Tomas Vol III - Pittsburgh, PA - Sep 04, 1997 thru Oct 30, 1997 -

Part 7 of 13

One thing that stands out in these transcripts is the profound conviviality that the participants enjoy. There is indeed a divine affection that develops between the students and the Teacher and, subsequently, between the students themselves. There is little doubt that the presence of the celestial helpers brings a degree of childlike glee and morontia confidence to the students that is absent when the Teachers are absent. This uplifting of the spirit, even the human spirit, is a hallmark of the Teacher Corps.

*****
 

PITTSBURGH, PA

VOLUME III, Part 7 of 13

September 4, 1997 - October 30, 1997
 

C O N T E N T S

Date	Topic	Page
September 4, 1997	Sympathy and Empathy	1
September 11, 1997	Mind Arena of Choice	10
September 18, 1997	Faith in Action	19
September 25, 1997	Mastering the Mind	29
October 2, 1997	By Whose Authority?	42
October 9, 1997	Inner and Outer Beauty	54
October 16, 1997	Living As in the Presence	64
October 23, 1997	By-Passing Cynicism	73
October 30, 1997	To Lay Down Your Life	85
	[End of Vol. III, Part 7 of 13]	97

DATE: September 4, 1997
LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA
T/Rs: Hunnah and Gerdean

Stillness & Prayer
URANTIA BOOK STUDY:
(1) Paper 13, THE SACRED SPHERES OF PARADISE, Pg. 146:
#1. The Seven Sacred Worlds of the Father, 5-7
#2. Father-World Relationships,
#3. The Sacred Worlds of the Eternal Son,
#4. The Worlds of the Infinite Spirit;
(2) Paper 93, MACHIVENTA MELCHIZEDEK, Page 1024:
#10. Present Status of Machiventa Melchizedek;
(3) Paper 149, THE SECOND PREACHING TOUR, Page 1674:
#5. Lesson Regarding Contentment.

Stillness & Sharing
TEACHER SESSION:
TEACHERS TOMAS AND MERIUM
TOPICS:
EMPATHY AND SYMPATHY

TOMAS: Good evening, children.
Group (Elyssia, Celeste, Hunnah, Leah, Gerdean, Ann): Good evening.
TOMAS: How are you, my friends?
ELYSSIA: We're fine. Great shape.

TOMAS: It is apparent that your arena is in good shape. There is a lot of healthy activity and sharing and laughter and love. We are glad to be here with you. We are always glad for the opportunity to share a slice of your life and allow you to have a glimpse of our perspective. Indeed, we are more and more enamored of our assignment here. Merium?

MERIUM: My T/R and I are still engaged in some fine-tuning of the circuitry, Tomas. Go ahead; I'll catch up.

TOMAS: Thank you for your forthrightness. Elyssia, my dear, are you going to bring us a report from your successful weekend that we anticipated when we were together last week?

Elyssia: Yes, I needed to ask a question. Over the weekend we were discussing a situation involving a person who is and has been angry with God for a long time, having to do with an accidental death of a child many years ago. So in dealing with -- I mean, if we're going to be reaching out and helping, I know a loving attitude is wonderful, there's no question about that in my mind, but I tend to believe that you can approach also with some words from one's studying. I was advised however, that in this case, it was more effective to stay with the "process instead of content" and so I thought you might talk about that a little bit so that I could understand it better.

TOMAS: I will be happy to make some remarks which may shed light on the phrase about "process instead of content". In fact, you might consider the team of Teacher Tomas and Teacher Merium in light of the example of the issue, for whereas I am inclined to proselytize and support substantial matters such as would bring intellectual peace and having a specific textual frame of reference or example by the apostles or so forth (representing "content"), Merium's approach is consistently more experiential (representing "process"), and it is the experiential that makes a personal experience real. And both of these fields have merit.

One is more academic; one is more regarding process. You can't really have one without the other. But you can't fish-hook one consistently in this business of being fishers of men; sometimes you can nibble them by mental hooks or stimuli, and sometimes you need to allude to that which is so ethereal as to be only personal. And there is no favoritism; it is a matter of learning how to teach in the manner that is most amenable and most providential under the circumstances.

Elyssia: I see. Circumstances determine what you will do.

TOMAS: Now, if you find a student or -- in this context, I could use the word "prospect" -- Now, if you meet a prospect-- (Merium would be appalled at this clinical approach -- "We are discussing a soul! A flower! An essence of spirit, here, not a prospect!") But none-the-less, these are approaches to comprehension that are part of the tapestry that cover all of our understandings and applications of the huge and vast array of potential available.

And so if you approach your prospect here, who has heard it all already, intellectually, it means nothing; it is dry and boring. Her block is in the emotional arena, and yet you don't want to tear down the walls by force! You want to allow the process to occur in and of her own soul by and through her own free will, and so for her perhaps the process is going to be more effective than an academic study.

Elyssia: I have a question in that regard. I had the sense about this person that she actually has never even heard these words of Jesus because my sense of the people in this church, some of them, they don't seem to know much about the words of Jesus. I don't know whether I'm right about that.

TOMAS: My dear, it is because they do not know Jesus. They know this historical figure. They read him because it is required reading. Only as you know the Master as a personal living experience do His words ring with clarity and reality. When he truly speaks to you, when his teachings become personal, as we have said a hundred times, only as you are born of the spirit can you hear with ears to hear. Then all of His words are music to you and they strum your spiritual chords. If you do not know Jesus in the spiritual sense, you will not have a real frame of reference for His words. They will not stick with you.

Elyssia: Well, I guess I ... to a certain extent I see it like C.S. Lewis. I remember myself, I found my answers from a somewhat intellectual point of view because I read C.S. Lewis' excellent dissertations on Christianity and I guess I tend to think that people will have a real breakthrough if they just hear these things! This probably is far from the truth.

TOMAS: Alas. It is, of course, the hope of every great writer that they will illumine the mind and elevate the soul of all their readers; this is the lure of the great masterpiece, you know, but it is unfortunately not the case. Some are turned on, some are not. C.S. Lewis certainly did appeal to a set of folk, and he stirred a lot of Christian thinkers into a new gear, but he was also, by the same token, far too intellectual for most.

Now, that is one wonderful thing about Jesus. He appealed to the common man and the common man heard him gladly because he was one with them. He spoke to them as he would speak to you or I, in language of love that we could understand. "Follow me," he said. "Be of good cheer." "Have faith." Simple pronouncements were the Master's. These do not require great intellect.

MERIUM: You are doing very well! I think you have been keeping company without me long enough now. I think Tomas is catching on, too. (Group laughter)

Elyssia: But Merium, she is not -- this is a very intelligent person, so in that sense of the word I guess I sense that she can be approached from that point of view and I evidently need some help on this one.

MERIUM: I am going to remediate for a moment from an area that I like to remediate in and that is to remind you again who you are! You are, in your mind, apparently, under these circumstances, a member of the clan and you are in your tribal role and it is a very choreographed relationship -- you've danced the dance before, you've had conversations before, everybody expects/anticipates certain behavior from each other, and everyone performs to meet this pattern and then that brings a certain amount of satisfaction.

She is the bewildered soul, the grieving mother of a lifetime, and this is a role she wears; this is her hair shirt, you might say, and therefore "so be it." In her moment of stretching and wakening she will pull in things of the conversations, but the most important and most powerful thing frequently that you can do in the presence of conditioned behavior and polite receptivity, is simply allow the light that you are to shine.

It is your Christian format to do the dutiful things of witnessing and bringing about your Brothers' name to your friends, that is true, but it is in this greater sense of your reality and your identification that knows how to walk around the room and approach everything from another direction without being aggressive. One of the problems of entering a cultural situation, if you are not of the culture and you do not speak the "common language" is that you become "look who we brought home to dinner."

Hunnah has in her memory bank an experience where she went to church camp. It is a very amusing story that she can tell you sometime, but what it is, is it is very threatening to be in a group of people that have been "saved." (Group laughter) And they want to know your credentials. "Have you been saved? Are you playing the game by the rules that we use here?" And it's very intimidating; it spoils the fun; it does not allow them to be spontaneous. Everyone is doing what they feel is expected of them.

And that is why it was introduced, when we were together before and you were anticipating the weekend, that you were reminded to just go and be yourself. In their mind they may not recognize the new you except to say, "Oh, isn't she relaxed. Isn't this a very wonderful gathering," and they won't be able to put it to words, but the impact of the light of your being will resonate with that, to a degree, of their own receptivity and then you will have planted seeds and you don't even always have to know.

Have you ever been the victim, the subject of a conversation, with people around you wanting to fix you up and change you? It is a human behavior and it's very deeply ensconced in your cultures, so I feel that you can release this concern from yourself and know that you have bid her well. This is a banquet table that extends everywhere you go. You take the banquet with you.

There is that parable about preparing for a guest that would not come. You carry, you might say, a box lunch. You are always prepared to feed the unsuspecting. There are those who feed when you least expect it, which reminds me, you've watched a bird feeder, you focus on a couple choice birds that you want to watch, but there are many birds. There are birds that are nibbling way over in the distance where the seeds have been thrown, far from the arena of the little cafeteria where you usually feed them.

The feeding goes on in many, many ways, and you have one of the stations with you, and the more natural you are just enjoying a person, the more apt you are to effectively serve the Father in that time with them.

Elyssia: Thank you. I understand what you're saying. Good.

MERIUM: I would also like to approach -- I've been eavesdropping, you know -- the subject of being stuck with personalities in your life and you are like records and you just keep going round and round and round in the same game. It is true this is a matter of consciousness, and when they are ready to feed and drink the living waters, they will make a move, and then they will fall back to sleep, and the games that they play and the small circles that they make will continue.

There is a device that Hunnah saw in a gift shop one time; it is like a large pendulum, and it makes a design in the sand.

Elyssia: Oh, yes, I have one of those.

MERIUM: Do you. And there is a situation here that we are in the human element. We're talking about two areas here: we're talking about human conditioning and behavior and we're talking about liberation, and in liberation, those in the circles stop, because you are not allowing yourself to live in that arena anymore. You have been lifted out of it to make new patterns. You are not stationed like a phonograph needle stuck in a groove that goes around and around.

And there are relationships that are dysfunctional that go on for what seems to be eons and until any one individual in that configuration wants to be released, it will persist because it's on like remote control. You say nothing, I say nothing, we both have memory banks filled with nonsense, and they are locked into this groove, but when one of them wants to make a move in consciousness, then the party is over; the game will no longer be played.

It is a form of fasting, and if you want to quicken it within your own experience-- Hunnah had a teacher who encouraged you not to reply when you are aware that you are entering a pattern of conversation where you have done it many times. As soon as you realize what's going on, you stop, and the party -- it is almost like a game of tennis. They will volley the ball back and you will let it bounce and lay there; and it can be done.

It's very freeing to witness it. You fall into the groove again, but it can be done and it takes a full consciousness; it removes it from consciousness for the sake of all, for the sake of all. When you allow yourself to want to sing a new song, the words and the music will begin to be there.

Let me also remind you that you can be sidetracked with relationships and situations that really have been physically removed for you, partly through your sake. When you pray to resolve a problem, you cannot continue to hold onto the problem with wanting to help out. You do really have to release it, because supposing the person you are involved in moves out of the neighborhood, moves out of your house. They have to move out of your mind as well. Not forever, but when it's in that reference, that unhealthy reference. You want to renew your mind or remind yourself that this has been for the best for both of you.

When a relationship is not balanced or harmonized, and you ask for help, it will be -- I will borrow from the mystic because I like it -- your attitude will change; their attitude will change; for one of you or both of you will be removed from each other. And Hunnah had an experience where the individual moved out of the country! and it was at a time when this information was new to her and she just marveled at it.

So you can control your social environment, and when you invite people into your living area, your space so to speak, you must at this time -- because we have talked about the call to maturity -- you have to know whether it is because you have something to do together for the glory of God or are you inviting them into your space because you are in the habit of fixing things up?

And in the transcripts that you will be receiving, we had a wonderful evening about blowing the whistle and allowing yourself to accept the maturity of the state that you truly have entered, but when you see it on paper you will celebrate. It will be acceptance of this statement, and it will be a great release to you all. I think I am ready for a rest, Tomas.

Elyssia: I just want to say, Merium, we have been able to make some strides in understanding this.

TOMAS: Is it my turn?
MERIUM: Yes, please! I have to rest my jaws! I got carried away, I am sorry.

TOMAS: I must tell an anecdote of sorts, for in Pocatello, Idaho, Daniel's class often referred to him, albeit with deep love, as a windbag. And Tarkas also has been designated, albeit lovingly, a windbag. I, of course, have joined the ranks of windbag, and now Merium, my dear, "You have arrived!" (Group laughter)

MERIUM: What an exclusive organization! I feel flattered.

TOMAS: We do like to hear ourselves speak, not because of our egos but because we have been given the opportunity to teach and the authority of Melchizedek to carry on. It is also made possible by the configuration of our students, our groups of people, our human friendships, which are willing to hear us.

I have to say in fairness to all of us windbags, that there are occasions when we do truly have a morsel of wisdom to offer that scintillates the soul and which you do savor eternally, and so for those moments we are grateful, and I will yarn on and refer again to the honored teacher, the professor who is fortunate enough to have a student in his class who loves the language, who loves the subject, who loves to learn, who loves being in school, who is thrilled with the subject and the opportunity to absorb and to learn and then to, sophomorically perhaps, practice what he has learned on his unsuspecting peers.

And this is the true light of the teacher and the student wherein we engage in such an arrangement that we have brought a vitality to our life that supercedes the mere mundane existence of sheer survival. We have learned to thrive on learning and to enthuse on opportunity. Are there questions?

MERIUM: Perhaps we should give them an assignment.
TOMAS: Perhaps we'd better, before it gets too late. I am most interested.

HUNNAH: I know for as many people as there are gathered around this table, there is a full array of individuals that they meet every day that they have known for awhile, and they have patterns of pleasant familiarity or ways of doing things, and when unsettled matters come toward you, I want you to carry this statement with you: "Father, assist me in a new view of this situation. Allow me to have new perspective and a fresh approach. This is not my personal assignment. Help me to identify whether this is an old sound or a new request."

I would like to have you each acknowledge the fact that you are living by your new name within yourself and therefore when someone calls you your old name, your neighborhood name, your family name, you are going to be challenged to reinterpret it and know that your new self will bring new joy and new harmony into your home and into your social life.

I want you to become more sensitive to the fact that there are not seven of you: ... you mother, you daughter, you girlfriend, you.... I would like you to start feeling consistency of your true identity. You have enjoyed your names, but they are not given to you for your conversational purposes. This is not a club.

And I would like to have you take a look at the games that are being played in your life and allow yourself to just gently beam in on it every now and again. It will happen within you. I want you to start recognizing the old sounds and let them drift, let them go, hold them lightly. They'll be back and they'll be back, but I want you to develop a new response within all of you.

This is a little longer than I expected to say, but I wanted to remind you because you are receiving a paper and it will help you move into this mode of appreciation of yourself, and it will also help you to remember that the person that you're dealing with has not had their opportunity yet, but it is coming, and I'm excited about it, and I'm looking forward to hearing more. Thank you, Tomas.

TOMAS: Thank you, Merium.
Ann: I have a question.
TOMAS: Yes.

Ann: For the longest time I've been thinking about empathy. I've always wondered what exactly was empathy and how close was it to sympathy or if it was close to sympathy at all, and just how appropriate either of these feelings are in a situation where someone is suffering.

MERIUM: We have talked about emotions and feelings, and I would like to classify sympathy as emotion and empathy as a strength that contains understanding. And when you express your understanding, whether it's with a pat on the hand, listening skills, monetary assistance, empathy has strength of character; it is part of your mature equipment; and you are allowed to be lavish with empathy and very careful with your ministrations of sympathy.

Sympathy is a substance that one can become addicted to. It is a lesser experience, so as you meet people who are troubled, you can indeed have empathy because you know they are in the flesh and they have not been lifted into the lightness of the new reality, so you can approach them with confidence. Empathy does not spoil or weaken. It encourages and points to new directions, new appreciations and it also bears a confidence toward the individual that you are plying empathy towards. You know that they contain the answers within themselves to their challenge, and if it would be no more than the wonderful gift of My peace that you would bring with your gift of empathy and it would be felt within that person, then indeed you have delivered and served the highest good. Has that helped you?

Ann: Yes. Does that mean that empathy is more personal than sympathy?

MERIUM: Empathy is constructive. Sympathy is without strength. It is not nourishing. Empathy can be nourishing; empathy produces hot meals for friends; empathy provides transportation in an appropriate way; empathy brings people together to do good works that do not create dependency but will offer opportunities to become strong in problem solving.

Ann: That helps a lot. Thank you very much, Merium.
MERIUM: Tomas, do you wish to touch on this?
TOMAS: What could I possibly say?
Leah: Well, what would sympathy be then? As opposed to empathy.

TOMAS: Consider the bestowal of sympathy as a more objective application of what would be other wise subjective.

Leah: Would you clarify that?

TOMAS: Bestowed sympathy is objective as compared to empathy which is subjective and personal. When I think of empathy I think of the fruits of the spirit; I think in terms of intimacy in the spirit; I think of confiding trust and camaraderie. When I think of sympathy I feel for someone but I do not give myself over to it. I do not give myself freely to it. I can sympathize with someone's grief without feeling grief myself. It is more impersonal than empathy, which is more intimate and feeling, and so perhaps sympathy is an emotion and empathy is a feeling.

MERIUM: I see sympathy as an acknowledgement and empathy as an action that is buffeting the situation. There are people who want sympathy and they want to stay in a whining mode. People can casually give sympathy, but empathy is more apt to contain a positive action than supportive.

TOMAS: It is not wrong to sympathize or have sympathy or to feel sympathetic by any means, but as Merium says, it lacks substance as compared to empathy, which is more of an involvement. Active and passive are other ways of observing sympathy and empathy. By the same token, there are those who can become enamored of empathy to the extent that they cannot function in their own space without association, and that too can be an unhealthy situation depending upon the circumstances.

It's always possible, when we deal with emotions and feelings, to carry it one degree and say it is aberrant, it is sick behavior, it is off-key; and on the other hand, it is wholesome, idealistic, well-balanced, and so forth.

A discussion of feelings may help you to understand your feelings somewhat but they don't do a whole lot towards helping you understand your spirit reality. It may help you understand what It is not, and that may be helpful, but we get involved in a lot of discourses around these tables that are, frankly, sympathetic to the human condition, and not necessarily empathetic to the needs of Michael. But "one day at a time." Isn't that what we say?

MERIUM: In the course of that gathering that we do here, one of our goals of the teachers is to get you to bring forth your own definition and when you come -- if you were going to prime an engine, you were in here for a tune-up, just coming together, even if we did not talk, our commitment and our common devotion to the uplifting of mankind, that in itself would happen if we just came together, but we want you to start drawing upon your own living waters in that pool.

We are discussing humans and I would like you to have, in your own way, write your own definition of how you feel sympathy and empathy should be understood by you in your own experience. If it was to be given to you, what would you think empathy or sympathy would be? And I think you will find it very interesting and it may be slightly colored by our conversation, but I do think it is time for you to draw again on your new definitions and your new sense of depth and understanding.

If you're stuck, by all means go to the dictionary to prime yourself with a word such as "pity" and pity will be explained in the dictionary with words and you will connect with it. Then take that word and write and say, "how do you feel about the word and the function of the emotion of pity?" And then allow yourself to lift it up as a response, because pity in this case, I see it as a reaction, and lift it into a response of a higher definition.

I'm giving you so much homework you won't be able to go to work! But it seems to be all connected, for as I said, in this transcript, we are talking about throwing away the old definition of yourself and as you accept the fact that you know, we know, and we know that we are all coming up with a fresh version of what we thought we knew and a greater understanding so that we can apply it in our daily experience. So there we are. I'm actually done. Do you think we saturated them, Tomas?

TOMAS: I myself am saturated! I have not had such a homeroom teacher since I was assigned to Jerusem. I am pleased, even so, to have such an enthusiastic co-worker and I am happy to confess to my students that, "I love you, Merium, and I don't care what they say, you are my favorite windbag of all". (Group laughter)

Now my precious ones, we really must go so that you can get on with your lives and it isn't as though we didn't have things to do also, but indeed your assignments are many and interesting. Add those to your previous assignments and we have no time for boredom in this Teaching Mission. And so we look forward to seeing you next week and to sharing with you your fascinating adventure into spirit reality as you persist in your endeavors this week. Go in peace. Farewell.

Group: Good night Tomas and Merium. Come again soon.

*****

DATE: September 11, 1997
LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA USA
T/R’s: Gerdean (for Tomas) and Hunnah (for Merium)

URANTIA BOOK STUDY:
(1) Paper 14, THE CENTRAL AND DIVINE UNIVERSE, Page 152:
#1. The Paradise-Havona System;
#2. Constitution of Havona;
#3. The Havona Worlds;
#4. Creatures of the Central Universe;
(2) Paper 111, THE ADJUSTER AND THE SOUL, Page 1216:
#1. The Mind Arena of Choice;
(3) Paper 146, FIRST PREACHING TOUR OF GALILEE, Page 1638:
#2. At Jotapata

TEACHERS MERIUM AND TOMAS
TOPIC
THE MIND ARENA OF CHOICE
THE EMOTIONAL PALETTE

MERIUM: I am going to open the session this evening because I can just hardly wait to be here! And we are breaking with routine. It is my custom to wait for Tomas to speak so I just thought I would surprise you and come out on the stage first and welcome you to our evening's discussion. I hope that you have your questions and I am going to call upon Tomas now. Are you ready?

TOMAS: I'd better be, huh? (Group laughter) Actually you did well, Merium, to start up. I had a hunch you were chomping at the bit and so I am glad you proceeded. Frankly, my transmitter is still unreliable and it has much to do with her instability in her electro-chemical system as a result of her detoxification. It is not so much a problem for me as it is for her. She does not know where her own mind is, which in some regards is even better, but until she is more comfortable with that lack of control, I am somewhat handicapped.

It is wonderful to be here with you all this evening and to welcome you here in the room and in the environment that watches over the room and your activities and growth strides. Your studies this evening were very fine; your minds were stimulated greatly and we appreciated your integrity in assuming to devour some of those more meaningful mota. Yes, Merium.

MERIUM: I appreciated the lesson this evening, so therefore I am going to use it as part of my format. It is understood, I hope, by now that we do not come in toting a briefcase with a very elaborate program. We have come to interact with you, not to dictate a lesson, but to waken and stir, in our friendship with you, those areas of yours that are needing a little cultivation. Perhaps you need to develop a little more trust or some courage in a particular aspect of your development, and just by association with us, as we gather together in unity, these areas start to respond. It is as if you brought out all the gardening tools and tended to the place. We do not prop up or tear down and repair or add more. We are allowing what already is to come forth and develop and show itself and it will indeed affect your daily lives.

I would like to take advantage of the lesson this evening because the part that was open to you was appropriate and our guest here is most welcome. We are glad to have you join us, young man, and we appreciate your openness, and openness is partly what I want to make reference to. The segment of being honest. You will hear your mouth parrot the appropriate reply; you will hear your automatic condition come to your defense; and you will find it in the most subtle ways throughout your days' experience.

And therefore I call you to come in closer to the hearth, and with a greater degree of developed sincerity. It is natural not to know what to ask for, but it is always safe to ask for permission to be honest, honest before your Maker, honest from your heart. It's a wonderful thing when you take out the debris that litters up your mindset, and it will help you to know and recognize areas in your own development that need to be nourished.

Coming into the quiet, stilling your mind, affects being effective. It has to be paralleled with a little elbow grease, a little scrubbing, so to speak. Take advantage of your ability to visualize, especially when you are in a situation where you feel as if you are stuck: "I don't know what to say; I don't know how to pray; I don't know how to get started." Imagine that you are taking your bucket of soapy water and you scrub yourself down. You're not in a process of spot removing yourself but it is a form of refreshment, and before you know it, a word will come and will lead you right to an area that is vulnerable and that is ready to be erased so that more clarity can come through for you.

My hostess this evening has had the joy of sitting down and allowing herself to experiment with counsel at her personal computer. It does not need to be a personal computer. That just happens to be where she was. It can be a tablet, it can be a tape recorder; and if you even would allow yourself to talk to yourself, before you know it, you will rise into a state of teacher/student and once again you will feel comfortable and say "Why haven't I done that before? How good it feels to be in this familiar comfort of mighty counsel."

As you spoke on this evening I heard the development of tolerance and respect for the thoughts and feelings for others, for their faith, their delivery, and the manner in which they wear it, from the absence of faith, the absence of knowledge, the absence of knowing that there is something greater than this house. You are seeing the full spectrum of development in your fellow human beings, and you are allowed to take this integrity of non-judgment, get in and mingle with them, allow them to feel comfortable with you. It will not even cross your mind to pass judgment. You will simply be in a state of graceful interaction. You'll find yourself enjoying them where at one time you may have held apart from yourself through the entire conversation.

I am talking about living your truth, only now it will be more effective, and in retrospect you'll think, "Gee that wasn't very hard!" or "I never used to feel comfortable with so-and-so, but that went well." These little clues will tell you that in spite of your doubts of your personal growth, that it is indeed underway.

I hope with this flowing here that I have aroused our friend Gerdean into a place where she really does have a mind, because we do not want to miss a splendid opportunity of Tomas' companionship. It is all right for us to acknowledge her discomfiture. We have another guest here. We have a change in the energy pattern. That, too, is understood. All these can be very distracting when you're not at your best.

When Hunnah was polishing the microphone before I started to speak, she was using the visualization of having stepped aside and become what you call a stage hand and she is in the wings listening to this dialog that she can't believe is continuing to flow. If Tomas would like to speak, we'd be glad to have him, or answer questions, or we can take a break to see how things are going to develop.

Elyssia: Well, I thought I'd ask Tomas a question because I'd already talked to him previously, a couple of years ago, about how I'm trying to figure out about mind, because-- I'm so glad that we read "Mind Arena of Choice!" I'm trying to figure out-- In our society we seem to be overcome by the whole sentimentalistic idea of "put your mind on a shelf; don't think, feel, react, if it feels good it's true," all those things, and I was wishing that Tomas might talk about mind a bit. It seemed like something he had started a long time ago, for me.

TOMAS: Thank you, Elyssia, for tuning into an area that indeed allows for my focused energy: mind. Your reading regarding the mind arena of choice is largely about the higher mind, the mind that abuts the morontial levels, the mind that will become spirit-led, but in the material realm, in your human existence, exclusive of your spiritual interests, mind has had a reputation of being analytical and no fun at all.

The Age of Aquarius has said, "Enough of this thinking already!" and has swung the pendulum back and forth a couple of times now regarding "if it feels good do it," even into the pseudo-spiritual realms these days of "if the vibes are right then it must be spiritual". This may or may not be the case, but much of it is a great freedom from the constraints of thought patterns, many of which have constricted your approach to spirituality for literally centuries.

The wonder of mind is that it is far more than a format for facts and figures. Mind is also creative, and able to create spirit reality. You will recall, for example, in your reading regarding prayer, that it is possible to influence your peers through prayer. If you pray for the spiritual development of your friends, they will develop. They will be aided and abetted. The supreme conspiracy will set out to embrace the friend in activation as a result of your prayer. Now this is a correct use of the mind, that it should concern itself with that which you love and direct spiritual energy upon.

A correct use of the mind is to align the mind with the will of God. As your mind is in alignment with divine mind, your thinking processes are better. You can think even materially and factually more clearly. Your logic is improved; your cosmic problem-solving is more enjoyable, your dilemmas and quandaries of societal situations are more enjoyable, more entertaining, because you have the advantage of a clear and clean mind with which to work.

In alignment with The Father, all of life is made more enjoyable. And so mind is, as I said, more than academics, more than statistics, more than left-brain activities. Mind is a bestowed gift, enabling you to live a rich life, allowing you to partake of co-creation even. As you read in "Mind Arena of Choice"* it is a vital activity, this utilization of the mind.

Has that been helpful? Has it addressed your issue, your concern?

Elyssia: Yes. And also I wanted to ask about the part in the paragraph where it said that mind can be also destructive, and so I think that's what I seem to hear in our culture. And I remember that Lucifer had a brilliant mind and ... The Course in Miracles says when you learn to give names to things you've separated them? And so that was sort of a, I thought, a way of saying that to be using your mind in that way is a way of using it in a way that things aren't joined, so I was wondering about it. I think it's true; I don't know. I was glad you said in our society everywhere one goes one counters anti-intellectualism, even in the schools!

TOMAS: Let me speak to this for a moment, and I will draw upon the biblical reference, the scriptural reference, even the Urantia reference of "get thee behind me" for although Lucifer carries the brunt of the responsibility of many of the ills of your planet, individuals are also capable of the same destructive behaviors because of their free will choice. Just as Lucifer's free will choice was to tune The Father out, so can mortal man in and of his own right and decision making (choose or forsake Him).

Now, if you consider the possibility that putting a label on a negative factor will separate it, then perhaps it would be a useful tactic to recognize envy, for example, and say, "Oh, I am feeling envy. I don't want to feel envy. Get behind me." And so leave those destructive thoughts aside.

You remember the part in the text that discusses the fact that it is unkind to pollute the body, but it is also unkind to pollute the soul with emotions of jealousy and hatred and envy and so forth. As you see these destructive feelings, it is often good to set them behind you and not give them more power than they deserve.

This is not to say that you should not be aware of your emotional palette and your feeling framework, but only as you allow the destructive thought to take root and grow. It needs to be pruned, and you can prune your own branches as we have discussed in the Fruits of the Spirit lessons, and so the destructive aspect of the mind can be anyone's mind.

Anyone's mind can take a situation and harbor resentment or vengeance or revenge or can grasp in greed or in covetousness or in envy any of these many, many possible human feelings or "twisted thinking" and some have made a life pattern of it, of twisting their thinking so finally that they have ultimately committed cosmic suicide. That is part of the free will choice.

You can also turn against these destructive thoughts, realizing that they are destructive of peace and harmony of the soul; they are not conducive to growing in Godlikeness, in compatibility with Father's will for you. Here again we return to the mind arena of choice. You may choose to be miserable for as long as you like, or you may choose to do His will and find true and genuine and lasting happiness, even though your short-term goals may be thwarted. This comes-- this understanding comes through experience and maturity.

Elyssia: Well, it was interesting to me that when I got the Urantia Book, as I've often said, you don't have to put your mind on the shelf. You don't just turn into a sentimentalistic blob like some of the churches would guide you to, and some of the ideas in our whole culture are like that, and so you get the idea that mind is being put down.

TOMAS: There are many people who do not like to use their mind. You well understand that the bulk of humanity are followers. Indeed only one percent are leaders and of the one percent it remains to be seen how many are leading for the Master and how many are leading for their own self-interests, and when you see 99% of all humanity following along, most of them willingly, it is probably a good idea that they keep their minds tucked between the pages of a hymn book, for they are at least to that extent not being overtly destructive in their confused state of mind.

Now as they choose to come forward into enlightenment, they will be aided by the angels of progress, the Spirit of Truth, all of the same spirit forces and support that you now enjoy openly because you are willing to think through your destiny. You have grappled with the good fight of faith and won the battle. The victory is yours.

This is one of the reasons you are invaluable to us, why we spend hours and hours developing our friendship and reinforcing our mutual reality, for times are coming when many changes will affect the face of Urantia and it is important that you be well-established in your faith that you may assist in stabilizing spirit reality and in helping move forward those who choose to progress.

Elyssia: And yet if we become too -- we have to think about not being shut off from our emotional side, that must be something ... We don't grow as much if we shut it down.

TOMAS: Certainly your emotional palette is what gives color to your life's experience and emotions are not to be disdained or avoided. The challenge is to be able to appreciate your emotions and allow them to work for you without allowing them to run your life.

Elyssia: Would you give an example of that, perhaps?
TOMAS: Merium?

MERIUM: I had a feeling the shuttlecock was coming back to me. First of all, let me say that we are speaking about them and we are speaking about those who are at the table this evening, and since we are in an ascension mode, I would prefer to make reference to those who are attending this gathering because it is more intimate.

Let us suppose you have had a disappointment. The disappointment can be about something regarding someone very near and dear to you, but it has registered in you as a disappointment. If you are in an ascension mode, you will be aware of your disappointment and you will be aware of the fact that you need to express the emotion, whether it's fear or anger or joy. But you will be aware that this is the emotion and it needs to be expressed, and you will be able to have enough objectivity in that scenario to embrace that emotion and allow it to express itself as an escape hatch. There are those who are living by the authority of their emotions and you, too, will see that more objectively and with less criticism than you have in the past.

I cannot stress to you apparently enough: it will be your observation and your inner teacher that will show you that it's all right. You will become an observer more intensely than ever before. You will not be in the midst of a situation; you will be just a little bit removed, because you are moving into a point where you are learning at every level and all the time. You are not on a holiday from this. You will find yourself wanting to stay with all your situations in a rather impersonal (way) and yet involved and committed to the situation. I hope I'm not confusing you.

Elyssia: No. It reminds me of a book that I suppose I'll decide to pick up, which Mrs. McD has always loved so much, which is called "The Impersonal Life."

MERIUM: There are many teachers in the mental realm who have tried to bring this into the forefront and Hunnah has heard the messages of the truth statements of Edgar Casey and he has talked about everything from "effortless effort" -- (effortless effort is living in that more impersonal life but it is not a cold impersonal. A lightness develops in you and allows you to be in the action but not pulled into it. If you are pulled into it you will have need discomfort.) Now, if there were 14 people at this table there would be 14 examples of different levels of ability to experience this. For many it would be very inconsistent, they will find joyously that they can have this experience of having experienced impersonalization and there are times when it will be very perplexing because you will want to emote; it would be the social thing to do.

I am pleased that we are talking about this, because you will be observing your daily practices in your daily dialogs now in a new way; and in that new observation there will be a gentle impersonal ability to watch and wait.

TOMAS: Merium?
MERIUM: Yes.

TOMAS: Let me add at this juncture in support of your individual who has known a great disappointment. From now, from this vantage point that you, Merium, are outlining, you will be able to observe, Elyssia, that disappointment has affected every facet of this woman's life (in reference to your earlier question); she is completely affected by disappointment. Her entire life is a disappointment as a result of that one disappointment which she stumbled upon.

And if you can identify that individual, as an example, whose entire life is affected by an emotional condition, you will see that disappointment permeates everything. Now, disappointment is not the only emotion that captures souls and keeps them captive. There are other feelings, but the example of disappointment is an excellent example, and in the study then, in the objective observation, you will see very clearly that the disappointment has shrouded the individual's possibility for happiness.

You will not become lost in their disappointment. It will make it much more acute for you to see how disappointment has affected everything about them. It may indeed enable you to work more carefully on your prayer regarding the forgiveness that is going to be required in order for that disappointment be rectified and healed. And so you have a keener eye in the exalted state of - what is it, Merium? - "effortless effort"? Yes.

MERIUM: We have a whole repertoire of these special statements that you like, that you've stashed in the back of your mind, and they'll come out in conversation and in a metaphor and rescue you when you are trying to explain something to someone.

I spoke of honesty earlier this evening, and with the honesty comes another companion to the rescue and it's called respect. There is a patience and a respect that develops in yourself. Without your having to groom it; it starts to show. You will respect someone's situation and you will be there in patience for them as they go through the cycle of their dilemma and your constancy and your quality will help them to get righted and to come back to their senses, to stabilize, and you will be there to assist them appropriately when the time comes to develop their own perspective of their experience.

Now, Tomas, I never thought this was going to turn into a couch session this evening, but these are your working skills, and you are going to be faced with situations where you will be wanting to maintain your composure, you will represent stabilized thought processes. You may be exposed to community disarray. Someone has to be calm. All of this is going to become part of your developed character as you enter into your quickening development of the truth of your being in your morontia experience.

That definition in the Book* this evening was excellent. [soul = the morontia self; pg 1216] It could not have been more timely. We have been talking about maturity for several sessions now where we have asked you to drop your old dialog of "them and us" so to speak, of the unworthiness, and you want to stay in grade school but you are out of grade school and you have been called to maturity, and it brings great satisfaction to you, and the more you become aware of a new delivery, the more confidence you will have, the more eager you will be to come into your quiet, to be renewed, to be expanded. It will feel good.

I understand that humans like to have their back itched; they like to be massaged; it feels good. This is an emotional massage. This is coaching; you have an inner teacher with a towel around her neck and a bucket, you might say, to rally you, to go back into the arena of your daily experience standing tall and clean and shiny for the next assignment.

I have been encouraging you to see your life experience as being a new and living and vital opportunity, and I want to encourage you so because we see it here on our side, and as you start to catch on to your new poise and your new confidence and behind that discovery is, you know, that it is a gift of living as the Father would want you to. You are indeed an Ambassador and it brings me great pleasure to talk to you and I know that you are developing within yourself, the new self.

The begging bowl and the fix it mantras that have been going on for so long are going to be lost and fading to the sound of glorifying a living God, a living Creator, and you will be joyfully expressing this in your hearts instead of the mass consciousness that is so powerful. You are going to be able to hold this joy in your heart, this private understanding that you are connected and maturing just as you really hoped you would one day.

Times have come and the need to have you developing as you should are quickening, but the staff is here to assist you, and I hope that you would all allow your personal teachers time and attention and I wish you well. Tomas?

TOMAS: I am eager to focus a ray of attention on my young gentleman friend here. David, how wonderful to feel your expression, your personality expression. I have long sought a male companion and you have made yourself a cherished compatriot simply by being here this evening. How have you been, my son?

David: I am learning again, and learn every day. It seems in my life I have to go about things the long way and then learn something from it.

TOMAS: It is because you are young and adventurous, and you are perhaps appropriately willful, for you must learn it your way. I believe Frank Sinatra sang a song to that effect, and you are not far removed from his exuberance in the way that you approach your life, and indeed, my son, why should you not plunge into the adventure of life with full gusto?

You have done well thus far in your explorations and see how well you have retained those good qualities of guidance that you were blessed to have been born into, and so you have a wonderful backdrop on which to rely as well as an exciting eternal career in the Father's kingdom in which to play and work and produce. Not a bad outlook, I'd say. Not a bad life by a long shot.

David: I think that in the last few months, as much as my life has directed me into music, into following what I felt was my calling, I never really felt doubt of what I was doing, but in the last couple months I've had pangs of self-doubt that maybe I wasn't going to make it, maybe, and -- very brief moments -- and thank God they're not very often, because I'm at a stage where I have to trust many people to help me make it to where I'm going, yet I am so dependent upon myself that it's not easy for me to wholeheartedly trust in other people.

TOMAS: You are wise to take all these things into consideration. It is very true and very unnerving that on this sphere it is risky business to trust your fellow men in the ways of the world. Indeed, it is often difficult even to know how to trust yourself when the way is unclear. This is of course why it is important that your ultimate success is bound up in your relationship with The Father. That is where you will meet your true success.

Now, as far as your human companions, it is an exercise in faith, indeed, and as you have idealistic motives for your co-workers and your mentors, for your motives in your work product, all these are greatly enhanced by your desire to do good and to serve. As there are those who are in it for selfish motives that outweigh the service motives, there will be imbalance and difficulty.

And so you may expect to experience some turbulence because of the human condition, but do not falter in your efforts to prevail in your attempts to accomplish your goal. You have long worked for the reward, which is just around the corner. Proceed and follow through with your assignment. As your assignment approaches its apex, it will be revealed what steps you will then take to continue your career into eternity. Assuredly, my son, you are meant to make music, and so you will not fail.

MERIUM: May I comment?
TOMAS: Yes, Merium. As far as I am concerned, you may.

MERIUM: I would like to impersonalize the fact that we are directing this statement to a particular party and I would like to take your message and move it toward the group.

TOMAS: Yes.

MERIUM: In this regard is the word strength. Tonight we have talked about honesty, sincerity, and now I would like to add a base root structure here of strength. We talked about strength of character. There is another type of strength that will be one of tolerance. The strength of tolerance that will be wrapped in softness.

There is great grooming here going on, young man, and in spite of the fact that your eyes are upon the star of your vocation, your true sight must be focused on the gift toward whom you serve. As you surrender yourself more completely to the Source of your intent, then you will develop in a way and in a manner that you hoped.

You cannot imagine, none of you can imagine (and I dare to use this word that is almost disdained, but it is true now), your potential. There is a beauty of service here that is not to be believed in your human comprehension. You all come from different parts of life. It is a small group but I'm speaking to the entire group. Some are not here, but I am addressing them as well, and they will receive this message, but as you develop this tenderness that is part of your composition in reality, it will bring more and more people towards you. So the human tendency to divide, separate and define will have to be relaxed more and more as this gentle strength rises in each and every one of you, because you will require strength not to go in all of your old patterns.

This is a total experience and a total change. You will catch the light of development here and there in weak moments and it will bring you quiet satisfaction, but I am speaking tonight in this manner because we want you to remember that this is a long-term goal. It is true, we want to deliver the goods now. But it is very distracting to try to turn away from human values, but there is a richness that I am talking about that will allow you to have all the material gain in the way that will come about naturally and without wearying you. It will be attended to.

So I want you to leave this evening as I am here to reassure you that your honesty is going to come forth more strongly, your sincerity will surprise you, and your tender strength will be well defined in the days ahead. You continue to keep single focus; it is indeed a staff for you to hold in your hand, an invisible blaze of light; it will be appropriate for every occasion. Blessings are with you. Come again. We have endless supplies here to rally you and do not hesitate to call upon your inner guidance in the meantime. Thank you.

Elyssia: Thank you, Merium.

TOMAS: Indeed, Merium, thank you for extending the value into the flock. I am sometimes reminded that even though this is our teacher base, it behooves us to remember that we have sheep not of this fold, which helps to enlarge our perspective, lest we become victims of the provincial tendencies of this rural planet Urantia.

I feel that we have been well fed this evening, that there has been a feast of plenty once more provided by our superb teacher Michael, in his attentions to our nurturance and growth this evening. Always is the Master concerned for our growth and development, for our nurturance and guidance, that we, his children, will grow up to be big and strong, to be a fair representative of him, our Father and elder Brother in truth. Praise be to our Master Michael, Sovereign Lord, and to his many helpers, far and wide, young and old, spirit and mortal.

Go in peace, children, to enjoy your lives this week. Be in contact with your spirit associates for we will certainly be in touch with you. Until we speak again, Merium and I embrace you and bid you farewell.

Group: Farewell. Thank you. Come again.

*****

DATE: September 18, 1997
LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
T/R: Gerdean

URANTIA BOOK STUDY:
(1) Paper 14, Central and Divine Universe: Page 158
#5. Life in Havona;
#6. The Purpose of the Central Universe;
(2) Paper 38, Ministering Spirits of the Local Universe:
#9. The Midway Creatures, Page 424;
(3) Paper 140, Ordination of the Twelve: Page 1584
#10. The Evening After the Consecration.

TEACHER SESSION
TOPIC:
FAITH IN ACTION

MERIUM: Good evening, my sisters and my friends. I am Merium.
Group: Good evening, Merium.

MERIUM: I am glad to be here. I am coming in to greet you and to offer a hello and an embrace and advise you of my going on holiday. You well know that my friend and yours, Hunnah, my primary transmitter/receiver is away and I am going to take advantage of the change in format to go and refresh myself in recreation and rest in one of the Father's many mansions, for I have had a great adventure in this portion of my assignment here with you and I will return. In fact, you will hardly know I'm gone, but for the record, I am telling you I will not be taking part in your session this evening but gracious Tomas has given me this occasion to say hello, to embrace you, and to wish you well in your week and I will send you a post card and tell you, "Wish you were here. Love, Merium."

Elyssia: Have a wonderful time.
Celeste & Leah: Thank you, Merium.
TOMAS: I am Tomas.
Group: Hi, Tomas. Greetings.

TOMAS: Greetings to you, my faithful, loyal flock. It is a sentimental moment for me to wish my compatriot a fond and temporary ‘bon voyage’ as I embrace you in fullness and in solitude. Truly we are not alone, for you fully appreciate the many personalities who attend our sessions: the midwayers, whom you read of earlier this evening; the standard retinue of angels and other celestial hosts; visiting teachers; visiting students; supervising Melchizedeks and so forth; indeed, Michael himself; but even so, as your teacher, I feel a sentimental embrace coming over me for you, and so accept my embrace and let me get on with my job of teaching.

I would like to speak briefly with you this evening regarding one of those favorite adages that you are well familiar with and that one is that faith without works is dead. I have heard you all this evening testifying to your faith in action, and I am jubilant at your efforts and at the results that you testify to. Even your discourse regarding your relationships with the minute forms of animal life (and even to plant life) are examples of your faith in action, for as you set out to communicate with these creatures and have results, you are putting into practice the Paradise pattern of perfection that is established in this creation. You are indeed tapping into the circuit that supervises life. It is a beginning, but it is a real circuit. As you, in the other direction, pass into circuits of spirit reality and begin to touch base with the higher circuits and spirit life, you are indeed expanding your horizons.

You have been and continue to extend your comprehensions; you have stretched yourself; you have broken the shell of the egg and now you step out as little chicks into a greater universe and you are experimenting with the warmth and light and energy that you find available.

This concept of faith in action goes also to the many, many manifestations of wonders in your spiritual renaissance on-going. As you have expanded beyond the narrow confines of traditional thinking and traditional belief systems, as you have made the spirit part of your living reality, as you have trusted the spirit, as you have faith in the spirit, the living reality, you then begin to activate this living faith in your life -- some of you by talking with worms and bees (group giggle), some of you with capturing and capitalizing on kinetic energies that more appropriately are called healing energies and (which) derive from the Mother Spirit; many of you are investigating healing techniques; some of you are expressing your faith through the process of transmitting; and beyond the individuals here in this room, there are other theories and fields of thought and belief that energize Correcting Time with other actions of other faithers that are wonders brought about as a result of your faith.

Let us take for example the experience Leah has discussed/experienced/conveyed of the young woman who transmitted essences of spirit reality in her exaltation and faith of the presence of Mother Mary, Jesus the Christ, and the Father. These messages are her testimony of her knowledge of her living faith. Each of you will manifest your comprehension of your living faith in your own way. As you now sit in amusement and astonishment at the many, many ways that are popping up here and there of people testifying to their faith, you too will one day step forth and say, "Well, this is how I feel about it, and this is what the spirit tells me. This is how the spirit is real for me."

And it may manifest itself in muffins; it may manifest itself in tending to AIDS victims; it may manifest in any number of ways, but when it occurs to you, you will know that this is the way for you. And how can anyone argue with an individual who stands free and pure and whole and sincere in front of the living God and says, "Father, how may I serve? I believe that I can serve in this way. Direct me." And as that mortal is comprehending the direction of divinity and following His will, as they understand His will, they are sincerely doing His will.

No matter how peculiar it may seem; no matter now untraditional it may appear; no matter how radical you may regard it; no matter how many people will stand back and say, "I don't believe that," it doesn't matter, for each of you are singing your own song. You are singing a song that your Father and you have developed as your harmonious note that rings true to your soul, that He calls upon you to chime when it is your turn in the eternal symphony.

Who is to say? All men are the sons of God. And all women are the daughters of God. We already know how many variations there are on the theme of personality manifestation, and now we see the personality manifestations in praise of the Father of their understanding and in thanksgiving and in joyful song. How refreshing to see this display of worship, as compared to the many destructive methods of personality manifestation of the fear-driven ego. Be glad for the adulation of others! Even though it may not be the note that you would play, enjoy the sound of the note.

What other note can you play, after all, except the note that you know? It would be absurd and unreal for any of you to try to be someone you are not. It takes great courage to Be. And then, to do what you know you can do because of who you are. And to have attained that point can only truly bring the support of your faith brethren, for we are all singing the song of the ages, of the praise that is so pleasing to the ear of the Father.

When you see and hear people acting strangely in the name of God, remember that it is their method of calling attention to the Most Highs. You will quickly see if they believe that they themselves are the Most Highs, but for those who sincerely believe and who sincerely serve, who joyously sing the song given them to sing, support their efforts and do not stumble upon them on your way to The Father.

* * *

TOMAS: I am glad to see you back with us, Hester. I am very happy to feel your loving embrace in company with your companions. You are looking very well. It is always wonderful to see each of you. I embrace you all. Are there questions this evening?

W.W: Well, sure. I'll have one. Well, it's ... it's something you touched on ... "the kinetic energy" from the Mother Spirit. I wanted this question answered for a long time. When I speak of my teaching dreams, do you know what I speak of, Tomas?

TOMAS: For the record, would you ...

W. W.: They are dreams I had where I was shown ... it was like I was taught how to use my hands and the energy to heal, how to use sound and color therapy to heal, you know, vibrations, color ... they went on and on, it seems.

TOMAS: Now let me ask: are these in your deep sleep or in your half-wake state?

W.W.: Half awake! I'm ... It's like I'm awake all night, and I keep waking up and going, "Uh-huh, uh-huh." I'm answering whoever is teaching me.

TOMAS: I recognize the level of comprehension, so now yes, I am aware, as are the others, of whence you speak -- your dream instructions.

W.W.: What is that energy that I perceived as my teacher?

TOMAS: One moment. This is the Mother, the Infinite Spirit [and] her assistants, including the adjutant mind spirits but not limited to the adjutant mind spirits. The Life Carriers are instrumental in these healing practices, the manipulation of healing energies, the power of the fingertips. There are also non-personal energies, but it is overseen by the Holy Spirit, the Third Source and Center.

Remember our earlier lessons having to do with Trinity. The Third Source and Center is action. As you allow the Paradise pattern of perfection to affect you, as your will is in alignment with His will, as your pattern is laid out and you accept your pattern, your action begins and that action aspect is the Ministering Spirits of space and time, into action through the Mother.

Life Carrier energy is always involved in healing activities. I am repeating myself. I cannot give you more specific information.

W.W.: That's good. That's more ... I knew it was a powerful force. I just needed some clarification on it. It's very real to me.

TOMAS: t is very real. No question (about it). Not only is it very real, it is also very spiritual as well as affecting the physical realms.

W.W.: Does it have as great an effect as I think it does? Or more so?

TOMAS: Far more so. I am very much reminded of your discourses earlier about conversing with the lower forms of animal life, let us say bees. What you are doing when you are tapping into these higher energies is you are communicating with a higher form of life, namely Life Carrier energies, and your capacities are only beginning to be touched; not nearly are they being met. But I am encouraged, for your faith is taking you into these realms wherein you will gain greater faith and your actions will be bolder as you learn to "manipulate" the capacities that you have encountered.

I am careful to put "manipulate" in quotes, for I do not want that to be construed negatively. There are negative connotations to the word manipulate and that is unfortunate, for a manipulation of energies for the greater good through the sanction of the Infinite Spirit, to heal, to cure, to minister, to enervate, to communicate, is a very, very positive thing indeed! And yet manipulation is a fair word to use, for it is a utilization of an energy pattern that can be activated by your willingness to coordinate certain spiritual energies into a certain material mold form.

You are a catalyst for healing or communicating, and so essentially you are being manipulated, but only as you allow yourself to be utilized can this take place. You have become a cooperative in a marvelous co-creative process, which brings you into closer contact, far more intimate contact with life on every level, up and down, up into the spirit realms, down into the animal realms, but out and into life. And so your isolated bubble of existence, your introversion, is being dissolved as you have stretched your boundaries outward and you are seeing now the effects of your struggles and your growths. That is all.

W.W.: Thank you. I have another question. Just one more?

TOMAS: I am your teacher. I am here to serve you. You may ask me questions until your peers gag you and blindfold you out the door.

W.W.: Just one more. When I was reading some of the old transcripts, I remember Ann, you asked if you had a personal teacher. I would really like to know if I have a personal teacher, and if so, who are they?

TOMAS: Well, you are a live one, aren't you?
W.W.: (Laughing) Yes!

TOMAS: You say, "Do I have one and where are they?" so it is apparent that you know that you have at least one. If it is one, it is powerful. It is more likely two.

You have quite an entourage, yes, my dear. I will tell you from here what I can see. I first see your pilot light, your Thought Adjuster, glowing steadily, a blue flame of comfort and joy. Your guardian angel, in reality two presences, working in conjoint harmony, are beside you. You have an attached midwayer. You have also a lifetime companion, a feminine teacher who has with her a male companion. He is a secondary teacher to you, not a primary teacher. Your primary female companion/assistant/teacher has been with you since you were nine. He has not been here that long. His association with her is fairly recent.

Now you want to know what to call your personal teacher. I will try to ascertain her name. I will, however, allow her, in your relationship with her, to tell you his name. Fair enough? One moment. (Very long pause)

Gerdean: This is taking a long time. I'm sorry. (Another wait)
TOMAS: Your teacher's name is Madagan. And your name is Rachel.
Elyssia: You say there's a midwayer there?
Rachel: An attached midwayer.

Elyssia: Does this midwayer spend a lot of time hanging around Rachel?
TOMAS: Yes. It is on a temporary assignment.
Elyssia: There aren't that many on the planet, so ... I didn't think there were, anyway.
Rachel: Is there a reason?
TOMAS: It is a temporary assignment I am not privy to.

Elyssia: Am I wrong about there not being many of these midwayers on the planet? I thought there was a limited number.

TOMAS: Well, it is a relative thing, you see. It depends upon how you look at it. 50,000 is either not very many or quite a few! There is also a fluctuation in the numbers. Although the primary midwayers' number is fixed, the secondary midwayers' activation is fluctuating.

Elyssia: These two that you mentioned, are they her seraphim? Is that what you're describing please?

TOMAS: No, she has a guardian seraphim. Those are her seraphim, as each of you have a guardian seraphim. She has a personal teacher named Madagan who is companioned, and this is an associate of Rachel by default, you see. Rachel benefits from Madagan's companion. In addition, there is a secondary midwayer temporarily attached to Rachel. Now it well may be that the secondary midwayer and Madagan's companion are engaged in an activity; I'm not certain. But for some reason, she is well attended.

Elyssia: That's wonderful for us to hear about, because maybe -- I mean, she has to go into courtrooms and things ...

Rachel: Next week.
Elyssia: It's so great if she has these companions around her.
Rachel: I feel her presence!

TOMAS: It is of great benefit to you, evidently, when you have been able to ascertain an identity for these beings that you know are near you. When you have put a label on them, they somehow are more real. This is of benefit to your material minds. It is somehow more meaningful to say that "Joe is with me" rather than "my angel is with me" for "Joe" is someone that you can identify with more closely than an ethereal and abstract concept such as an angel. At least it is our observation that these names and labels are very meaningful and impressive to you.

Elyssia: It does personalize the beings, which gives a feeling of comfort, like having a family around you.

TOMAS: It is our pleasure to bring this into your vision. As you have greater confidence, then, of your spirit helpers, as they have become more real to you, as you begin to depend more and more upon spirit reality, as you begin to personalize the reality of your associates in the spirit realm, as you begin to converse with them and discuss with them your life's adventures and experiences, your cosmic problem-solving, you are more inclined to ask them for their opinion or their help, and you are then more inclined to see how life resolves itself and you are then more inclined to accept that the universe is a friendly place, it has your best interests at heart, it truly does concern itself with your welfare, your happiness. The Father himself has invested himself in you for your own development and has provided myriad helpers for your development. He is truly a great provider, this Father of ours.

Elyssia: We were reading tonight that there are personality patterns in the central universe and I wanted to ask a question about that, and I've been wanting to ask for a long time, because somebody told me that the six apostles that Christ Michael chose were each one of main personality types, and I thought perhaps you might enlighten me about that.

TOMAS: I will not. Evidently not. No comment.

Leah: Tomas, can I ask a question? When you were talking to Rachel about ... that one of the personalities that is with her is with her "by default". Could you please explain to me how that would be? What does that mean? I don't understand what that means.

TOMAS: I see. Well, perhaps "default" is not the right word. Again, default has negative connotations. Normally when we use the word "default" here in this Teaching Mission with a Urantia Book frame of reference, default relates to the Adamic default and I do not mean to imply that there is any "fault", nor do I wish to say that it is by accident, for there is no accident involved. It is -- let me think if I can find a literal example for you.

Leah: Thank you.
TOMAS: Your husband has a son by default.
Leah: I understand. By adoption. Yes.
TOMAS: All right. Does that answer?

Leah: It answers my question about the adoption. I still don't understand why the personality is there, but ... Are you saying it's like a proxy personality?

TOMAS: Madagan is assigned to Rachel as an assistant, as an associate, as a companion, her personal teacher, and she will stay with Rachel indefinitely, even into the mansion worlds. Secondary to that, there is another on-going situation that involves Madagan and her companion, a male.

Leah: I understand that.
TOMAS: In your vernacular, it would be "that is their business."
Leah: Okay.

TOMAS: And yet, since they are in association, Rachel has the benefit of his presence in her life, even though his relationship is not primarily with and for her benefit, you see.

Leah: Yes.
Rachel: It's a perk.
TOMAS: It is like he is the baby-sitter's boyfriend. (Group laughter)
Leah: I can understand that!

Elyssia: Do each of these helpers have a different approach to help? Is one helping her with her career and one helping her with her children and one helping her with her spiritual development or something like that?

TOMAS: Something like that, although not specific to that. The guardian, as you understand, guards you and keeps you from harm, keeps you as much as possible from being hurt in an accident as a result of other people's carelessness, guards you from making gross error in judgment that will affect your life, will perhaps keep you away from personalities that would cause you harm.

The personal teacher is a personal teacher who works with her, as do all of your personal teachers work with you, on your personal growth. Now you remember this is Correcting Time, and each of you has issues of growth, matters of correction, to bring you back into alignment with the Father. Each of you has examples of distorted comprehension and poor conditioning as a result of your upbringing and your inheritance, and your personal teachers help to bring you into alignment with who you truly are, your true personality.

They bring you much happiness if you will work with them. They are like a best friend and a therapist. They are like an older sister and a mother. They are like no one you have known before, but they are totally loyal and incredibly intimate, very supportive and very sensitive. These are the role and the duty and the function and the privilege of personal teachers.

You can all get to know your personal teachers. It is perhaps a matter of recognizing that you have a personal teacher and putting a name on them, as we discussed moments ago, and then beginning to call upon your teacher and put them to work, and they will respond to you and you will develop a relationship. In time it will become perhaps more real than the relationship you have with your butcher, your mailman, your baker, and even your spouse.

The relationship with the secondary midwayer is outside of my realm, as is the relationship between the secondary midwayer and the babysitter's boyfriend. The most important relationship, of course, is the relationship between you, Rachel, and that pilot light that leads the parade.

Rachel: Do Thought Adjusters have names that you call them by?
TOMAS: No, they do not.
Rachel: So I'll just call them Thought Adjusters. But I talk to you! You know I do!

Elyssia: One of the people in the Urantia Book movement calls his “TAC” -- Thought Adjuster Clyde.

Leah: Sometimes they're called Mystery Monitors, too.

Elyssia: And how do you get closer to them? What are some of the things you can do to get closer to these wonderful beings that are kind enough to be with you in spite of all your....

TOMAS: Are we discussing your relationship with your Thought Adjuster?
Rachel: Yeah, the Thought Adjuster.
Elyssia: Well, any part of your entourage.
Rachel: I was interested in the Thought Adjuster.

TOMAS: Let us begin with the Thought Adjuster. And the whole thing holds true for any other personality in your environment - spiritual or mortal. Any relationship, truly, anyone with whom you want to develop a meaningful relationship -- you spend time with that entity. You become real with them. You learn to speak a common language. You open up. You listen. You share. You confide. You care. As you spend time in stillness with the Father, in that citadel of the spirit, that wonderful place of intimacy with the Father fragment, that safe place, that sanctuary, you can discourse with the Father in heaven and/or the Father within. It is the same.

Allow It to know you. Don't try to hide from It. Don't try to deceive It or be clever. Just be. And then talk. Talk to It. And then listen. Listen to It. It will speak to you. It will help you to develop and fine tune your morontial zones -- the upper stratosphere of your capabilities. And the same method that goes into developing a good relationship, a working partnership between you and God, between you and your God fragment, is the same key that involves your relationship with anyone.

In fact, as you develop your primary relationship with God, your own relationship with yourself will be immeasurably enriched, improved, enlightened, made whole, vitalized, revitalized, sanctified, vivified, all manner of things. You will become reborn … repeatedly! You will bathe in the living waters. You will love it. You will frolic. You will be joyous. You will be happy. You will be like a child. You will trust life. You will attract other people. You will attract other people perhaps who have known the Father and then you have wonderful friends. The people that you have attracted that are not relating to the Father will be enthralled to find out how you got so happy, joyous and free and they will ask you, whereupon you may tell them, if you can find the words, that you sit and you talk with God and you have developed a personal relationship with the King of Kings, or whomever you want to call Him that they can understand, that you can understand.

It's very simple. It's that gospel that we read of this evening. The living God, my dear.

Have I sung you a lullaby?

Rachel: Yeah, fascinating.

Elyssia: A fascinating lullaby, yes. It reminded me of something. Of mind control. When I took mind control, briefly,...

Rachel: Did you take Silva Mind Control?

Elyssia: I didn't do a real good job with it, but I couldn't stay because my father was ill, but, they seem to say get yourself some companions and give them names and I did do that, and I found it useful. I thought it was quite useful. I could visualize them for certain things. They held my hand when I went to the dentist. Things like that. It was helpful. But this is better, even better than that.

Rachel: Much more real.
TOMAS: It's another dimension. Well, my children, we have had a good time.
Rachel: Yes.
TOMAS: Are there any pressing needs?

Leah: I would like to thank you for your introductory comments, about energies and ... we didn't quite talk about altered states, but I found my trip a little confusing in some ways. I know there's a portion of me that can't go back to certain things and the words that you put out there have given me a healthier respect for things that I do differently now and understanding that people are singing their own song and I should rejoice with them that they are.

TOMAS: Yes, daughter, thank you for your observation and sharing your observation. I understand how difficult it is for the mortal to embrace things which are different and in particular perhaps when it has to do with that most sacred realm of personal religious belief and how other people's belief systems can be very fearful, and yet, when an individual is truly praising Father in the ways that they understand, it is their gift to Him.

Remember that all of you are products of your own evolution, your spiritual evolution, your religious backgrounds. The religionist who worships Buddha will manifest the divinity of Buddha and will do it divinely and will have tremendous poise and peace and bearing. It is a genuine spiritual experience, and yet it may not be meaningful to someone of the Christian faith who does not comprehend the nature of Nirvana. By the same token, a Protestant may not understand the ecstasies and raptures of Catholicism, and in this New Age movement it is not so different how one who does trance channeling can look with a jaundiced eye at someone who speaks in tongues.

All of you lovely children are manifesting who you are at this juncture in your personal evolution. It is not for you to look down upon each other but to be amazed and enthralled and delighted at the many, many ways in which you may find to manifest your praise and song for God.

Leah: Thank you.

TOMAS: Indeed, my little ones, that will be my assignment for you this week -- as if you had nothing better to do. Look to the way that others praise God, and when you see them praise God, appreciate their effort, appreciate their belief system, and appreciate that they believe. Do not pass judgment on their belief, but thank God that they believe and that they have praised Our Father in the way that they understand.

It is a difficult exercise, but I know you are capable of assimilating this value lesson. I look forward to your adventures. I will be with you. Farewell.

Group: Farewell and thank you.

*****

DATE: September 25, 1997
LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
T/R: Gerdean

TEXTUAL STUDY:
From Urantia Paper 15: The Seven Superuniverses
1. The Superuniverse Space Level;
2. Organization of the Superuniverses;
3. The Superuniverse of Orvonton;
From Urantia Paper 129: The Later Adult Life of Jesus
4. The Human Jesus.

TEACHER SESSION
TOPIC:
MASTERING THE MIND

TOMAS: I am here. I am Tomas, your teacher and your companion. Also with me this evening is the retinue of spirit companions that you have come to expect and appreciate. Our friend Merium has not yet returned but I understand she is scheduled to be back in this sphere very soon.

Let me try to garner some focus here. My T/R is very scattered. Perhaps it is the altered state of detoxification we discussed earlier. I am not going to -- "Oh, Tomas, you always say that: 'I am not going to talk long.' And yet you always do!" -- I do want to discuss, but briefly, your sharing this evening and how nice it is to listen to your solo performances.

Your observation, Elyssia, that the mortal is unfamiliar with happiness and afraid to step out into radiance is a theme worth going into. Would that I had a better grip on the T/R this evening. One moment.

The ego is such an obstreperous thing, you see. Enchanting, but like any untamed animal, it needs some coaching. How many of you are aware of your ego? How many of you can identify when your ego is operating as compared to when it is in abeyance? How many of you are aware of when you are being clever as compared to being creative? How many of you understand your ego-driven personality as compared to your Father-bestowed personality? It is truly a study.

This evening in the reading regarding the human life of Jesus, you will note that at a certain point in time, he gained self-mastery over his mind. Now what do you suppose that means? and how far do you feel you are from attaining self-mastery in terms of your mind? And then, how do you suppose we should go about getting that curtailed? I have been applying myself to that question for a number of your years now, and with your full cooperation we have made significant progress. I will hasten to ask then, also, in fairness, how many of you realize how far we have come, how much you have grown and how we have enlarged our scope of comprehension and function?

I admit to rambling. I am eager to see these questions that have been formulated. Before we embark upon the adventure of opening "the envelope please," I would like to again greet you and embrace you and honor your approach to spirit reality. It is not for naught that we come together. As Hester says, there is a purpose involved in this configuration of believers. You benefit personally and as a group, and what you take with you benefits many, many others. There is indeed purpose in our efforts and rewards as well. And so, as your host I thank you for coming, and as your teacher, I say let us commence. Who has a question?

Celeste: Tomas, this is Celeste. I was thinking all day today that every time I read this fruits of the spirit, I'm so thrilled. I think they are so absolutely perfect, and anytime I read anything about anything in the Urantia Book -- I respect so much all the knowledge that is there -- but I also thought that it doesn't change me at all.

The thing that changes you ... me, I think, is to put your will to work, and will to do all those things and to be all those things that you learn about in The Urantia Book. Because it seems to me that lots of times I'm just admiring what I'm seeing or reading, instead of really taking it deeply into my soul and using my will to accomplish more.

TOMAS: I understand what you have expressed and I will respond to you and appreciate your sentiment, for yes, it is wonderful to read these gracious words, these inspiring messages and savor the truths and the fact of their existence. As I once indicated, they make charming plaques to hang on the wall, but they make much more sense and have more value when they are put to work in your life, and they may be put to work in your life by your association with the Father in wanting to serve.

As you involve yourself, as you put yourself out as a worker in the field, as your faith becomes activated (as we discussed last week, "faith without works is dead"), as you opt to do something even if it's wrong, you will be practiced in the fruits of the spirit. You will, as we discussed before, begin to ascertain how you could polish up your fruit, or prune a branch here and there, that your fruit will grow thicker and sweeter.

And so yes, you may foster your orchard, that you may produce fruit for the Master. Remember He said that He is the vine and you are the branches. From you, the branch, grows the grape that creates the sweet wine. Now if you are not fruitful you will be pruned back, perhaps even uprooted and tossed aside for a plant that will produce; but I know that you, Celeste, are a fruitful plant.

Indeed, I see that your fruit is even more profluent than you give yourself credit for. I recall not long ago during sharing, you were saddened in a specific relationship that did not meet your emotional need, and yet in this evening's sharing, you testified to another emotional interchange between someone and yourself that was augmented by your desire to be of service, and your persistence in giving forth with a fruit of the spirit that would nourish your friend. You did not bow under; you did not succumb to the moment, but rose to the occasion. This is growth.

I don't know if you can perceive this as growth, but in your brief testimonies during sharing with your peers, you have made these pronouncements to the universe. And so you have grown and you have sweetened your grapes by your willingness, by your allowing yourself, yes, through your own free will, to do something in order that you may serve. You have served your brethren, you have served the Master, and you have served yourself in the process of producing and growing in the spirit.

Acts such as these will bring into being the era of light and life, not only in some far distant future goal, but in your moment-to-moment existence, in your friendships, in your associations, in your very life today.

Celeste: Tomas, I have to apologize for last week. I fell asleep while you were talking. That's pretty terrible, I think.

TOMAS: My dear, it [an apology] is not called upon [for] at all. I have witnessed literally millions of people falling asleep talking to The Father Himself! and I am far from The Father, but remember I was singing you a lullaby, so you were quite compelled to sleep.

No, truly, dear, do not apologize. You know how we do carry on. We visit and then we visit some more and then we call in the teachers who talk and then talk some more and by the time we get out of here it is well past a civilized bedtime, so if you took a catnap on our time, it is hardly any thing to apologize for.

However, I would like to say, in defense of all of us, that we are moving right along in terms of accomplishing all the things we wish to accomplish in one short evening. Now if we could just accommodate that value lesson and that theory into realizing that we cannot possibly do everything we want to do in one short lifetime in the flesh, we might have more peace of mind.

Celeste: Thank you, Tomas.
TOMAS: You are a delightful child and I love you very much.
Celeste: I love you, too.
TOMAS: Are there more questions?

Hester: Tomas.
TOMAS: Yes, Hester.

Hester: Are you familiar with the prophetic teachings of the age that we are in now as the end of this thousand years, the coming to a term of a change in the physical and the spiritual life of the earth? Are you familiar with the prophesies in regards to this? If you are, I have a question.

TOMAS: We teachers have been apprised of the times prior to arriving here, and have had certain specific information pass our consciousness through exposure to you. I have not received copies of Nostradamas' predictions by way of inter-office memo, but I am familiar with the times, certainly. How may I help you?

Hester: I was not even thinking of Nostradamas because I'm not too familiar with -- I've read them, but .... These were things that are in the Bible, in the Old Testament, concerning the shifting of the planes and earth and times and this, at the ... somewhere in the end of this century we're in, and we've got two years left  or part of two years  and I was just wondering if you were familiar with those prophesies that delineate what is coming to the earth and how it will affect us as individuals.

TOMAS: Your invitation to discourse would take six months, and I haven't the inclination. Actually we haven't the time, for in your own framework, we will be dealing with too many critical issues between now and then to have invested that much time in the crisis of the day. As an individual anticipates cataclysmic change, cataclysmic change will present itself, if even in your own minds.

Hester: My question is: Are we in this last days that supposedly is to be the last days of this dispensation?

TOMAS: We are indeed in Armageddon. These are the last days, yes, as prophesied, and while I say that, I also am aware that 50 years ago the last days were upon us and in 50 years they may still be upon us, but the last days are passing away, and all things are becoming new.

Remember I have discussed at length the effects of epochal revelation and that there is a spiritual renaissance on-going, and so while the old way is passing away, the new way is already well established and gaining momentum.

I know that there are many believers who feel that the end of the world is upon us and that it will be quite literal and quite abrupt. That is to say, on Tuesday at 5:00 people will come home from work and the next day the world will be destroyed, and it is not quite as dramatic as that. It is rather drawn out and dreary, by comparison, much like your news broadcasts testify to on a daily basis.

Yes, there is blood in the street; yes, there are wars and rumors of wars; and this is a sign of the times, not just because it is three years from your calendar millennium, but because of the times -- period.

I would like to further add that your calendar is not our calendar. It is true that millennia dates have certain significance, but Michael's 2000th birthday has come and gone and so the actual millennia has already passed. You have already gone through the door of the millennia. You are already in the next millennia; your calendar has not yet caught up, however.

And so, if you like, you may anticipate yet more mayhem and destruction, for certainly there will be more to come, but if I were you I would prefer to think in terms of the dawn of the new age which is also on the horizon, and that is the focus of our Mission: the next age; not the age that is dying and falling away. Is there a follow-up question, Hester?

Hester: That puts it in perspective. That's what I was looking for and hoping to hear.

TOMAS: Thank you for you question. I am happy to serve.

Elyssia: I have been talking to friends about how two and a half million people were aware of the song about Jesus and I thought perhaps you might comment on it. It was that week that Mother Theresa died and Princess Diana died. There were these wonderful church services, and I couldn't remember whether you had commented. I know we had talked about it around the table between each other, but I thought it must have been a singularly glowing planet when people were singing "The King of Love my Shepherd Is" and they were singing the prayer of St. Francis and they were singing a wonderful devout piece of music when Mother Theresa had her funeral.

So I wondered, did the planet sort of light up a little bit at that point? There seemed to be such a lot of faith around those events. People's faces ... people were caught up in it. They seemed to be thinking about spiritual things.

TOMAS: Much of your question is related to things in which I have no administrative business. I will say, however, that your Star-Spangled Banner can be sung by a million people and yet their heart is not truly patriotic. It is like people can say The Lord's Prayer and not realize what they are saying; they are just saying words. And sometimes this is true also, even with songs about Our Lord and at times of grief or great happiness.

Yes, always is there thought of eternal life and salvation at the death of a religious figure. Much of what goes on in the souls and hearts of mourners of such personalities of global renown as Diana and Theresa are rightfully sacred, [but] much is emotional hysteria and much also is a convoluted effort to make up for lost time. And so I appreciate your idealism, Elyssia. You would certainly think everyone singing the same hymn around the globe would have a powerful impact, but it does not mean that they were in spirit unity.

You have heard it said that there are musicians who are technically correct in playing the musical piece, but that there is within the artist a sensitivity to the soul of the music that brings about a dimension of life to the piece that transcends the mere mechanical perfection of the playing, and when the prayer, the song, is lifted in the spirit of true prayer, true salvation, then the song is heard loud and clear. A cacophony is not necessarily a song.

I have seen examples, on a more local level, of people celebrating the Fourth of July … and loudly! And yet in their celebration of Independence, they were far from independent. In fact, it seems the louder they were and the harder they celebrated, the more dependent they actually were, and so they celebrated even harder to prove that they were independent when they were, in their soul, not.

These events that are largely publicized are not necessarily true at heart. I don't want to burst your bubble. There were many sincere mourners and they [Diana and Theresa] were, indeed, and are even now gracious daughters of the Lord. They are even now received into Mansonia and are rejoicing in knowing their place in time and space, in the embrace of the Creator Son and their own angelic guides. Their life is fine and we are glad to have them embarked upon their eternal career. Yes, Celeste.

Celeste: I was just going to say, if occasions like that just bring two or three people to the Lord, it's fantastic and wonderful.

TOMAS: Yes.

Elyssia: I have another question. We keep talking about trying to get into the stillness, and you know, you've made many suggestions to help us and yet you know us better now, and some of your observations may be even more helpful, and so I thought perhaps you might have some more suggestions about it.

We got a paper here called "The Still Voice" and I looked at it and it was really nothing that we haven't heard from our teachers; it wasn't anything terribly new for us. I'm sure it's very helpful to the movement at large. I mean, the movement at large is profiting by this paper called "The Still Voice" but I have a feeling that since you know us individually, perhaps you'll have some further suggestions since you have commented quite often, Tomas, about it.

TOMAS: I have a number of suggestions, but you will not abide by them. I have no need to reiterate to you what you already know. It is a matter of doing it, not discussing it. If you must, then get disciplined, and do what you must do.

It is charming to discuss stillness and to argue with stillness and to split hairs about how you get there and what you must grapple with en route, but the truth is stillness is a vital connection that is incomparable in terms of your inner peace and your spiritual growth.

If you want to know the Father intimately, personally, if you want your life to be affected by Trinity reality, you will find It and you will stay there until your Father sends you out to do good works on His behalf in clear understanding of your knowledge of His will. There is no greater joy. If you do not want to know that joy, it doesn't matter how many papers you read or how many ways you dance around the issue.

Elyssia: Well, I understand why you're saying this to me. I understand perfectly well, but I do have to say it's been going on for a lot of years and I quite sincerely devoted myself to some of these suggestions for quite a long time and there wasn't, as far as I could see, much of a result, and so I suppose that I became somewhat disenchanted with the idea that I could do it. I actually began to falter quite a bit.

TOMAS: Then let me challenge you then with a new one.
Elyssia: Oh, okay.

TOMAS: Assign yourself an appointment. Get yourself a straight back chair and a desk or a table, an uninterrupted space in time, and a tape recorder. Turn out the light; experience stillness for 20 minutes, and then turn on the tape recorder and see what comes out of your mouth. Now, I offer you this suggestion because it will get you out of your own head. It will invite a discourse.

You remember in The Book, as it discusses the origin of prayer and your early, early worship efforts, there is a period of time when you ... what is it? talk to yourself? discuss things with your alter ego? If you must, then talk to your alter ego, but carry on a discourse that gets you out of your own head. It is being locked up in your own head with your own mind that keeps you constrained, and I will compare it to a walnut.

A walnut is a hard shell that has meat in there, but if you will not open up the shell, you cannot get to the meat, nor can anyone else enjoy the meat that is at your center. And so, allow that nut to open naturally. I am not going to crack it open with a hammer for you, and I wouldn't suggest you invite that kind of treatment at any rate, but that nut will open, dear, if you encourage it, if you realize that it is meant to be opened for that meat to be enjoyed.

Elyssia: Well, thank you very much.
TOMAS: Well, you are very welcome. I am eager to hear the upshot.
Elyssia: Um-hum. I appreciate the suggestion.

Ann: I have a question.
TOMAS: Yes, my dear.

Ann: Is it necessary for us to be in meditation or stillness to achieve a spiritual type of altered state, or are they altered states in themselves?

TOMAS: Yes, stillness is an altered state. Prayer and worship is an altered state. It is altered from your normal state, but it is the most pure state of being. Even in this pure state of being, in your worship moment of stillness, your experiences will alter one from the other.

Let us say that your relationship with your Thought Adjuster is the sublime moment, the yearning for permanence and connection that transcends all other states of consciousness, indeed, that is the abolition of all consciousness except the consciousness of the First Source and Center. In that case it is the one state that is pure and unaltered.

But that is a goal. That is unattainable for long periods of time, here, while you are growing and while you are in an environment of successive states of consciousness. All growth is an adaptation from yesterday to today to tomorrow.

Ann: Thank you, Tomas.
TOMAS: You're welcome.
Leah: Tomas, I have a question that someone has submitted.
TOMAS: Yes, Leah.

Leah: The question is: "I have heard people say about Jesus, 'Yeah, but he never got old, so he doesn't know about the problems of old age.' 'Yeah, but he was never married, so he doesn't know about ... interpersonal relationships.'" The questioner says, "Are these people being obnoxious on purpose? Or do they sincerely feel that unique?" -- Whatever you want to do with the question.

TOMAS: Well, the first thing I want to do with the question is eliminate the opinionated commentary of the person who submitted the question for those who have the question.

And I will discuss with the individual who suggested that Jesus never grew old and so what does he know of the problems of old age. I would suggest that old age is a state of mind, that as you grow in the spirit you become younger and younger, that even though your body may go through certain changes, your hair may turn gray, you may develop character lines in your face, your heart and soul become more childlike as you seek for truth.

Now the question is more appropriate about how it was that Jesus faced death. That is the true question. Not that you grow old, but that you die, and how do you face death. That is what this person is truly asking. How do you grapple with leaving here? and that can best be learned by the attitude of the Master, as is written in the text.

As for His interpersonal relationships, it would seem that ... and I must confess I am speaking here for the Master where He is perfectly capable of speaking for Himself, but I am your teacher and so I will suggest that perhaps what the Master might say ... is that every relationship He had was interpersonal, that every one He knew was His beloved. Each one was His own child.

He, from the cross, said to John, "John, behold your mother," "Mary, behold your son," and so we are each to each other a brother, a sister, a mother, a father, a son, a daughter, a wife, a husband. We are friends, and whatever a friend can do to serve another is the spirit of Jesus.

And so just because a certificate indicates that certain obligations are to be met in legal binding, that is not a marriage in the spirit of the word.

And now to address the commentary of the one who submitted the question for the person who had the question. They are fearful, and in that, they are not unique, but in their aloneness they are alone, and it is your job, Ambassador, to nurture these souls into fullness, your job to produce those sweet grapes that will intoxicate them with the love of the Father, and so, carry on.

Leah: Thank you. I am reminded that we read this evening that even though Jesus didn't experience every human relationship, that he intellectually grasped every relationship.

TOMAS: Yes, this is true, Leah, and I thank you for your commentary, but I am quick to point out to those who are intellectual, that he also had very many poignant and human relationships. Even as a teacher he was personal and personable. He was the kind of teacher who was sensitive to the true need of the one who asked the question, and this is exemplified in the tale of The Young Man Who Was Afraid, and how it is that the Master could perceive through longing looks that the soul was asking a question. If he was so sensitive to an individual as to know through longing looks that the heart craved to know the Lord, then how could he not be personal in his associations with all humanity?

Remember in his private ministry, in his travels, he touched hundreds, thousands of people. The husband who was abusing the wife was altered by Jesus' words to him and to them. Their marriage was launched onto a new level because of his ministrations, and so it is easy to say that he may not have been engaged in all types of relationships but appreciated them intellectually. He also experienced and contributed to many emotionally and humanly, as well.

Leah: I'd just like to make the commentary that I'm perceiving the person who asked this question, which was questioned by another person, that the person was not a Urantia Book reader, so it's a little bit difficult sometimes to say some of these things to people when they don't have any more intimate knowledge of who Jesus was.

TOMAS: You are correct, Leah, it is not easy, but let me go back now to my earlier chat with Celeste in discussing her growth in her ability to take a situation in hand in order to augment an understanding of an individual through merciful ministry, and even though a person may not read the Book, they are aware of value and you are aware of value and you are in a position, as a co-creator, as an Ambassador of the Kingdom, to utilize your skills, your personality to bring that person into a greater understanding of his or her need to know.

You are learning to be a teacher. You have an opportunity herein, in this type of situation, to attempt to address that person's soul question. Even if you flounder or if you fail to live up to your own expectations of what you can do as a teacher or as a seed planter, there is no harm in trying your wings or in trying to plow that field.

Indeed, apply yourself, in whatever creative way you can, and learn from your experience. Fertilize your soil. Prune your branches. Yes.

Rachel: Tomas.
TOMAS: Yes, my dear.

Rachel: Is it merely coincidence when two people come together, say Mr. B and I, or is there a greater purpose? Is it the will of the Father that we are together, or is it just merely coincidence?

TOMAS: Now, you have asked me a provocative question. Who is to say if this is a marriage that is suited to mortal concerns and needs or if it is a liaison that could be sanctioned by Heaven?

Rachel: I'm talking more about a spiritual service.

TOMAS: And I am being philosophic. Your coming together would appear to be a combination of spirit and human, and this is the ideal. But, I will refer you to the Urantia Book and their discussion of marriage, only for an understanding of interpersonal relationships such as you share. I am not suggesting that paperwork is an issue here. Understood?

Rachel: Uh-huh.

TOMAS: Sometimes people are drawn together for reasons that relate to inner need. Sometimes people are brought together by their seraphic hosts in order to effect certain causes. Of course, I like to think that your relationship is healthy and will serve, as I'm sure you choose to think also. That gives it some sanction that it probably is a spiritual relationship at heart, for those who are drawn together for less than noble reasons give little thought as to whether God cares or not about their coming together.

How long you remain together is a matter which has titillated and confused individuals for centuries, for many times people find affection and seek to secure it into eternity and the relationship is not intended to be of such endurance. This subject, much like Armageddon, is open to extensive discussion.

I am not a crystal ball gazer nor a horoscope. I respect you enough to appreciate that that is not the level you are asking your question, but I will say in sincerity that there are kindred spirits that are drawn together and there are celestial personalities that are engaged in bringing people together to benefit both the human beings involved in a relationship and those that they touch upon, and for spirit purposes. Let us trust that that is the purpose of your friendship.

Rachel: Thank you.
TOMAS: You are welcome.

Mr. B: Tomas. Good evening.
TOMAS: Good evening, my dear.
Mr. B: I'm curious to know about my guides.
TOMAS: Yes.
Mr. B: Can you help me?

TOMAS: I like to think I can. One moment. You have guides … plural. You have guardian seraphim and you have a male companion. You are very close to your male companion. I have the sense that you have worked in cooperation with him, perhaps unconsciously, for some time. He is very happy with you, as are your guardian seraphim, but I have yet to see a pair of seraphim who were not thoroughly charmed by their mortal. I perceive that you have not given your guardians much trouble.

Mr. B: You want me to answer that?
TOMAS: Of course.
Mr. B: Not that I know of.

TOMAS: I am happy to be confirmed. Yes, my son, you have a noble companion, a personal guide. I see no feminine assistants except for the feminine aspect of your guardian seraphim. You are quite wholly masculine. I suspect that you had a fairly healthy youth. I would conjecture that you had a wholesome relationship with your mother.

Mr. B: No, not really.

TOMAS: Well, perhaps I am venturing into some realms of horoscope that I don't belong in, but I do perceive you as being a healthy fellow and being well-attended by your guides who are quite pleased with your presence.

Mr. B: Can I help my guides in any way?
TOMAS: Always. Now, I hear you saying "guides." You have one personal guide.
Mr. B: Just one?

TOMAS: One. You have a guardian seraphim who guards you, but they do not guide you. You have your Thought Adjuster, who of course guides you heavenward, but He is pre-personal and not personal. Your personal guide and you, as I perceive, are already on good terms, but your relationship is primarily unconscious. You might enjoy your association more with him and he may be able to be more effective with you if you acknowledge his work in your life, his presence in your life more readily.

Indeed, you appear to be self-sufficient, and acknowledging his companionship would benefit you greatly, at least I am told that's what he would like. Perhaps if you were to acknowledge him as a personality and approach the idea as if your guide were a personality, you would be able to appreciate his presence and his influence more in your life.

Mr. B: A name?
TOMAS: Is coming. One moment. (Long pause)
Gerdean: It's not clear. Two syllables, starts with H. I can't get it.
Mr. B: Tomas, you've been quite helpful.

TOMAS: I appreciate your vote of confidence, my son. I feel as if I have floundered, but it is not the first time, nor will it be the last. I will attempt to break through this walnut and convey the name of your teacher. You understand that it is a difficult process for Gerdean. It commands of her a great trust. She is coming along.

We will return to the nomenclature that you ardently desire and well deserve. Your own name also is a wonderful name that I am eager to reveal to you, for you will recognize yourself at once. In time, my son. Thank you for your patience.

Are there other questions? (Long pause) Ethan.

Mr. B: Ethan?
TOMAS: Ethan. (Long pause) You are Ethan. Your teacher is H-O-W-A-C-H.
Ethan: H-o-w-a-c-h?

TOMAS: Howach. It is unpronounceable in your language. More in the throat, as in (swallowed). Unpronounceable. You will have to give him a nickname.

Leah: Howie.

TOMAS: Howie [not to be confused with "Ow-ie"]. An absurd nickname for such a noble character. Perhaps another nickname could serve better. I will trust your ability to deal with your teacher, as he is immanently qualified to deal with you, Ethan.

Ethan: I look forward.

TOMAS: Of course you do. Wonderful, I am well pleased. Are there other questions this evening?

We have had a good round of it, my friends. It has been most enjoyable for me. I hope it has been for you as well.

Celeste: Indeed it has been.
Rachel: Always.
Elyssia: Great.
Rachel: Church, for the week.

TOMAS: I am looking forward to Merium's return. I was telling my young associate here earlier that I was enjoying myself immensely for it is very much as if I had been an only child and suddenly there was another little girl born into the family and I had to learn to share, and after being an only child for a long time, it was a difficult adjustment and I still have a tendency to want to bully my way into the social arena, but as you well know, Merium is a very capable and precocious child of God herself, and so there is no bullying her. It is no wonder that Michael sent her to serve with me. We have become quite a duet. And I am sure we have both benefited from knowing each other and working with each other.

It is as always a bittersweet moment when I say Farewell, but I am replete, and I am glad of our evening. I am glad of the opportunity to serve. I am grateful to our Sovereign Michael for this incredible opportunity to get to know you mortal beings and to share in your uncanny lives. It is an experience I treasure and would not have guessed in all eternity how challenging and how peculiarly satisfying an experience it has become.

Be good to yourselves and to each other. I'll see you later. Good night.

Group: Good night, Tomas. Thank you very much.

*****

DATE: October 2, 1997
LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
T/R: Gerdean and Hunnah

TEXTUAL STUDY: THE URANTIA PAPERS
(1) Paper 15: The Seven Superuniverses, Pg. 169-173:
4. Nebulae - The Ancestors of Universes
5. The Origin of Space Bodies
6. The Spheres of Space
(2) Paper 144: At Gilboa and in The Decapolis, Pg. 1619
3. The Believer's Prayer

TEACHER SESSION:
By Whose Authority?


MERIUM: There is an amusing scenario going on over here. It's sort of like, "Lights, camera, action!" and the curtain is up. Good evening, everyone.

Group: (Elyssia, Mary Theresa, Hunnah, Leah, Gerdean and Hester): Good evening, Merium.

MERIUM: I feel like we are the third act. We used to be double features, but we are the third act this evening and the final act, too, I would imagine. I hope that you have all talked out and that you are ready for whatever we bring along. I am refreshed from my sojourn, yet and still. Tomas, how are you? Are you there?

TOMAS: I am here but I am under the weather. I am under the weather of a dark cloud/wet blanket of my transmitter/receiver. It is not inoperable; however, it is one of those human conditions that settle upon all of you and, unfortunately, as that occurs, it dampens your spirits and curtails the activity of your relationship with your spirit associates.

And so perhaps I am right in the swing of things, and, as your earlier testimonies have set forth, children, we are in the Lord's family and this is part of the family unit that when one catches a cold, you all sneeze. I am, however, taking my vitamins and am prepared to forge ahead in spite of the downdraft of the human condition.

Yes, it is, as always, wonderful to be here with you, to experience your jubilance, your miscellany of personality expression, and to rejoice with you in your experiences, even those experiences which are awkward or temporarily disturbing, sad, alarming, et cetera. These experiences will result in some positive growth, even if it is for you to rise up and say, "Forget it. I don't feel like supporting that attitude any longer."

And so all of life's experiences contribute to your growth if, of course, you are willing to grow. It is amazing how many people prefer not to (grow), but who prefer to ride the emotional roller-coaster ad infinitum and perceive that that is what life is all about, when the spirit realms add a dimension to your existence that allows for an entire new range of vision, perception, appreciation and function.

We have been obtaining some of these new levels of functioning and it has been a joy to see the results of your applied efforts. I realize that my T/R is sitting here in a gray humor thinking that there is no such growth, but even she knows better. I heard her testify to it not 20 minutes ago your time. I am, however, somewhat handicapped by her attitude  and perhaps the sugar.

I am also aware of the late hour. I am not going to hold court. If there are questions, I am certain that we could entertain them; if there are commentary, we would be interested in hearing a progressive outpouring and concrete resolution; I am also willing to volunteer Merium if she should like to use this opportunity as an occasion to deliver the evening's lesson. I even now give the microphone to you, Merium, to proceed.

MERIUM: It isn't visible, but we both have a microphone. And it is true that we are dependent upon the human vessel to bring the message to you. And there is nothing to be upset about by not being "in the mood/up to it" because my very own friend here was wondering today -- she felt like an empty bag and was wondering if she was going to be able to be of service, also. But the stimulation of the evening and the chocolates seem to have brought her to life and she has volunteered to accommodate me.

We are always having a different combination of personalities at the table of this group and the energy levels are changing. Every day is new when we come together. Every moment is new. There are times when we feel as if we have all the answers and there are times when we just don't want to participate, and, as was pointed out, this is also a fluctuating behavior of a family.

I want to point out the fact that there is this huge gathering here tonight and they are all interested in human behavior and you have produced a wonderful example of the uncertainty of such a human gathering and our little apprentices are just delighted in your behavior, so you may think that you have disappointed us in some ways, but in other ways this has been a resounding success!

I am in great spirits because I feel that this combination is an effective one. You all go home with a bag full of goodies that you're not even aware of, as Hunnah was very surprised to find out as she sat and deliberately read the transcripts from previous meetings. And one of them was at her own home when Christ Michael surprised the group with a very eloquent and very direct delivery that He requested not be shared, and fortunately there was a misunderstanding and this transcript will be shared, because it is another in a series of talks on a call to maturity. And in this maturity delivery that He has brought, He described that He hoped that Hunnah would have the opportunity to act as an Ambassador on her journey. This did happen and it was a serendipitous experience and Hunnah was able to tell that she was very uplifted.

Now, when we come in here and we sit down and we say there is only a few here this evening. No, no, no, no, no, no. There is this collective business at hand. There is this arena that is full, and you are all being adjusted in many ways that you are not even aware of. You read about it in your Book this evening. These things, this activity, this electrical activity that takes place in your body is going on to help you to be prepared for the services that you are going to be facing in the future.

So do not be fooled. Just as Christ Michael came in as a powerful cleansing wind, little did those participants realize just how much of an impact it was, because you are in the process of living and dealing with this maturity in yourselves which is parallel to these talks, and even in Gerdean's report this evening, in the newsletter, that the other transmitter/receivers have indicated personal growth for themselves, some of you have felt a wrenching upset within yourselves, a revulsion in some areas. Some of you could perhaps be nauseous. Some of you are exhausted.

These are all effects on the human body of this change that is taking place in you. You have literally out-grown your clothes and you are being given new garments, new attitudes, new ideas. You are tapping in on the unborn solutions. You are finding solutions to your daily problems. You do not have to go to a book; everywhere new ideas are pouring in to people who are not sitting at a round table and studying the book, but the times are electric with change and I am talking about this because I want you to be patient with yourselves.

Today Hunnah just had to hang up a sign: Out of Business. Not out and away from The Father's Business, but she was having the experience of emptying out the areas in herself where she reflexes into her human mode of motherhood, being the wife, fixing, doing, running, I-should-ing, yet nothing could happen today because it was indeed a day of rest, a day of inner joy, and I'm hoping that you will all allow this to happen within yourselves and not get to the point of wanting to literally vomit.

So you have to be patient with yourself. If you add, on top of all this, giving up something chemical in your system, then you are carrying, in a sense, a double load. You must be kind to yourself. But you cannot use it as an excuse, or a crutch; it is something very personal, and you are and do have an ability to handle these challenges as they come and they will come more swiftly and thoroughly than ever you dreamed.

So I am talking about the changes that are necessary because there has been a quickening. There are responsibilities for you; there are people to meet, connections to make, and you will have to be willing to clear your calendar and not be over-booked because you are going to be flexible for Father. Some people have themselves tied down to activities: they would never miss their bridge, they have this, they have that. How can the Father send you out on an emergency if you are all tied up? if your pocketbook is all tied up? if your mind is all tied up? Please allow yourselves some slack. Follow this transcript with this message from our beloved Brother. Let it come into your heart and mind and let it penetrate you and put your house in order.

I've rather enjoyed this. I haven't been able to talk to my little friend here for awhile, although she has made an attempt to bring in Jasmine. It has been a very busy time. Do not allow your plate to get too full of the wrong form of food (and I'm not talking about food literally; I'm talking about activity).

Next time we come we're going to vote for laughter. My friend will be herself again. My partner will be dancing next to me. And I want you to have some friendship sharing this evening. I will let you out of school early. You will not wait for the bell to ring, and unless you have a question, I will give you permission for early dismissal. Is there anyone who is concerned about anything in particular?

Gerdean: I do. I'm Gerdean and I have a question and I would like to ask Tomas about it and if you would like to follow up, Merium, I would be interested also to hear your response and perhaps to confirm what Tomas may say, since I'm asking Tomas to answer and I'm going to transmit him. But my question is relating to a philosophy that, I believe, is a philosophy from the Course in Miracles that causes me some conflict and it is the philosophy that ... whatever it is that you're experiencing is a reflection of yourself. And I'm not sure that I know how to word this correctly, but if, for example, I'm feeling attacked, then it's because some part of me is attacking someone else. If I'm feeling oppressed, then it's because I'm actually being oppressive. In other words, it's like this zen thing of ... balance, I guess. I'm not real sure that I understand it.

When I look at that philosophy, which doesn't sit well with me, I, in my Urantia studies, see-- Okay, let us take Christ Michael, who is my teacher in all of my experiences, and when He was, for example, standing before -- who? Pilot or Herod? Herod, and putting up with their abuse, did he stand there and wonder if it was a reflection on how he wished that he could abuse them? You see what I'm saying? It's not ... It doesn't ... That philosophy, that we are reflecting back what we are, does not fit with my understanding of the Urantia Book philosophy. And I have a hard time with the truism that's supposedly in that teaching. I don't think I've expressed this very well.

MERIUM: May I ask a question before you have Tomas come through?
Gerdean: Yes, Merium.

MERIUM: I am interested to know why you brought this to the format. Is it because you have met someone at the shop and you have sparred with them regarding philosophies? How did it come about that this question was brought about?

Gerdean: I have seen it. I have witnessed it before. And each time I have witnessed it, there's something that occurs in me that's like a gut-wrenching or a spirit-clutching kind of an existential moment and I don't feel clear about it. Now here is why I'm asking, is because in my obscurity about it, I am not sure if it's because I'm missing something or if it's because it's true that it is a philosophy that is in conflict with my belief system as I understand it from the Urantia Book.

I wish I had somebody to help me ask the question, but it's my question, so, maybe it will be answered and maybe not, and this is certainly difficult, that I should ask Tomas to answer the question through myself, but this is also why I want you also, Merium, to pay attention so that maybe - I don't want to color my own teacher, you know? Did that answer your question, Merium?

MERIUM: Oh, yes.

Gerdean: Yes, I have encountered that. And I see Christ and I see him on the cross and it's not because he wanted to crucify somebody. He did not want to crucify somebody. That was just what ... you know ... so I don't understand this ying/yang thing about it.

MERIUM: Excuse me, but I think that the example that you have chosen is rather extreme. If you had taken some human being that you happen to know who is dealing with something that would parallel this philosophy, then I think it might be easier for you to handle, but to use Christ Michael's situation, it does not ring true for me in this particular situation, so it will be interesting to hear what our friend has to say.

Gerdean: Okay.

TOMAS: Thank you, Gerdean, for the opportunity to apply myself to your question. It is always a challenge for me to intend to impress upon you my thoughts which are not yours. It is always an adventure for you, too, my child, to allow yourself to see things from my perspective. This is possible because you give yourself up to greater truth when you seek to know. And my associate Merium has been insightful in avowing that your example of Michael's crucifixion is somewhat an exaggerated example.

It is, of course, true that humans can feel crucified, even though it is not the literal crucifixion that many experienced in those brutal by-gone days, but since Michael actually experienced many, many years of various crucifixions upon the stage of human drama, I will allow a certain dramatic license in your analogy, but I encourage you to, as they say, "Get off the cross; we need the wood."

I do not say this to undermine your very sincere feelings and your very profound application of truth. It is sort of like that thing that you are familiar with that when you point your finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing back at you, and the teaching from A Course in Miracles is very much along those lines. It is a way of keeping things in perspective. It is a way of allowing humility to be a part of your packaging. If things rankle you, you can say, "consider the source" and let it go without it becoming a major burden of existence.

There are many, many other things, my child, that warrant your energies and so let it go. The fact is, you are correct; but you have become emotional about it. It is the emotional content that is in need of correction, in need of assuaging. You are the one who needs to go to the Master, to the Father, into stillness and forgive yourself, others, the imperfection of the situation, the growth, the misunderstanding, and allow it to take its own natural course.

You are not the judge and jury, nor are you the defendant; you are a participant in the play of life and you play a wonderful role and so do your wonderful contemporaries. Appreciate each other and appreciate also the variety of philosophies that are a part of the packaging of the progressive ascent.

It is far more compatible to the human soul when you can comprehend your peers' philosophies and engage in intelligent and sympathetic discourse with them rather than to stand theirs up against yours as if they were in competition. They are all en route to perfection of purpose.

Embrace your brethren in loving kindness and trust that in your graciousness they, too, will embrace you in return, for your lack of judgment, for your understanding, for your expansiveness in your spirit perceptions. Have I been at all helpful, Gerdean?

Gerdean: You are always helpful, Tomas. If you even don't make sense, at least you make me feel better, so thank you.

MERIUM: May I have a volley at this?
Gerdean: Yes, Merium. I would appreciate hearing from you.

MERIUM: I have the net up and I am ready to go, but I would first like to renew this question and pretend that it's from someone by the name of Jane Doe and pretend that Jane Doe presented this question, and I just wanted to add, and as Tomas continued to talk he covered some of the areas that I was going to mention, but first of all, Hunnah had something that floated through her mind today about the teachers.

There is a positive aspect about being a teacher, humanly, and I'm saying humanly -- and there is a negative connotation to being a teacher -- and this is a kind of an analytical thing … which humans love to do, they just love to analyze things to death! But on the negative side of being a teacher is: the person who is the teacher frequently is a teacher because they are intimidated by being wrong. They have to have all the answers to save face.

It is an ego thing. And if a teacher is a true teacher, they do not have to deal with this. But the human being ego is very sensitive and it will spar, it loves to spar with someone on these matters of your rules versus my rules and it had never occurred to her before that this could possibly be the fact that when a teacher has all the information and they are facing the student who doesn't know, … and this is to be avoided.

The other thing that I wanted to say was that being of maturity, which you may hold on to like a Linus blanket -- a blueprint of your maturity that is coming about ... (by the way, please do consider that -- carrying a blanket; no one can see it), but I want you to know that as soon as a comparison is presented to you, that channel is presented to you, it is time for you to know, it's a call to your Invisible Supply. You are allowed to present and hear your reply to the person who challenges you.

If you accept the challenge, then you can know right away that you are wearing the wrong shoes. You are back in the old game, you are going to get uncomfortable, you are going to get the clouds coming in, you're going to bring them in, you're going to draw them to you because you're going to start to lose ground because we do not want you to operate that way any more. You do not have to be challenged and have any more the mental arm wrestling that's been going on so much in your society today.

There is so much trivia floating around that it's absolutely like a sewer, and I want you to remember that we are not playing that game any more, and as Tomas pointed out, if you graciously and impersonally examine someone else's philosophy, if they present it to you and you prefer your own, it will all be very gentle and relaxed and take about a third of the time and much less energy.

I did not think, when this question was presented, that this much would come from me, but as I talk I can see that I seem to have an endless supply to deal with it, and I hope that I have presented you all with an opportunity to try to put on that new behavior that you really impart.

It's part of the thing that has to leave the basket of your balloon or you're not going to go up. You cannot continue in your old ways, and my charge here suffered a great deal recently because she found herself trying to dance to an old tune and it isn't there; and she will fall again, and you will fall again, but you are going to be aware in a way that you never were before.

And now I feel much better, Tomas, about having our talk because I was wondering if we were going to just have a little polite hello and good-bye and I feel now as if we have put together a lesson.

TOMAS: My dear, I have more faith in this motley bunch of kids than you can imagine. I have watched them from the beginning of my tenure here and I assure you they have it in them, if they only give themselves a chance. I must say that I have now been lifted up in my own hot air balloon. The tether of Gerdean has cut me loose. I am now up there with you and I would like to add again to the theme that has evolved in light of this evening's questioning, and it has to do with an insecurity that is running rampant on Urantia and it is bringing forth a plethora of individual and personal authority.

As women have become liberated, as times have changed, as there is more empowering going on in terms of push-button this and that, there is a new confidence in people that has given rise to an outpouring of authority that would have been unheard of even five years ago, and so much of the static that you encounter is the incessant static of a million sources of authority.

I spoke months ago to you about authority, inferring that you were your own authority, and it was you that you needed to answer to in terms of where you got your orders and, of course, that authority is personalized in your relationship to the Father, and so ultimately the authority is His which you abide by through your free will decision, and so your will is your authority, but there are many who misuse the authority of their will to be heard on behalf of themselves rather than on behalf of the greater good, and this is a side effect also of evolution.

It is similar to, oh, shall we say your teenagers who play the radio loudly or frost their hair green. It is a temporary insanity based upon their growth at the moment. It is an expression of the times. It is not to be taken seriously. It is a mere personality expression, very similar to fashion and it will pass as you grow up. Allow for these colorful expressions much as you tolerate children's eccentricities.

Speaking of children, my dear co-worker and associate, Elyssia, I overheard you indicating a desire to come to know little boys. This will be a peculiar suggestion from me, but I would like for you, in your stillness practice, to consider the little boy within yourself. You, yourself, are comprised of male and female, you know, and there is within you an element of little boy.

If you allow yourself that identity for a moment of reflection, you will be able to perceive yourself as climbing trees and catching frogs and dallying with boy things, mechanical devices, tearing apart radios, putting worms on the hook and tormenting little girls. You will be able to identify with the cherub-faced little rascal who knows how to wind his mother around his little finger and who adores his dad.

There are parts of you that are a little boy and it is not too hard to discover the delight of a male child if you can give yourself permission to identify with that aspect of yourself. There is no question in my mind, however, that you are a thoroughly feminine woman and it is no threat to your femininity to even suggest such a thing. It is an interesting experiment that may prove useful. By the same token, the opening of discourse that you offer in asking other men what it was like to be a child, is provocative and insightful and a way of reaching out for help in order to teach.

I want to tell you how much I admire you, my friend. It was pointed out to me recently that I may have appeared to be somewhat harsh in how I addressed you regarding your question as to how to improve your practice of stillness. I replied that I could but that you wouldn't listen, and I want you to know that was a generic remark and was not specifically intended for you, Elyssia, for I happen to know that in spite of your denials, you are actively involved in a religious and devoted discourse with the Master on a fairly regular if not continual basis, and so I wanted to clarify that for the record and for those who may have construed my remark as boorish, and if you, in any way, felt sensitive or offended by my remark, I sincerely apologize.

Elyssia: I felt that it was the proper response to my question. I totally felt that it was appropriate in every way, and sort of like a good friend nudging you a little bit, is sort of what I thought about it, but I do thank you for saying that I make a connection because I really hope that that's true and I feel good about it. Thank you.

TOMAS: You are welcome, and I do appreciate your strength. I also appreciate and would like to convey my thanks and general appreciation to my colleague, Daniel, who recently discussed, again, stillness. It is and has always been a favorite subject of Daniel and recently he discussed it again, and his discussion somewhat confirmed my suggestion that you engage in an inner dialog. You will encounter his transcript in the T/R Network Newsletter.

Elyssia: Thank you. I'm glad that you mentioned again about the inner dialog. I remember the Urantia Book, long before the Teaching Mission, described an inner dialog with the higher self, and I was intrigued by that for a lot of years. So thank you again.

TOMAS: Yes, my child. Are there other questions?

Elyssia: I guess I have a question. It's about a personal problem. I feel as if I'm caught in a very difficult position and I don't know quite how to solve it. The problem is that my daughter needs me terribly much more than I can actually do. I'm pushing myself, I feel, too much, because I want to ... I don't want her to carry so much of a heavy burden, but I don't have time to do things that I actually even have to do to maintain my physical self, so I am very confused about how to think about this problem. It's become rather acute recently, in the last month.

TOMAS: I have a lengthy response, however I will not go into it. My available mind bank is flooded with contemporary jargon such as enabling, co-dependency, caretaking, letting go, and other vernacular related to recovery. It is a common plight of womankind, in particular, that you get involved in taking care beyond your capacities, as if you had unlimited capacities, and so you push yourself and it is hinged upon loyalty.

Now, you must take a look at loyalty, the courageous loyalty, Elyssia, of those things which are of an ilk that will enable you to serve without undue strain. You are being loyal to family values, yes, and your loyalty as a mother is obvious, and as a grandmother as well. However, you are correct, that you need to take care of yourself and be loyal to your own maintenance, your maintenance physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, socially and so forth. You have a life that supercedes that of being a parent; you have a life that supercedes that of being a wife; you have a life, and your life is also belonging to the Father. You have an association with Jesus. You have other associations.

I will curtail my remarks, Merium; I know you are eager to serve, also.

MERIUM: Indeed, I am and I feel empathy and I feel confident that this problem will be attended to. First of all, let me remind you that you need to be reminded that your young charge has a team of helpers. She does not sit at this table with us physically, but we know how she is constructed. We know, especially after that wonderful meeting where Tomas was describing to our friend Rachel the entourage that she had with her. It was so impressive, was it not?

Elyssia: It was very impressive!

MERIUM: Do you think that The Father would assign your lovely daughter any less help? And even though her particular philosophy and her religious practice does not name names, she knows enough scripture that I'm sure you can deal with it, in your own level, that it says, "Take no thought," yes, "Thou knowest your every need." She needs to be reminded that her need is known, and if she has confidence in her own faith, then she knows that there will be someone who will appear, "and this is whom the Lord has sent." She will be able to see. You will acknowledge her Thought Adjuster, her Christ essence, and she will be able to, or someone in her circle will appear in a timely way, to assist with this need.

Hunnah has a little memory here, I will very briefly say, that when she went to work she was concerned. The children would be left for a period of time on their own. It was not long after that that she found out that her daughter was going across the street to be with the woman whose child she would babysit for, and she had the satisfaction, as a young girl, of sharing her day with this woman. This was a great relief to Hunnah because she knew that the emotional needs of coming home to tell someone her story would be met.

This is just a very brief example that there are solutions, but habit brings those problems to you and she will, or someone in this particular scenario, will bring in fresh delivery, new ideas, new creative solution. We may even include the children if they are involved in this challenge and make it into a rather creative workshop, so you may watch this develop and I agree with Tomas, you have to tend to your time with the Master, and not as an excuse but as a balance.

There has to be your balance, and it is true there are times when people lean on us heavily for awhile but we don't want to make it a continual situation, and it will right itself. And as you feel challenged to think of some kind a new way to solve your problem, you will feel more lighthearted. I hope that will help.

Elyssia: That helps a lot. I guess I wanted to ask you about her helpers. She has helpers, you say?

MERIUM: You all have helpers. It's just a matter of allowing ourselves and her own dialog. All you have to do is address to her that the spirit of the Christ, the Christ spirit essence is with her and that she has a reservoir of untapped solutions and creative ideas. Especially since she is a teacher! Fatigue clouds the situation.

Elyssia: Thank you.

TOMAS: It is your opportunity now to encourage your daughter to have faith in the Father as you have faith.

Elyssia: I really thank you. That was very good. Some wise ideas there, on thoughts, and I do appreciate your taking the time to answer my question in all this detail.

MERIUM: If you need a private session, it can be arranged.

Elyssia: Maybe I should do that. I probably should do that. There are questions that I don't want to ... questions that make it seem difficult to solve the problem. It seems like. Yes, I have questions. I'll have a private session.

TOMAS: Be in contact and something can be arranged.
Elyssia: I will do that.

TOMAS: You are fortunate to now have two to choose from, and in due course there will be others.

Elyssia: I feel fortunate.

TOMAS: Indeed, you may even begin to develop the process to the extent that you observed this evening wherein I can answer questions for my own T/R. You can also develop the ability to ask and receive answers from your spirit guides. Indeed, from me! I am available to you, Elyssia, in your higher realms of consciousness.

Elyssia: hat's good! I always did feel that way.
TOMAS: Yes.
Elyssia: I often talk to you.
TOMAS: Yes.
Elyssia: As you know.

TOMAS: Yes.
Elyssia: I may not get the answer but I think I do get the answer in some vague way.
TOMAS: Yes.
MERIUM: You may even write the lesson. You get the pen and write your own lesson.
Elyssia: Great! Good.

Leah: I know the hour is late but if there is some particular question Elyssia has, I would be happy to go out to the car for a few minutes.

Elyssia: No! No, it's not a private kind of thing. I'm very open about all these kinds of things because I've been led to believe that was right to be open. There's no problem there.

Leah: No, I meant as opposed to -- I know that you will probably arrange for a session. I'm just saying if you had anything pressing on your mind right now, I would be happy to go outside for a couple of minutes.

Elyssia: No, no. This situation is not pressing. The problem is that, I feel my daughter has to work. Not for money but for self-image because she lives with a person who doesn't honor her in any way, so how can she have any kind of self-image? She's had a great bolstering and feels so good about what she's doing in her work, and I am very happy for that, and that's the sort of Catch 22 that my husband and I both are caught in.

TOMAS: This is something that has happened to millions of women of late. They have been thrust into liberation even when they weren't interested, but it will balance out in due course. She will benefit from the experience through self-confidence and self-esteem in knowing she can take care of herself and her children. Indeed, she will become strong in ways she would not have known, and this is the truth about human liberation, male or female. As you are tested in life's vicissitudes and emerge victorious, you have learned lessons that you can now take into the field to teach others.

Elyssia: That's good. It's good to hear that. I do believe that. It's just the interim is a little bit difficult. I get ... I think I mostly worry because I know I'm not doing things I have to do to maintain myself physically.

TOMAS: You need to do that as a priority, Elyssia. Your physical health and your spiritual health are key issues that no one can manage but you, and without them both you lose effectiveness. It is a priority for you that you maintain both your material life and your divine life. That is all you have to do.

Elyssia: Thank you. I felt like that, that that was true. That was a concern.
TOMAS: Don't feel guilty about taking care of yourself.
Elyssia: I appreciate the help. I think I have some good ideas. From just tonight.

TOMAS: There are some wonderful books on the market, yes. Let me wind it up this evening. I cannot sense anything pressing. I am glad we pushed through that veil into a semblance of light and life for the evening. I am glad of you all, that this platform exists for these things to be worked out. It is a pleasure to serve Gerdean in her questions also, for she is growing as you are, and it is always interesting when the T/R can expose their own growth steps as if they were one of the gang, which indeed they are.

I am going to take my leave for the evening. I would like to say, in parting that, Merium, it is good to have you back.

MERIUM: I am glad I was able to be here.
TOMAS: Good night.
Group: Good night.

*****

DATE: October 9, 1997
LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
T/Rs: Gerdean and Hunnah

TEXTUAL STUDY
URANTIA BOOK
(A) Paper 15, THE SEVEN SUPERUNIVERSES, Page 170
#5. The Origin of Space Bodies;
#6. The Spheres of Space
#7. The Architectural Spheres
#8. Energy Control and Regulation
(B) Paper 33, ADMINISTRATION OF THE LOCAL UNIVERSE, Page 366
#1. Michael of Nebadon;
#2. The Sovereign of Nebadon

TEACHER SESSION
TOPICS:
OUTER AND INNER BEAUTY
Are Transcripts Too Long?
Sunday School Tips

TOMAS: Good evening, everyone. I am Tomas, your teacher. I am here with my colleague Merium and many others who have come to admire you and observe your application toward truth. I would like to begin with a few remarks, uppermost of which is a compliment toward you for your diligent application in the cerebral realms.

Your studies this evening were in your words "grueling" and you withstood it well. You must understand that any new process, exercise, application, lesson, study, and so on, is difficult until you understand it, and these Papers which are difficult of understanding in the first place, are a continual study until such time as you gain more understanding through experience and/or further study.

Remember, too, that some of the elementary spiritual concepts were difficult until such time as you began to need to know, and the same is true for the more cognitive truths. At any rate, your application is duly noted and you need to know that we admire your efforts.

Secondly, I wanted to note that my T/R this evening is feeling very lively and was almost impatient to come on board even before she was prompted to be on-line, and so I am having to curtail her somewhat. I am reminded of your reading that a certain maintenance is necessary in the collisions in space, the balance is necessary on all levels, and our dear friend here has indeed been in a state of fluctuation, and is stabilizing.

I would like to, while I'm at it, offer my sincere and heartfelt congratulations to my associate, Gerdean, for her victory over nicotine. This has been a personal challenge for me and for her personal teachers for many years. I want also to convey our appreciation, including Gerdean's, for all of your prayers and support in this process. It is always heart-warming to allow the cares and concerns of others to become your own, when you think enough of others to apply yourself to the task at hand.

In parable terms, you are familiar with the story of the bowl of soup and the long-handled spoons where in hell you starve because you cannot get the ladle end of the long spoon to reach your mouth, and in heaven you are thriving because you have learned how to feed each other. This is the bottom line of prayer. As you seek the best for each other and focus your loving concern upon your brothers and sisters and their growth, their health, their happiness and their spirit progression, they thrive and you thrive and we thrive. I salute you, my beloved flock.

Elyssia: We're very happy. We are very happy because we have this person who has now come into even more physical beauty and it is just so great! I love it! Pink face, and eyes that have color, and dimples. Maybe you don't know how much we like that on this planet.

TOMAS: You are a breed of animal that takes great stock in the color of the feathers, yes. Your entire social structure, from early evolution on, has prided itself on how it looks and how it presents itself. It is, of course, innate that you would be attracted to truth, beauty and goodness in the way that you understand truth, beauty and goodness, including beauty as you have learned through your social evolution and your cultural mores.

Elyssia: Well, Tomas, it's the beauty that comes from health, and that is a wonderful kind of beauty to behold.

TOMAS: You are correct. It is the beauty that emanates from the interior, and not only from physical health, which certainly plays a part, but from the self-esteem and appropriate self-love that comes from the self-respect of being in association with that in you which is respectable and loveable and highly esteemed, indeed, your own soul, your own relationship with divinity, and this does indeed affect you from the inside out and you do radiate beauty, an eternal beauty. And even when there are mortals who are not blessed with your conditioned sense of beauty, i.e., magazine cover beauty, you know full well that inner beauty is a radiation of the soul and spirit that makes even the most homely mortal radiant, handsome and lovely because of their personality and their love for you.

Yes. Merium? Good evening.

MERIUM: Good evening. Everyone is in good spirits this evening and that is what we love to have -- everyone happy and content. I enjoyed your sharing this evening. It was introspective and appreciative and enlightened. Keep up the good work. Are we going to play ball tonight? Are there questions that you are going to bring forth?

Leah: There is a question here that has been submitted. It says: "We are concerned that the transcripts are getting too long. Shall we edit them?"

TOMAS: I will put in two cents. Your distribution of the transcripts, your handling of the transcripts of the teacher's lessons is entirely a free will mortal activity. I respect your respect for the teachers that you would ask our advice and/or opinion as to how to handle them. I remember distinctly suggesting to Gerdean years ago, when we first started having these conversations, that she maintain a record of them so that she would have a validation of our discourse and that when she was unstable in her faith she could turn to these pages and reaffirm in her heart and her mind that our friendship was real and that our association was intact.

It was also suggested that a certain amount of validity and amusement could be provided through this archive-type arrangement. Under no circumstances have I instructed that each word needs to be elevated to the level of scripture and set "under glass." There is much that goes on in these sessions we enjoy that is personal to our community; however, I have been told and I have indeed observed that you, as mortals, enjoy entertainment and some of you find the community activities of the Pittsburgh Pumpkins and the Butler Berries entertaining, much as housewives the world over find amusement in "Search for Tomorrow" and "General Hospital" [TV soap operas], but the truth is that your concerns often elevate the thought processes from soap opera to divine opera, and therein is the value. It is an improved form of entertainment, at least!

Elyssia: Absolutely! Absolutely.

TOMAS: Even so, it is your activity. It is very gracious of you to share yourselves so openly, and delightfully egoistic that you find yourselves so entertaining that strangers would find you worth keeping up with, but you see, this too is part of the human condition. Have we not come to assure you that you are no longer alone? And is it not true that that human aspect of you, which loves gossip, also loves to know what is going on in the personal thoughts and hearts of those you hold dear, even though you have not yet met?

Indeed, I understand you are meeting people the world over through your personality exposure, that people are becoming aware of your growth in spirit value and therefore you are validating their own growth in spirit value, even though you may be hundreds or even thousands of miles apart. The circuits are open, the walls are down. Isolation has ended.

If you opt to edit your work, again, that is your decision, and one which can be made by you as participants of this teacher base. I particularly find the question endearing. That you would not want to tamper with any comment of the teachers shows undue homage. We are your friends, and we are only able to bring such truths and edification as you are willing to allow. As such, we are not that special.

Elyssia: Well, you may not think you are, and maybe up where you are it's not, but while you are down here you are.

TOMAS: Thank you for your regard, Elyssia. It is truly mutual, and in fairness, I suppose I can say that the essence of your transcripts are also shared throughout the universe. We send our broadcasts hither and yon as to how it is that you are doing, and it may sound far-fetched but all of Nebadon is fascinated to see how you are doing.

I am not intending to exalt your egos, my sons and daughters, but remember the story of Van and Amadon? Remember how they would come by and say: "And how are they doing? Does Amadon still hold fast?" And so they come by, the visiting students, and say, "What of so-and-so? Have they attained this yet? Have they still got that on their plate?" and so forth.

Chester: Oh, that's great to hear -- their concern.

TOMAS: No question about it, Chester. That is what we're here for! -- because of our concern for you and for your efforts on behalf of Planet Urantia.

MERIUM: I would like to make a comment, if I may, regarding the transcripts. Hunnah used them in a way that made her joyous. She allowed it as if she was in privy counsel and was allowing herself to be lifted as high as possible so that the message could become well known in her. If you live alone and you are wanting companionship, the companionship is there; you could almost take any transcript at random and almost want to speak as if you were still in the group; it is alive. On the other hand, it can lift you up to the point where you can get quiet. I recommend reading it aloud if you have trouble with meditating, to bring you away from daily concerns and distractions.

There was an excellent book and Hunnah noticed it was in the kitchen at Elyssia's house here, called "Letters of the Scattered Brotherhood" by Mary Louise Strong and it is as if it was designed for privy counsel and encouragement. If you were to read one of those excerpts, it would still you and release you into the quiet that you seek, where invisible counsel meets you. So these transcripts can be companions and I hope you will use them that way.

Be careful who you share them with. You cannot take someone who wants to discuss the grocery list with you or heavy-duty world news and then say, "Oh, I have the most wonderful transcript; you must read it." Think twice before who you hand these to. If you explain what T/R is and you have invited someone to your group, perhaps you will show them what a transcript is like, so that is really all I wanted to say. Thank you.

I was also encouraged to hear you talk about your meditations coming into a new accessibility for you. That is encouraging to us. Christ Michael brought you a great promise and your responsiveness is your acceptance and your utilization of His offering. It encourages us. Are there any more questions?

TOMAS: I would like to make reference to Merium's words on Tuesday and they had to do with your Reality. "Are you real?" and of course you become more real as you evolve, as you grow spiritward, as you attain value and grow in the spirit.

As you were saying earlier, Chester, "I and the Father are one" IF my will is in accordance with His will, and this is what makes Real. The ego, who is without God, is unreal; even though his or her unreality takes up huge amounts of space, time and energy, they lack Reality, they lack spiritual substance. Only that which is affiliated with the eternal reality can be real.

You who have sat in stillness and who have grasped the concept of God as real, as you are real, have made a connection and an identification with that in you which is Real, and as you practice this association of being real, in terms of your association with that which is eternally and greatly real, your own reality grows and becomes stronger. Your understanding of your reality becomes more real-ized. Your faith does not waver; your foundation is firmly built. You are given responsibility commensurate with your capacity, and this is an enthralling experience! And so I will support Merium's recommendation again that you contemplate what it is about you that is real. Is this real? Is that real? Am I real? How is it real?

Elyssia: Well, a while back you told us to look at how other people worship, and for some reason or another I was thinking about the way the young man worships that teaches Sunday School with me. He is just a very wonderful young man. Very, very sweet. He went to Promise Keepers and a lot of the men from our church were there and it was amazing how many of them went, and they were such delightful young men, and yet my partner in Sunday School always starts out the prayers for the children with something about sins and these are little fifth graders and, again, I'm sort of observing him as you said observe how other people worship.

Well, a lot of his worship -- it's all wonderful. It's very sweet and sincere, but -- a lot of his worship is imbued with this harshness on himself, and I just like to look at it and say, "I think you are doing a darn good job, as hard as it is in this life to bring up two little girls," and so I was observing him and that's what I observed and I don't know if you have a comment at all. I guess I'm stuck on this subject sometimes.

TOMAS: I hear you describing a man who is teaching and preaching. I do not hear you describe a man who is worshipping or teaching the practice of worship. Indeed, it is difficult to teach the practice of worship to Sunday School children or even people who are grown up who want to know! Worship is a very personal affair, a relationship that is singularly between you and the Father.

Teaching and preaching is always fraught with coloration and the passion of your belief system, and as long as you are in the auspices of the church, you are in the language, then, of the environment which includes the concept of "sin". It is difficult to conceive of a Christian environment without the accompaniment of the sin dogma. Sin is difficult for a five-year-old to grapple with, certainly. I understand your distress.

Elyssia: It sounds like maybe I could suggest to him to think about encouraging the children to think about talking to their Father. I did say that to the children last week. They are 10 and 11 years old and I did say that thing that you had told somebody about sitting on Jesus' lap and putting your head on his shoulder and I did mention that in talking to the children. Maybe I could say something to them about this thing of a relationship, encouraging the children to think about relationship and would that get rid of some of this dogma?

TOMAS: Yes. Always reminding them at the same time of how much He loves us, which hopefully will outshout and overshadow the fear and judgment that comes with classic scripture. A relationship with the Father or with Jesus is certainly conducive to discourse, a friendly discourse. You may lead them in prayer by suggesting that He is there with you, and say, "Children, here is Jesus with us." "Jesus, how nice of you to be with us today. This is Jennie and this is Robert and Robert lives here and his parents thus-and-such. And what do you think, Jesus, about the new pet or the new dress?" and bring Jesus into their life so that they can experience him as a friend. Ask Jesus what does He think of this, that and the other; and then ask them what they think Jesus would do or say. And include them in a real relationship with the God of your understanding. You can remind them of the parables that he taught. Yes, bring Jesus into their environment, as if He were with them, which you know He is.

Elyssia: I like that. I'm going to do that this Sunday and then I'll tell you how it went because I really think that's a valuable thing to do. Now, the little children wrote several sentences about the concerns in their little minds and it was interesting that they all had the same concern. Every one of these dear little ones were thinking about how mean they were to their brothers and sisters, and then they were going to say how much better they were going to do next week as far as kindness was concerned.

MERIUM: In regard to young ones, they mirror their environment, so their questions will be something that they saw on television or something that has come out of the mouths of their parents or their friends. It does not mean that they will have touched upon their very intimate feelings, which are only in the developing stages.

Recently Hunnah's daughter was blessed with an opportunity to have a son (who internalizes everything) reveal to her that he wanted attention. That he was able to articulate the fact that he wanted attention was quite remarkable, that he understood that that was the problem and how that problem felt. So when we are dealing with children, you're going to get something presented to you for the sake of answering your question and you may not particularly get to what is bothering them.

If you have ever watched a child say grace, they sound as if they're cranked up and out it comes, but the feeling is not developed or an awareness of that little prayer is not understood, so allowing them to express themselves doesn't always seem to be a problem these days, but getting them to give you a quality feeling is frequently released only on a one-on-one basis because there are other ears around and they want to save face.

Adults can be this way, too. We have experienced it in this group. "How are you this evening?" "Fine, thanks." "How was your week?" "It was wonderful." No one learned a thing. Not the person speaking and not the person asking the question. And now that you have a sharing time, you will find that sometimes what you share is not what you thought you would share because you have allowed your thought that you were going to share to dissipate and what needed to be shared would rise in its place because it was for the group and the group draws upon your experiences as well.

This evening Hunnah observed the appearance of Leah and, in her observation, Leah has a new countenance. If this was the old way, there would have just been the sharing, but there was a sharing connected with an in-depth expansive expression of the love that she spoke of, so it is very gratifying for me to be able to observe the developmental changes in yourselves and in your peers here.

Elyssia: I would like to get into their little hearts a little more. You're right. Rather than telling me the stuff about how mean they were to their brothers and sisters, it's just like their parents were trying to elicit, ... whereas the deeper fears and concerns and ... I don't know.

MERIUM: You'd like to allow them to realize that a lot of the things that they carry with them are picked up through a group like an osmosis and allow them to know that the programs they watch on TV has a bearing on their behavior and can make them feel very uncomfortable but they don't know why they're being naughty but it influences them; they are like little sponges.

There is a game that was played that was called, "What is the nicest thing that happened to you today?" It is a powerful tool to get total silence so perhaps you might experiment with that and they will draw upon something for you and share it with you, but remember they will always be subconsciously entertaining you.

Elyssia: Okay. I like that. I think it's worth a try.

MERIUM: We have to learn to fish in our own personal realm. If each of them can imagine that they each have their own little hook and they are putting it into the pool of their own emotional bank, or their daily experiences, and you say to them, "Let us put the line into the pool of good feeling. What do you suppose will tug on your hook and you can bring out to share with the group?"

If you are sincerely seeking for a different response for them, let us take the pole and cast the line into the waters of what makes you uncomfortable and they will be surprised that you will help them by-pass that programmed response, and if they will connect with the adventure of finding something that makes them uncomfortable. If your group is small, this could perhaps be more effective.

Elyssia: I like this a lot! I have two good things to do this Sunday, and if this keeps up, things are really going to improve.

TOMAS: I would like to add, also, in reference to eliciting the feelings, as to how they feel about things, do your children a favor and honor their feelings and don't tell them to not be angry if they feel angry; don't tell them "it's not Christian" to feel that way. They have a right to feel how it is they feel and if they are courageous enough to come out with an honest feeling, validate their feeling so that they can honor it and move past it.

MERIUM: May I tell on Hunnah? I see the picture in myself here of a celebrity with many mikes in front of them and everyone hovering around for the news conference regarding this young child. He had seen the movie Star Wars and it made a tremendous impact on him and it remains his favorite movie of all, forever and ever - to this day probably. (Appreciative laughter) He connected with the word "the force" and when he was in his Sunday School class, he used the expression "the Force" for the Sunday School teacher who absolutely blanched. He withered with her indignation and he lost interest in going to the class.

She, too, if she had the opportunity to analyze the situation, would perhaps wish that she had been flexible enough to allow a child to say that they connected with something special in their world, but it did not happen. But today this woman, perhaps, would have more poise and understanding; she would be older and know how to connect with youngsters and their dialog.

So, as our friend has pointed out, let them express themselves, and if you don't understand something they are saying, ask them to say it another way so that you understand it better. But you don't have to approve of their feelings, for children are very intimate and they do not have to be converted, like Tomas pointed out.

TOMAS: You have such a wonderful opportunity, Elyssia, and your sincerity and integrity shall carry you far in your class. Remember too, all of you, that a person needs to develop his or her own spiritual experience. You cannot adopt someone else's. Your own spiritual reality must grow with you and for you and in you. This is something each individual does in and of themselves in relationship with their Adjuster. They grow their own soul. And so, allow these children to grow their own religious experience.

There are, of course, certain tenets that must be referenced because of the environment in which you find your flock; however, there are truths of reality for which these young souls are eager and hungry and can assimilate. Allow them to have a spiritual experience of their own in the capacity that they are able to have it. In many ways, they are unsullied and closer to spirit reality than adults who are highly conditioned; and so honor their young reality and encourage them to maintain the reality that lives within them. And encourage it in each other, thus fostering a new generation of brotherhood.

Elyssia: I chose this age group very deliberately because this is the last time you can get through with the average child. It used to be 6th grade, and it's gone back to fifth grade now because they have so much pseudo-sophistication from over-stimulation, and it's very difficult to even keep these children seated for an hour when they're not having someone entertain them, and I'm not going to entertain them. I want something better than that for these children. They want dough-nuts and a lot of shenanigans.

But I love the thing you gave me and if you guys don't mind, I'm going to ask you again because I'm going to use this and I think it has tremendous possibilities. It's helped me a lot with my attitude about what I can get out of them and what I can help them to cultivate in themselves.

MERIUM: May I suggest that you have them draw numbers and pair off occasionally. Go into small conferences with each other with a part of whatever the theme is that you were discussing. Let us say the subject that you are dealing with is some aspect of integrity. And you have two here, two here, two there. Even if they were mixed, girl and boy, that is alright, just so you have them in twos, so that they can come forth with something that they have discussed between themselves and then present a reply of what they have brought without adult interference. In other words, they will draw upon their own conclusion together.

Elyssia: I like it because they will have the support of the other person when they bring it to the class.

MERIUM: Correct. And if they lose face, they will lose face together, which will probably not happen.

Elyssia: I love it! I think it's wonderful. I love all your suggestions. I hope the study group will bear with me while I'm doing this.

Chester: I think you're getting them together in twos, you're getting them into action and if you do that from time to time and get them to participate, they're going to be more interested in it and gradually the shenanigans will be less than their attention.

Elyssia: Well, I don't have any trouble with that. But I'm not going to get into creating a carnival atmosphere.

TOMAS: I would like to respond to that, Elyssia, if I may.
Elyssia: Please do.

TOMAS: And that was in the context of the following who would make Jesus king after he had fed the multitude, those many who followed him because he was a wonder-worker for a period of time. It was not his truth that they sought but the fun parts, the miracle and the hoopla of his abilities, and you are like him, in that you will not cater to the wonder-working aspects of your followers but insist that they have truth taught to them.

And in that regard, my daughter of integrity, be cautioned that these young ones are under the influence of their parental control and your many good works may appear to be dashed by the programming of the parents, but by the same token, these young souls have free will and you are planting your seeds in young fertile soil. Do not allow the vagaries of their environment to dissuade you, but keep to your assignment of working with their wondrous young souls.

I am so touched to see that you are a teacher, for it gives me a feeling of accomplishment. I have come here to teach you to teach; lo and behold you have spent the evening discussing with us our mutual efforts toward bringing enlightenment to the children of Urantia. How fulfilled I feel! Indeed. Broadcast the good news!

Elyssia: You might not know it, but this is a like a minor break-through for the time being. Last week was successful, but this week will have, I think, more lasting value and I'd love it if you'd both come and sit in because these kids are absolutely beautiful. They are so lovely. I just hope they can retain this wonderful beauty.

MERIUM: The subject of teaching the children is so attractive to me that I cannot contain myself. One of the things that slides up into my attention is the importance of teaching the children to pray. They associate prayer with need; it is a raft, a life-boat to float up on, the floating log that comes down because they have been conditioned to float, but in this process of teaching them to pray, help them learn to celebrate. Lead them into a dialog of appreciation.

Elyssia: I can do this. Even with this fundamentalist.... I mean, we do this. He might do this, too.

MERIUM: As long as you use scripture, they feel comfortable because they worry when you stray from scripture, and if you just keep that scripture out in front of you to appease this associate that you're working with, then you can sneak in little references to The Urantia Book where Jesus so effectively taught his -- enjoyed! -- he enjoyed his disciples, so I think this will end up that you will have a lovely time.

Elyssia: I'm going to put this into operation immediately. This is perfect. This is perfect for what I need.

TOMAS: I anticipate an up-coming dialog, a very productive dialog, between you mortals of the realm about our work in the field. I am very gratified by this. I do not feel my presence is necessary any more as a teacher this evening. Merium has already stepped down and I am inclined to follow her lead. I am, again, quite encouraged by your application and your attainment and I, like you, eagerly look forward to the work in the field this upcoming week. All of you enjoy yourselves. Indeed, celebrate! Farewell.

Group: Farewell. Thank you, and please come back soon. Next week.

*****

DATE: October 16, 1997
LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
T/Rs: Gerdean and Hunnah

TEXTUAL STUDY:
URANTIA PAPERS:
(1) Paper 15, THE SEVEN SUPERUNIVERSES, Page 176
# 9. Circuits of the Superuniverses
#10. Rulers of the Superuniverses
#11. The Deliberative Assembly
(2) Paper 32, THE LOCAL UNIVERSE
# 4. God's Relation to a Local Universe
# 5. The Eternal and Divine Purpose

TEACHER SESSION
TOPICS:
LIVING IN THE PRESENCE OF JESUS
HUMAN AND DIVINE MINDS

TOMAS: Good evening, my friends.

Group (Elyssia, Rachel, Celeste, Hunnah, Leah, David, Gerdean, and Ruth): Good evening, Tomas.

TOMAS: I am indeed Tomas, your friend and your teacher, here once again with Merium and our other helpers in the spirit realms, in anticipation of another rollicking session with your personalities. You are always an adventure, individually and as a group, and always is the configuration modified to meet the needs of the new configuration. In other words, it is never the same, it is never dull, it is always a challenge, it is always an adaptation. Indeed, all of life is one constant adaptation, and therefore, welcome to change.

Those of you who are reluctant to embrace change experience a lot of static in your lives and in the lives of those you touch and press upon. I am not scolding; I am making an observation. Merium, my friend, how are you this evening? Are you here?

MERIUM: (Long struggle) I guess I'm here. My cheeks won't go up. Good evening, everyone.

Group: Good evening, Merium.

TOMAS: When I ask you to say Hello I am not necessarily giving you the responsibility of the evening's lesson, you know. I understand how a T/R can feel put on the spot and paralyzed; also I understand that Hunnah is weary, and the respect that we hold for our transmitters is very important. The relationship is fragile in many ways and we honor our relationships, and so it is in the best interest of everyone concerned when we abide by the human constraints of our associate.

It has been an interesting experience this evening watching you develop as a group. In the lesson that was given to you through Hunnah recently as to your format, it is clear that you are used to operating on a certain level; it is comfortable for you, and although you can elevate yourselves in intimate circumstances, as a group you have yet to accept your true status. You do not trust yourselves and you do not yet trust one another enough to stand up for what you have become.

In a way it is self-consciousness; it is like bashful children who want to perform the concerto but are much more comfortable with "Twinkle, twinkle little star.? And since you are all in the same boat, you persist in the ditty when you all crave the concerto. We can see this and we are awaiting your own personal commitment to allow your growth to manifest. There is no way that this process can be hurried but only encouraged.

I am reminded of the toddler who hangs onto the coffee table and wants so much to take a step across that vast open space of the room to reach the TV set or mother's open arms or Fido, but cannot let go of the security of the coffee table. You are all hanging on to the security of your toddler status lest you learn to walk and something might be expected of you. You would find it difficult then and obvious to throw yourself on the floor and say "Oh, Waa!" and kick your feet in a temper tantrum; it would show up so much more clearly.

Alas, my lovely mortals, it is already clear that when you have a snit, you make a loud noise. We love you and we expect a certain amount of resistance and balking to growth. Is it not understood that the mortal mind balks at applying itself to those more strenuous applications that would result in a more highly evolved modus operandi for you and your peers? This is part of the charm of evolution.

Of course, it is not always charming, for there are times when you become impatient with your fellow beings. I know this, for I have experienced the same feeling, and a certain smug superiority will set in wherein you feel that you have walked already and what is taking these children so long to enjoy the experience of tottering across the lawn, for in time there will be running and even dancing?

But it is also part of compassion and sympathy, for the human condition and the growth throes, that you have patience with one another for surely you will evolve to the point that is destined to be your heritage. It is funny really because you will grow and here we are encouraging you to do what you will do anyway sooner or later. There is no way the process can be hurried excepting through your grasping the concept and wishing to go with it.

Willingness counts for a whole lot! Of course, many times you are willing but you cannot, and this, too, is recognizing the human condition and the limitations and the aspirations and the potentials inherent in your status as a human being, one who aspires to live a life fragrant with truth, beauty and goodness while keeping his or her feet on the ground and in companionship with fellow men and women of whatever spiritual rank and file. Are there questions from any of you this evening?

Elyssia: Well, I had a question because, Tomas, I had read in Allene Vick's (T/R Network Newsletter) about this idea of putting Jesus right there beside you all the time but I was sort of hopeful that you might add some of your wisdom to it because I just think it seemed to work a little bit and I got pretty interested in that.

TOMAS: How exciting! It is not only interesting, Elyssia, as you well know, for you have now experienced it, [but] it is a divine experience. The divine in you is able to manifest those qualities, that essence of Godlikeness that allows your most sublime nature to act. You know that Michael said that you all could do work such as he had done and more, and surely you are capable of embracing your brethren in the divine embrace.

That he gives you the love and the authority to embrace on his behalf is perhaps perceived as a miracle, but you see you are a daughter of God yourself. You have within you divinity, and if your motives are to bring the divinity of Christ into your experience and to share him, to share his love and his healing, merciful touch, he is there in you and through you and beyond you.

It is indeed a wonderful experience and I have taken it beyond the Christ standing beside you and put him to work in and through you, for as you testified in sharing, you embraced your aged mother as if you were Christ and lo and behold you were Christ and she was embraced by our Lord through your love and your merciful ministry. Now, my daughter, do you not hear the echo of the lesson on the fruit of the spirit that you are the branches of the living vine? Through you are the fruits manifested.

Elyssia: That's such a great enlargement of what Allene originally wrote, because it's so interesting to me that I can't quite get enough of it. I want to know all the facets of this possible experience. Just one brief moment of having felt it is ... sort of whets ones appetite to try to remember it and to ...

TOMAS: Yes. I know that each one of you have had a moment wherein you have felt our Father/Brother Christ Michael in you, with you, for you, near you, through you - personally, vitally - and that instant of reality is imbedded in your cosmic memory. It may have been so alarming as to cause you to want to forget or to not believe that it was possible. It may have been so sublime as to be frightening, but you see, it is inherent in your sonship/daughtership that you are a part of the living God and he can act through you.

Is this not what we have been discussing and encouraging all this time, that you realize this about yourself, that you trust it, that you recognize it, that you accept it, that you act responsibly on behalf of it, and that you revel in the radiant joy of this wonderful association, this living reality of your kinship with the living God; your association also with His creator son Christ Michael, your elder brother who has lived the life and shown you how it can be done, how you can touch your fellows with these living waters, and affect their life such that you may lead them beside the still waters? You may actually lead them into the Kingdom. This is our ambassadorial privilege. It is what we teachers are all about. It is what our efforts are about: that you recognize your potential and allow it to become actual. Actualizing the kingdom of heaven.

Imagine, children, moving into light and life, not only for yourself in your relationship with God and an intimate companion here and there but our entire community, indeed, in time, our entire planet, and our entire superuniverse. Oh, but let me not get carried away. Let us bring it right back here to grandma. Let us hold hands with our brother or sister next door and discuss life, and envelop them in this same intimate and infinite love that Jesus manifested and had for his associates, his apostles, his followers, his believers, and even the little children.

Elyssia: I'm really glad to be able to have your words because it was something about Allene saying that up until recently we thought of God as other, and when I thought about Him I always said, -- well, I always talked to him as if he was there but he was other than myself. But this represented a different way of thinking about it.

TOMAS: Yes, Elyssia, this is not unheard of at all. This is normal. You are coming into an awareness of a real association. Your evolutionary religions have taught (and traditionally you have learned) that the Father is afar off; he is in heaven, or, in the expanded version, he is in the Isle of Paradise a/k/a Havona, and still far away. But of course you understand that he is with you through your indwelling Thought Adjuster.

Now that is an interesting concept and it may provide some intellectual satisfaction, but when it begins to be part of you and you begin to be part of it through your association, through your recognition of your own Godlikeness, your own potential, it takes on a new flavor entirely. It has become quite enthralling, and will never, ever allow you to be the same complacent individual as you were when you were content with the traditional understandings of a God who lives far away.

Elyssia: It changes a lot of things, I think, when you eventually can catch onto it more completely.

MERIUM: May I comment?
TOMAS: Yes. Welcome.

MERIUM: Thank you. I would like to initiate a playful version of what Tomas has just talked about and I would like to make reference to the virtues we were discussing this evening, and if you don't mind, I'm going to select two of you sitting here at the table because you have such diverse occupations.

First of all I shall mention David and he is working with artisans and supposing that he allowed himself to say to Christ Michael in the privacy of his heart and mind, "How would you like to sing tonight?" It's as if you were being allowed to take Michael with you." And, "How would you like to meet the guys? Wait until you meet the crowd that shows up!"

It will spring forth as an acceptance in his heart and allow him to have a personal chuckle and opportunity to experience being this ambassador and going incognito. It's as if the two of you would meld, but you would appear to others as you always have, but you would have the satisfaction of knowing that you have this divine presence with you and can present yourself and Michael with a unique experience.

You see, it is as it was when we were talking about "how many you's are there?" I hope you will pass that paper out because the paper is appropriate. But how many different people do you seem to have inside your shirt? I'm encouraging you to have one that has melded and has come in new through the Christ presence.

Now the other person sitting at the table here that I would like to mention is Rachel, because her work is so unusual, and like David, the arena of her work is very diverse and people of different types of consciousness than we have here this evening are around her. "Michael, how would you like to meet this horse? It is such a wonderful horse and it's having a difficult time. You have given me the power in my arms and hands to bring your love and your nourishment to its muscles and to help it to be calmed. It is so stressed." What a wonderful adventure for Michael.

I can say this statement to each one of you in your line of work, whether it's with children, whether it's in a marriage where you have heard his story and he has heard your story until you can hardly stand it, but when you invite Michael into being the wife or the husband of that experience, you invigorate it with new life and new force and a new diversity, so if you can take the occupations and the duties that you have in your everyday life and allow Michael to take a field trip, how wonderful it is for you to have such high company and what a wonderful opportunity to allow Him to be real to you.

We talked about what is real and one of the goals, I guess you could say, short-long-and-otherwise-and-evermore, is to come to know him aright. I hope that I injected enough adrenaline into the areas of your life where you think that Michael is so far away as to be impossible to allow him such a platform, but it is possible and when you allow this to happen. The virtues that you talked about will be flooded out to the recipient, waiting to receive them.

Remember that you are the messenger and you will always be able to give appropriately and not what your head thinks. We do not want to -- I'll use Hunnah for example -- a Hunnah that's making a list and checking it twice and say, "Ah, here's a good opportunity to have devotion". No, no, no. It does not work that way. It's always fluid. It's always relaxed and soothing and benefits you and whoever you are with.

So do not be discouraged whether they take their clients from you. When they take their clients from you, it will make a space for someone who is ready for you. When they take away the crowd, it will simply bring the new one in, because it is the Master that is in charge. So enjoy your field trips and I am glad that I got to speak to you this evening.

TOMAS: I would like to make reference again to the discourse on-going and pull in the thread of "The Zone," for Elyssia loaned Gerdean a book about The Zone and she perused it and it has now given my bank something to work with and I am reminded of the feeling that is described as being" in the Zone" - this wonderful place of well-being - and remind you that the experience of working with the spirit is the greatest zone there is.

To be an arm of the spirit, to be a fragment of divinity and to be aware of this, is to be a supreme high. The morontia body is a participant in these acts and fellowships. As you embrace the spirit and bring it with you into your daily life, into your golf game or your book store or your automobile, wherever it is that you call upon the spirit to take part with you, you have opened the door for your morontia self to be aware of itself, for you have elevated yourself now from your regular, ordinary run-of-the-mill material existence to an ambassador of a spirit nature. It has lent an element to your life that lifts you up automatically.

In your relating the story, Elyssia, of how it was that Christ through you embraced your mother, you only could have observed that by appreciating that your entire physical energy system was embraced by the light of the moment and that was your morontia life activated through your association with Christ in loving this woman, and so I encourage you all to appreciate the good health of a spiritual way of life, and not just one of those tedious eat-your-Wheaties, take-your-vitamins kind of health, but a true vibrant health of the most noble and natural kind of high life, the life of the spirit, the living way. Are there questions?

MERIUM: While you were talking, it encouraged me to mention to the group, their puzzlement, perhaps privately, maybe they would like to work to be a transmitter/ receiver, and the examples that you have seen before you with Gerdean and Hunnah is very much like the trust that's required in T/R'ing action in your physical expression in your daily life.

It's as if you were taking two circuits and bringing them together into one. You are coming into agreement to allow the Christ consciousness to be activated in you and it will flow, but you will not be able to outguess it. You will not be able to assume that a certain response will be made. It is an act of trust because you are allowing your human self and your mind to allow the Christ consciousness to flow through you.

This will cause you to become a beholder of the higher action, of seeing mota in action, and when you read these transcripts you are going to be able to bring this all together a little more effectively for you, but our having the opportunity to speak through these two people is really not too much different than your purpose being carried through in your everyday activities.

You offer yourself up and go forth in confidence that what you are offering yourself to is really there, for it to go ahead and go before you, and for those of you who are familiar with scripture, it says that the light will go before you to make the crooked places straight. Oftentimes you think, ?well, that just means that I will meet a person who is out there, who can catch on, or who will be a convenient opportunity,? but you have all witnessed, too many times, the serendipitous experiences that you have had of late and maybe even for many years. We are encouraging this to become more consistent, so that it becomes the norm. What a wonderful benefit that will be! I think that's good, Tomas.

TOMAS: Thank you, Merium.

Rachel: I have a question. First of all, I'd like to thank you, Merium, for that suggestion, because I really have a hard time thinking that I'm reaching people who are non-spiritual and trying to reach them on some sort of spiritual level, to understand my message. So I'm going to try that tomorrow morning at 9:00. Michael's going on my appointment with me. I can't wait to try it, I really can't!

But you were also talking about, you know, letting that Christ consciousness come in and flow through you and to be constantly in touch with it, so I was reading last night about Thought Adjusters, last couple of days actually, and it's talking about the difficulty in the Thought Adjuster, between the human mind and the divine mind and what problems they have in trying to reach us, and then I almost feel like the Book contradicts itself because it says, you know, "if only you would just listen!" and then it tells you how hard it is to hear that voice. So I'm a little confused. Is it really possible to hear that voice? Is it really possible? I suppose. Am I rushing things too much?

TOMAS: If you are asking, then you are not rushing. You are seeking, and in using one of those scriptures, "Seek and ye shall find," and so you will find that you can hear. Now, many people are so literal-minded they expect to hear the voice of God as if it were the voice of Mary next door and this is not the case. The way that you hear the inner voice, the voice of God, the direction that he would give, is inherent in ears to hear with spirit intent.

I would like to address, to some extent, your quandary regarding the phrases "the human mind" and "the divine mind." It has to do with another question that would be presented this evening having to do with the makeup of the human creature and its various internal parts.

Now let me state that the personality of the human -- You -- is a gift from the father. As you understand Him and allow Him to affect your life, you are permitted then to use that personality. As we have discussed, you can -- as we have discussed even this evening -- you can use this personality to divine purpose and tremendous satisfaction.

You have also the human mind. The human mind has been your companion since the beginning. It is also a gift of the Infinite Spirit and so it serves good purpose. It is comprised, among other things, of the ego and the ego has been instrumental in seeing to it that you have been able to survive and find your way in through the maze of life, particularly prior to your awareness of the Father personality, the personality gift of the Father that is another factor, a higher, greater, more refined, more fulfilled, more sociable facet of yourself.

Now, the difficulty is that when you align your will with the will of God, your personality is able to function in the capacity that is intended in and through the personality that the Father bestowed upon you. Your life is whole. You are made rich and whole because you are living the life that he intended and that you are divinely destined to know and love.

On the other hand, you have the human mind, the ego-oriented mind, the mind that has been part of your society and its many trainings and conditionings and Pavlovian responses and hormonal influences and all those things. That has been you up until the time that you begin to consciously allow the Father to utilize you into your other and finer facets.

Do you see the differentiation? the picture I am painting for you, Rachel, of the two facets of the personality? the human personality? - the divine mind and the human mind?

Rachel: Yeah, I do 'cause I can almost feel them. Their - their separation at times - what would be my, shall I say, ego-acting or if I pause, reach upward, and then look for the answers to come.

TOMAS: Excellent. I would like for you all to be able to attain that awareness and grasp it as a concrete and cosmic reality. If you understand that concept, we can use that in future to work with it in many valuable lessons. Having identified those two facets of personality, has that helped to clarify your original question?

Rachel: Yes, it does. It's difficult to do in moments like when I have to go to court next Monday and Tuesday. Why can't I sit in that courtroom and-- you know, it flees me! That faith, that, you know, the ego takes over and I react instead of ....

TOMAS: It is because you are afraid.
Rachel: Yes.

TOMAS: And this is normal, and so do not berate your reaction, but continue to understand it and work with it. Now, you are not expected to nor are you innately qualified to automatically recognize your component parts and fully master them in the blink of an eye. It is an on-going process. That you have recognized it and are seeking to master it is wonderful, and you are encouraged and commended for your ambition; I will help you all I can.

As you accept the fact that you are, in large part, a conditioned animal of the realm with certain behaviors and responses to certain stimuli, and of course responding also to certain legal and societal expectations, (which you may or may not be able to live up to and/or which you may or may not want to abide by), you have many conflicted interests here, and the power of the government is very terrible (terrible in the sense of awesome and powerful over its citizenry), and when a power such as this has control over your life, you have fear. It is totally normal.

And when you are dealing with such things as freedom, privilege, parenting, companionship, economics affecting your home and all that you would represent, and even your very being is at stake.... Now, have compassion on yourself, my dear. Why would you not be afraid or why would you not at least be concerned, and this is normal and healthy. Indeed the adjutant mind spirits are alive and well within you.

Having garnered an understanding of the human condition under the circumstances, and accepting that the human being has these very normal reactions and responses and feelings and appreciation about itself and its life, look at it sympathetically and intelligently from the vantage point of that Father-bestowed personality. Observe your life from a plateau of spiritual appreciation and awareness.

Look at the adventure of the mortal W.W. and empathize with her burden and her experience, her lessons and the lessons that others around her are learning; what she is going through is an experiential process that will elevate her in terms of her ability to react and respond to life, to depend more upon her inner guidance as to eternal value for her comprehension of that which has eternal value, i.e., her children, (and) that which she loves. (One moment.)

It is entirely possible, my dear daughter Rachel, for you to carry yourself into such an environment in full understanding of the trembling mortal that you embrace within you, that you hold close to you, that you protect, for you see in the same light as we have discussed this evening, Michael can go with you and you can wrap your arms around Michael and he can wrap his arms around you and together you can stand up and hold the trembling W.W. who has to go through an experience of the day and you can go through it with her.

It is entirely possible for the personality to become so well integrated and so well understood that you can have these little chats with yourself, difficult though it may be, time-consuming though it may be, and impossible though it may sometimes seem, to become so well versed in your reactions and the stimuli of life in the flesh, in the material existence, ....

Celeste: Tomas, wouldn't this be a good time for her to have in front of her 'the Fruits of the Spirit' written out so she could look down and read? I think it would be wonderful.

TOMAS: No. It would perhaps be good for you, Celeste, for you are much more mature and you have much more experience in the vagaries of life behind you, but we are/ I am speaking to a youngster in the eternal process, and in-as-much-as there are many other babes in the woods, I am deliberately focusing my words to one who does not have the years and the wisdom and the maturity of a life such as yours, where for you it may only require the affirmation of living truth, for her it requires the experiencing of it until wisdom and worship are more automatic for her.

Having responded to your suggestion and having completely lost my sentence, I will sit back and take a breather while my able colleague supports my efforts.

MERIUM: I think your efforts have gone very well and that our young lady will find that the ultimate gift of communion with the Father in His peace, and that she can simply take the one line with her: "Where I stand is holy ground." Everyone else in your so-called arena or courtroom will be responsible for establishing that truth for themselves in their own way.

"Where I stand is holy ground," and you may acknowledge that for everyone there. Therefore, the presence of justice will definitely be at hand without the acceleration of human emotional furor. So we shall send you the gift of His peace, which will give you poise and confidence, and we will wish you well.

I do want to comment about the process in the human understanding. We have swallowed completely this so-called process before results, but let me remind you there is a quickening, and you will be able to say truthfully, then all of a sudden they are coming. All of a sudden I seem to know nothing, and then I was filled with great knowledge, am able to have poise and to perform the role of him who sent me.

Let us not think that we have to hang back in third grade forever. This is a time of accelerated growth, and you do not have to write it [on the blackboard] 100 times. Things are happening just as fast as any computer chip and you are quite capable of taking a giant step into maturity and with action, so let us all remember that. We are allowed to step forward and get things rolling along. Thank you.

TOMAS: Having had a busy evening and a fruitful one, I will suggest that we conclude our session. I am very happy with you all. I am very, very pleased with your development and I can do nothing but encourage your furtherance. It pleases me greatly to see your true reality step forward, albeit gingerly, to take its place in the limelight. Little stars, we bid you adieu.

*****

DATE: October 23, 1997
LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
T/Rs: Gerdean and Hunnah

URANTIA BOOK STUDY (led by Ruth)
PRAYER: Page 1623, "Glorious Father ..."
(1) Paper 15, THE SEVEN SUPERUNIVERSES, Page 180:
#12. The Supreme Tribunals
#13. The Sector Governments
#14. Purposes of the Seven Superuniverses
(2) Paper 113, SERAPHIC GUARDIANS OF DESTINY, Pg. 1242
#2. The Destiny Guardians
(3) Paper 180, THE FAREWELL DISCOURSE, Page 1944
#1. The New Commandment

TEACHERS: TOMAS and MERIUM
TOPICS:
BY-PASSING CYNICISM
Fishers of Men
Kindred Spirits;
Wrongly Accused

TOMAS: Good evening, my friends. I am Tomas.
Group (Elyssia, Leah, Hunnah, Gerdean, Hester and Ruth): Good evening, Tomas.

TOMAS: It is good to be here with you. Merium also is glad to be here. We are in company this evening with many helpers; the angelic choir sings; and we weep for your struggles in your human-ness and in your attempts to find tranquility and joy in the experience. We embrace you and have compassion for your efforts.

It is one of the reasons that we have been sent here, you see, to assist you in your efforts to bring the love of Michael to Urantia.

The truth realization of spirit reality and fellowship, the brotherhood of men and women, is such a treasured experience it is worthy of all men's knowing, and when they resist, when they run from such beauty, it is painful. Yes, I mean painful, for as you know, the angels themselves weep at your resistance. And so there is indeed a certain sadness that is part of the ascension under-standing.

That which you love and hold dear you want for everyone, and when they are unwilling or unable to embrace that which can only bring them joy, it can undermine your confidence at times. In that light I am encouraging you this evening to not become weary in your well-doing.

In your efforts to plant seeds for the Master, my peers and pupils, you recall having been admonished to not be cynical with these fear-ridden children. It is very easy to become cynical. Even in your humor, cynicism is an acceptable mode of communication. It is in some circles regarded as sophisticated and witty and acceptable; even so, cynicism is bitter and cruel and lacking in graciousness, and so in your efforts to be charitable to your ignorant brethren, be not cynical, neither be weary in your well-doing but return to the Source for sustenance.

Your sharing this evening has brought forth this outpouring and my re-commitment on behalf of Melchizedek and our Master Michael to support your efforts to bring about greater spirit reality on, in and through Urantia. In the meantime, my little ones, my precious charges, be patient and be at ease with each other. Find comfort in each other as you have been admonished. Love each other as he has loved us all, and therein find food and favor. Merium?

MERIUM: This group is never at a loss for words.

Regarding your sharing time, I cannot pass up the opportunity to help myself to a few morsels of observation. I implore you, in your personal time, to ask and remind yourself "Who am I?" Not I, Merium, but "I" -- you who listen, you who are congregated here at the table. And when you go into this recognition of human frustration, I want you to pull yourself away and remind yourself that it is time to allow yourself to clear the field.

If you were watching television and the reception was poor and it interrupted the scene, there would be dials appropriately turned to clear the picture. You contain the dials within yourself to clear the picture and when you feel your human energy roaring out of the gate like a dog that has just been released from a chain, you have to know that that type of behavior is not your true identity.

Old habits die hard, and believe me I say this with compassion. In your bible they quote Paul as saying, "That which I would do, I do not, and that which I would not do, I do." The special part here that I want you to pay attention to is your recognition of your behavior. Which of yourselves are you going to be?

If you recall last week I talked about the many selves but you are on a journey of the one self, the one refined, balanced, has-it-together, clear definition, clear-thinking self that is ever available to you. Even though it appears to be so very new, this does not keep it from functioning properly in your life, this presence that you truly are in the sight of, those who brought you forth, so you are continually being in an opportunity to live in a state to choose this day whom you shall serve -- your false appetites and conditioning or, as our friend Leah here said, will you take your brother for a walk or will you invite him to include him in the task that you are about to participate.

Many of you have had a shift in your social circumstances. There are new faces on the scene, faces which have not become intimate but are familiar. This intimacy and familiarity can be very mind-boggling. You keep your minds in a state of fury when all the while peace is at your beck and call. This is not an admonition, this is a reminder. I am your coach. I want you to take some of these moments of yours and reflect upon what your prayers have been for you in the past and observe the changes. Many of you will not even remember what they were, as concerns just dissolve in the quietude of listening.

I am going to once again ask you to incorporate meditation as part of the format for your evening. It will temper you well and help you keep your focus. I do not sound very playful tonight but I've just gotten started, and I am so pleased to hear that Elyssia has had success within herself regarding the task that has been given to her. It is because it is her presence renewed and refreshed and expanded that she has taken to the classroom, and because of that expansion, the ideas are allowed to come forth. The words have been upon her lips; her heart has been full and rich and she is satisfied like someone who has been fed properly. That is the very best diet. It is good to be here. Tomas?

Ruth: Merium, may I say something before Tomas takes over?
MERIUM: Yes, Ruth. It's so nice to hear your voice.

Ruth: Well, I was in charge of the meeting tonight, the gathering, and in place of meditation I read that prayer.

MERIUM: It was a beautiful prayer.
Ruth: That was. I didn't realize you had directed the group ... for meditation.
MERIUM: A prayer is very much like a solo.
Ruth: Well, that was my point of meditation.

MERIUM: I appreciate your suggesting that you incorporate your prayer in the group but it will benefit you all if you have both.

Ruth: Okay. Thank you.

TOMAS: It is also recommended, in addition to appreciating the prayers that have been presented, that you begin to express your own attitude in prayer and in incorporating new formats in addition to the expanded format of sharing chairpersonship, why not also assign an individual to experiment with prayer? It is so awkward, of course, to assign someone to have a soulful attitude. It is infinitely better when one comes forward having been moved by the spirit to express some attitude of praise or thanksgiving or gratitude on behalf of the group assembled.

Group prayer is an art form, even as personal prayer is an artistic expression between the soul of the believer and the Creator. Instead of regarding prayer as an ominous event or one which need be embellished in gothic print and horns of plenty, speak simply and genuinely to your friend Jesus and allow your words to be natural.

Not long ago Merium spoke of little children who recite a prayer and their recitation is quite robust but lacking in the simplicity of a little child for they are bent on pleasing their hearer, much as if they were doing a piano piece for company. And this is not the point of prayer. The point of prayer is to express yourself sincerely and genuinely to your elder brother in the spirit. As long as you acknowledge that you have a spirit and you seek divine companionship, you have uttered a prayer worthy of note.

In your many readings in the Book, you understand that a prayer can be many things. Indeed, as you share in your sharing time, as you go around the table, even the many attitudes that you present, each one can be construed as a prayer. Your frustrations, your angers, your despairs, your joys, your thanksgiving, your humor, your associations, your concerns, all of these can be construed as prayer, in-as-much as they are expressions of your inner self in that they are contributing to a greater understanding. This is the simple truth of prayer, and yes these examples of prayer (in the UB) are truly sublime and poetic and poignant, but so is a prayer that says, "God, help me." "God, thank you."

Those are as genuine and meaningful as any long-winded combination of words. I, who am known for my long-winded combinations of words, should well understand that a morontia mota is as succinct as a 14-page transcript, and herein I will whet your appetites and suggest you read mota number 28 which could indicate that if we got it in the first place, a 14-page manuscript may not be necessary. Are there questions this evening?

Ruth: Yes, I have a question. Tomas, I've been on vacation for the last two weeks, and it's been fun but I'm ready to go back to work. And I am meeting a lot of different people and somebody from my past has come back into my present, and -- I made this mistake before, I think. This person talked to me about things and I thought he was ready for the information that we have, so I took him a Book, and I feel that I drove this gentleman away from me.

Now this person that was talking with me, had dinner with me, I -- this thought crossed my mind earlier, and I was wondering if you could give me some help tonight as you're much wiser than I am. Should I open my mouth and slowly talk to this person or should I just keep my lips sealed and wait until he either expresses more interest? Or just accidentally leave my Book lying out and if a discussion comes up deal with it that way? Or just kind of ignore the situation and leave it flow?

TOMAS: What a picture you have painted, my dear. How I admire your brush strokes. Let me address your quandary, but first let me point out to you that you have a peculiar frame of reference that you might be interested to know that you have, and that is that you prefaced your remarks by saying that you had been on vacation and that you were ready to go back to work. Now I conceive that you are saying that you have been at leisure and that your true work is involving a structured behavior -- if not an 8 to 5, at least a certain set of behaviors from which you have taken a holiday. I would encourage you to think in terms of your work, my dear, as that which you have been doing in your life regardless of the framework within which you find yourself.

Ruth: Tomas, housework is fine but have you ever dusted all the stars and washed them off and moved them around? That's work!

TOMAS: I will not digress too far but you see dusting the stars is not my job, nor is it necessary. However, I have certainly done my share of tedious domestic duty. Recall that I had a worldly career and a wife and four sons, and Janus, my mate, was an advanced and capable and active worker in the field in her own right, leaving me many opportunities to, as you would compare, iron and mop the floors and peel the potatoes and so forth, and so I am intimately familiar with household drudgery and I do not call that work. I call that therapy. What I call work remains what you regard as work, and that is work in the field.

Now, getting back to the work in the field that you reference, this pigeon that you have identified and lured with one tome, I can see you trout fishing with the lure bobbing over his head, waiting for him to nibble so that you can yank him in. Now, what are you going to do with this fish when you catch him?

Ruth: He's a very nice fish.

TOMAS: We are admonished, indeed, to become fishers of men and so I am fully appreciative of your efforts to snag him, but (snag him for Michael, of course)...

Ruth: Now, he was talking to me. He's visited different churches and I think he wants to ask me a lot of questions, but I'm just kind of on Panic Ridge on answering questions, because sometimes I open my mouth and insert foot. You know?

TOMAS: I know how it is. Has it not happened to all of us, particularly when we are involved in our ego-identity, and ....

Ruth: It's not so much ego. It's I want to share, then every time I think maybe I found somebody to share this with, I've not really found them, I've kind of like spooked them.

TOMAS: You have an entire room of persons right here with whom to share openly. Now I am not joking with you, darling girl. I am truly trying to help you put in perspective your concern. It just seems, and I know Merium is smiling, that sometimes when you mortals set out to introduce people to a concept, you have it so firmly encased in a mosaic framework that the truth can barely sneak through. The truth is that our Father is a living, loving God and we are his children.

The living truth of this is enough to stimulate anyone's curiosity to know more. If you can continue to be real with this person, the words will find their own way through to connect with that in him which seeks to know. Continue to remember his indwelling Thought Adjuster which will resonate to truth consciousness. Truth, beauty and goodness are those key words which we throw out as buzz words for you to continue to promote.

Now, as far as the academics of introducing someone to the Book, yes, it can be very threatening, and you are encouraged to whet their appetite for truth and when they ask, try to allow the spirit to guide you. It is very difficult, I know, for you, in your enthusiasm, want to tell them about the entire Book in one sitting and overwhelm them with your ignorance and zeal, but a simple response is sometimes best.

Or, a suggestion that you look it up together is often helpful. That way they can see that you yourself are a student, an earnest student of the concepts and the theology and the cosmology and the history in these pages and you can learn together. That way they are not so much overwhelmed by your supposed scholastic knowledge of the Book.

It may be that the person you have gifted will never inquire, and that is a sadness that is shared by your celestial friends, but as long as the door remains open, continue to insert foot and allow the Thought Adjusters of you and your friend to level the score.

Ruth: Okay. Thank you. I'll bet you were a wonderful house husband.
TOMAS: My wife liked me. In fact, she still likes me.

MERIUM Speaking of liking, if I may interject, when you're out with this gentleman, that which you have become because of the influence of and the resonation of this Book in you will be advertisement enough, and that your poise and your ease with him and your trust to be able to talk about these things with him will set him at ease and there won't be any necessary feeling of having a drill or crowding his intellect. He will develop his own appetite and find his own way. And you have simply handed him an opportunity to find some answers to questions that may come when it is appropriate for him to search for an answer. And he will share it with you in time.

Ruth: Thank you, Merium.

MERIUM: There is a -- I'm supposed to be on the stage by myself, but I'm amused at something that Hunnah has memory of: there was a serial on television; it was very amusingly done, but the moral was to be careful when you want to solicit. We are all guilty of it, I'm sure, one time or another -- of hidden motives.

Ruth: See, the reason I have difficulty sometimes is ... when Hunnah brought me the first time, I felt instantly at home because I thought "This is what I've been searching for, for years!" and I realize that not everybody is like that, but I can converse with Hunnah and Abram and everyone else here so very easily and it just makes total sense to me, and I realize I don't make sense a lot of times to a lot of other people, but this all totally makes a lot of sense to me.

MERIUM: I will comment. You said you found instant recognition, you had a good feeling when you came in and you met the feeling. May I remind you that the room was filled with the Father's love. It was filled with invisible presence and power that the individual coming in will recognize in spite of himself. If people have moved to a certain point in their spiritual development, they will recognize the genuine intent of this gathering, and if they are in an intellectual arena, they will perhaps not be quite as inured because they will feel a little bit naked and all they will have to cover themselves with is finite knowledge.

When there is a recognition of this gentle, non-judgmental invitation, they will feel as if they have come home. I don't mean to put words in your mouth but this is frequently what people mean by, "Oh, it had the most wonderful feeling!" and what they are doing is they are recognizing within themselves what is right and it feels so good.

Ruth: Thank you, Merium.

TOMAS: I would like to have the floor for a moment. I am sitting here having a rapport with Gerdean who has had a most trying week. She and I both have been listening to you discourse, Merium, and respond to Ruth's situation, and I cannot help but reflect on the value here and I want to reiterate it for Gerdean's appreciation, and that is that that element of reality that you mentioned, Ruth, when you entered the room wherein all of you were in a spiritual, harmonious place, and thus you felt at ease, at home, is the sanctuary of socialization that comes from being brothers and sisters in the kingdom.

The work in the field often takes you into realms where the inhabitants of your land are not committed to spiritual reality, indeed are in the dark about spiritual reality, and are innately resistant to it because of the Caligastian influence. Now you who have been around a more progressive ilk of social contacts, are stimulated and comfortable in the realms of the spirit. There are millions, however, who are ignorant and fearful of not only spirit realms but of good cheer and of good feelings. They are so fearful of that which is foreign to them, they will fight it tooth and nail and do what they can to undermine your good cheer and even your faith, even though they are not aware of what they are doing. Their ignorance is destructive of good will.

Fortunately love is stronger than hate and the spirit is good and can return evil with good, but it is working hard in the field to bring that about. Now I am expressing sympathy to Gerdean and some of you others who work in and labor in the dark mines of the souls of the people that have not seen the light of day, the light of the Son. You who are familiar with the light of the Son, who respond to it, who are drawn to it, who are comfortable with it, are so blessed, are so fortunate, are so happy to know each other. Even in your differences, even in your several difficulties, in your minor judgments and in your personality quirks, you are so fortunate that you at least understand the light.

I again commend your hungering for truth. I tell you this largely to feed Gerdean who has worked too long in the mines. It is good to be here with you, as always, and this evening it is good for Gerdean to be here with you, to hear and experience the sunlight of the spirit that you provide.

It is not always apparent to those who read these transcripts for we sound, perhaps, like Pollyannas who are always larking around in the spirit realms, la-de-da, spirit, love, la-la-la, and the words of "working in the field" are mere rhetoric, but the work in the field and the reward of spirit association is real.

Don't let anyone kid you about that. You have worked hard to have your spirit reality. You have earned your place. Even though sonship is a gift, you have taken the gift and cherished it sufficiently to continue to allow it to be a reality. You have not rejected the light but have sought to share it with others and so it has grown. You are real, my friends, and you are loved and appreciated because of your reality. You are loved by your spirit friends and by your human associations. Thank you.

Group: Thank you.

ELYSSIA: I have a question. How can you give somebody a bit of comfort if they were being sued for something they didn't even have the slightest connection with and it was a very expensive task for this person just to defend himself!

TOMAS: There is no comfort, Elyssia. There is no comfort in the legal field what-so-ever.

Elyssia: I mean at his home.

TOMAS: As you would comfort any friend. In sympathetic understanding and confiding trust and all the other fruits of the spirit -- graciousness, camaraderie, food and drink, a hug, a pat on the back, all the regular stuff -- but in the legal field, do not expect comfort.

MERIUM: It appears to me that we are talking about levels of consciousness, and it is true that you cannot expect any "breaks" when it comes to the legal world as we see it today, but as we look at it individually, we have every opportunity to expect results.

I would like to have you, in your mind, identify the individual who is being accused. This is, first of all, their business, and it is their opportunity. If they have a system of belief that needs exercising, and the system that they are planning to put forth, they are testing that which they believe. It is their opportunity to bring it out like the finest equipment and put it to good use.

First of all the real challenge has nothing to do with the Court; the real challenge should be the individual who has been accused to develop his trust, to ask to be sharp and to be appropriate and to take a look at his or her value system. Let us remember that we are talking about worldly goods, worldly goods that can be banished with one action. You could lose a hundred thousand dollars with a fire or a shyster who will come with despicable accusations and leave you depleted and exhausted from a circus chase.

But the important thing here, I would like to point out, is this -- to whom are you serving? Are you serving your human good name? Are you serving your human reputation? Are you irate because your circumstances will deprive members of your family of the comfort that you have worked so hard to achieve? Indeed, all it really is, in any challenge such as this that smacks of painful outrage in you, to think that you, with pride, should be distracted from the work that you love, to have to go to a courtroom and listen to utter nonsense and have your wallet emptied.

Elyssia: Yes, yes.

MERIUM: This is also an opportunity to remind yourself that the person who represents you has a Thought Adjuster and that you have a legion of angels. If you are wrong you can expect to be disciplined in some form, but there is justice in the system, because unenlightened man has contaminated it, but enlightened man is there; he is everywhere, he is in all levels of this system throughout every country, and if you do not stop focusing your jaundiced eye on the negative and look to the Father with more confidence and attend to a higher choice, you are going to simply have an endless circus of crying towels in rage and bad faith.

I am very firm about this. We have had centuries of [tape turned] and it is time to know whom you serve. If you live with an individual who is perplexed by an insulting situation or an embarrassing situation, or if some ugly secretive truth has come forth on his character, it is time to face the music, to choose the highest solution and to get on with it. To take a spoonful of sugar and, in this case, to arm yourself with compassionate advisory for yourself and to put it to full use and to not be distracted by the haranguing of societal process.

This discourse that I am giving you this evening must be applied in other areas or arenas in your life. If you do not like your neighbor, then I think that it's time for you to re-identify him. If you do not like your own behavior, then it is time to re-identify yourself. I told you before in one of these discourses, that I have a one-track mind and that I am a representative, too, and an ambassador who has come forth to teach you that you are the creation of a loving God and not the mistake of a lost soul and a lost lifestyle, a lost government.

This is a wake up call. This is not to be any longer the planet of sorrows, but the one that is stretching and opening its eyes joyfully to find out that they are home, and it is indeed your challenge and it is your mature choice.

I feel as if I'm all wound up; Hunnah's feet are on fire, so apparently I'm getting my point across, and I want to also tell you that these words that I am speaking are going out into this planet but I have come and Tomas has come with empowered words; they may lay idle on your desk somewhere; you may forget to read them, but I implore you that when you read them once again, they will be energized and they will flash out to do their job, to raise the consciousness of mankind.

Elyssia: Also, I've brought up these wonderful new teachings and I was wondering if you could figure out a new way to do it and I know that you can, because it is said here that the fruits of divinity sound like a marvelous thing to investigate and to talk about.

TOMAS: They are not only a wonderful thing to investigate and talk about, they are a wonderful thing to experience. But it is necessary, in order that you experience them, that you first understand your divinity, that you accept your divinity and in an appropriate way. Perhaps before we get into breaking down these fruits of divinity, we could have a session or two reviewing your understanding of your divinity.

Now as I recall your sharing this evening, three-quarters of you denied having any (divinity), and so we'd best get a grip here and wait until the altered consciousness of the season -- perhaps the time change has got everyone in an uproar -- but we will settle down and, yes, Elyssia, the fruits of divinity are indeed a wonderful study and we will take it up. Agreed?

Elyssia: Oh, that's great.
MERIUM: May I interject one thing?
TOMAS: Of course.

MERIUM: After this spiel that I have just brought forth, I want to tell you that indeed the message is compassion, because in any life trial you are describing a death day. You're describing the chicken with its head cut off. In a sense you have all been, hopefully, beheaded. The mind may feel disconnected from the brain, but mind must remain subservient to the spirit, and when you feel yourself moving close to indignant release, stop right there and recognize that you are having a death dance.

Now we could have a death dance and it can be as short as a jig, or you can get carried away and bore everyone with it, so you are always faced with choices and you can bore yourself with your own temper, but if you know that it is the lost control of that management that has taken you adrift in the first place, then it will be easier to send it packing.

TOMAS: Excellent. I am reminded of our brief visit the other evening [in Butler] from Lester. Peculiarly I shall say, "Out of the mouths of babes," for in reference again to the situation wherein thieves break in and destroy your peace of mind temporarily, Lester had a good descriptive adjective for these waifs. He said they were "pitiful, just pitiful," and so those personages that wreak such havoc in your lives that you would seek comfort, that you would lose your mind over, you might remember to categorize them spiritually, in compassion, and embrace them even so and under-stand that they truly are "pitiful, just pitiful."

It is growing late, my children. Are we ready to call it a day?

Elyssia: I thought I'd ask if there is any more I'd like to add for Sunday? I'm just going to cover the points we made with the children and I wanted to make sure that they got those. I just thought if there was another concept then I could begin to introduce it. But last week was just wonderful! Realizing how unique you are. Would you teachers comment?

MERIUM: I would suggest that the teacher treat the class very lightly and remember that the lessons are going into their memory tunnel, that they are very physically distracted and that they have a short interest span, so even though you have an agenda, value the directions that the children might take you in. Some of them may offer a comment that they did something, and you, in yourself, know that you can use that metaphor and have fun with it.

TOMAS: All I see is each of them bringing in a leaf, or going out and bringing in a leaf and how it is that each leaf is a leaf but each leaf is different, and what makes your leaf different?

Elyssia: Great. That's good.
Leah: I would like to make a comment about Lester's remark.
TOMAS: Yes.

Leah: I believe he was referring to their behavior, not to them, as "pitiful." I thought I just needed to say that.

TOMAS: A good discernment, Leah.

MERIUM: I will give you homework. I would like to have you allow yourselves to be tuned up and alert to the opportunities to sing praise, be positive and appreciative, and I would like to have you collect them like the beautiful leaves of the season.

TOMAS: I would like to add a Phase II to that assignment, for if and when that does not work, I would like for you to go to the Urantia Book and each of you find a paragraph or a mota to read. Each of you. Let us say Mota #14. So when you cannot rise to the occasion, go to Mota #14 and read it.

If you have not had an uplifted week through praise and transcendence, perhaps you will have benefited from a mota lesson. I am not married to Mota #14. You as a group can choose one, but I know you, and perhaps it's best if we just say Mota #14 rather than try to arrive at a consensus.

Group: We understand.
TOMAS: Merium, are you replete?
Hunnah: Merium has been disconnected.

TOMAS: She is not gone, she has only come off-line and I am like Peter Pan, a shadow attached to her toes. So we will shadow you this week, little ones, and do not take your work so unmercifully serious. Remember the ghosts and goblins will be in league with the devils this week, so don't take anything very seriously. It will pass.

We look forward to seeing you next week with your jack-o-lantern smiles turned up. Indeed, is this not the season for the pumpkins? Spread forth your good cheer and allow those seeds to germinate within, for we will be spreading them upon the ground soon. We love you very much. Keep up the good work and be good to yourself.

Group: We love you. That you for your wonderful words.
TOMAS: Goodnight and farewell.
Group: Goodnight, Tomas. Dust the stars.

*****

DATE: October 30, 1997
LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
T/Rs: Gerdean and Hunnah

STILLNESS AND PRAYER
URANTIA BOOK STUDY (led by Hester)
(1) Paper 52, PLANETARY MORTAL EPOCHS, Page 589
#1. Primitive Man
#6. Urantia's Post Bestowal Age
#7. Post-Teacher Son Man
(2) Paper 37, PERSONALITIES OF THE LOCAL UNIVERSE, Pg. 406
#1. The Universe Aids
#7. Mansion World Teachers
#8. Higher Spirit Orders of Assignment
(3) Paper 105, DIETY AND REALITY, Page 1152
#1. The Philosophic Concept of the I AM
#7. Eventuation of Trancendentals

SHARING & STILLNESS
TEACHER SESSION
TOPIC:
TO LAY DOWN YOUR LIFE:

TOMAS: Good evening, everyone. I am Tomas.
GROUP (Elyssia, Celeste, Hunnah, Rachel, Gerdean, Hester, and Leah): Good evening, Tomas.

TOMAS: I feel the connection of the circuitry that unites us. Merium and I are once again enchanted by your portrayal of your experiential life path. Your readings this evening indicate your true capacities, for whereas you balk and flounder, you are truly capable of elevated heights and comprehension. You are giving witness to the truth that you can live up to the faith that you really have.

You have indeed much more to say for yourselves than you give yourselves credit for. I and we are amazed at your ability to undermine your own worth and we have observed this to be a sad commentary on your collective consciousness and a mini-lesson on false humility. I am not going to give that lesson, but you can well imagine what it would say.

There is a question that has been presented that I will address later. Merium would like to greet you also.

MERIUM: Trick or treat! (Group delight) I really do like to feel these cheeks go up. My friend here is having trouble with her equipment and I am hoping I will still be able to add my two cents worth throughout the evening and therefore I am just going to say good evening and it's nice to be here.

TOMAS: Merium provides me with not only assistance in this teaching platform, but that moral support which is so necessary in the work in the field. You all understand the value of having someone you can depend upon, someone who is in your corner, and she is such a companion for me. I am greatly appreciating her assistance and her presence here, as we appreciate your presence here.

I am going to address the question which was presented outside of this format but I know that you will all relate to it and find it worthy of note. The question is directed to Jesus by a youngster in the spirit who asks, "What do you mean when you say: 'Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his friend'? That sounds to me like abuse."

MERIUM: May I comment?
TOMAS: Proceed.

MERIUM: To lay down your life. If you lay down your life and you are in the mode of understanding, then you are presenting a pathway for an individual to follow; you are leading them in the light. This is a loaded question because you have to redefine "life". In a sense you lay down your false life that the true life may be revealed. When you reveal the true life, you are done with the unnecessary remarks, unnecessary advice, and you are allowing yourself to respond to the cue of your inner direction and your inner teacher. You are walking on the path of righteousness for his name's sake. Tomas, would you like to pick that up?

TOMAS: Yes, thank you. I have given some thought and it is an admirable question and all that Merium attains to is part of the response. I will ask you to think for a moment about what it is that Rodan says, that there are two ways in which you may live together. One is the animal way and one is the human way, and that by sounds and guttural indications animals can communicate but in order to live as a human being, you need to develop your concepts into higher realms, and here I will launch and say that we must first elevate the arena into one of a higher realm. (One moment)

One of the things Jesus advised/admonished was that you need to be born of the spirit and it is in the realm of the spirit that this has its greatest truth. You read recently about the last commandment, that being that Jesus asked his apostles to regard each other as the Father would regard you -- greater than brotherly love, but -- with fatherly love, and he went on to discuss how it is that he regarded his peers as friends and they would continue to be friends as long as they continued to follow his guidance in spirit.

I will divert now into the guttural realms of animal behavior, even that high degree of civilized animal behaviors of the advanced society of today, and I put "advanced society" in quotes. Many relationships are based upon the animalistic level of functioning. The stimulus-response: he grunts, she jumps; she growls, he snarls; he winks, she scampers; and these sorts of communication.

These are not as elemental as sketched here but are actually quite sophisticated, yet they are still animalistic communication, and your scientists have done extensive studies on the subtleties of body language and unspoken communication. Your recovery field today is filled with individuals who are only familiar with a level of operating that is animal-based. Only when you step out of the animalistic conditioning of your social training and reach into the realms of the spirit, when you allow yourself to be reborn and to be remade by spirit, do you begin to attain those levels wherein you can understand with clarity what the Master said when he said, "Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his friends," for now you have a life that you do something with. You have free will now that you can make a decision about, whereas before you were an animal responding only to certain stimuli.

So now that we have a larger canvas and can see the greater scope of the life that you are laying down, we can look at the motivation of what you are laying down and what for. Now, you have heard it said that the Master died for the sins of mankind to atone for the fall of Adam and any number of plausible and noble responses to a crucifixion. He himself had indicated that he would lay down his life for his friends and he in some regards did: in fact, he died. However, his act was not a sacrifice, as in the days of Abraham. His death was an end of his mortal incarnation and not an atonement for human sins.

It was not a sacrifice, and I reiterate this because it goes back to what he said in his last commandment to his apostles and that is he did not want you to be sacrifice-minded or servant-minded, but to be a friend -- a friend in the living, loving family of God. In-as-much as he, then, laid down his life for his friends, he laid it down that he could take it up, that he could show you how it is that you have everlasting life through him.

Never forget that he laid down his life but he took it back up, and that is the key to the adage, the saying, the truth, the admonition that you have no greater love than to lay down your life for your friend, for the life that you lay down is not yours but the Lord's and he allows you to lay it down, he directs you to lay it down, he tells you where to lay it down and when to pick it up.

When you lay down your life for a friend in the guise of your animal conditioning, you have put yourself in a position of being a doormat and available to abuse. Only as your God-consciousness is part of your life has your life the will and the inherent respect of deity to allow you the wisdom to understand his will in regards to how your life is being laid down.

As you offer yourself into situations for service, for love of mankind, you are not alone in this undertaking. You are assisted by the Spirit of Truth and your Thought Adjuster. You are assisted also by untold numbers of celestial helpers far and near. When you undertake to assist someone without this spirit association, you are vulnerable to eradication, for the animal is interested in its own survival; as you read this evening in one of your selections, it is "brutal," and when the unevolved animal is actively finding their reality in addictive substances or aberrant behaviors, they are like an empty vessel that cannot be filled, and so, like the water that is drained from the tub, that spiraling, eddying, sucking down will take everything with it, including yourself. Only the Father can pull you up, can raise you up, can resurrect you as you have laid down your life in service for a friend.

I remember when the question was asked, the questioner used the word "heroic" and asked if this was an heroic act, and equated Jesus' act of dying on the cross as the greatest heroic act. I suspect that a diatribe will be forthcoming as to what is heroic, but it could be said, in truth, that each one of your moments of portraying truth, beauty and goodness is heroic. Each time you stand up for what you believe in, each time you promote the Father, each time you are loyal to him and to the fruits of the spirit, you are heroic, and so perhaps yes it is heroic, but be mindful of your understanding of heroic, that you are only as heroic as your relationship with the original I AM allows you to be.

I found it interesting, in your reading this evening regarding the I AM, that it was qualified (their discussion of the I AM) indicating that there were certain inherent dangers in discussing the concept, and I think perhaps they (the dangers - Ed.) may have to do with the semi-civilized nature of the human being today, that it is so easy for you (not you particularly but you generally) to become egoistic in your understanding of the concepts that are presented that offer you greatness, and yet, in-as-much as we have faith in the Father, and the Mother, and in the plan, these egoistic excursions into grandiosity are short-lived, for we believe in you, we believe in your ability to comprehend, and we believe in your earnest desire to live and grow in the spirit, and so in the spirit, then, you may ponder your options in order that you may lay down your life for your friends.

Have I covered the bases, Merium?

MERIUM: Absolutely.
TOMAS: Are there questions?

Rachel: Here's a question. When you sleep, is there a separation of the soul that goes on to (what do I want to say, a higher learning angle?) ... Where does the soul go when you sleep?

TOMAS: Your soul is committed to you, dear. It is not going anywhere. It is resting as you are resting.

Rachel: All right. Let me ask another one then. What they call astral projection, soul travel. Is that a reality?

TOMAS: Those are terms that we don't use but they do connote a certain adventure into spirit realms that are appreciated, and even your reading this evening regarding transcendence, as difficult of comprehension as that is, could infer some projection into future realities.

There are certain Self-acting Adjusters that are capable of sojourning away from you in your rest or in your abeyance, but by and large you are to be given to understand, Rachel, that your Thought Adjuster is committed to you and will not abandon you and not leave you. Now if it is a Self-acting Adjuster and if it attends to Its own affairs or an extension of Its affairs (and as I say "It" I assume the Father since "It" is a fragment of the Father), we do not question. We trust that It's devotion to you is unbroken.

There are also studies being performed, and I now refer to your comprehension that allows for mind extension into other realms, other realms of the creative imagination and including astral projection and [remote viewing] across the globe, that is making headlines here and there, an interesting stretch, yes, and still an early study, and in line for more investigation, but even here I will remind you that your work as an ambassador of the Kingdom is in your immediate arena.

It is sometimes easier for adventurous young souls to find the lure of the universe and their own imaginations, their own fantasies so alluring as to carry them into realms that are, urn, entertaining, shall we say, but not necessarily helpful in terms of service for your fellow men. We are of a mind to encourage you to keep your feet on the ground. These flights of fancy may eventually become a realm of diversion and/or expansion, but it is not encouraged at this time. Is that clear?

Rachel: Yeah. Let me see if I understand something, because I --I'm reading this book that I got from the library: "Mary's Message to the World" who is -- supposedly it's the Virgin Mary -- and I don't get it. I feel some truth in what she says but then when the Virgin Mary starts talking about reincarnation, you know, and her past lives, I can't understand how someone can speak some words of truth and then go off into another realm that is not true.

TOMAS: It is because the message is coming through a mortal and mortals are fallible. You are always encouraged to weigh the truth for yourself. When you hear me speak, when you hear Merium speak, do not assume each word is an utterance from the Father, for we speak through mortal vessels. We use the words of these mortal beings. To the extent that their emotional bias and their belief system interferes, it is possible for the message to become garbled and colored by the belief system of the transmitter. Now, how it is that a Catholic believes in reincarnation is an adventure beyond my imagination.

Rachel: No, this woman wasn't Catholic. She said she was physically chosen because she was not Catholic.

TOMAS: You can regard it as extremely entertaining reading.
Rachel: Yeah, I can.

TOMAS: And you can use it to make contact with those who would like to discuss such phenomenon, and in-as-much as you sit and talk to teachers yourself, you can have some insight into how it is that you can be impressed, how you can grow, and how you can be led down a primrose path. It is wise for you to use your own will and your own mind. We are teachers, we are assistants, we are your friends and companions, but by no means are we infallible.

Elyssia: Well, Tomas, since we're on the subject, it comes upon my mind that one of our group was having an out-of-body experience, she called it, in quotes, "very vivid, at night." She realized that she was out of her body and that she seemingly came down into it and she was totally terrified and it frightened her horribly for a long, long time and later, I think, she became rather fascinated with it.

And then I was told about the people who are called Eckankar and they want to try to practice getting out of their bodies and they think that once they get out of their bodies they will become truly aware on a deep level that they are not their body, which is a principle, I'm sure, that you feel we ought to learn. So I'm wondering if you would comment on that.

TOMAS: I would be happy to comment on that. It is an existential truth understood by anyone who has investigated transcendental realities that you are not your body. Your reality is eternal, or at least potentially eternal, and yet you must live in the body for it is your vehicle of operation here. It is absurd to deny the value of your material vehicle, in-as-much as you live in a material realm.

ELYSSIA: Well, I guess what I'm saying is that there is a certain truth in that if you've ever gotten out of your body and you've gotten back into it, you would know on a different level from the rest of us, that you were really not your body.

TOMAS: It is understood by anyone who has any spiritual inclination that you are not your body. And yet you are encouraged to embrace your body. Since you are a creature, you must have your body here in order to function.

Now, you brought up the story of an individual who a few years ago experienced leaving her body and came back having been terrified by the experience. Now this person is investigating the re-experiencing of it.

Elyssia: That's exactly correct, yes.

TOMAS: I will respond only because it provides me with some divergence. It is again an example of the infinite capabilities of the Infinite Mind of the Mother Spirit. You are only scratching the surface of what you can do with your mind. You can do so many things with your mind, particularly in the quiet of night when you are not distracted. Your imagination can take you to realms far, far away and you can be there so visibly as to actually believe that you were there. And this is wonderful, provided that you do not believe your own imagination! Even if you do believe your own imagination, the Mother is very gracious in enabling you to return to reality and providing you with those creature comforts and adjutant mind spirits that will enable you to appreciate your experience here in the flesh.

I realize that the limitations of the material existence can be somewhat trying at times, that the material life can be regarded as tedious and limited, but through the spirit your expansions are limitless. The realm of the mind is yet another realm, and a wonderful realm, but I am encouraging you to not worship what you can create with your mind, but rather seek through the spirit to worship that which has created body, mind and spirit.

Elyssia: Well, I have said something about walking along and thinking that Jesus was there and I got a lot of pleasure out of it, but I'd like to experience something on a deeper level and I don't know exactly how to do it. It defies my imagination.

TOMAS: No, it doesn't. You are already using your imagination and it is working for you, and like the lady who sought farther, deeper reality in the nether realms of space, you are seeking greater reality in your own environment but yet in a new dimension.

Elyssia: Yes.

TOMAS: You have accepted that Jesus can be with you and yet you are not allowing him the full weight of his potential in your life. You are playing with the idea. You are keeping him at arm's length and intellectually playing games with him and I say this affectionately and appropriately. You are making a new friend, and perhaps what you are saying in the group here is that you would like to be closer with this new friend,...

Elyssia: Yes.

TOMAS: ... and you would like for him to manifest greater reality in your relationship than this "Harvey" that you have referenced.

Elyssia: Yes! It did seem rather that I was limiting him but he is being limited by my own inability to go beyond simple responses.

TOMAS: Yes, my dear, you have struck upon the bottom line truth.

Elyssia: Yes. I just thought it was rather pathetic, in a way, but it also was quite good. So I don't know -- where do I go from there? All I knew was to just keep doing it and hoping that it will eventually flower or something more representative of the greatness of Jesus.

TOMAS: You have asked for him to reveal himself to you in your life and to walk with you. As you are sincere in your request and as you remember to reach out for his hand and to walk with him as he would lead you, then you will more and more appreciate his presence. Now, his presence may become different (and indeed it will become different than Harvey), but it may never be as material as you would like.

Elyssia: I don't care if it's not material.

TOMAS: You are already on the way, and in some regards you are more advanced than others for you do trust that this will transpire and so you have availed yourself of the experience in advance. You will succeed.

Elyssia: That's good news. Good news because it was hopefully going to improve. Not that I didn't think it was great, because I did.

TOMAS: It will be interesting, after you have walked with him awhile and associated with him in this manner for a period of time, that when you turn to him and ask him what does he think of that, he begins to answer you in more sophisticated in-depth phrases and terms than, "I like it!"

Elyssia: Oh, that will be what I hope for. And I would like to know if -- I mean, I'm very confused about something. Can you do that? I mean, you're very advanced and I know that. Can you invite him to walk with you at all times, too, and in every part of your existence?

TOMAS: Indeed, I can, and I often do. However, I am not in the same situation as you are here. I have the assurance of his assistance and I have the assistance of his many creations. You see I am fully flanked by associates and all of them are in service to him, and so he is in them as I am in him and it is not as necessary that I call upon him as you do here have a great need to know that he is part of your life. In time you will begin to understand and appreciate and depend upon his many creations in the spirit realm, and even on each other, in that capacity that we discussed earlier, and you will be enriched and strengthened by this knowledge.

Elyssia: I'm happy to have asked you a question and get the answer. Also, I was quite hopeful about being able to learn something about my guide or any advice I could learn about my guides because I was thinking it was absolutely tremendous when I heard about Rachel and when I heard about Ethan. It was just exciting and it was so reassuring, too, and so I guess I would just like to ask about my guide or if there are guides or something like that.

TOMAS: I would be happy to discuss your personal attendants, Elyssia, however there are other purposes for our format and we need to prioritize our time. Are there other questions?

Leah: For some reason I feel compelled to say something about page 8 in the Foreword about personality realities, and it discusses 1. the body, 2. the mind, 3. the spirit, 4. the soul, the personality, and morontia. And some of the questions that were asked tonight are past, but I believe that semantics are part of what the problem is, and the semantics in this Book tell you exactly how they are addressed, and I do not pretend to have these down completely. I had to go and look myself to see what they said, but the soul is an experiential acquirement, so that is probably like a statement that it is with you at all times.

And it talks about the mind and conscious and unconscious experience and I was just going to suggest that if you read some of these other books, to look at what it says in this Book and kind of make a discernment about what they are talking about because a lot of the times words like spirit and soul and other spiritual words are used interchangeably. I am not going to pretend that I know what all of these things are, but for many years, the fact that I read those other materials and the fact that I would come up on words in this Book disturbed me.

I just wanted to say regarding "Mary's Message to the World", you know yourself that the woman was an Indian woman, her back-ground was Indian, so that would not be an unnatural approach to her thinking, and she used the transmitter /receiver, and we have been told throughout the history of these discourses that the belief systems of the transmitters can very definitely color them. Not that they're not speaking what they believe to be their truth, you know, but you have to use a lot of discernment.

And again, I'm not pretending to know or to act like I know it all for I certainly don't, but it is difficult when you encounter similar names or similar ideas or ... if you ask about Eckankar, which is called soul travel, and it strikes me it might be a mind journey and again it -- Gerdean, you can delete all this stuff. But I thank you for this opportunity to put my two cents in.

TOMAS: Thank you, Leah.

Well, in-as-much as this truth of coloration has come to the fore, I will forewarn you that this remark is a distinct coloration of Gerdean who wishes that we had a technician who could take care of the tape recording business of this transmitting/receiving situation so that she could be relieved of the burden of button pushing, and now that we have felt and experienced a transmission with the coloration of the transmission being apparent, you will feel and sense the alteration in reality when you hear it again. Are there other questions this evening?

Rachel: I had one more having to do with my practice, my healing on these horses. I guess I really want to know how far can I manipulate for the good? Can I wholly manipulate that bone to the healing stage? I believe I can.

TOMAS: If it is the Father's will that the horse become whole, you have then the ability to heal. It is entirely up to the Father, for he is the healer (actually Mother), but ...

Rachel: I feel the Mother.

TOMAS: ... the Paradise Trinity certainly. It is possible, yes, but you always have to consult with him, that is to say, "It is my will that your will be done," and if it is not in keeping with their will, that is their determination, and we must not feel that your abilities have failed to meet the mark.

Rachel: Okay. Can you have a continuity during ... I get ideas in my dream state that I use during, you know, my daily healing, whether it be herbs, whether it be more towards personal health. They're distinct, they're clear, they separate themselves from the mumbo-jumbo in my dream state as, I guess, a directive. Can I trust to use them as such?

TOMAS: My inclination is to say yes, but let me ask you, for your own confirmation, have you done this and has it been effective thus far?

Rachel: Yes.

TOMAS: Of course! And so why would you ask me to tell you what you already know. But I would say yes, proceed and continue.

Rachel: Thank you.
TOMAS: Certainly.

Elyssia: Well, I don't know how you feel about questions from the Book. I've never been able to quite figure that out. So I do have a question and I don't really require an answer, but I looked it up and I couldn't find the answer in the Concordex. What are the undeified realms mentioned in the chapter tonight?

TOMAS: Undeified realms are those realms that have not been actuated by spirit reality.

Elyssia: Okay. Thank you.
TOMAS: You are welcome. That was an easy one.
Leah: Not for me!

Elyssia: Can a midwayer really invade an animal? I had heard that, in the movement. A midwayer can use an animal. Like they had this wonderful story about a spider who was on a map and he showed them the exact way to get across the continent and they followed and they thought a midwayer had used the spider.

TOMAS: There is a definite difference, Elyssia, between using an animal and indwelling one. I will allow that a midwayer may use a creature and disallow that he would inhabit one.

Elyssia: Okay. That's good. I understand the difference.

Leah: I was going to ask, even though the question was answered, it was a fairly easy answer -- What does actuated mean, versus activated?

TOMAS: I will use the word actual as compared to potential to describe actuated. If it has potential that becomes activated, it has now become actual. Does that help?

Leah: Somewhat.

TOMAS: Active can mean the wind is blowing. It does not necessarily connote deity or reality as such, but in terms of deity, potential that becomes actual is actualized, which is more than merely activated.

Leah: Okay.

MERIUM: I would like to say hello for a few minutes. I am not without voice, although I did not have much to say this evening. Tomas was on a roll and since he made me feel so secure in being his moral support system, I let him have at it and also gave Hunnah a break. She has been working hard. I have been enjoying my association with her and she is industrious and so we have been very active. It is a good opportunity this evening for her to sit back and allow Gerdean to wear herself out. (Group chuckle)

We were in some heady material, children. I would like to invite you now to play, and I don't mean to revert too far but it was intimated that you, Elyssia, would like to know more about your spirit helpers and I am not experienced in this process of introductions but I am eager and willing to try if you would like, or if you are more confident with Tomas I can get him on-line.

Elyssia: I think either one of you is capable of this, if this is the appropriate time. I'm thrilled to have it. I remember that you challenged us, in a sense, when Rachel asked the question and sort of said, "Well you people certainly aren't very curious!" and truly I think we are quite curious but never felt that it was okay or something like that.

MERIUM: I feel uncomfortable in this electro-chemical system. Perhaps more accurately, Gerdean is more comfortable with Tomas, and so I will move over and in time I will be able to experience this with and through Hunnah but I want you to get as accurate a picture as possible and it is too convoluted for Gerdean to work through energies she is unfamiliar with to find and identify energies that are too crucial to be muddied, and so this evening, my dears, I will observe your fun throughout.
It has been fun as you know, and I am not far from you. I am part of your lives from now on, so enjoy each other because you make it so much more pleasant for me when you are good kids. I will be with you throughout your week and will talk to you again soon. I love you.

TOMAS: All right now let's get back to the issue at hand and that is Elyssia's assistance, Elyssia's helpers. Let me see where we are here. You know we have quite a crowd in the room. I have often described the trees outside as the bleachers. You don't realize it; you see yourself as three or four or eight or ten, and think of yourself as a small isolated group of pumpkins in the region of western Pennsylvania but you are a viable light in the cosmos and you are attended by a citizenry of many.

If I could encourage your entourage to align themselves with you, I will begin to identify them, for there are many. I honor your Indwelling Adjuster. (Long pause)

CELESTE: I wish I could talk with you tonight, Tomas, but I get so sleepy. That's terrible, I know.

TOMAS: No, Celeste, we have had this discourse before, and you know it is - what? 11:00 your time? It is late, my dear. Don't fret that you're not getting in your two cents, but henceforth, get in on the act early. Once you have gotten wound up, it's hard to get wound down. Let me return my focus to Elyssia's attendants.

Your guardian seraphim is well placed, of course, immediately behind you on both sides of you; indeed they are like Siamese twins as I behold them now, quite attached to each other and yet two distinctly different personages.

You have a male teacher, Elyssia. Your companion is a male teacher. It is a noble and tender giant of a personality; it is perhaps why you are so able to manifest your gentle aspects, for you are so well protected and tendered by your ... (one moment. I'm having a hard time bringing this name through) ... (long pause) It is not clear. M-o... M-a... M-o-u-g-h-a-n? One syllable, though. Maugham. Maugham, as in Sommerset Maugham. Maugham. Not to be confused with "Mom." Maugham.

Elyssia: Okay. Great. Thank you.

TOMAS: He is a wonderful being, quite enterprising and devoted. You might replace Harvey with Maugham and you might find the replacement to your liking.

Elyssia: Great.

TOMAS: There are a number of other beings who are in your vicinity who are indicating that they have been involved with your life in some way and/or are active in your missions even now. There are quite a few angels of different orders; there are many, many midwayers, but that should come as no surprise to anyone. The midwayers are as active as they can get and Maugham has made good use of them on Elyssia's behalf since she is so eager to serve and her prayers have been very effective. They have been lifted up and assigned through the line of the Sons to the angels who have activated the midwayers, and so there is in our corner here in this teacher base, a very productive worker in the field.

We are honored to be in association with you and appreciate the graciousness of your personality that affords us the opportunity to establish this teacher base and not only have it but to extend it into its area of influence. The teaching mission is quite blessed by your being, and by your wonderful Pilot Light that works so closely with you and that you honor so highly.

Are there other questions?

Celeste: I thought that was beautiful.

Elyssia: I feel like I should have been much more productive, but I do know that I got myself into a lot of scrapes and I got out of them experiencing so I'm beginning to understand how that happened tonight when I realized that ... I didn't ever think about my own safety, so I was just really protected.

TOMAS: Indeed, you are not alone.

Elyssia: Thank you very much. I hope I'll be able to meditate and grow spiritually from this helpful information, that I'll be more productive. It will inspire me to try to be more productive, I'm sure of that.

TOMAS: There is something to be said for understanding that you are not alone and that you have support in your corner, as I earlier testified to about Merium who is pulling on my sleeve. One moment, please. (Long pause)

Merium was going to make some witty remark regarding the company you keep, Elyssia, but I can't make the connection. Evidently Gerdean is getting exhausted and so I will not try to extend her. It is evidently time to call it an evening. I apologize for losing the connection but we did have a productive evening all the way around.

I am not even inclined to give you an assignment, for Hester has given you plenty to do. (Group laughter) I will merely reiterate Merium's sentiments and indicate our undying affection and I'll see you soon.

Group: Thank you. Love you.