1992-08-09-Two Components of Leadership

Session

Opening

Opening Prayer: Invocation and Prayer of St. Francis

Daniel: "Good evening. I am Daniel. I am your teacher and your friend. It gives me great pleasure to be with you here today, to be here with your friends from afar. I welcome you ..., ..., and J1. I am, as are all of the teachers in the ministry, very, very pleased that there is developing this bonding and outward reach toward one another. For in bringing yourselves together, you help the spiritual ministry grow and become. So welcome my friends. And it is a pleasure to watch, as always, your interactions together before our meetings. And today with this get together and eating you have brought together many aspects that will continue to bond you and to help you to see with more spiritual clarity.

And as you have felt happiness with so many teachers coming on board, you must also realize the joy it brings to us who are the ones that are coming to you, our friends. And it is overwhelming, the wonderful response we are receiving from you who are wishing spiritual nourishment and fulfillment. You have been eager and waiting for a long time. We are very happy to be of service, to help you in your ascent.

Lesson

Leadership

My friends, this evening I would like to speak with you about leadership. This, as most topics that we have been discussing, has many layers. And tonight I wish to speak on two components of leadership. First let us look at personal leadership with your own being.

Personal leadership is often not thought about, not a part of your perspective. But as I have for many months been speaking to you about building your foundation and starting with the individual, so too, must leadership focus on the individual; that you must be within your being your own leader. You must follow within your own personhood that which brings you into forward, progressive movement. When you have in your mind framework certain goals, certain aspirations, then you put together those things that will propel you to achieve these goals. And these goals not only center on your human aspects, but ever more importantly on your spiritual growth, your spiritual enlightenment. And this is the leadership that I call upon you tonight to look into; to set your goals high; to aspire to those things which you know to be right.

And follow then the leadership that is given to you through your own personality and through the Indwelling Spirit within. When you come to the Father in stillness, you will know, you will feel, you will come to understanding about that which He leads you. And when you are led by the Spirit, then that which is important, that which you have set as goals in your inner life can then be manifested in the outer with your human nature. So it becomes important to become your own leader, to lead yourself, to follow those things that will keep you in that alignment with the First Source and Center. If you can remain true to this you will know what Christ Michael came to spread the news about; that the Kingdom of the Father is for all; that you and your brothers and sisters are a part of a grand purpose; that which can combine with your humanness and spiritualness becomes who the Father has wanted for you to become. This then is the leadership that I want for you all to understand, to lead yourselves along that right path.

And also we will now look at the other kind of leadership, that which you are already very much aware of; you, the individuals that lead others, whether it be in a spiritual realm or in the outer world of your human life. When you, my friends, are a rock, when you, my friends, have your foundation built, you rise above others. You become the tree that they gather fruits from. For in your foundation you are producing those fruits that will provide nourishment to others. And so you become a leader. You become one that others look up to, to follow so that you are a beacon for them.

Christ Michael, when He was on this plane, was the leader that others looked to. And before He left He inspired His followers that they would not have to look to others to lead them, but that when He sent this Teacher to them, the Spirit of Truth, that they would then be able to lead. And so the Spirit of Truth is upon all of the land for all time and you, my friends, are preparing yourselves, learning, growing, becoming, so that you can be led by the Spirit of Truth, not relying on others, going inward and being led by the Spirit.

Your mission at this time is to build who you are capable of being so that when there are those storms in the outer world, you can follow the leadings of the inner world and not be pulled down by the calamities, the ups and downs of your human life. You will, and can be the disciples of today that can help bring new wondrous leadership to those who need nourishment, to those who cry out. Build yourselves for you will be called upon to be that rock for others in many, many different ways.

My friends, those of us who are teachers are experiencing great hope and great receptivity by those who listen. And we foresee that you will be ones who will begin to make these great changes occur. We have much faith in you, just as you have faith in the Father, that what He decrees will be and that all, all ends in a plan that He has prepared.

And so think this week upon building yourselves and calling upon you, the individual, the leader within yourself; that you can follow your spiritual plane; that you can lead yourself upward and outward on the path; that you will be strong within; that you will know those things that Christ Michael has brought to us: love, mercy, tolerance, forgiveness, loyalty, and genuine loving service to your brothers and sisters. Lead yourselves down those paths for they are the path of harmony to the First Source and Center.

And now I will end this lesson. You who will be leaders, you who are the 'rocks', will continue throughout this life and in your morontia ascent in following your inner leadership. Begin now following and listening to the dictates of your Indwelling Spirit which you will someday be fused with. His leadership is now within you. Know that with it and you, you can never be alone. You always have support in all your endeavors. I will now accept questions.

Dialogue

C2: "Daniel. This is C2."

Daniel: "Hello, C2."

Support

C2: "A couple of weeks ago when I was here I mentioned that I would have a difficult time the following day and your response was to know that I would have support in that time. I hear you saying the same thing again for any of us who are on the path. I guess I would like you to elaborate a little more about what that support is."

Daniel: "Yes. You are an ascending mortal. You are a being who is fortunate enough to have within your being a fragment of the First Source and Center. And so this Indwelling Spirit who has come to indwell you personally will always be there as a core of support, will always be guiding you, sustaining you in your spiritual ascent, ever leading you in an onward progressive mode. You always have this support. And when you take the time for communication with the Father, you are in communication also with this Indwelling Spirit. And when you are faithful to this end you will feel and know guidance as it comes about. So always is there this support.

And know, too, that you also have the support of the Son, Christ Michael is always present with all of us at all times forever; that when you call upon Him, He will be there. He will also provide you with comfort, with the knowledge that in Him, through Him you can know the Father.

And you also have the support of the Infinite Spirit. The Infinite Spirit has sent angels to be around you, to give you those things that will bring you evermore into spiritual awakenings. So also are there many other beings who love you, who work toward your becoming, your being able to be open so that you understand and can feel guidance. If you are a closed book you cannot feel the guidance. But if you are open you will be able to feel communication, be able to know within your own being when the spiritual guidance is available to you. And so there is always that support.

The greatest support you have is the all encompassing cosmic citizenship of all of the universes. When you understand that no matter what happens, what occurs in your human life is but a temporal thing; when you can understand that the most important part is for you to understand your spiritual nature, then you can support yourself, for you know that you understand that, you can experience that God is working in all aspects of your life, regardless of appearances. Is this helping with your understanding?"

C2: "Yes, it is. And I would add another dimension to that and that has to do in terms of the role of leader. The understanding of support as you have described it is not at all a question. I just wonder in the role of leader and when one speaks out of the guidance and strength of the Spirit and injustice is done, then where to from there?"

Daniel: "It is very difficult in your human understanding, in the confines of a material body to understand all adversities, all injustices, to feel sorrow and pain as well as joy; that because of limited perspectives and because the material/physical realm is so strong, is so overpowering, that it becomes difficult for one to always be led by the Spirit and to lead yourself on the path of the Spirit when the physical realm takes such precedence. And this is understood very well by the First Source and Center and especially well by the bestowal Sons, which is Christ Michael, who have had this experience. And so it becomes important for you to always keep this perspective; that while you may falter in your human aspects, if your true intent, your true desire is to be with the Father, to be in alignment with Him, that even though you may falter you will surely be led back to the right path; and that you, yourself, if your desire is honest and sincere, can, given time, lead yourself to the Father. And know that you have your Indwelling Spirit always there to help you. Is this more helpful?"

C2: "Yes, and no. I think what's happening is..I have no doubt whatsoever about that Indwelling Spirit leading me in the way that Christ Michael has exemplified for us and I do have a full assurance and faith that the First Source and Center is a part and I guess I don't perceive myself as having faltered, to be the cause of why the injustice was done. And it's very difficult for me, I guess, to let go of the notion that as a leader I no longer ought to be involved or seek to work on a material plane, but for spiritual issues. And so, yes and no. Thank you."

Daniel: "Your pain, your torment at this time is very understandable and stems from your love for your fellow men, for your fellow mankind. And it is indeed very difficult to be involved in situations such as this. If you can continue to pray, continue to search for the highest good, C2, you will come around. You will work through this. You will pull through. You will in time be able to see with better clarity. Presently you are too close and are too emotionally attached to the situation. Remember that in God's realm many of the temporal adversities are but a stepping stone in your spiritual growth. Take comfort in the compassion and the mercy, the love and forgiveness of the First Source and Center when trials such as these plague one's life. You will pull through. You will grow and you will see with more clarity. Have no fear. And if you can daily let go and let God you will release some of your sorrow. My love to you and my peace."

C2: "Thank you. And I believe that with all my heart. Thank you."

Daniel: "Yes."

C5: "Hello, Daniel. This is ....."

Daniel: Greetings ..... And there is a message for you from ..... He sends his love and he says that you are progressing; to have faith, to have trust and also to let go and allow. He feels you are a wonderful companion and looks forward to communication, to a long time commitment."

Spirit of Truth

C5: "Thank you very much. That's encouraging. Tell him I look forward to that commitment also, long term. My question is, Daniel, on being led by the Spirit of Truth. Is this the same thing as being 'reborn in the Spirit' or is there some relation to being reborn in the Spirit and have I been and have the members of these teaching groups been 'born in the Spirit' or is this something in the future or something that is in progress?"

Daniel: "When the Spirit of Truth was given through Christ Michael, then all peoples, all are recipients of this wonderful gift. And those 'being reborn in the Spirit' are those who have come to the personal realization of what this Spirit of Truth was and is. And it will continue to be an ongoing process, for as you each grow, as you each actualize a part of truth, you are, in a sense, being 'reborn', you are witnessing truth and revelation within your own personal being. And so as you continue on this plane you will, as you take each step, be preparing yourself for further growth, further truth/revelation and further enlightenment."

C5: "Thank you."

Daniel: "You are welcome."

J1: "Good afternoon, Daniel. This is J1."

Daniel: "Hello, J1."

J1: "It is indeed a pleasure to spend this afternoon with you and my fellow truth seekers. I'd like to ask a couple of questions, one in regard to ....'s question. Is it possible for us to differentiate in our own personal experience the difference between the leading of our Indwelling Spirit and the leading of the Spirit of Truth?"

Daniel: "Because truth and revelation are those things which help you to see, help you to understand and help you to experience with more clarity, it is not a necessary element to know or to have to distinguish between Indwelling Spirit contact or Spirit of Truth. For, you see, it all becomes the same. Truth is truth. Does this help?"

J1: "Yes, it does. Also, with regard to your lesson, when we are talking about leading ourselves, are we talking about...well in a sense I see a paradox. Because it seems to me that in leading ourselves we are actually following the leading of our Indwelling Spirit. So is there actually some portion of our personality that is actually doing the leading in response to the Indwelling Spirit, such as, perhaps, the seat of our will? Would that properly be termed our personality? Could you elaborate on that a little bit?"

Daniel: "Certainly. You see, because the Indwelling Spirit is such a part of you, it is always the impetus to help you move in a spiritual direction upward. And when you, please note this, when you are ever willing to be in oneness, when you are ever ready to be in that alignment, in the onement with the Father, then you are working with the Indwelling Spirit to follow your own leadership. You see, you are a free will creature. The Indwelling Spirit is ever ready to support and work with you when you make the choice. You have made that leadership decision and together you and the Indwelling Spirit can work to be on the path of righteousness, the path to the Father. Has this helped?"

J1: "Yes, very much. Thank you Daniel."

Daniel: "Yes."

V1: "Hello, Daniel. This is V1."

Daniel: "Hello, V1."

Progress

V1: "I'm reflecting on the lesson and C2's question and J1' question. And you said truth is truth and I look at the truth that was truth for me at various periods in my life and how personal truth is, in that we cannot possibly judge what someone else's truth is. God is, truth is, I know that but at various points in one's life truth has to be relative. And in trying to give this truth to make justice in our world I hear all of this involved here. I'm wondering if you would speak on that because the truth of the world is not necessarily the individual truth God understands or God wills, I don't know. What is truth at any given time is where I am coming from."

Daniel: "Yes. Very difficult and thought provoking. For you see, as you have said and is written in the Urantia Book, truth is relative at given times to the individual. Yet there is the overall truth of the Father, which is that of love. And when you at any given point in your life realize that who you are, what your belief system is, what is truth for you is understood by the mercy and compassion of the Father; when there can be certain elements, certain fragments that can continue to propel in a spiritual, upward motion, there is truth.

There is truth on various levels, various planes. As a child you understood God, as you said, on a very immature level, and yet that was truth for you. Therefore one cannot judge, one cannot discount another, for within each individual the Indwelling Spirit is working to bring forth fruit in each life of each individual. Universal truths are bestowed, are brought to the attention of individuals in many, many different ways. And despite the seemingly sad picture of Urantia, there has been forward movement, progress; that when the individual is ready, truth will be made known to them. And as a whole there has been progress.

The Urantia Book was given at a time when the understanding of the human intellect and potential was ready and receptive for higher truth. And so you see, even though there appears to be a level of disharmony and discontent, there is forward motion. And in any progressive motion there will be truth revealed.

Always be thankful for the experiences you have had in your lifetime, for these experiences have led you along paths. Each path that you took brought you to greater heights; that had you not had the experiences you have had, you would not be here listening to my words today. When truth was revealed to you, no matter what level, you opened up to it. And with each door you opened the truth became enlarged, became bigger, more encompassing and began to fit more into your present framework. God's truth of love is universal. For with love also means sharing, means brotherhood, sisterhood, service, love of one another. Do you see."

V1: "Yes, Daniel, I do. Thank you. I think what you have said that the universal truth of love should be the motive behind our actions and that as we have responded to that, greater truth is given to us. And I appreciate that very much because I think that is the one truth that has certainly been the clear thing in my direction; whether or not an action will be an act of love or something else on my part. And certainly you anticipated my question about judgment, because we can't judge someone else's truth because they are reacting to where they are or acting. Maybe reacting isn't the right word. Thank you very much Daniel."

Daniel: "Yes. And you have seen with clarity, yes."

B1: "Hello, Daniel. This is B1."

Daniel: "Hello, B1."

B1: "As you were teaching about leadership and after as I have been thinking.. I remember from the Urantia Book and from the Bible, Christ Michael..he who controls his mouth, what he says, is stronger than someone who takes a city. And I saw that this was the leadership of one's self that you were talking about, and that there was a connection with leadership of others around. Or at least I had that feeling..that you were talking about that the two kinds of leadership are really connected. The better you are at following the Father, you have true leadership of other people.

There is leadership of the world, power that is arbitrarily given, given by elections or other forms of human endowment. But I sense the leadership you are talking about, both the leadership of ourselves and the leadership we have over other people, is not that kind of power. It is the power of a consistent life of a person who is following God. Did I understand you correctly?"

Daniel: "Exactly. Yes."

B1: "OK. Thank you. I don't need to elaborate any more then."

B2: "I just wanted to ask again for Coeur D'Alene if there is any information from Elyon that I can pass on."

Daniel: "Please tell this group to maintain patience, to allow time; that it often takes many years to prepare individuals for transmitting/receiving; that .... has been very cooperative and in time there will be teachings for this group. Elyon is a fine teacher who is working with ..... Please assure her and ask her to maintain faith and trust; that when the time is conducive for her and the group, that she will be able to transmit for them; that in the meantime, allow these people time to work on building themselves in preparation for their teacher. My love and peace to this group."

B2: "Thank you Daniel. I have one question that I remember from a person in Spokane. They were curious about the teachings of Don Juan through Carlos Castaneda's books. He only had a general question of how does this compare, the validity in those teachings. As far as I can tell that is as clear a question as they wanted me to pass on. Thank you."

Daniel: "No comment."

B2: "Thank you."

C5: "Daniel, this is .... again. Was the substance of the lesson that we must be leaders of ourselves by setting our own goals with our human mind, then allowing the Spirit to help us reach those goals, provided they are in agreement with the will of God. And then as we reach those goals, we become leaders of men?"

Daniel: "In essence, yes. You see, the purpose of the teaching mission as of now, for certain groups, is to have disciples who can withstand the trials of life and still progress and move spiritually; that when you, the individual, know, feel, understand what it means to be in alignment, that you naturally lead yourselves always on this path. You see, this is what is necessary for there to be reform within the churches; that while you are diverse, spiritual unity is together; that the teachings that Jesus of Nazareth brought to Urantia become the focal point of everyone in their own individual lives so that the religions do not have set personalities to guide the fold; that each person on this plane can guide themselves through the teachings of Christ Michael, through the gifts of the Spirit; that you will know and understand these gifts, that they become a part of your life. And that which is a part of your life naturally will dictate and lead you in an upward, right path. Is this more helpful?"

C5: "I guess I am asking about a person setting specific goals, not character goals, not spiritual goals but goals of earthly, material direction. Did I understand you to say that the human should set his own goals, because it struck me as funny, because I thought our goal was simply to become perfect."

Daniel: "The goals I speak about are, as you say, spiritual goals of growing toward perfection. And when you set spiritual goals that you follow, that become a part of your life, then the goals in your human life will follow the natural leading of the path to the Father."

C5: "Some examples of goals might be to start a study group, or I want to coordinate a newsletter, or I want to build a congregation in my church, and yet I don't have time to do all of these things, so I have to pick and choose one. What would you comment on about a person selecting these earthly, practical goals?"

Inner Life

Daniel: "These goals are those that still will lead you on a spiritual path, and you will be bringing others into a spiritual mode as well with this type of goal. And these goals are the manifestation of what you have built in your inner life. And even though you cannot in your human capabilities be able to attain all goals, you behoove yourself and others to choose those which you can achieve, that can be of service to others. Is this helpful?"

C5: "I guess I just don't understand my own question. I have to better formulate my own question. I'm not sure what I am asking."

Daniel: "It is perfectly all right for you to set human goals, in that your goals reflect the knowledge, the foundation you have gained in your spiritual life. If your human goals contradict that which you have in your inner life, then one or the other will fall to the wayside. Set the goals of your human life, that they reflect your inner life. Is this more answering your question?"

C5: "Yes, and how do we select between goals that appear to be totally consistent with our highest ideals. How do we know which of these goals is in God's highest will?"

Daniel: "If you will maintain stillness daily with the First Source and Center, if you keep open lines of communication, if you daily commit yourself to following His will, then you will be able to discern those things which are correct, and those which are not. Those which bring you into greater alignment, those which work for you and others, those things which bring joy, bring peace, love, show tolerance, those things which propel you to seek higher goals, those things which are righteous, will be made known to you as time unfolds. It is, and I repeat again, it is ever important that you maintain the time with the Father daily. For when you do this, you grow more and more able to make His will your will. When you do not do this, you cannot hope to understand what His will is. Do you see?"

C5: "Yes I do. I have been neglecting time with the Father and I guess that would clear everything up. Thank you."

Communication

B1: "Daniel, this is B1 again. I neglected to say the other thing that I wanted to say which was that I really appreciated hearing your opening statement to us about how you teachers feel about us as your students and the encouraging things you said. I read those kind of encouraging things in other teachers, so I just want you to know it helps me to have that sort of commentary from you people. And I personally cannot communicate with you, as D2 does, so I have to wait for these occasions to talk. I want you to know that the presence of all of you here in this teaching mission is a tremendous thing of which I am extremely grateful. And I have told my Thought Adjuster that many times. Thank you."

Daniel: "Thank you B1. This is well noted. And a side note from D3 that often you are able to communicate easier than she in these meetings, a dilemma for transmitter/receivers. And please know, all of you, that it is possible for all to communicate; that it is not just a freakish thing that happens to just a few people. You are all capable. You all have that potential. Not all will, for sure, become receivers. And it should not be looked upon as anything different from any other, for you see, everyone is on their own path, mission with the Father. All of you are in your own way beginning to understand and know the relationship between you and the Father. His love for each of you is so grand! You have only a small notion of it. Open your hearts and allow Him to be a part of your life. Let his love channel through you to others."

C2: "Daniel, this is C2. We were talking about communication between you and us. And I'm wondering if we can speak to you but we can't hear you. I am assuming I am a transmitter, not a receiver, but that you are. Is that accurate? When I speak to you, I don't necessarily have to go through D3 to do that, but I can't hear your response."

Daniel: "Correct. I am often with you during the week. And I am of understanding of your thoughts. You have all given me much love and I embrace you all as well."

C2: "Thank you Daniel."

V1: "Daniel, this is V1. Thank you so much. Frankly, I am thankful you can read my thoughts, because my husband says he doesn't always understand my words,(laughter). The thoughts go much more directly and I appreciate that. Going back to setting goals. I couldn't help but reflect on the five different areas that we are supposed to be as a human being: the emotional, the social, the intellectual, the physical, and the spiritual. And I just automatically say that four of them belong to my humanity and spirituality to my Spirit. But I find in trying to set goals, if I set a goal, I almost become single minded. It is hard for me to keep my intellect, my body, and everything exercised and challenged at the same time. I guess my question is, 'when we are meeting the needs of our human half of ourselves, is this also meeting our spiritual needs? Yes, I know we need the quiet time, but if we neglect the other part, we are losing out as far as the whole being?"

Daniel: "For sure. You see, you are dual nature, which we have spoken of many times. You cannot neglect your humanness any more than you can neglect your spiritness. You are both. You must nourish both aspects of your being. That which you feed the intellect, for sure, fosters spiritual growth, as we spoke of last week. That which you foster on a physical level supports you in your humanness and supports the body for the Indwelling Spirit within you. That which you support on the emotional level also plays in with the spiritual. That which you support with social relationships, of course, filters in with the spiritual. You must nourish all aspects of your being.

And spending ten minutes a day in silence is but a minute part of your day. If you consider, you spend an hour or so feeding the physical or doing exercises. Is ten minutes too much to bring you into harmony, to bring you the joy, that which the spiritual can give you? If you can take the spiritual fruits and know them, you will be able to make your human life that much easier, because of what you understand in your inner life. And yes, it is understood that the juggling of your busy lives is difficult. You make the choices and you benefit from whatever choices you make. You who have been so fortunate to understand so much about the spiritual, can grow so immensely if you will but take the time, if you will but take a hold of His hand and become a partner with Him!

Closing

And now, I will close this meeting for D3 is tiring. And I wish to close it on this note. Do not think, because of my last statements, that I am judging any of you. I understand and know how many are working, how many are trying, and how difficult it is. Yet if you will take the time you will find that your life will, in many regards, be made simpler. For in partnership with the Father, you allow yourself the freedom to let go and let God. And now my friends, my love to you this week. Go and seek your leadership. Find your paths. Know the love of the Father is always with you. Good evening."

Group: "Good evening".

Closing prayer: led by Daniel and based on the circle of love.(see previous lesson)