1995-10-06-Avoiding Mediocrity

Session

Opening

Opening prayer

Daniel: "Greetings, I am Daniel, your guide, teacher and friend. I am pleased , as is Tomas, to be with you this evening to be a part of your evening and a part of your thoughts. The week that has transpired has been one of many diverse actions, activities, and thoughts for all of you. It has been a time, again, of growth, of reaching higher and taking another step forward.

The hurdles of life are often very short and easy to maneuver while others have more height and require more skill, energy, and more focusing in order to fly over. Those of you who strive to know the Father can more easily follow through when you fly across the hurdles. It is not as devastating. The landing is more secure and you still have the momentum to keep going. All those who work to know themselves, to know God, understand that the vicissitudes of life are there because life must be led. It is understanding and realizing that each experience affords some aspect of opportunity. While it may not be recognizable at the moment, in perspective it is. And so I encourage each of you to meet life joyously, courageously, despite the hurdles of the moment.

Lesson

Tomas is here and will be speaking and giving our lesson. Tomas and I feel very fortunate that the students we have are growing into super athletes and are able to fly across ever higher hurdles with less anxiety, more surety, and a deeper sense of purpose. This has not come through laying back and watching life go by. It has come from your work and desire to move forward, to touch and understand your divine nature. We are fondly appreciative of you all. And now, Tomas, my friend is on."

Selfhood, Growth

Tomas: "Indeed I am here and I greet you. I am Tomas, my faithful friends. Your energies this evening bring gladness for there is fertility here. The young and eager energies in these young personalities are, indeed, soul food for us all. How ghoulish, you may say, and yet it is true that your clean slates are an embodiment of how we hope to proceed.

As you know, your exposures in your life have colored your attitudes and approaches, often in ways which force your true and inner recognition of your own value reality to be submerged to the point where you doubt you know who you are. What I would like to speak about this evening is for the young and the old and it is in regard to that 'you' that resides deep within you, your own personality, and how you may bring it forth and wear it in your society with honor, dignity, and lightheartedness.

Mediocrity is a vicious game which has been played upon personalities. Much of this has to do with the desire to belong, to fit in, to become one with others so as not to feel the sting of isolation, independence or uniqueness. How often we behold brilliant insights, true reflections of love, potential intimate sharings and gems of wit lost out of fear that your true self will be disdained, laughed at, or worse, ignored! It takes courage, yes, to look for your true self, to develop that which is most sublimely yours. It takes time to discover what your own personality brings and it takes strength of character to acknowledge your integrity and to stand by it.

But there is no greater triumph, no purer thrill, no deeper acknowledgment of divinity than to find your self in harmony with that great First Source and Center which has given you being. How challenging the concept! The analogy of hurdles is totally apt for each understanding of yourself requires another hurdle in your ascension, your spiritual climb to knowingness. These hurdles are lessons of relative degrees and may present you with a totally new perspective upon their accomplishment. Ultimately you not only fly over these barriers in understanding with more buoyancy but in time they are no longer barriers or hurdles compared to the perspective you began with.

In your race to the finish it truly matters little if there are spectators cheering on the sidelines or if there is a trophy at the end. For the awareness of your accomplishment in finding yourself and showing your best stuff is the race itself! To step out from the common understanding may be frightening and many times you may deny that you are reaching. Remember Peter and his experience for the price was high, the hurdle was high. As you proceed in your self discovery remember that your true self is a gift of the Father, the Mother, that They have for you DNA exclusively designed for you. There is a life to unfold before you more astounding than even that which you might imagine for yourself in your more pleasant musings.

Hang tight with your coach and your teammates but be prepared to go the distance often alone with blisters, without water, without succor. And to refer again to that 'cup', some days are like this one; the day is not adequately long to run the distance in such sheer physical perfection. Indeed, most of your growth will be endured in days of joy, quiet delight, harmonious introspection and joyful socializing. So fear not this process of becoming. Fear not this spiritual unfolding which is occurring as you put one foot in front of the other, as you seek the Source of your being. For even though you balk, even though you resist there is within you, your true self which longs to be joined with its Source; and we hope to encourage and assist you on your journey. It is our journey also.

Again it is a delight to experience this configuration of young energy and I include you all in that assessment."

Daniel: "Thank you Tomas for your words; words to be contemplated, words that can give strength to those weary travelers, words that bring joy to the experienced traveler. This discourse is appropriate for tonight. During the following weeks be kind to yourself by making the time to sit with that Indwelling Spirit. It is, after all, one thing to know about God. It is another thing to know God. That can only be accomplished through silence and the journey inward for it, like the journey outward, has hurdles as well. This forum is open for questions."

Dialogue

PamElla: "Daniel and Tomas thank you both for your words tonight. I felt them very loaded and there is lots to think about and contemplate. I will be doing that.

Tonight it is my extreme pleasure to introduce two people that I know you already know quite well, two good friends of mine: Kathy who is here visiting me from Boise this weekend; and Jackie who is here tonight. We finally connected, and I am very pleased to have them both here."

Daniel: "Indeed, we are most pleased as well. Welcome Kathy. Welcome Jackie to our gathering here this evening. As PamElla has already stated you are known to us.

Path

The pathway of life leads in many directions. There are many zigzags, side roads and alleys you may take. Often the darkest alley, the most fearsome alley is one which if taken turns out to be the alley that leads to a boulevard filled with wonder, excitement, joy, and higher understanding. It is most difficult and takes a lot of courage to take that first step down that unknown alley. But once the process has begun you immediately feel a desire to continue, to proceed, to explore, to understand what this alley is about. The road inward, the road to self discovery is the road that leads home, but it can often be the most forbidding from an outside standpoint.

I welcome both of you knowing that the pathways you have come are ones that have led you to this point. The search for God, for knowledge, for truth is not just a bitter cup but rather a cup that is mixed with love and all the fruits of the Spirit. Often it appears bitter because of human weakness and lack of knowledge. It is the bitterness in the semi-sweet chocolate that is so tantalizing for those who love chocolate. Those who know they are never alone, those who continue to search look past the bitterness and enjoy the tantalizing sweetness of the love of the First Source and Center. My love to both of you. Welcome and may peace be a part of your journey for the First Source and Center is always there for those who will listen. Welcome."

Learning

Tomas: "Allow me also to remark and I will lapse somewhat and acknowledge that this TR has thought about the analogy of the FBI where two officers are involved. And these two officers, 'Daniel and Tomas' are taking you down dark alleys. But I am reminded to caution you that the path you engage upon in your spiritual search will, in fact and in deed, alter your life. And if you seek comfort and freedom of ease we are not those that you would seek for our function is to teach; and therefor we attempt to stimulate your minds that you may make those decisions which will bring you to those crossroads in life which are more, perhaps, in the line of the path that diverged into a wood and a dark enveloping forest it may be. But like the wondrous boulevard, the dark path into soul searching will lead to the sunny meadow on the other side.

The struggles that are born by those who seek to find Godlikeness within their own being are an adventure, the most supernal adventure. We invite you to share that adventure and we request that you share your adventure with us, for we are family here. We grow together. We welcome you not only with your social graces but with your soul and ours. We touch hearts, minds, and deep feelings. These are wondrous opportunities for us all and we say welcome."

Effort

PamElla: "Thank you teachers for that eloquent and lengthy response to my friends. Tomas may I get some clarification on your response a little bit more? You are saying as our teachers you push us to know ourselves better and that isn't always comfortable. And you push us toward those aspects of the divine, learning to forgive, etc. and that often forgiveness is more difficult and that unconditional love is more difficult than say stewing in our resentments and so forth. Is that what you were saying?"

Tomas: "In a part, of course, for we have dealt with forgiveness as a topic and we have experienced forgiveness in our lives. We have sought deep recesses in order that we might understand the true nature of forgiveness that we might be more graciously forgiving, and that we might understand that we are forgiven. And certainly these qualities of living a righteous life are effort. But what is it that is said? There is no happiness without intelligent effort. And although you may be simpleminded and happy you may also be complicated and happy.

I am perhaps not answering your question. I feel that your words were rather an inducement to further illustration of our purpose as teachers."

PamElla: "Yes, thank you for catching me in my indirectness."

Tomas: "You may waver and meander, for in this process we see a fuller, wider range, more variation, greater scope of personality and more opportunity for discourse. It is our hope that you think, yes, and feel and respond and etc. But I did not come with a curriculum vitae and our lessons, although serious, are not overly and troublesomely cerebral. We like to laugh. We enjoy repartee. And the left field question is always welcome. Therefor daughter, engage yourself as you will as my companion and coworker Daniel has advised. This forum is open."

Love

Tonya: "This is Tonya. I am still kind of working on the unconditional love thing that I asked about quite some while ago. What I'm wondering is in trying to love others unconditionally I am finding myself being afraid to get close to them. I guess I'm wondering if this is a natural step or if I am going in the wrong direction, or what?"

Daniel: "I will begin this answering. Unconditional love is something that is very difficult and, at times, impossible for all who are not already perfect. To assume that you can love everyone unconditionally is not practical, is self deceiving. As you continue to grow within yourself, to understand your own motives, thought processes, actions, emotions, etc., then you become more secure. You become more confident. You become more independent of the outside world, depending instead on spiritual attributes. This is a transforming process.

Unconditional love is also a process in that you will be able to embrace and love others for who they are and what they are when you can love and embrace yourself. Unconditional love is what Christ Michael was for all of us. As He walked among the people, as He dealt with everyone He did so on that premise of divine understanding, of looking past the individual as they appear, react, and are mortally, to their divine nature. And yet because He could love unconditionally He could also leave the individual and go on with His own life.

Often there is a misconception for humans in thinking that because love is unconditional there must be always a relationship going on. And this is not necessarily true. When you can love unconditionally you do not need to depend on another to receive love back, but rather you may continue to move onward and still love without strings attached.

In your evolution in loving unconditionally there will often be initial judgements formed for that is part of your intelligence, your thinking, to put things in perspective. The judgement may not be bad, it is just your understanding of an individual. But since you are working from a lifelong history there are often feelings and thoughts that arise that can color your love for another. As you continue to build your own foundation you will be able to let go of those things that hold you in fear, that prevent you from loving unconditionally.

It is hoped that at some point in your life all of you will realize that the First Source and Center works through everyone and that no one is any better, no one is higher or lower. It does not matter if you are the head of a corporation or the custodian that cleans the office of the CEO. That is immaterial. Loving one another is seeing past all of the facades that one builds that they think are needed to protect themselves. Trying always to be better is not the purpose of life. It is in this context of striving to be better that unconditional love cannot be met. When you can understand when ego is involved and can work to get beyond the ego then you can embrace and love genuinely, less intrusively and without attachment. My friend has this helped in any way?"

Tonya: "What I'm wondering is, the love that needs to come from within us spiritually, how do I build that up, how do I develop the spiritual love within me."

Daniel: "Indeed. Let me make a distinction here for you. It is most important that you realize human love, the love that a parent has for their child, the love that a spouse has for their mate, that love that friends have for one another. That is a genuine and real love. However, a love that is real, this real love becomes great and flourishes and grows enormously when it is not only conditioned through the human element but also from the divine. To reach the state of loving not only humanly but divinely comes about through quiet inner workings, self discovery, learning to get a hold of who and what you are, learning your own emotions, feelings, thoughts, working through those aspects that hold you back: fear, intolerance, not being able to forgive, not being able to be in control or have will power. These things often contribute to one's inability to love unconditionally.

As you strive daily to know the Father the gift of understanding and knowing who you are, a child of the First Source and Center, is an outcome. When you sit with the Father you are nourished and are led in various ways and in these leadings you discover more insights into your nature and into the nature of God. To think that you can have it all in one sitting is foolhardy. Life is an experience of unfolding, of looking into each opportunity, of grasping another aspect. Your spiritual life is just beginning. You will spend many aeons in perfecting the spiritual life.

And so all of you, do not feel guilt or worry that you are not perfect yet, for that only hinders the present and the now. That only hinders you learning from this moment and gleaning some aspect from it. The greatest advice is to spend time in prayer, thanksgiving, and thought with the First Source and Center. It is the inner work that really lays open the door for growing immensely in your human life. Does this help?"

Tonya: "Yes, thank you."

Closing

Daniel: Tomas and I will now take our leave. During our absence this week work on silence, on letting go of some aspect that is personally bothering you. When you sit in silence allow God's love and support to take your burden and to provide you with the necessary understanding to carry on. Our love and peace go with you. May your path be joyful and bright. May the hurdles be small and the fragrance of spirituality be high. Our love. Good evening."