September 26, 2009

(Carla channeling)

Q’uo

We are those known to you as the principle of Q’uo. We greet you in the love and in the light of the one infinite Creator, in whose service we come to you this evening. It is our privilege to be called to your circle of seeking and we are delighted to share with you our humble thoughts on the subject of temptation.

First, as always, we would make the request that all those that listen to or read these words use his discrimination and discernment, watching for resonance with those things that we say. If our ideas resonate with you then please feel free to use them. If they do not, please leave them behind.

We greatly appreciate your care in guarding the portals of your spiritual seeking. Let only those thoughts and concepts which resonate to you with the ring of personal truth be those materials with which you pursue truth, for truth is always a subjective matter. Your needs are unique and not to be confused with anyone else’s. Your taking this responsibility will enable us to offer our thoughts without being concerned for infringing upon your free will. We thank you for this consideration.

The word “temptation” is a word in your language that carries connotations of judgment. This instrument and many members of your culture are deeply inculcated to feel that there are temptations that would pull a seeker astray. That is the concept as it is offered within that distortion which you call the Christian faith. Thusly, the perceived temptations of an entity’s life are seen in a pejorative way, as something evil.

We are aware that from a certain point of view it is helpful to view such pieces of catalyst that occur and challenge an entity to make a response as being tinged with evil, and we do not wish to put down or denigrate the faith of those who follow the one known as Jesus the Christ. However, from our point of view, we would rather describe these occurrences of challenge as catalyst. “Catalyst” is a neutral term meaning that which, being present in a chemical process, affects change in other elements of an experiment without itself being altered.

Shall the workings of a mill that is fed grain be given a moral tinge? We do not think so. There is the grain, the berry, shall we say, offered to the grinding stone in order that the wheat berry may become ground and useful for making food. In much the same way, on a metaphysical level, catalyst is offered on a continuous basis in certain rhythmic and repeating cycles to each seeker. The grinding stone of the seeker is its engaged emotions. The processed berries of catalyst become that which the entity, as a spiritual being, uses in order to nourish the spiritual process. That being said, we may look at the mechanism by which catalyst is attracted into the awareness of the seeker.

It may be said that the self creates its own catalyst or temptations, but only in the larger sense, a sense not within the present incarnation but rather the self before incarnation in the metaphysical realm, planning the incarnation along with the Creator and the higher self. The coming incarnation is seen by the self between incarnations as an opportunity for learning and for service. There is a review of the status, shall we say, of that seeker’s soul and one or more incarnational themes are chosen as themes for learning. Thusly, you will find that the incarnational lesson revolves and comes around again as long as you are within incarnation.

This is not a process where you learn a lesson and then you are finished with a lesson. Rather, it is our understanding that there will always be a rotation into the themed catalyst, as if you were receiving a pop quiz as a student in a school. For your incarnation is indeed a term in a kind of school. It is a school of souls. It is a refinery for souls. You are hoping to grapple with this catalyst or, to put it another way, to grapple with these temptations. You know that this catalyst or these temptations shall be your meat and drink as a student in the school of life.

Of course, once you have incarnated into your earthly life, the veil of forgetting drops between your waking self and that whole self which, knowing so much more and being aware of so much more than you are within incarnation, saw fit to create this incarnational plan. Many times the catalyst seems highly inconvenient, and yet, were you not to be inconvenienced, were you not offered opportunities for being challenged for suffering, for undergoing testings, shall we say, or temptations, you would not evolve nearly as quickly as if you actively appreciate and move towards each opportunity to take on the challenge of a difficult situation or a relationship that is troublesome in some way.

It is these very challenges that are the gifts for which you took incarnation to receive.

You asked whether a temptation was that which would repeat until you learned that lesson or whether it was a distraction from the path. Let us take those two thoughts, one at a time.

Firstly, we would look at the thought concerning the repeating temptation that is offered until it is overcome. We would suggest that it is unwise to see temptation as that which is to be overcome. The reason for this is the ways of energy expenditure. Perhaps you have experienced the dynamic betwixt yourself and another. We will use as an example this instrument and the one known as Pickwick, a small cat. This small cat strives with every fiber of its being to climb into this instrument’s lap while this instrument is occupied otherwise and finds it inconvenient to have a cat on her lap.

Consequently, she holds her hand out to keep the small animal from entering her lap and is always surprised at how much pressure such a small being can exert in its dedication to the proposition that getting onto the instrument’s lap will be a good thing. When she releases the effort to hold the cat back, often the cat will actually fall over because it no longer has the point of resistance against which it has been pushing. The more one strives to resist a temptation, the stronger the temptation becomes.

There is another way to perceive such temptations. Say that there is the temptation to eat a piece of chocolate candy when one is on a diet. No matter how many times one rejects the thought of having chocolate, the chocolate remains the same pristine temptation. It cannot be touched by resistance. It is what it is.

The dieter who is able to rest with the temptation, acknowledging its power and choosing, at this particular moment, not to act upon that impulse to eat candy, is not resisting the temptation. It is honoring and respecting the temptation and allowing those thoughts and feelings to flow through its being with no judgment but only with the determination to continue dieting. With the resistance removed, the temptation is not nearly so strong. And when it is no longer needed by the spiritual seeker, that temptation will fall away.

Naturally, it takes a great deal more presence of mind to sustain the awareness of a temptation and to allow it its sway and its presence than it does either to eat the chocolate or to banish all thought of chocolate. Yet, the resulting spiritual process shall be cleaner and clearer by far than if there was the, to use the Questioner’s word, “dramatization” of the temptation.

Such temptations or such catalyst, if it is that which is part of the incarnational lesson, is not something that is learned and then, with full realization gained, put away forever. Rather, there will be the revolution of the seasons of the process so that once again, on one level or another, you shall meet this incarnationally themed catalyst again and again.

You may ask, “Why the repetition?” And we assure you that you are not repeating. For you are not going in a circle. You are not in a rut. You are in a spiral. Each time that you meet this catalyst or temptation, you meet it at a different level. And each time that you meet it and use it, your process advances. Therefore, it is just as desirable to meet that catalyst on the last day of your incarnation as it was when you first met that particular incarnationally themed catalyst of temptation as a young person, a child, maybe even a toddler. Thusly, do not stop appreciating catalyst simply because it repeats. It is only seeming to repeat. It is only seemingly the same. Each time it appears on the horizon of your life, it is meeting you where you are and it is ready to help you move forward.

The second thought was that perhaps temptation is simply that which distracts one from the path of spiritual seeking. There is virtue in this thought in one way, not in another. Firstly, the virtue of the thought is that that which you would call evil or negative in your life, that shadow self or that experience of psychic greeting outside yourself, has, as one of its goals, the distraction of the seeking self from the path. Consequently, when there is the feeling of being psychically greeted, whether it is a greeting from within your shadow personality, that part of yourself that is as yet unintegrated with your whole self, or whether it is a greeting from an entity who wishes to distract you from the path of seeking and to take your light out of the equation of Planet Earth’s consciousness, that energy to distract is definitely there.

To take out a bright light, it is not necessary to remove the physical body. It is only necessary to distract the attention of the seeker from its normal balance in a sufficient intensity to remove the seeker’s ability to channel or allow the light and love of the one infinite Creator to flow through it and out into the world. So it is in this wise that we would agree that temptations function as distractions from the path.

However, in another sense, it is almost antithetically the case that temptations are not distractions from the path. Temptations are the path. There is virtue in becoming eager to meet catalyst or to greet temptation because it is in those moments that you are able to do the work of learning that you came to do. It is in those moments of challenge that you are able to declare yourself as an entity of service to others, an entity that wishes to serve the light and that wishes to be an instrument for love and peace. Without the catalyst, without the temptations, those fine moments would not come and you would not gain a sense of yourself nearly as quickly within incarnation.

Therefore, we encourage each to develop an appetite for catalyst and temptation, not because it is fun to go through the tempering of the personality so that the personality becomes a magical one, but because this is the way in which you, as a seeker, are able to advance and accelerate the pace of your spiritual evolution.

We encourage each to remain sweet-tempered while dealing with perceived catalyst. The energy that it takes to feel self-pity or to feel sorry for oneself because of a difficult situation is toxic energy and is not helpful spiritually.

This instrument was speaking earlier, during the round-robin discussion that preceded this meditation, about times when she realized that she would not be able to focus enough to work because of a level of physical discomfort that was too high. This instrument shared that she has learned to move into a mode of being rather than doing and to see that work as valuable, just as she sees her creative work or editing work.

This is an attitude that we encourage. This is an attitude that retains balance so that you may be present and offer your full attention to that which is occurring within you. You do not wish to force your mind, your thoughts or your emotions into a mold. You wish rather to experience yourself authentically on as deep a level as possible. In order to do this, it is necessary that the self be collected. Thusly, when the self becomes distracted and distraught, it is well to focus not upon that which is outer but upon that which is inner, and to allow the self to be collected once more before efforts are made to function within the outer world.

We realize that the demands of a job are such that there are many times when one must do that for which one was employed, even though one has only half a heart on the task. In the best of all possible worlds, however, my friends, you would be able to collect yourselves before functioning in the outer world. As it is, the recognition of the fact that you are functioning at less than peak efficiency, shall we say, is helpful to you as a soul. For if you are aware that it is desirable to collect the self and to tune the self so that one offers a labor of true love when one works, then even if one is unable fully to accomplish the manifestation of this, metaphysically speaking, setting the intention to do that labor of love is very, very important, far more important than the degree to which you are able actually to manifest this.

As we say so often, my friends, the greatest help you can receive in meeting the catalysts and temptations of your life is the silence within. It awaits you at all times. It can work its magic in a few seconds if you shall truly seek the silence. As you seek the silence, find ways to focus your attention, as the one known as G was describing during the round-robin that preceded this meditation. This entity was reporting on following his breath, counting his breaths. That provided a focus that enabled his mind to remain silent for the most part.

Finding some focus such as this is very helpful in entering the silence and maintaining that silence within so that you may receive the information that is richly given in the silence. In that silence is the one infinite Creator. And as you are one with the infinite Creator, you know all that the Creator knows. You understand all that the Creator understands. Of course, this occurs far below the conscious mind’s awareness. Nevertheless, as you take in that information-laden silence and lay it upon your heart, it will bubble up into your daylight consciousness and you shall be changed by the wisdom and compassion of that silence. We encourage your tasting of it on a daily basis, if you possibly can.

At this time, we would ask if there is a follow-up to this query. We are those of Q’uo.

G

Thank you, Q’uo, there’s no follow-up to that question.

Q’uo

We are those of Q’uo, and we thank you, my brother. May we ask if there is another question at this time? We are those of Q’uo.

G

Q’uo, I had collected and printed questions from readers abroad as they have come in through e-mail and I find that list is not sitting next to me as it should have been. Is it permissible to walk to the office or the kitchen to retrieve that paper? If not, no biggie.

Q’uo

We are those of Q’uo. My brother, we shall engage with you to stretch the circle while you do that. We are those of Q’uo.

[A pause while G retrieves the list of questions from the office.]

G

Daniel writes, “Could Q’uo confirm that both my wife and I are wanderers? Also, would Q’uo be able to say from which density we come?”

Q’uo

We are those of Q’uo, and are aware of your query, my brother. We are certainly able to confirm that which you already know, my brother, but we feel that it is beyond the pale of infringement to offer you information which is yours to gain as to the density from which you come. We encourage you to realize yourselves as those who have come on a mission, on a task, to hold the light in accordance with your particular and unique vibratory capacities and characteristics. Therefore, we would suggest that your concern be not for your antecedents, which concern functions as kind of a distraction from your purpose, but rather that your focus be upon the present moment and the love in it, so that you may cooperate more and more fully with the energies of light, grace, beauty and power, holding consciousness within you in your highest and best fashion and thereby aiding your planet of choice, Planet Earth, of which you are now natives.

We thank you, my brother, for this query and do not mean to be harsh but only to encourage you to focus on the mission itself rather than on the details of your former existence. Truly, the present is your arena now. It is your chance, your opportunity for service, and we encourage and support you in that service.

May we ask if there is another query at this time? We are those of Q’uo.

G

K writes in from Luxembourg asking, “What are the spiritual principles I should think of, and what are the spiritual principles which would help me to spread the word about the difference between positively-oriented information, such as that information provided by the Confederation of Planets, and negatively-oriented information that is found in abundance on the internet? I ask because it seems that many people confuse negatively-oriented sources of information with positively-oriented sources, mistaking STS philosophy for STO philosophy.”

Q’uo

We are those of Q’uo, and are aware of your query, my brother. We would confirm your supposition that many, many are the entities which are taken in by the glibness and the sophistry of service-to-self sources which are able to sound as though they were service-to-others except for generating a continuous and ever-increasing amount of fear.

My brother, the spiritual principle involved in helping people become aware of the difference between service-to-others information and service-to-self information is that principle known as the Law of Confusion or free will.

The first distortion ¹ is all-important when one is attempting to be of service to others. If entities have not asked for your service, then we would ask you, as one who wishes to serve, if there is an overriding reason why other entities’ sleep must be disturbed.

If there were only this lifetime and only this graduation, then perhaps we might agree that everyone should be shaken by the throat and told to wake up. However, there is all the time in the creation for entities to progress. While it is true that you now are at a time of graduation, a time of harvest, we would suggest that there shall be other harvests; there shall be other graduations. If a seeker needs to repeat third density, needs to repeat third grade, shall we say, in the school of souls, that is not a tragedy nor is it anything of which to be ashamed. Each entity shall progress. Each entity shall one day have accomplished every lesson, have satisfied every desire, and shall return to the one infinite Creator.

[Side one of tape ends.]

(Carla channeling)

The principle of free will means that each entity gets to choose his rate of progress. When an entity such as yourself, who is so eager to progress and so diligent in seeking, comes across misunderstanding and misapprehended principles, it is a great temptation, or catalyst, shall we say, to set people right according to the way you think. And we do not say that the way you think is incorrect. We only say that the overriding principle here is free will.

We would suggest two things. Firstly, if an entity asks for your opinion, we encourage you to make maximal use of the opportunity to share the love and the light of the one Creator in ways that seem good to you.

Secondly, when entities are not asking you for your opinion or for your help, yet are engaging you in conversation, we would encourage you, as we often have before through this instrument, to be a Johnny Appleseed of spiritual thought. When you see an opening, toss some seeds of thought upon the ground of their attention. Perhaps they shall take root. Perhaps not. But you are doing your best for your brothers and sisters when you create opportunities to drop seeds.

We only encourage you then to have no attachment to the outcome. Do not look behind you to see if the seeds have taken root or if the wind has blown them away. That is not your concern. Your concern is to stay in the present moment with an open heart and a readiness to console, encourage, support and love all brothers and sisters in the tribe of humankind, seeing them at the soul level and affirming that they too are the Creator as you are.

May we ask if there is a final query at this time? We are those of Q’uo.

G

Yes, Q’uo. First I would say that I know all of these questioners will be very grateful for your responses. Thank you on their behalf.

B has a two-part question and it seems that the focus of his question lies in the second part of it. B asks, “Could Q’uo comment on the nature of the near-death experience phenomenon in general? It seems that in recent years more and more humans are returned back to life after sometimes a lengthy period of clinical death. There are cases where the individual is sent back to the physical plane voluntarily or involuntarily, seemingly despite their desire to stay ‘over there.’ How does the law of free will factor into this situation?”

Q’uo

We are those of Q’uo, and are aware of your query, my brother. Without attempting to describe or explain the dynamics of proper location, we may say that there are times when the proper location of an entity is not yet “over there.” Consequently, no matter how much they might wish to be “over there,” their proper location remains on Planet Earth in their physical bodies, continuing with the present incarnation.

The near-death experience is just that: an experience that an entity has when he is at the border between space/time physicality and Planet Earth life, and time/space, non-substantial spiritual, or inner realms. It is not that the time to go on is written down aforetime, but rather that each incarnation develops certain patterns of energies that need to be fulfilled before the proper location of an entity shifts.

The varying types of descriptions that entities have of this experience are a function of the individual capacities of each spiritual seeker to apprehend that which is occurring to him.

We would, at this time take our leave of this instrument and this group, thanking each for the beauty of your blended auras and your determination to set aside time to seek the truth. We are humbled before your courage and your seeking and we thank you for this opportunity to offer our humble service.

We leave you in the love and in the light of the one infinite Creator. We are known to you as the principle of Q’uo. Adonai. Adonai vasu borragus.