Another Tricky Dream

I often use the meditation group I belong to as a resource to work through complicated issues in my life, to be my sounding board for hair brained ideas and to thump me on the head when I am missing a significant sign post in my life.

As I prepare for my retirement and some extended traveling, the group is the only connection I have left of my associations of the past. It is one which I value and will not happily relinquish when I head off for a year or two of travel.

Our group has dwindled down to a handful of regular members and one of them broached this subject at our last gathering. Since I and one other member are doing significant amounts of traveling she wondered if the group would be able to continue. She thought perhaps we were all ready to move on to other things. I was sorry to hear that, and went home that night with a heavy heart.

For years I have longed to have the freedom to travel extensively, and now the time was here. I knew that I could stay and put some effort into enlarging the group, but I know my heart wouldn’t be in it right now.

The very next night I had this dream......

I was hiking somewhere in the world and on this particular day I was going to climb a mountain. I was wearing hiking boots, knee-length pants, a t-shirt and a headband. The mountain was large but it was not rocky. There were dirt paths all the way to the top and the day was sunny and not too warm. I walked all day and reached the summit just before sunset. I realized that it might be dangerous to walk down in the dark so I asked an attendant where we would sleep. He said, “No, we will get you down safely tonight but first go to the summit and take all the pictures you want, then come back to me”. I did that and when I went back he took me around to the back side of the mountain to an opening like a cave. Inside was a funny type of elevator. It was like a dumb waiter on a conveyer belt and each person got to stand on a little platform with only a bar to hold onto for safety. The belt moved like a pulley and as each platform reached the top it flopped down ready for you to step on. The attendant stopped the belt for me to get on and I remember feeling weird about it. I had happily hiked up the trail all day long without a care or a plan and without noticing that I hadn’t met a single person coming down but neither had I seen the elevator at the bottom nor was it mentioned at all. I should have been happy about having a way down the mountain but I was not at all sure I wanted to get on the rickety thing. I do not know how the dream ended. I have a feeling that I may have taken the elevator but I do not remember the trip down the dark tunnel through the mountain or arriving at the bottom. Perhaps I was stuck there?

I feel the dream is connected to my meditation group in some way. I feel the loss of the group but also feel that travelling is something I would benefit from. I know everyone in the group will be OK in spite of whatever happens but I still feel like a deserter.
In the dream, I was feeling shocked at the top of the mountain because I hadn’t signed on for a scary ride on a rickety elevator. I didn’t want to spend the night alone in a cave on the top of that mountain either. I was trapped.

I am not sure if the dream is telling me that I need to do what feels right to me or that my responsibility lies with the group or something else entirely.

I was going to put the question to my guides but before I could do that, I was invited to an impromptu channelling circle where I posed the question during meditation. One of the members, a unique individual who channels with numbers rather than words, guided me through releasing those fears in a way which seemed to be nothing short of a miracle. The numbers carried an energy vibration to me in the same way that words would have. The first number helped me step back from the cave and the second one provided a feeling of having been released from the necessity of using the elevator. Gradually, the opening of a clear Plexiglas tube appeared behind me and I was drawn to step into it. As each number was received I was able to move farther into the tube and I could look down through the Plexiglas to the valley floor below.

The amazing thing was that the part of the tube I had walked through had already disappeared and there was only a short portion of it available ahead of me. Strangely, I felt completely safe and eager to continue. As more numbers came I moved quickly through the tube until I reached the forest floor below. I was safe on the ground again and feeling amazingly uplifted and free.

My analysis is that I have been released from the fear of saying "no" when no acceptable options are offered. In looking back on my life it is clear that similar situations had occurred many times. Funny, the thought of asking spirit for another solution had never occurred to me. I had to be shown, and to feel it and to learn that there is always another option if you ask. I feel this in every fibre of my being now and am truly grateful.


Now here is a comment from my guides.....

We are feeling as merry and uplifted as do you and we bring great congratulations from many who are watching your progress. It was as though your heart became more open to spirit in that moment. You have taken many steps toward turning things in your life over to spirit already and yet you are still a beginner. Your understanding has grown this time and you now know what it means to let go and ask for assistance. The path you are about to embark on will require you to perfect this ability if you wish to have an enjoyable time. We have no doubt that you will be able to do it and we look forward to many more such celebrations.

There is a quickening now both in your energy and that of others. Each challenge such as this which you are able to overcome adds to the abilities within the collective as you are aided by the growth of others. As it unfolds for you, you will be able to see more and more.


Remember that you are always safe, taken care of and loved.


Beloved, peace go with you.

I'm Not Dreaming!

After waking up completely elated from a recent dream I desired to understand the information it imparted. In the dream I had been given a sheet of paper and asked to write a word which signified a problem in my life. I put one word at the top of the page and immediately there were about 20 other words scattered about the page. I began to read. Each word had some connection to the word I had written. One word was its opposite while another was a synonym. One pointed to a variation of understanding or definition of my word while another pointed to one single aspect of the subject my word denoted. I was fascinated as I noted that each word was related to my word in some way. Then, I read a word near the bottom of the page and instantly the problem no longer existed. The word I had just read had cancelled out the original word with a rush of energy that can only be described as both gentle and pleasurable.

I asked for the source of the dream and was told I had been in the 5th dimension.

My first impression was how easy it is to solve something in the 5th Dimension. Neither my mind nor my emotions had been involved. It appeared that those words carried a lot more energy than I had expected and they interacted with each other independently. I was simply the observer. This is very good, I thought as I thumped down into my chair, scratching my head and feeling as though something way beyond my current experience was opening to me.

I wanted to tell someone how excited I was, but I didn’t think I could tell it satisfactorily. What would I say, “I had a dream in which I wrote a word on a paper, more words appeared, and one of them cancelled out the problem word”? It didn’t seem to be much of a story, but my guides kept pushing me to tell it. That was a whole week ago and I have thought a lot about it since then. I did tell it in my meditation circle last night and they said “Write it and you will get more”. That turned out to be good advice, but there is still more information I want so I will open a channel which will allow the rest of this piece to be a guided message:



Dear one .....

Each step you take brings you closer to the one, the universal field of love.

You have tapped in many times, without recognizing in the beginning and later without remembering. The feelings you experienced on this occasion from the fifth dimension were so startling that you can no longer deny your experience.

Now you have a benchmark for the place you are being guided toward. Just hold it in your heart. Do not berate yourself when you fall short of this mark but use it to aid yourself in noticing how more and more you and others are achieving the miracle of unrestricted love. The point is, now you know it is achievable because you have within your experience the way it feels. All you need do is hold on to this feeling until the world matches it.

We have said it before but it bears repeating, things will get easier and easier now because the new energies are building toward new potentials. You will be asked to do less and it will have more effect.

There is no longer a need to act like a warrior, fighting the dark even though the dark appears darker now in comparison. Yes, the dark will resist for a time but you needn't worry. Just release the need to change or control anyone or anything. Show by example how to release the "old world" of your own life and bravely face your own fear of change.

The new world is upon us! Put down your swords and follow your hearts. Throngs of guides are here to help and you are loved more than you know. Walk in peace blessed ones.

It's official!

I am now a card carrying "SENIOR CITIZEN".

The picture is very dark and hard to photograph. It shows a view of Canada's Parliament Hill at night.

Its funny how nobody gets excited about turning "senior" and yet they are all over turning into a teenager, turning 16, turning 18 and even turning 21. After that it begins to be about holding back your age. I remember I had my first (and worst) age crisis at the old age of 29.

I guess we go merrily along without mentioning how we are dreading getting older until one day we "hit" the big 40. Nothing graceful sounding about that, and friends tend to dig in with the old jokes and the black balloons. I think they do that at 40 because they think that 40 really is getting old and they don't want to point out the obvious later on.

By 50 you are starting to care less about how fast you are aging and are kind of proud to have lived half a century.

By 60 you are starting to get excited about retirement, like when you were 16 and couldn't wait to be 18. The only difference being they were waiting to start and you are waiting to finish. Those last 5 years don't take so long to go by and then there is something to celebrate, the end of life in the working world.

Sure, it doesn't always happen at 65 but there is a point where you are done and you are clear to do anything you want. Remember being a child and how delicious time was. Those long endless summer days, spending time with friends - all day if you wanted. Wake up whenever you want and sleep whenever you want and you don't even have to be responsible for your own expenses if you have savings or a pension.

So I say, lets celebrate turning senior, lets start enjoying senior benefits and discounts and lets talk it up. Congratulate seniors on entering the next phase of their life. Tell them to live it up and do everything they always wanted to do. I know I will.

Accepting Joy

I just finished enjoying a post by Brenda J. Hoffman on "Brenda's Blog" entitled "You Will Not Fail - You Will Not Fall". She has been a channel for more than 20 years and I find her offerings to be practical and helpful.

Lately, I have been encountering a situation at work which was very irritating to say the least. It involves a group of people who, for a number of valid reasons, have been unable to change their actions in a way which would more easily accommodate the piece I do with them. I could whine about it more but that is really all you need to know.

Thank you for thanking me, you're welcome!

I was getting so worked up about it that I eventually had to let one of my co-workers take over the area temporarily. I was loosing the ability to even be polite, but at the same time knowing that it was really weird to be feeling that way. Anyway, I just bailed to save everyone a bad experience knowing that it was something going on with me but unable to deactivate or solve it.

Sure, I would have solved it eventually but along comes Brenda and blows it all out of the water.

After reading her article I went into a short meditation myself where I saw an effigy of me lying on a lounger and being run through with swords. It was very puzzling until I realized I was fine and watching from a distance.

Hello!

There it is, I am fine at work too, and its not about me at all. This past year everyone has had to work harder because of staff shortages and inadequate funding, yadda, yadda, yadda. I am still fine. I will be fine.

I am a spiritual being in a physical body. I can be in the joy of spirit no matter what. Ah, but I keep forgetting. Isn't that why we are here, to remember that we are indeed spiritual beings?

Thanks Brenda, for the gentle kick in the spiritual butt!

Do You Really Want To Kill Your Ego?

Steve Pavlina poses this question on his Personal Development Blog dated January 20th, 2010. It's been pestering me since then because there is another side which he is not seeing. Bear with me while I develop another perspective, referencing his article from time to time.

How Steve Sees It

He uses ego to refer to "your physical world identity, mainly your personality and sense of self". I agree! Then he goes on to describe persons who "go all out" with it as "giving away possessions, shaving their heads and spending their days meditating, doing chores and striving to give away any last bits of attachment to their previous identities".

I am willing to grant that these practices do happen, but they need to be seen in the context of their intended goals and not, as Steve sees them, as aberrant activities of a character too weak to engage normal life. The goal of these spiritual seekers is to reconnect their soul selves with source. They may have already recognized that possessions are of no use in that search and are in fact a hindrance. This is not to be understood as a decision to denounce all abundance but simply redistribute it so that it no longer requires you to look after it and protect it from loss. Letting go of material possessions is not a decision that most arrive at easily. It is best framed as an action of releasing rather than as a loss. There are many who have lost their possessions through misfortune. This is not the same unless the loss catapults the person into a spiritual awakening in which they recognize the spiritual lessons which are acquired as a result.

Steve sees many people as trapped in an impossible situation because they see launching a strong career as being too ego based while on the other hand they are unable to relinquish their attachment to their identities and their stuff. I agree. People struggle on both ends of the continuum. Steve recommends that it makes more sense to strive for a career and a strong ego-based life. I on the other hand think a more heartfelt existence can be had by choosing ones spirit as a guiding principle. We need to recognize that many have strived and failed at both. There is a pull toward both ends. Both have merits and it depends on what you want out of your life which one you choose. Steve is right, it is a choice, but what he doesn't concede is that both are valid and both are difficult.

Steve goes on to say that people stuck in the middle like this are usually borderline-broke most of the time. He has singled out healers, readers, massage therapists and such. He calls it "a half-assed approach to enlightenment" while meanwhile they are doing nothing to make the world any better. I am responding to this on my blog because comments are not allowed on his articles. I really wonder why I am bothering except I need to say "Steve, you are missing the boat on this one." Look into it more and maybe even interview with some folk who are on this path before you run it down again.


Building a Stronger Spiritual Base.

Instead of weakening your ego an alternative would be to build a strong spiritual base. Consider what you might achieve with it. Your spirit is your soul. It is what remains when your human form ceases to exist. Exploring your spirit self through study and meditation might lead you to discover you are no longer interested in some aspects of your former life things that were attractive to your ego. To Steve this equates to being "sidelined as a non-player character". Steve recommends that you leave people and situations behind if they are no longer serving your advancement. If you apply this to spiritual pursuits what would it look like? You would probably be leaving behind people who are striving too hard for success and material gain and friends who refuse to accept you as you are. How would you like to develop your spirit during your time here on this earth?

Well Steve, it looks like you were right again. Your stuff is good man, just apply it more universally.


Now comes the curious part of the article where Steve notes some personal attributes which are essential for building character. Strangely, they are the same attributes one gains when building spirit.
I have replaced the words
ego and character with spirit
and replaced as having a strong ego with as you are
and replaced strong people with people
and replaced the strong with them
but the rest is a direct quote.


Spirit-building Ideas

1. Honesty - See how honest and open you can make your character. Be honest in your dealings with others. Stop pretending and hiding who you are. Share yourself openly with the world.

2. Courage - Continually push yourself to face your fears instead of shrinking from them. This will give your spirit more options.

3. Exploration - Learn by trial and error. Step into the unknown and learn by doing. Develop a "spirit" that loves to dive in and learn new things.

4. Service - Tune your "spirit" in the direction of serving others, such that the stronger your "spirit" becomes, the more you push yourself to help people. Make service to others part of your identity.

5. Acceptance - When you accept yourself "as you are", you'll be more willing to accept other "people" into your life as well instead of feeling you need to attack "them" in order to justify your own weakness.

6. Discipline - Develop a "spirit" that identifies itself with good habits like regular exercise and solid productivity.


So What's My Point?

I just wanted to say Steve that you have a great blog. I tapped into it originally because I was just getting going on this blog and you helped my understanding. I don't read all your stuff but I happened to catch this one for some reason and it was like an itch that you can't scratch so what do I do? I blog about it.

The following quote is about as close as I can come to expressing how I feel about this:


"By this time I had already come to see myself as a soul. That's one of the first things any student of Mussar needs to understand and acknowledge, deeply and clearly. Each of us is a soul. Mostly we have been told that we "have" a soul, but that's not the same thing. To have a soul would indicate that we are primarily an ego or a personality that in some way "possesses" a soul. The first step on the path of Mussar is to unlearn that linguistic misconception and to realize that our essence is the soul and that all aspects of ego and personality flow from that essence. At its core, the soul is pure, but habits, tendencies and imbalances often obscure some of that inner light. The lessons of Mussar are all intended to help us correct whatever shortcomings may be preventing the light of our soul from shining through."

– excerpt from Climbing Jacob's Ladder, Alan Morinis





So, you see, one of us is describing the tail and one of us the ears but if we all get together we might be able to see the elephant.

PART TWO Chapter Fourteen

THE PEOPLE!

When I first became involved with this mission back in the early 1970's, I used to doubt, be sceptical. But what convinced me of it's validity was the people. The unique people I met. It really wasn't the bizarre things that occurred, the way money would arrive at the right moment, or out of nowhere, or even the way events would fall into place far beyond coincidence. It was the people. The spectrum of humanity that I touched and that touched me. All races, all regions of the earth, all religions of the earth, all creeds, philosophies, every one of them was unique.

If you're going to have a future, a new age, then this is exactly what you need. A full spectrum. You can't do it with only one kind of person. You need the whole range to avoid intellectual breeding. When I sit and look back at the people that have crossed my path, it becomes very very clear that someone, somewhere, knows exactly what they're doing.

When I get glimpses of the future, the way it's being assembled, these foundations of the future, these seeds of the new garden, it's apparent that there's a pretty powerfully charged group of people being assembled. Now, charge them with positivity and their accomplishments can be limitless.

The old world can best be compared to the S. S. Titanic, opulence and engineering. A masterpiece of her time. She died! She died because of the arrogance that captured those who were charged with her care. The sheer arrogance that the ultimate calamity couldn't happen. The arrogance that she could carry as many passengers as she wanted, they would never need the life boats anyway. Those at her controls arrogantly thrust her headlong into the iceberg strewn North Atlantic almost daring the gods to do something about it.

That my friend, is what's happened to us. The masters on the bridge have steadfastly ignored the cautions and the warnings and have just as arrongantly run the good ship earth into an iceberg.

Everyday, sadly I watch another 'guaranteed, fail-safe, water-tight bulkhead, buckle under the pressure. You and I realize she's going down and have taken to the boats. It's truly no matter for rejoicing that many are blissfully unaware that anything is wrong. The ship's crew aren't going to tell them.

There is hope though and it lies in the fact that the next time around, there'll be a new crew at the controls, devoid of the arrogance that blinded so many. We are that crew.

PART TWO Chapter Thirteen

THE GUIDING LIGHT!

We all have guides. Some of us are aware of them and some are not. Nevertheless, they are there and are ready and quite capable to help you develop as long as that development is in the right direction. Most on this plane don't believe in them, and so they are dismissed as something that children can believe in.... for a time.

In fact, we've managed to ignore them to the point that we get along quite nicely on our own, thank you, up to a point. And that point only seems confined to this material plane. They still hang on though, and when the time is opportune they may step in to help a person out of a jam, especially if it'll lift them onto a new path.

On thing is for sure however. They are only interested in the upward evolution of the human. And for that they can literally move mountains if necessary.

They've been describes as angels, spirit helpers, devas, apparations, spacemen (or space-women) what have you. They've appeared in the method by which they would be accepted... angels, balls of light, space travellers, or elderly gentlemen.

These spiritual guides don't appear unless it's important to do so. Only when all other avenues are closed to them do they make a brief appearance. Even then, they don't generally seek to give attention to themselves. The message is the thing. In this case the message isn't the medium! Rarely do people even realize what's occurred with a visitation until after the fact.

In 1975 I knew a young woman librarian who was at a crossroads in her life. And when I came to clean the windows at the office she worked at we would have lunch together. She would usually talk about the turmoil she was going through with her relationship with her boyfriend and so on.

This went on for months, when one day she announced that she now had two men on her mind and didn't know which one to choose. Not long after that meeting she told me of a further occurance. She was in a garden of roses. Many of them looked rather sickly, but scattered here and there were some healthy beautiful flowers. A kindly looking old man wearing white coveralls approached her and said, "How do you like my roses?".

"Fine" she replied, "but how come some are sickly and the others are so beautiful?"

"I had some seeds," he said, "and I scattered them over the garden. Some grew like this, and some like that. Now, choose the most beautiful rose, and it shall be yours".

She said she couldn't make up her mind, that she was unable to choose. So then the gardener moved into the garden and picked a beautiful yellow rose and gave it to her. Then he went back into the bed and picked the most beautiful red rose and gave that to her. Then he walked away. Even while she related the incident, she was still confused about the choice. So I told her to think again about what the gardener had done.

Her eyes just brightened and she said, "Menno, I know, I know which one." The yellow rose had clearly marked out her mate, who, incidently was the blonde one of the suitors.

Then I told her that it was no ordinary gardener, she'd seen. Now, I'm not a gardener, but it's very unusual for roses to be seeded. They're generally grown from a cutting.

The yellow rose signified her future mate, the one she would choose, and the red one was the symbol for herself. You know, just as a matter of interest, when they were married, the weirdest thing happened. Just like a final exclamation point on it all, as they took their vows, and as soon as the minister had said, "what God joins together, let no man put asunder," there was a terrific clap of thinder, right at the very moment, right over the church. I'm telling you, there were more than a few eyes rolled up to the ceiling when that happened.

As for the guides though, they're with you all the time, but very rarely do they make an appearance in dreams or in the waking world.

PART TWO Chapter Twelve

WHAT'S MINE'S MY OWN!

This chapter is going to be a very short one, but I feel a very important one to include. You know, therehas always been it's a cliche, it's often the basis for jokes. But as never before, the pressure is being felt on this earth that indeed, that is just the case. Now, there are many who are aware of it, but are taking the negative path through it all, and will be mired in it as a result.

Earlier I talked about the elevation that will occur; how the frequency rate will increase to lift "the souls" above it all. The reference to Lot's wife turning back and becoming a pillar of salt I believe is allegorical to her lowering her vibrations to the level of the destruction that occurred, and perished as a result.

Many people are aware that things are not right in the world, and are finally convinced that there will be a major breakdown in society. But instead of turning toward the positive which will lift them away they have everything you could imagine. A year's supply of this, a ton of that, they've constructed underground shelters with water supplies, breathing apparatus, and they're gone to great lengths to protect themselves against the marauding hordes they are convinced will swoop down upon them to rape and pillage. It's a protection belt on fear, not foresight. Fear of the end, not a vision of the beginning.

You know, here it's most applicable to quote, "as ye sow, so shall ye reap". If these people are ready to kill others for their survival, then they will stay at the level of the destruction. They will realize their worst fears. They don't have the faith to rise above it. Their faith is restricted to the material, their material perceptions.

The ultimate insult is the taking of another's life. But if one expects to, then those expectations will likely be met. To expel those ideas is a step onto the elevator to the new age. In other words, what you sow, and these are your beliefs, your fears, your expectations, will surely come back in the harvest. If the seeds are of positivity and faith, that's what you shall reap. If not, ...........

There is a good example of how protection will be provided in the old testament of the Bible. Elisha the successor to the prophet Elijah, was pursued into the hills by an army.He and his servant or assistant. And when things were looking bleakest, the servant told Elisha that all was lost, it was hopeless. At that point, Elisha calls upon God and says, "Open his eyes, that he might see," referring to the servant. He then saw all around them, in the sky, on the hills, a magnificant army facing the threatening 'real' army.

This extra vision restored the faith of the servant, the faith needed for protection. Then Elisha commanded that the army be smitten with blindness, which they were. And blind, they were led by Elisha into captivity, in Samaria, where their sight was restored. The king then wanted to kill the captives but Elisha intervened saying that that was the worst thing to do. Instead, they should treat them as guests, prepare a feast for them, then release them.

This was done and the result was that Israel was never again bothered by that nation. (Kings ll, Chapter 6).

The important points of this story are how faith and positivity removed the threat permanently, and that by treating their captives as guests, then releasing this, they won a far greater victory.... a lasting peace.

Like begets like. Violence simply draws violence. Stay on that plane and you'll draw it to you. And that's why I've never advocated the gathering of weapons for protection in this thing. If you prepare for trouble in this way, on this plane, how can you possibly rise above it? Your only weapon need be faith. It's all you need, and will serve you well.