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<DIV><B>
<P>DATE:</B> May 9, 1996<BR><B>LOCATION:</B> Pittsburgh, PA, USA<BR><B>T/R:</B>
Gerdean</P><B>
<P>TEXTUAL STUDY:</B> Paper 20<BR>The Paradise Sons of God</P>
<OL>
<LI>The Descending Sons of God</LI>
<LI>The Magisterial Sons</LI>
<LI>Judicial Actions</LI>
<LI>Magisterial Missions</LI>
<LI>Bestowal of the Paradise Sons of God</LI></OL><B>
<P>TEACHER SESSION</P>
<P>Authority of Free Will</P>
<P>TOMAS:</B> I am Tomas, your teacher, guide, companion and friend and it gives
me great pleasure to once again be in your midst. It affords us all an
opportunity to behold your evolving natures and your configuration of
personalities as you individually strive for personality attainment,
self-mastery and congenial expression of your heart's delights.</P>
<P>I am going to say at the outset that I appreciate the ministrations of your
coordinator here, our hostess, who has developed a fine-tuned gift for
coordinating your myriad differences in interest, time and priorities in the
general interest of her devotion to Michael and His work on Urantia. We all owe
her a great round of applause and vote of confidence that she, like Van, has
been able to carry on in the face of isolation and adversity to the great gain
of all here in attendance.</P>
<P>And in deference to her guidance earlier, I will now ask that we devote our
customary time to stillness and prayer, that your souls may be properly aerated,
that the seeds of truth, beauty and goodness which may prevail will fall on
fertile soil -- ready, eager and willing to receive those orts of teacher wisdom
which will help to bring us together in the spirit. I will recess while we
venture now into stillness.</P>
<P align=center>* * *</P>
<P>... and the angels sing.</P><I>
<P>Perfect and righteous Heavenly Father, we come to you in humble obedience to
your word and your will this day. We seek your guidance and your blessing on our
growing understanding of your nature and your purpose. We come together as your
children in supplication of your nurturance. We look to you for those guidelines
to know how to be effective. We look to you for the source of our happiness and
our contentment. We ask your compassion upon us as we err, as we struggle to
comprehend the vastness of your divine nature. Allow us, Heavenly Father,
through your infinite mercy, to lapse into smallness, to accept our humble orb
as our realm in the vast greatness of your domain. We trust that you are supreme
and we do your bidding. Even so, not our will but your will be done.</P></I>
<P>My friends, I am eager to share with you this evening about
<B>"authority".</P></B>
<P>I am glad that we have had this moment in time to share with our divine
nature that we may be reminded of the ultimate authority and the goodness which
comes from this font of life and love, for love, indeed, is the highest, most
compelling authority.</P>
<P>Your world, Urantia, has suffered from a default and a rebellion of the
authority of the Creator and the Creator's Creators. That misadministration has
cast its gray pall upon your realm and the authority prevalent on Urantia is a
false and ignoble authority indeed. The game seems to be that there are those
who find their way into positions of authority, and those over whom they wield
their influence are subjected to the authority reigned upon them. As such, most
mortals carry on a living existence of paying lip service to an authority for
which they have little regard, little respect and truly little authority. As
time goes by, as mankind evolves in a spiritual way, the authority of times past
will need to evolve also in order for more honesty to come into being.</P>
<P>The great fact is that you have the final authority over your own destiny. It
is you, through your free will, who make those decisions which will determine
what and who has authority over you and to what extent you will honor that power
which you invest in others. Everyone is "guilty" of this condition. Anyone can
tell you, if they are honest, to what they have given authority. Most of the
time it is unconscious, it is a way of life, it is a result of decisions made
long ago -- oftentimes by peer pressure or parental influence or other
traditional belief systems of social mores -- which lead you to believe that you
have no authority over the way you think, or the way you feel, or the way you
react to life and its circumstances.</P>
<P>And I say to you that this deserves a fresh look, for you give authority to
all that you are and all that you do by the doing and the being of it. As long
as you give your authority to others, you are not empowered with the authority
of your own integrity, your own appreciation for your relationship with the God,
which you have professed to be your highest authority. Think not that the great
God of us all is unaware of the games that are played; we say we give him
authority over our lives and then go on acting as we always have, as we have for
generations. You will notice I include myself in this discourse for I too am
"guilty" of carrying around with me much baggage from my evolutionary upward
trek.</P>
<P>It is a gratifying reminder of the mercy of God that we are given time in
which to make those adjustments that will give love the greatest authority, for
in allowing love to be your author, in allowing love to authorize you your
being, you are paying homage to the greatest authority, for God is love.</P>
<P>I would like to also state this evening that it is the authority of the
Mother which is what keeps you together, in your mind. As you grow from one
awareness to another, it is the Mother who holds your hand and holds you up when
you stagger and stumble in your transitions from one realm of reality to the
next; it is She who holds you together in your mind as it crumbles and dissolves
an old belief in the wake of the birth of the new and better belief. And so this
matter of authority reaches to the Eternal Parents. Not only to Michael and his
Consort, but to the Sources and Centers on Paradise, from whence this great
authority hails.</P>
<P>We do not honor our Father because he requires it. We do not respect our
Father because he has willed it. We do not obey our Father because he demands
it. We honor, respect and obey our Father because we love him, and choose to
please him, not out of fear of reprisal or punishment or alienation but out of a
deep desire to please Him … and Her … and to do Their perfect bidding in our
lives.</P>
<P>Much distortion of value has come from one being attempting to wield
authority over another, and the simple truth is that the effects of the
authority of love will garner eternal results. To put it in simple jargon: you
can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.</P>
<P>I have concluded my more formal lesson for this evening. I do want to
reiterate, particularly in view of the proximity to your Mother's Day holiday,
that Our Mother is the eternal partner of the Universal Father, that without one
there is not the other, and that although we often make reference to the Father
and take the Mother for granted with our words, it is not so in our hearts or in
our actualities, for all our thoughts and all our growth and all of our healing
is indissolubly linked to the Mother. </P>
<P>Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers in attendance -- from this humble
table, all the way to Paradise. And so I open this humble table to your
participation. </P><B>
<P>Mrs. M:</B> Speaking as a mother, thank you, Tomas.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. Ml: </B>The children are a blessing and a frustration rolled into
one.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Although I am not a mother, I have total sympathy and empathy with
your sentiments. I behold this raucous bunch of children of my own and
commiserate in the frustration, and yet I find such delight and amusement and
true heartfelt appreciation for your courageous struggles and essays at being
spiritually grown-up, my heart outpours upon you. I am certain we understand
each other in that parental configuration.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. L: </B>Well, Tomas, I so much wanted to tell you about an experience
that I have had. I'd like to handle it better. I'm always thinking about how
Jesus came and he knew so much and he didn't tell everybody all that he knew. He
didn't even change the way they did the Passover in his own home; he didn't
change it until he went to Bethany where Lazarus and Mary and Martha were. He
knew so much, and he didn't burden everybody around him with it. </P><B></B>
<P>I'm always trying to remember that because I am always driving myself a
little crazy by thinking how I know these beautiful things and I'm looking
around and I know that the church is great but it's having these horrible
misconceptions ... and I know that you're looking at me and I know that you're
aware of any horrible misconceptions that I have as an evolutionary creature,
but ... nevertheless I feel I waste a lot of time thinking about it. I don't
know if I'm wasting time or not. </P>
<P>I'm so happy that Ms. S is putting these beautiful concepts into poetry for
the children. Maybe she'll be able to get some of this across. I'm always
tempted to say something to some of my friends but I restrain myself, because I
have always found out it doesn't turn out well. I thought maybe you had some
comments about this problem. I think everybody around here has that problem! I
know Mr. L does.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. Ml:</B> I think we all do.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> You would like for me to comment.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. L:</B> I would. You're aware of this, and have probably gotten some
ideas about it.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> My only recommendation would be to plant one seed at a time. And
for you to take on the church is perhaps a large field (-- the north 40, in
fact!). It is not required that you revamp the traditions and customs of the
ways that are; they do well. They, even with their imperfections, are also
evolving and are guided by many angelic orders that protect their worth, their
value, their rich inheritance for those who opt to follow the beautiful,
although imperfect, religions of authority.</P>
<P>The antithesis are such poems, as you referenced, by our friend Ms. S, those
delightful poems/prayers which are simple and compatible to your pure and simple
minds, such as children of all ages. The key here is to find that simple soul
who is open to those truths that are not complicated by dogma and cosmology and
tenets and creeds and the like. The spirit crosses all barriers and the most
accessible/vulnerable are the children. As you yourself remain a child in your
heart, you too will continue to grow, for you will be open to those words and
seeds and concepts which will feed your growth bit by bit as you are able to
assimilate that nourishment into your growing being.</P>
<P>Those who have all the answers are not interested in your wisdom, so
graciously take your seeds to those fertile flowerbeds where you might have more
luck. That is all.</P><B>
<P>Group:</B> Thank you.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. M:</B> I have a question left over from last week. We talked about ...
does anybody remember?</P><B>
<P>Mrs. H:</B> "Intact?"</P><B>
<P>Mrs. M:</B> "Intact." Exactly. We weren't clear what that meant, if "intact"
meant a state of consciousness.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> We had, in an earlier session, discussed fusion and I did not want
to confuse the concept with fusion but rather, if you do not fuse and you make
the transition from this realm to the other realm, it would be better/easier for
you, perhaps, if you were to be aware of your transition; that is, if you were
aware of your ascension experience. It was a differentiation between being aware
of making that step as compared to fusion. Do you see my differentiation?</P><B>
<P>Mrs. M:</B> Yes. I thought it must be consciousness.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Yes. For if you fuse it is done in a blinking of an eye, but if
you are going through a process of dying, you can do that with your eyes open,
so to speak, and greet your next level of existence with open arms and open
heart, rather than fear or with your eyes closed to the experience.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. P:</B> Thank you.</P><B>
<P>Loreenia:</B> Tomas, I experienced something entirely different from what you
were talking about today. I experienced something I would like to share with you
and all the people at this table. This week -- I've seen on this planet many
times when people were injured or hurt and people just walked by and don't pay
attention, as if it's not going on. This week there was a young girl who passed
out on one of our lines which is extremely dangerous. And there's a signal that
goes off, in fact, where everybody knows that either somebody is caught in the
machinery or there is a fire. </P>
<P>Well, it went off this week at work, and I was standing where I could observe
the whole floor, and all the people from all the other machines ran to help this
individual, and I was very moved by it, especially later when I had opportunity
to observe in my mind how it happened. It's like the whole factory shut down to
come to her aid, which in previous times, I've seldom seen that. I thought it
was an extremely beautiful thing that happened.</P>
<P>She had just fainted; she wasn't caught in the machinery, but she could have
been caught in the machinery. I just wanted to share that with you and everybody
else. Everybody on the floor ran to help, and it wasn't ignored. That was very
beautiful.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Your interpretation of it is very beautiful.</P><B>
<P>Loreenia:</B> It shows to me that many things are happening on this planet
that previously had not happened.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. M:</B> Tomas, I wasn't here but I wondered if you had commented on that
news that we got about the Magisterial Son being on the planet. Did you have any
comments about that? I wasn't here.</P>
<P><B>TOMAS:</B> I did not make any comments, no. You missed nothing. </P>
<P><B>Mrs. M:</B> Do you have any comments to make about it? </P><B>
<P>Mrs. Ml:</B> We would like that knowledge, if it's allowed.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> One moment. (Long pause) </P><B>
<P>T/R:</B> I'm not getting anything.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. M:</B> It's not that important.</P>
<P><B>TOMAS:</B> I will withhold comment. It is by the authority of this human
vessel through whom I operate that I am not at liberty to discuss our
Magisterial Son. (We have discussed this before.)</P><B>
<P>Mrs. P:</B> Uh-huh.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. McD:</B> Gerdean, there are many people on the planet, hundreds of
thousands at least, that believe there is a real teacher at this time,
incarnated, in the flesh, and they call him the Maitreya, the teacher, and the
belief is that he will make a general appearance to the planet, by mass
communication, and they call it "the day of discovery," I think, and when he
makes this mass appearance, that all men will see him and will have to make a
judgment as to whether he is a true teacher or not, and I just wonder if you
know about this, how this world teacher called the Maitreya would fit into the
scheme of things with a Magisterial ... with what we were talking about
before.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> I will respond. I do not see the word Maitreya in Gerdean's mind
bank, and so she is unaware of this being. I will remark, however, that the
concept is valid in that in all contexts each individual must make that
determination as to the viability of any teacher. Indeed, is it not necessary
that each of you, for instance, must determine the viability of my own existence
with you, my role as a teacher?</P>
<P>Is it not also, going beyond that, required of you who think that you must
make determinations as to the viability, indeed, the authority of any teacher or
belief system or energy pattern? It is by your own authority that it is made
real. There could be, in fact has been, a Creator Son himself who visited your
world but few indeed recognized him when he came, and this will be the case on
Urantia when Michael returns. There will be many who will refuse to see him, to
acknowledge his authority as the supreme ruler of this universe.</P>
<P>It is often the case that the mass mind makes those decisions which become
acceptable for the throngs to follow. This is one of the responsibilities of
forerunners. It is going to influence the destiny of your world by what you
accept, by what you give authority to, by what you believe and then pass on by
your acquiescence or your acceptance.</P>
<P>The genuine truth is something that lies too deep for words. The true reality
is something you already know in your heart and no amount of political hubbub or
social swarming will alter your commitment to that which you know to be true for
you, even though myriad may be diametrically opposite your stance.</P>
<P>It is indeed dangerous to grasp even an important concept or leader or
teacher because everyone else is. This is part of the human condition of wanting
to belong, the need to find acceptance and, ultimately, the importance of having
a conviction that what you believe in is correct, is divinely authorized.</P>
<P>Only you can make this decision. Otherwise you have given yourself away to
yet another false authority, and you are only playing the game of giving
obeisance to that authority when you actually opt to let your own free will go
its merry way anyway.</P>
<P>I am sorry that I have not, perhaps, answered your question in the way that
you would have preferred. I do not know. Perhaps I answered it even more to your
satisfaction than you initially craved, but I have spoken my piece.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. M:</B> Well, this week we have Time Magazine and his Franklin on the
front cover, and he got a medal in Washington, and so I listened to him and,
again, I was in my miserable usual dilemma because he was talking about "you've
got to do these things if you want to go to heaven." That representation was on
a national level of our supposed faith and it is a disappointment to me. It is.
It just is.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. Ml:</B> It is.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. L:</B> What I could say to you about that is, whenever you are speaking
to the masses, whoever it is, you have to realize that who Billy Graham speaks
to, that doesn't mean that if you speak to him yourself you wouldn't get a
different -- at least that's what I find out in the Catholic church. That they
teach and then what they . . . when politically things are presented at a level
that isn't exactly correct and the same thing in religion when people are
talking to the masses.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. M:</B> I guess so.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> I would like to say that we are seeing the authority of fear. Many
individuals give fear highest authority, and without fear they have no
direction. They do not know how to be brave of heart and forge into those
unknown realms of faith that is the hallmark of others. Yes, there are sad
commentaries to tell regarding how it is that great religious leaders teach
undignified untruths. This has been the way since the beginning of ghost cults
on your planet, and do not spend overmuch time watching programming to that
effect for it only frustrates you. There is no way that you can fight City Hall
and the Pentagon and Vatican City and still have energy left over to read poems
and prayers to your grandchildren. Get your authority in order and your
priorities in order. I will also say that Time Magazine is one of the false
authorities which wields great power.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. M:</B> Yes. You know, I understand that those people who look for the
Maitreya actually think it is Jesus Christ.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. McD:</B> Yes, you know this all comes from Benjamin Creme and they say
Christians will view him as Christ, Jews will view him as the Messiah, Muslims
will view him as Mohammed, Buddhists will view him as Buddha. Everyone will see
him as their "savior" -- whatever they're looking for when he appears. It's
supposed to be a mass communication, around the world, and when he appears and
speaks his peace, the teaching is that anyone who sees him will instantly
recognize him as the one they have waited for.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. L:</B> But isn't that the Michael they talk about in the Urantia
Book?</P><B>
<P>Mrs. McD:</B> That is why I was asking Tomas. Was there a connection? Could
this person be? But he's supposed to be in the flesh; he's supposed to have been
on the planet for some time, and he is simply waiting for the time to be right
to make his appearance worldwide. In the meantime, so the teaching goes, he has
appeared to small groups. What I mean by small … 300, 400, 500 people … all
around the planet. He's appeared to fundamental Christians, fundamental
Muslim's, he's appeared to people on every continent. He's appeared in the
United States because he's appeared in Virginia, in</P>
<P>Texas, and this is his teaching that many, many people are teaching and
following and I don't know if there's any validity to it or not or whether it is
a product of this Benjamin Creme's mind. Whether there's truth or isn't
truth.</P>
<P>I will tell one thing, that the tradition that this is in, is it would be the
White Brotherhood, the hierarchy, Alice Bailey, Madame Blavatsky, the people
that follow that tradition is how its coming through, and its being disseminated
on our own planet, so I know people who are totally into this and I'm never sure
if it's the man that's channeling this, if it's his aberration, or if it's
really valid. And, Tomas, I thought you might have some knowledge of it.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Let me speak with authority. It is a great curiosity, a great
diversion, a great lure, and a great anticipation of all mortals to look for a
hero, someone who will cure the ills under which you suffer. There was a time,
not long ago, when there were some who were that excited about us teachers who
were going to change the world. There are also reports and rumors of a
Melchizedek appearance which we eagerly anticipate, as do you, and yet, in
keeping with some of the more stable minds of the times, it is only speculation
to ponder the arrival, the appearance, the itinerary, the retinue, etc., of any
visitor.</P>
<P>The Urantia Book is our most recent material visitor, and you see it is not
in human form. It is in the form, like the Course in Miracles, which enables you
to sit in stillness and ponder and read and weigh and experience through the
authority of your own mind, in conjunction with your own indwelling God
fragment, those truths which will carry you from today into tomorrow, which
will, in the course of application of its principles, change the planet Urantia
from a dark sphere to a planet settled in light and life, and so the ultimate
authority, again, returns to you.</P>
<P>It is how you live your life, as if each individual you met were an
Ambassador of the heavenly Kingdom. Each individual, with their own authority,
is a pronouncement to you for you to make your determination as to whether they
are part of the solution or part of the problem. The true test of your truth and
your faith is in your heart, not in your mind, and so even if you were to see a
being -- unless you were to spend some time, or unless your Thought Adjuster
gave you such a responsive thrill that it left little doubt -- all of these are
external manifestations of potential reality, both good and evil.</P>
<P>You are your own authority. It is you who must determine your actions, your
faith, your belief, your devotion, your commitment to your God on a moment to
moment basis. It is your authority, dear, and only yours that counts.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. McD:</B> I wasn't thinking of this appearance in relation to myself so
much because I know what I know, but he's supposed to awaken the masses. The
masses are supposed to be awakened ...</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Indeed!</P><B>
<P>Mrs. McD:</B> ... by this appearance.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> By you, in fact. By each of you here. We all have that authority
to manifest our Loving Parent in our lives so as to positively impact on Urantia
those truths, beauties and goodnesses which Michael brought and personified when
he lived here.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. McD:</B> This is true, but our influence doesn't cover the whole sphere
of the globe. The unusual thing about this appearance was that he was to be
visible by every soul on the planet.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. H:</B> May I? Remember, we have other dimensions out there, and where we
resonate -- kind of where we are, we can't really understand -- we're just one
of many, many, many groups involved in the preparation.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. McD:</B> Well, I -- one of the reasons we're so bedazzled by this and
tempted by this, is that now we know we can watch a tennis game and everybody in
the world is watching it, and they taught us that! They say, okay, ... they give
us numbers in the millions of people who are watching and, of course, as people
say we are, we can't help but think, "If one of our beings could just get on
television ..."</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> [Four students all talking at once.] Excuse me. In the interest of
the transcriber, it is very hard to transcribe three or four voices at once.</P>
<P><B>Mrs. H:</B> You've got the floor.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. McD:</B> I forgot what I was talking about. (Group laughter)</P><B>
<P>Mrs. L:</B> The way I understand it, we are all of One Mind, so when one of
us changes our mind about what authority is, or beyond authority, it affects the
whole world.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. McD: </B>That's true. The Whole Mind affects everybody, but it's at an
unconscious level. What this experience was to do was to bring it to the
conscious level of mind.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. H:</B> Television brought that about.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. McD:</B> Well, it's a confrontation between each soul in this
message.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. M:</B> External things never change internal....</P><B>
<P>Mrs. McD:</B> Except that this message was supposed to have made each
man....</P><B>
<P>Mrs. C:</B> You know the Course in Miracles. You know the aspirin doesn't
cure the headache.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. McD:</B> Yeah, I know. But this man …</P><B>
<P>Mrs. C:</B> It's the belief in the aspirin that cures it.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. McD:</B> ... was to awaken the consciousness of mankind and what a lot
of people know on a deep unconscious level hasn't surfaced yet, but this event
is supposed to have this … </P><B>
<P>Mrs. C:</B> The event will occur when the mind gets there instead of the
other way around.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. McD:</B> But we are a global village, now, and what goes on, the whole
world can see it. That might -- just from the perspective of a divine being, a
divine teacher -- that might have been slowly evolved because it's going to be
used in this way, too. That's a possibility. That's the way communications have
evolved, is for a purpose and it is -- we are all one group now, most
definitely.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. M:</B> It's my opinion that it's the other way around. When the internal
consciousness reaches that point, then it will manifest in the external.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. Ml:</B> The Son of God is calling forth consciously and I believe now we
are the tennis match, and the universe is watching us.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> It is my personal opinion (Tomas speaking) that we are to create
an environment which is more suitable to a king instead of waiting for him to
fix it for us.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. McD:</B> To go back to what you were saying, when Christ Michael
bestowed ... here on the earth, when did he do it? At the time of the Roman
Empire, when communication, caravans, commerce, everything. It was the best
time. And here again we have a time where we have total new methods of
communication, like satellites, for mass communication. Now is the time to do
it.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. M:</B> Why can't it all be correct? Everything we are saying. United in
united input?</P><B>
<P>Mrs. Ml: </B>Because I have followed this a little bit from Mrs. McD, and
right here, tonight, I got the distinction that no, that is what, you know,
we're always looking for this outer thing, and of course we always wish for
this, that somebody is going to come out and present it. And it's really what
Tomas told us. It's so difficult for us to realize that ... it's much more
subtle. It's the moment-to-moment thing. And this other thing, as of right now,
I'd just dismiss it. I'm thinking, oh no! It's so subtle, we just don't want to
accept it. We want it to be some dramatic, you know, appearance or something,
and when you see the life of Christ, it's not that way at all.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. P:</B> You know, I was reading the statistics and something like 80% of
the people in this country believe in God, 72% of the people in this country
believe that they had prayers answered. This is powerful!</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> What they are looking for is people who will stand up for what
they believe in without the trappings of fear and false authority. To stand in
the light of the Son and have love as your witness. To be gracious,
compassionate, kind, merciful, far-reaching, all embracing, non-judgmental, all
those assets of character which we have far to discuss.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. L:</B> I just think of Mother Theresa. She is the only universal symbol
that I can think of that is like that.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Truly.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. C:</B> And exists right now on the planet.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. L:</B> But she doesn't seek the recognition. I'm sure there are many
souls like her, but she is the one who is known.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. H:</B> And that Ching Hai that I talk about.</P><B>
<P>Mrs. L:</B> But Mother Theresa, having won the Nobel Peace Prize, is the one
who is highly acclaimed.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> You will notice that she has been sanctioned again by your
material authorities. What gives her <I>true </I>authority is her devotion and
her selflessness. She is not in it for recognition, but for true service. She is
presented as a saint and this makes it difficult for people to see her true
godlikeness, which is that she forgets herself in the interest of helping
others.</P>
<P>It is very difficult in this day and age of the media and Time Magazine and
Internet and so forth, to forget the self. Very difficult, indeed, for the self
has a history of clamoring for attention.</P>
<P>When you are in the embrace of the Eternal Parents, when your existence is
not only authorized by them but is embraced, accepted, validated, consecrated,
sent out to play in harmony, you may do this with self-forgetfulness for you are
secure. When you are secure in your place in the universe, it doesn't matter if
you are memorialized in the eyes of mortality or not. This is hard work. This is
attaining God-consciousness -- constantly to be turning aside that which calls
attention to yourself to the greater glory of calling attention to that which is
the destiny of us all.</P>
<P>I could go on and give an entire lesson on this but I will not for the hour
grows late. I will afford us another moment or two but then we must conclude for
the day. Are there any further discourses awaiting our attention?</P><B>
<P>Mrs. M:</B> Thank you very much, Tomas.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> My humble pupils, you feed my heart. You cause my heart to swell
with love. My affection for you grows daily as I watch you try to overcome your
patterns and aspire to be bigger, better, more adult, more mature, more loving,
more childlike. How you try! And how your attempts please us who observe. I do
not tell you this as if you were puppets on a string at the whims of a bored and
mischievous universe, but because you are eager to grow in the spirit. Because
the efforts you make have yielded certain results and harmonies in your life,
you are willing to make those attempts at molding your minds so that you are at
greatest happiness for yourself and for your relationship with divinity.</P>
<P>It is truly a struggle; it is truly an honorable vocation. Your efforts are
duly, honorably noted, and you are encouraged and appreciated for those acts,
those thoughts, those motives which yield to you that peace which passes all
understanding.</P>
<P>My beloved flock, I bid you farewell until we meet again. Good
evening.</P><B>
<P>Group:</B> Good night, Tomas.</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>