Group question: The question this afternoon has to deal with what is sometimes called the spiritual desert-like experience, in which one feels that one is in a wasteland and that the sustenance or the spirit in whatever way it was perceived is no longer present, that one is not connected to, or really partaking in that same experience; a feeling of being isolated and alone, abandoned even. We’ve noticed also that in the rushing through our daily round of activities we can also create something like the desert experience, in which we’re not connected to what we’re doing and we’re passing by so quickly that things and people just seems to be barely marking our days, and we’re wondering if the desert experience has a purpose, if it’s part of a spiritual cycle, and how we can be in that cycle and not be overly concerned about it, and just wondering in general what you might have to say about the spiritual desert experience.

(Carla channeling)

I am Q’uo. Greetings to each of you in the name of the One Who Is All. In love and in light we and you exist, and in that one creative love we greet you. In that pure and limitless light we salute you. We are asked to speak about the spiritual desert experience and are most happy to share our thoughts. However, we ask that each listen to these thoughts with the ear that is tuned by personal discrimination, for each person has his own truth, and to each person who hears that truth it seems as though it were being remembered rather than learned. If our thoughts do not evoke this feeling then we encourage each to lay them gently aside.

As you rest in this domicile upon this sun drenched day, listening to the small sounds of silence, there is the sensation of, shall we say, deceleration, as though the mind and its thoughts, which had been racing, were now slowed by the inactivity. We recommend meditation often, and our reason for doing so is precisely its effect upon the spiritual seeker, for the incarnational experience is one of action, and yet, if there is constant action, how can the fundamental nature of the pure self be felt or perceived? And without that self-knowledge, how then can the seeker move skillfully back into action in ways which address the deep concerns of seeking? How can one become more aware of one’s true nature unless one is willing to sit with the self, listening to that inner silence through which spirit and guidance speak to the conscious mind?

The feeling of being not present is a deadening and disturbing sensation, for the essence of your human experience is intense and continuing experience of action taken and choices presented and made to involve yourself in this process of perceiving choices and then making them is to be involved in the most nearly central work of your density of conscious seeking. It fulfills a deep portion of your nature, both to focus upon these perceived choices and to find one’s creative strength in applying choices already made. We say creative because this process of defining the self by its choices is peculiarly open to creative inspiration and insight.

When entities begin to feel hurried in the everyday life, there is the tendency to encourage within the self activities that numb the creative powers of perception. This is in order to avoid pain, for it is painful to spend the waking hours ceaselessly performing actions which the self feels are unimportant. Thusly, even when a meditation period is perceived by the self as being a failure because of an unremitting flow of inner noise, yet still the attempt to sit with the self and listen resensitizes the perceptions of self so that the self within feels stronger and more real. This in turn opens the inner door to the effect of that creative love which is the one great original Thought.

Thusly, one important way to approach the feeling of the spiritual desert experience is to place within the routines of each day those moments when the only goal is to sit with that inner reality and offer the self to the experience of being present with all that there is, for as you meditate you touch within that gate to eternal things, and the meditation becomes larger and larger until all the starry heavens dwell within the tiniest point of that meditative silence, and literally, the universe, the creation in totality, is tucked into the perception of self, and you are all that there is, and all that there is is part and parcel of your self.

For each of you perceives that he works upon the small self in the context of the day, the season, the moment, and these moments in the conscious mind seem to add up to a life too quickly experienced and are too soon over. When the self is feeling this disconnection, and the self feels less and less a portion of a beautiful creation, yet how to address the longing felt by one who does feel disconnected?

This instrument was speaking earlier of the feeling which her faith had given her within this spiritual desert experience, and we feel this is a good example of the ways seekers can use those choices already made. If one has the faith in one’s previous perceptions and respects one’s previous conclusions, this certainly aids materially in keeping an entity in balance. However, it is often that part of the desert experience is that one doubts and even rejects one’s previous perceptions and feels to be—we correct this instrument—and feels itself to be stranded, having no continuing beliefs. It is not that the pilgrim soul wishes to turn upon its past and rend it, but rather that the experience of the spiritual desert seems to openly and lucidly delineate a self which has been taken out of all previous patterns which comforted, so that there is in the truth seeking heart of the pilgrim the solemn and sure belief that all previous states were now left behind. When one’s context is not respected and a new one must be built, then there is a true desert experience.

Let us address this state of perception in which previous truths, previous patterns and previous emotions concerning spirit have been left behind, and the seeking self must be invented entirely. What would you do if suddenly you were not the sex you are, or the nationality that you are, the intelligence that you perceive in yourself, or the kind of entity you perceive yourself to be? Would these definitions of self, shall we say, then become irrelevant, or would the seeker need to reinvent each of these ways of thinking about the self? We suggest that the reason qualities such as nationality, sexuality and type of character are valued and are a part of each person’s web of perception is that they are fundamental building blocks of that milieu in which you have come to learn the lessons of love. These are not things you outgrow in third density. These are tools you use often in attempting to better perceive the day-to-day nature of your world.

Thusly, the first thing to avoid when feeling annihilated and full of desert times is the casual flinging away of identity. The small changes of everyday identifications of self are not unspiritual. These homely truths of self are portions of the self which has come to learn those things which are greater than any description of that which goes into them can possibly encompass. You use these building blocks, and many, many other, not simply to distinguish the self from others or each entity from another, but to do work in consciousness in which words are given burdens greater than words can bear. This is the reason poetry and music are so compelling to those sensitive to the freight that they do carry, for the common places within the life do not remain common when one is sitting with them in faith that there is that nature of self which is more than its circumstances or its expression.

In music, the tones create words which carry more feeling, more deep emotion than could be explained. In poetry, the words themselves are twisted together until they make a rope stronger in evocative truth than the words used to make the rope. And when two hearts touch, whether silently or with words, a commerce is achieved from self to self that far outstrips the power of expression, for you are within an illusion in which every possible means of distraction is purposefully placed to allow the full travel of free will to give the self who seeks the largest stage upon which to improvise.

We do not encourage walking away from the world of too much to do. Not for long, my friends, for this is the world into which you came to learn the lessons of love, and this is the incarnation which is your present opportunity to, shall we say, achieve a state of realization which transforms the everyday into that which rings true.

The key here is to respect this incarnation, to respect the times of celebration and the times of suffering, however they may be perceived. You came into this illusion because you wished for these complications and distractions, not to look at them and then turn aside and move out of the world necessarily, but rather to so orient the self that the limitless and unbounded truth that overflows each moment may in the present incarnation be encouraged to express the deeper and deeper nature of the self which transforms all the everyday experiences into those freighted with that precious burden of the immanence of love.

When you feel most trivial, most dry and most disconnected, there is the natural tendency to turn away, to fill the time or the mind with something which may distract and release one from the uncomfort, the discomfort. Yet, we do suggest that these feelings be respected, that the time may be well spent, when the self simply sits with these feelings and honors the self as it expresses itself in these sometimes hard or uncomfortable feelings and thoughts. For you are here not to feel good all the time, but to attempt more and more to know the truth of each thing which is perceived, and to honor that truth. The sitting, the meditating, the high and holy words and work, yes, these are truth, but true too is the poorly done, the mishandled, the tumbled, the messed up, as this instrument would say. In the dirt and grime and struggling of day-to-day living lies the most transcendent beauty, the deepest passion, the most intense of perceptions of overarching infinity.

We therefore encourage each to continue in the desert times to hold in respect those positive frames of perception which temporarily seem to have been invalidated; but more than that holding of the past, to continue in a state of mind that does not contain the fear that this dry desert period will continue. If one may become fearless concerning one’s state of mind so that discomfort is seen without fear, then the groundwork has been done for the present moment to touch the heart anew, so that that deep wisdom of the heart may transfigure the perceptive web and suddenly the self feels itself in green pastures, strengthened, straightened and strong once again.

We hope each may cultivate, not an indifference to the state of mind, but rather a willingness to appreciate the difficult times without asking that they be soon over …

[Side one of tape ends.]

(Carla channeling)

…[inaudible] is most fundamentally about respect. This incarnation is but a moment. You have treasure in your moments within this illusion. The unknowing of an incarnational experience is its most potent characteristic. Open your hearts without fear to these times and find yourself striding among the stars, yet still very much focused upon the daily life. You cannot do this by turning from the demands of the illusion, but in turning to them with love and without fear, for each perceives the nature as one who does work, and we say to you your first vocation is the creation and maintenance of your web of that which is true and that which is love.

We would at this time conclude through the instrument known as Jim. We thank this instrument and would leave it in love and light. We are those known to you as Q’uo.

(Jim channeling)

I am Q’uo, and greet each again in love and in light through this instrument. At this time it is our privilege to offer ourselves in the attempt to speak to any further queries which those present have for us. Is there a query with which we may begin?

I guess what I didn’t hear in the previous part was if you have—if you have any suggestions that you can use to refocus quickly if your mind is really bugged and really bothered.

I am Q’uo, and am aware of your query, my sister. Each seeker will have had experience with a variety of inspirational material, be it that of the written word, the spoken word, the words of music, or of the appreciation of paintings and the appreciation of the natural surroundings themselves which will have been helpful in focusing the essential quality of the spiritual journey for this seeker. Thus, any of these previous experiences, having been crystallized in a word, a picture, or any passage whatsoever may be recalled at those moments when it is felt that there is no center to the life, no fabric that holds all together. We would recommend that those most favored and inspirational passages be recalled at this time and utilized for the refocusing of the attention and the sharpening of that which has become diffused and depleted.

Is there a further query, my sister?

Yeah, on a completely different level. I had no awareness of time going past this time and I hear that click on the tape recorder and I just couldn’t believe it. What was different about how you—was there anything different about the way you were working with me that I should ponder? Because I—it was a little bit different as to how I experienced the contact.

I am Q’uo, and am aware of your query, my sister. We would refer you to that cycle of experience that you know as the cycle of the adept and remind you that there are portions of that cycle during which you are more able to practice your art, and it is during these favorable periods that you will find such practice less of an effort and more harmonious, shall we say. You will discover that the passage of time seems to be that which is rapid during such cyclical and enhanced periods.

Is there another query, my sister?

One last one. I have heard from other channels, I’ve read in the spiritual literature of the New Age here and there that time is speeding up, that there’s a difference in time. Do you think that there is a difference in time now, or do you think that there’s a difference in people? Or is there a difference at all? Is it just what people always say?

I am Q’uo, and am aware of your query, my sister. We find that the measurement of your time periods is as it has always been. However, it is a phenomenon of your aging process that, as you continue to gain experience and years, that the passage of time seems to accelerate, for you have recorded in your memory much experience and are able to process that experience far more efficiently than when you were in the younger of your years and experience was more, it would seem, drawn out and the learning time progressed more slowly. Thus, we find the aging of your physical vehicles and the mental notation of that aging and gathering of experience to be the responsible factors in this perception.

Is there a further query, my sister?

No, Q’uo, and rub it in, why don’t you? That’s okay, that’s okay. Thank you, Q’uo.

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

I have a question, Q’uo, [on some feeling] that I remember. It seems that when I watch weather patterns—a storm, or when I feel wind blowing my hair around—it resonates with something in me, and I seem to be fascinated or riveted by it … very powerful. Are there some suggestions you can offer that I can ponder about this experience [so vividly observed]?

I am Q’uo, and am aware of your query, my brother. We again refer you to those younger years within this incarnation, during which there was a fascination with the patterns of weather as they move through your natural environment. There was an affinity for the natural elements and the activity that they brought as you were able to appreciate the effect that the patterns of weather brought to the environment about you. This effect was internalized in the changing of your own mental and emotional attitudes as the patterns of weather moved hither and yon. Thus, we would suggest that the continued fascination of these patterns in your experience harkens back to those earlier and more expansive years, that is, expansive in the growing sense of appreciation that was developing in your life pattern.

Is there a further query, my brother?

No, not for now, Q’uo. I’d just like to thank you [inaudible].

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

This isn’t exactly a question, it’s an observation. As I was listening to the words today I felt that my chest was vibrating—around the center of my chest or my esophagus was vibrating with each word. This is a very unusual and strange experience for me, and one that I haven’t experienced before. I just wondered what was going on?

I am Q’uo, and am aware of your query, my sister. The phenomenon of which you speak was one in which you felt that there was some resonance of truth, shall we say, or application to your own experience by the words which were being spoken, thus this was your means by which the feeling of harmony was expressed, since you have developed in your own life experience the ability to utilize that portion of your physical vehicle to speak and sing those words of praise that have been written and recorded by various authors throughout the history of your peoples. Thus, this was simply your unique means of feeling a harmony with the basic message that was being given.

Is there a further query, my sister?

No, thank you.

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

I’d like to follow up on hers and ask, I’ve heard of the rising of the kundalini and all that, and I’ve also heard a lot about the various energy centers, and I was wondering if another way to express that answer would have to do with that concept of energy rising, and for the blue energy center there, that center of communication … it almost sounded like it was being activated. It sounded like experiences that people have talked to me about that have had kundalini experiences. Can you relate those two, or am I on the wrong track here?

I am Q’uo, and am aware of your query, my sister. The experience of the rising of the kundalini is one in which the feeling of energizing would occur throughout the centers of energy, from lower to higher. Thus, this experience was more localized and was properly a portion of this phenomenon. However, in this particular entity, the throat and chest region are of primary importance throughout the life experience, and therefore we would suggest that their activation has been of a more normal and natural progression, rather than the momentary experience of the kundalini energy rising.

Is there a further query, my sister?

No, thank you.

I am Q’uo, and again we thank you, my sister. We would ask if there would be a final query at this time?

No, I’m through.

I am Q’uo, and we would thank each once again for the great opportunity that has been extended to us in being allowed to join your circle of seeking this day. We are very grateful to be able to speak our humble words and opinions utilizing the instruments present. We would at this time take our leave of this instrument and this group, leaving each, as always, in the love and in the ineffable light of the one infinite Creator. We are known to you as those of Q’uo. Adonai, my friends. Adonai.