<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2912" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><B>
<P>DATE: </B>January 4, 1997<BR><B>LOCATION: </B>Pittsburgh, PA,
USA<BR><B>T/R</B>: Gerdean O'Dell</P><B>
<P>TEXTUAL STUDY<BR>The Urantia Papers<BR></B>Foreword (III): The First Source
and Center<BR>And Paper 1<B>: The Universal Father</B>;<BR>Section 2 (The
Reality of God) and<BR>Section 3 (God is a Universal Spirit)</P><B>
<P>TEACHER SESSION<BR>BERTRAND AND TOMAS<BR>Agondonter Requires Faith<BR>TRUST
AND JUDGMENT<BR>Understanding a Fellow<BR>A "Hand Jive" Exercise </P>
<P>BERTRAND:</B> Children, I greet you on behalf of the Teaching Corps under
Melchizedek and for Michael and his creation - all of his far-flung creation of
Nebadon - for our work with you also affects and touches a wide range of
observers and learners. The experience that we gather here with you is also
taken and taught to others, who will serve on other realms, other worlds
salvaged from quarantine.</P>
<P>The presence of the archangel circuit on Urantia is like a large radio
broadcast, and as we feed into it our experiences with you, your (local)
universe is known throughout the (super) universe. I tell you this not for your
self-consciousness, but to raise you up and out of your simple conclave of loyal
friendship which meets regularly, to develop a trust in one another in and
through the help of these supernal helpers, for as you learn to trust, as you
begin to comprehend our purpose, then your efforts reflect our growth - and the
entire universe rejoices.</P>
<P>We therefore are highly appreciative of your involvement, your willingness to
expose yourselves to each other and to us. Your motives are our focal point and
as you all readily well know, we are not here to judge. The truth is that we
supernals understand that concept far more clearly than you do, for we have
learned to relinquish judgment, and so we do not judge your growth, but rather
honor your light and your intentions to foster and serve the God of all
creation, the First Source and Center.</P>
<P>You who fall under the loving care of the Creator Son, Jesus of Nazareth, we
observe your gatherings, your developing fraternity with more than idle
curiosity, for you reflect what true growth entails. You are examples of why we
are engaged upon Correcting Time, and the work that you do in and for yourselves
in the development of your own God-consciousness, personality motivation and
spirit intent is that which will encourage and stimulate further growth in
others.</P>
<P>And so for all of your finite interpretations of reality, we admire the
courage that it takes for you to step out in faith and voice your humanness,
your agondonter status. (Pause)</P><B>
<P>Leah:</B> Who is speaking? </P>
<P><B>Gerdean: </B>Not Tomas.</P><B>
<P>BERTRAND:</B> Bertrand.</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> Well, you were talking about "agondonter status" and that was
so interesting.</P><B>
<P>BERTRAND:</B> Let me, Bertrand, conclude my remarks, for I am not here today
to teach or to discourse, but to give you an understanding of how it is that we
perceive your growth and how we appreciate your efforts to evolve your spirit
consciousness, how we respect your desire to comprehend character as you deem it
desirable to emulate in your life - that which Michael emulated in his human
life. That is all.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> I am Tomas. I am glad to be with you. I am glad that you also
enjoyed the visit by my brother, co-teacher Bertrand, who is experiencing a day
in the life with us.</P>
<P>You will forgive my more informal approach, for we know each other. I will
tell you that when the visitors hover over your arena in observation of your
many discourses and fragmented conversations, they and I am challenged often to
determine truly where you are in your growth that we may then address your soul
needs, for sometimes, dear ones, it appears that you are so replete you have no
need of lessons, and sometimes you are so empty of value we could talk about
nearly anything. (Group chuckle)</P>
<P>I had rather enjoyed the discipline of the series on the fruits of the
spirit, and as I indicated in an earlier lesson, I have been formulating a
format for our upcoming period of time, and to some extent it has been evolving
already. We don't like to make growth changes too abruptly, you see, for it
causes consternation and resistance. The easy flow is the more natural way, and
so let us flow today into a conversation that will lead into a deeper
understanding on your part of your personal study of character and how that
understanding affects your relationship with others - immediate and in your
working realm - and even into the far-flung universe.</P>
<P>I have invited conversation along those lines. Were you heading also in that
direction, Loreenia?</P><B>
<P>Loreenia: </B>I don't think so. I was interested in what the power energy
surge Bertrand had on me; it made me very sleepy. What is his specialty? That's
where my interests lie.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> He is a teacher in the Teaching Corp. </P><B>
<P>Loreenia: </B>Yes, but they also teach with tones and...</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> He is a male, an experienced being of authority, and you, as a
sensitive, are aware of those energies and that authority. You were once also
impressed with me, but you have become used to me.</P><B>
<P>Loreenia: </B>You didn't put me to sleep, Tomas! He didn't bore me. I was
literally -- not going to sleep, but -- affected in such a manner…</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> That would have to do with his message.</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> Well, he was talking about agondonters and I got really
excited because I was so amazed and so completely enthralled that we were the
last of the agondonters, and I thought we should really appreciate this status
which has certain ... wonderful things about it, and our children will not have
that privilege -- but they will have other great things.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Let me discuss that to some extent for I do not want to deprive
your children of their birthright of being agondonters, for even though you will
begin to perceive that you are not alone in the universe because of your
association with supernal teachers, even though your faith will have had it
proven to your satisfaction that the greater reality is in fact truth, you still
must act and believe in faith, for even were a Melchizedek to materialize, that
even requires faith.</P>
<P>All the way to Havona <I>you will always be an agondonter</I> because of your
experience here in a realm which requires believing without seeing. And so, even
for generations you will be agondonters, because it <I>requires faith</I>. Those
who are born into worlds well advanced, where the temples are already
constructed of morontial materials, and where midwayers are clearly part of your
society, may not have the status of agondonters, but your planet does not
promise to manifest these proofs of divinity in the next generation or
two.</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> I see. That's reasonable, certainly. Thank you. I'm glad I got
that straightened out.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> In your own mind you may understand the reality of divinity, but
you are still an agondonter for it still requires faith.</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth: </B>Would it be likely, then, that in several generations, that
group of our grandchildren, great-great-great grandchildren, they would not be
then? Is that the way it seems?</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> If we are following logic, but this is not entirely a logical
situation.</P><B>
<P>Hester: </B>This is not individual, Tomas?</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> No, it is global. As the next epochal revelation comes around -
which will <I>not</I> be in your lifetime <I>nor</I> shortly thereafter - by
then you may have attained, as a race of people, sufficient spirituality to have
advanced out of the status of "agondonterism" but that depends upon many things
and you know we are not here to predict the future, to crystal-ball gaze, or to
tell you in advance what you may expect, for that is your adventure.</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth: </B>Bertrand commented that you all have a way of not being
judgmental towards us, and I guess it would be really neat if we could
understand it on an intellectual level … even if we can't have actually
practiced it on an emotional level. We find it so very delightful to have that
trust in you that you are not judgmental.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> I am going to present you then with some words of wisdom, and that
is that emotionally <I>you can and will transcend the habit of judgment</I>.
That is a character assignment. It is immature to carry judgment with you. It
denotes a lack of trust. It colors your relationships with others. It is
dishonest to yourself, for you open yourself up to reflect unreality back to
you...</P><B>
<P>Leah:</B> Could you ...?</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> ... and it separates you from your siblings in the spirit. Yes,
Leah?</P><B>
<P>Leah:</B> Could you elaborate on the statement you just made about dishonesty
to yourself for judgment, how that would...? Could you give us an example, an
explanation or something?</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> You want to know how it is that when you pass judgment on your
fellows you have been dishonest with yourself for you are then reflecting back
to yourself your own judgment? Is that your question?</P><B>
<P>Leah:</B> I think it is. It's in reference to the statement you made
previously. I think that's kind of paraphrased, what you said.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Let us go back and see what I said. [Tape rewound and replayed.]
In the face of that review, do you still need elaboration?</P><B>
<P>Leah:</B> No, I misunderstood the quote. I thought you said reality and not
unreality. I think that's clarified now. I understand that you always see your
state of mind if you are judging.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> I will speak for a moment on what you have reflected back to you.
There seems to be some misconception here. You are of limited understanding, and
often what you perceive is being reflected is not so, and yet you will take it
as a lesson in point when it is not meant to be so. Your perceptions are
imperfect, for they are constantly adjusting to external situations. It is
partly why you become weary of the journey in terms of your relationships with
people; it is partly why you find people exhausting and troublesome.</P>
<P>That they manifest a reality that they perceive as their reality, it is not
necessarily that that is a reflection of your own reality. Because someone (and
this is extremely simplified) projects that they are blue, because they believe
that they are blue, and you see blue when you look at them, does not mean that
you also are blue. You well may be pink, but unless and until you know who you
are, (your own reflection of your own self through a reflection of divinity) you
are constantly then bumping into unreality and taking it upon yourself.</P>
<P>And herein is where you run into trouble regarding judgment, for someone may
present a perception of what they understand and you have immediately
personalized it and passed judgment when this is not required; this is not a
good idea. If they feel that they are blue, let them be blue -- for God's sake.
You know you are pink and it does not cast any negative reflections on you to
allow yourself <B>to be</B> or to allow them <B>to be</B> also.</P>
<P>Even if either of you is in error, it is better to allow your understandings
and reflections of divinity to be based upon love than on lesser
judgment.</P><B>
<P>Leah:</B> I understand what you're saying. I'm just saying that if you find
yourself judging somebody -- as you said, you can allow it to be, they can be
blue or whatever color they want to be, but if you find yourself judging them
for thinking they are, then you are discovering that you are in a state of
judgment. That's what I'm saying, is that you see your state of mind when you're
judging them.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> If indeed you are mature enough to realize that you are in the
process of forming a judgment, then you are also mature enough to set that
judgment aside and not choose to make it.</P><B>
<P>Leah:</B> True. That's what I meant when I said that when you judge somebody
you are only seeing your own state of mind if you're judging them.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> And so we must do away with judgment, for it convolutes the
clarity of seeing love reflected. If you don't see love reflected from your
peers, seek it from the Father, (who is) the Source of love for it is only
through the Father that love can be made manifest. These are character-building
lessons.</P><B>
<P>Leah:</B> Did the supernals who speak to us -- were they able to let go of
judgment in the mortal realm?</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> You throw a large blanket. You must understand the tremendous
range of previous experience in and throughout the universe, and even in the
teachers who come to help guide you in your advancement, for we have been drawn
from a large spectrum of experiential backgrounds and life forms. </P>
<P>Some, yes. And so, depending on the advancement of the finite realm was that
creature experience available. You have and we have had (and still have, to the
extent necessary) opportunity to learn this lesson today. Over time my judgments
have diminished. Even as a human long, long ago I had advanced beyond many
judgments -- but not all, certainly.</P>
<P>Judgment was part of my work, part of my career, and I am certain that this
is true for you today, that there are circumstances wherein, as a member of
society, you are justified, or feel justified in making judgment. But inasmuch
as your society is not well advanced, I would not take lessons from it (group
laughter), but think in terms, rather, of <I>assessment</I>, for it is
appropriate to assess circumstances and situations and understand what is
comprised without judging or condemning or concluding.</P><B>
<P>Leah:</B> So it would be more like an evaluation. </P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Yes.</P><B>
<P>Leah:</B> The other thing I wanted to ask about. Are the supernals who speak
to us (although I know you couldn't answer directly or qualifiedly or whatever
-- it's like a judgment), do they go thorough the same evolutionary process like
we do with the suspension of judgment? or ...?</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> By and large, yes. There are so many millions of nuances, it would
be fruitless to go into those, but by and large, ascension to perfection entails
the same lessons, the same growing experiences, the same adaptations across the
board, and so do not feel alone in your learning process. How do you suppose it
is that we were sent here, collected as a group of volunteers, trained and sent
here to help you, if we had not had similar or like experiences?</P><B>
<P>Leah:</B> I don't know. I just figured you were a terrific bunch of
guys.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> We are. But we are terrific to you because we have advanced
understanding of your experiential path. We have rolled out the red carpet that
we wove.</P><B>
<P>Leah:</B> Thank you. I guess that "whereof I speak" (at the end of today's
chapter) really stuck with me. I wanted to know if you walked a mile in my
moccasins.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> I have.</P><B>
<P>Hester: </B>Several miles.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Indeed. And here again we return to a nuance of character-building
and non-judgment in your phrase about walking in someone's moccasins, for unless
and until you understand your brother, your sister, you cannot love them, <I>you
<U>will</I></U> pass judgment, so it is necessary for you to understand each
other.</P><B>
<P>Celeste:</B> Tomas, this is going to be a kind of wonderful thing to work on,
not judging another person. That's going to take some work on my part, but I'm
looking forward to it.</P><B>
<P>Hester: </B>That's one of the first laws laid down in Genesis, to "judge
not...."</P><B>
<P>Celeste: </B>I know, but it's so easy when you've been working on one of your
own traits, and you feel you've accomplished something there, and yet you find a
child or somebody that has that very same trait!</P><B>
<P>Hester: </B>"... for it shall be meted to you likewise."</P><B>
<P>Celeste:</B> That's true. I've learned that many times in my life. But in
living my life, I sort of forget that.</P><B>
<P>Hunnah: </B>What would you suggest, as the most effective way to deal with
something you found offensive or disappointing?</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Your range is way too broad. The entire life experience can be
regarded as a disappointment or your selection of Whitman's chocolates.</P><B>
<P>Beatrix:</B> You mean in relation to judging? </P><B>
<P>Hunnah: </B>I dump it in the category of being human.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> It is too easy to do that. It is too easy to say, "I can't because
I'm only human."</P><B>
<P>Hunnah: </B>No, I mean judging them. I tell myself that, because of their
conditioning, I can't really do a thing about it. What would you suggest that we
do?</P><B>
<P>Beatrix: </B>We should say more about judging, actually, because you have
judging, and discrimination. There seems to be a rough spot around the word. I
mean what are we talking about, actually? Because the whole time we were having
this conversation, I was thinking about the word "discrimination" or there were
a couple of other words that may sound a little different, but in choosing what
you have to choose constantly in your life -- you have choices, you have
political choices, choices of friends, choices of relationships. </P>
<P>There has to be some way to understand, some way to discriminate. But what
you're talking about, it sounds like a different kind of judging. That might not
be real clear. I think you did say something like "completion." Like not
bringing someone to completion. In other words, not boxing someone in. "You're
this and you can't be anything else" is part of the definition. But how do you
ever know anyone at all if you don't <I>start</I> this? You could be more, but I
understand that. Don't box them in, not condemning. Those were the two words you
used that made sense.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Thank you, Beatrix. You have given me some direction in this
assignment of dealing with the question Hunnah presents regarding judgment. </P>
<P>[Tape turned; inadvertent "intermission"] It becomes more and more clear that
these intermissions are so that you can let off steam. </P>
<P>Let me return then to the discourse that was ongoing regarding judgment, and
having to do with understanding, for it has been said that you cannot love
another individual unless you understand them, and so you set out to understand
your fellows so that you may love them, for as you love each individual, you are
surely socializing your beliefs and doing the will of God. It would behoove you
to learn to love another individual <I>each day</I> and this would extend the
kingdom generously.</P>
<P>But as you allow judgment to block your appreciation and divine love for your
fellows, then you thwart the growth of the Supreme. What does it mean to
understand your fellow? It means to appreciate where they come from, what they
stand for, what their motives are, what their failings are, what their
background is, what their gifts are, what they desire, what they have
experienced as disappointments, what they have gained, what they have lost, what
do they have to give and what do they take?</P>
<P>A thorough-going understanding of an individual will lead you to love them,
for you can feel them and sense them now in your deep heart, not with your mind
or your superficial values. You can love them as Christ loves them and do it
personally.</P>
<P>On the other hand, you cannot love by a mere act of the will. You cannot say,
"God is love; I am in God; I therefore love everyone." This is rhetoric. It is
ideology. The Kingdom will only prevail as you actualize living love, and as we
have said time and time again, it is difficult to love unlovely mankind. It is
not fun to feel powerless in knowing that millions of your brothers and sisters
are starving, are dying of disease, are being warlike with each other. How can
you love them when they behave so badly or when they suffer so? How can you
understand such suffering yourself, and who would want to?</P>
<P>The choice is yours. But as you choose to become real, to develop value, to
serve and to be, you will stretch yourself, you will put aside judgment to sit
side-by-side with your brother or your sister and learn to understand them and
learn to love them, and thereby bring love, and accept love, and share love, as
an actuality, as a reality. As long as you maintain judgment against your
fellows, you shut the door on the potential of this divine interchange. That is
all.</P><B>
<P>Hunnah: </B>I wish it wasn't "all". What you said is: we heard it all.
Everyone here is living what you're talking about, and it's getting better and
better, but I had a conversation with my friend this morning and she said "I
cannot meditate" (it's around 9:00, and I guess that's appropriate), and I said,
"Well, I guess you'll have to do what my other friend does and get up at 5:00!"
Well, that didn't sound too good to her because she felt like meditating when
she wanted to, but in our busy lives, if we don't have a few disciplines and
carry them through -- which is what I find difficult to do -- then we're not
going to be able to apply what you're talking about.</P>
<P>If I were to get off the mattress and get up and give myself time and prepare
for my day properly, like thousands of teachers have told us, then I would have
-- another teacher says "milk in the pail." We would be able to go out and
effortlessly - pretty much effortlessly - enjoy our day and be non-judgmental,
like it would be wise to be. But if we don't give time to empty out and fill up
with the truth of our being, then how are we going to have anything to give
away?</P>
<P>What you say is true, and it is words, and we have been inundated with words
-- not just from you, but from a thousand books. And my prayer for myself is
that I will be able to make that effort to get up so that when the house is
quiet and my worldly doings are not at my heels, that I can prepare for the day,
and then it becomes a celebration. Otherwise, I am plowing through white
water.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> You have struck upon the key, certainly, to learning how to live
your life, and that is through Stillness and through the direction you receive
in Stillness, in your meditations and in your relationship with the infinite God
of your understanding, your Indwelling Spirit. As you experience this reality,
as it sends you forth, as you are amenable to its guidance, your path will alter
- unquestionably. And it may be more effortless in some ways, but it may also be
more poignant in others. I commend that.</P>
<P>I also want to remark about your preface that your friend called lamenting
she did not have time to meditate, which is her lament, and you said, "Well, I
guess you'll have to ..." and that was judgment.</P><B>
<P>Hunnah:</B> It was a suggestion.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> You intended it as a suggestion.</P><B>
<P>Hunnah:</B> As a solution.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS: </B>But to say, "Well, I guess you'll <I>have</I> to ..." </P><B>
<P>Hunnah:</B> What would have been an appropriate response?</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> It is not so much the words, again, dear one, it is the attitude,
and I will tell you that you have a defensive attitude, which invites judgment,
and it is a result of your societal conditioning. I am not saying this is a
fault or that there is something wrong with you to make you feel defensive. I am
calling it to the attention of the others because they also do the precise same
thing, and it is a result of your defensive attitude that leads your words to
sound defensive and be received as judgmental, even though you don't mean
that.</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> Excuse me. How is that defensive? I'm a little foggy on that,
Tomas. How is that defensive?</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> What can she do about it?</P><B>
<P>Hunnah:</B> Well, there are children in her life, and you cannot meditate in
traffic, traffic of home, a house full of activity, or the traffic of an
office.</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> I'm trying to figure out what Tomas said when he said
"defensive" because I can't figure that out. Sorry. In what way?</P><B>
<P>Hunnah:</B> Critical.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> No comment.</P>
<P>Hunnah: Thank you. You've given us something to think about.</P>
<P>Beatrix: I would also like to add that all the hustle and bustle and hurry
that somehow we seem to fit in a category of -- that's not living, but it's --
this calmness, and then we have the direction to be able to practice everything,
that's true, but -- I also think that the busy-ness and the hectic-ness that you
call white water is also, can also be very much living the spiritual
life.</P><B>
<P>Hunnah:</B> Oh, it is!</P><B>
<P>Beatrix: </B>It's how it's looked at and how it's offered. </P><B>
<P>Hunnah: </B>You pilot your ship in rough water if you ... </P><B>
<P>Beatrix:</B> It's nice if you can have both.</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> That's nice. You're right. You do, if you get on top of it
before the day starts.</P><B>
<P>Hunnah:</B> Or you say, "My schedule's full enough; I'm not going to put
myself through the ordeal of trying to do that, too!"</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth:</B> Yeah.</P><B>
<P>Hunnah:</B> But you get better at deciding how much there is of you to go
around.</P><B>
<P>Beatrix:</B> I've had experiences, though, when I think everything is so okay
and together and can be calm and then that's when everything explodes, and I've
had other times where everything is totally, overwhelmingly impossible, and then
it's all cleared out. Not by my doing it, but, you know, it just happens that
way. People cancel or whatever. So that it can be done. So I don't know that you
can get such control, that you do with certain things. I don't know about
that.</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth: </B>I was talking about lack of control in my life, Tomas, to
Andrew, and they always would bring me back to what Hunnah did say, which is
that, if you could spend time in Stillness, a lot of these things would fall in
place, and I guess that's really true.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Many times your relationship with the Father is sufficient, and as
you are right with Him you can carry yourself and see that all is right with the
world. But to the extent that you involve yourself with others, which is
necessary, you avail yourself then of growth difficulties, communication
difficulties. It is always good to return to the Father in silence or even in a
moment to remember your divinity Source, even as you are embroiled in a
situation, even an uncomfortable situation with a fellow human being.</P>
<P>To remember to stay close to the Father is a way of bringing him into your
life to help it along, even to help along in the relationship development at
hand. As you isolate yourself with the Father, however, and disallow
interchange, intercourse with your fellows, you are thwarting the growth of the
Supreme. It is perhaps an isolationist technique of survival that I am
addressing, for if you can stay isolated in your citadel and hold judgment,
disallowing others to get close to you, you will survive.</P>
<P>This is a sad commentary on the human condition but one which is, and as you
accept that and become aware of that, you can begin to work with that. You can
begin to work toward developing confiding trust in someone else that they, too,
would like to break down the isolation, the aloneness of this existential
existence in order to share experientially with others.</P>
<P>I am going to live dangerously. I am going to give you a peculiar assignment.
You may enjoy it. I do not want it to result in hostilities, but it is a very
human thing to do, that is a way of communication. You have that meddlesome
habit of pointing fingers (which in some ways represents judgment), and so as
you, this week, perceive any kind of judgment, either on your part or on the
part of someone else, raise - conversationally - your right hand or finger, in
[a way that shows] that you are aware of it and you here are aware of it but
others are not. </P>
<P>And as you perceive that you are being controlling or that you are being
faced with other's control over you, manifest your understanding of that, your
acknowledgement, with your <I>left</I> hand or your left finger. Have you
understood my peculiar assignment?</P><B>
<P>Group:</B> Yeah. Uh-huh. Good. </P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> Judgment —</P><B>
<P>Leah:</B> -- is the right hand; discernment is the left hand, is what I got
out of it.</P><B>
<P>Beatrix:</B> Left is control!</P><B>
<P>Hunnah:</B> All right. Right is react and left is respond?</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> No. Control is the left; judgment is the right. And this is so
that you can be aware of these aspects of personality infiltrating your thinking
and the thinking of your peers, your society. You will be amused to discover
that your hands are in the air most of the time.</P><B>
<P>Hunnah:</B> Are we talking about our own response or either way?
<BR><B>Beatrix:</B> Both sides.</P><B>
<P>Hunnah: </B>So if we're talking and she is telling me how to live my life,
then I can put up my left hand to identify that?</P><B>
<P>Loreenia: </B>You can put up both! Because I'm making a judgment of what you
are and trying to control your ...</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> It will help you understand these very insidious reactions -
defensive reactions to life. They are <I>defenses</I>. They are also dishonest.
And so it is a way of revealing to yourself in your own time and space, in this
peculiar game way, that you are beginning to understand what judgment is when
you give it, when you receive it, and what control is, when you try to give it
and when it is thrust upon you. I have added control because it is closely
related to judgment. </P>
<P>I have definitely done my damage for today.</P><B>
<P>Group:</B> (Laughing) You certainly have!</P><B>
<P>Leah:</B> Would you care for a report on our last week's
assignment?<BR><B>TOMAS:</B> I would like to hear your feedback if we could keep
it one at a time. Leah.</P><B>
<P>Leah:</B> For myself, I found it very difficult, although I have done that
assignment on my own (where you have eye contact with other people and you try
to connect with their Thought Adjuster), but I was in a bar for six hours and I
tried and tried and tried and I</P>
<P>might have made contact with maybe two people, and there must've been 80
people at least in that place.</P><B>
<P>Loreenia:</B> I personally each day tried. I lost track of how many people I
looked into their eyes. Some of them I saw several times in the course of a day
or in a week's time, so I guess I came up with roughly 80 to 90 people, losing
count, so I don't know how many I did, but it was very effective, for me as well
as them. It boosted my spirits!</P>
<P>Since I was a child, I withdraw from society for security reasons, and
dealing - just looking at somebody and having them smile back, or even if they
don't smile back! That's okay, too, at least I tried. And if they look in my
eyes, or even look at you! How many? Did you count?</P><B>
<P>Celeste: </B>No, I didn't count.</P><B>
<P>Loreenia: </B>It's difficult to keep count, isn't it?</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth: </B>Is Tomas still here?</P><B>
<P>Loreenia: </B>Yes.</P><B>
<P>Leah: </B>We're reporting on our assignment of looking into people's eyes
last week.</P><B>
<P>Loreenia:</B> But there's one -- last night was a very telling, strange
experience. I was in the car, waiting, and I would think about people who were
coming out, thinking about looking into their eyes, and they would come out and
come near my car, which was at the far end of the parking lot from them. I'd
open my eyes and be looking into their eyes. They'd come by my car! It's almost
like my TA was talking to their TA and they'd actually come out and go by my
car! For whatever reason. I noticed it happened twice in a row.</P><B>
<P>Elizabeth: </B>I, too, have been doing that for a long time, but especially
with my little children in my Sunday School. When I want to make a point, I make
sure they look right into my eyes and I look into their eyes, because they will
remember some of the good things -- and you know I'm trying to get rid of some
of those negative things. I do know that.</P><B>
<P>TOMAS:</B> It is time for me to make my exit. My transmitter is, in her words
"fried" and I am going to give her a reprieve as well as you all. Carry on in
the spirit of the holiday. We will meet after the New Year and perhaps then we
will be embarked on some clear direction forward. Enjoy the holiday. Be safe.
And do "the hand jive." Farewell.</P>
<P align=justify> </P>
<P align=justify> </P>
<P> </P>
<P> </P></DIV></BODY></HTML>