1999-11-19-The Collective Consciousness

Session

Opening

Unknown (Bob S): My children: Your prayers are being answered. Your thoughts are being noted. Your feelings are being guided and directed. Your lives are under scrutiny. Your very thoughts are being guided by those assigned to your spiritual enlightenment. Think not regarding your own personhood. That is being taken care of. Rather reach out to those around you, particularly those in need, and endeavor to comfort them. Endeavor to life them up, for in so doing you lift everyone, including yourself. I choose not to give you my name tonight. I will remain anonymous. I trust this will not dampen the effect of my words. Good evening.

Daniel (Bill): My dear students: I am Daniel, your teacher, your guide, your companion. Our guest speaker this evening, who wishes to remain anonymous, was given this opportunity by reason of his status and also by reason of the content of the message.

I thank you for your spirited sharing, especially in regards to your concerns for more effective ways of praying. And yes, we have discussed this before, but it will be worth a few moments of consideration at this time.

Lesson

Prayer

You see there is the collective consciousness of every mortal, living human being, which both transcends and extends beyond your own experience of the phenomena of mind. Your minds are on a circuit from our Mother Spirit and so there is the communal, connective nature of human thinking and feeling. Indeed when you pray you activate this collective consciousness and the collective unconsciousness as well. The prayers are indited over the spirit circuits of the Eternal Son, but at the same time the thoughts and feelings are transmitted via the circuitry of the Third Source and Center which activates the whole collective array of mindal circuitry. If you do not understand this then it becomes more difficult to pray with a proper mental framework. See, many people regard prayer as merely talking to God, which it of course is in its essence, but they don't realize the ramifications of those circuitous realities which they have never been taught or understood. When you pray, the spirit value, the weight, the spiritual weight of your prayer is measured. And when you pray without reservation in your heart, 'nevertheless not what I will, but what you will be done', any imperfect aspects of that prayer are filtered and do not enter into the spiritual equation. Much prayer is without words. What is expressed, the feelings and passions and desires too deep to be placed in verbal frameworks, this kind of praying, totally unselfish, totally in the will of God, is a wonderful experience that you should strive for. And by saying this I do not mean to imply that you have not at sometime experienced this, because I'm advised that you have. You see, therefore, that your thinking has powerful effects upon reality. It is not magic that I am describing, my friends, it is spiritual reality. And when you bring your thoughts into the presence of that indwelling First Source and Center, then indeed do you pray in the spirit and with power.

Service

I wish now to converse with you about service. I am always heartened when I hear you talk about your week in terms of service opportunities, or when you discuss what the larger brotherhood and sisterhood is considering along the lines of service. I would dwell on one aspect of service this evening and that is the kind of service you do as you "pass by" another brother or sister.

As you know our Master is our prime example, and he was so in tune with the spirit of God that he could evaluate the comparative need of such an individual, sometimes even a child, as contrasted with his public teaching. He often allowed interruptions to occur during his teaching in order to reach into the lives of some needy son or daughter. He was not ego-bound. He had no need to impress other people. It was not a stressor to him to set aside his teaching for a period of time in order to minister to a needy one. Often people use their structures of time to exclude the needs of a neighbor bleeding on the road to Jericho.

I would encourage you all to try to develop more flexibility so that you can increase your spontaneous contact with those people who come your way as you pass by in you daily lives. This should not be taken to mean that you should become totally disorganized and uncoordinated in terms of planning. Quite the opposite, but I would suggest that you raise the value of this service opportunity in your list of service values.

Many of you have read a touching story on the internet regarding people who have been servants to others and shown compassion and shared their resources. There are always many moments in every day when these opportunities are there, not perhaps dramatically, but more than you may suspect. And so in your concern for effective prayer, offer yourselves as servants to your brothers and sisters and ask that your eyes be opened to see what service opportunities are there for you as you go through your days.

Value

Finally now, I wish to speak briefly about thanksgiving, for your national holiday is fast approaching and this is my last opportunity. Of all the things which you possess nothing is of greater value than your status as God's children. This is indeed your eternal life. The things of the material world have their relative values, and there is no shame or guilt appropriate to the enjoyment of your hobbies, your pursuits, your comforts, unless they become a prime concern. As you enjoy your material benefits there is no reason to withhold your thanks because there are others in other places who do not share your bounty. However always should you be concerned that wealth that comes from this planet be distributed more fairly, more thoroughly to all of God's children. Regard your material possessions as articles of stewardship, for you literally cannot take them with you and you will not need them on the morontial worlds. You show your thanksgiving by the attitude with which you regard the things in your life, but even more importantly by the way you interact with the persons in your life. This is why prayer and service are a way to express most acceptably to our Father your true thanksgiving for being His son or His daughter. Remember always that it is your obligation that you have taken freely upon yourselves to allow that gospel, the message of Jesus, to contact others. Proclaim that good news wherever the leading of your indwelling spirit prompts you to.

Now, my friends, I have given your much material. I will allow briefly time for questions and then send you on your way. I am open now to your sharing and your questions if you have any.

Dialogue

Materialism

Virginia: Daniel, a couple, three things as a result of both the statements from our anonymous visitor and from your content. I have found it very hard to give and I put this in quotes, thanks to God for a political position that has given we Americans far more than the rest of the world. And I find that it is not necessarily God but the powerful Americans that have given us so much in this country. And I am not sure I expect you to say anything about that, but it does bother me. And the other thought I have is our visitor said comfort those we meet. When that was said I pictured in my mind the lack of comfort Jesus gave when he chased the moneychangers out of the temple. I wonder if you would comment on that?

Daniel (Bill): When you are thankful for material things be mindful as you are expressing of the fact that this world has not reached the seventh stage of light and life. However, if the wealth in your possession has come about by honest means and you regard it as stewardship material, you can divorce yourself from the guilt that you feel as you ponder the injustices of the economic distribution on this planet. There is of course a lot of greed inherent in America's marriage with materialism. I am not suggesting that you give thanks for materialism. That would be a travesty. As we discussed this topic several weeks ago, you know where I stand on (that), but it is not inappropriate, Letah, my dear, to thank God for bread in as much as our Lord himself made it a legitimate part of prayer. The problem is that man does not live, nor does women, by bread alone, and even if every person on planet earth had enough to eat and lived at the level of comfort that you all live at, this would not in itself constitute light and life. It is therefore most important to give thanks for your spiritual reality, that is, as God's children. Does this assist you in your thinking?

Virginia: Thank you, Daniel. That really was very clear.

Daniel (Bill): Are there other questions or comments at this time?

Justice

Virginia: Daniel, are you ignoring my other comment about comfort, and what comfort he brought to the moneychanger? (Laughter.)

Daniel (Bill/Isaac): I am sorry if I did not address that specifically. I thought that my words applied in that direction, however I will be glad to get more specific. Isaac is confused in his mind as to exactly what you are implying. Can you assist us with further explanation?

Virginia: The visitor teacher suggested that we expend comfort to those we meet and that would bring comfort to ourselves. But when that was stated what I saw in my mind was that Jesus brought a lot of discomfort to the money-changers in the temple as he tried to bring comfort to those who were paying sacrificial price to be accepted by God. So I just wanted your insight on whether it is possible to bring comfort to everyone.

Daniel (Bill): Perhaps our visitor can comment, or I can take a shot at it.

Unknown (Bob S): Yes, I will speak these words, my dear. Your sensitivity is commendable, yet your understand is shallow. Recall the specifics of the Master's bestowal episode regarding the temple moneychangers. He spoke much, yet did little to deal with that situation. His own life stands as an example to those seeking understanding. To that end I urge all within the sound of my voice to take comfort in knowing the Master as you do, for your brothers and sisters do not. I trust my words have anticipated the essence of your question.

Daniel (Bill): I would add that you have an adage which says, in effect, "comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable". It is a statement of God's truth. When people are engaged in evil doing they are bringing discomfort to other people. They are also bringing discomfort to their own souls. When Jesus reacted to the injustice of the treatment of the poor and to lesser minds by arrogant, wealthy but ultimately evil men, he was not merely defending the meek and helpless, although that was certainly part of his human emotion, he was acting as a Paradise Son of his Father in confronting the outrage of turning a house of prayer into a den of robbers. Always remember Jesus is compassionate for the sinner and adamant against sin. Always when he confronted his enemies was there a motivation to save them, in other words, to bring true comfort to their souls. Does this answer to this discussion for you?

Virginia: It certainly helps. But I feel that I am not a Creator Son. I can't do those things that I desire, so I wonder if you have any personal comments for me tonight?

Daniel (Bill): Yes, I do. My dear, pursue your plans to confront untruth. It is within your rights as a citizen of this country to employ the means that you have to correct problems and to work for the greatest good for the greatest number of people. If you can take yourself out of the action you can discover that the work is important but the self is not. It was because Jesus was so selfless that he could do such work, the work of God himself. Yes, you are not a Creator Son, but you have within you the same indwelling Presence that he had when he was in human form. And you also have angels, not only your guardian seraphim, but vast orders of angels who are on the side of righteousness, of truth, of spiritual enhancement.

Do not think that teaching mathematics for example, is wasted effort, for indeed all universe citizens must become mathematicians in the ascension career. It is part of the curriculum. So everything that you do, if you do it for God is sacred work.. And this applies to all of you. Just don't get stuck with the self, and let the work become the most important thing. These are my words.

Virginia: Thank you, Daniel.

Daniel (Bill): My friends, the hour has come. (Several comments and laughter.) It is my sense that we should conclude the evening. Your prayer this evening was most efficacious, and indeed were you are all open to spiritual guidance. I wish now that you join hands and that we close in prayer, in the spirit of Michael's request that you all become one, with each other and with him, more and more.

Closing

Let us pray. Dear Father, your flame of love burns in each soul of these my brothers and sisters, even as it burns in mine. You are the source of all goodness, all love, even the Source of all reality, spiritual, mindal and material. I thank you for this marvelous plan whereby we can co-create with you the universe of the Supreme. May we be conscious, more and more, of our togetherness as part of the Supreme and our contribution each of us can make with our lives when they are given into your hands as we follow the lead of your Indwelling Spirit. And now go with these, my brothers and sisters. Let them know how profound is my gratitude for their companionship. May they walk in the full sunshine of your love, undiluted by the clouds of fear, anxiety, guilt and anger. Even so, Michael, may it be. Amen.