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<P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Michael - September 4, 2013.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Marin TM Group - Mill Valley, California –
U.S.A.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Michael – T/R-JL<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(All that is not-you)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(Knowing another)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(Open-mindedness—curiosity)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(You can become more real)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(Worship and stillness) <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(Achievements you carry with you)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(Mindful awareness/detachment)<BR>(Suicide)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(The new dawn) <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(Why?)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(God’s parameters)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Dear Michael and Mother Spirit, here we are again, and it seems like
we’re right in the middle of that mysterious “200 percent-ness of life” you
tease us with. For in one way it seems it’s been a long, long time since we were
here with you this way, yet it’s been only a few weeks.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>I guess once this notion of a mystery enters our minds, it starts to
color everything. For with our own souls--our own record of our life’s
experiences--sometimes events that were decades ago can have a sudden immediacy
where we can get the full flavor of some previous time. We can begin to believe
that a presence of God is co-author of these experiences and is holding them for
us, however it’s up to us to tune in to who and what we were once upon a time.
And so we thank you for pointing out these “little infinities” that surround and
encompass us, and we’re sitting right in the middle of. We thank you for these
many lessons and look forward to you giving us another one. Amen.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Michael: Good evening, my children. This is Michael, and Mother Spirit
and I are glad to be here mysteriously once again, for we do acknowledge this is
somewhat beyond your capacity to understand fully. But then again, my dear ones,
so is your heart beating in your chest right now. There’s even some mysterious
connection you have with this body of yours. We are all distinct beings beyond
space and time, unchanging personal beings in the midst of everything else
changing. Yet you’ve only to wiggle your fingers to notice how intimately you
are connected with this space-time realm. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Yes, Mother Spirit and I do perceive and relate with dozens and dozens of
realities that are still beyond you. But they too await your discovery and your
most intimate interaction, just as you have with your bodies now. There’s no end
to this kind of--let me put it poetically--the number of infinities you will
encounter, and come to inhabit, and, in time, call your home. Because as
mysterious as Total Reality is to you now, and to a degree always will be: this
is your home. It was meant for you as much as any other personal
being.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(All that is not-you)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Tonight I would like to talk about your attitude towards all that is
not-you. As your Urantia Book notes, life is not only what is going on inside
you--all these biological things happening--and even your mind which is, as
we’ve taught so many times, not strictly related to your brain and nervous
system activity. You actually house/in-corporate Mother Spirit and myself, and a
presence of God. And as we’ve taught, your own creativity--your own personal
spirit and creativity--is in a broad overlapping area with the presence of God
within you, and what this so-called Thought Adjuster can provide--actually
thoughts right in your mind. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Inside are all your biological functions, plus all these mental
functions, and then your own creative spirit that Mother Spirit augments. That’s
why her Adjutants, her dimensions of being that you are living in and
in-corporate; that’s why they are called Adjutants of <U>Mind/Spirit</U> because
you have your own creative spirit as part of your mind. And finally you have the
transcendent personality that you actually are, a creation of God’s.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Yet as your Urantia Book points out, life for all personal beings--even
Mother Spirit and I, Creator Son and Daughter of God: life is not only what is
happening inside you. It’s what’s happening <U>between</U> you and your whole
surroundings, your situation. You do acknowledge this with the saying that your
inner life—especially if you’re not really tuned into it—is “merely existing.”
This is not “really living.” Really living involves all those others, all those
other fascinating folks all around you--all your loves and your friendships,
even some of your disagreements and obstinate reactions. All of this: this is
really living. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>You can all feel the spiritual value of this insofar as you are coming in
contact with other unique beings. If you’re really paying attention, sooner or
later you are confronted with the fact that they too are what we call little
walking infinities. For most of you, it takes a while to get used to this fact.
Sadly, some of you never do. But it is a fact that other people are somewhat
ungraspable, all the more so if they are not too much in control of themselves.
However: this is the essence of your God-created personalities.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(Knowing another)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Once you totally let this affect you, once you totally accept the fact
that you cannot control--absolutely control--or even finally know another--not
in the way God can, or even Mother Spirit and myself can--there’s a certain
tipping point. There’s a certain getting beyond the panic at this
uncontrollable-ness. Maybe just by breathing, one breath at a time, as you look
into another’s eyes and accept their infinity. Here again you can find yourself
at home. You can accept that this is a living, <U>God</U>-created reality
looking you in the eye, and take some comfort in that; even take some delight in
that and be truly thankful there is this deep mystery in personal reality.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>It’s not that we’re mystery-mongers like a little boy with a new
flashlight in the middle of the day, looking around for dark places so he can
use it. The mystery is real. Out of this mystery comes what your Urantia Book
calls the Unqualified Absolute. There is something absolutely here--here and now
in each moment--that is unqualified because this is just another name, my dear
ones, for eternity—infinite potential. There’s some unending absolute reality
that is only qualified in this eternal now as it becomes each unique moment in
time. It too comes down—now qualified--and then becomes the past.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>This is absolute because there is no end to this. So much of it comes
across to you in your human order as <U>chance</U>, as that which you simply
cannot anticipate, even driving to work tomorrow morning with all those other
folks out there--all these interactions by the thousands.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Still, this is your home. Reality in its total encompassing is a creation
of God’s, and no being’s less than that. We all live and have our being in his
parameters of reality. In this sense, he does know the end from the beginning.
Yet too here you are with your free will, and not even God chooses to know what
you will do next. That much is up to you. That much is up to all the trillions
of trillions of personal beings throughout creation.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>This is a large part of why a good half of your reality--for all your
scientific understanding of continuity and cause-and-effect--at least half of
your reality never happened before and will never happen again. So, yes, this is
the 200-percent-ness of reality you can feel, and enjoy and marvel at, and
wonder, and get some real sense of humility in the enormity of it all. And be
blessed then that you can feel it. You can perceive it, and be thankful, and
feel at home.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(Open-mindedness—curiosity)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>So welcome the wonderful reality of feedback. Be outward going. Be
dynamic. Be forthcoming from yourself to investigate this reality around you.
This is true open-mindedness. It’s not some passive thing. It’s a very dynamic,
totally committed thing on your part. It’s not only welcoming what reality has
to give you, it’s seeking it out. It’s wondering about it. It’s being curious.
It’s one of your greatest powers--curiosity. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Be open to others. Be especially open to your effect upon them. Be open
to what they can give you back of yourself, more than any mirror in your
bathroom--to comb your hair or put on your makeup in the morning.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>You all instinctively know this. This is what true friends are all about.
They can let you know when you are overstepping yourself and “putting something
on them”--getting caught up in your own projections of who you think they should
be. Your dearest friends can let you know that, no, they are not quite that.
They are something else. They are themselves. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>They have so much to give you. This is so much a part of your soul, all
these dear ones you’ve known and have shared so much with. So be open to this
feedback of what reality has for you because, again: your life is not only
inside you, and what you would like to see, what you would hope to see. It’s
what it is. It’s what they are. It’s what God has created. And it’s your
encompassing. It’s your home. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Now if you have any questions or comments this evening, this is my
delight.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Student: Michael, you talk about this is our home. But in the Bible,
home--when people talk about going home, they talk about going to Paradise.
Which home is more real, eternal home or this home here on
earth?<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(Being, feeling at home)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Michael: Yes, my dear. Let me answer this by saying you live in an
eternal now. This is your home, and this is your home now. When you arrive at
Paradise some unfathomable time, some eternity from now--for you, that will be
your home. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>The critical thing here is to be open enough, trusting enough, even
strong enough within yourself to feel it this way, because this home does
contain things like pain, anxiety, uncertainty, fear. Yet these can be cautions,
cautions to keep you alive. They can be functions that help you have a fuller
life, being appreciative even of these. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Yet it’s very true that some folks don’t feel at home at all, even to the
point of suicide. They reject with all their being as much as they can, what
they are experiencing now, and demonstrate a final proof, if you will, of their
free will. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>But this can be your home now. You can feel it and experience it to its
fullest. And this can be Paradise. You can have this foretaste of something
absolute, just in the very fact that you are. You absolutely exist, my daughter.
Now what do you think of that? <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Student: I still don’t know which is more real, this world or Paradise.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Michael:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><U>This</U> is
real. Reality is this combination of what is. It’s what I talked about this
evening. This life you have is your attitude and relationship with everything
surrounding you. Even as you’re sitting here now listening to me, this situation
has its own reality, but it’s also only as real as you can make it for yourself.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>This is your power. This is your response-ability. This is your ability
to respond to your reality and to the reality all around you, because you are
both absolute. Your whole surrounding, everything, even your own body, is real.
And you are real. You are a creation of God’s. But it’s also up to you. It’s
your responsibility to realize this, to make it real. That part is yours, both
here and some day. Although by the time you get to Paradise and become a citizen
there, you will be a full sixth-stage spiritual being, and you will have
billions of years of experience in your soul. For you will have crossed all of
what you know of as time and space—thousands and thousands of worlds, millions
of different beings that you will have met, and related with, and absorbed and
incorporated their reality. It’s all real, my dear, but you are co-creating it
for you.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Student: Thank you.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(You can become more real)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Michael: Reality is something you have to kind-of lean in to because part
of it is dependent upon you. Definitely your own sense of reality can be a
wonderfully progressive thing as you continue to live. You can become ever more
real to yourself and more appreciate all this reality surrounding you. So keep
growing, my dear. Keep growing in your appreciation of what this “now” holds for
you. And be in my peace.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(Long pregnant pause) Do you get the feeling it’s very “now”--now? (group
laughter)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Student: Good evening, Michael. I wanted to ask a question that came up
for me when I was teaching some young people about stillness, and meditation,
and worship. I wonder if you could sort-of--in the light of what you talked
about tonight--if you could help me strengthen my idea of what worship is, and
what stillness is, and how they’re different from one another? Perhaps, or
maybe, they merge into one another. I’m looking for a contemporary language for
teaching that. Not to be blunt, but I’m wondering if you could help on that
question?<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(Worship and stillness) <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Michael: Yes, my son, I’d say worship and stillness are reciprocal
functions of each other. Mother Spirit and I have offered one other word in
particular for worship, and that is: “appreciation.” Again, it’s a very dynamic,
positive, willful thing. Perhaps you decide to do--or at least orient yourself
towards--this thing of worship. You point yourself at it; but then you open
yourself. This is where the stillness comes in, when you settle down out of your
normal kind of relationships with yourself and with the reality around you—the
kind of familiarity you need to exercise to get through your days. You take a
break from this familiarity and you become still. You still your activity, your
outward activity. You sit down and open yourself to what comes next. This is why
we say it’s a certain kind of meditation, of which there are so many kinds. This
is devotion, setting aside a part of your other activities just to be still.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Then, you can willfully--as much as you can, you can address me, or
Mother Spirit, or the presence of God within you. Just think, “Okay, God. Here I
am. What have you got for me this time--<U>this</U> now?” This you can do of
your own free will. You can point yourself at the next moment, and willfully
open yourself as much as you can in addressing all of reality this way.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>But then, there’s a kind of further opening in which you relax all of
this, you might say, <U>out</U>going of your personality to contact other
spirit. You relax all that. You settle down out of any kind of willfulness so
you can receive, so you can have a genuine conversation. As I said above, you
can have this feedback from all that is not-you. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>It can even be for a while your own body. What is your body telling you?
What is the degree of health you are enjoying, or not? This is all worship. This
is all being open to God’s totality, which is all of you and all you’ve ever
been, your whole soul. There is a whole world and universe surrounding you. Let
it come in. Let whatever! Really have the courage to let whatever wants to
suggest itself. Have the courage to be open to it. Even take notes. Have a
little note pad there and jot things down, so you keep being open.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>For what can come to you then is concerning the totality of your life,
the kind of thoughts that God can put into your mind, the way he can adjust your
own thoughts ever more towards the totality of everything.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>This is the most sincere worship because you are giving your life, these
precious moments of your life. This is all you have--is time. You’re giving this
time over to be open to whatever can suggest itself, especially those very
thoughts that God can put in your mind. It’s also my orientation. My Spirit of
Truth is an orientation to being open-minded and accepting this enormous gift
that your life and these moments can give you, just by worship, by being
thankful. It’s the appreciation of that. It’s appreciating this life you
have--that God has given you. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Think: all of these folks--all of the people you’ve ever known; all of
the stuff you’ve dealt with--the food you’ve prepared and eaten, the homes
you’ve lived in, the vehicles you’ve known. Think of all the places you’ve
known--how they felt, how they smelled, how they touched you. Remember walking
out on a beach where every grain of sand is somewhat unique; looking up into the
starry sky on a clear night and being thrilled with knowing that’s where you’re
headed--out there. To know; to encounter and know all of that: this is worship.
This is appreciation--just that all this is!<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Student: Right.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Michael: Does that give you some ideas?<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Student: Yeah. Thank you for that beautiful dissertation on those
concepts.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(Achievements you carry with you)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Michael: Stillness is just one good way to this. And, as you know, it’s
an achievement that you can carry with you then. This feeling of appreciation is
something you can get a real taste of, sometimes, just by being still. But then
you take this with you and this appreciation becomes an attitude, a relationship
to all this other stuff, and all these other folks. You can begin to see the
appreciation, in them, of you--that you are in their life--and maybe you have
some tiny, tiny little feeling of how God feels when you begin to appreciate
him.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Student: This may be a bit of a side-question, or maybe not. In our
teachings and lessons we do refer to simple, plain awareness as a practice. The
mindful awareness of the moment is an emphasis that you’ve made. I just wonder
if you could add a little bit more about that. Tonight we talked about looking
at the now, which can only mean being hyper-aware of the present moment.
Buddhism also speaks of mindfulness as a constant practice, you know,
moment-by-moment awareness of detail, combined with a panoramic awareness of the
big picture. I think they’re onto the same thing, are they not?--I mean, when
they speak of mindful awareness?<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Michael: Well, yes, my son, this is what I’ve said, that you can
sometimes become aware of awareness, aware that you are a conscious being. Other
times a great gift is being un-self-aware, unselfconsciously totally wrapped up
in what you’re doing whether it’s with another person or just by yourself,
scrambling your eggs in the morning: whatever. Self-forgetfulness is that kind
of concentration that comes about by letting go of yourself. It’s the courage to
fearlessly let yourself go into whatever it is you’re doing, trusting that you
will pop out, back into awareness of yourself again. So this mindfulness you
talk about is not necessarily always a total self-consciousness. But it can be.
It can be both self and other. Some meditations and practices have been called
the theory and practice of detachment.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(Mindful awareness/detachment)<BR><BR>Student: Right.<BR><BR>Michael:
Mainly, even this detachment is developed by itself at a certain age: you become
aware of yourself. It can even seem a curse at times when everyone around you
seems so blissfully self-forgetful and lost in the joy of whatever is happening.
And here you are being only hyper-aware of yourself being aware of yourself.
This enormous detachment can seem like a curse when you are not able to forget
yourself, or let yourself alone. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>All people go through this and their mindfulness becomes a continuum--if
you will--between total self-forgetfulness, and sometimes, in their meditation,
being hyper-, hyper-aware they are sitting there practicing pure awareness, not
letting anything capture their attention. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>A kind of maturity begins to combine these, for there is growth here.
It’s what I talked about, the kind of attention you begin to carry with you.
That’s why I said that at times it can be a sudden pang of fear when you’re out
driving, that can come across as fear or anxiety. But what it’s actually doing
is waking you up to the fact you were falling asleep at the wheel. Your mind
presented you with some possible accident happening around the next blind curve,
that jolted you awake. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Here we’re getting into the whole realm of flexibility, of being able to
go back and forth from one mindful extreme to the other. Think of being totally
encompassed in, shall we say, cutting through a carrot with a razor-sharp knife
in your kitchen--that kind of awareness and carefulness. One moment you’re
totally lost in those neat slices of carrot coming off your knife, and in the
very next instant you’re reflecting--reflection, like in a mirror--reflecting
what you’re doing--maybe remembering some carrot you cut up thirty years ago on
some special occasion. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Your soul can come forth--all of your past. Just think of it. Your soul
is so enormous, yet it’s giving particular meaning and substance and reality to
this changing now. This too is just mindfulness. This is this mind you have.
It’s also an encompassing to your personality. It’s you, and yet it’s us too.
We’re in here with you. So: welcome this complexity that is resolved into this
utterly single thing, moment by moment--simply what’s
happening.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Student: Fabulous, Michael. Thank you.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Michael: Well, I hope I’ve given you a sense of just what a strange
creature you are. It took God’s imagination to come up with you, and this
reality that you are, and that you are encompassed by. It is your
home.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Student: Yes, it is our home indeed--something that you created too.
We’re grateful for that, Michael. Thank you.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Michael: Well then: you’ve found a good portion of my peace. (long
pause)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>My daughter, do you have any questions or
comments?<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Student: I’m at the opposite end of the spectrum on stillness. I
mentioned suicide earlier because I lost a friend, a very, very close friend,
four weeks ago. I know she suffered tremendously. Her mind would become like an
assault rifle, and attack her. I have some familiarity with this kind of state
myself, and have been very troubled by her decision to leave.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>I wonder what you might offer about that. My heart is still quite heavy;
you can see it. This reality that is so beautiful in some moments can be so
oppressive in others--that someone would actually choose to leave--in a very
elegant way, I might add. She did it in a very beautiful
way.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(Suicide)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Michael: Yes, my dear, this is one of the deepest mysteries because it
calls into question the whole notion of free will. If people were really free,
why would they choose--why do some of them choose to do the things they do,
either to others or to themselves? <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Again, Mother Spirit and I can only offer our deepest respect for the
mystery of this because it points out the uniqueness of personality. It’s what
people can do to or for each other, from the extremes of the most fantastic
love--of giving up their life for another--or the most hideously imaginable
things that are going on even now in your world--perversions of delight in
hurting another--shall we leave it at that. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Then there’s the inner relationship of a personality to his or her own
life, and how life can be experienced as so painful, so empty/painful that
suicide does become a valid alternative, simply because it is chosen and carried
out. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>I can say with all authority you need have no fear for her for, as we’ve
taught so many times, people do not yet have enough experience only as a human
being to end their existence. They have not yet experienced what does continue
beyond death. Those who commit suicide will have to re-appraise, I mean
<U>totally</U> re-appraise what they have done, in the light of the Mansion
World they will walk out into. For they too shall not dissemble their surprise
at what they encounter there; and equally--who and what they have become.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Have no fear for your dear friend’s personality--for what she is, for in
the deepest sense, the most profound sense: she will continue. The choice to
cease to exist--once you have experienced that rebirth—will, if you choose to
continue, stay with you forever throughout all eternity. You will have that
moment of reawakening in your soul. There are very few who do choose to cease to
exist, having known that reawakening.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(The new dawn) <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>For the eternity that is vouchsafed for you in that new dawn does not
render this first life of yours meaningless by any means. Rather, it gives it
new depths of meaning. And in that new meaning your friend will be able to
re-evaluate more truly all of who and what she is. For she will be so much more
expanded, you might say, along the inner dimension of spiritual awareness.
She’ll have all the greater possibility then of worship, of being thankful to
God that she still is. Hopefully this will give her other dimensions of meaning,
even to her act of suicide, that she was incapable of knowing up to that moment.
Fear not for her. She too has the choice of living forever.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Student: Can you help me understand in some way the tendency of the mind
to turn against itself in that violent self-deprecating
way?<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(Why?)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Michael: Because most of you live in such a fantastic amount of hope, it
has become a part of you, a part of your motivation--just getting up in the
morning; whatever. Since it is so unconscious, it’s hard to think of, or to
realize, what it is for a mind filled with hopelessness, when there is no longer
any hope of things changing, or getting better, or simply being more. It’s a
kind of terrible emptiness and hopelessness, even fear, that can be
overwhelming. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Part of your free will is what you choose to do, or even be unable to
choose to do otherwise at that moment. In a sense, you can say someone is driven
to this, for who would choose such a thing, have such an experience? Yet, it is
real. People do experience this. To the degree it’s a unique thing, my
dear--like so much else of your life--it is beyond comparison. It’s just a
unique event for that person. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Incidentally, it’s why you have suicide hotlines that do wonderful work
for these desperately needful folks--just being able to touch and be touched by
someone else. At that supreme moment it may be enough to have a little bit of
hope. With a very famous bridge nearby here for suicides, (Ed: the Golden Gate)
very rarely do people jump off towards that cold ocean out there. Even in that
final moment they jump towards the land and that bright city over there, with
all the people in it. Even with their final gesture they’re reaching out for
company. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Here again, my dear, is something that no one can really know of another.
It’s that uniqueness of their personality that can not only conceive of, but
carry out such a thing. So keep her treasured in your soul.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Student: Thank you.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Michael: Be in my peace.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>(God’s parameters)<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>This too is part of our appreciation, part of our worship. In one way
it’s acknowledging our inability to know another as only God knows them, and
they know themselves. This too is one of God’s parameters. This is what he has
seen fit to create, this very uniqueness of personal beings. It’s beyond our
capacity--even Mother Spirit’s and mine--to imagine any other kind of creation.
God’s very volition is deciding within himself to create such a Creation of
unique beings--all of us. All of us. This is so much of what gives our life
meaning. It is the meaning of our lives, not only what we have within us, but
all of this that surrounds us, all these others. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>It may be something you will lose and regain over and over again—the
feeling that: this is my home: this is deliberately being created this way for
me, for this is mine too--this whole Creation. And it’s yours just as much--all
yours--all of you, all you personal beings. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>In one way, we are in all humility almost reduced to saying, “Thank you,
Father.” For yet this is no reduction. This is the supreme acknowledgment, is it
not, of a final and sufficient worship in this particular now? We are really
full of hope, and confidence, and trust, that again--sometime in the future,
sometime again, even after losing our conscious awareness of it, we can and will
feel his blessing. Thank you, Father. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT
size=3>Good evening, my dear ones. Be in my peace.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt"><o:p><FONT
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