Michael - To Whom Do You Belong - Oct 29, 2007 - Marin TM
Michael—October 29, 2007Marin TM Group—Mill Valley, California—U.S.A.MICHAEL—T/R—JLDear Michael and Mother spirit, As we gather together tonight to feel your presence and hear your cheerful words of inspiration and hope, we gladly remember all the hours and hours we've shared with you, and all the tears of joy we've known, all the times when our sincerest and most genuine response was, "Wow! What was that?" And then we'd all break up laughing, shake our heads, and wonder.
So we thank you for all those happy, happy moments we've know, all the inspiration and the guidance we have received, and how our lives have changed both within us and without--especially in our relationships with all of our dear friends and even all those others out there we might only have chanced to meet. We thank you for giving us all of them too. Amen.
MICHAEL: Good evening, my dear children, my brothers and sisters, my very dear friends. This is Michael, and while I am very literally your father and your brother, most of all from my own heart, I am your very dear friend. I want you to take that super-literally without any kind of condescension from a superior being--none of that whatsoever, but just your dear friend with whom you can relate most informally. As I put it once before, I wish we could go fishing together, or just take a walk.
(On walking and talking; and roller-coasters {again})
I think you've noticed--some of you who have considered how Mother Spirit and I have been parents to worlds millions and millions of years more advanced than your own—how still I chose to serve out my human incarnation on a world such as Urantia was two thousand years ago, where I spent most of my time just walking and talking with my apostles and disciples and all the others who would come and visit with us for a while. But this is something that you yourselves can cherish most dearly; that it is the simple visiting time you can spend with each other that fills your souls.
I'm sure so many of you delight in what you might call "visiting dreams," those times when you dream of simply sitting down and visiting with old friends or acquaintances you haven't seen for many many years, and are wondering what they're about. It's interesting that sometimes when all the high points and the low points have dissolved into each other, just the everyday getting together and living our lives is what remains closest to our hearts.
We once mentioned that human wondering if perhaps our Universal Father--God doesn't have some innate love of roller-coasters; or if it's simply closer to your own human nature--all the ups and downs you go through: indeed, whether or not this is just a facet of youth and adolescence before you have yet acquired the experience and the wisdom necessary for a greater balance as you go along, often buffeted by circumstances beyond your control.
Mother Nature herself is another force to be reckoned with as you live on an as yet somewhat geologically unstable planet with earthquakes and the resulting landslides and tsunamis; and then also your floods and, recently in your United States here, the great firestorms that are just part and partial of a certain kind of landscape where they can come quite regularly. These are all circumstances far beyond any human control. They do remind you, from another angle that I mentioned in my last lesson, how much the future that seems so solid to you at times is so much a social construct, susceptible to all the varieties of Mother Nature's catastrophes, small and large.
When the social contract breaks down between you, not only on a nation/state level of warfare, but even personally in your own lives, all those well-laid plans you shared with your loved ones can all of a sudden change, not only through circumstances but just simple human emotion, and be thrown totally awry. What was once such a positively welcomed future can become full of such fearful wonderings and apprehensions. In all these times, my children, both in the ups and the downs, to find your balance as you go along it is good to take a break from this ongoing sense of time rushing along, the future coming at you helter-skelter, and in a way remind yourself, from your spiritual level, just how much you always are.
(To whom do you belong)
A very wise poet of yours put it once, "…to keep in mind and not forget: it is not he, nor she, nor them, nor it--that you belong to." You belong to yourself and your Father: you belong to yourself and God. In God and in yourself you are whole and complete. In the most profound sense that you may not yet grasp fully, but only intellectually and with the spirit of faith, there is no need for time. There is no need even for a future. It is all God's will, and God, and His total creation are complete moment to moment--just as are you, also His creation.
Along (with this concept of completeness) comes the concept of replete-ness, of how you can add to what is already 100%. And so we tease you with the notion that the only way out, ever, is to grow, to simply add to what you already are. And this is possible because you are God's creation. In this most profound sense you are made in His image. Though you are whole and complete from His standpoint and the standpoint of your soul--the summation of all your experience; and there is a kind of eternity right within now, still: here comes the next moment by God's will.
Out here in time and space this whole cosmos of His is in motion, quite contra-distinct from Paradise, His home. Out here it's all in motion, even—especially--right inside you. You cannot even know your exact thoughts some few minutes from now. You can focus on a subject; you can concentrate; you can decide that the next five minutes will be spent thinking of whatever you choose. But the exact thoughts themselves almost happen to you as much as do day and night, as much as the earth is moving around the sun to create the seasons, and your whole solar system is swinging about the center of our Local Universe.
All this is in motion by God's will; but he doesn't need it. He chooses it. It is His free will. And it can be yours too, my children. Right within all this motion--inside and outside--you can know calmness and an even more perfect balance by becoming ever more one with it. We've alluded to this as "swimming perfectly along within the stream of life." It's kind-of dog-paddling along with it, along with the flow, even sometimes--just for the shear fun of it--turning around and heading back upstream, getting into some really vigorous activity just to glory in your own power.
This is our glory too. This is how Mother Spirit delights to be within you and, even more correctly, it's how you can delight in realizing you are always within her. We call this human mentality you have the Spirit/Adjutant kind of mentality of the Local Universe Mother Spirit. And I am always by your side, your spiritual father, your human brother and friend. Together the three of us make another kind of completeness, for just as Mother Spirit and I together represent the Trinity--the Universal Father, the Eternal Son, and Infinite Spirit--so you too, together with Mother Spirit and me, we three also make a different kind (of completeness). With your God-given (unique) personality, it is a unique kind of wholeness and completeness.
But you are an experiential being; so come to us when you wish to feel this, when you wish to experience this. Take time out from all your other human connections and activities and visit with your spiritual parents.
(Deep calls to deep)
You have a wonderful expression that "deep calls to deep." This is how you rest, how you sink down into us, and into yourself, while the walls fly away and "now" begins to expand. You come to feel us and yourself more and more--a very real presence, a really strong connection. This is where you feel Mother Spirit's love nurturing and healing and loving you. This is where you feel my peace in your soul, giving you back to yourself, giving you this assurance: My dear sons and my dear daughters: this is your life. Do what you think best.
This is how you expand, my dear children. This is how you become at one and the same time both decisive and yet ever more open. If you think in terms of a zero sum game of life, being decisive is constantly closing off alternatives: it has to be either this or that. And here we come saying that you can decide, you can commit yourself to a course of action, to an understanding, to a realization, yet be open the very next moment to a greater future, a fuller growth of possibility and potential. And so if this sounds like a contradiction, you are not taking your ability to grow into consideration, of how you grow by that decision, by that momentary acceptance/definition of who you are. That very quality can put you in touch with a spiritual dimension.
And so you grow, and in that growth more is possible--more decisions are possible. You don't worry about being determined moment by moment. For also, moment to moment, you are becoming more free to exercise your will, more open to see the true and more complete results of your decisions. You slowly emerge from denial and inner dishonesty to embrace this being determined--self-determined and defined moment by moment, realizing this very thing is adding to your soul. This being who and what you are moment by moment—consciously--sets you free. Soon you no longer avoid but you begin to discover who you are. You are a child of God. You are a unique being taking his or her first few steps into eternity.
And so you come not to fear but to rejoice that there was such a roller-coaster back in your youth and adolescence. You cherish all those narrow escapes from near disasters. You come to trust in our Father's will for you. For as you discover what it is, you will grow in your ability to choose it for your own.
(Keep growing)
So keep growing, my children. Do not fear to feel how each moment does define and determine you. Embrace it. Embrace all that you are--as much as you can feel and realize that you are. For in feeling this definition and determination of who you are, however paradoxically it might strike you, this is the way to your freedom. This is that "true discovery" I mentioned before, and how the quality of it grows as well. This is the way to go. Lean into it. Embrace it. Thrill with glory in it. This is the life that is His will for you, joyously expanding. This is the organic life of your soul—if you will.
If you have any questions or comments this evening, I certainly welcome them.
Student: Yes Michael, I just feel really relaxed tonight.
MICHAEL: Well, good, my son, that was my intention for you tonight, and for those who will read these words--just to follow along as I gently stretch your souls.
Student: It is a shame though that more people don't participate in these gatherings. I mean, I don't mind being the only one, but I do miss the conversation and community spirit when others are around to exchange ideas, and realizations, and things, you know, because basically I'm by myself most of the time. I am fortunate that I do participate in other gatherings and am able to exchange that way.
But also I’m becoming more and more familiar with my own true nature, and not beating myself if I fail to meet an expectation, nor get so high and mighty if I feel like I have grown. I just have to temper my impatience as we've talked about before. I do see the world changing, so much darkness being exposed—so to speak. I just try to do my little part of sharing the career of life that I am able to share.
(Inner growth)
MICHAEL: Yes, my son. Mother Spirit and I wish to continually reassure you that it's the inner growth that is so important. Even as your Urantia book has reassured you, a lot of this true spiritual growth is unconscious. You don't always immediately see the results, for it's a slow but cumulative qualitative change. You learn with your slowly growing patience that the incremental changes in your inner life, and then in your outer life, are the most secure.
So you relinquish your overreaching ambitions to change yourself totally overnight. You see: through the school of hard knocks of trial and error you learn that monumental, melodramatic changes just don't hold. And so this is also the growth in your faith, in your trust. Knowing it within yourself, my son, you can begin to extend it out there to others and trust that they too are growing--whether this is immediately obvious or not.
There are universal spiritual truths, not only for the human race but those which transcend it, which people can, in transcending themselves, come in contact with. These universal truths do slowly evolve individuals. There is this universal evolution taking place not only on your planet but even cosmically. You are all a part of this.
It's reassuring to know this, to feel this. Sometimes the polarization that is part of this process throws everything into ever sharper relief. As you said, the darkness and the error becomes more exposed to the light. It is only ones fundamentalist arrogance that needs to be relinquished. First, whenever you can detect and embrace the consciousness of it within yourself, be that shining light, be that example of how to live without it, how to live even in doubt and unknowing with trust and faith. Eschew all the fundamentalist, egotistical and arrogant assurance that you have Total Reality completely in your grasp.
Student: Yeah, a lot of material I’ve been reading from different sources has been focused upon how every human being is already enlightened, is already living their true nature. It's just that they don't know it; or we don't know it. It gets circumvented--in a sense--by our own points of view and misperceptions. But underlying all that is our true nature, is our enlightenment. So if we go around, as you have mentioned, seeing people as little infinities--God as God sees us--for we are all God in that respect--that's what needs to be claimed and professed. So that's what I'm looking at: that's what I'm allowing without doing anything. In a sense it's already here--kind of like allowing the cream to rise to the top--just allowing.
MICHAEL: Yes, my son, different systems put it in different ways. We point at a God-created personality which is already spiritual and, in a kind of scientific way, outside of time and space, and complete. It's His perfect creation, and contra-distinct from your ego--the person you are that you can be aware of, including all of your inner perceptions, all your memories, everything you think and feel you are right now.
Yet this object of consciousness is not to be slighted. It's your most useful tool. We once compared your ego, you remember, to your bathroom mirror in which you are able to get some reflection of yourself. You just don't mistake it for the totality of your being that is your personality and your soul--both aspects being creations of God and His Fragment within you.
This was also your prayer the other evening of how to see through people's unconscious and unintended impulses and even bad behavior towards you--see their true original personalities shining forth, rising to the top with your help as you are able to see this and reflect it back to them. You can meet people with perfect equanimity, strangely enough, because you do not need them. Because you are complete in yourself, you can meet them with equanimity and reflect their wholeness back because you are not trying to use them in any way. Whereas, if you go out into the world a little too needy, you could find yourself being a little too greedy for a certain response, a certain affirmation they may not have within them that moment. It's when you feel whole and complete that you can be generous with yourself.
Student: Yeah, I can see that; having no expectations as well. We talked about potential last week and just being open to a greater experience of my potential, to actualize that. I know that takes time, but the potential is here to be accessed. I feel like this world... I would love to meet somebody who has gone beyond what we think is normal, and who has experienced a greater degree of potential than what I see in this world.
As I alluded to in some of my past readings of the Masters in the Himalayas, I would love to meet these people, meet a person who has accessed a greater degree of potential, so that I can see and access my own God-given potential to do good in this world, and be more the human being that God created. But I know it takes time, and I know it takes rest, and silence, and stillness.
(Assessing claims of extraordinary powers)
MICHAEL: This is a great challenge within you my son: how to deal with those who claim to totally transcend time and space while they are still human. How do you assess this? How do you evaluate some of these people’s claims to be in two places simultaneously, hundreds of miles apart; to walk through solid walls; to read people's thoughts; to control the wild animals around them with their minds alone? How do you evaluate this kind of thing?
Because you are an experiential being--this is your truest nature--your soul is the summation of all your experience, as you read these things I bid you stay open. You're standing with one foot on the dock and one foot out there in a boat bobbing around; and you'd be wise to acknowledge the stretch. You're standing on your own solid experience and yet, as you say, you would delight in meeting someone who can, in a way, empirically/scientifically prove/demonstrate to you they have this ability to transcend time and space while still human.
It almost seems like a contradiction, but that would be a delight--we agree. It would be a delight having such a thing demonstrated. Yet we caution you, you do need to stay true to what you yourself have known. Stay true to your subjective time, the time you know inside, quite apart from that ticking machine on your wrist or on the wall, quite apart from what you share with everyone else about what tomorrow is or will be. So yes, by all means--stay open. We even tease you with how delightful it would be to walk out some morning and meet some mystical, mythical creature like a friendly elf perched on the nearest rose bush.
So stay open to all possibility. At the same time be ever more decisive. Avoid that bugaboo of feeling freer just by putting things off, by being indecisive--the illusion of freedom that by avoiding decisions you are opening up the future. You're actually closing it down. And this too is a matter of wisdom, of experience.
Student: Yeah, because my question is: how do I know if I'm doing that? I know there's a time and a place for things, for action and non-action, and to sit still or, in a sense, push the envelope--so to speak. But it seems like my greatest fear is becoming complacent, or missing the ability to grab the brass ring as I go around in the carousel. There's always that fear that I’m holding back, that I'm missing out on really, truly expressing or experiencing my potential, my God-given potential and gifts. But at the same time I know patience and humility are also important because I've seen people who have had realizations and experiences, put themselves out there and then get burned, or become too high and mighty and forget where it all came from. So there is some trepidation.
MICHAEL: But all along, my son, you are capable of knowing real events. As I told our friend C one evening here, who wondered, "Well, how do I know if I've forgiven someone, or forgiven myself?"--you know because you and they have changed: something has happened. Whether you are sitting in your stillness or engaged in the most vigorous activity, this is all decisiveness. You are deciding to be active; you are deciding to be still. In that decision there is something happening. You are not adrift in some kind of limbo, some kind of queasy, uneasy nothing happening. There is always something happening, and as you become more and more still, that happening can get larger and larger. That's where we are.
Student: Sometimes, though, circumstances can dictate what is going to happen, what needs to happen--you know?
MICHAEL: Very much.
Student: Yeah, well, as we see what's going on in the world, what's going on in Southern California with the fires, and everything, unfortunately… Two more things: one, why, when I decided I didn't want to become a teacher in this organization, at least at this time, it dawned on me that I have a hard time being part of any organization, even though the teachings are compatible with what you're speaking of. It seems like I have no desire to be part of an organization. MICHAEL: Well then, that's who you are.
Student: Ah!--okay.
(Realizing who you are)
MICHAEL: That decision led you to this discovery of who you are. You can choose to change that: that's another decision. That's who you were at that moment. That decision at that moment led to the discovery of that aspect of yourself, and that very decisiveness gives you the ability to become something else. That's your choice.
Student: But at the same time I don't want to limit my choice.
MICHAEL: That's what I'm saying, my son. By being decisive you are increasing your choice. Your choice depends upon your willpower. Choice is willpower, is decisiveness. I'll put it again in a slightly different way. There is an illusion that by postponing decisions you keep your options open; but that is only an illusion. You can decide to keep your options open. You can decide that you are not yet ready to choose between this or that, and that decision informs you who you are that moment.
There is another something very akin to inner denial, a refusing to face realities, that is also a kind of unconscious growth. It can be a simple matter of following the example you are raised with by the immature souls about you. You're introduced to this way of living as a kind of dropping off into unconscious habits. As you know, there's a whole class of recreational drugs that deliberately bring this state on, that you call downers or depressants.
So: as you choose, as you make the decision you do not want to be part of this organization, it leads you to reflect: do you want to be a part of any organization? And that is who you are at that moment. Then you could decide you do not want to be that kind of person. If you wanted to, you could decide to grow towards being a member of an organization. Or it could lead you to ways of being more productive and self-fulfilling by yourself. You could start your own organization. But all these are decisions. All these lead to consciousness. All these lead to being able to control who you will be.
Student (laughing): But what is the most beneficial, what is the most perfect?--you know?
MICHAEL: That is your choice.
Student: Ah!
MICHAEL: That is your choice! You can ask and pray for guidance, but it will be your choice.
Student: It's funny too, because I remember when I mentioned this, about the possibility of becoming a teacher, you remarked, "Well, isn't this what you want? You said you wanted to travel, and you wanted to help people, and do this and do that, and now you do not want to do that." I thought about that and I just have a hard time being part--even though the teachings are great--they're really beautiful and life-altering and -changing because they’re talking about who we are: but I have a hard time being part of an organization. And maybe that's just my own ego, my own existence, so that's all part of self-discovery, I guess.
MICHAEL: Yes, keep exploring it, my son. Keep trying to understand why. Why is this? What is there about organizations…
Student: . ..Or institutions, or churches...
MICHAEL: Yes. And is there a way of personally transcending this, coming up with your own different kind of organization--livelier, organic, and less dogmatic?
Student: But why can't I just be myself? Why do I need to create? See, that's what I've noticed with people who have these realizations or these profound experiences, who come across these great teachings. They obviously want to express them to other people, but they have to do it in an institutionalized or organized way, or create a church or something. We have enough of that.
MICHAEL: Yes, but you said just a few minutes ago it'd be nice if our own group right here were a little bit larger because you have this desire to share what is wonderful and beautiful to us. And who's to say?
You wonder who you are. Don't you feel you've been all these people all along? This is who you've been all along, all these separate persons moment to moment. This is your soul. This has been your experience. This is who you are in terms of your soul, as contra-distinct from who you are momentarily, this moment-by-moment right now. This is who you have been. But in--this now--you get to choose, to the limit of your own ability, who you will become.
Defining your own voice starts with making it concrete somehow, writing it down, thinking it through. As Mother Spirit was saying, how do you know you are not exactly like these other individuals?
Student: Well, they say--the people would say, we are alike. We are all God's nature. Yes, that's the point.
MICHAEL: Right, yes. And you are teaching by carrying on these conversations with me. There are many out there who enjoy our conversation--you know, learn from it.
Student: That is true, (laughing), that is true. One last thing, because I know it's getting late. Is there a law of attraction? The reason why I bring this up is because this has been talked about so many times in so many different books about manifesting, and stuff. And on the radio today there was an advertisement for someone who wrote or participated in making the book The Secret, which got worldwide accolades, and whatever. Now he has a book in conjunction with The Secret that is called The Key. There's another secret that he has the key to, and it has to do with the law of attraction. Of course you have to buy the book to get the answer, to get the key and how it all has to do with the law of attraction. And so--you know--you tell me.
(Laws of attraction)
MICHAEL: Well, my son, again: there is such profound connection between all aspects of God's creation, it's hard to know where to start. On the physical level there is universal gravity--what Newton tried to express once upon a time. Since all matter/energy is created by God, it exhibits what you know of as attraction: everything is attracted to everything else. On the largest scale all creation is circling around Paradise. All the Grand Universe of the seven inhabited Superuniverses, then on out into these millions and millions of galaxies; all are circling, all are held in the absolute grasp of Paradise and God's presence there.
Similarly, all personality is held within the grasp of the Universal Father's personality circuit--if you will, all personality is drawn towards its Creator. All spirits--all spirit reality, even pure spirit personalities, are drawn towards the Eternal Son, the origin of spirit. All cosmic mind manifestation is drawn towards the Infinite Spirit.
On all the levels you human beings know of: body, mind, spirit, personality, soul; all dimensions of your being are drawn towards their origin in the Trinity. Now, as you manifest these in your interpersonal relationships, you are drawn to each other. This strongest binding force you give the name of love--affection, attraction. So it exists in many dimensions.
There is definitely a law of attraction. It is the most profound reality that all manifestation is drawn towards its origin. All personality will find its way back to its Source, either by individual choice--your own free will to discover the Father, or, even in your refusal thereof, in choosing to cease to exist, your soul will simply be swallowed up in the Supreme Being. In that sense your personality will return to its Source, you will just not be a conscious participant of that.
So even this law of attraction, my son, is subject to your own free will not only interpersonally—human-wise, but even absolutely with respect to God's desire, and love, and attraction for you. That is the absolute you-ness of you, because you are a creation of God.
Student: So that kind-of explains when Jesus said, "Seek first the kingdom of heaven and everything else will be added unto you…"
MICHAEL: Yes.
Student: . ..where we don't even have to think about manifesting because we are so immersed in our true nature.
MICHAEL: Well, you have to think about it, my son, insofar as it has to be a conscious choice.
Student: Yeah--I understand.
MICHAEL: And that usually involves a lot of thinking, a lot of choosing, a lot of deciding, a lot of creating--spiritual creating.
Student: Where you're coming from a perspective of God-consciousness, not some egocentric... MICHAEL: Or as we would say, coming more from your personality and your soul, which is the greater part of you--you know, compared to your ego. But we always like to emphasize how useful and necessary your ego is. Your ego has to mature and become wise and except its own limitations.
Student: It seems like when people talk about the law of attraction they're talking about material attraction, or romantic-relationship attraction, or monetary--all that.
MICHAEL: Remember, these various attractions are weighed against each other, weighed on the balance scales of time.
Student: But it's not incorrect to want these things?
MICHAEL: That depends upon the circumstances, and the wisdom in the weighing.
Student: Yeah, because what this person talked about when he said, you need to buy my book, the Key was why some things are manifested and some things are not. We talked about this before in terms of prayer, and I said, "Well, maybe it's because it is not beneficial to us, you know, maybe there is something else, something better out there." Sometimes it's better not to have that five bedroom mansion or something like that, or want to manifest millions of dollars, or have that perfect relationship. Maybe one needs to seek first the kingdom of heaven, or first be the kingdom of heaven. I think from that point we are really, truly living, truly creating, and truly living our intended purpose.
MICHAEL: Yes, my son, this is what we mean when we say, don't make now dependent upon anything in the future. Realize your completeness and wholeness now, and then the future is one of becoming more replete. You are not dependent upon it. You are not--in a sense--waiting to live.
Student: You even mentioned that--at least in the bible, you mentioned--I don't know the exact words, but: don't think so much about tomorrow; think more of today. You know the quote, you said it (laughing), something to that effect, you know.
MICHAEL: All this--as long as you keep in mind: all the really good, necessary planning and provision is also now, is in the now. You just don't say, I cannot be complete until I have this or that; I cannot begin to live until I have this or that or until I'm accepted by this or that other person; or, until I have this love or that love, I cannot live until that happens. You're putting yourself on hold. Often this is simply avoiding decision.
Student: Well, thank you.
MICHAEL: You are welcome, my son. These are seeming contradictions, seeming paradoxes that have captured most of the human race in its immaturity, and still capture individuals until they achieve the wisdom and the desire to trace out in their understanding all these true spiritual causes and effects.
Student: I wish we could walk together and just talk, man to man, friend to friend, just talk like this.
MICHAEL: Well, give it a try, my son, from time to time throughout your day. Mother Spirit and I have both invited you to do this. Just address either one of us and see what happens. Don't assume we can't.
Student: Yeah, well, I know Mr. Burbank did! (laughing)
MICHAEL: Just say hello, and ask a question, and then see what comes next. Don't forget our Universal Father, the Father of both of us, is right with us both, right in your mind as a creator of thought. Very distinct, individual thoughts are from His origin within you.
(Visiting with Mother Spirit and Michael, and God)
So let's close on that note. I invite you to give it a try. Just say, "Hello Michael, are you here?" Ask a question and see what answer comes up; see if you can detect its origin, because I teased you a little bit ago with the truism that all the movement right inside you, all the thinking going on--what is its origin if you cannot determine your exact thoughts five minutes from now? Where do you begin and Mother Spirit leave off? What is the limit of God in your own mind? I'll leave you with that query… (laughing…) and hope it leads you to my peace.
Student: Thank you.
MICHAEL: Good evening.
END