Gerdean:  This is Gerdean.  I’m trying to be serious and I keep getting this “Knock Knock. Who’s there? Tomas the Opportunist!”  So I am going to go ahead with it and say, “Hello, Tomas.”

TOMAS:  Good evening, my friends. I thought I heard someone call my name and as you know I am always glad to come forward and share quality time with my friends and students in the flesh.

Group:  We are good.

TOMAS:  I can tell you are good by the rousing discourse you enjoyed before we began the process.  Let me see what the evening will bring.  I have no particular theme in mind.  The idea has been thrust upon us all to ad lib, as it were, and so we have an opportunity to draw upon our inner life, each of us, and commingle those juices, ideas, ideals, comforts and concerns with one another.  Let us commence.  Who’s first?

Felix.  I have a question.  This is Felix.  Hello, Tomas. How have you been?

TOMAS:  Hello, Felix.  I have been very well.  And you?

Felix:  Well … not so well lately because I have some health issues, but I’m sure I’ll be fine later on.  Thank you for being here tonight with us.  I’m very curious about how the Thought Adjuster decides who will continue indwelling a person or decides not to.  I have read somewhere else that there are other civilizations where the normal administration, the physical administration, can detect the presence of a Thought Adjuster in a particular mortal being and if this presence is absent and the person is, say, very mentally ill or has been a criminal all of his life, the person is simply exterminated.  And I have also heard, obviously, there are people who are so insolvent all of their life, spiritually speaking, that the Thought Adjuster just leaves them. And I have also heard of important personalities in history – for example Hitler and Stalin – they killed people – where they were abandoned, in their lifetime.  I’m sorry these are opportunistic questions, but they are very interesting for me to know about.

TOMAS:  It is very interesting for many people and it never ceases to amaze me how morbid mortals can be, what bizarre and macabre things get into their mind and take up space.  It is indeed a curiosity question.  Your Thought Adjuster, Felix, is resident within you, alive and well, and that is the good news.  Everyone you know is indwelt, and that is more good news.  But for those that you have heard about, or read about, or speculate about, that may be missing their Thought Adjuster,  for one reason or another, is a point of concern for the curious. Let’s be curious then, and investigate.

The Thought Adjuster resides in normal minds.  That means minds that will make decisions that will foster or retard its development, specifically its soul-making decisions. Most mortals don’t know what a soul-making decision is. They just blunder along making decisions when they are pressed to do so, and whether it advances or retards their development is “a crap shoot.”   Even so, most people are salvaged from this heap of humanity because of the manifold mercy of the Master.  So what we need to do is look first to see if the person is normal-minded in that context.

Those whose minds are so aberrant as to constitute sub-normal or abnormal, may need to be considered under “special handling.” The good news is, it’s not your job to do that – except in the circumstance by which you might want to ask yourself, in a circumstance wherein you are being accosted by one of these individuals, as Jesus did ask himself, “Are these people indwelt with God? Can they be reasoned with? Or are they, in fact, a rabid animal which I must defend myself from and against.”  That you cannot tell by reading an article. That is one of those instances where you must be “up close and personal” and only you can decide that.  And the decision you make at that time will be mitigated/conditioned by the circumstances, your attitude, your mood, your prevailing disposition, the climate, your relationships with other people and many, many things. And so, if you were to strike out at someone in defense of yourself, or succumb to their aggressions, is not going to affect your survival in the spiritual sense.  It is strictly a finite matter.

Felix:  Very interesting.

TOMAS:  The Adjuster does not leave a mortal whose mind is still capable of making a choice.  As long as the mind is intact, there is potential.  This mind may have been abused, it may be distorted, it may be demented, but if it is in the range of normalcy, having potential to make a choice, or have a psychic change as it were, the Adjuster will be there at the ready, the Supreme Opportunist, waiting to introduce the man to God.

And then there are those instances of mortals who are so deranged in their thinking that they do mass murders, serial killings, the likes of Stalin and Hitler, and other warriors from other times and places who seem to derive great satisfaction from desiccating races and nations, while extremely deleterious to civilizations are still not summarily excluded. If there is any chance that their mind is normal in any way, the light is still on.  It does not matter if a person is deformed or ugly; it doesn’t matter if they are spiritually destitute, even spiritually bankrupt.  The Thought Adjuster will not leave if there is a shred of possibility to salvage that soul.

Your best bet is to assume everyone is part of the solution.  Some are much more difficult to love than others.  Some are exceedingly difficult to work with.  But in truth some of your friends and neighbors may seem as if they are a stranger and you may wonder if surely God does not indwell them, for the human condition can be duped and misunderstood and misled and all manner of unpleasant feelings can surface that bring about suspicion, paranoia, anger and the negative emotions of the human animal, even to the conclusion that this individual cannot be indwelt by God because they are evil personified. This is an emotional conclusion that may not hold water.

Do these comments help you / clarify for you the extent of divine overcare?

Felix:  Absolutely, Tomas. Thank you.  Thank you for this.  I now have a better understanding of this concept. One last question … and this may be a little bit of a curiosity --

TOMAS:  Let me go on before I change the subject -- or before you change the subject. I just want to add that in Mansonia, in the mansion worlds, there are areas of rehabilitation.  It’s all about rehabilitation.  And there are sectors that are prepared to deal with these (?), such as you mentioned.  Not necessarily in the segregating style that you are accustomed to here, where the bright students are put into the advanced class and the slower students are put into special classes, not exactly like that - but similar -  because some are going to  need more attention than others.  Some of you who have been diligent here in rectifying the deficiencies of your past will be able to assist in rehabilitating those who have not done such work here for one reason or another.

Felix:  That’s good.

TOMAS:  And so those people that you, for example, may decide, as a civilization, are worthy of the death penalty, may need to deal with in Mansonia, but there will be new structures and new administration.  Indeed, the definition of “justice” will be changed and the soul – the heart and soul—of the victims of such a life on such a planet will all have been made clean and will have come into harmony with their fellows before advancing. There is a plan afoot.  Fear not.  

All right then.

Felix.  Understood.  Well thanks for the explanation.  This is great.  It is good to know this.  There is mercy -- unlimited mercy for everybody.  That’s fantastic.

So , one last question.  I was talking to Gerdean about this.  Since I’m not a perfect guy.  I live my life, and I just do whatever I can to be happy and I’m aware of the Urantia Book, I joined a study group and all that; sometimes I make my mistakes, you know, I’m not perfect.  So maybe – it was a comic situation but I was telling Gerdean, I don’t even have a teacher!  Maybe the one that I had – if I ever had one – quit his job because he could not deal with me.  So, I mean, do I even have one?  Will I ever have the opportunity to work with one?

 TOMAS:  The fact that you ask if you have one indicates to me that you probably do because all you need to do is indicate that you are ready for one and one is provided.  It’s rather like when you are a child and you make your first moral decision, an Adjuster is waiting to indwell you.  Your teachers and guides act similarly.

Felix:  So that is a probability.

TOMAS:  There is a strong probability that you have a teacher.  Now let me say this about that. Sometimes you [you humans, you students of revelation, you who are into metaphysics and so forth] go through periods of spiritual hunger and make great strides in soul growth.  And you turn around and enter into a vigorous section of time dedicated to temporal matters, as if the spirit is on “a back burner” and this is understood.  It is perfectly normal, very usual.  It is not that your teacher has gone away but it enters into dormancy.

It is possible that when you are working so hard, and concerned about things other than your spiritual growth, your mentors are simply waiting for your conscientious return.  It’s not that they have left; it’s that you have closed them out … and not deliberately but because you have other things on your mind!  This is appropriate.  Again, you are living a mortal life; you have duties, responsibilities, experiences you must tend to, relationships, jobs, tasks, phases.  This is what you’re here for. You grow in spiritual reality but you aren’t expected to be perfect already.

You began this question by indicating you were not perfect.  No one is.  No one is … at least compared to how they will/we will be one day.  That’s the joy of this process (becoming perfect) --  recognizing where we are needful of development and allowing that development to occur – willingly working with, toward and for that which is in our best interest, spiritually speaking, so that we can become more than we were.  This is a process.  And it takes eternity. However, the more you invest yourself in the process, truly the more enjoyable it is.  There is no joy like living a spiritual life.  This is why it is said that the most important thing you can know is the religious life of Jesus and how he lived it.  It is vital, and exhilarating! It is also how you can be most useful to God and your fellows.

You might ask your mind, when you have a few moments to spare, in solitude and stillness, the name of your teacher and see if a name recurs, and appears consistently in your mind’s eye.  Don’t latch onto the first one that comes along, but if it repeats itself over time, you might want to venture a question and say, “I’m getting this name.  Are you my teacher?  Am I correct in hearing this?  Is this perception true?” and see what happens.  It could be that you will get an affirmation and it could be that you will get a denial.

If you get an affirmation, you are on your way.  You can have discourse with your teacher.  You know his name; you can begin to develop a relationship.  If it’s not your teacher, then what an adventure!  You can investigate (a) your imagination or (b) other celestial entities that may be coming to call on your open mind – midwayers, Teachers, Michael (Christ Michael, that is), and other teachers that you have felt an affinity for.

Felix:  Yeah.  Okay.

TOMAS:  Leave yourself open to the possibilities and let your mind expand. Let your spirit soar.  Fear not.

Felix:  One final one.  Something that I am getting a lot lately.  I am getting too much prompting.  I’ve read about it in the past; it’s basically numbers.  And I get too much. I have seen too much of this.   What is the meaning of this?  Should I be paying any attention to it at all?

TOMAS:   Give me an example.

Felix:  Well, I get 11-11.  I get 333.  I get all of these combinations.  I read about it, certainly, but I just don’t understand what it – I’ve seen it so often.

TOMAS:  Well, you are stuck at a phase of consciousness.   And I can see it will be passing away or subsiding because you have admitted, acknowledged, and voiced that you are ready to go on.  The thing about the numbers is that it became fashionable as a way of allowing you to see how you were connected with time and space.  Your consciousness is connected to a dimension above and beyond the finite.

It’s a way of opening the door for you to see that there are other levels of perception, so if you get 11:11 you know something.  What?  That the midwayers are here.  If you get a 3:33, you may think in terms of numerology and say, “Okay, threes are creativity.  I’ve been very creative, or I must do something creative, or I’m not doing anything creative” – something to do with creativity.  You could interpret the numbers according to numerology or any way that works for you.  They are toys and tools at your disposal.

But the point is that you have become aware of another dimension of mind. Now you are eager to find out “What can I do with this new dimension of mind besides look at numbers?”  You are ready to do something else with that.  You are entering into the realm of metaphysics.  Perhaps this is a good time for you to inquire about your personal teacher and other things that are going on in the universe, in your cosmic neighborhood, that might induce you to consider an advanced approach to your existence.

The existence most mortals live is that they are born and they go to school; they grow up; they have children, they grow old.  They work.  They die.  And this is life.  They don’t spend much time on their soul development, their cosmic neighborhood, the dimension of angels and invisible helpers.  They think of God as being on a pedestal or in some far-off place when he is, in fact, within you and within others that you can connect with.  It is important for you to recognize the presence of God in others.  You are now able to do that because you know what time it is. You are aware of another dimension.  You know that you are a living creature in time and space.  You are more than just a mortal.  You cannot overlook the fact that you are a man, but you cannot overlook ever again that you are a potential supermortal man.  This is an invigorating thought indeed.  It will keep you going for eternity.

Felix:  I’m looking forward to it.

TOMAS:   I am happy to hear that.  We need more workers in the field and we need those who will be of good cheer.  So if you are looking forward to the work ahead, you will be a co-worker in demand.

Marty:  I have a question, Teacher Tomas, based on something you said before, that the most important thing that we can do (I don’t know if “important” was the word) is to know the religious life of Jesus.   And the only way that we could possibly know that would be in communion with him, in our Stillness period.   It’s not something you can read about. It’s something he can only give you first hand, I think.

TOMAS:  So you are telling me that your perception of that knowledge is it is only effective if it is experiential.  Yes.

Marty:  What would be the importance of it otherwise!  I can’t imagine.  Just -- an intellectual grasp of—

TOMAS:  An intellectual grasp, yes.  And there are many who are happy with an intellectual grasp, but the living of it is where the meat is; that’s where the true substance of a spirit-led life lies; that’s where your superhumanness is -- in identifying with the religious life of Jesus, for example, in identifying with the qualities and the aspirations of an elder Son of God.  As you look to those who have something to teach, and learn from them, you are assimilating their wisdom, their value.  You can read books night and day and get a lot of wonderful information but there is no teacher like personal experience.

And so to have an appreciation for the religious life of the Master, you need to enter into that yourself, personally. It’s not just an intellectual comprehension of what you are doing here, how you got here, where you are going, but otherness.  How your energy affects others, how their energy affects yours.  Are you in harmony with divine order? And if you are not in harmony, then get away from the circumstances, including yourself, and find that harmony as the Master did when he would get away from whatever it was he was involved in and just spend time with Father, finding himself, finding his rightmindedness.

Yes, it’s more than intellectual.  What do you think the religious life of Jesus was?  How do you perceive it in yourself?  (No response)   Well, I know one way you do because I know you personally and that is as a shepherd.  You caretake your flock and you study your animals, the animals in your herd, you know them each personally, what they are capable of, what their handicaps are, which ones you may be able to depend upon and which ones are mischief-makers, those which are more compliant and those which are more destructive, and you love them! Understanding this about them, you love them. You are amused by them; you are concerned about them. You care for their mating processes, for the birth of new ones.  You concern yourself with their food, their exercise.  This is fatherly affection.  This is part of the religious life of Jesus – a living part, not just an academic part, i.e., reading about the nutritional value of oats or certain grasses, but the actual doing of it.

Marty:  The other thing that you made me think about is those that are more advanced.  A step ahead are teachers of the ones that are just behind them.  And this kind of relationship is not only that of a teacher. It seems that we all – not waiting until we get to Mansonia but here on earth are helping or teaching and bringing each other ahead.  The extent to which people don’t do that is just a measure of concerns that they have that are not spiritual.  I think that that’s really life, from the beginning.

TOMAS:  Yes.  I’m reminded of the psychic circles. In the beginning everyone is completely self-oriented. But as you develop and grow, you reach points that impel you to be concerned about others; you begin to look at life differently; and at some point, you begin to have not just a brotherly love but a fatherly affection.  This is a process that takes place over the course of many years for most mortals.  Some never seem to get off the first rung while some are eager to reach the top, and those that do climb higher, have the responsibility then of nurturing and caring for – at least not taking undue advantage of – those who follow.

This is why life on a planet is like an organism.  It’s either healthy or unhealthy.  And the healthy parts need to be cultivated and encouraged, even as the evil and error are downplayed and isolated so that it doesn’t take over or overcome those efforts to advance in spirit and in civilization.  In time, this planet will have attained a point wherein life has evolved such that you will be able to fuse here and not even go through the seven mansion worlds; your rehabilitation will be complete here on the world of your origin, and this will happen because people like you who have a compulsion to strive  toward perfection, a hunger to have God-consciousness, and who are willing to serve and teach and pass it on as elder brothers will participate in the process of evolving the world for everyone, so that in time when people are born on to this world, they are going to be born onto a better world. It will be made better because its population has been made better by efforts such as yours.  This makes it very personal.  Your contribution is meaningful.  And just as those people we talked about earlier, those normal-minded people who go about doing their thing whether or not they are mindful of how they are impacting life around them -- because love is more catching than hate, because there is only good, there is only love --  all the rest of that is shadow that will fall away in the sunlight of the spirit.  You just need to keep persisting in that direction.

Marty: It’s a really, really, unspeakably wonderful thing to be participating in the  transformation of our world.

TOMAS:  Indeed.  It’s a very exciting time on this planet.

Marty:  It’s really amazing and it’s wonderful.

TOMAS:   Do not despair when you see calamities such as the oil spill occuring,  These are part of the learning process, the learning curve humanity goes through, particularly when they have attained a point of technological expertise.  This is no worse a man-made disaster than Hiroshima, and yet in time healing does take place and you learn from these devastating experiences. So consider the learning that is going on for your world.  The entire world is learning from this experience, this exposure to imperfection, to incompleteness.  Try to have mercy.  Try to have understanding.  This too shall pass and many lessons will be learned.

Contribute your good thoughts, your healing thoughts, your love energy.  There will be other ways to serve, and if you don’t find ways to serve in this disaster or that circumstance or these other concerns that are afflicting humanity, if you only have time to take care of your own plot of land and your own family concerns, then do that with all your might, knowing that you are working for truth, beauty and goodness, that you are part of the solution. Accept yourself.

Love yourself as Father loves you.  In that way, you will be able to love others as Father loves them.

It is a big task and don’t beat yourself up if you don’t succeed all the time.  It is a process, as we mentioned.   But again, as we mentioned, as long as there is a semblance of the normal mind intact, the Thought Adjuster has not given up, so let’s not give up.  And it’s not that I am giving up on you, but we really must think about closing down for the evening.  We need to begin to wind down our energy as the hour is coming around to fullness.

Marty:  Thanks for a very wonderful lesson this evening, Teacher Tomas.

TOMAS:  Are there other concerns, other questions, other issues?  (Pause) Well, we have made good use of the time allotted.  Thank you for being here and giving me an opportunity to rejoice in the work I do for the Father, for the Teacher Corps, for the people of Urantia and for you here and those listening.  Peace be upon you.  Amen and farewell.
END