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Conditions on Earth (Part 1): Jesus and TMichael

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Condition on Earth Part 1, https://conversationswithjesusandbuddha.com/conditions-on-earth-part-1/
Conditions on earth part 1

Conversation with Jesus and TMichael: Conditions on Earth (Part 1)

TM: This being our second writing, where shall we start?

Master Jesus: We shall note for the record that we are beginning this series of conversations on Easter Sunday in the year 2004.  That may be significant to some folks.

TM: Should it be significant and if so in what way?

Master Jesus: First of all, there isn’t a ‘should’ involved.  It either is or it isn’t significant based upon one’s orientation to these things.  For some people, Easter is a big deal, wouldn’t you agree?

TM: Yes.  But I have to say that for me, it’s not really.

Master Jesus: You say that but it’s not entirely true.  When you were younger, in adolescence, you went to a Christian church every Sunday and Easter was a big deal in your life.  Even your father who rarely attended services attended Easter Sunday.  So, it was a big deal at one point.

TM: True it was then but it hasn’t been that way for over thirty-five years.  I think I can say it isn’t a big deal now.

Master Jesus: It’s okay if it isn’t.  The one fact you can’t escape in the influence of religious practice on society is that the significance of major religious events is en-grained in your being like DNA imprints on your physical body.  They affect you whether you are aware or not. Human consciousness on the whole is not an individual affair.  You can increase or decrease the affect by conscious awareness.  The affect is there nevertheless.

TM: So, I’m affected in ways I’m not aware?  Will you elaborate and give an example?

Master Jesus: You reside in a Judaic-Christian society.  On Easter and during the weeks preceding Easter there is a build up of energy in the form of thoughts and emotions based in ancient traditions and expectations.  Every year this energy recycles, gaining momentum from the previous cycles.  When enough people experience this recycling of energy they perpetuate it through their contribution.  And so it builds over time.  Even though you may not participate in Easter services, you experience the affects of others in your society who do participate. Because you participated as a young person your connection to the experience is greater than someone who has never participated.  Even that person will experience something despite his/her religious orientation.

TM: There is an air of worship and reverence I sense on Easter.

Master Jesus: That’s what I’m referring to, although it may register as something else to someone else.

TM: How many other beliefs and mass experiences does this same phenomenon occur?

Master Jesus: Whenever there is a strong belief tied to an emotional commitment with a large number of people, sustained for a long period of time, then this phenomenon occurs.  Sometimes there are competing thoughts existing at the same time.  When this occurs collectively you feel the energetic tension of opposition.  This is the great duality that plays out constantly in human affairs.  There is a saying to avoid politics and religion in polite conversation.  That is recognizing the deeply engrained opposition and emotional force behind the tension—it is uncontrollable at times.  It is reserved then for a different arena; one in which conflict can be explored.

TM: Is that why it is so difficult to change the way we do things in our society even when they are destructive?

Master Jesus: Did you have a particular example in mind?

TM: Yes I do.  I’ve been thinking about our economic system of capitalism and how it has deteriorated over time.  I see the initial guiding principles and see how it was altered.  Along with many other people I want to change it so that it serves everyone, but the forces opposed to change seem enormous.

Master Jesus: What would you change about it?

TM: It’s almost too much to list here.  In short, capitalism cannot be just about more—producing more, consuming more, pursuing more wealth for the purpose of perpetuating the cycle of production and consumption of more.  We have to integrate higher values into the equation.  I had a friend say to me that he thought that maybe the destruction of the Earth and many or all of the species was the right path and the inevitable outcome of this life experiment, and maybe then new life springs from that and a new cycle begins.  He is a well-respected, financially successful businessman.  When I heard him say that I began to understand the rationale behind the opposition to change.

Master Jesus:  So, is your friend correct?

TM: I’m working from the premise that we don’t have to destroy everything if we have a consciousness that is inherently creative and can alter our path creatively to support life in an ever-changing dynamic.

Master Jesus:  What if you’re both correct?  What if these two points of view are true, then what?

TM: Then it’s a matter of choice.  Our society can choose one or the other.

Master Jesus: And you’d like society to choose your point of view?

TM: Well, yes I do.

Master Jesus: And your friend would like it to go his way?

TM: Yes, I believe so.

Master Jesus: Then will you and your friend continue to support your respective points of view in how things work out in your society?

TM: I suppose we will unless one of us changes our mind.

Master Jesus: Then this is how it is for everyone on Earth at this moment.  It’s about making a choice.  Will you destroy life as you know it or will you creatively re-frame it?  Does that seem over-simplified?

TM: I was hoping for a little more help I suppose.  Maybe you could tilt it one way or the other.

Master Jesus: I guess you can say that I’m working on the side of humanity, which by the way includes your friend and all those who believe as he does.  My work has been and is dedicated to assisting humanity in its decisions about living.  A major decision is facing humanity now.  Will you collectively choose destruction, death and eventual rebirth, or will you choose the next evolution of life from this point.  There is no judgment either way, good or bad.

TM: You almost sound indifferent.

Master Jesus: You really want me to choose a side don’t you?

TM: YES!  Choose, validate my point of view and give me the strength and courage to fight these bastards!

Master Jesus: And what about your friend?  Shall I tell him I support his view so that he is encouraged as well?  Or would you prefer I tell him he is wrong and he better get with the program, or else?

TM: Or else what?

Master Jesus: Or else he shall burn in hell of course.  Isn’t that what happens to people who don’t get with the program?  I’m pretty sure I hear that message quite often, throughout the world and from almost every religion, and evoked in political circles as well.  I guess we’ve moved beyond polite conversation haven’t we?

TM: I think if you just simply told my friend and his fellow believers that their path of destruction is wrong, and then they would change because it’s coming from you and you’re the man.  They aren’t convinced if I say it or if others in my tribe say it.  But they’ll listen to you.

Master Jesus: Really?  Why would they listen to me?  What am I offering as proof that what you want is right and true for them?

TM: They will accept it on your authority.  You are Jesus. In case you’re not aware, that carries a lot of weight.  I think they would yield to your point of view.

Master Jesus:  Believe me I’m aware of the weight I carry. So, it’s that simple.  If I appear on Earth and say to humanity, listen, here are a few things I’d like for you to do at this time, then you believe that everyone will respect my authority and follow those simple directions?

TM: Well, not everyone, but enough of them to swing things the other way.

Master Jesus: Your way?

TM: Yes, for the umpteenth time, my way.

Master Jesus: I just want to be clear about whose way it is.

TM: Since you’re such a stickler for this distinction, many of us who believe this is the right way draw that belief from your teachings.  So, I guess we assumed it was also the way you believed was right.

Master Jesus: I’m not sure I remember in which lesson I encouraged you to ‘fight the bastards’.

TM: Touché.  But that’s just my emotion speaking.  I’d rather not fight.  I’d rather you persuade them with your magic and then we could all live happily ever after.

Master Jesus: Again I ask you, why would they listen to me if they believed I was on your side opposed to their beliefs?

TM: You are beyond humanity and know things we don’t.  You are the man, the boss, he who rises from the dead.  They will just be relieved to know you really exist and that you have an opinion on these matters.  Of course they will follow what you say.

Master Jesus: They don’t believe I really exist?

TM: Maybe some of them do, but they think you’re returning some day and you’ll set the record straight then.  But until then, they are not going to follow your teachings unless you explain it to them in modern terms.  So, I guess I’m asking you to reveal yourself now and tell it like it is.

Master Jesus: You mean in your terms?

TM: Why don’t I just ask you to define it in your terms whether or not it resembles mine?  I’m really not caught up on it being my way.

Master Jesus: Okay, I’ll do that for you.  It’s a long story are you ready for that?

TM: Sure.

Master Jesus: Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away….sorry, different story.  But one closer than you can imagine to the real one. All of these stories have their origins in truth.  There are many entry points for stories because there isn’t a beginning you see.  At least there isn’t a beginning that we can identify in words that will express humanity’s story.  We can also include humanity’s spiritual journey and that gets us closer to a beginning, but even that isn’t completely a beginning.  I’m emphasizing this beginning business because humans are tethered to truth having a beginning and anything that doesn’t have a beginning must be false or non-existent.  You’ll have to accept that your story doesn’t have a beginning or an ending.  Are you with me so far?

© TM 2015

For Conditions on Earth Part 2 click here.

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Fear of Death and Life: Buddha with TMichael

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Fear of Life and Death, https://conversationswithjesusandbuddha.com/fear-of-death-and-life/
Fear of death and living

 

Conversation with Buddha and TMichael: Fear of Death and Life

TM: How does one accept death and the will to live at the same time?

Master Buddha: That’s not so easy to explain or understand.  The reason is because of attachment to living and then attachment to accepting death in order to be free from fear.  There is, in between the actual truth of acceptance of death and the first step, a period of elation at no longer sensing any fear around dying.  When the fear of dying has so long ruled the physical life it is quite a relief to no longer walk in fear of it.  However, there will come a test.  And that test will present an option to die or an option to live and that is when you’ll discover how attached you are to the notion of dying versus the notion of living and which one actually carries the most fear.  There are two parts to the fear aspect of living in the flesh.  The first is fear of dying and that preoccupies all your thoughts, emotions and energy to avoid its actuality.  Then there comes the fear of living, which exposes all the painful self-inadequacies.  That’s enough to make one embrace death, now no longer feared, as an escape from the fear of living.

Just as one has to face the fear of death, one has to face the fear of living.  The fear of living is the more difficult of the two because it is more difficult to imagine.  Death is universally the same, except perhaps in the actual method or circumstances of death.  Living on the other hand can be a slow form of death or a joyous expression of all that is.  You can choose which it is.  Again, just because one has the power to choose doesn’t make it easier.  You must understand what it is that you are choosing and have the skills to choose according to your individual nature.

TM: So, my question assumed there was no fear of living, only fear of dying.  How does the will to live then resolve with the fear of living?

Master Buddha: The will to live requires no effort because it is your innate spiritual will, which in the flesh is instinctual.  The fear of living is concerned with those matters of quality and choice.  How shall one live?  What occupation shall one choose to provide the essentials of living?  Shall one create a family, a marriage?  What will engage my thoughts and my energy?  Those are the questions of living that determine the quality of one’s life.

TM: Where do the self-inadequacies come in?

Master Buddha: That is the lifetime struggle for most humans.  It depends greatly upon the wisdom of one’s parents and the living environment that one is exposed to during one’s formative years.  But even under the best of circumstances it is unavoidable to deal with self-inadequacy to some degree.  In the middle, that which is normal, one sees that before a child reaches school age already the seeds of self-inadequacy are planted and many more shall also be planted during the years of attending school.  This is a tremendous challenge to change because parents are still struggling with their own self-inadequacies while trying to raise children, schools are populated with adults who are struggling with their own self-inadequacies and of course the children are in the thick of it as well.

TM: So, if I understand what you’re saying, it is self-inadequacy that is the root of our fear of living, not fear of dying.

Master Buddha: Fear of death is first, but it’s a mask for fear of living based upon self-inadequacies.  One must first confront fear of death and then begin the process of awareness of self-inadequacies and correction in order to reach the joy of living instead of the fear of living.

TM: What similarity is there between self-confidence and self-adequacy?  In Western culture anyway, adequate is mediocre and not good enough if one is to get ahead in life.  So where does this reconcile?

Master Buddha: Well, adequacy is a relative term in this case.  If the standard in Western society is excellence then that is what is meant by adequate, that is one must be excellent to be self-adequate.

Self-confidence can be genuine or a rationalization that one has created to cover for self-inadequacy.  There are only a handful of truly self-confident people, those who have mastered the fear of death and the fear of living.  Most people are spread along the spectrum of self-confident, yet still self-inadequate underneath, to self-inadequate as a constant in their daily lives.  The meaning of self-confident is to be truthful with one’s self.  So, in that case, there can be a conscious level of self-confidence and fears around self-inadequacy at the same time.  What I mean, is that you can be aware of your perception of self-inadequacy and still be self-confident in an honest way.  That is the point of transition that many people find themselves now.  They are exploring self-awareness, which leads to coming face to face with their self-inadequacies, which is giving them a genuine self-confidence that they are progressing toward joy in living.  It’s not always perfect and there is still illusion, but it is in the right direction.

TM: Can any of us really be inadequate?

Master Buddha: That’s for each person to determine.

TM: Yes, but we’ve determined for the most part that we are inadequate and you’re saying that’s a problem.  So, clearly we’re incapable of making this judgment.

Master Buddha: And by what standards have you determined that you are inadequate?

TM: We set the standard by looking around us and seeing the ones among us who are adequate and then compare ourselves to them.

Master Buddha: And how do you know what makes someone adequate?

TM: We’ve determined through our social consensus the traits that are desirable and those are the ones that form the foundation of our adequacy.  Then there are individual traits that one can have that deviate from the social norm that enhance our adequacy.

Master Buddha: So, under your system the guidelines are derived by social consensus and then measured by each of you as you see it in others in contrast to yourself.  Do you see others who are less adequate than you are?

TM: Of course we do.  There are others who are more and some who are less.

Master Buddha: Have you ever heard someone say really flattering things about you and you felt those things weren’t true?

TM: At first it feels good to hear those things, but there have been times then when I doubt those things are entirely true, maybe a little.

Master Buddha: Do you tell yourself about your qualities that make you adequate?

TM: Not often, but sometimes.

Master Buddha: Do you tell yourself about the times you are inadequate?

TM: Probably more so than the other way.

Master Buddha: Why is that?

TM: Because I’m inadequate more often than not?

Master Buddha: Well, you were a good sport to fall into my trap on this one. Although I know that a part of you believes there is much truth in what you said.  It’s hard in this world to counter the many messages of self-inadequacy.  And that’s what everyone wants the most, to feel adequate and have others recognize them for this.  It’s understandable that if you are telling yourself than you are inadequate that you would turn to others to get the feedback that you are adequate. What happens though when they confirm your belief that you are inadequate?

TM: That’s the worse when it all coincides to tell you that. That’s the worse kind of depression and despair I think; to feel worthless and incapable of living a good life.

Master Buddha: You have a fairly simple prayer that you recite to accept yourself as you are and know you are loved.  Because ultimately adequacy has to do with being lovable, don’t you think?

TM: Are you saying they are synonymous?

Master Buddha: I think so, even though adequacy has to do with a performance of talents that in total can make you lovable, what is someone if they are adequate but unlovable?  Are they happy?  What if they conform to all of the social standards of adequacy, yet they don’t feel others see them in that light and they don’t experience love in their lives?

TM: Well, that pretty much sucks.  So you become bitter or you try harder and harder to prove your adequacy, and lovability I guess.

Master Buddha: What is the prayer that you recite?

TM: It’s Love in Abundance.  There’s one line in particular that resonates with me in terms of self-acceptance and self-love.  “I am that I am and thus receive the blessings of love in abundance.”  If I’m feeling critical or judgmental of myself, I often recite that line with a substitution for “that I am”.  It could be, “I am selfish and inconsiderate and thus receive the blessings of love in abundance.”  It has the effect for me of embracing the worse things I could think about myself in love and then I just feel love and not the power of the criticism or judgment.

© TM 2015

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Spirituality and Governance: Jesus and TMichael

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Spirituality and Governance, https://conversationswithjesusandbuddha.com/spirituality-and-governance/ ‎
Spirituality & governance

Conversation with Jesus and TMichael: Spirituality and Governance

TM: Neither of you have ever taken much interest in politics and government in our conversations.  And yet both of those activities have such a major impact on humanity that I wonder why you have stayed away from those areas.

Master Jesus: There are Masters who work directly with those institutions and we coordinate with them of course.  Religion and spirituality must be transcendent, from the perspective of teaching, while incorporated as a matter of practical application.  Humans must be free to explore their personal spiritual nature without encumbrance.  If the process of spiritual self-discovery is intertwined with politics and government there is no way to allow complete freedom to the individual and control the many variables of a society.

Governments must be able to curb freedoms of its members to the extent that it is necessary to preserve peace and remove violence from their daily lives.  But spiritual freedom is absolutely necessary to the individual if he is to reach his pinnacle of potential.  He will in turn contribute mightily to society through his daily activities, like work and governance.  It’s a mistake to think that spiritual understanding is a code for social governance at the group level, especially as diverse as are the populations of Earth.

TM: Yes, but governments are made up of spiritual and non-spiritual people who have to draw upon some code that is embodied in the laws of the land.  Are you saying that the spiritual people shouldn’t suggest using spiritual understandings to guide the creating, enforcing and regulation of laws?

Master Jesus: I’m saying there is a fundamental difference between an individual understanding spiritual realities and a society choosing a code of conduct for its members.  One is based upon complete freedom to explore and delve deeply into personal matters, while the other is dedicated to finding the most superficial level of engagement across a diverse array of personalities that must live together in peace and harmony.  Without peace and harmony there is no point to governance because there is no point to living in a community.  Humans congregate because it serves them to do so.  Governance preserves the value of the community from a social perspective, not a spiritual one.  By its nature, governance will have spiritual overtones if it consists of spiritual individuals.  But it shouldn’t consciously strive to integrate spiritual codes into legal codes.

TM: I’m not sure I’m grasping this concept.  Let me state it and you tell me- so if the members of a society tend to be spiritual themselves, even though they may not consciously try to mirror their internal spiritual nature in devising laws, it inevitably will mirror their spiritual nature.  Is that what you mean?

Master Jesus: That’s close.  But let me put it another way that may help you to understand.  If I am a member of a society, I am also an individual.  I accept that my social freedoms intersect with other members of my society and I accept that I may not express all of who I am all the time in the context of society.  There is a governor so to speak on my actions in order to preserve the peace of my society just as others are doing the same.  We agree to blunt our expressions to the degree that it is in the best interest for us to do so.

I am an individual who is permitted complete freedom to explore my spiritual nature and so are the other members.  I can choose my beliefs and can worship whatever or whomever I choose in whatever way I choose.  Now the big qualifier is that I can do this so long as it doesn’t involve me violating anyone else’s right to enjoy the same freedom.  This means that my personal spiritual experience serves me individually and others who consent of their free will.  But it shall not be imposed upon others.

The US and Canada have the closest approximation of this arrangement, as do some European nations and other democracies throughout the world.  It requires a general sense of overall freedom in order to allow freedom for religious or spiritual pursuit. Governments that are authoritarian will not permit those freedoms because there will be an imbalance between the secular and the spiritual and eventually human nature will push for freedoms in the secular.  Dictators know this and thus control religious freedom to a level equal to or slightly less than the secular freedoms.

The measure of a government’s willingness to permit spiritual freedom for its members can be seen in how it treats secular freedoms. Presumably in the freer societies, members openly participate in the adoption of codes of governance.  More and more in your country have the leaders and powerful influences begun to strip away secular freedoms under the guise of security for all.  You can see how this is working out and they understand that they must maintain the balance with religious freedom, i.e. religious freedom cannot expand beyond the secular boundaries.  It will be a matter of time before small efforts will be made to curb religious freedoms.  Without an adjustment in this way, they risk losing the ground they have gained in reducing the secular freedoms.

TM: I can see why you stay out of politics.  So, I do understand the balance required.  But it seems like a difficult thing to measure when changes are subtle.

Master Jesus: It’s a difficult thing to measure under any circumstances because of the complexities of modern society.  But you do have a baseline of freedom from which any deviation can be marked.  Just as there is a political outcry against reduction of personal freedoms, so too will there be a rejection of loss of religious freedom when that moment arrives.  It is less subtle to those affected and they will signal the deviation from the baseline.  Just listen.

TM: Will you speculate on a motive for reduction of freedom by those in power?

Master Jesus: I think that it is a mix of motivations, some are consciously aware of what they are doing and others’ motivations are so ancient that they are operating on automatic reactions of fear and greed.  In modern societies, at least the past 2500 years, there has been recognition of this balance required between the secular and the religious, even when the religious right and might is used to govern the secular, and even when the secular powers have tried to extinguish or marginalize religious power.  Politicians and rulers have learned that there must be balance even when it is slightly skewed to one side or the other.  That may sound like a contradiction, but balance doesn’t always mean equal portions or weights; it isn’t needed to govern if your intent is to control others for your purposes.  There is point at which one can push his agenda to achieve his goals while permitting just enough freedom to keep the whole system from falling over.  The above statements, notwithstanding, the thing that cannot happen is that religious freedom cannot be greater than the secular freedom without the system toppling.

TM: Why not?

Master Jesus: There are two reasons.  The first is that religious leaders can be prone to the same corruption spurred by power and vanity as secular leaders.  If they are too much in a position of power because of an imbalance in freedoms it is more likely they will grab for the secular domain to pull under their power, which will force a reduction in the religious freedoms that helped them gain their power in the first place.

The second reason is that individuals are who free to pursue their spiritual life and spiritual understanding will eventually recognize the injustice in a system that too strictly rules their secular life and they will rise up against it.

So you can have a system whereby the secular freedom is equal to or slightly greater than the religious freedom and there can be balance. But the opposite is not true.  There must be a relative balance up or down the scale in the ratio of permissiveness to restriction.

TM: Well, wouldn’t the result then be a balance, i.e. secular freedoms would rise slightly and religious freedoms might stay the same, but drop relatively?

Master Jesus: Yes, that is the point of my statement.  A system whereby the religious freedoms are greater than secular freedoms cannot be sustained.  There will inevitably be an adjustment.

TM: So, how do you coordinate then with the Masters who work in the area of government?

Master Jesus: We coordinate very much in the same way you on the physical plane would coordinate such an effort, but without the politics of egos and fear.  We meet on a regular basis to discuss our respective plans and we identify areas that we can focus on together to bring about specific results that accomplish our respective goals. Please remember that we follow a plan that has been created by beings who are the creators of this world.  So, in that sense we are working within a general framework that has anticipated many of the variables that exist today and has also provided many of the solutions for us to follow.  There is a range of experimentation though and that is how we learn.

TM: I followed that, but want to know what you mean by “beings who are the creators of this world.”  That sounds like we’re back to the alien discussion when you phrase it that way.

Master Jesus: I won’t repeat ground that has been covered in that conversation.  But let me say that it takes awhile for you to accept the concept that there are other beings in the universe and that they just might have something to do with this planet and all its inhabitants.  When I use the term ‘beings’ I am of course referring to beings of a spiritual existence who have created all the worlds in this universe.  You cannot yet accept that this is true, yet you can’t offer an alternate explanation for how all this came to be.  This assumes an acceptance that there is more than just the physical existence of what one can identify through the five known human senses.  There is a great body of human scientific work to explain the purely physical part, and there is only religious work to explain what is behind it all.  And that work is antiquated for the times and is now being updated through release of new information.

TM: You’re right, repetition is needed to help me get to some of the larger ideas.  But I think I represent a lot of folks who have heard the same story for so long that it is difficult to let go of it even if we want to.  Most of us struggle with balancing our checkbooks and finding quality time with our kids and friends, or just quiet time to contemplate these matters.  I know you and the other Masters have compassion for us, but every once in awhile I feel I have to defend the difficulties of human life.

Master Jesus: All of the Masters who are in a position to lead humanity at this time have all served at one time or another in human form and well know the rigors of daily living.  We also know the stubbornness of the human ego and how it clings to beliefs and attachments to desires of the flesh for comfort and a sense of security.  We are reminded of our time in human form and what a struggle it was to go to sleep with the worries of the day upon one’s mind and how difficult it was to wake up and start the day when those worries had not receded through the night.

But don’t mistake our compassion as an excuse for the inherent laziness of the ego.  We appeal to the soul of humanity to rise above the petty grievances of the ego and recognize your true selves.  It is your ego that frets over the checkbook and whether or not your hair is clean enough, thick enough or pretty enough.  It is your ego that wastes time and energy fretting over the million and one things that have to do with your self-image and how others see you that make you attractive to one another.  There are deeper issues that will satisfy the soul’s longing for connection with each other, but you must drop your infatuation with the appetite of the ego and embrace what is important to your spirit.  That is the role of the Masters, to bring you to that realization.

TM: Is it laziness of the ego or just ignorance?  I know that when my ego runs on mind energy it tirelessly pursues its agenda; there’s nothing lazy about it.

Master Jesus: Yes, perhaps you are correct on this point under certain circumstances like worry or anxiety.  But then there are the states of contentment for creature comforts that bring a wave of self-satisfaction to the ego and create an attachment to its comfort zone.  This is more to my point of laziness.

TM: Would you say that the ego is the biggest problem in getting to the realization you’re referring to?

Master Jesus: The ego was born with the endowment of mind and elevated mental capabilities of humans.  It has grown in proportion to those capabilities.  Therefore, you see magnificent sized egos who also possess great powers of creation.  Likewise you see powerful creators with virtually little egos.  The ego is the primary impediment to realization of the true self, but it is not a permanent barrier.  Nor is it in most cases absolute.  That makes our work possible to succeed.  For you as an individual to determine your success, it is a matter of allocation of personal energy, i.e. how much goes to ego manufacturing and maintenance and how much goes to integration of the self and higher creativity?

The ego is a creation of the personal self, meaning the corporeal-self.  It is, in and of itself an amazing creation, except that it also insane and that negates the ingenuity of its creation. What human has not confused the ego for the true self?  That is its power.  It supplants the identity of the self and runs the show so to speak.  The problem of course is that, since it isn’t real it requires enormous energy to create the illusion that it is real.  It enlists the emotional nature because this allows it to manipulate the desire aspect, which it needs to preserve its own control.  The physical body, to the extent it is capable is the servant to the ego and emotional desires.  Thus one can see the corporeal-self and its identity as the ego.

TM: Okay, that’s a lot to absorb.  One piece at a time.  If the ego has been created by the corporeal-self, then it exists and is real, right?

Master Jesus: We have covered reality versus illusion, but can do it again if you wish.

TM: Maybe the lite-version to help with this.

Master Jesus: If I write a novel and create a character, is that character real or imagined (an illusion)?  Would you expect to encounter that character on the street in front of your house?

TM: I could argue that the character is real within the context it was created.  But for me walking down the street, no it is not real.

Master Jesus: Your ego and everyone’s personal ego are the characters created by you and everyone else.  Your ego seems real to you as you live within the context that you have created for the ego and it will furnish you with other characters that it will script into your story for the purpose of maintaining the profile it wishes to maintain.  In this vein, everyone is living within the context of a script written by her ego, who starts out as the character but transforms into the author.  It is the filter through which you and everyone else lives. This is a personal reality in the way the novel is a personal reality of its creator the author.  But from an objective observer outside that personal reality it is seen for the fiction that it is.

To summarize, the ego is your personal illusion, which all humans share and collectively create an entire field of illusion.  Your true self lies hid behind the curtain of this performance waiting for reality to take the stage.  The soul must make the recognition that the ego is not the real, true self and begin to dissemble the illusory world created by the ego.  The ego of course believes that it is the real self and has already built in defense mechanisms for this attack on its existence.  This is a great period of time of tension between the soul and the ego as the soul struggles to let go of the ego and the ego struggles to maintain its place of reality.  The spirit is ever planting clues for the soul to recognize the truth in order to keep its appointment with reality and throw off the ego as impostor.  Maybe this goes for thousands of lifetimes until finally the soul breaks free of the illusion and embraces the spirit, which begins the phase of integration.

TM: So, we’re all insane and live in an illusion because you and other spirits are our objective observes and tell us so.  And your work is to teach us how to escape our illusion and arrive at the reality that you show is reality.  How do I know that’s not just another illusion and one a damn sight worse than the one I’m in?

Master Jesus: As a teacher I don’t define reality for you, but I help you reach your true self who will inform you about reality.  I can witness for you the truth, which I present and you can decide.  And yes, at some level there is a truth, beyond which, we are incapable of knowing reality.  That of course means that we are by some measure, in an illusion, but that point is so far beyond where we are today that it isn’t worth much to ponder.

TM: Damn, this system requires a lot of trust doesn’t it?

Master Jesus: Yes; that or fearlessness.

© Zoe 2015

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Loneliness and Love (Part 2): Jesus and TMichael

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Love and Loneliness Part 2, https://conversationswithjesusandbuddha.com/loneliness-and-love-part-2/ ‎
Loneliness and love part 2

Conversation with Jesus and TMichael: Loneliness and Love (Part 2)

TM: Is it an addiction?

Master Jesus: Of course it is.  You cling to the old story out of comfort in the fact that it is known, while the new story isn’t known. Humanity has struggled with this dilemma for eons.  Always there are those who support change and those in the majority who resist it.  This is built into the evolution of the species.  If change was too rapid, the status quo might never reach its peak of efficacy.  Remember the status quo was selected as the story to abide by at some point.  When it begins to wear down in efficacy a new way is discovered.  Those comfortable with the old way resist the new way while the others champion the cause of the new way.  The tension is created and at some point things change.  The addiction is the rationalization that something is good for you when it has passed the point of being so.

TM: So loneliness is an addiction?

Master Jesus: Loneliness is an experience of what love isn’t, which leads to a bridge experience of hope that leads to the promise of love.  Back and forth it goes.  It is the story that is addictive; the experience of loneliness is part of the story.

TM: Easier said than done to change it.  How do we just let the old story go?

Master Jesus: That’s not easy.  But consider that it starts with awareness that the new story may be true. Then gradually you begin to notice evidence of the truth.  Over time as you welcome the truth the old story wears down until it no longer holds you in its grasp.  The ones who understood the truth and who agitated for change usually go through this process too.  The timing is different for everyone.

TM: It seems overwhelming at times, the idea that we have so much to understand in order to alter our present course.  Sometimes the will to keep things the same over powers the forces of change.  But you’re saying it has always been that way?

Master Jesus: Yes, and every generation thinks it’s worse for them; that the stakes are higher.  By the way, the forces of change challenge the bedrock of status quo.  The energy of the status quo is not so fluid, having crystallized over time.  I say that metaphorically to underscore how thought forms behave.

TM: May I change the subject given the subject of change?

Master Jesus: See how easy it is?

TM: What are the greatest expressions of love that you observe in our culture of modern times?

Master Jesus: There are expressions of love through individuals and through institutions and they are in abundance throughout the world every second.  Believe it or not it is the predominate emotion.

TM: Really?  It doesn’t seem that way.  I thought you said in our last conversation that the other energies were stronger right now and that you guys are trying to strengthen love to make it dominant.

Master Jesus: We are strengthening the manifestations of love, so that when the force that comes in behind it comes, love will be expressed so fully that everyone will experience it.  It’s not what you observe so much because of the filters of observation.  To many, expressions of love are signs of weakness, or at the very least non-productive.  I observe the intimate moments between a parent and child, which is possibly the most intense expression of love.  There is romantic love that for some is the only expression of love that they have ever known.  There is the expression of love between friends; that love being rooted in loyalty and forgiveness and most closely imbibed with no conditions.

When I witness communities coming together to help one of its members through a crisis; that is an expression of love.  An act of creation inspired by love can be a beautiful song, a painting, a home crafted with the hands of its inhabitants or a building 50 stories high that embraces the dreams of its residents.  I find expressions of love in the works of many.  You call it survival, but I say that it’s love. Providing for one’s survival is love.  It has been distorted and made into a material quest for more, but it is nevertheless the ultimate expression of love for one’s self.  It doesn’t matter if it is used to gratify the ego or punish one’s neighbor or competitor.  It is an act of love to survive.

TM: Hang on just a second.  You’re saying that love can be used to gratify egos and punish people and that’s okay?

Master Jesus: I’m saying that survival is an act of love, perhaps the ultimate act.  The act itself is not diminished by misinterpretation.

TM: So, if someones intent is to survive, that’s love. And if they happen to kill a few people along the way, that’s okay?

Master Jesus: Hmmm…. that’s a bit extreme isn’t it?  We’re talking about love and you’re mixing in attributes of what love isn’t.  I appreciate the confusion that exists around absolute rules and definitions.  That is what humanity wants you know, precise definitions and guidelines. I’m sorry to disappoint you in that regard, but it doesn’t work that way.  Every time you create a black and white answer to a complex system you inevitably end up with contradictions in practice.

Let’s take these one at a time.  Survival is an act of self-love. Providing for one’s loved ones for their survival is an act of love. The next part of your question then moves to the means of survival; how one goes about securing the provisions for survival.  The means to an end debate has gone on for some time, but hasn’t really been decided has it?

TM: It has for me, although it is a major struggle at times depending on how refined you make it.  I wouldn’t kill someone in order to get food or water.

Master Jesus: Let’s say a group of people in your community formed a militia and commandeered the food and water supplies.  They are determined that only certain people are entitled to these supplies and the rest shall perish through starvation.  In a sense, they are killing you and others like you. Assume you have no other outside resources. Is it self-defense for you to harm them in your quest for survival?

TM: I don’t know what I would do.  To do nothing means I would die and if killing them was the only means to survive myself, then that doesn’t seem right either.  What’s the right thing to do in that case?

Master Jesus: There isn’t a right thing to do in this case.  There is only what you would do and what they would do.  We’re assuming this scenario from your perspective of survival.  But what if we peered into their perspective and discovered that their actions are necessary to the survival of the community because they have discovered that there is a lethal, communicable disease running rampant throughout the community and they are able to isolate the infected ones from the healthy members.  The food and water provisions are likely to be disrupted because of this calamity and so a quarantine of the sick ones and rationing of the scarce provisions is the only way for the healthy members of the community to survive and rebuild the community.  Should all the members of the community perish because they haven’t the will to allow the ones with a lethal disease to die without wasting their means of survival?

TM: These are the scenarios we pray we never have to face; the stories of stranded expeditions where people resort to cannibalizing to survive.  It hurts to even imagine what I would do.

Master Jesus: We have examined an extreme case that most people never have to face.  But by degrees from this, people do experience it in some form or another.  That is why it is so difficult, for example, for a wealthy person who is many degrees from starvation to understand the plight of those who are inches from starvation.  People don’t know to whom they should attribute their good fortune to survive comfortably. Some thank themselves, some thank God and some thank others.  Others don’t know whom to curse for their misfortune.

TM: As of this writing, the aftermath of the tsunami that struck countries in the Indian Ocean bears witness to much suffering and at the same time much compassion by wealthier countries.  What can you say to this situation?

Master Jesus: You’re right the suffering is immense and the outpouring of aid once it was realized the amount of devastation has also been immense.  This is an example of what I’m talking about.  The next step is to recognize the chronic suffering by hundreds of millions of people throughout the world every day.  In some cases emergency aid is warranted, but for the most part it is the long-term commitment of resource sharing that is needed.  The tension exists between the aggressive tendencies of humanity against the tender heart of humanity.  This can be measured by the level of fear in the minds of those in control of the resources.  The greater their fear, the more they rely on aggressive tendencies (even though they’re couched as defensive).  As fear is diminished, so they are open to loving response.

It’s rare to find an individual with the capacity to share what they have with others.  Sometimes their sharing is limited by their fear that maybe they won’t have enough for themselves when the time arrives.  Sometimes it’s because they don’t know where to begin. Sometimes they follow the institutional giving route that makes it easier to identify to whom to give and how much.  Groups behave in a similar manner.  To the government sharing add the component of strategic politics.  Sharing starts with increasing individual capacity for sharing by reducing fear.  For this reason individual awareness is a major focus of spiritual work.

© TM 2015

For Loneliness and Love Part 1 click here.

For Love and Loneliness Part 3 click here.

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Loneliness and Love (Part 1): Jesus and TMichael

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Love and Loneliness Part 1, https://conversationswithjesusandbuddha.com/loneliness-and-love-part-1/
Loneliness and love part 1

Background Conversation with Jesus and TMichael: Love and Loneliness (Part 1)

This is the third conversation with Masters Jesus and Buddha.  I’m never sure how it’s going to start.  I sit.  And wait.  I think of things to say but they’re not really the things to say only forced ideas that my mind impatiently pushes into the foreground to get it going. But then a question springs up and that’s the beginning.

Conversation with Jesus and TMichael: Love and Loneliness (Part 1)

TM: Why are people in my culture so lonely and are people in other cultures lonely too?

Master Jesus: That’s a good question.  Relevant for many people, yet misunderstood in this age of plenty and hectic daily living.  As I look at the times that have passed and note that throughout human history and human suffering, never has there been as much loneliness relative to so much material and social progress.  How could this be?

TM: That was my question.

Master Jesus: Don’t you have an idea why it is so?

TM:  I don’t really know.  I observe people who are lonely and I feel sad for them.  Sometimes I see people who are surrounded by friends and family and still they are lonely.  They’ve somehow lost contact in a way that they don’t know if they exist or not I suppose. I’ve had moments when I felt alone, but they seemed fleeting like a day or two and then I remembered something that connected me and I was back.

Master Jesus: Do you imagine hope has anything to do with the feeling of loneliness?

TM: I don’t think so, but since you brought it up I imagine that you think it has something to do with it.  Do you?

Master Jesus: No I don’t.  But I can tell you that people who are experiencing loneliness feel as if there is no hope for them.  They are hopelessly isolated.

TM: If that’s so, then hope does have something to do with it.

Master Jesus: Really?  And how is that?

TM: Well, if there’s an absence of hope, then hope has something to do with it then hope has something to do with it—the reason why they’re feeling lonely.

Master Jesus: What if they’re wrong?  What if hope is just something that fills the gap in a perception of life filled with holes?  What if hope merely replaces for a moment the underlying sense of despair that is the theme of a disjointed view of life?

TM: Yes, but that is the point of hope.  It’s sort of a wild card, a get out of jail free card.  It bails you out when you don’t know exactly what has you down, whether it’s loneliness or depression or sadness.  Hope is a handy antidote.

Master Jesus: That’s an interesting way to view it.  I see love fulfilling that promise.  So is hope a bridge then to something else?

TM: I guess so in a way.  It’s getting out of someplace, an emotional place that feels yucky.  I’d say it’s more of an escape “out of” rather than a bridge.  Although I think in order for it to work, obviously it has to be a bridge to something better than the thing that one is getting out of.  But since you brought up love, how is that different from hope?  Isn’t it the promise of something better but in a more generalized way?

Master Jesus: Love is more than the promise of something better.  It is all there is.  Any other state is a creation of someone who isn’t connected consciously with the only state there is.  So that that doesn’t confuse you, let me state it another way.  When you are experiencing loneliness, fear, doubt, depression or sadness, you have created those states, but they’re not real.  They’re illusions.  Love is real and the only state.

TM: When you say they’re not real and love is, what do you mean?  What does ‘real’ mean?

Master Jesus: The limitations of language are real.  ‘Real’ means the genuine thing, the enduring, absolute thing.  It is the be all, end all.  There can be no other.  Something is unreal when it poses as something real. Sadness poses as reality, and so does loneliness.  Those states pretend to be real to give you the experience of what it would be like if they were real.

TM: That’s fine for you to say, but how can we know that is true?  When people are lonely or sad they are those things.  That is a real experience.

Master Jesus: I see how you trap yourself in believing that those states are as real as love.  Let’s say that only one thing can be real.  Let’s also say that everything other than that thing is unreal. The only reason you would believe that the unreal things are real is that you believe the real thing is unreal.

TM: Now you’re messing with my head.  I don’t follow you.  I know love is real.  When I experience love I know it and it’s real. Then there can be a moment when I experience loneliness and it’s different than love and for that moment it is real and love isn’t activated or present, at that moment, so the other thing is and it’s real.  Why can’t they all be real?

Master Jesus:  So, by your reasoning all things are real and none are unreal?

TM: Yes, I guess that’s true.

Master Jesus: But only one of them can be real at one time, is that it?

TM: For the most part, yes.  But I think there are times when I experience more than one state at a time, or there’s some overlap. Often I can sense the transition from one state to another.

Master Jesus: What causes the shift then, from one to another?

TM: I don’t know, it just shifts.  Thoughts trigger the shift I suppose.

Master Jesus: And you create the thoughts, is that correct?

TM: Yes.

Master Jesus: And you create the thoughts with the intent to shift from one state to another, or is it involuntary?

TM: Well, mostly I think if you’re depressed or lonely then you’re motivated to shift out and so it’s a conscious act.  If you’re in a happy or joyous state and you start to slip into another state it seems more of an unconscious act.  I mean people basically want to be happy and so they strive to stay that way.  If they’re sad they try to get to the happy state.

Master Jesus: I noticed you used happy and joy, not love.  Why is that?

TM: I remember what you’ve said, that happy and joy are states of love.

Master Jesus: So does that make love a meta-state?

TM: Could be I guess.

Master Jesus: If love is a meta-state and happiness and joy are states that reflect love, then what meta-state does loneliness and despair reflect?  Or do you consider them to be meta-states?

TM: I consider them to be undesirable states.  But I don’t know the answer, maybe they reflect evil.

Master Jesus: Now we’re getting somewhere.  So, you believe then that love and evil are the meta-states and from those the others come into momentary reflection?

TM: I wasn’t aware that I thought that, but maybe I do or maybe I just don’t know and you’re putting words into my mouth.  I have never thought that deeply about it.  I guess I’m like most people I just live my life from one state to the next trying to stay a little longer in the good ones and avoiding the undesirable ones.

Master Jesus: Well, that’s an honest answer and one that represents the majority, if not all, the human race.  But surely you have thought deeply about these things, as have others.  Is it that you don’t trust the conclusions you’ve reached?

TM: I think it’s more like I’ve never really concluded anything.  I resort to the old story of love and evil, good and bad, happy and sad, because that’s easier than risking a new story that may not be true.   And at least the old one is accepted by nearly everyone.

Master Jesus: It’s time to risk a new story.  I think you already have, but you’re not sure whether or not you want to tell it.  What if you’re wrong, right?  Then you’ve duped yourself and everyone else who believed you.  I’ve told it and others have told it.  It gets changed a little here and there so that it looks more like the old story to make it more comfortable for everyone.  So, I’ll tell it again.

TM: Please do.  I’m willing to listen.  Is this going to answer my original question about loneliness?

Master Jesus: Yes, and more.  Love is all there is in this universe. It is the meta-state.  Every other state of emotion you experience is either a reflection of love, or it is a state you have individually and collectively created in order to experience that which isn’t love. Evil is the creation of humanity and is unreal.  It appears real because you believe it is as part of your collective agreement to do so.

You experience life one moment at a time on Earth.  You experience life on more than the Earth dimension.  The meta-state of love is on all dimensions.  You create within the realm of Earth during your incarnation here.  Your creation does not extend beyond this dimension.  You can choose to create with love or you can choose to create with that which is not love.  At the point when your creation is purely from love then your boundary of creation will expand.  That is the moment we are all waiting and working for.

The challenge of humanity is to synthesize all that is in your human nature with all that is in your spiritual nature.  Love is in both and will temper the fusion.  Give up your addiction to your own creation when it isn’t in alignment with love.

© TM 2015

For Love and Loneliness Part 2 click here.

For Love and Loneliness Part 3 click here.