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1991
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STUDY GROUP READING #49: January 1991 OPENING TEACHING 1. The media is currently saying that we are in a recession, and they are reporting a slowdown in the economy. People are buying less and many have lost their jobs, this is frightening to many during this time. We would like you to comment on it. 2. What would be the factors in President Bush's mind affecting his choices of US policy in the Middle East? What would you see as wise policies for the United States? 3. Saddam Hussein is portrayed to us as a completely evil man. From a spiritual perspective, what can you tell us about him? 4. I have to say that it is hard to feel kindly or understandingly toward someone who would simply kill people that disagree with him. It seems so barbaric and, un-spiritual is the only word I can think of at the moment. 5. You said in the November reading that each human being was as valuable and important as John F. Kennedy. Can you elaborate on why even the meekest human being is as valuable and important as the most beautiful, successful, rich and powerful human being? 6. Recent medical studies indicate that the number of women who develop breast cancer is increasing and that one in 10 women will now develop breast cancer in this country. What is it that causes breast cancer, and how can it be healed or prevented? 7. There is presently a growing controversy surrounding a material called amalgam, used to fill cavities in teeth. It consists of mercury and other metals. Some think that mercury released into the body can cause weakness in the immune system, kidneys and corresponding toxicity in the blood stream. Many, many people have such fillings in their teeth. Are these fillings causing our bodies stress? 8. Can one soul have more than one personality in earth at one time? 9. What would be the most effective way to talk to children about God? 10. As a child myself, it was helpful to have a personification of God in the figure of Jesus to pray to and to feel like he protected me and was there for me. Do you think that it's important that a child have a figure of some kind to hold in his mind and heart? 11. We are entering the year 1991. Please speak to us about this coming year--give us an overall view of 1991, and tell us what attitude would be most productive to hold as we enter the new year. 12. Please close with an attunement for the month of January. STUDY GROUP #50 February 1991 OPENING TEACHING Because of the outbreak of war in the middle east, and the anxiety, fear and discouragement it causes in many of us, we will devote this reading to questions about this war. 1. A number of respected psychics, astrologers, and channelers, yourselves included, said that they did not see war happening, at least at this time. What did you see that led you to say there would not be a war? What were you seeing that was flexible and could change? What changes took place between those predictions and the actual war? 2. Now that we've gone to war, even many people who are against war, feel that nuclear weapons and chemical capabilities should be taken away, even by force, from Saddam Hussein. Is this a right decision? 3. Will this be a long war from your vision? 4. What is the purpose of this war, from the souls' point of view? What are we to learn from this war? 5. Is Saddam Hussein what is called the Anti Christ, or a forerunner of the Anti Christ? 6. Is this the war talked about in the book of Revelations in the bible the war that leads to the battle of Armageddon that is supposed to be the battle between good and evil that will end all wars? If so, how does it end war? It certainly seems like the predictions of Nostradamus and the biblical predictions of Armageddon have a greater probability of occurring. Are we headed on a path toward widespread destruction? 7. In 5,000 years of recorded human history, there have been 14,000 wars. That's two or three wars for every year. It seems like a sad commentary on humanity, and does not reflect what you have said to be the souls' intention for human beings to live peaceably on earth. Why have we had so many wars? 8. The ecological damage can already be seen with the oil spill in the Persian Gulf. This is, of course, not the only place in the world that ecological damage and pollution is happening. Does the earth have the capacity to recover, or will it be given a chance to recover, from such destruction? 9. Those of us who look at things spiritually, thought we were making progress toward a new age of peace and harmony with positive changes in Germany and the Soviet Union; you've mentioned that we're moving toward greater sensitivity, there was the harmonic convergence...a lot of idealism that we've held. Now we have war in the Middle East and turmoil in the Soviet Union. It feels like we're going backwards. Would you comment. 10. You've already addressed some of this next question, but I'll ask it so you can elaborate or add to it. Now that we're in this war, what can we do to promote world peace? What actions and activities can we take that will be the most effective? Is communication the most important asset to the evolvement of the planet? What can we do now through communication to affect world peace? 11. Are there beings on the other side, our souls, guides, and so forth, working for peace? 12. Please close with an attunement that we can use this month to further peace in our hearts and in the world. STUDY GROUP #51 March 1991 OPENING TEACHING 1. I want to follow the opening with a question about it. When your desires have to do with something global, for example, many people are involved in peace marches, and are frightened about the war--it seems that we're heading pell mell into a ground war that is going to cause a lot of suffering, pain and death for young men and women on both sides of the conflict. So when you desires are for something large that you can't effect because it's in the hands of the politicians, how can we deal with the fear and frustration that comes from this kind of thing? 2. There have been many people all over the world praying for peace and harmony in the world. There are organized peace groups and people marching for peace. What kind of impact does this have on earth? It does not appear to have had a substantial influence on the decisions of the policy makers. It's almost like it's a battle of good versus evil and evil is winning. 3. We are confused about the value and effectiveness of prayer. It seems that all over the world, there are religious people who pray for help in their lives, yet continue to suffer famine, war, poverty and so on. Are prayers just to make us feel better, or is there a way to pray that will actually change our circumstances? 4. California and other areas are suffering a severe drought. How does our consciousness affect this drought? Can anything be done about it besides just waiting for the weather to change? If the Indians can do a rain dance, couldn't the prayers of many bring rain? 5. Does each soul have a thread of experience that runs through all of their lifetimes? For example, someone who is artistic, or religious, or fond of the military life--would they be drawn to that kind of lifetime over and over again? 6. If we are going to die suddenly, for example, in an automobile or airplane, does our awareness leave the body an instant before the actual event that kills us, or are we conscious to the end? 7. If a person dies and is unaware that they are dead, will they remain close to earth, and can they be seen by living human beings, as in the case of hauntings? 8. Some people believe that if we remain attached to a person who has died, that we hold that person or soul to the earth, that they can't or won't move on because of our attachment. Is that true? How does our unwillingness to let go affect the departed loved one? 9. You have said that when we sleep, we are learning. What are we learning and by whom are we being taught? 10. Please close with an attunement for us to use during the month of March. STUDY GROUP #52 April 1991 OPENING TEACHING 1. What would you say are the most important teachings that you communicate to us? Are there definite, specific ``key teachings'' that you are trying to get across. If so, would you elaborate on what they are? 2. You say that human beings create negativity, and that there is no other negativity in the universe. You have also said that we have free will, and the souls allow us to create negativity on earth. If the souls created earth and its rules, why would they allow us to create negativity here? 3. Many of us have had exquisite, albeit brief experiences of God, of our soul, of going ``home,'' either in dreams, visions, or meditations. We long for the ecstasy of knowing God, often because the contrast of the heaviness of earth life is so great. When we die, and are ``with God,'' will there be no contrast, no duality? Will we long for anything? Will we get bored? Will we be able to know the ecstasy without the contrast of the agony? 4. You have said that our soul will decide when we die, but that we also have free will. How can we have free will if our soul decides when we die? 5. When we must make decisions in life, how can we distinguish our soul's impulses of guidance from our own personality desires, which might be colored by confusion? 6. What is meant by the biblical quote from The Gospel of St. John: ``For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'' Was this intended to impart, as some Christians would have us believe, that one must believe in Jesus in order ``to be saved'' and ``not to be condemned?'' 7. The media has, over the years, revealed the sordid details of the personal lives of many public and famous people. Spiritual teachers and groups have been exposed for not living what they teach. Most recently, Werner Erhard, the founder of est, was the subject of an expose by ``60 Minutes.'' Many of these people are ones that others have revered. Is it an inherently difficult path to be both famous and powerful, and maintain integrity? 8. Please close with an attunement for us to use this month. STUDY GROUP #53 May 1991 OPENING TEACHING 1. You have said that we, as souls, created diversity in earth for our interest and enjoyment. What is it then, in us, that causes us to fear that which is different from us? 2. What can you tell us about William Shakespeare? Was he a real person? Some people believe that Francis Bacon actually wrote the work attributed to Shakespeare. Is that true? Did the person who wrote as William Shakespeare have other lives as a writer? Was he anyone that we know? 3. You have stated that cancer is rampant in our society at this time. Please explain the emotional cause of cancer and why it is so widespread right now? 4. Is it beneficial, every time we are sick, to look for an emotional or mental cause? In the case of the common cold, for example, could it be we just caught a bug, or is there always an emotional connection? 5. There has been some discussion and theorizing that computer screens give off harmful emissions. Is this something we should be concerned about? 6. There are many people in third world countries who seem to live difficult, impoverished lives. For example, the Kurds are currently being brought to our attention. Have these people had lifetimes in other countries, lifetimes of wealth and greater ease, or have they been continually drawn back to that area and their own ancestors lifetime after lifetime? It's easy to see that as Americans, we've had lifetimes in other parts of the world because our country is so young, but what about the people in the middle east or India, for example? 7. Were all human souls (that is, souls which express as human beings in a physical form) created, as it were, at the same ``time''? Or have there been cycles of creation, or various times of creation, during which different groups of souls were created? 8. There are currently so many people on earth, have they all had other lifetimes at one time or another? 9. What is the true, spiritual meaning behind the concept of the Trinity - the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost or Spirit? 10. Please close with an attunement for us to use this month. STUDY GROUP #54 June 1991 OPENING TEACHING 1. This month, we have several questions about animals. Something you just said prompted me to think of this. You were taking about the reasons that we chose to be human as opposed to the limited expression of animals. My question is, do we have a choice to be an animal, or not? 2. There are many animals on the endangered species list, and many have already become extinct over the centuries. What are the spiritual implications of the extinction of animals? 3. You have said that animals are strongly ruled by their instinct for self preservation. What takes place when an animal, a dog or cat for example, saves his master in a fire or some other way. Do they somehow, for altruistic reasons, override their animal instincts of fear ? 4. What about dolphins? Do they have a special relationship to human beings, and what is it about them such that they have been known to help drowning humans? 5. Scientists now believe that dolphins communicate in a language that can eventually be deciphered by us. Will it be possible for humans and dolphins to communicate clearly with one another? 6. Why do zebra's have stripes? Why did the souls create them so that they are literally like targets for lions and other animals that want to eat them? 7. A last question about animals. You often talk about our animal nature as humans. Could you delineate for us what are the qualities or the aspects of ``animal nature'' as you refer to it in us, so that we could recognize that part of us. 8. What is the larger purpose in the present economic recession? Why are we creating this and what are we supposed to learn? What advice can you give us to best get through this period? 9. June 16 is Father's Day. What would you say is the most significant and important teaching or influence a father has to offer his children? 10. Please close with an attunement for us to use this month. |
STUDY GROUP READING #55 July 1991 OPENING TEACHING 1. I want to ask a question about what you've just been talking about, because there's an area that confuses me and perhaps others may feel the same way. You always talk about bringing fears to the surface. Sometimes, I feel like I don't know necessarily what the fears are. For example, recently being with my grandson brought up a lot of pain around divorce and separation from my children 16 years ago. I cried and brought it up and talked about it and was able to do some healing with it. But obviously that pain didn't just appear, it's been there for probably 16 years, and I didn't pay attention to it or didn't know it was even there. I've heard other people at times say that they don't know what fears they have, yet maybe it impacts on their body and they get sick. How do we bring up fears if there isn't an emotional turmoil or something that is obvious to us? 2. Some people are greatly troubled by the pain and death caused to animals that are used in scientific animal research. How can we understand the people who do this kind of research, and what can be done about the millions of animals tortured? 3. Is vegetarianism a purer form of eating? Isn't it kinder since it doesn't involve eating animals? 4. How can one be a loving, sensitive, giving person without eventually feeling used by other people? 5. There is an old American Indian attunement which states, ``The good I seek is here in myself, I rejoice, I am complete, I am full.'' What are the attributes of spiritual experience which we can attain through this practice of using this attunement? 6. You stated in a group reading just recently that those people who live in a more simple society today often have a deeper feeling of the magnificence of life than we who live in the more complex, more educated societies. Please give us some ideas as to how we can have a deeper appreciation of the magnificence of life while we live in the increasingly complex society and world. 7. The U.S. government is considering investing 8.6 billion dollars to build the world's largest atom smasher in Waxahachie, Texas. One of the project's goals will be to find ``quarks'' or matter particles in the most basic form. You have said in previous readings that much of theoretical physics allows people to expand their minds to spiritual possibilities through intellectual gymnastics. Can quarks be found? Will other new frontiers of science be crossed which will give a fair return for the expenditure of 8.6 billion dollars by the U.S. or the world community? How much of this project is based on a pork barrel mentality in Washington, and how much by prudent, sincere investment by those of leadership. 8. Would you discuss the concept of mind control, which is a person or group influencing someone to have certain beliefs. What makes one person more susceptible than another to mind control, such as those people who join cults where they come to believe in certain things as absolute truth that to most people would be quite bizarre? 9. So, if everything we believe is a form of mind control, is that what is meant when it is said that the world is an illusion? 10. Having agreed to perceive physical reality and to give up the ``truth'' temporarily, is there any way we can experience life, or existence, even for a moment, without our perception being colored by belief? Can we perceive pure life, or spirit in an undistorted way? 11. Please close with an attunement we can use this month. STUDY GROUP READING #56 August 1991 OPENING TEACHING 1. Please explain how memory works, both in the physical body relating to the brain, and after death in relation to the soul. How do we sometimes remember things from past lives? In other words, where is memory stored? 2. . Once the human brain is injured, can it recover normal functioning? When the brain is badly injured, are the mind energies that you are talking about still intact, but simply unable to be ``mirrored'' through the brain? 3. Dreams can be so informative, but it seems to take such a great deal of time and effort to wake up, recall, write down or record our dreams, as well as studying books by ``dream experts'' to get help in unraveling the symbols. Are there shortcuts, ways upon entering sleep to ask for ``straight'' messages or information from our higher self or subconscious? 4. Sometimes we'll have a dream that's very potent, or we'll wake up with a very powerful dream, or sometimes we have recurrent dreams. Are those dreams where the unconscious mind is attempting to make something unconscious, conscious? 5. How seriously does the behavior or attitudes of abusive, alcoholic or otherwise dysfunctional parents affect their children-later-during the child's adult life? 6. Is it necessary to re-experience one's childhood pain, bring it to consciousness, in order to heal it? or are there other methods to heal it? If so, what? 7. What is the true goal or purpose of life, or the true goal of the soul? Is it for humans to become really free or liberated, for us to be totally fulfilled, only for the soul to learn, or something else? 8. Some scientists believe that a massive comet nucleus or asteroid hit the earth 65 million years ago, releasing millions of megatons of explosive force and blasting a crater at least 100 miles in diameter. They believe that this disaster wiped out a large percentage of all species of life, including the dinosaurs. Most importantly to us, by wiping out the giant reptiles, the surviving small, primitive mammals were enabled to take over the now vacant ecological niches left by the dinosaurs and greatly evolve and diversify. One result of this was ultimately the evolution of the hominid line which eventually resulted in Homo Sapiens and, therefore, our existence. On the surface, this implies that our existence (or the existence of our physical bodies) is ultimately the result of a random celestial event, namely the impact of the asteroid on earth. Was this great disaster to earth at that time brought about by the souls in order to break the previous "log jam" of continual dominance by reptiles over hundreds of millions of years, and allow the evolution of higher mammals culminating in man? 9. There almost seems to be a playfulness in the evolutionary process when looking at individual species' bodily forms and adaptations, even in the creation of the minerals and plant life, there's so much diversity and creative expression. Is this the playfulness of the souls or "devas" behind this creative process? 10. It seems like all the animals and plants were placed here, or developed here from the souls, and some of them have become extinct, more are becoming extinct. Are there going to be new species that will be developed, or is that part of creation finished? 11. You stated in July's reading: ``You will not bring more God into you when you accomplish more in the world. You will simply be more relaxed and you will let more of the forces of God touch your feelings bringing you joy and happiness.'' Could you speak more about the mechanics of happiness you are describing? How much must we accomplish in the world to be happy? What is it about accomplishment that makes us more relaxed? 12. Please close with an attunement for us to use in the coming month. STUDY GROUP #57 September 1991 OPENING TEACHING 1. I could probably say that 99% of us in the study group are idealistic and hoping for a better world in which to live. It appears as if morality has taken a nose dive in the past few years. We are speaking especially about the Savings and Loan Crisis, the BCCI scandal, the corrupt politicians, and so forth. Many of us were so hopeful of a more enlightened society, which certainly seems a long way off at this point in history. Please comment. 2. In the Beatitudes -- "The meek shall inherit the earth," the use of the word meek seems to be misunderstood by many. Would you talk about the symbolic meaning of this quote? 3. Speaking of stillness and patience--what is it about the mind that makes stilling the mind, and being patient in meditation, so difficult. It's almost as if it's an unnatural state to have the mind stilled in order to enter meditation. 4. Why are cases of, and deaths from, asthma increasing, especially in this country? What are the underlying causes of asthma, spiritually, and does increased pollution play a role? 5. The physical limitations that we, as souls, have agreed to live by while inhabiting physical bodies are fairly self-evident. What are the emotional, mental and spiritual perimeter or limits that we have agreed to accept in order to become temporarily human? 6. Are there many souls waiting to be born in earth? Is it a formidable task to actually get a turn at being human? What could you tell us about this? 7. Recently, one of our study group members has met several people who say they are "walk-ins." This is an idea that there are people who's original personality was replaced by a more highly evolved one. In one case, this substitution took place upon the "death" of the original occupant in an accident; in another case, a formerly abused child's personality had split into many personalities for protection, then was healed and supposedly had no more need to be on earth. Would you please explain or elucidate on the theory of walk-ins? 8. Please close with an attunement for us to use this month. STUDY GROUP #58 October 1991 OPENING TEACHING 1. One of our study group members lives in Phoenix, 3 miles from the temple where the 9 Buddhists were murdered recently, and would like to gain some insight into the nature of this event. As she mentions, we tend to believe this type of abrupt and sad ending is not in the plan for us, and when many Buddhist monks are gathered together in meditation, that light and love would surround them in a protective way. I guess it's the question of how can bad things happen to good people? 2. In your teachings, you say all human ``negativity'' or ``badness'' (commonly termed evil, cruelty, etc.) is due ultimately to fear. This seems very difficult to accept when considering many actual acts of cruelty or sadism. Psychologically, some human beings seem to commit such acts, including murder, out of enjoyment of feelings of power or domination, combined, in the case of sociopaths, with an inner lacking of any conscience or sense of empathy for fellow humans. There is also sadism where individuals can enjoy inflicting suffering on others where the enjoyment is of a sexual nature. Please explain how these human actions can be interpreted as being due to fear. 3. It seems to be the general teaching of the Guides regarding pain and suffering to downplay their significance and destructiveness, claiming that the real suffering of such experiences is primarily due to fear, mainly the erroneous fear that the true inner self is being damaged. Positive, accepting emotions and a state of relaxation do greatly reduce the actual suffering involved in physical pain, but these states of mind and emotions become increasingly difficult to achieve the worse the pain becomes. Those who have experienced it or observed others know that severe, intense pain or agony, especially if prolonged, disorganize the mind to the degree that no spiritual consciousness is possible, and the sufferer is the pain, a slave to the pain. This sort of suffering does not seem to have any sort of redeeming spiritual value enforcing transformative change. How can this sort of human experience be reconciled with your teachings, and be shown not to hold true terror and ``badness?'' 4. In your reading on Gods and Symbols, you state that, ``Through the ages there has gradually come about a rather strong over emphasis upon the intellectual capacities of human beings. You ones have still continued to evolve your feeling capacity, but, in the modern time in particular, for many ones, the intellect rules, so to speak, over emotion.'' How do our spiritual studies affect our balance in our use of intellect versus our use of feeling capacity? How are we adjusting our use of intellect, and how is this affecting our use of feeling capacity? 5. You have said that illnesses are often caused by emotional pressures. If we have an illness or physical malfunction of some kind, how can we tell what is the specific emotional pressure which is causing the illness, so we can begin to heal the emotional pressure and, therefore, the illness? 6. Why are back problems so prevalent right now? Are the back and the breathing connected? Can you give us an overview of what mental, emotional imbalances would result in chronic back pain? 7. Back in March, we asked you if we would leave our bodies before sudden death due to something painful such as an auto accident, and you said we would. One of our study group members recently had an automobile accident. She describes the following: ``I was on my way home from work driving south on I-805 when an automobile on my right began to move into my lane...there was no time for me to get out of the way. I remember slamming on the brakes and turning the wheel of my vehicle to the left. Unfortunately, the tires locked and I was heading straight for the median. Then a strange thing happened. I saw the `shadow' of my body fall to the right and it seemed that my spirit was trying to compensate by turning the wheel to the right, by without the physical form to move the wheel, my vehicle did not respond. Mentally, I thought, `too late,' and simply waited for the vehicle to strike the median. I was able to think clearly (or so I thought) but I seemed to be distanced from the reality of what was happening. My environment, if you will, was gray in color. I heard the crash, but it seemed soft, quiet and far away. After hearing the crash, my thought was, `what now?' The next thing I remember was literally being bounced back into my body. I blinked my eyes open and a man was at my door attempting to help me out. I was taken to the emergency room with severe contusions and abrasions. I do not recall how I received any of the dozen bumps, bruises and whiplash.'' Obviously, she did not die, but where was she during the ``gray'' period, and does this relate to our soul taking us out before death? 8. Please close with an attunement for us to use this month. STUDY GROUP #59 November 1991 OPENING TEACHING 1. I want to pursue your opening a bit. I'm not so afraid of myself dying, I tend to be afraid of something terrible happening to the people I love, for example. It's a worse fear to have to live with debilitating illness with myself or someone that I love, or the death of someone I love. What could I or others say to ourselves to return to the truth? How can we deal with that? 2. I don't want to belabor a point, but sometimes it seems really difficult to have a hopeful attitude about the future because so fast, so much seems to be going wrong with the world. Sometimes it's hard not to think maybe the doomsday prophesies are right? How can you help us remind ourselves of something larger than this? 3. This month we celebrate Thanksgiving. Would you discuss from a spiritual point of view, what was going on in the evolution of humanity at the time that the first Englishmen came to America? For the English, it was a new beginning; for the American Indians, it was the beginning of the end of a way of life. What can you tell us about this time? 4. Would you discuss the events going on in the Soviet Union with the demise of the communist system? Is this a true move toward freedom for the people there? What is the underlying spiritual force taking place there? 5. We would like you to discuss the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill debates. Most of us find it discouraging that this country is governed by pretenses, power and wealth, rather than truth. What insights could you give us as to the spiritual workings of this confrontation between Thomas and Hill? 6. How can we hold in our minds and hearts, the concept that good people can also do bad things and still be good? For example, one of the professors testifying for Thomas talked about how good Thomas is and, therefore, he could not have done the things he was accused of doing. I'm sure many of us know people who are ``good'' and yet do bad things. Is there anyone besides Jesus who is all good, or is that possible in life? 7. How do the prophets and seers of biblical times differ from the psychics and channelers of today, or do they? 9. Please close with an attunement for us to use during the coming month. STUDY GROUP #60 December 1991 OPENING TEACHING 1. Even though different religions have different ways of celebrating the close of each year, in the Western world we tend to associate this time of year with Christmas. Can you speak to us about the importance of the birth and life of Jesus and how it is meaningful to us now? 2. Even though Christmas is traditionally a time of joy and celebration, at the present time, many people are feeling a sense of heaviness and foreboding. This is obviously related to our economic recession and other world problems, however, we would like to know if there is a larger significance or pattern that we need to be aware of to understand this time of challenge. 3. Jesus is remembered for his ability to heal in a way that is currently beyond our means. Did he actually perform miraculous healings, and if so, was this a promise of abilities that we will be able to develop one day? 4. As our final question, would you lead us on an inner journey that will help us experience the God force? |
