WELMEK

Learning To Live

July 5, 1998

Good day, my friends. This is your friend and teacher Welmek. Today I would like to continue with what we began at our last session. For those who were not here, let me explain what we talked about. We said that a friend had come to you and asked what is the purpose of life. We said that when attempted to arrive at the very essential explanation that the purpose of life was threefold: to learn, to love and to live. All of these are what comprises the basic elements of life. Today, I would like to continue with these thoughts regarding the purpose of life. We began to discuss the inter-relationships of these words. Let us think of that for a moment, how would they interrelate. We would need to learn to live and to learn to love. We would need to love to live and love to learn, and we would need to live to learn and to live to love. I want you to think for a moment upon these six combinations, ask yourself, which seems most difficult for you to understand or practice. Which would you have the most difficulty in explaining to someone? Instead of giving your answer, I want you to ask someone in the group what they think it means.

Comments from students.

Welmek: Your answers were very good and very insightful. It pleases me that you continue to grow and learn. I am honored that I have been able to play a part in this growth. You, as well, have helped me to learn, to live and to love. We are all teachers and learners at different times. You see this quite clearly, I hope, today.

As I listened to the answers and sensed struggle as you try to identify what you most struggle with or to answer your brothers’ and sisters’ questions, it occurs to me that it would be worthwhile if we were take each of these six combinations and to explore each in depth at future meetings. These are so fundamental and they delve very deeply into this very core of who you are and what life is all about. I will take some time today to respond if you have questions, but I believe it would be worthwhile to explore each in depth at a future session.

As I listened, the question that was most frequently asked was how do I learn to live. The difficulty was stated quite clearly. Your lives are filled with many demands and pressures, and so where is the joy? The secret of learning to live is to enjoy life. What does enjoy mean? It means to be in joy. And what is joy? Joy is a feeling of love, happiness, serenity, and exhilaration. All of these elements radiate through this gem; all are facets of this gem we call joy. As was said, you must search in your experience for what brings you joy. You must begin by answering this question for yourself. Perhaps you find barriers. Perhaps you think if you had more money or better health. Whatever it is, these things would allow you to experience more joy.

But, you see my friends, if you begin to look at life in this way, you will never find the happiness and joy because there is always something else that must be there first. It is as if you have always put up a new barrier before you allow yourself to find and experience joy. Where does joy come from? Joy comes from learning and loving. Do you not experience some joy, some elation when you discover new truths? Whether it is a new book, new subject in the material life, or whether it is part of this path you now walk and find new discoveries, insights, and understandings about spiritual growth, does that not bring you some joy? Do you not enjoy this walk?

Where does love come from? It comes from relationships. You will find it difficult to love others if you do not first love yourself. Where does the love of yourself come from? It comes from within. You must find, you must search, you must make contact with this spirit of God that lives within you. For after all, this is the very source of love itself. When you begin to feel this love through this contact, you begin to feel loved. And the feeling of being loved, does it not create joy? As you make this contact and as you feel this love inside it is only natural that you should want to share this love with others.

As it was well said, see the child in each person. As you see that child, you see all their hopes, their longings, their future, the love that exists within them. This is still in every person no matter how disguised or beaten down or tarnished. It is still there within each and every person. You could be the one who helps them rediscover some of that love and joy they felt as a child. And so in sharing this love with others and sharing your life with others, this feeling of connection will bring you joy.

When you look at life, you must ask yourself, how am I looking, how am I perceiving? Imagine for example that before you are three sets of glasses. In one pair when you put them on, you see only the good, you see only love. When you put on another pair, you see difficulties, problems, discouragement, despair, frustration, anger. The third pair has two lenses. Through one lens you see within, you see love, joy, truth and goodness. Through the other you simply see reality--the way others are, they way your circumstances are. With one pair of glasses you see only spirit, but you do not see life and you do not see the opportunities to learn from life, so the tendency is to experience inner joy but to run from life to avoid it. Through the other set of the glasses of despair you see only the difficulties of life. Does your text not tell you that primitive man did not smile much? Why is that? Because primitive man saw life as a struggle every day just to find food and to save himself from the beasts and his enemies. Life was a constant struggle of fear. But through this third pair of glasses you can see the good in life and yet you can also see life as it is. In this combination, you can then shed light upon life. You can help to see where things are and what the next step might be to help bring things into a greater light and truth.

So the next time you feel this negativity, ask yourself, “Perhaps I should take these glasses off and put on another pair, and perhaps, I will see the world somewhat differently.” Is the world so negative with only the few specks of light, or is the world full of light that is occasioned only by temporary shadows? You choose how or which pair of glasses you will look at the world through.

And so what does it mean to learn to live? It means you must find some joy in your life. First, you will find this joy through finding the love of a relationship with the spirit that indwells you. As you feel more loved , you will feel more loving and you will find joy within and without in your relationships with God and in your relationships with others. Part of living is to learn. Do you not find joy in finding new insights new understandings new truths? Whether you see these in other people if you are a counselor or a teacher, or if you see these in the work that you do or the books you read, they occur at all levels--material, mindal, spiritual and they can be enjoyed at all levels.

Each day, you should choose something will bring you joy. Is your pursuit of the spiritual path bringing you some new truths and a greater feeling of love? If so, is that not bringing you some joy in life? Perhaps you need to find more of that or perhaps you need to realize how important that is. Refocus each day, take the negative glasses off, put on the positive glasses that will help you see this joy of learning truth, of learning love. That will help you balance your day to help you bring some joy into each day. If you balance these two when you finish , you will be wearing the other glasses, the ones that bring joy, spirit, insight and helping you to see the world as it is. Then you see life in balance and objectively. Life is a learning process.

First of all, think about who you are. You are a child of God. If that does not fill you with joy, my friends, then you do not yet understand what it means. Take time in your day to focus upon what that means. You are free, you have eternal life awaiting you. In fact, it is now. You have a life to live, to learn, to love, to experience joy, happiness, and love. Everything you can imagine is awaiting you, but to learn to live now you must find that joy each day. You must begin to understanding this and look for it each day. That will being some joy into your life.

What do you wish to focus on? Where will you put your energy? Where will your effort be? It is true you must earn a living. You must take care of your daily responsibilities, but counterbalance this for time for some joy and inner peace and it will help you see your inner toil in a more joyful way. I believe your morontia mota in your text says, “The true poet can see poetry in the route affairs of commonplace existence.” What does that mean to you? The true poet understands in a few words what life is all about.

If you are a child of God and if you have this eternal future, what are you so worried about? Why do you take yourselves so seriously? Why can’t you laugh as a child as you did at one time? Why can’t you have fun as a child? Because you live in this world you have created of your own ego and you sometimes have difficulty stepping away from this. This is why we have come to teach you. I know we say it over and over, and I know you hear the words many times. But, my friends, all through your eternal career you will be taught to take time each day and go within, for this is the source of joy, love, and happiness. As you make contact and bring it more into your soul, into your very being, then you will find each day will be more joyful.

You will find you are learning to live, to live in joy, to live in the excitement of what you may discover, to live in excitement of the new people you may meet or the new opportunities which might be brought to you. Do not see them as problems and obstacles. See them as opportunities and challenges to learn to love. For that is what they all are. You say, “Take these away from me.” But if we take all experience and opportunity to learn away from you, believe my friends, you will not experience joy. You will experience eternal boredom. But you must adjust your attitude, your perception, your understanding of who you are. So you have a terrible accident and you die tomorrow, so what? What are you worried about? Your life goes on. The real you goes on.

So my message to you today is this first lesson of learning to live. The secret to learning to live is to find some joy in your life. I will pause and see if you have questions.

Student comment about how difficult it is to feel the joy when there is so much negativity. Do you have to unlearn the negativity first before you can feel the joy?

Welmek: Many of your counseling and therapies attempt to look at circumstances or behaviors and, somehow, through a force of will you are expected to get rid of the negativity or to change it. But you see, this is very difficult for humans because they do not understand or see a purpose or why this should work in that way. Even if they make the attempt to will it away, it returns. The true way of change is not cutting it off, or willing it away, or hiding it under the carpet. It is to replace the negativity with love and joy. You can help someone to a certain degree. If they have a fear you can help them get rid of it, there are some things that can be done. But if you are to truly help an individual find the secret or real path to change, you must help them go within. Because when you go within and the contact is made, a seed of love is born. This seed, through experience, will begin to grow and sprout. As it grows and fills you, it gradually forces out, overtakes, replaces, or dissolves the negativity.

For as this grows within you, as the individual comes to face new circumstances, opportunities, or situations in life, whether people or life’s circumstances, then they are more aware of their choice, whether to choose to solve this issue or relate to this person with that love or with negativity. But you see, how do you just get rid of negativity if you don’t know what to replace it with? You must taste the love. You must feel the love, then you know what to replace it with. It is only a matter of time and experience in continuing to learn and grow. But without knowing who you are; without knowing the love that exists within, you won’t know what to replace it with. You must help them discover this just as we helped you.

Is this not what we’re doing? Is not all of this sharing of experience not to learn how to find more love, truth, and joy in life? Are you not finding ways to eliminate the negativity and replace it, and allow that love and joy to grow more fully to fill your whole being? Is that not your destiny, to be filled with love, joy, truth and goodness? You have begun this path and process now.

How much do you want to grow? How fast do you want to grow? The faster you grow, the more you learn to replace fear with love, the more you consciously approach these decisions of your life, the sooner the negativity is replaced. But, do not be hard on yourselves and criticize yourself. After all, you have an eternity to accomplish this. You do not need to master it all in one lifetime. But why bother? Well, tell me how negativity, fear, anger, and frustration feel to you. If you do not enjoy, if you are not in joy when you experience those feelings, then how do you get rid of them? You get rid of them by replacing them with love, joy and truth. It is your choice. Does that help?

Student was making more of an observation of the way people are stuck in their negativity.

Welmek: Now you wear the glasses where you see with one eye the truth and what needs to be done and what will bring about the change. With your other eye, you see the world as it is. That is a very balanced view. Now your question is, what can you do? You know what has worked for you. What else can you do but share this? You cannot force others, they are children of God. You must respect them and their path. They may not choose to walk the path as quickly as you have. You cannot judge them for you do not know the circumstances of their lives. When you judge them, you judge the spirit of God within them and the path the spirit of God has chosen to help that individual. Do not put yourself in that position.

When we judge this planet in all of its maladies, diseases and problems, and see the causes are the default, we ask why did this have to happen? Well, it is hard for us to understand, and at this point, it is probably accurate to say that our perspective is not broad enough to understand. Let us be cautious, for it is all still part of God’s plan, and in some larger way there may come a time when we will see that all of this process of rebellion is there to provide a lesson to the universe that is part of God’s plan. We may not understand it because we cannot see life and the cosmos in this broad view, but let us not be judgmental of God. Let us simply look at life and truth and the way that you have come to understand what will bring you the love, joy, and truth you seek.

Let us look at the world and our brothers and sisters as objectively as we can and see where things are at the moment. Then, let us do what we can to bring about this change. Ultimately , the change in you, was it not brought about initially by your spirit? So, it must be brought about in your brothers and sisters through spirit. Let us apply the spiritual pressure--not to distort, but only pressure in the sense of awareness. Make your brothers and sisters aware that there is a spiritual alternative to their life. Gently apply this pressure to them. Allow them to choose their response. We are attempting to help you learn the way so that you can help others learn the way.

 The call from Michael rang through the universe. Who will answer the call? It is your privilege, it is our privilege to answer the call. It does not mean that you must sell all your possessions and run door to door. It simply means that as you live your life, find the joy in helping and serving others, and learning the new truths. Do what you can to help others in whatever way or opportunity present themselves. Continue to develop yourself, continue to share. That is all we ask, that is all that can be done. We do not have the magical wand that we can wave, nor do you. But, together through our efforts to find greater love, peace and joy, we can bring these into our lives and make others aware that these are the realities and what life is truly really about. If they pursue these it will crowd out their frustration, anger and all other spirit poisons. Who will answer the call? Good day, my friends.

END