Elyon020297CollectiveKnowledge

ELYON

Collective Knowledge

February 2, 1997

* Elyon (Mark TR): Greetings once again, my beloved ones. It is I, Elyon. I wish to express my joy at witnessing your exchanges of learning amongst yourselves. This self-generated sharing between your like minds is of extreme value and importance in that it increases the connection in the circuits, both in your individual minds and between your individual minds. Your entire mind is comprised of vast numbers of tiny circuits. Likewise your collective knowledge is also a series of many circuits or pathways which you develop through your own exercises. There is something extremely special about your coming to conclusions and awarenesses of your own accord and reaching out to those around you to expand, confirm, and share these experiences. It is truly an example of each one of you reaching first together and then upward. Few things are as beautiful to witness as the striving and reaching upward of individual minds and of collective groups. Indeed, there are many times when greater advances are made individually and collectively between and among the members of this group than contact with the teachers has provided. We rejoice at all steps forward in spiritual progression and are always more than happy to take our lead from your discussions and interests. I would therefore touch on some points involved in your discussion.

You are no doubt aware of the value and importance of the stillness practice, specifically at this time the specific donated time for this practice. There is no real substitute at your level of evolution for the practice time necessary for you to establish the proper attitude and patterns that will later enable you to frequent these attitudes and patterns you have previously instilled. True it is that the better you get at attaining the stillness, the easier this will be and the less overall demanding this will seem. However, just as with any artist or musician, you must first learn to familiarize yourself with the instrument before beautiful music can be made on command. This is the phase you are at now, the practicing of your scales, the devoted time spent in practicing your techniques. This will enable you later at any moment to pick up your instrument of faith and instantly make beautiful sounds. It is also true that throughout your daily existence you may as frequently, as often as you please, on your way by, pick up your instrument and indulge yourself. You will find the desire to do this more and more frequently. This again will be made all the more possible by your diligent practice of your technique at this point.

It may appear to you at times as though you tire of hearing that practice makes perfect, that surely if enough time passes you will become perfect. However, a certain amount of energy must be applied before all the benefits may be derived from your technique. I am more or less bound to bring this issue repeatedly back to the forefront as we have not all yet gained all that is to be gained from this particular lesson. Therefore, I in good conscience cannot move ahead and ignore this lesson on which so much rides in your futures.

I would also encourage your discussion of prayer and worship, that these avenues to the Father be more fully explored. This is another soul enriching experience for which there is no substitute. You do well to seek discrimination between various aspects of communion with the Father as a means whereby to more effectively commune. I have given past lessons on prayer and worship; perhaps it would serve some to review these lessons, and always it is beneficial to self-evaluate what these distinctions mean for you as an individual. On the whole I am very pleased, and you should be very pleased, with your spiritual progress. Your attainments are many. Your progress bears much fruit. I am fully aware of those time restraints placed upon you. You should never waste the energy to regret what you haven't done at any particular time. Rather, I encourage you to rechannel this feeling to act now, at any given time, to redirect and refocus what available time and energy you do have to its best effect. Everyday that you awake and arise, your blackboard is completely clean. It is you who marks it up with your plans for the day, your goals, your direction, your purpose. I would encourage you to take a freer hand as director of your own destiny and to feel justified and correct in scheduling in and assigning yourself the task of being with the Father more, of developing your soul-being more, of simply sharing your life with the Father. You are, after all, your own schedule directors. Much of your life is under your own control. Therefore, why not have more fun with it?

I would most gladly entertain any observations or suggestions or comments, and there are, as always, others available to speak or to interact with.

Mary: When I sit down to commune with the Father and exercise what I call prayer, trying to work with spirit to achieve a task or exercise a circuit, does that fulfill what you tell us is so important as stillness? I think there may be a difference. Maybe I should spend time more in absorption of something rather than in trying to accomplish something.

Elyon: When one goes to practice an instrument, at times one may practice scales, at another time one may practice fingering techniques, at another time entire pieces. All of this is under the umbrella of practice. When you have your stillness, some of your stillness may be of prayer. Some may be of worship, and some may be an attempt on your part to engage in an attitude of exchange with the Father, of sharing your life with the Father and desiring to share what the Father has to share with you. All of these may be considered the umbrella of stillness as all of these require a certain overall attitude to occur. Never feel that at any time, because you are practicing scales, for instance, that you are not practicing. All aspects are important and very often one aspect leads naturally into another and into another, The important thing is the time you have set aside to practice. Never feel that any of it is wasted or misdirected. It is simply your attempt to return to this attitude once again. You will become in time more disciplined in how you will direct your stillness. But never feel as though your stillness has been ineffective, because it takes many mistakes before one can learn to smoothly play your scales.

Does this help?

Mary: Yes, it does. I was concerned I might not be understanding what you meant by stillness: I was feeling so active in prayer.

Elyon: We as teachers have fallen back on the term "stillness" as the umbrella term for the attitude which you seek of devotion. This may take form, as I said, in many different ways. Once you have entered this attitude of stillness, you may direct in many different ways.

Mary: In stillness, seeking God, you can seek to dance with Him, you can seek to talk with Him, or you can seek to just be with Him. It's all seeking.

Elyon: Well said, as well said as I could have done. You have indeed grasped the meaning of the overall term stillness.

Jonathan: You have spoken before of taking inventory. I see stillness practice as in consumerism. A lot of transactions are being made, a big flurry of activity, life. Stillness is like taking inventory, giving the store a chance to settle down and account what has happened, what you are in need of, what you have plenty of.

Elyon: It is indeed heart warming to hear such understanding coming from my beloved students. It is all that a teacher might hope for that the nuggets that are cast about are then picked up by the students and are planted and become such beautiful flowering plants. I thank you all for your efforts in this regard.

Jonathan: You are a major catalyst in our pursuit of these insights.

Mary: Forget not your title: Guide to Understanding.

Elyon: It seems at many times my efforts, as you say, are one and the same with my rewards. Indeed, it seems as though many times I am rewarded tenfold for my efforts with this group. I can't thank you enough for this. You are an apex in my experience at this point. I will treasure our encounters always.

Lantarnek: This is Lantarnek, and I would continue making comments from last week.

I closed by saying, "That is all", but I was just kidding. I spoke of the eyes being the windows to the soul, today I would like to consider the condensation of this phrase into "soul eyes" and reflect upon the soul as a window, itself. Your pursuit of the Father through worship is an embrace. You perceive the Father through the soul. It is the word soul that gives meaning to the word Father, for it is the interface of the created with the Creator. It is a personalized link to the divine. But I would ask you to not only look through the soul to the Father, but in your stillness make practice to be seen by the Father Himself. Let the window of the soul be open. Sit and accept that you are in His complete view. It is good to seek the Father, but it is equally important to be sought by Him, that is, to be aware of His overshadowing. By practicing this perspective, you can attend your activities as one who knows the Father. You may provide Him the "soul eyes" to express through your life. Where you perceive the truth of the line that "the eyes are the window to the soul", you may see that the soul is the eyes for the Thought Adjuster.

You are taught about the relationship of love and mercy and ministry. You are fond of the phrase, "Love is the desire to do good to others." The desire is the decree of love. Good is the mercy that is expressed in service to others as ministry. It is the work of the divine. It is the manner in which the Father experiences life as you, not simply through you. When you feel compassion for another, affection, understand this to be an expression that is a reflection of the qualities you have attained that is your very soul. This compassion may be felt emotionally, may be entertained intellectually, but to use your computer analogy, the mind and emotions are merely the soul qualities placed into RAM for you to utilize during the instant of giving. But deep within you resides the eternal value that is, itself, a reflection of the eternal presence.

Eyes are wonderful organs in that they receive, but they are valuable as well in projection. Your soul is not only a receptor for your growth, but it is a projector of the Father uniquely as you.

Having said that, I would ask you to pause for a moment and perceive the Father looking upon you. Receive His view of you.  (long pause)

Thank you.

unidentified (Mary): Now while the Father is working within you, celebrate with Him the joy of your relationship, the wonderful experience of having a Father who loves you so completely, desires only good for you, will do anything He can to help you; and the exquisite pleasure of a parent who has a child to look upon, to experience through, and to help up. Develop your trust in God, in your heavenly Parent, by exercising your relationship with Him.

Mary: I would like to express my joy and the satisfaction that I feel from our experience as a group and from my endeavors as an individual guided by our group guidance. The meaning and value and happiness that I experience through these endeavors is very deep and very satisfying.

END