The question this evening has to do with stress, and the predominance of stress in more and more people’s lives and more and more intensely as our modern round of activities every day seems to include so many things to do, people to see, and hurdles to jump that a lot of people really don’t have too much time to sit and meditate, or to even contemplate the more spiritual aspect of their lives. So, what our question this evening is: How can we, in this type of society that moves so quickly and seems to leave so little time for the contemplative and prayerful and meditative of our lives, how do we manage to cope? How do we deal with our stress?

(Carla channeling)

I am Q’uo, and I greet you in the love and the light of the one infinite Creator. It is a pleasure, a privilege, and a blessing for us to share this meditation with you. We cannot thank you enough for calling for our humble opinions at this time.

The subject which you approach is a symptom rather than it’s a basic cause; that is, stress is not free-floating but rather has its roots in the undisciplined personality. Therefore, we shall speak about personality and its discipline as a kind of base of information before we discuss the question of stress, the great difficulty of your culture with its speedy changes and cultural dangers.

It is, indeed, no wonder that entities feel stress, for the very planet upon which you place your feet is at this time under tremendous stress, for it must be birthed into fourth density and therefore the question of stress and how to deal with it is most important, because those of you who seek to be of service to others are primarily seeking first to be of service to the planetary consciousness, to lighten it and to lighten the burden of the Earth as it is birthed into fourth density. It is at this time having a somewhat difficult delivery simply because there is much misplaced strong opinion upon things which cannot have objective reference, and, therefore, cannot be proven or shared from person to person. Without communication possible, one is left with one’s biases and the stress, basically, that you feel is that of non-communication or unclear communication.

The disciplining of the personality has two basic parts. The first part is that intentional effort made upon a daily basis to spend whatever moment one does have remembering, thanking, praising and praying to the one infinite Creator with a feeling of awe, wonderment and mystery, realizing that you are part of that mystery, that the Creator lies within you as well as within all those whom you meet, and all the beautiful plants and animals, and even elements. The human entity is a very vast illusion which makes it appear that each is separate and alone. This in itself is stressful, for to be completely alone is to rely upon the self even when the self would, perhaps, be aided by rest, contemplation or those quiet pleasures of leisure which are denied to so many who labor daily and long in order to provide for those whom they love.

The turning to the Creator within is a massive basic discipline. We have times without number stressed the importance of daily meditation, and we do so now again, noting that meditation can be as swift as the striking of the clock if you have trained your mind at the chiming of the clock to turn to the one infinite Creator in praise and thanksgiving for the good that is in your life. This takes only a moment, but during that moment you rest in eternity and it is a true rest. You cannot move too quickly for the spirit of love to find you and to comfort you. It is in the mental turning within, the mental face, that silent listening, even if only for a moment or two, will center one upon holy ground that can aid each no matter how busy with the daily round that is so stressful.

It is also true of your culture that the pace of leisure has become hectic and rushed also so that the more contemplative leisure activities often have given way to the socialization, the parties, the competition, and those things which, instead of relaxing the entity, add to the level of stress.

So, we would suggest those two things. First, momentary centering whenever possible. You may do it your own way. It does not have to be the striking of a clock. All entities have clocks that strike. It may be a whistle that you may hear that lets people out of a factory. It may be simply that you may remind yourself by looking at the time passing when you glance at your watch or your clock that you are on the Creator’s time as well as the time of this illusion. And this realization of itself becomes your tabernacle and it will rest you. But you must turn within and allow the peace and the quietness and the strength of that which is real—that is, the love and the light of the one infinite Creator—to come deeply home to your heart so that you do not feel any longer alone.

The aloneness is part of the illusion that causes the stress, and that is why we constantly say to each of you, “Love one another,” for those who console, those who pardon, those who listen and comfort, those who give because of the love of giving, may feel the same stress as others, but, as they cast that stressful effort in service to others, so washes back the love and the light that is the reflection of your service.

Now we shall speak about stress. In the first place, this illusion was designed to be uncomfortable, stressful, mysterious and confusing. We feel that the illusion is fairly good at providing these qualities. This level of confusion is necessary because each of you are in the process of making a choice of service to others or service to self.

Now, when we speak of service to self we are not speaking of the work in consciousness which must be done if one is able to be of service to others. We are speaking of the service to self that causes entities to manipulate each other, to attempt to change each other, and so forth. Avoid, at all costs, the attempts to improve, change and modify any situation in which you have not been asked, for silence is often the greatest comfort to another rather than reams and reams of good, but irrelevant, advice.

Thus, your service to others who are stressed involves the waiting patiently for the request for information. And when that information is requested, it is well for you to center deeply, to move into the deepest consciousness of which you are capable and with intuition and guidance from within you may then speak those words which are affirmative, not negative, which are stress relievers, because they show to the one you are aiding a longer view, the wider perspective. The lack of perspective, the getting too close to the illusion so that one begins not to see the illusion but its apparent reality, is the greater error which those upon the path of service to others may make, for it pulls one away from one’s central deep beingness.

Now, we are speaking to those who are working consciously to accelerate their spiritual evolution. This message is not for those who are merely toying with the idea of meditating or are not serious in their seeking but rather [are] simply open-minded and interested. That which we have to say moves deeply into the part of the being that is all feeling, which has been so much ignored and so much repressed and denied that it is no wonder that there is a great deal of stress.

We understand why much of the illusion is ignored. In this instrument’s case, for instance, if the instrument were willing to be fully conscious at all times of the physical catalyst having to do with the arthritis which it experiences it would stop this entity from its service to others and would turn the focus towards service to self. Therefore, some stresses are not negative, but positive. If an entity knows why it must be under stress, that in itself relaxes the stress. For instance, this entity knows that it will accept as much difficulty as the day will bring while continuing to attempt to be of service. There is stress involved in this, but it is the stress of one who seeks to serve, and in each case, whether the stress is because of illness or difficulty, because of difficult relationships or because of the simple organic beingness which has become burnt out, as this instrument would say, the stress needs to be approached in a positive and affirmative way.

Let us take a moment to use this instrument’s mind and ears and senses to point out at this time the soft cry of animals which are without the building, the gentle creaks and groans of your habitation as it settles into the cool of the day, shrinking and becoming somewhat different, although that difference cannot be seen by the human eye. We are aware that as you sit in circle each of you finds joy in the seriousness of seeking of each other; each is able to build a trust because that goal is shared.

Therefore, when one feels most full of stress it is the time not so much to ask for help but to be of help, not so much to ask for comfort but to be of comfort to others. For, in dealing with others in a positive and affirmative way, one receives a hundred-fold that love which one has sent forth. Not that one loves in order to receive the bounty of love! This, indeed, is service to self and will not result in comfort. It is the genuine desire to serve and love, understand and console each other that brings peace to each and joy and affirmation to the one which you are serving and to yourself as you see the onus lightening, the yoke becoming easy, the stress level lowering.

The concept of money, rather than barter, or simply each being able to take what one needs and to give back what one does not, is so far from the pattern in your culture that it is remarkable. Rather than seeing spouses, children, co-workers, friends, acquaintances and strangers as the Creator, one who has not spent a moment upon holy ground lately is liable to view many or all of these entities antagonistically and confrontively. For, each feels that each has the right idea and therefore wishes to be of service by promulgating that right idea. This is a most stressful act. It is much, much kinder in a situation where one in whom you are in relationship with has difficulties, to sympathize and to await the giving of advice until it is asked. Simple sympathy and consolation and the expression of sure forgiveness of both self and other self is that which will lighten the load that each carries.

Now, each carries a load. There are no exceptions to this rule, for you are in an intense density. Many of you have come back to this density to be sure you understand the lessons of love. That is, that love is always given with no expectation of return. For wanderers, who are here to aid in the lightening of the planet upon which you dwell, this is very important.

Realize, each of you, that stress must not get in the way of the light touch, the merry joke, the smile, the grin, the laughter, the good times. That is your true nature. You are all children of the Creator, and the Creator is love and joy, merriment and peace. Therefore, it is a matter of shifting the point of view from gazing at stressful situations and realizing that they are stressful to gazing at the same situation and asking the self confidently, serenely and surely, “What may I do to be part of the good that is occurring upon the planet at this time? What service may I perform?” Many times you find that the only service you have been asked to perform is that service of preparing the personality with the discipline of the free will so that one is not at the beck and call of one’s emotions, that is, the surface emotions of the uninformed and mystery-clad being, but, rather, moves from the deeper source that is the heart and the spirit.

The noise level of your society is stressful. We note that particularly because of the fondness that your culture has for the gadgets: the television, the video games, the armchair watching of others competing like gladiators. The noise beats against the serene and quiet mind and creates a cluttered mental landscape in which one finds it difficult to think clearly because one’s attention is scattered, one eye upon the television, one eye upon one’s empty stomach, another eye upon the consumer world relationship in the past or in the future.

It is well to discipline the personality to avoid this sort of free-floating thinking, worrying and being concerned. The answer to stress is action. For, in action one lets go of the stress because one is doing what one can, and when that is done there is a feeling, perhaps, of sadness that one subjectively feels that one has not been effective. But, metaphysically speaking, the intention to be of service, the effort to be of service, the sharing of the self is most precious and most relieving of stress, both for the giver and for the one to whom it is given.

We ask each of you to give each other the gift of love and peace and laughter and joy. What you cannot do for yourself you can do for others. Allow others to minister unto you as you minister unto them.

There are many, many activities which bombard each of you. The days, far from being relaxed and long, with each entity spending time in the second-density creation of the Father, taking heart, taking consolation from the beauty—indeed, many do not see second-density beauty of tree and flower and butterfly, for the mind is single pointed towards the next chore, the next activity, as if chores and activities were all-important and the heart and soul of yourself were only something that may be tended to in your off-hours. It is difficult discipline to move from that off-center perception of the way things are to the realization that the beginning of a life lived peacefully is the disciplining of the personality so that one sees not confrontive people, not angry people, not disturbed entities, not catastrophes but, rather, love at work.

Love gives entities the chance, again and again, to choose. Yours is the density of the first choice upon which many, many beyonds of your time will refine. Here you are intensely seeking that choice. That which will most get in the way, that which will most discourage one, is one’s own feeling of failure at dealing appropriately with situations. We encourage each to analyze and balance emotions positive and negative so that you are, as much of the time as you can be, aware that you stand not only in time and space but in eternity, not only upon the good earth but upon holy and sacred ground, for the kingdom of the Creator is within each of you. All of your answers are within each of you. You, yourself, will be your teacher.

We may say things to you but unless they come to you as that which is remembered for the first time, that which seems perfectly obvious once it is spoken, it may not be your truth for this moment, and in that case we urge each to forget and pay no attention to those ideas which are unhelpful. We would not be a stumbling block to you and add stress to your stress by giving a long list of things which one must do to relieve stress. It is basically a pulling back of the point of view. The longer the point of view, the clearer the challenges of loving other people without expectation of return become. That is, the simple heart of living a less stressful life, becoming confident of your role within this illusion, this dance which you dance, for a fleeting moment, a parenthesis in eternity. To realize that you are eternal, imperishable and one with the Creator, to affirm that, to give praise for that, to give thanks for your blessings—these are things which take seconds but which may turn the mood completely.

Now, we have observed that among your peoples it is considered an acceptable hobby, shall we say, to worry, to be concerned, to question the self and to feel insecure. It would be a miracle if this were not so, for you have outstripped your spiritual seeking with the creation of many powerful gadgets. So, you are as if those in grade school, handling the materials that you shall receive many grades hence, and you must always remind yourself that you must turn your mind back from high-flying ideals and concerns to the moment, which is eternity, that present moment which resonates forever. When you are there you will hear the cries for help and you will be able to respond, not out of duty or out of feeling that you should respond, but because you see a soul in anguish and you wish to give comfort. That first soul in anguish is yourself. Therefore, we encourage each to work steadily on the disciplining of the personality so that when negative thought patterns occur they are recognized, discarded and replaced with an attitude of affirmation, love, praise and thanksgiving.

How can one who works from dawn to dusk and then has many responsibilities thereafter follow our suggestions? A radical departure would be to arise a half hour or an hour earlier and to spend that time in meditation and prayer. This is a drastic move which has helped many who were stressed almost beyond the limits of sanity. A great tool and resource for the reducing of stress goes with the larger point of view, and that is the sense of humor. Any illusion has its synergies and their…

[Side one of tape ends.]

(Carla channeling)

I am Q’uo. We shall continue. And if you gaze at the universe, not with a jaundiced eye, but with the eye of a merry child, one may see the comedy amidst the tragedy that is life as you experience it. The light touch, the sense of humor, is extremely helpful in lightening stress. To laugh is to be within the Kingdom of Heaven. To be in close love and harmony with another is to experience the bliss of that heavenly kingdom. These are things which are from time to time available to each of you. When these blessings surround you, recognize them. And when non-dramatic blessings occur, cultivate the habit of thanksgiving and praise.

You may give thanksgiving for simple things: for a crust of bread, for a roof to keep out sun and rain, heat and cold in their extremes, for clothing to make one comfortable, for the sound of bird cry and the rustle of bush and tree, the gentle pit-patter of rain upon your roof. So many things, my friends, so many things which are blessings which are easily overlooked.

When your mind is occupied with noticing the beauty, the goodness, that which is to be praised, that which requires thanksgiving, one is much too busy to be in stress. One has become of a different mind. And this affirmative mind is not that mind of a “Pollyanna,” but simply a mind that is willing to appreciate light in the darkness.

You live in darkness, but your hope is your light. As you hope to become more and more of service to others, let the hope shine as a beacon before you, drawing you ever onward, reminding you to step back from situations and to find the humor, the pathos, the sympathy, those positive emotions which one may fruitfully share with another.

An excellent stress reliever in the physiological sense, and that is in terms of removing the chemical imbalances in the brain due to stress, is simple exercise. And we would suggest for each that some program of exercise be followed in order that the physiological components of stress, those chemicals within the brain cells which cause these feelings, are able to be learned away by physical effort. It does not take a terribly long time—this instrument would call the time of exercising, perhaps, one half an hour as being completely adequate to remove the chemical basis of stress from the mind. Now, this only removes that which has already been a catalyst for the individual as stress and has not been used as catalyst, and, therefore, has moved into the body and mind complex and manifests as stress.

You may see yourself as a kind of transmitter, as each of you are instruments, each of you are channeling from within yourself the portion of yourself with which you are in touch. The secret, my friends, is to move ever deeper within the self in gentleness and respect and care that you do not do violence to yourself, but that gradually you are able to move into that consciousness in which stress is unnecessary.

We may say in a practical manner that it is much to be desired that entities choose those means of earning their daily bread, those relationships which are close, which add to one’s peace and bliss and love. The taking of the job which is not desired is a self-destructive action unless one is so convinced that one needs to do just that in order to support one’s dependents that it is worth the sacrifice. In that case the stress level should reduce itself dramatically in that the entity is aware that it is playing a role on the stage of this illusion for which it has not been well cast but it cannot find other parts to play at this moment and so it is doing the best it can with what lies before it.

And that, my friends, is the heart of removing stress from the life: to do that which is in front of you, without worry, without concern, but giving thanks each time one looks out the window and sees the beauty of the creation of the Father, giving thanks for smiles received and given, giving thanks for any beauty perceived. It is a matter of attitude.

We cannot say that you shall not be worn out by laboring at relationships or employments of the self that are not appropriate. And when these things occur, we suggest a very deep internal gaze to find why this challenge has been given you. For, you see, there are no mistakes. What is happening to you is that which is designed by yourself before this incarnation to occur. What you did not design, what you could not design, was the action of your free will in dealing with the experiences of life. Thus, as always, one turns to faith and the will. Faith that what is happening to you, no matter how stressful, is not that which has defeated you but that which has challenged you to deepen and broaden your perspective, to learn the hard lesson that the master known as Jesus the Christ personified by carrying his own cross. This entity said, “If you wish to follow me, pick up your cross.” The entity who said this was not feeling stress. It felt stress only before it had made its final decision.

Thus, we suggest that you work towards that fundamental choice: to do the will of the Creator, your greater self, which you and your greater self have arranged for you. This day and every day a life in faith is a life that glows from within. We cannot protect you, and we do not wish to protect you from the catalyst of your environment. It is intended to be challenging. It is intended to force you to make choices. Knowing what those choices are all about should aid each, and, as always, at any moment that you have leisure, move in consciousness to praise and thanksgiving for your consciousness, for those whom you love, for all the good that is within your life and for all that awaits you in that larger life of your imperishable soul.

You must refrain from seeing the self as victim, and, instead, see the self as student, student of life itself. This illusion was designed for you to study the laws of love and to become one who is radiant and has chosen to give love regardless of what it gets in return. This is your environment. The actions that you take within it are totally of your own free will, but if you have the faith and the will to know deep within yourself that these things that occur that are difficult are truly challenges to the spirit, then it is easier to do the work in consciousness that needs to be done. It is easier to recover a feeling of thanksgiving, a feeling of praise. It becomes easier to realize how incredibly blessed each is that each is experiencing and has consciousness.

Your being is most praiseworthy and worthy of thanksgiving. Because you have been, and are, and will be, you are an exciting portion of a most exciting creation. You carry that creation about within you. Find that part of yourself through constant realization that you stand upon holy ground and are not alone but one with the Creator and those servants of the Creator such as we and many others in your inner planes.

We are being told by this instrument that once again we have spoken too long and we do apologize. The instrument is capable of moving very deeply into concentration and is not aware of the time and we are afraid that anything to do with time/space remembering is difficult for us to gauge, as our reality is substantially different from your own. That is, our illusion is more transparent than your own, and, therefore, has less to do with the illusions of space and time.

We admire you, we wish very much to serve you and aid you. You are working harder than you will ever work again. But this is the important choice. This incarnation that you have now is an opportunity to choose once and for all to be a being of love, radiant, giving, sharing and loving. Make that choice and continue to polarize and the stress that you feel will bleed itself away as you find more and more things for which to give thanks, for which to give praise, for which to offer prayers. Do not see yourself entrapped in the illusion. It is an illusion. Look within to the great, vast reaches of the space within you, the space that is exemplified by the night sky. You carry infinity with you. Move into the present moment in thanksgiving and praise and rejoice.

We thank you for listening to us, though we are overlong, and would at this time wish to thank this instrument for being available to us, you for calling us, and would like to transfer this contact 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, if we have not overstayed our welcome, we would offer ourselves in the attempt to speak to any further queries which those present may have for us. Is there a query at this time?

[Inaudible]

I am Q’uo, and am aware of your query, my sister. It is indeed true that for each seeker that attempts to live a conscious life that this entity must begin with what is, whether that be within the self, within other selves or within the environment in which one lives the daily round of activity. This process of accepting that which is, whether it be easy or difficult, is a process of, in one sense, becoming able to appreciate each facet of the Creator that is revealed to you and to build upon this appreciation so that it becomes more natural to give praise and thanksgiving for all one’s experiences. For, within the attitude of praise and thanksgiving, one smoothes the journey, shall we say.

This ability to accept that which is unacceptable is not easily won within your illusion, for there is much that is not as you would have it be. You, each of you, you seek for those qualities of unconditional love, of clearly illuminated wisdom and for the power to be of service to others. It is well to look at those qualities that are unacceptable, wherever they are found, and to see them as some aspect of the self, whether they are obviously of the self, or of other selves, or of your environment.

To look upon that which is unacceptable and upon that which is acceptable as portions of the self, or aspects of some portion of the self, begins to put the focus where it must needs be placed. For the perception which one has in viewing the world, the self and other selves, is a perception which has been constructed internally and, in most cases, on a subconscious level, having origins in preincarnative choices so that certain opportunities would be presented to the self according to the way in which the self would see or experience the incarnation.

Thus, when one begins to appreciate one’s experience as being that which is completely internal, one then has the metaphysical feet, shall we say, upon firm ground and may begin to see not only that which is not yet acceptable but begin to see beyond the surface of that which is not acceptable so that there is not so much the reaction, or, shall we say, the knee-jerk reaction against that which is unacceptable, but there is the investigation of those qualities so that one may begin to understand their origins, their nature, their ramifications and their purpose within the being.

As this investigation is continued, it will be noted by the conscientious seeker that there is a certain freeing of the perceptions and the self that occurs when the truer nature of these distortions becomes known. It is well said that if one knows the truth the truth shall set one free. The careful investigation of those qualities which are unacceptable will eventually take one beyond the mere inability to accept certain qualities and will take one to those levels of the self which may be expressing in certain ways in order to attract the attention and allow a movement in the perception, in the consciousness, in a certain way that is indicated by the study of those portions of the self which are seen to be as unacceptable.

This new direction is that movement which has been planned, shall we say, preincarnatively and which offers to the entity the opportunity for releasing certain abilities, services and opportunities to grow that would not be possible without the biases and distortions that were first seen as unacceptable. That they are eventually seen is the hope that was born at the time of the incarnation so that these signposts, shall we say, would eventually lead the seeker in a manner which will yield the enhancement, the widening, the enrichment of not only the perceptions but of the small self which moves toward a union with the greater Self.

Is there a further query, my sister?

No, and I thank you.

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

[Pause]

I am Q’uo, and we are most grateful to have been invited to join your circle of seeking this evening, and again we apologize for speaking in a manner which is overly lengthy for most of your entities to appreciate. We so enjoy the opportunity to address those areas of your concern that we give too little thought, we fear, to your comfort, and we shall endeavor to be more brief in your future as you measure time.

At this time we shall again thank each for this joyful opportunity of sharing that which we have found to be helpful in our own journey of seeking and shall take our leave of this group, leaving each, as always, in the love and in the light of the one infinite Creator. We are known to you as those of Q’uo. Adonai, my friends. Adonai.