2006-07-27. Be Independent, Know Yourself
Lightline #84
Topic: Be Independent, Know Yourself
Group: Lightline TeaM
Teacher: Michael
TR: JL
Opening
Jerry: Dear Michael and Mother Spirit, what a thrill it is to talk with you this way, to hear your living voice coming directly to us. We deeply appreciate this opportunity. We would only ask that you help us be open, help us entertain as fully as we can, to make use of this time. Open our hearts and minds to be one with you. All of our questions and wonderings and other human complications will come in due time, but for now, just help us be with you and feel your presence, feel your love. Amen.
Michael: Good evening, this is Michael. I say good evening again, my children, for you truly are. Mother and I look upon you this way, for you truly are ours. And by the same token, we truly belong to you. We are here for you. This is our purpose, this is our joy, this is our fulfillment. And we are available to you.
Lesson
I notice there has been some discussion as to how much of your lives we are right a part of, so let me reassure you we are only a thought away from your conscious consideration. We know what a unique and novel ideas it is that, for those of you who have been thinking your whole life now of your mind, to realize that for such a long time now, going back to your earliest memories, you have had spiritual company. Primarily this is your Father fragment, the Morontia companion if you will, the co-creator of your soul. This has been so much a part of your thinking, so much a part of those good notions that occur to you in times of crisis, and just day to day living, so rarely perceived by you as such, but so much a part of your life.
Mother Spirit is so much a part of your thinking abilities, your reasoning, your realization. She does not make specific thoughts, as does your Father fragment. But her mind spirit adjutants are with you from the time you are a very small child, and you more or less recapitulate the history of the human race. One by one, as you mature her spirit adjutants are able to make contact with your mind and augment your own natural abilities. Indeed, it is when you cross that threshold, and her spirits of worship and wisdom can make contact with you, you simultaneously achieve your rather immature but potential full human status, and your Father fragment joins you. Though He too, like Mother Spirit, has always been there. You have my Spirit of Truth, my children, helping you sort out your rather complex human reality. And I am here, but a short prayer away. But we are truly spirits, my children.
Our joy is letting you be, respecting your free will – teasing, encouraging, enticing, inviting – all of the above, certainly. But we desire most of all that you be the masters of your own little ship. Use us as pilots and guides, but you have your hand on the tiller, and we do all we can to encourage you to steer your own course so you can feel the wind in your sails, so you can feel the deep currents beneath you. This is the respect we have for you. This is the love and the delight we have. And so you are independent to a large degree, so much so you can offer us a gift. There is that within you you can give to us. And all we ask, my children, is just your conscious regard. Just take a minute or two in your busy days to say hello. “Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad. Won’t you share a little of my life with me? This is my life, and I offer it to you to share, to enjoy.” This is your love for us, my children, and it sets us to glowing.
And so tonight I will be very frank with you. I would encourage you to be this independent being. I would encourage you to be all yourself. I would encourage you to know yourself deeply, for this is your gift to both of us. I should say all three of us.
We know you are highly concerned now about certain planetary problems. We would have you see that from our standpoint all the power of the human race rests within each individual. So let me explain that all of your social organizations, from the smallest to the largest, the reality is the individuals combined. This is a simple fact, but it gets complicated along psychological lines by the phenomena you know of as identification. And this is all the more insidious to the degree it is unconscious. And so I would have you think, my children, on whatever it is you identify with. This is how institutions, whether societal, or church, or governmental, nation-states, this is how they derive their power. And all the more so to the degree that the members have this unconscious identification with them, this unquestioned identification.
So I ask you to think about this, for the progress of the human race depends upon this, upon each individual withdrawing all this unconscious identification, so each individual thoroughly questions who and what is deserving of their loyalty. This is the only way, this is the progress of the human race. For every institution, every organization is questioned by its members this ways, where these enormous abuses and excesses of power can only be stopped when each individual withdraws that unconscious identification.
But how do you do this? Where so you find the courage to be truly eclectic? Where do you find the freedom to begin again, and pick and choose? Indeed, you have to be very light hearted and tough minded indeed. You have to be willing to stand alone within your mind sometimes to feel just how much spiritual company you have. But the spiritual strength comes first, the stillness, the breaking the habits of your day. First to be still for a while, then all through your day just to stop and wonder, “What am I doing? Why am I doing it? Who am I doing it for? Who is reaping the benefit of what I am doing? What are these consequences. And oh yes, hello Michael. Hello Mother. Just checking in, letting you know I am doing my best to be me, and know who and what that is.”
If you would feel your spirit, my children, you have to exercise it. You have to be free and unafraid to question anything. Remember neither Mother nor I ask any kind of blind belief. We only ask you entertain and try what we suggest, and come to your own conclusions, because you are capable of them. But this is how you progress, and ironically this is how these organizations – these governments, these churches, these societies – this is the only way they progress, is when you give them that feedback. And you become an independent thinker, and you choose to examine yourself and then examine them.
I am fully aware this sounds like some kind of idealism, but I am rather indifferent to that. I say these things because they are real, and this is what works. This is a basis for transformation. This is how these organizations and institutions derive their power. It’s the way in which all the members, if they are just unconsciously identifying, shall we say, with this political party or that, this so-called religion or that, leads to a kind of simple minded way of life. Whenever you let someone else do your thinking for you, or even begin to suggest that you should not look at all viewpoints, you should not be open to challenge anything presented to you, they are disrespecting your potential. But enough. I think you get the point.
Isn’t this a marvelous stillness? Sometimes things have to end before other things can begin. So be not afraid to stop. Go ahead and feel that push of habit. Feel what small persona you derive from identifying with this or that, and just let it be, let it drop away. Be not afraid, my children, a fragment of God himself is writing your story. You are growing a soul. Can you feel fresh wind rising, my children? Can you feel the strain of spirit? Can you /feel/? Mother sends you her love. It, too, is but a thought away. Pause, say hello. Enjoy this peace I bring to you. Let it be a new beginning, and then a resting place once again.
We thank you, Father for making each of us unique, like no other in all creation. Help us realize this so that who we love, and how we love, who we give our power to, is truly deserving, for we realize this is the price of our freedom. And we thank you for this awesome potential. Amen.
Do you have any questions or comments, my children? I am always happy when this becomes a two way affair.
Dialogue
M: Hi, Papa Michael, this is M. Thank you very much for this wonderful peace and stillness. I received a question today from brother F during the course of the day, and he has been very concerned about the transcript that talked about the population decimation, and I know someone else had also asked you that question in one of the other transcripts that were sent by Jerry. So he ensures me that this question is not for curiosity sake, and he is asking it to truly understand where things might lead to. So his question is “Does the current situation in the Middle East, is this the beginning of the population decimation that the other transcript spoke of? And whether this war that is now going on can be avoided by any mean?”
Michael: Yes, M, to answer a question like this brings you face to face with an enormous seeming paradox or contradiction of the world situation. And it was mentioned by Mother Spirit in her last transmission through the Marin group that you find yourself both in the middle of a Renaissance like no other, just the sheer amount of information and ability to contact different points of view, as I mentioned this evening, has never been greater, even for vast amounts of the human race which are relatively illiterate. Now you have small villages dotted all over the world, where they fire up their little generator and point their antenna at the sky and bring in the world.
This is proceeding at such a fantastic pace. But like the other Renaissance you think of, several hundred years ago, any time you have such enormous change happening so quickly, a large percentage of the human race rejoices and thrills to this new found knowledge, this ability to question what they are simply presented with as an accident of birth. You have others who are screaming slow down, too much, too soon.
All these institutions and organizations I talk about are organic with the living people in them. Sometimes the very leaders themselves indulge in the most, the deepest kind of unconscious identification with this organization that has given them power and identity and meaning. So they see any kind of contrary, opposite information as a direct threat. This is what you see in the Middle East. You have a contention here of human races that goes back to Biblical times and before. All these events have the potential, in terms of warfare, to expand. These are decisions made by living people, day by day. But in every situation like this, every crisis, all through history men and women have risen to the challenge and found the wherewithal to love not only their own fellows who are living and dying for them, but even for the enemy. And sometimes the enormous buildup of pure arrogance and hubris that leads to these head to head confrontations, its almost as if nature herself demands some kind of payment for this kind of hatred and disrespect.
Remember the lessons Mother and I taught about your true human estate is standing on the edge of a huge chasm of the unknown, because this universe is not a fatalistic one. You are not just living along a track that is already preset. So asking if any particular instance like the Middle East right now will inevitably lead to some enormous catastrophe has no meaning. That is still to be decided.
S: May I say something here?
Michael: Certainly.
S: Earlier you said that individual combined are important for a resolve, but when we have so many individuals combined in various areas, it becomes very complex and complicated. Can you answer that?
Michael: Well, my son, you are seeing the true reality of the situation. I would only wish it would be infinitely more complicated and involving a greater degree of individuality amongst all these members. It is when you have thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of people unconsciously identifying with, shall we say, a certain political party, a certain religious organization, it is this simplicity, this simple-mindedness that gives those organizations and institutions such enormous power. You have a few individuals acting instead of all these hundreds of thousands that make up that institution. You have a few individuals with this power to decide for all these others, because they are not deciding for themselves. It is this kind of simplistic thinking that must be broken down, and so you have more and more power being withdrawn from some of these leaders, who are simply way over their heads.
These are some of the supreme ironies, as you know of, is a dictator more free or less free than some of his followers? Does he have a tiger by the tail, without the faintest idea of how to let go? Because the slightest deviation from the way he has presented himself, its suicide, he would be killed instantly by one of his lieutenants. So yes, it is very complex. We could only wish it would become infinitely more complex as these huge masses, these great organizations and institutions begin to break down and lose their power as the people of the world begin to consciously bring themselves up to date, and day by day evaluate who and what they are, who is really serving their needs. Does this help explain the situation?
S: I appreciate that, yes. That’s very good, thank you.
D: Michael, it seems like there is a great need for communication among people so they can share their views. How do we do this?
Michael: Well this is the brightest ray of hope, my son, is this digital world coming into existence. This is why we encourage our children to read the Urantia Book. If you have read it, read it again, for the part on the history of the planet here, the evolution of society, government, different social institutions, gives you a wonderful feeling of all the hundreds of stages mankind has come through, from the most primitive savages right up to the present. And when you look at the communications that have been around since the first radio, then television, now the internet, with your communication satellites, where, as I say, almost anywhere in the world now a little village can buy a television set and a generator and bring in the world. This is also where these institutions are feeling a threat . I am sure you are aware that certain institutions calling themselves religions have for endless centuries now made it an article of faith of their followers that you do not go and sample other viewpoints, other opinions, that’s considered a sin. They want to keep this hegemony of opinion and viewpoint to a very selected few. And that is what must end. The human race must mature. Each individual must grow up and decide for himself what is real and what is not.
With respect to a cataclysm coming, I can only suggest you look around. Anywhere from a third to a half of the human race is going hungry tonight. You have hundreds of thousands of people starving to death this very moment. And for the most part this is because of very cold, cynical political manipulation. So much of this is very deliberate, and the rest is pretty much a matter of indifference. This is happening right now.
Mother had a transmission, a recent one was just thinking in terms of crime – the small scale warfare – the very personal one and two person kind of warfare going on. When you think of what the nation-states are spending on their military preparedness and activities, think of something equal to that amount in terms of simple fraud, misrepresentation, just the preying of one human being on another. The human race is so enormously productive. You can almost think there must be some kind of fear, this must be some innate fear in human beings that if all this warfare and crime were to cease it would be a paradise within a few years. Its almost like there is some kind of fear of the future, fear of paradise we’ll call it. Yet how can you get there without each individual reassessing from a deep spiritual security within themselves?
D: Excuse me again. Is it not the purpose for everybody being knocked down to completely being out, and then to rebuild? Or how can we do that when there is so many people that are grabbing for power, but when they lose the power, and they are knocked down completely, is this not what we are coming to on this? And we will re-establish ourselves?
Michael: Well, you must realize, my son, that this takes place one person at a time, and on a microcosm within each person one small step at a time. If you, shall we say, identify with a certain religion, a certain political party, a certain social class, a certain way of life, you don’t turn that around on a dime. You can only do this within yourself one small step at a time, by first being aware, by questioning what you are doing, by exercising your freedom to do something better. And so this will happen, planetary wise, this will happen on a large scale, on a macrocosm of the world, one small step at a time. As people become more independently minded, the institutions will change to accommodate that. This is not something that is going to happen overnight. I am just pointing out the reality of the only way it can happen, and the way it is happening with this enormous, enormous communication taking place now. Does that help answer your question, my son? It seems like as if you are thinking it is all going to happen like in a few years.
D: No, it just seems that if everybody is, as we see in disaster situations where people work together, that is what makes it happen. And it just seems that everybody has to be knocked down to a lower level before we can realize that.
Michael: Well yes, my son, this is where nature has certain laws that, shall we say, if you have an overabundance of people, overpopulation that is out of control, then starvation or warfare will readdress the balance. We are just trying to suggest a way to do it before that happens. If the people in what you call the developed world can get off their glut of using the resources, there would be more for everyone. And actually, ironically it would be better for them, those people who are literally dying of excess. Nothing would be better for them than to, shall we say, simplify their life. But that again calls for a maturity on their part to start living healthier, stronger, more spiritually fulfilling lives.
D: I appreciate that, and I thank you very much.
Michael: You are welcome, my son.
K: Hi, Dad. I am going through an interesting experience of kind of withdrawing unconscious identification with social groups, particularly religion. In my own experience, you know most of us are brought up in a certain religion – I was brought up in the Catholic church – and as I grew older I didn’t feel like it fit with me, and I chose to join the Methodist church. And now after a while, after going through some spiritual growth myself, I am starting to feel maybe I don’t fit there either, and started looking around for some other church home where they seem to get it spiritually.
I am kind of looking for a spiritual community that is not so hung up on this dogma or that dogma. And the interesting reversal in my thinking was, when we are young we are taught you are supposed to think this, you are supposed to believe this, you are supposed to measure your beliefs by the beliefs of the group. And now I am coming to the other angle, and saying wait a minute, this group is saying this, but that doesn’t seem right to me. I am starting to measure what the group belief or dogma is by my own spiritual growth, and starting to find that a lot of these institutions, and some of their older ideas, are really not a fit with what I am learning in the Urantia Book.
And I am trying to find a new home. And then I have also thought, “Why isn’t there a Urantia church, after 50 years?” And I am thinking that maybe the reason is that as people begin to understand these things, they realize that well, an institutional church maybe isn’t all that important. But still I have something of a desire to find a group worship experience that I can bring my children into and have them have that opportunity to grow. And I just wondered if you have any comments on how an individual finds that spiritual group that resonates with them as they grow?
Michael: Well congratulations, my son, you are well on your way. You are doing exactly what I was suggesting this evening. Keep in mind that true religion, or the word really means each individual’s personal relationship to God. And if you want to think about existentially it’s your relationship to reality, because that is God’s creation. And we keep reminding you it is always bigger than what you can imagine. But as you find within yourself truth, what works for you, what is true for you, then you have some basis for evaluating. This is a spiritual exercise here. Value, you have some means, something there within you with which to evaluate. And so it may be a choice sometimes of do you stay in a certain institution, or a certain religion, a certain church, and help them along. Come up with the new ideas, suggest the next step that they might take. That is a wonderful value you can give them. Or do you simply go out, as you are doing, and try to find like minded individuals so you can have a social component of your devotion?
I am just so happy that you have found this independence of mind that this particular problem could even occur to you. Don’t forget, also my son, you can start your own organization. You can just express yourself more fully. It helps you know what you believe sometimes, trying to explain it to others, starting with your friends and associates. And all of a sudden you will find other individuals, and you form your own church this way. There are several Urantia type churches that have formed, but for the most part they are still pretty much what you call study groups. Just people who get together and open up the Urantia Book, and sometimes they will pass it among themselves. Different people will present different topics. Other groups just take a chapter at a time, as it comes. It is the social aspect then, of your belief. It is truly wonderful. Just don’t be too anxious to leap into something else quite yet. Enjoy your independence for a while. Take your time. Be choosy. Share what you know and keep reaching for more. Does this help you?
K: Yes, it certainly does. I have thought about starting a Urantia Book study group in my community, because there isn’t one here, with the thought that we could share some time together. And who knows what would eventually develop from that? Sometimes I feel that the true religious experience is not so much what I get from that hour in the pew on Sunday morning, but it is more the time that I spend in my chair at night after everyone goes to bed, and just sit down and say, “Hello, Father,” and just spend some stillness with you. So yes, I think I will just explore this independence and keep an eye open for like-minded souls and see where it goes from here.
Michael: Well I just have a kind of a notion you are not going to be disappointed. There is just a big, enormous world out there, my son, for you to discover. You just have to step off, and sometimes you won’t know. There is no way to know what is going to happen next. But something deep inside you should, like a little animal perking up its ears and coming awake for the first time, something should tell you you are getting closer to truth by doing this.
K: Yes, indeed.
Michael: So good luck, and be in my peace.
S: Hey, Master, it is S in Salt Lake, and I am grateful for you to come by and tell us to be independent of thought, and sometimes I wonder if I am too independent of thought. I wonder if you have a few words for transitioning from having a very good friend nearby, and now she has moved away to Philadelphia, and just to keep on keeping on, and wait for the hour to come and to be patient with spirit? I wonder if you would have a few directions in how I should apply my time?
Michael: Well, my son, it seems like part of you is suddenly missing. And that is not an illusion; that is very real. When you shared your life with someone close by, a dear friend, and they are suddenly not available just so close by, you very rightfully feel them gone. And so it is difficult but necessary to stay with the positive aspect, because of the very degree you miss them is the very degree you had them for a while. And a lot of my job is reassuring people there is this super reality called a soul, where nothing is truly lost, nothing of spiritual value is ever lost. Turn it around and remember everything you do of spiritual value is forever. This is yours. You just earned it.
Now you have to rediscover you are still complete. You are still all there. Sometimes people even deny themselves this because they need to go through a period of mourning to realize what they have lost, and hopefully not be so crushed by that that they lose contact with all they had. This is the real essence of life, is to stay current, stay in the present, continually letting the present moments go, as they go into the past. And it takes strength and courage to do this, just to continually let go. And yet, by doing so you find that you are not building barriers between yourself now and all those wonderful memories, all that you did have and did share. So take some time out to remember and be thankful for having such a friend. And in time you will be ready, when you feel yourself more complete, you will be ready to venture out again, and have your full self to offer into another friendship. Throw yourself a little time. Reminisce a while. Does that help?
S: Thank you so much, Master. I appreciate you being honest.
Michael: You are very welcome, my son. Be in my peace.
And it is still very still, is it not? There is a peace that passes understanding, because you can’t really hold it, you can’t capture it. Its more what happens when you let go. Just acknowledge it and enjoy it. Let it fill all of the little hollow spots. Such a large component of my peace is Mother’s love, this nourishing you can feel, letting you know you are complete. Are there any more questions or comments this evening?
S: Michael, I have a comment. This is S traveling in Baltimore. I have this comment I would like to make. I was brought up in a church, but never practiced, then never associated, every time I tried to practice and associate with a church. I have been reading the Urantia Book for 20 – 25 years, and never really could get involved with any of these institutionalized religions. I try instead to live my life and associate with the Father fragment within as much as I can. But I find myself almost numb as far as being able to express the truth of the Urantia Book in day to day life with friends and associates. But my spiritual life is still very active inside, and I try to live the truth that I have discovered. But this numbness that I feel, what I have associating with people – is this something that I should be worried about, or I should try to over-express myself in the truth that I have found? Or should I just more try to live those truths?
Michael: Well, my son, it seems there is a genuine gap opening here. And this is another way of thinking – this may be a kind of an awareness of frustrated desire. Because your heart wants to sing, but it is not quite certain how the song will be received. And it can be very real, this numbness is trying to drive you out of yourself, and to fulfill it with some kind of response.
I do appreciate the difficulty of sharing the Urantia Book. Human beings can only, at least initially, understand or comprehend anything by comparison. So the very fact it’s a book, they compare it to any number of other books. And how do you say to someone else that of all the books in the world that have ever been written, this one is unique? You can ask them to open the Table of Contents, and they will ask you like what are all these different beings? What’s a Perfector of Wisdom? And so you may be shy about saying this is an extra-human, this whole book was written by extra-human beings. It sounds like science fiction or some kind of fantasy or crazy cult. And believe me, it has been called all of those things.
So, my son, appreciate your spiritual predicament. Appreciate it. Give yourself credit for being in this predicament, because it means you have this enormous wealth, this enormous great discovery within you that wants to be shared. So you have at least taken this first step – you have read the book and you have enjoyed it, or you would not have stayed with it so long. Now you have got to find some wise ways. And to me, the wisest of all, in your predicament, is to tease. Actually if you love folks, you will tease them a bit.
If your friends have a feeling about science fiction, well present that part of the Urantia Book – the science part. Tell them here is this book, it goes all the way from sub sub atomic theory clear up to how stars are formed. If they are interested in history, say here is another version of the history of the planet. If they are into philosophy or psychology, religion – do you see what I mean? You find a way of presenting that part to them that they can have some immediate comprehension of, and let the totality, the enormous totality of the whole book kind of creep up on them, as I am sure it did you once upon a time. Does this help?
S: Yes, it does. But the teasing aspect is something difficult for me, because I find that most people these days, after you stop talking about work, and the things you have to do, they drift into sarcasms a lot of the time. It seems like relaxation equates to sarcasms in conversation in a lot of situations. So the teasing part can quickly drift into sarcasm, which I try not to approach.
Michael: Well, this is one of the reactions you get. You have to maybe seek out those folks who just are interested in truth. And be aware that probably for every 50 people or so who pick up the Urantia Book, maybe one out of all that group will ever finish it. I mean it is an enormous undertaking on almost all levels of your being – your heart, your mind, your intellect, your spirit – everything is challenged. So one step at a time.
The other way to look at it is this desire to share is going to lead you perhaps to a different group of people, or a different (keeping with my theme for tonight) a different kind of person. And that might be good for both of you. Do you see what I mean? (Uh-huh.) Seeking out people who can, shall we say, realize and accept your sincerity without needing to make fun of it, might be a good quest for you. These might be deeper, truer friends who are on the same path, you might say, as you are, and who can appreciate this gift.
S: This helps. Thank you very much.
Michael: Well good luck, my son. Its always a bit tough being a minister, so I would avoid at all costs being a missionary preaching to people. That is what I mean by teasing them is just throw out little hooks and see if it catches anybody. But if you need to find, if you need to look for and feel for those folks who might be open to this, I think it would do you a lot of good, too. Be in my peace.
S: Thank you.
Michael: As an after thought, let me add for all of you who may still be with us here, once you open the Urantia Book and begin to immerse yourself in it, it is unavoidable, my children, you will find yourselves living in two worlds. If you have read the book through, or even a few times, and can begin to comprehend the enormity of it, it even becomes more so. You have to watch you don’t start boring people with this endless wealth of information you have now on everything, as I said, from theology to philosophy to psychology to history. So easy does it. There are compensations, spiritual, deep compensations for this ability to live in two worlds – one of a fifth revelation of truth to the human race – and the other in what you might say a day to day conventional notion of what science and religion knows. I can only assure you that the stretch is good for you, whether you fully realize it yet or not.
Closing
Are there any more questions or comments this evening? Well if not, let me close. As I said tonight, I want to build a little fire under you and encourage you just to keep going in this striving to find first, my children, your own truth. Feel your deep tie with spirit within you. Realize how much Mother and myself and your Father fragment are part of your life. For it is from this, what we have been calling a home base, your own unique home base with us in spirit that you get the ability to choose, to exercise your free will, to create yourself, create your next step, one small step at a time. And this is what really adds to your soul. Mother Spirit and I appreciate any time you can give us, any time you simply welcome us to share the present moment is our delight, because this is a true gift. There is that you within you, of you, as you, this unique creation in all existence of God himself. And we would simply have you appreciate it, cherish it. Be strong within to overflowing, to bubbling over, to where you have to start giving yourself away.
Be in my peace, my children. Deeply, deeply rest in me. Let this day go. God’s got a brand new one for you tomorrow. Good evening.
