Spirit tells me that so-called free will is often misunderstood.
Some people claim the right to do whatever they choose to,
Regardless of how their choices may negatively affect
The lives of others, or our natural environment.
They have obviously failed to read the fine print that
Holds them responsible for consequences.
All Universal Laws, He tells me, are interconnected –
A package deal, with no options or exceptions, and
Karma rules.
Spirit tells me that awareness is an ever-deepening experience of
Understanding, with the capacity to expand forever.
The more we understand how each life form has the potential
To affect every other, the more clearly we will know, for
Understanding is knowing, that all life is much more than
Interconnected; it is interwoven.
We each are part of everything else.
Spirit tells me that His name is Fellop, which, He explains, is not an
Exclusive and personal name, as that would suggest a false sense of
Self, such as some materialized beings seem to need to cling to.
Fellop is an abbreviation of Fellowship, which is a group of
Dedicated teachers who, because we are composed of
Less-dense matter than physical people, these seem to
Refer to us as spirits, invisibles, ghosts, imaginary, etc.
Our purpose is to help whomever we can to co-create a healthier,
More enjoyable, and more meaningful life.
It all sounds so noble that I am annoyed at myself for questioning
Why Spirit is sharing this information with me. My response
Seems so inappropriate and disrespectful.
He reads my mind but neither approves nor disapproves of
My thoughts. It doesn’t seem to concern Him at all.
You have a personal problem, He tells me; a conflict between
Faith and Doubt, when each is an illusion.
Spirit tells me that, perhaps someday, somewhere in another world
Not too different from this one, we’ll replay this lifetime and
Review it together, from off-stage.
Then, all the little or not so little incidents that have contributed,
One at a time, to the development of our particular relationship,
Will seem to make sense
Then, perhaps I will understand the why and how, but
For now, please try to believe that there is purpose and
Meaning to the lives of each one of us, both separately and
As part of a greater life.
Spirit, at times, seems to pretend to be an alien reporter, who is
Curious to learn more about the strange ways we humans
Relate to each other.
We are, He tells me, or seem to be, otherwise intelligent beings,
So, why, He asks, are we, or some of us, so interested in
Establishing new schools of thought?
What seems to be needed, considering such widespread
Environmental destruction, is a new way of being, a new way
Of living with each other, in a more mutually supportive
Manner, and in harmony with nature.
To exploit natural resources is to abuse your future, our future,,
And the future of tomorrow’s people.
I want very much to defend myself and everyone else, but
I don’t know how.
There is no defence. He reads my thoughts. But, we will
Learn from experience, the cost of our neglect.
Spirit tells me that we are here in physical form
To refine our essence, and our essence is potential.
Each mountain we climb, and each and every struggle
Is as climbing a mountain, prepares us to climb ever higher.
From the valleys to foothills and then to the highest peaks.
And, as we climb higher and higher, we serve as inspiration
To those who struggle to follow, not us, but the way
We follow our dream.
And, as high as we might climb, we seem to know that
Ahead of us there will always be heights beyond heights,
Where other climbers who, like us, are seekers of the limit.
It was not love at first sight, at least not in a physical sense, since I
Have not yet developed the capacity to visualize that area wherein
Form and essence merge in ever-finer elements of matter.
But, human and spirit qualities seem to be, in many ways,
More close than similar. And, so would be the potentially
Seductive nature of student and teacher attraction.
When I ask Spirit to explain why mutual attraction to
Spiritual values could …
Be corrupted? The corruption, or danger of such, is in
My own mind, or it isn’t.
He then reminds me of the countless gurus I have followed
Throughout many lifetimes, or so it seems, with each one
Falling from grace, in my mind.
They didn’t fall; they seemed to crash. Confucius might calmly
Comment, “No blame”, but I was, each and every time,
Devastated and confused. I was sure, beyond a doubt, again,
Again, and yet again that I had discovered a philosophy
To live by that explained everything, until it didn’t.
Will I meet the same fate?
How can I know..?
Until or unless it happens?
Yes, and perhaps that scares me.
Why? When it is time to move on to another teacher, we must,
Or stagnate.
My earlier teachers belonged to recorded history…
So, were less personally a part of your life?
Yes.
Spirit tells me that all stress is a response to experience, but
Experience itself does not necessarily create stress.
How we choose to respond to experiences that Life
Provides us with, and we seem to respond differently to
Similar situations at different times, determines how
Stressful each experience will be.
I have a problem with that explaination.
Yes.
Choosing suggests rational thought.
Yes.
But, how can we choose an emotional response?
Why would you choose an emotional response?
Surely an emotional response is a more immediate and
Natural expression of how I experience whatever situation.
Doesn’t emotion have to come before thought?
Yes.
Then?
Emotion may be triggered by experience, but thought
Would determine how to respond.
Always?
Always. even when thought allows emotion to have its way.
Spirit tells me that practice is habit, but an intentional one,
With a goal, and requires intent to improve or maintain
What we have developed in skills or in establishing
A way of life.
Practice can result in patterns of behaviour; physical, intellectual,
Emotional and, or spiritual that may appear to some others to be
No more than habits.
There is also the danger, He cautions, of practice becoming
No more than a habit, when intention is no longer involved.
How can I be sure that I still have intention?
Are you satisfied?
No.
Are you still making progress?
Yes, but …
Even a little is more than none.
Spirit tells me that I must learn to judge people as I would
Fruit at a market. Not all apples are alike.
So it is with people. We do not choose produce according
To how we would like it to be, but by how it seems to be,
Now. Quality is more or less self-evident.
We may be more or less than we once were, and we may
Become more or less than what we now are, in whatever
Aspect of our being.
But, for now we are as we are, or seem to be. So it is
With everyone.
Those who have eyes to see are, at least to some extent,
Responsible for what they see, and, for how they respond
To what they see. It’s as simple as that.
Simple Seeker Society 