As our world becomes more interrelated and interdependent there seems to be a new generation that is experiencing a breakdown of traditional cultural and religious mythologies in the way that we are raised, so that there is a blending of some of these various traditions from person to person. Could you speak to this reforming of the various traditions and to a personal mythology or path to the Creator? And is there any difficulty that might come from the radical change in our upbringing so that there seems to be fewer reference points made between the way children are raised now and the way they used to be raised.

(Carla channeling)

I am Q’uo. I greet you in the love and in the light of the one infinite Creator. The Creator’s blessing and ours be upon you, and our thanks and gratitude to you for the honor of being called to your group this evening to discuss the question of old and new mythologies, and, perhaps most importantly, the dealing with the young ones among you in the face of the teacher/parent’s having found that the older and settled mythologies are not acceptable.

This is a large subject, and we shall do no more this evening than scratch the surface. However, we would like to give you some ideas, reminding you, [as] always, that we are prone to error, as any which is not whole and entirely within the Creator. As long as we have an identity of our own, there will be biases, and we ask always that you remember to discriminate carefully, and to keep those truths that seem helpful, to keep those inspirations that seem to be truth that you remember and recognize for the first time, and if something jars or is unhelpful, lay it aside and move ahead. That is part of what creating a personal myth consists in.

Now, let us lay some groundwork. First of all, the words mythology and religion should be far more interchangeable than they are. The difficulty is that in myth there is no judgment between one myth and another, whereas in religion those of one religion square off with hostility against those religions which in some way contradict it. Thus, we prefer to talk of all paths of spirituality as personal myths, including classical paths such as the path of mystical Christianity, the path of literal Christianity, the path of mystical Buddhism, the path of literal Buddhism, and so forth.

Realize that the essence of myth is to move the seeking entity by its own faith and its desire to know the truth over a kind of rainbow bridge, a magical covenantal span that links time and eternity, that which is known and that which is a mystery. Those who dwell in that which is known have a deadness inside them, though they live and their hearts beat. Those that dwell from time to time in eternity have a livingness that only crossing that span into eternity may offer. Certainly, there are those who naturally and unaffectedly spend each moment in the present moment. These are, for the most part, the young souls which parent/teachers are responsible for aiding in their growth and nurturing in the agony of constant change as growth occurs.

Therefore, we do not wish to engage in judgment betwixt settled world religions, except to describe how they create the rainbow bridge to eternity. Within the Oriental religions, the consciousness is considered to be spiritual, and that which is honored is the continuation of living eternity: father to child, to its child, to its child, and so forth. This mythological path is a path of ethic and wisdom. It is somewhat passive and unsuited to the Western, shall we say, mentality, as this instrument would put it.

That which you may call Buddhist is a group of paths covering exercise, breathing, work and worship. It is, perhaps, the most passive of the paths that are traditional, in that the goal is to cleanse the self of preferences so that one may see clearly and be unmoved by the illusion. This is a path of wisdom. The Muslim and the Jewish religions are those which have the God which acts for and against entities on a sometimes apparently capricious basis. This is a religion of ethic and one is taught to do certain things which shall span the rainbow bridge to eternity.

The many kinds of Christian religion are, to some extent, the more active of the world religions in that there is a strong ethic implied, an ethic of excellence, purity and good behavior, yet also an ethic which states quite clearly that by no means shall action bring one to paradise, to eternity, over the bridge. In this particular spiritual system it is acknowledged that there must be the bridge in place that by faith can be crossed. The Occidental part of the world finds this ethical and mythical system in its activity more suited culturally, and, indeed, though all the so-called world religions have much to offer, it is probable that the parable of the channeling of Jesus the Christ, being part and parcel of the culture in which each present dances, is perhaps the most accessible and the most useable.

Now, we speak of Christianity, Buddhism, Shintoism and so forth as if they were singular. This is not so. Each of these religious systems has one thing in common, and that is a call to mysticism, a call to a life in faith. That faith is what makes the bridge between time and eternity firm. Faith is fed by desire. Thus, the beginning of the creation of the personal myth is a burning, passionate, consuming desire to know the truth, the truth of who you are, of that which you are constructed, of your relationships to eternity and imperishability. Consciousness is malleable. It is plastic. And you are either at the helm of your consciousness or being dragged along by it, having lost the reins. Therefore, when deciding to create a personal mythology it is well first to grasp the reins of desire and discipline and passion, to hone and whet the edge of the need to know, the desire to understand. If you seek the Creator, your path will come to you.

Now, if one looks at any of the world religions—and we shall concentrate, since we are speaking to those of western culture, on Christianity—one may see that the images, the parables, the myth of the life of Jesus the Christ itself has very little objective referent to the time in which you now experience this illusion. It does not fire the imagination to think of the images and the stories which Christianity has to offer. The younger one is the more true this is, simply because the parental generation may well not have offered the child the experience of organized religion, and the child, therefore, may not have a clear image of that for which it hungers, for at any age a spirit will hunger and thirst for spiritual food.

Thus, in relation to the children we would suggest very strongly that if the parents do not engage in traditional church-going, it is well if there be an altar or holy place, small as it may be, within the dwelling or close to the dwelling that may be dry from the weather and accessible in all temperatures so that one may go there and meditate each day. When children see how seriously the parents desire to know the truth, when they see dailyness and discipline in seeking, they will, by osmosis and acting like the parents, imitate and grow to feel that place within themselves that hungers for heavenly food.

In short, what we are saying is, what you use to make the bridge should be a product of your desire. That which you can have imperishable faith in will come to you. Accept nothing that does not feel solid, and if it does feel solid no longer, leave it behind and move onward, for truth recedes infinitely in front of the pilgrim, remaining always a mystery and allowing one more and more, as one grows more and more mature and aged, to see the great depth, breadth and height of the spiritual path, the amount of glory and strength in service to others, the amount of joy and peace indwelling in love and light with those who also seek. To have companions along the way is most important.

There are other reasons for the rejection of ancient myths than that of their being irrelevant to that which is occurring at this time upon your planet. That is, few people, for instance, breed sheep; therefore the thought of the one known as Jesus as shepherd is difficult to manage, and the leaving of the ninety-nine for the one that is lost nothing more than a cosmic joke. Those of you in the West have experienced and are extending to all portions of the Earth the experience of heightened technology. Science has mistakenly assumed that it is separate from spirituality. This is a fatal flaw within science, and it shall be corrected, although within your particular life experience, it may not yet be evident science and spirituality are one.

Knowledge has nothing to do with faith. Dogma and doctrine are deadly enemies of faith. To live a life in faith is simply to say, “I have faith that I am a survivor, that I am held in the gentle arms of a kindly Creator, that that which is happening to me right now is what is supposed to be happening to me right now.” Those who wish to polarize towards to service to others add upon that faith by attempting to listen carefully to others, that they may know how best to serve—not how to please, but serve.

The materialism within your culture and the work ethic within your culture both mitigate strongly against an appropriate attitude towards creating a personal myth, for though it is well to have good ethics and good moral behavior, the bridge to eternity is made almost entirely of the deep and intuitive portions of the mind, the feelings, the emotions, and the inspiration.

We ask each of you, honestly, what inspires each? We see confusion in your minds at this question, except for this instrument who has chosen its own personal mythology as mystical Christianity. Thus, we say to you, concentrate upon this creation. Begin to know who you are by processes which may be described easily—that of keeping the diary, that of keeping the dream diary, that of moving back in mind to painful experiences in the past and working with them until there is balance and forgiveness.

You see, without the bridge to eternity each entity is stuck fast in the mire of time and space. Things will go on and on, a road that never ends. This is an unreal picture of reality, but a true picture of the illusion in which you find yourself at this time. The key to forming a personal mythology, then, is to discover that which you may have faith in; that is, not belief, but simple faith. It often works best, for those who are new to the concept of being, to act as though one had faith in a kindly Creator and a redeeming Creator, and therefore to be able to forgive yourself and others simply by the strength of your faith. It is not faith in anything or anyone, perhaps, but merely a faith in the general kindliness of the one infinite Creator and of your own preference to serve others, to polarize towards the positive rather than to serve the self and control others, to move along a negative path.

How does one create a personal myth? It begins, as most things do, with the process of coming to know the self well, coming to feel the yearnings, the frustrations, the strong and the weak points of the self. Coming to find out what the self really desires, then honing that desire, sharpening that desire and becoming passionate in the desire to know the truth of the infinite One and your relationship to the infinite Creator.

When you have determined that which creates the bridge to eternity for you, we urge you to cross that bridge as often as possible. The ideal which was shown by many Christed entities is to live in such a way that the entire life experience becomes a channeling, a parable of the journey to infinity, of the ridding of oneself of the dross of perishability and the winning through of the understanding that your consciousness, more and more refined, polarized and uplifted, is, indeed, imperishable and is your true self. The more time one spends having crossed the rainbow bridge into eternity while in the physical body, the more one is able to offer in consolation, in forgiveness, in peace-making. For to one who has faith, there is no problem too great to solve, and that which is unsolvable is acceptable. Each day and night is its own entity, appreciated for itself, experienced for itself and action done for love out of faith. This is the life in faith.

Some entities require a very simple myth of a personal nature, and those within the so-called New Age movement demonstrate the simplistic nature of the path to infinity. It is, however, a path which is difficult to remain upon, for the nature of the illusion is to challenge and test the growing entity again and again. Those who feel that there is naught but love and light may be most distressed and confused by that which happens in the life experience which may be called traumatic or devastating. The impulse is to remove the faith and replace it with anger. Avoid such impulses, for the Creator is not simplistic. The Creator and you, together, have designed quite carefully the kind of lessons of love that you are to attempt to study within this life experience. To study them as a materialistic entity who lives and dies is, perhaps, all too often to remain asleep to the possibilities of challenge.

To face each trouble, difficulty and challenge with confident faith and quiet sureness in that bridge is to distance oneself from time and space, and, with that longer point of view, to gaze upon experience and choose the reaction which the hero would have. For this is the essence of myth. The hero, whether it be the Christ known as Jesus, the Christ known as Buddha, the Christ known as Lao Tsu, or the Christ known as Zoroaster, makes very little difference if one is mystical in one’s faith and non-literal. The great difficulty with all settled religious systems is that they have become combative, materialistic and an artifact of the world and the culture in which you live.

Many are the priests in all faiths that attempt with every fiber of the being to retrieve the parables, the mythology, the story which initially sparked the spiritual movement. However, divisive elements, competitive elements within the nature of humankind create an ever onward going series of schism, splits, disagreements and steps backwards from unity into discord. Thus, many choose not to frequent the established spiritual system of myth for public worship. There is, however, an instinctive need for group worship. There is a need to come together as the children of the infinite Creator to worship, to offer praise and thanks and to ask for blessings.

Thus, there are meetings, such as these and many other of the so-called New Age type, which aid the seeker in the creation of his own story. The personal myth is that of the hero or the heroine who must go on a very difficult and challenging journey. During this journey, this entity will lose everything which it has, but by the aid of the infinite Creator, in one form or another, that which has been lost miraculously revivifies and becomes imperishable. This is the basic parable or story of the hero.

Let us look at the compelling myth of the Holy Grail. It has perhaps seized the imagination of mystics in a more direct way than any spiritual system, for it involves entities in a myth which is adventurous. The hero must go forth alone. It must pass impossible tests. It must bring back that which is unavailable, seemingly, and it must do it for the love of the infinite Creator. It is, of course, in the journey itself that the transformation of the hero occurs. When the hero returns, this entity, then, becomes the teacher, able to speak in parables and stories, anecdotes that may make sense to those about one.

What is your story? Have you conceived of yourself as a hero or a heroine? Have you learned to love the self and realized the consciousness of the self as blessed and holy…

[Side one of tape ends.]

(Carla channeling)

…and to become able to hollow the self of those things which are materialistic, greedy, grasping and worldly? The hero must lose a great deal of emotional and mental baggage, must unlearn the biases of pain and suffering found in childhood experiences and adult experiences as well, so that the life is self-forgiven, the self is seen as consciousness, which in essence is holy.

By sending oneself upon the metaphysical journey of the pilgrim, one sets out for the Holy Grail, the impossible dream. One has nothing but faith, whether the personal myth combines well with traditional spiritual systems or whether the personal myth has been created by the self, the entity needs to see itself as a true hero, one who wishes to serve, to sacrifice, and to learn. With the heart open, with the intellect disciplined, the traveler begins to learn to feel the natural feelings of consciousness.

The feeling we hope most to encourage you in is the emotion of worship or thanksgiving or praise. For the infinite Creator, the Imperishable One, is indeed Head of all, Source of all and Omega to all. You are all, indeed, a portion of the infinite Creator. And when your personal myth, your personal journey has been enough refined—and we are not at that state yet, at all—you shall one day gather that consciousness in its purity, having burned away all the dross of illusion, and move once again into the uncreated love of the one infinite Creator.

To sum, we encourage you to do two things. Firstly, to realize the central importance of living a life which points towards imperishability on a daily basis. In this way shall the pilgrim slowly discover its power, its strength, and its service. Secondly, we wish to encourage each parent to allow the children to see an active worship period on a daily basis in the home for those who do not attend the traditional places of worship. And for those who do attend the traditional places of worship, let there be the daily practice of that particular form of worship within the home environment. In either case, the young spirit shall, by identifying with the father and the mother, which seem like the Creator to the young spirit, will then have solidly, firmly in the subconsciousness of childhood for the entire life experience of the feeling of the presence of the one infinite Creator. This is a great, great gift to give your children. It demands discipline upon the part of parents, for it is difficult to do anything upon a daily basis. We are aware of your work ethic. We are aware of your busyness. We ask that you make the time to worship each day, standing upon the holy ground that is beneath your feet wherever you stand, for within yourself there is holiness.

Encourage yourself in your pilgrimage and love one another. And although you need not believe in Jesus Christ or Buddha Christ or whomever, we ask that you have a consciousness of faith and live a life of faith to create that which you were born to be—a living string in the plangent tonality of infinite love.

We are glad to be with you in your daily meditations or spiritual observances. You have only mentally to ask, and we will be there silently, attempting to aid in deepening the meditation or increasing the intensity of the spiritual experience.

We thank this instrument and would transfer at this time, in love and in light and in the joy and in thanks, to the one known as Jim. I am Q’uo.

(Jim channeling)

I am Q’uo, and greet each again in love and light through this instrument. At this time we are honored to offer ourselves in the attempt to speak to any further queries which may remain upon the minds of those present this evening. Is there a query at this time?

You spoke of ridding oneself of pain and suffering of experiences in childhood. Could you speak about this a little bit longer?

I am Q’uo. This topic, my brother, moves into that area of the examination of the life pattern which seeks to understand the roots of that life which has grown to the point at which the self now finds it expressing itself. The attempt to look at those formative experiences within the young years of the life experience is an attempt to see the means by which the preincarnative choices have been set in motion. It is during this portion of the life experience that the seeds of these choices are planted within the fertile soil of the young child, for at this time the child has a far more active subconscious mental capacity that is more malleable, shall we say, and which shall, as it is formed, continue to feed the parameters of the formation to the growing and soon-to-be dominant conscious mind of the entity.

Thus, it is well to explore how this process was carried out in order to gain a clearer understanding of those patterns and preferences which have become, to the observant student, repeated themes within the life pattern. This study may be undertaken in a number of ways, or should we say, there are many methods by which this study may be accomplished. To begin the searching of the conscious memory and analyzing those remembered experiences of significance is recommended, for the conscious mind does retain a great deal of information to the student which seeks the resources contained therein. Oftentimes this study, beginning with the conscious reflection, is well accomplished in the recording of a journal or diary that may be shared with others that are seeking the same goals for themselves, for though one may remember significant experiences, oftentimes it is the comment of another that will show the experience in another light or perspective and will add to the depth or richness of the reconstructed experience.

A natural outgrowth of the conscious reflection is to look within the subconscious mind for that which resides there in memory concerning these same experiences. The subconscious mind may be accessed by the hypnotic regression or by the recording and revealing of the dreams that have been received as a result of continued asking of the subconscious mind to give the conscious mind the information that the conscious mind seeks. The dream episodes at some point then will begin to reflect the formative experiences which are felt to be significant to the seeking entity.

There are many means by which information gained in such a manner may be analyzed, and it is well to review the dream landscape by the method which feels to the seeker to have the most to offer. There may be an interchange or blending of techniques from time to time. It is always helpful to engage in such review and analysis with others, for, again, the insights of the objective observer are oftentimes helpful to the seeker, which may not have the same perspective as another would have. To then utilize this information, however it has been gained, to gain a larger view of the life pattern and to begin to observe the roots, shall we say, of cause and effect, is the goal which the student will seek by such methods. There is the possibility, then, that by understanding the reasons for certain behaviors, that the student will begin to accept these behaviors and then the self in a greater degree, so that there might be more affecting of the conscious evolution in a freely chosen manner in the present moment, rather than having the behavior continually moved as is the marionette by forces that reach far back into the early years of the incarnation.

Is there another query, my brother?

No, thank you. That explained what I was wondering about.

I am Q’uo, and we thank you, my brother. Is there another query?

I have one about children, something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. I myself was raised with extreme responsibility for my age, and older than my age. I find myself, as an adult, able to deal with children in an authoritative way which escapes all my friends. My friends’ children seem to be only under a very limited amount of control, and in some cases, such as my friend B, no control whatsoever. Yet, I may go into the same situation and establish my own relationship with the same young entities, clearly define the limits which I find acceptable, and am able to make a perfectly reasonable relationship with the children, whom I see as young souls who have just as much to say as I do. I am puzzled. I realize that each child is different and each child needs special things, but I wonder what the effect is of so many children these days having very elastic limits in every direction, so they truly do not know what would be the correct thing to do at any one time? Or am I simply uptight in wanting to control the situation for my comfort in asking children to behave?

I am Q’uo, and am aware of your query, my sister. The, shall we say, more modern theories in the raising of children have evolved, as do all theories and thought, from that which has gone before, and each portion of the process has that which is helpful and that which is not. Each attempts to build upon that which has gone before, and yet there is oftentimes a, shall we say, lag in the development of a truly superior means of achieving any goal. Much trial and error must take place before there is true progress.

The tenor or tone of the raising of children in years previous to those now experienced by your present culture was one that partook more of what we shall call wisdom, the clearly defined rules and limits that would be enforced with the harsh word and the rod. There was, as a general rule, less concern for the feelings, the rights, and the development of the young entity. This tenor or tone has, through the years and the modification of each generation, moved from that which we have called wisdom to that which we might call compassion, where there is, indeed, a great deal of concern for the feelings, the rights, and the experiences of each young entity. There is, perhaps, in our humble opinion, an overbalance in this case, of compassion, which has replaced the clearly defined limits of wisdom. Thus, the child is placed at the center of concern with, in many cases, little to guide the child as to the appropriateness of its choices when its choices infringe upon the rights of others.

It is helpful to be able to blend both the wisdom to set limits and the compassion for the child’s development, so that the creative nature of each child finds a free range of expression within a certain field of experience, the field of experience being defined in the large part by the parents with the aid and assistance of the larger community of the educational system, the cultural mores, and the inspirational or religious direction. Thus, the child would find that it was free to a degree, with the freedom and range of freedom enlarging with the passing of years and the gaining of experience which would inform the decision-making process for the young entity that is now maturing into the entity which has discovered that its field or limits have also enlarged with its own experience and increasingly fall within its own free will choices.

It is difficult for any of those parents of your present culture to reconcile the discipline with which they were raised and the difficulties that many experienced with this discipline, and to reconcile these conclusions with the strong desire to give to the young entity a feeling of selfness which the parents have determined is important for the child to be able to express itself in those ways which are available to it. Thus, there is the ongoing process of refining the techniques by which the child is nurtured into adulthood.

Is there another query, my sister?

No, thank you. Thank you very much.

I am Q’uo, and we thank you, my sister. Is there another query?

One last one. I know that after we have come back with the Grail, as heroes or heroines, it is time to stand as a light on the hill, as the Christians say, so the city may see it. And I wondered what your opinion was on ways of doing that—being, doing, serving in soup kitchens, meditating? Is it equal for everyone to do whatever they do, or are there some services that are over others in preference?

I am Q’uo, and am aware of your query, my sister. Though, in the absolute and objective sense, there may be seen great inequality in one service over another, yet it must be remembered that each entity which incarnates within your third-density illusion has programmed those means by which that which is learned may be turned outward and shared with others by any of the means which you have mentioned, and by an infinite number of others as well, for within each life pattern there is presented the opportunity to learn those lessons which were considered appropriate for the incarnation, but also are offered those opportunities to share with others that which has been learned and that which has been taken within the being of the self, and which therefore colors all that proceeds from the self in a manner which has subtle or easily noticeable effects upon those about one or the environment in which one lives and works.

Thus, there is the pattern of experience laid out before each entity that includes both the learning and the teaching, and that which is appropriate for the entity is always provided for the entity so that there is little need to concern oneself overmuch with how to accomplish this or that goal. The most easily obtained means of achieving such goals is to notice that which is before one’s sight, before one’s experience, and to look upon each experience as that which holds the opportunity for both the learning and the serving.

Is there another query, my sister?

Just a follow-up on a personal note. I personally have had years of trouble—and it intensifies from time to time and it’s pretty intense now—dealing with increasing amount of disability and feeling that I’m really useless because I can’t fix dinner or iron or wash or sweep the floor or anything like that. About all I can do is care about people and communicate with them and do the channeling. And ironically, a lot of my friends feel that they’re not doing anything, because all that they’re doing is cooking and cleaning and so forth, and they’re not doing anything dramatic. I wonder where the peace is for a feeling of being of service? A very nebulous question, but a real one.

I am Q’uo, and am aware of your query, my sister. In this regard may we say that peace within your illusion has a small place. There is a time that occasionally occurs for each entity in which it will feel the peace and the contentment of that which has been accomplished and will feel a quiet and joyful anticipation of that which is to come. Yet, for most a great deal of time is taken up within the incarnation agonizing over just those points which you have raised. This angst is that which might be seen as the motivator to seeking, for if one were always peaceful and satisfied with that which has occurred in the life pattern, there would be little to move one into further learning and further service.

Thus, the dissatisfaction that may tinge to a greater or lesser degree all that one accomplishes within the life pattern, and, indeed, the life pattern itself, may be seen as the, shall we say, grease which keeps the wheels turning. Thus, we recommend that even this dissatisfaction be valued for its motivational qualities. However, it is also helpful to keep the process lightly in mind, with a certain perspective that allows for acceptance of the self as one queries inwardly what the most appropriate means is to learn and to serve next. The light touch, that which retains the wider point of view, is a great ally to the seeker, and is the balance to the overdone angst, shall we say.

Is there a further query, my sister?

No, thank you, that is all, Q’uo.

I am Q’uo, and we thank you once again, my sister. Is there a final query at this time?

[Pause]

I am Q’uo. We are most grateful for being invited to join your circle of seeking this evening. We have been most heartened by the queries, which we feel have struck close to the heart for the purpose for the incarnation and the means by which the purpose shall be discovered and enacted by each seeker of truth. We have enjoyed sharing our opinions, and we do remind each that we have shared opinions. We do not wish our words to be taken too seriously, shall we say, if they do not sound a note of harmony within.

We shall look, as you would say, forward to those times in your future during which we shall again have the opportunity to blend our vibrations with yours and to walk more closely on that path which you now find yourselves on, that path which leads ever onward and ever homeward. We are those of Q’uo, and we leave each at this time in the love and in the light of the one infinite Creator. Adonai, my friends. Adonai.