and have great breadth and resonance is no reason to look with disdain upon the xylophone. The xylophone has a tinkling sound which might appear hollow and shallow to the resonant depths of the cello, but the xylophone has its own purpose indeed.

I would speak also of acceptance in terms of your life experience. In accepting your life as it is, this moment, today, you are able then to approach your challenges, your problems and your refreshments of life with equanimity. You are able to put in perspective the situation as it is and not be burdened by how you wish it were or how it ought to be. Acceptance of yourself and your circumstances gives you the perspective, then, to ask in prayer and meditation how things might go from here toward improvement, toward a more perfect resolution or configuration.

As you begin to accept your circumstances you will begin to understand that other people, other instruments, also need to accept where they are and that they, too, have the potential and constraints which you have. In this way you can begin to appreciate and understand that instrument across the room which sounds so different from you.

In the hands, under the guidance of the Master Conductor, this symphony of life becomes a harmonious outpouring of all these differences. And this is possible because you have learned to accept one another. It is not necessary that you all be the same, for you have all been created with your own unique endowments. Perhaps another word for acceptance in this context is respect.

If you respect your own work, your own identification, your own sense of timing in response to the Master Conductor, then you will see that the instruments on the other side of the hall also are responding to the Conductor as they have learned how. Respect is born of respect for your indwelling reality. As you would be treated, so too should you treat one another. The lesson on respect is, however, another lesson, which I will take up at some other point. Today I am discussing acceptance.

Another facet of acceptance is the condition of your world, and many individuals become distraught and discouraged by refusing to accept the condition on Urantia as they find it. They argue incessantly with the government, with the mores, with foreign shores, with cultural differences, and find much of life totally unacceptable. This does not foster understanding and solution.

Those things, which you cannot control, you must accept. Uh-oh. Did I say that? (Group chuckle) For now we are wrestling with that rascal "control" and that truly is another subject, but for the sake of acceptance, let us take control back to the symphony. And would the piccolo indeed try to control the drum? And would the trumpet try to control the harp? Rather, the entire control is under the guidance and jurisdiction of the Master Conductor.

Otherwise, how could we make music? And so, "control" as I used it is in that capacity, for you cannot cure the hunger problem of the world, you cannot heal the rift between the Arabs and the Jews or the Scots and the Irish, but you can help to heal your own sense of well-being and self-respect by learning what is your instrument and learning how to play it perfectly.

I also would like to offer you praise today for the courage and stamina to present yourself in this way for this influence. It is not just my pleasure to welcome you here to this format, although it is certainly a privilege for me, Tomas, to be here. I could not be here were it not for you and I respect your individual sounds and hope to assist our Conductor in tuning your instruments, fine-tuning the sections, that we will make such a congealed and harmonious song as will praise heaven and stimulate earth.

It is not such a big order as you might suspect, for already the instruments are tuned up and only await the guidance of the Conductor to begin and we have begun. We are indeed well into the preliminaries and I, myself, am beginning to hear the melody of you together, and so I ask you to ponder acceptance. Acceptance of yourself with your own strengths and liabilities.

I accept you and I gladly work with that which I find. If I did not accept you with your pros and cons, how could we begin to establish rapport. This is also the case as you learn to accept one another. This is how we will forge through the differences to find that chord of solidarity among us, that which connects us --the Spirit, and our destiny as individual spirits, and as a community of spirits working together toward the whole.

I am finished with my lesson today. Accept it in your heart and ponder as you deem it desirable. I am eager now to accept your words and questions.

Mrs. Ml: Tomas, may I say your lesson today was so beautifully put. It was exquisite, -- very beautiful notes.

Mrs. M: Tomas, I would like to ask a question based on our study today. I thought you might discuss nature as we experience it in this evolutionary, lowest of worlds, and what the problem is when we are falling into pantheism; and I also was going to ask you to define the Book's words on metaphysics from your point of view. (Group laughter)

TOMAS: Such a raucous bunch! (More laughter) Indeed, I will confess to you that I have compared this group to a field of wild flowers, raucous in its growing, and this leads naturally into a response regarding nature, and I perforce must address nature from the eyes of mortality or temporally, that you may appreciate my response as I would not want to overlook the actual reality of your nature as you find it here on Urantia.

This beauteous creation is a gift of Michael, the Creator Son. It is a gift to you as is your physical existence here. And I would suggest that as you, the human being, play in nature and appreciate its wonders, on the other end of the spectrum is your Indwelling Spirit, your budding morontia soul, left to play in the Evolving Supreme, for the wonders of your physical nature are indeed your playground and to be appreciated for the manger that it is to you in your earth birth.

The exquisite representation of creation, the veins in the leaves of the trees, the rotting logs with their pungent colors and aromas, the chirping of birds in the branches, the babbling of brooks, the sun filtering through the leaves to dance on the grasses and purple violets, all are gifts to you and representative of the beauty inherent in our Creator . . . beauty created, indeed, for your appreciation and in its pristine, unencumbered state provides that solemnity and tranquillity which affords the soul an abundant nest in which to seek harmony with the Infinite Creator of all.

Enjoy your environs of Urantia while you are here, for never again in your career will you be able to enjoy quite the thrill of falling into the snow or into a pile of leaves or into a stack of hay. Never again will you smell quite the same things as brewing coffee or baking bread. Although your Creator has provided many arenas of wondrous beauty, beauty beyond your comprehension today, in today accept your place as a mortal being on your material realm.

Respect your natal birthplace. Honor the environs of earth. It will not accompany you to the mansion worlds. And do not discard it, either. Do not "trash out" your sacred sphere. Thus I pay homage to your environment, your natal planet, this planet 606, Urantia, as a world unique in and of itself in the mighty symphony of planets in this superuniverse. All, you see, is under the Master Conductor. All is music as it responds to the leading of divinity, be it spiritual or morontial or physical.

You asked about metaphysics as it is conveyed, portrayed, described through the text. Metaphysics in this context is that realm of energy and mystery which has a profound effect on the psyche and soul of the evolving mortal. It is instrumental in strumming the chords of spirit into awakening. Metaphysics is regarded as a reflection of the light but not the light itself. It is not a shadow; it is just not the pure light, but a reflected light. It is not darkness by any means.

Metaphysics has played a vital role in enabling evolving mankind to reach beyond the mere physical planes toward spirit reality. Metaphysics, thus, has been a significant stepping stone in the evolutionary religious experience of many and has been quite activated of late since the spiritual circuits are open. And metaphysics has played a vital role, has been a viable platform and remains valid scaffolding en route to the illumination of spirit and true revelation.

Indeed, much auto-revelation is metaphysical in nature and has been supremely contributory, and yet metaphysics is not spirituality itself. It is a forerunner of divine truth. Have we other questions today?

Loreenia: Tomas, you mentioned planet 606, earth, Urantia, and I have done a lot of reading and study on the study of the photon belt. Could you comment on this phenomenon, if there is such a thing, and if planets travel through this photon belt, if that is what is happening?

TOMAS: My friend, I am sorry. I cannot respond. I cannot respond initially because this transmitter/receiver has frozen her availability in-as-much as science is not her forte and she completely "freaked out" at the concept of photons which is totally foreign to her. I am therefore constrained in my response since she will not allow my words to come through, even if I were inclined to elaborate on photons which I am not for it is a phenomenon of the, shall we say, galactic composition and not necessarily related to your personal spiritual growth which is my purpose in being here.

Loreenia: Thank you.

Mrs. McD: Is that a common problem among T/R's, that they will clamp down on something that they perceive that they don't know? Have others talked about that?

TOMAS: I realize that this, too, is a curiosity question but perhaps one a little more closely related to your spiritual growth in-as-much as the viability of the transmitter/receiver has much to do with your acceptance of various teachers' words and teachings. Let me say that the free will of the transmitter/receiver is and remains sacrosanct. I cannot say anything that would violate the belief system of the transmitter/receiver for in-as-much as they remain aware of what transpires, they are in their right to refuse to transmit anything that they cannot accept for themselves.

It is the case of some transmitter/receivers that they are less aware of the teacher's process than this one. This one opts to remain cognizant, and some are less cognizant -- more "blind faith" if you will, more "by the seat of their pants". There are always and forever certain colorations that will emanate from the transmitter/receiver because we are using their language center.

Also be aware that many transmitter/receivers are open to words and concepts and also visualizations and energy manifestations. It contributes to my being a pedantic teacher but it also contributes to my being able to be somewhat effective in that this transmitter /receiver is rather focused on what concept I want to convey and is not distracted by the visualizations and energy patterns which are also available and highly alluring.

Be advised as well, my students, that it is necessary for you always to interpret through your own Spirit of Truth those words which emanate out of the mouths of transmitter/receivers, for many times those emanations are commingled with uprisings from the imagination, the creative play, and, indeed, the fears and subconscious realms as well.

Our hope and goal is to stimulate your mind arena wherein you make those choices to become more Godlike.

Mrs. McD: Are there certain teachers' transmitters who know about more about that information than the teachers of this group?

TOMAS: The band of transmitter/receivers are very much like that orchestra we mentioned earlier, and they make different noises, and in the overall, they are creating a sound of praise and awakening for humanity. I am not the one to limit your acceptances of truth, beauty and goodness. This is for you to determine. Any more than I can look at you, my students, here and say, "This individual here has more truth, therefore more worth than this one, and so I shall love them better and attend more conscientiously to their soul needs." That is not my place.

I am responsible to you in-as-much as I have been assigned to this lovely Teacher Base. All the teachers which you have had in the past have contributed to strumming your spiritual chord as I hope also to do, and in due course, other teachers -- be they through this format or myriad other possibilities -- our intent is to continue growing, expanding, accepting, perfecting and serving throughout eternity.

Loreenia: This also interests me and I would like to be able to focus a little bit more on those teachers sometimes as well as ... I would like to know where to look in order to find this kind of information.

TOMAS: What type of information is it that you would like to find?

Loreenia: Photon belt and things of that nature, because I have read the book and I'd like to know what's happening in the present with that kind of thing.

TOMAS: There is an assignment for you to find that mortal T/R who has within its brain framework an understanding and appreciation of this more scientific facet of truth seeking that can respond to this inquiry, for surely there are those who are, in your vernacular, more right brain than left brain.

Loreenia: I thought you'd have an inside track on the knowledge of who has that information, of all the teachers.

TOMAS: There is also a teacher in Arizona who might accommodate you but what you discover through your own investigations are your own accomplishments. I am not inclined to be an agent for the teachers. (Group laughter) 

Mrs. Ml: Good for you.

Mrs. M: Tomas, I wanted to ask a question about the stillness because Gerdean was kind enough to give me a few words of description as to how she creates a very meaningful moment of stillness for herself and I was hoping that you might make some suggestions to us because we're all now trying to be in the Stillness, I think more perhaps than we had been previously. Would you comment on that, please?

TOMAS: Thank you for your question. Yes. Perhaps in response to this question I could lead you all into Stillness as I discourse. If you are amenable I will make that attempt and "walk you through" for this truly is key in your development of your personal spiritual experience and it is something which will ground you as you rise.

Let me begin by suggesting that you first find an environment and a time of day which does not distract from your sense of security and privacy. It is not optimum to have the phone ringing, to have sirens blaring outdoors, to have children squabbling next door, but rather to find a time of day, often early in the morning or in the evening after social time, in order to find that place in your material, mental and spiritual realm where you will be undisturbed.

Once you have found this place -- and you may imagine it now if you like -- first make certain you are physically comfortable. That is to say, you are not tugged upon or constrained by tight shoes, tight belts, and so forth, that you are not made aware of your body any more than is normal and necessary. If, therefore, you have a serious itch, it must be curtailed before you can effectively enter Stillness.

The first element of Stillness is to quiet your body. Many people go through an elaborate and enjoyable process of tightening and loosening muscles in a systematic approach to making certain all the body is in a state of relaxation. This is an approach effective for many but it is not permanently necessary. Like any good habit, you can become adept at attaining Stillness quicker and therefore gain most benefit in a short period of time by encapsulating the experience through practice.

Now that you have gotten your body comfortable -- and I also suggest that it is possible to do Stillness while lying down, but the tendency is to become relaxed and fall asleep. Therefore, I would suggest that you sit upright in a comfortable position, for it requires alertness in a subtle place in your mind, that you be comfortable and relaxed on one hand yet alert and anticipatory on the other -- now that the body is at ease, you come into the realm of the mind which next must be stilled.

This is the difficult part for many, for the mind is incessantly active and, to remind you again, the animal mind rebels against being weaned from its natural propensity to run rampant and control the mortal being; therefore, in order to put your mind at rest, it is a true discipline which does take time but is eminently possible. Many techniques have been used. One is to venture through the chakras to the third eye and focus on the third eye. Some have used the technique of a burning candle to focus all the energy on this one object of illumination. Some have asked the mind of Christ to come in and quiet all the other aspects of mind which clamor for attention.

Whatever device you choose, you will soon find that as your mind becomes still, you will find yourself in a place that could be considered a void, a dark place, perhaps frightening at first for it is at once confining and also immense. This realm, this lotus blossom area, is above the mind. It is now venturing into the morontia spheres. From this place, if you entered your meditations with a prayer, you may then sit in anticipation of response to your prayer. This T/R uses this time and space to feel the presence of the Father -- the physical, spiritual, psychic, cosmic connection with divinity --and it may or may not be personalized.

As you begin to feel this energy and spirit identification, you begin to feel bathed and warmed by its very real presence. You forget that you have shopping to do, you forget that the socks need darned and you forget that your foot itches, for all things have fallen away in the comfort and indeed sublime bliss of being in this love presence. It is now no longer a struggle to attain this place of Stillness for you have found, in here, complete and total acceptance. Peace. Potential. And love.

In this space, if you stay in this Stillness space for a while, you will discover that your mind is still operating, but it is a different mind. It is no longer the mind of the mortal. It is the mind of the Third Source and Center, if you will, that is conspiring to merge your higher thought processes with spirit reality and you are now beginning to function in the morontia realms of existence, for although your material body is still present in your chair, in your room, on your deck or wherever, you have been released from the constant clamoring of the body and the emotions and the ego mind to soar among the truths, beauties and goodnesses of infinity, from whence you came and from whence you will return.

>From this place you have then the peace and courage to return to your life's work here in the flesh with renewed resolve and renewed vigor to approach your life as it is and from the perspective of relative divinity.

The importance of Stillness could be conveyed thus: why should I spend time in this abstract state when I could walk in nature and experience the marvelous cathedral of God's handiwork surrounding me, where I would feel most inclined toward praise, thanksgiving and even metaphysical reflections toward worship? And I would suggest that if you were in love and betrothed, would you prefer to talk to your beloved on the telephone, or would you prefer to be in their presence? And it is that subtle yet vital difference that stillness provides.

(Group murmuring) Let me take you one step further. 

>From Stillness, from this place of relative purity and tranquillity, if you indeed have left your ego behind and are basking in the light of love and seeking to be of service, it is possible from here to tap into your teachers. This, too, is not necessary, for the relationship between you and your God, your Indwelling Spirit and the Eternal Father, is primary, but to assist you, entertain you, accompany you, help you, etc, it is possible to contact the teachers who avail themselves from this sphere. 

They operate, by and large, from your language center and I suggest if this is something you would desire, then avail yourself in your deep mind and anticipate that they will contact you. You must not contrive to make this up, but rather allow it to happen. 

You may see the impression of a word. If you see this word, speak it aloud and, sure enough, another word will follow close on its heels. Speak that word also, and on, until you discover that your teacher has in fact accessed your circuit. You have accessed the circuit which enables teacher contact. In time and with practice you all can be chatting away with various teachers and it is, in fact, encouraged that you access your personal teachers for companionship and guidance in your more personal realms of growth.

It has been discovered that working with the personal teachers will help you work through some of your own correction, some of the more glaring twists of fate. The maladjustments from this mortal life, which leave scars and fear of a deep nature, are lovingly addressed and made whole through the ministrations of an intimate teacher who will be with you as you lance those wounds in order to heal those slings and arrows of your mortal existence.

Many, many wonders are available to you in your mind, in conjunction with Infinite Spirit. It is only dangerous - and I use that in a relative sense -- when it is your mind alone which is entertaining you and not the mind which is abridged and embraced by spirit, and this sublime experience can be had through prayer and meditation in Stillness.

In entering Stillness, you are entering into communication with God, your Father, your Creator, your piece of divinity, which has set you in motion. It is only short-changing yourself, then, to neglect this time alone with God. It is not required, yet it is infinitely desirable.

(Long period of group Stillness) I feel as if I were a hypnotist and I should snap my finger now and say, "Hello, everyone. Welcome back to your mortal state of being!" 

And so now that we are all back in the framework of time and space as it is known on Urantia, let us approach the week through accepting where it is that we are: in time, in space, in relative perfection, in varying degrees of warming up, and in acceptance of our self and consequently one another.

In eager anticipation of our next gathering, I reluctantly leave you. I "reluctantly" leave you because this focused place of communion in the more spiritual realms of your life is happiness indeed to me and indeed to you, and this glowing, swelling blossom of happiness is a reluctancy to depart from. None-the-less I have faith in you, that you will carry yourself through to our next encounter.



Mrs. M: Thank you, Tomas.

Mrs. Ml: It's so wonderful that you want to be with us. Is it all right to say we love you? 

TOMAS: Indeed, and I also love you, and as I indicated, I am in complete acceptance of you, and this is perhaps the key word here for I see you all in the making and even with all that you present and misrepresent, I accept you lovingly as aspiring immortal souls. You are most welcome, my daughter, and I also thank you and love you infinitely.

Mrs. L: Tomas, before you leave I have a question on a personal note. What is your relationship with the Teacher Nero who speaks through my daughter Alison?

TOMAS: I had some training with Nero prior to being transported here and I have enjoyed him as an associate for his humor and lightness of heart, indeed, his incredible lightness of being, and yet we have not had the privilege and experience yet of working in tandem or in immediate association. I am looking forward to working with other teachers in this area, but I will not presume to speak for them, for their ministering mortals are also eager to experience further transmission of teachers.

It is an abundant field of wild flowers, indeed, in the material and in the spiritual realms, and as we work together for the next millennia or so, we will create more and more orchestrations of the physical and spiritual kind which will cause the Master Conductor to be pleased with our outpouring.

Mrs. L: He sends his regards to you. 

TOMAS: And I to he. I have been watching.

Blessed group, take now the food from this table of plenty and nurture it in your souls, in your hearts and in your guts for your sustenance throughout the many days ahead. Good afternoon.

Group: Good afternoon, Tomas.
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