2003-11-23-Experiential Learning

Session

Opening

Music: Elena on Piano: “The Fruit of All Creation”

Prayer: (Matthew) Let us place ourselves in the presence of Jesus, the Christ.

Master Teacher, We come to you today with hope-filled hearts, in expectation of all good things, that goodness is all that we expect and give credence to, and therefore, what we believe we can expect. Certainly we realize that there is other than goodness in some individuals’ hearts and minds, however, to not recognize that in our own makes for expectation of only brightness and truth in our way.

We place our trust in You and in our Heavenly Father, for You are our ultimate reality, of which we are a part and we rejoice. We ask to have our hearts and minds liberated to be able to show the way that you have shown, and that is our eternal path to glory.

Until then, we look forward to many bright spots and roadside rests where we are able to gather again to find the strength and energy to go forward until the work is done. In the meantime, eternity is one.

For our teachers, we are grateful, and we ask for those teachings today that will help us become the creation you have made us to be. We place all trust in You and love with You and our Heavenly Father, now and always.

Amen.

TOMAS: Amen.

Precious friends, this is Tomas. Anatolia and I join with you in this rest stop along the highway of life, that we may compare notes on our journey, the experiences we have met, and the vision of the road ahead. There are always stopping places at appropriate points along the way and this momentous setting is as ideal a spot as any to reflect on our journey experientially, as this indeed is the pertinent point of the Melchizedek University.

Lesson

Teaching Mission, Correcting Time

I and we all enjoy the triumphant march toward Paradise in company with the Divine, in conscious appreciation of our relationship with the Family of God, the interplay between the dimensions we enjoy and the teachings that we bestow on those progeny of truth, beauty, and goodness that follow in our wake.

The term “Teaching Mission” that was coined by you mortals in encountering our front-runner Teacher Ham when he announced the origination of the Correcting Time as an era upon us now in which we are to anticipate the good allotted to the worlds/children of time and space who follow the divine path. The wayward steps notwithstanding, we resume the journey as it was intended to be pursued under the jurisdiction of Machiventa himself, who is what you might call Dean of this University branch.

The unique part of the Teaching Mission you are familiar with and embrace is that you understand the origins of the intent inherent in our agenda, as you are privy to the Urantia text, which outlines the overcontrol of all paths. But the fact of the circuits opening is not limited to those who have read the Urantia text. It extends to all of humanity. And God is no respecter of persons.

While you enjoy the language familiar to the students of the text, the Urantia Papers, those who have not learned of this revelation through the text are, even so, being brought forward by the spirit influences that are coming to bear upon this planet. Thus, the Family of God extends into those areas and realms of mortal consciousness that involve many other forms of spiritual scaffolding.

But in the course of these Correcting Times, all of us are joined in an ideal of -- as Matthew prayed -- opening our minds and hearts to an awareness of the goodness of God and the benefits of being conscious of sonship. This will mean side-stepping those wayward paths that have led us down dark alleyways of existence, some to bear fruit, some pointless indeed, but if we have returned to the path with a better understanding of the divine light that we follow, or of the sound of the divine voice that fills our ears, we have benefited by the experience.

Melchizedek Schools

This is the uniqueness of the Universities of the Melchizedeks throughout creation – these experiential learning courses. And while they are more real and substantive than mere academic or intellectual courses of study, they are far more difficult to define, for the learning is so assimilated into your furtherance. And your humility often disallows the acknowledgement of how far you have come, lest you seem to portray yourselves as somehow superior or masterful.

While Jesus was a humble man as well, he had fully mastered his mortal nature, including his mind, before he undertook his public ministry. And so is the case with those of you who seek to serve. It is not for you to say when you are ready to step out. It is for you to follow the divine guidance that presents itself, for the tutors and teachers of the Divine path are the better equipped to ascertain your readiness to serve than your simple comprehension.

Remember, it is said that Jesus has great faith in you. He is able to find your fundamental value by his faith in you. And so you are able to minister to the many who seek to serve by having faith in their ability to live up to the capacity that they have been taught through their own experiential journey, through the Melchizedek schools, whether they are formally recognized as one of the Teacher bases or not.

Thus, everyone has a curriculum, an individual curriculum that will be created to conform to your particular needs, your backgrounds, your character, your spirit poisons, your faith reach, your propensities and your passions will all be factored in to the lessons that will be presented to you in the course of your experiential sojourn. And thus the Divine contributes to the furtherance of your uniqueness.

And yet, with all the differences of all the paths, the experiential journeys you take, you are all conjoined and united by the fact of the experience itself. Thus each of you are in a position to point out what you have learned in your journey, what the experiential lessons of life have thus far indicated to you, even while remaining open to the fact that you have many experiential lessons to learn, many perceptions to adopt and discard, en route to the perfection goal you seek.

Agondonters

Another element that joins you is the fact of your Agondonter status. You have been greatly enhanced by your appreciation of the cosmology and terminology introduced through the Urantia text. But most of its values are already in existence, as has been pointed out by some of your gifted writers and composers of theologic anthology, and this further points to the wide dissemination of the distribution of the Divine into the experiential paths of humanity.

There is never any reason to be smug about having knowledge, but there is certainly allowance for acknowledging that which you know. That which comprises your comprehension, for that is a part of your character and your personality, which you have a right to have, and which you also have a right to develop, change, modify and adjust throughout eternity as a result of your continued accumulation of experiential wisdom. What each of you as Agondonters experience alone is, collectively, the evolution of the Supreme, and so you have no choice but to appreciate the contributions that others make toward the creation of the God of experience.

This week, in your culture, you acknowledge a day of Thanksgiving. It is certainly easy for you to see the obvious things, creature comforts, and provisions that you have gained by your efforts and the grace of God, but there are realms of reality that are not so plain to see. Those are the experiential realms for which you may be truly thankful, in that they have brought you thus far in your journey and they will see you through to the next phase of your growth.

Therefore, when you convene this week to give thanks for that which you have, remember to give thanks also for the experiences, for the feast of opportunities that have been made available to you for your consumption, and nourish yourself on the value therein. In this way you will reflect on how your experience has helped formulate you into the human that you re, and these values, then, you will want to share as your legacy for those who follow you in the progression of time in eternity.

I have concluded my remarks. I’d like to hear from our fellows.

ANATOLIA: Welcome, all, to another bright and cheerful day here in the Land of Enchantment.

I, Anatolia, am happy to be with you on this tour of duty here in this bright and land-filled place within our universe, for as you are beginning to understand, it is not as if this arrangement we have is a “we/they” undertaking; “we/ they” typically conveys an adversarial relationship. Certainly the idea of adversarial relationship in this Teaching Mission seems anathema if not absurd, or even a distortion of our understanding.

What I am leading up to is that we, in our perspective (and I include you in that, as agondonters, or persons of faith, who believe without seeing) are among the greatest of faith-bearers anywhere in the universe and beyond, for we who are in spirit have vast opportunities, unless one were closed in mind and spirit, to see and appreciate the creation in a far grander way than you can even imagine. This is an old theme for me, in terms of my communication to you, that is “if you could see what I can see, you would see vistas beyond what limitation of vantage point enables you to appreciate right now.”

What I am leading up to is, as Tomas had reintroduced, the concept of agondonter. This is a most peculiar and noteworthy position to hold in all of the universe, for as your book says, there are those within creation that find your ability to be able to ascend to the right hand of God to be simply incredible, given the make up and nature of being human. The implication is, after all, “you are a virtual animal!” and to be ascending to the right hand of God is beyond imagination. It may be short-selling the presenters of that query as to why they find us so, astonishing.

It is in part because of your placement in the spiritual chain, so to speak, that you are ascenders to On High. Not that you are little, small, or undeserving, but rather that within the realm of creation, and those spiritual beings who are and continue to be forerunners, protectors and heralds of ages to come, you along with the path, are making the road clear for those who are immediately after and long-distance following. You and your faith are hallmarks of what real belief is all about, and the greatest of all is your ability to believe in a knowing sense without seeing.

Your belief, which is of the greatest belief system of all, is within your heart and your mind and your total being, for this is surely what mountain movement is all about. If all can see and believe to this extent, your world would be changed forever. It would be peace on earth for more than a thousand years, for as co-creators in this scheme of mystery and revelation combined, yours is the melding of this query of how and why, so you are to be commended for your continued strength and forthrightness in your pursuit of truth and justice in your lives and beyond.

For this is all that your Father asks of you, that you be loyal and true to that relationship that you are called. It may be different for each of you, and yet as members of the same family, it is a broad mutual expression, for not everyone can be priests; others must be candle-bearers and then others who make the candles. But in the real sense of the picture, is that it takes ALL to make a worship service come to pass. As your Teacher had said, the least among you is the greatest, and what you would determine to be the greatest, is the least. So it is in true service that you provide pure, loving service.

I hope that these thoughts, random as they may seem, are of benefit and reassurance, for agondonter status is among the greatest of all time and beyond. So for you to wear a scarlet letter, let us convert that to it standing for “agondonter”, and nothing else, for you will be able to stand in the presence of your knowledge today as the reality heretofore. I encourage you and send you warm greetings from my heart to yours, as we together continue in that forward movement until all of creation is one, singing the glories to our Heavenly Father which are so well deserved and we long to sing.

Peace be with you, and have a blessed and gracious Thanksgiving, until we meet again as we celebrate that together. Peace be with you.

Group: You, too Anatolia. Thank you.

Dialogue

TOMAS: Anatolia and I as co-hosts invite you now to join with us in our discourse portion of the format that has been arranged to best suit the needs of this particular configuration. The floor is open. Are the questions or comments?

Thoroah: Something that came to my mind when you were speaking first, Tomas, and you made me think of being equipped with a divine guidance system, and I, in my mind, was making a comparison with pilots that fly and they have a guidance system and they use it in aeronautics a lot. And then Anatolia’s emphasizing our agondonter status. Indeed we are flying blind, on instruments, and that instrumentation is our divine guidance system. That was a vivid analogy. Thank you.

Destiny

TOMAS: And thank you for the springboard to discussion. Yet I am given to understand that there are ways and means by which you are enabled to prepare your flight pattern before take-off, even in your spiritual ascent.

The various images and mental impressions that come to you in dreams or visions which persist, which provide a pattern for you, which stir your curiosity or your investigative nature, are often a result of the Thought Adjuster prompting you to pursue your unique journey.

There are theories that are active in the world today that provide a perspective such as was your commitment from Divinington, even before you were born, in the God fragment that opted to indwell you. And this theory presents the concept that you had made arrangements before arriving as a Thought Adjuster that you would accomplish certain tasks as you sojourned here, similar to the instructions and counsel Jesus received from his elder brother as he prepared to incarnate as a helpless babe on Urantia for his seventh and final bestowal. He was given certain admonitions, such as not to leave any writings, not to have children, and to tend to the delinquent nature of his Lanonandek Son Lucifer.

There is certain merit to this theory, for while these realms are far beyond our understanding (us in the Teacher Corps), we have seen and heard and some of us have experienced when we were mortal similar flashes of insight that would rise up in the mortal mind that would give a picture or a pre-conscience of the life path, the flight pattern ahead. And those who make a conscious effort to follow through with those “prompts” are often reassured of the truth of the impressions they were given, by whatever nature, along in life, as they discover they have in fact accomplished what they initially set out to do.

On the other hand, millions of individuals who haven’t any knowledge of their path, for they have no knowledge of who they are. But were they to discover who they are in terms of their eternal nature, it is likely they too would encounter some clue, some imbedded impression, enhancing their purpose in life. It is sad, indeed, to observe how many otherwise marvelous individuals fritter away their eternal potential by not giving credence to the dimension of reality that exists outside their conscious vision, their material state of mind.

But this loss is not mine to mourn. My goal is to stimulate the potential that is, in order that nothing be wasted en route to the goals of destiny we all seek. How fortunate I am! How thankful I am, that of all the assignments I could have been given, I have been given the assignment that puts me in contact with people like you, who are conscious and who are conscious of your consciousness, such that I am able to work with you in those realms which will enable you to be more attentive to the inner voice, that its activation of you may reflect back into the community that we serve together.

This is a good fortune that we share, you and I, for this ability to share “like-mindedness” even from our varying dimensions, is only an enrichment of the tapestry of reality we are able to appreciate and enjoy experientially and which gives us a far richer existence than we would have had otherwise. There is nothing but abundance in our association. Nothing but potential riches. Yes.

Elena: Tomas, why did you call that theory? When you were talking about there’s a theory that people have, plans or the idea that we accomplish. Your use of that word kind of puzzled me.

TOMAS: I put this in terms of ‘theory’ for I am not in a position to presume on the Adjusters pre-consciousness. If I were an Adjuster, I would be able to speak more affirmatively.

Elena: Okay. And then there was another thing I wanted to talk about too, when you were talking back in the first part, where you mentioned that your teachers or guides knew better whether you were ready or not. Could you explain that one? That thought really intrigued me and I wanted to know just a little bit more about what you know about that.

TOMAS: Yes, this is a part of the marvel of the universe that is known to you only through your faith, but which we are able to work with on a conscious level on a daily basis. In that, in the administration of the planet, and the spiritual and otherwise development of its elements (which includes you each) it is my privilege to be involved in those daily briefings which involve our efforts, as are commenced by our supervisors in the hierarchy of things and which includes not only the Council of 24 but also myriad angels and even midwayers, in obedience to the divine will and in cooperation with the free will of you each.

The efforts that are involved in your development as conscious sons of God is extensive! And so as we become affiliated with you and involved in your development, in your growth, in your spiritual becoming, we are able to take advantage of the many resources that are available. Such as your personal teachers who are engaged in creating harmony within your own personality: self-awareness, self-respect, and those elements that make for a meaningful human existence, such as self-perpetuation, self-maintenance and self-gratification. As well as your destiny guardians who input for us how certain stimuli might trigger potential growth, as well as where stimuli ought to be withheld at a certain point in order to keep you from becoming unbalanced. And thus there are many factors that go into the spirit creation of each of your souls.

Just trust me when I say it is a vast network. And those growth opportunities that the superior intelligence feels will benefit you most at any given time is revealed to us in these meetings such that we have an idea of how to teach the class of students we are working with. It is always different; it is always changing. Even as we have the same format, week after week, and basically the same core of students.

You have a destiny plan which I do not know! Which you may not know. But which we are attempting to find out. And by and through this tremendous network, we are given direction as to how to counsel you in such a way as to open up these opportunities for your growth without causing imbalance or fanaticism. It is a responsibility, but it is even more so a dynamic opportunity to watch the Mystery Monitor unfold destiny.

Elena:Thank you, Tomas.

Thoroah: Yeah, that’s very revelatory, I think. At least for me. That you don’t know what our path is, and I think that we kind of assume, “Everybody else knows our path but us!”

Elena: Yeah.

Thoroah: And, why are we so stupid and why is it kept a secret from us! And here you don’t know any more than we do. I’m glad to hear that.

Elena: Me, too!

TOMAS: But if you subscribe to that aforementioned theory, you may find that you know your destiny path better than we do! But this is as a result of your own personal contact with your own indwelling God Fragment. That is a relationship to which I am not intimately privy.

Elena: I agree. That really does help. I appreciate your saying that.

Intuition

Myra: But then I would ask one other thing, when you were asking us to – we were asked to check back on our experiences, or give thanks for the experiences that we have had and when I think about some of the experiences I’ve had, they have not always been planned by me (group chortles) and they have been, indeed, growing experiences. And I am thankful for them! But, you at one time also said, “listen to your inner voice” and so I would just like to know, when I use that phrase “inner voice” I sometimes interchange it with intuition, and is a Thought Adjuster giving in to me when I follow intuition.

TOMAS: I will go so far as to say “yes”. Even though intuition is variable, it is probably the closest thing to understanding the Way -- for you -- than anything else, for intuition will speak to all of you, all of your levels of reality: spiritual, mental, physical. Whereas logic may be merely mental and spiritual may be merely visionary and physical may be merely wish fulfillment; intuition is wholistic and speaks to that which is most closely akin to all of you: your spirit nature, your animal nature, and the mind arena of choice, wherein those soul-making decisions are made. Well done, student Myra.

Myra: Thank you, Tomas.

TOMAS: But even so, following your intuition may lead you into some uncomfortable situations. It is for this reason it is said that the Adjuster is not interested in making your life one of ease. It is far more interested in putting you into positions and situations where you will need to work -- hard – to overcome the animal tendency, in order to strengthen your resolve to lean upon divine understanding. This is how you are exercised, and strengthened, deepened in divine wisdom. Even as you tread the path of mortal endeavor.

Those of you who have become deepened, are in faith that those intuitions of which you are responsive to, may be conspiring to develop your eternal reality, not cater to your mortal whims. But there again, the entire network of spirit helpers – heavenly helpers – are poised to assist, such that that spiritual growth is made real, for that is the process whereby the Supreme is evolved and the world is settled in light and life. And thus, the universe is expanding as a result of your efforts.

And this is another thing for which to be thankful: that your humble little life, as miniscule as it may seem in the vast ocean of infinity, is an important part of the process of perfecting a universe. To which we all pay homage. Namaste!

Thoroah: Namaste.

Elena: I forgot what that means.

Thoroah: The spirit in me greets the spirit in you.

Elena: Oh! Right.

TOMAS: Other questions? Comments?

Men-O-Pah: I am reasonably sure that you don’t know where our path will lead. It seems that I have no real words of my own to give expression to this, but I’m always quoting lines from things that I’ve read. One of the more recent ones was an anthem that was in church, after the Negro spiritual style, the title of which was, “When I went down to the water to pray, thinking about that good old way, how you gave us eternal life, Dear Lord show me the way.”

And the lines that I quoted to this group some time ago from Ode to a Waterfowl. They had that uncanny ability to fly from the northern part of the world down to the south where it’s warm, as the lines say: “He who from zone to zone guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, in the long way that I must tread alone, will guide my steps aright.”

And from the old hymn, “Lead kindly light, amid the encircling gloom, lead thou me on. The night is dark and I am far from home. Lead thou me on. Keep thou my feet. I do not ask to see the distant scene. One step enough for me.”

TOMAS: How beautiful are your hymns and psalms of praise and glory, agondonter Men-O-Pah. You speak to the heart of the soul who in faith follows the divine will even while ignorant of what that is. And in doing so, are able to look back upon the path you’ve taken and know you have done well. You have been delivered from adversity.

Forgiveness

Men-O-Pah: We had the good fortune today to listen to a missionary who had been to not far from here, Chiapas, Mexico, where just a few years ago there was a massacre, and she drew the parallel between that situation and the time of our Lord Jesus, the time that he lived and his upsetting the apple cart of those around him. They were afraid that they were going to lose everything that the had and probably would have if they had to go and there were some 45 people down there, women and children and others who were massacred. And the thing that struck me most, that finally now those people who suffered at, actually, the hand of their neighbors have found it in their hearts to forgive them. Such things give me a great deal of hope that we really are moving up.

TOMAS: Yes, this thing about forgiveness is beginning to bear fruit. The awareness of the beneficial effects of forgiveness, even from those experiences as far-reaching and devastating as the Lucifer rebellion, have garnered you who have suffered after it, a greatness which is far from being understood by those greater than yourselves who cannot yet conceive of how the oppressed can forgive the oppressor and enjoy complete freedom from the oppressor as a result.

This is the nature of the spiritual freedom which Jesus came here to instill in the hearts and minds of men and women everywhere. It is on the heels of the vicissitudes of human existence that the divine shall rise like the Phoenix from the ashes, as you are rising in your soul brightness into the destiny you are created to own.

We indeed have a repast here to savor and enjoy. The abundance that spills forth from this cornucopia of believers here is truly a blessing upon your realm. Blessed be art thou, indeed.

Elena: Tomas, I wanted to say just one thing. For some reason just a few minutes ago it came upon me that I remembered how it was when I was a child and remembered how maybe “stark” or … I don’t know what the word is I am searching for right now, but I found religion so blank and not giving back what I expected. So, basically a comparison of what that was when I was a child and now is so different! And there is so much greater richness. And so basically what I am trying to say is in this day of Thanksgiving, or a time for identifying those things we are truly grateful for, I am really grateful for you Teachers and to have the interplay and the exchange that makes the journey so much richer and I’m failing for the words I really want, but I just want you to know how grateful I am. Thank you!

Closing

TOMAS: We, too, share that appreciation of the reality of which you speak. We know the progress that has been made on Urantia and have also a glimmer of the future for your world and have great stock in your will and the divine plan that will reinstate Urantia as a full-fledged participant in the cosmic design -- free of taint and unsullied by iniquity. Let us rejoice in the prospects of our work ahead in each individual in this group setting and in the reclamation mission at large, for the glory of God. Amen. Farewell. See you next time.