2010-02-07-N. Idaho TeaM
Heading
Topic: Either or, Both and
Group: N. Idaho TeaM
Facilitators
Teacher: Elyon, Evanson, Monjoronson, Machiventa
TR: Mark Rogers, Jonathan
Session
Opening
Elyon (Mark): Greetings dear friends, I am Elyon here once again to join you and splash and play with you in this pool of wisdom that we work to create. I observe in your discussions the natural human tendency to desire, for the sake of illustration, to point to various contrasts as a means to distinguish the different aspects and perhaps even to be helpful in formulating a choice regarding two such contrasts.
Lesson
Polarity
It is serviceable and useful to ask yourself or ask the simple question: Am I functioning from my heart or am I functioning from my head? or other such similar questions; Are you using your ego to view the situation or are you using your God consciousness? All these efforts are as I said, an attempt to separate the one from the other for purposes of discernment and this is well and good. I would offer you another exercise to further tweak your process and suggest that you play with the concept of substituting the word 'or' in every one of these cases with the word 'and' in an effort to swing your thought pattern to the aspect of inclusion rather than this idea of this or that.
You see, in all cases it is both. You do not function solely and singly from one of your dimensions. There is always a combination, a balance between two or more, even several different aspects of your being and so it may be helpful to begin to bring into your consciousness this realization that you may recognize in a certain act, that you are exercising a certain part of your being, perhaps interpreting through your heart space but in so doing it is impossible to forsake all the other influences in your lives.
It is more appropriate to say that you are functioning from many different aspects but disproportionately exhibiting a certain characteristic or trait or point of perspective. There is a constant effort by mankind to make discernment's which then often turn into judgements about whether this aspect is good or bad, should be chosen or not, that certain elements must be forsaken and other elements must be embraced or adopted and these choices that the individual makes are in fact what define their character and being. But true spiritual evolution demands at some point the recognition, that all aspects are contained and present within the overall equation and that merely some are being chosen and exercised while others fail to be chosen or embraced wholly but nevertheless they are all present in the equation and are all necessary for in order to choose one way to be, there must be a choice between that way and another that you would decide to choose not.
So it is not as much about your declaring your allegiance to certain elements or aspects of the human condition as much as it is about coming to a place of peace and balance, realizing that all elements that you encounter are part of the equation and must be reconciled as such. Some may not be chosen over others which appear to be more favorable but all are present in the game, present in relationship to each other and in that sense we are ultimately to be as grateful for those things that we do not choose for providing us the contrast as we are to those things which we decide on and choose on based on our ability at any given time.
Thank you for the opportunity to jump in and splash a little bit with you in this pool of wisdom. I now allow this space for use by others, farewell.
Evanson (Jonathan): Greetings this is Evanson. You have a phrase, that a drop of water returns to the ocean. The master has also said, "I am the water of life"[1]. Imagine yourself to be this living water, an individual droplet. In order to be a droplet there must be a boundary, that which you may call yourself. As you expand spiritually your droplet enlarges. Even in the chronological unfoldment of your life, your first expansion as an infant is that of the embrace of your mother and father and soon your siblings and this expansion continues through family, friends, neighborhood, community, nation, planet, and the universal family of God. The expansion of the boundaries of yourself to be inclusive eventually makes your minuscule droplet the size of the ocean. To return to the ocean as a drop of water is to expand yourself to embrace the entire ocean.
You have seen a drop of water that stands on its own, and you have also seen a drop of water that collapses and spreads out smoothly, soaking that in its vicinity. This is the spiritual water of life that readily flows into and is absorbed by everything around it. This is how the master could say, if you have this water of life you will never thirst.
By following Elyon‚s suggestion of taking the stance of "and"rather than "or" all episodes in your life become opportunities for the expansion of your soul, for growth. No longer is life a battle to defend but is a pursuit to include and to accept. You do not put together a puzzle by deciding that certain pieces are irrelevant. The puzzle comes together through orientation and acceptance of all pieces.
I chose this metaphor of water, but that of light works equally well, and I know you can reflect upon the implications. Thank you for receiving me, and I will also allow space for my fellows to address you.
Cathy: I received a picture I‚m not totally sure of the interpretation. It began with an "S" formation like a river going around a bend. It straightened out into a smooth flow after that. More streams are added to the S. I interpreted it as a large river constricted for a time in the S and flowing freely after that. I don‚t know how it fits into the idea here.
Evanson: I wish to supplement your vision with some of my own comments, this again is Evanson. Let's define this flow of the river as spiritual energy. This S curve constriction you speak of I choose to perceive as like a river in the walls of canyons. The force appears stronger as the water flows through this canyon, and it cuts deeper into the ground. The volume of water is the same, but the restriction increases the force. When it exits from this restriction it spreads out and appears peaceful and gently flowing but is nonetheless the same volume unrestricted.
There are times in one's spiritual growth where spiritual force cuts deep into one's being that one may become more fully developed, that one be concentrated upon one's personal progress as an ascending soul. Sometimes it's difficult, but you know the beauty of the canyon walls left by a river.
There are other times when your spiritual power is expressed for others, where you spread it wide, where you nourish the marshes and feed the life all about, where you give. I know that many of you who long to serve one another sometimes question the effectiveness of your service. But remember the river that has spread far and wide is gentle; it does a lot of soaking in as it moves on, a little here, a little there, everywhere. You may not perceive the force of your service, but it does spread and it does nourish. The conflicts of soul and the sudden realizations of your being are more vivid because they are within those canyon walls.
This is my contribution, thank you.
Balance
Monjoronson (Mark): Greetings, Monjoronson here to take a turn up at bat with another opportunity to bring to the minds eye a visualization that may be useful. I invite you all to consider a pendulum. As you all know, if you pull out and go to extremes with one side of the pendulum and then let the natural action occur you create this motion of back and forth and back and forth and before you is illustrated the potential that all things have a counter balance for as far as the pendulum travels ones way, it seems to swing back that far the other way. As you watch this pendulum swing back and forth, think to yourself, either/or, either/or, either/or.
That is a phenomenon that goes on between contrasts. The one extreme and the other extreme are illustrated by the swinging back and forth of this pendulum. But if allowed to transpire normally and naturally, every pendulum circumstance like this grows weaker and weaker with its illustration of contrast and comes closer and closer to a reconciliation point in the middle. After having expended all of its energy, it eventually comes to rest at a place that I will call "and," a place of contentment where it is not either/or in such radical contrasts as it is a place of settled peace with "and," either/and. This is a place of peace, this is the calm after the rapids. This is a place of acceptance where there is this awareness and this balance, not having to swing back and forth to be established but a calm steady peace.
I offer this in further attempt to illustrate the point at hand where you are not a spiritual being or a mortal being. You are a spiritual being and a mortal being. It is not whether you should make plans or whether you should not make plans, but both are in play in your equation. Thank you for entertaining these thought patterns today. I now withdraw.
Dialogue
Cathy: I‚m thinking of all the conflict on our world today and all the differences of opinion and how this concept of "and" is the key to our finding peace on the planet also.
Mary: Here we are in the ultimate multi-tasking environment and receiving the advice to go about this balancing act with the tools of humor and stillness. We have that sense of calm that we can bring to the multi-tasking world of our dual nature, to remember everything is all right and to enjoy the ride.
Mark T: The one is the other, the spirit made flesh.
Unity
Machiventa (Jonathan): This is Machiventa and I visit with you today as well. Let us play a little bit with some theology. You have been taught that God is love and that God is one. You are also informed that the Infinite Spirit is ministry, is action. Ministry implies one and another, one who ministers and one who is ministered to. It is a duality aspect, a duality function. But the Eternal Son is mercy; mercy is the blending of the oneness of love and the duality of ministry. Michael is the son of the Eternal Son and is the embodiment of mercy.
This is how you may perceive your imperfections as forgiven. Mercy in a sense brings the pendulum to stillness. What is ministry but the power of love applied? What is love if it cannot be ministered? Mercy is the embrace of both, the perfection of the highest of the Absolute and the incompleteness of finite experience.
Closing
Thank you for hearing me. Farewell.