Category Archives: Prayer

Rod of Healing: Maitreya with TMichael

Rod of healing, https://conversationswithjesusandbuddha.com/rod_of_healing/
Rod of healing

Background to Conversation with Maitreya and  The Rod of Healing

TMichael: As I discuss in the FAQ’s, I used this exercise along with allopathic and alternative treatment when I had cancer. Within 3-4 weeks my stage 4 cancer went into complete remission. Several people have since inquired about the rod of healing.  So I posed some questions to Maitreya after realizing I still didn’t understand very much about it even though I could attest its efficacy.

TM:  What is the rod of healing (ROH) and how does it work?

Maitreya:  It is an energy bundle that runs the length of the spine and corresponds directly with the nervous system.  The nervous system controls all of the body functions as the communications conduit and likewise does the ROH do the same to stimulate the nerves, which in turn stimulate the necessary secretions and coordination of healing properties in the body.

To activate the rod of healing one has only to recognize his or her responsibility for personal health.  This is not something that comes from outside oneself.  The body is capable of producing all the healing necessary to maintain perfect health.  The imbalances created are due to a number of factors influenced by ones disconnection with this truth from the time of infancy.  As one ages and becomes more and more focused on outside stimulation the natural healing mechanisms atrophy.  You may ask how is this so?  It’s because the channels of energy that keep the body vibrant and healthy rely upon use, and use is reliant upon awareness and knowledge of what is true about one’s nature.  There is no amount of outside diagnosis and treatment that can cover as thoroughly and intricately what the body through the informing spirit can know and do.

The rod of healing is a part of every human but lies dormant and atrophied due to lack of use because of over dependence upon outside treatment methods.  There is a real predicament however and that is that outside treatment has displaced the ROH and therefore cannot be abandoned in most cases without deleterious results for a person.  Each one will have to know his or her level of awareness and acceptance of the ROH.  Where it is low, then reliance upon outside treatment should be continued until such time as there may be a substantial shift in awareness.  Where it is high, then more reliance on the ROH is possible with good results.

TM:  So how does one activate the ROH?  Are you saying that you just have to be aware that it exists and it will work?

Maitreya:  It works when: 1) you are responsible for your own health, i.e. you are mindful of your body and what you do to it and with it; 2) you are aware that your spirit is capable of managing your good health through the ROH and the body’s healing mechanisms.  The degree of success you will have is based upon the strength of your acceptance and use of this knowledge.  It will vary by person depending on his or her place on that continuum.  It is never too late to work with it.  The success prayer groups have experienced are an example of the strength of this power.  Even though the power of prayer is external to the person receiving the healing, they activate the ROH by strengthening ones own resolve and personal spiritual power.  If your spirit is powerful enough to animate physical life you must understand that it is capable of maintaining perfect health.

TM:  So, it’s our ignorance and our seeking outside correction for poor health that prevents us from having perfect health?

Maitreya:  Yes.  And the correction for this will have to be gradual.  As more and more people experience healing from within and there are studies that can document this truth then there will be wider acceptance and use.  That’s how most things grow in proportion.  Start with where you are and grow from there.  As you have success share it with others and maybe they will do the same.

TM:  There’s no instructional manual I suppose.

Maitreya:  One isn’t needed.  Allow nature to run its course and it will preserve itself to the extent it is supposed to.  Excessive management by second-guessing the natural processes will interrupt it and sometimes produce okay results and sometimes not.  It is a lot of unnecessary work.  But again, humanity is where it is and it is not in a place to abandon its hard won medical achievements before it is ready.  Rest assured humanity is moving in this direction and will merge the application of medical technology with the natural process within the next one hundred years. As humans gaze back on this time the treatments of today will be viewed with the same amazement that one living today might view techniques used two or three hundred years ago.

© TM 2015

Sexuality In Western Society (Part 2): Jesus and TMichael

Sexuality Part 2,  https://conversationswithjesusandbuddha.com/sexuality-in-w…society-part-2/
Sexuality part 2

Conversation with Jesus and TMichael on Sexuality in Western Society (Part 2)

TM: We left off in the first conversation talking about infidelity, divorce, and the role of guilt, shame and judgment within a heterosexual marriage (also monogamous relationship).  What would you like to add to that part before we move on?

Master Jesus: What do you wish to know?

TM: Is there anything that husbands and wives, lovers, mates can do to better understand the contemporary shifts occurring around sexuality within their relationships that would help them provide more joy for themselves and their families?

Master Jesus: First of all, they can stop and recognize that there are many changes going on in Western culture and that as much as each one is a part of the shift each one is also affected by the shift.  This requires compassion for all, even when one feels more affected and less the one producing the effects.  This wouldn’t be so difficult if there weren’t so many changes occurring simultaneously in your society.  The compounding of so much cultural shift is devastating to sensitive ones and challenging to everyone.  There was a time when most people knew their place in society and knew the code of behavior that went with it.  This has been disintegrating for some time now and it is blurry for most people.

This is why you see a severe clinging to groups and organizations that emphasize the ways of the past.  It’s an effort to put the brakes on rapid changes.  So, for those of you who feel changes are not happening quickly enough to satisfy your desires, have compassion for those who feel it is happening too quickly and they want relief from the compression of fear.

I can tell you the number of prayers that are uttered each day to slow down society’s speed of change and to return to better days.  Also, I can tell you the number of ones that wish for it to speed up to get to the point of new awakening and joy.  The goals are the same; both types want peace and joy in their lives.  They have different tolerances and notions of how to get there.  Have compassion for each other.

TM: So, what is the most significant change with sexuality between marriage/life mate partners?

Master Jesus: The most significant change will be equality between the genders.  The imbalance of male dominance as the authority will give way to equality.  This is not easy, as has been evidenced over the past one hundred years and more specifically in the past fifty years.  Some men are reluctant to give up this power and some women are all too anxious to take it from them abruptly.  It will work out steadily over time.  There are a great number of people of both genders who embrace this and make it work in their daily lives even though they don’t see it routinely supported in society at large.  That will change as more and more people shift into this mode and more examples and reinforcement are evident.

TM: What kind of time frame are you suggesting?

Master Jesus: I’m not suggesting a time frame, but pointing out the process.  Time is shifting according to the acts and acceptance of all those beings in the process.  Understand the process and where it is going and do what you can to support and encourage it with love and compassion for how difficult it is for everyone.

TM: To continue with heterosexual relations, is sexuality between men and women more about social adjustment right now rather than sex acts (physically speaking)?

Master Jesus: It always has been, it’s just more exaggerated now given the major shift we just discussed.  There are the basic physical acts between partners and those are important in conveying intimacy, tenderness, comfort, passion, intensity, joy and an array of emotions that spring from each person and from togetherness.  But sexuality is not confined to those acts and represents attraction on all levels.  Whether or not this is registered, depends on the conscious awareness of the partners.  In other words, there are energetic exchanges occurring on many levels and some people are aware and others are not.

You’ll witness the current interest in tantric sexual practices, which is an effort to connect to the many levels of consciousness available.  The emotional level most people experience, but many still are blocked in this way.  Others are primarily attracted to the mental level.  These are represented by fantasy exploration and imaginative experimentation.  The spiritual level is rarely if ever experienced by humans.  Those who do experience it have a difficult time describing it to others because it is beyond your normal sensual range.

TM: Is the spiritual level more related to the emotional level?

Master Jesus: Yes, in that it is a hyper-feeling sensation.  Yet it is beyond the one-to-one experience of the physical sex act; meaning that what many mystics reported in their experience of rapture, a feeling oneness with all, is closer to the reference.

© TM 2015

For Sexuality and Western Society Part 1 click here.

Health and Balance: Jesus and TMichael

Health and Balance, https://conversationswithjesusandbuddha.com/health_and_balance/ ‎
Health and balance

Conversation with Jesus and TMichael: Health and Balance

TM: Can you speak to issues of health?

Master Jesus: Yes.

TM: How is human health affected one way or another by our degree of spiritual awareness?

Master Jesus: As you become spiritually aware you make different choices.  You will make different choices regarding things directly affecting your health as well as those things that affect your health indirectly.  We have talked about the role of judgment.  Even those at the higher levels of spiritual awareness can possess the characteristics of judgment, which can adversely affect their health.  That’s an example of how choices that may seem unrelated can affect health issues.  The more obvious choices most people know about, but they may choose to continue unhealthy behavior.  Or they may become so opposed to those behaviors that they develop unhealthy reactions to themselves or others engaging in those behaviors.

It’s not so easy to provide a list of do’s and don’ts.  Having a set of rules seems the right thing for many people, but in the long run it only runs a greater danger of producing intolerance and a judgmental nature, which can and is more dangerous to the health of humanity.

Spiritual enlightenment is not so much about one right way for everyone as it is about discovering the right way of living for each one.  There will indeed emerge a set of principles to guide society in everyday affairs, but I wish to point out that without a spiritual awareness on the individual level, the societal guidelines will suffer.  As individuals progress in understanding and spiritual intelligence, they will raise the standards of societal behavior.  Society cannot rise higher than the largest group of enlightened beings in its ranks.

TM: How does disease, as we describe it, and the health issues you’re describing intersect?  Aren’t there viruses and bacteria that wreak havoc with our bodies that have nothing to do with spiritual enlightenment?

Master Jesus: There is a host of factors to consider when examining the full spectrum of human health issues beyond spiritual enlightenment.  But that will be the bedrock that all systems can be built upon.  Bacteria and viruses are living organisms as are humans and animals and plants and so on.  If you truly want to understand the role of each organism in the evolution of Earth, then study the past.  If you want to know the future roles of organisms study the present.  Humans have so upset the balance in nature that microorganisms are reacting in record numbers.  You have only begun to see the potential of these organisms.  The present path will force a collision of humans and microorganisms on a scale that is beyond your imagination.  Much of this is unavoidable at this point, but much can be done to avert disaster on a large scale.

TM: Are you talking about epidemics?

Master Jesus: Yes.  You remember our discussion about Armageddon?  This is one of the ways it will work out.  This is a result of humanity’s actions, not that of a vengeful God punishing you.

TM: I remember a quote, “You are not punished for your sins as you are by them.  And the same for your virtues, in that you’re not rewarded for them as you are by living them.”  So, how did we create the ground for epidemics?

Master Jesus: Ecosystems are in balance when all living organisms operate within their sphere and natural tendency.  Humans have taken the role as lead and dominant species because of divine right.  With that right comes responsibility.  Humans are made up of all that exists in the world; so, there isn’t a thing that isn’t you.

TM: I must interrupt.  You’re saying by divine right?  What does that mean?

Master Jesus: Let me restate that to say by divine order.  There is a hierarchy of life, both on Earth as there is in the universe at large.  The hierarchy is determined by characteristics inherent in each species that create specific roles to maintain harmony and balance in the whole system.  It allows that there are times of disharmony and imbalance, but the correction comes as a result of each species finding its role.  Despite the belief that the universe is largely random and chaotic, which it certainly appears to human observation, there is an order beyond your comprehension.

TM: Beyond our comprehension or beyond our ability to see?

Master Jesus: Both.  It is something you must take on faith, or belief without evidence.  Among those of us who witness wonders in the universe beyond anything humans see, we can barely glimpse the order even as we comprehend it.

TM: Suddenly I feel like the dumbest kid in class.

Master Jesus: Someday humans will comprehend it, but first things first.  For now, and this is what makes it such a challenge to teach as well as to accept as truth, it will be a matter of faith.  Humans do as well with matters of faith as any being.  It always comes down to trusting the motivation and knowledge of the source.

TM: Back to what you were saying, there is nothing in the world that isn’t us.  I skipped too many science classes to understand that one.

Master Jesus: There are basic qualities of energy that compose life on Earth, which are in turn reflected in the chemistry of material existence.  Humans are composed of all those basic qualities of energy found in every species on Earth.  The two most abused beliefs by humans are that humans have dominion over all species and survival of the fittest species.  The unremarkable intelligence that springs from those simplistic notions is creating your own Armageddon.  Your role as steward has been usurped by your pride as being superior.  Your role as spiritual leader has been sabotaged by your fear of spirit.  Without a turnaround in these conditions, you will have to experience the consequences of these beliefs carried to their natural conclusion.

TM: To clarify, are you saying that humans don’t have dominion and that survival of the fittest is inaccurate?

Master Jesus: Humans have reduced the meaning of those truths to rationalize behavior that is inconsistent with the integrity of those truths.

TM: So, what I’m gleaning from these discussions is that we’re pretty much screwed on a number of fronts from economics to epidemics if we don’t change our ways.  Is that it?

Master Jesus: You will experience the reality you have created.  The masters and I want to give you every opportunity to recognize that you are creating the reality and that you will experience it as you create it; so, pay attention to what and how you’re creating.

TM: When you say masters, that sounds very Eastern.  It may not be understood in the West.

Master Jesus: It means teachers.  We use it as a way of deference to one who has achieved a high degree of understanding and enlightenment.  And while some prerogatives of authority come with the title, it is largely a title of achievement.

TM: Whom do the Masters teach?

Master Jesus: They mostly work with disciples on the spiritual plane, who in turn work with disciples on the physical plane.  However, we have begun to teach directly to those on the physical plane as a matter of expedience and some small measure of experiment.

TM: What kind of experiment?

Master Jesus: We want to see how rapidly humans can assimilate spiritual knowledge if a master administers it directly.  If this successfully accelerates the process, then we will organize group sessions for those who are ready.

TM: Is this the first time this has happened?

Master Jesus: Periodically we test for receptivity along these lines.  This happens to be one of those times.

TM: Lately I feel these discussions have taken on a stream of consciousness, that is, flitting from one thought to the other without ever finishing one thought.  I wonder if this will deter from what you need to convey.

Master Jesus: What would you like to conclude?

TM: All this Armageddon business spurs more questions than answers to me.  Please summarize the health issues relative to spiritual progress.

Master Jesus: I’m expressing these ideas in the most accessible way for most people to understand it.  It’s time to expand beyond ideological boundaries and reach common understanding.

Spiritual progress is needed on the individual and group levels at this time.  The time is critical due to the fact that humans have created a reality that is headed for disaster.  Before it reaches the point of no return, you are given a chance to become aware of your actions and the consequences.  Then you must decide what you will do.  Health issues are wrapped up in the whole system.  I can’t separate them for you or explain their nature out of context.  Deterioration of human health is and will ensue at an increasingly rapid pace despite the illusion of medical advancements to cure disease.  The root cause of this can only be corrected at the spiritual level, because it is from there that the physical level will conform to new understandings.

TM: People don’t understand disease and “why me” is the big question.  I know folks who live very pure lives; healthy attitudes and diets, and yet they suffer through all sorts of physical maladies.  How can you tell them the root cause is something spiritual?

Master Jesus: I can’t tell them the cause of their illness is spiritual unless I know them.  I’m speaking in broad terms for the bulk of humanity, not for specific individuals.  Having a healthy diet and being spiritually inclined is helpful, but there are so many variables that can trigger an illness.  Often, for spiritual people, an illness reflects a clearing that they are ready for; meaning that they have reached a point that they can clear energy from their body that they have been carrying for a lifetime perhaps.  It may be clearing from past lives.  Very few people are so spiritually advanced that they create a shield from illness.  But they can handle an illness better than if they were spiritually ignorant.  And healing is about understanding spirit and using it practically.

TM: Does prayer help?

Master Jesus: Yes it does.  But really the person who is ill must have a will to heal or nothing is going to heal him or her.  Healing begins within.  External assistance then accelerates healing by strengthening that which already exists and is in motion.  There are some excellent studies addressing these claims.

TM: What’s happening in cases where the ill person wants to heal and his family and friends are praying for healing, yet he dies anyway?

Master Jesus: Again, you’re asking a very specific hypothetical question that really is impossible to answer.  I know you want to know these things and yet I can’t provide the answers.  This puts the burden on you to investigate for yourself in these very specific cases.

TM: How would I do that?

Master Jesus: Truly know the person fitting the description above.  Do you really know what is in his heart?  Do you know what is fear of death and what is true yearning to live?  Do you know the guilt one feels as one nears death, and that it is at times unbearable?  Do you know the longing for a life fulfilled and whether he is satisfied this is done, or there is more to be accomplished?  Is there a gentle acceptance of death?  Does he feel the pull of loved ones to keep him in this life for their sake?  You must ask these questions and many more to fully understand an individual case.

TM: Are natural disasters prompted by humanity’s decisions too?

Master Jesus: Humanity has an impact on the environmental well-being of Earth.  Weather patterns are most affected by humanity’s impact as the population grows.  Earth is a living entity and as such has its own physical responses to that life that will occur with or without the presence of humanity.  Earthquakes for example are purely geologic events.  Global warming though is largely caused by humanity’s impact, but in other times has been naturally occurring.  So while humanity must take responsibility for its impact on the health of the planet, it is in your own best interest to do so for your health.  You are not separate from Earth.

TM: I know I’m asking questions out of the realm of education and religion, but I’m curious.

Master Jesus: I can speak on a number of topics, but I will bring it back to spirituality.  This is the time for education to take center stage; otherwise, the age of synthesis will be missing parts to compose the whole picture.  Humanity must see the whole picture.

TM: There are a lot of new spiritual books, conferences and workshops.  Are they right in what they teach?  Some of them seem to contradict other teachings, or at least present diverse ways of accomplishing the same end.  How do we know which ones are accurate?

Master Jesus: Choose the ones that feel right for you.  There is so much diversity because there is diversity among humans.  Do you really believe for a moment there is one right way for everyone?  At the same time, while you are choosing the right method for yourself, allow others to do the same.  Blend your way with others.  Any method that teaches that it is the only way is the one to avoid.

TM: We’re such social creatures though; we like to belong by identifying with sets of values.  But then we make the mistake of thinking our way is superior and we want everyone to follow that way.  If we could accept what you are suggesting I can see how it would work.  I don’t see how to undo what is done.

Master Jesus: It will be undone by substituting a new understanding; the one we’re discussing; one that allows each person to select his or her inspiration without judgment or ridicule.  The social connection must be viewed from the perspective of identification with the whole of humanity rather than the provincial identification.  This is happening already within many circles and it will expand with time.

Ancient civilizations could not imagine human organizations spanning the entire world- they had no definition of the entire world beyond what they could see, and what they could see was limited.  This civilization sees into the universe and yet still suffers the myopic view of its own insular world made up of petty prejudices and grievances.  This will change.  It will change because of a disaster that will create an environment that forces unity, or it will occur because of an enlightened populace.  You choose.

© TM 2015

Love In Abundance: A Prayer from Maitreya with TMichael

Love in Abundance, https://conversationswithjesusandbuddha.com/love_in_abundance/ ‎
Love in abundance

Background to A Prayer from Maitreya with TMichael

TMichael:  This meditation was given to me many years ago by Maitreya.  After reciting it daily since then I have just begun to understand its significance and meaning to me.  Prayer and meditation are often emblematic of the mystery of life, subjective and personally revealing in their own way and time.  Please receive this prayer in that spirit.


 

        Love in Abundance

With every breath that I breathe in I receive love in abundance, and
With every breath that I breathe out I send love in abundance into the world,
I am filled with love in abundance.

As I receive love in abundance I use my courage, truthfulness, goodness and beauty to enhance its value for the benefit of all.
I follow the path of love and wisdom.

I am grateful for all that I receive in love in abundance,
And I am grateful for all that I share with others.

I am that I am and thus receive the blessings of love in abundance.

Amen

© TM 2015

Fear of Death and Life: Buddha with TMichael

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