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This set of Study Group Readings is available as MP3 files and e-transcript.
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1994
Please note that these early recordings (1987 through 2001) were made on cassette tape and later transferred to digital format. The sound quality can vary.
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STUDY GROUP READING #85
January 1994 OPENING TEACHING 1. In the December reading you spoke about how Jesus prepared himself in his previous lives on earth so that he could embody the Christ energy during his life as Jesus. Was there a similar preparation on the part of his disciples? Were they also prepared to be his supporters, and not just followers? 2. Is there a hierarchy of life at the soul level of existence? Some people believe that certain souls are more evolved than others, and that our life on earth affects our soul’s evolution. Does the way we live our present human life determine where we go after we die, and does it lead to an evolution of our soul that allows our soul to rise to a higher level? 3. Many people feel that we have just passed through a very difficult period on earth, in terms of astrological calculations, but that we are now moving into a new influence. The astrological symbol of this change is the passing of Saturn into Aquarius late in January, 1994. This suggests a time of release, soothing, and healing. Would you give us some insight into these ideas, and tell us, from a spiritual perspective, what we can expect in the coming year? 4. How does past life regression therapy contribute to the well being and health of the current human personality? 5. You spoke in a previous reading of certain power elites in both the U.S. and Russia that at times have manipulated their economies for their own benefit. Are political decisions presently being manipulated in the United States? Specifically, what kinds of influences are being brought to bear in the present NAFTA and health care reform debates? What kind of interpretation is the media putting on the presentation of these debates? 6. Multiple sclerosis is a serious crippler of young adults between the ages of 20 and 40, often striking just when someone is starting out in life. What can you tell us about this disease, its emotional or past life causes, and how it can be healed? 7. Please close with an attunement for us to use this month. STUDY GROUP READING #86 February 1994 OPENING TEACHING 1. Regarding the recent earthquake in Los Angeles, which is financially the largest natural disaster in North American history, can you discuss whether or not the people in Los Angeles have any cause-and-effect relationship with it, or is it just part of the natural processes of the earth? For example, if people in Los Angeles were more aware, more caring, less violent, and so forth, would this have kept the earthquake from happening, or from being so large that it caused unprecedented levels of damage? 2. Many of us have been traumatized by all of the devastating natural disasters that we've had in the past year or two, not just in California. Not surprisingly, many people are feeling out of control, unsafe, and frightened about the future. Can you give us some suggestions for personal healing after traumas like these? 3. Many people feel that the earth needs healing and see it as a sick, living entity. Can you comment on this viewpoint? To what degree does it reflect truth, and to what degree is it people's fear, and the tendency to want to fix what is outside themselves rather than heal what is inside? 4. Is anyone really able to consistently and accurately predict natural disasters like the earthquake, recent fires, the freeze on the East Coast, the floods, the hurricanes, and so forth?. How do we tell the difference between real sensings about the future and peoples’ fear and paranoia? 5. Sometimes when we are feeling frightened or threatened, we strike out at others, particularly a loved one. We can have a tendency to want to blame them for the condition of our lives. What is behind that impulse, and how can it best be handled in ourselves? 6. To change the subject, is there going to come a time when science, medicine specifically, will be able to heal all physical disease? If science can heal many illnesses, as it can already, what is the point of spiritual or mental healing? 7. February 14th. is Valentine's Day. Of course, you talk about love all the time, but would you give us some inspiration to enliven our loving relationships with one another? 8. Please close with an attunement for us to use this month. STUDY GROUP READING #87 March 1994 OPENING TEACHING 1. There have been some new points of view expressed recently, by sincere scholars and theologians studying the writings about Jesus. These scholars are concluding that Jesus was merely a man, a teacher and prophet, but that the miracles reported did not occur, such as the virgin birth, and so forth. What is your perspective on this new information? 2. Why is it that the Jewish people have a history of being persecuted for so many generations? What is the spiritual perspective on this? 3. Many different species have become extinct over the millenniums. People are fighting now to save such species as the spotted owls. Is extinction a natural phenomenon that is to be expected? Does the extinction of a species caused by man create an irreparable imbalance in nature? 4. What were the religious beliefs practiced in Atlantis? 5. What caused the disappearance of Atlantis? 6. When we’re young, in our teens and 20’s, everything seems to be possible, and there seems to be endless time to look forward, or at least, we don’t think about our earth lives being finite. As we grow older, our choices seem constrained by our age, and the time and energy left to us. Things are different now than when our parents were our age. There seems to be much more uncertainty now. Many of us can’t afford to retire. Some of us confront the existential question of purpose and meaning--what’s the point of life? Will we be remembered only as a faded photograph on someone’s wall? Would you address the question of finding purpose and meaning, particularly as it relates to the second half of our lives? 7. Newsweek ran a cover story on "How Science will let you change your personality with a pill." This article talked about how scientists are now on the brink of a revolution in their ability to create specific drugs to overcome specific personality problems, such as shyness, lack of self confidence, stage fright, impulsiveness, and so on. It is said that already many millions of otherwise basically healthy people now take Prozac to overcome general feelings of discontent with their lives, and to have a more cheery outlook. Taking Prozac for these reasons is becoming very socially acceptable. It seems that this kind of attempt to change our personalities and become happy through taking pills to change our brain chemistry is very different from your teaching concerning how to master earth life so that we can be happy and fulfilled. Please give us your perspective on this attempt to overcome specific personality problems through taking specific chemicals to alter our brain functioning. If this is possible, what then is the point of going through pain and working hard to heal fears and be happy. What is wrong with choosing an easy way to feel better emotionally, and perhaps have a more fulfilling life? 8. Please close with an attunement for us to use this month. STUDY GROUP READING #88 April 1994 OPENING TEACHING 1. You often speak of releasing negative feelings. Would you please describe in full detail exactly what you mean by the term "release?" For those of us who are very literal, we have difficulty getting rid of, or releasing, a feeling or thought without squashing or smothering it. It doesn’t seem to just easily and gently go away. 2. From fossils found, it appears that early humans had smaller brains thus less intelligence than we have now. Will our brains, and thus our intelligence, continue to grow as they have in the past? If so, what can we expect to experience? 3. What is the significance of the predictions by some psychics of coming "earth changes" which are supposed to result in the West Coast of the U.S. dropping off into the ocean or even the complete end of human life on earth? Some predict this is to occur in the years around 2000. 4. Last month you talked about Atlantis and the early stages of human evolution. Just how old is the human race in terms of years and when exactly did Atlantis exist--how many years ago? 5. Is life designed to be a series of endless problems to be solved for the growth of character and the soul? The problems never seem to end. 6. There is a lot of controversy now about the use of recovered memories in child sexual abuse cases. Many adults are accusing others of sexual abuse which occurred when they were children and which they now believe they are only now remembering with the aid of certain kinds of therapy. Some psychologists believe that such recovered memories are accurate and can and should be used to prosecute child abuse that happened many years ago, while other psychologists believe that recovered memories cannot be relied on and are often false memories planted unintentionally by the therapist by suggestion into the minds of susceptible patients.. Please give us your perspective on the use of recovered memories in child sexual abuse. Is this a legitimate and accurate technique or is it simply false fantasy? 7. Please close with an attunement to use this month. STUDY GROUP READING #89 May 1994 OPENING TEACHING 1. Is the recitation of the Bardo, ancient teachings taught by the Tibetans, of help to the person going through transformation at the death of the physical body? 2. You have spoken of using our intention and will to create what we desire. One of the ways in which we distort our will is by withdrawing or withholding from others for various reasons. Would you please comment on our will and our distorting patterns. Also would you please give us an attunement to help us correct our distortions, and facilitate change? 3. You recently commented on a question about the use of Prozac, the antidepressant. The previous question referred to people who use this drug to enhance their personality or to reduce anxiety and fearfulness about life events. You answered, that although the use of such drugs is not "bad" in such cases, but could be detrimental in terms of the spiritual evolution of our personality. What about people who seem to have inherited a biochemical tendency toward more serious depression and anxiety; who seem to have difficulty functioning in even a normal fashion without such drugs--for example, those who are preoccupied with suicidal thoughts, can’t concentrate, are unable to sleep adequately, or have unhealthy ways of coping without the use of such drugs? Would the use of such drugs be less detrimental for such people and more like the use of insulin for a diabetic (or any other physical/biochemical disease that results in suffering if not treated with current medical knowledge?) 4. The psychological terms introvert and extrovert have become common usage. What is your perspective on the value of each of these ways of functioning, and what are helpful goals for each type of personality to work toward? 5. Last month you spoke about some psychics including their own fears in their predictions. How can we know when fear is present in predictions? During the Holocaust, a lot of people heard what was going on and there was a lot of fear, and yet when the people did not believe what was going on, Jews got killed. They were told, "Don’t believe the fear--it is only fear." How can we tell the difference when there is cause for alarm and when there isn’t--when we should do something or we shouldn’t? 6. Speaking of predictions, why are there so many negative predictions about the end of the world, and so forth? 7. What new or innovative industries will be the trendsetters in this ever changing job market? 8. Please close with an attunement to use this month. STUDY GROUP READING #90 June 1994 OPENING TEACHING 1. A 40 year old woman from Ireland named Jenny, recently wrote a book chronicling her memories of a past life in which she died in her 30’s, leaving eight young children. In the past lifetime, her name was Mary. In this lifetime, she remembered details of the house she lived in that past lifetime, as well as things about Mary’s children. She died in the past lifetime, 22 years before she was born in this lifetime. She has found the five remaining children from the past lifetime who are all much older than she is now. The details of her past life with those children were so accurate that the surviving children, currently alive, are convinced that she was indeed their mother in the past. Her deep love for them and her need to know what happened to them, led her to find them again. A couple of questions about this phenomenon: What determines how quickly we reincarnate, and is it common to come back so quickly? 2. Three of Jenny’s children from her lifetime as Mary have died. Five are still living. When Jenny was born in this lifetime, one of the children from the past lifetime who was still living, then died. You have said in other readings that when we die, we meet our loved ones who have also died. But in this case, the child’s mother, Mary, has become Jenny who is presently alive, and is not beyond earth to greet the child who has died. What happens when we die and loved ones we long to see have already reincarnated? 3. What are some of the issues behind widespread infertility in the United States? What are the meaning, purpose, challenges and so forth of this? 4. What are some of the core concerns and issues in adoption? How can couples go about this process in a responsible, spiritually guided way? 5. Some terminally ill or disabled people want to exercise final control over their destiny by choosing suicide. This usually requires the help of a doctor and/or loved one. When the prognosis is hopeless, the family and patient may see this option as a solution to end severe physical or psychological suffering. Please discuss what takes place within the soul of each of the participants, whether their role is active or passive--the patient, physician, and family. Also, does suicide in these kinds of cases bring the peace that all parties are striving for? 6. If someone decides not to kill themselves, but are in terrible pain and terminally ill and they use morphine or drugs to block the pain, which generally puts people in an "out of it" state, does that also block any gain or spiritual learning that could happen in the last days? Must one experience the physical pain? 7. You have said that emotions are often used by the soul as a way of communicating with the personality. How can we tell the difference between ordinary human emotions and those feelings that are direct communications from the soul? 8. It seems that when we are filled with fear is when we most need spiritual help. And yet you say the fear blocks awareness of our souls or the God forces. Is it blocked on our side as perception, or how does that work? It seems unfair. 9. If we have a deep meditation experience during which we believe we have received important guidance, a message, or a vision, how do we determine if this is a true communication from our soul, or if it is our imagination, or perhaps a symbol that we need to translate to understand? 10. Please close with an attunement to use this month. |
STUDY GROUP READING #91
July 1994 The following questions were posed to the Guides by the participants at a workshop in McLean, Virginia in June. OPENING TEACHING 1. Relative to the individuals within this group, what is the spiritual purpose of this group? 2. How can we learn to love unconditionally? 3. In our quest for spiritual understanding, how can we separate truth from self-delusion? 4. Bud Hopkins, Whitley Streiber and John Mack have studied the abduction experience. What is the real significance of this? Are other entities concerned about us? 5. How might personal loss and/or physical pain help us to discover our spiritual path? 6. Closing STUDY GROUP READING #92 August 1994 OPENING TEACHING 1. What is the significance to us in Earth of the comet that is currently hitting Jupiter, the largest planet in our known solar system? 2. Why are there other planets in the solar system and other bodies, physical bodies and such, that aren't inhabited by -- I mean, physical bodies of planets and such that aren't inhabited by human beings? What is their purpose? 3. Last month, you said that, in past times of earth, some people attuned to the moon in relation to femininity and creativity. Is there an attunement we could use to create these kinds of openings in ourselves to the feminine creative aspects of ourselves? 4. Some people believe that, in order for a person to evolve spiritually out of the cycles of reincarnation and move on to a higher plane of existence than the physical world, the person must follow a highly evolved spiritual master. This master is usually a living person who has supposedly reached an extremely high level of spiritual involvement and has incarnated here to guide a devoted group of followers to higher spiritual evolvement. Would you comment on this? Must one meditate for a prescribed period of time and follow other dictates of a spiritual master to achieve everlasting life on a higher plane of existence? 5. If one were to live a live of kindness and caring and love, but never meditated and was never interested in spiritual pursuits, would their soul, or God be just as happy with them as if they meditated and followed a spiritual pathway? 6. Many of us long for a deeper spiritual experience in our lives. Would you give us a step by step method that we can use each day to achieve such an experience? 7. Yes, thank you. It is common for people to make pilgrimages to various places where saints lived and worked. For example, Assisi in Italy, where St. Francis lived. Is there spiritual value in such a pilgrimage, or is it a waste of time? 8. Please close with an attunement for us to use this month. STUDY GROUP READING #93 September 1994 OPENING TEACHING 1. What can you tell us about chronic fatigue syndrome. Can you shed light on the types of personalities that acquire this disease, and what an individual can do to heal themselves. What are the emotional and physical components involved? 2. Many people, individually, and as groups, pray and meditate for world peace. Would you comment on the value of such efforts, and, if they are helpful, what helps make these prayers most effective? Also, would you speak about what else can be done to make the world more peaceful? 3. It is said that several Catholic saints received the "stigmata" in a spontaneous manner, that is, they developed the same wounds that Jesus suffered during his crucifixion. Did these people really develop these wounds? If they did, how and why did it happen? 4. You mentioned in the May introduction that our eternal being experiences many realms simultaneously. Would you please describe what some of these realms are, and how this is possible? 5. Would you speak about working with people who are mentally ill? What would be the most helpful attitude for a mental health professional to take towards clients, and do you have other recommendations for helping the mentally ill? 6. Since this is the 25th anniversary of Woodstock, where half a million people were able to come together harmoniously and peacefully, please tell us how you perceive this event from a spiritual perspective. What lessons can it teach us today about how to create idealism, harmony, sharing and togetherness in today’s world, which otherwise appears to be increasingly fragmented by self centeredness, violence and a lack of community and togetherness? 7. Regarding the O.J. Simpson case: on a higher plane, what is the relationship between the three people involved: O.J. Simpson, and the two people he is accused of murdering—his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman? What is the larger significance of this trial for society as a whole? What lessons can we take from this event? 8. Your teaching is that the personality is temporary, associated obviously with this body and physical life. After death, there is a process of merging, or being subsumed into the soul consciousness as merely the latest of many past created personalities. It would appear from this that we do not really survive death in any way that is meaningful to the personality. Survival, to be meaningful, would be survival of our conscious self with all of its unique character traits, strengths, weaknesses, and this life’s memories. Fear of death is associated with the terror of annihilation, of an inconceivable future time when the "I" will not exist. This is almost instinctual, and seems to be impervious to rational arguments. Would you give us guidance to better understand this issue, and to help us heal our fear of death? 8. Please close with an attunement for us to use this month. STUDY GROUP READING #94 October 1994 OPENING TEACHING 1. On the tape, "Healing Personal Negativity," you say, "In a way, most ones who hold to trauma, either consciously or unconsciously, feel quite helpless, and desire to continue to blame life." There has been so much written about the movie Schindler’s List, talk shows interviewing anyone involved in the Holocaust, the use of the movie to educate young people who might be playing a part in a new wave of anti-Semitism, and so forth. How does this relate to your statement about holding on to trauma and blaming life? Where is the balance between trying not to forget so as not to repeat, and, holding on to blame? 2. Why and when was the Sphinx built? 3. You once said that atoms were the true children of the souls. Can you elaborate on this? 4. You have made a distinction between a near death experience, for example going down a long tunnel, having a life review, seeing the light and so forth--and a real, final death experience. Please amplify on the difference. 5. Most of the time "making silence" in our minds while meditating is very difficult and frustrating. What is the best way to get past the constant chatter of the mind so that one can more deeply attune to God? 6. How much time each day should one devote to sitting in the silence or meditating? 7. The following question is from a criminal attorney who must deal with dangerous and violent criminals on a daily basis. What is our proper response when there is so much violence, especially when the violence is directed toward us personally? Is there a balance to be found between protecting oneself, and, responding in love, patience, kindness, and sensitivity? 8. This next question is asked by some members of the Study Group who have been in the Study Group since the very beginning and who work very closely with the Guides in personal readings. They ask, why do some people who hear the Guides resonate with the teachings and the readings, and others not. Our experience of this information is so profound, we don’t understand how anyone can hear this and not respond. Is there something unique than bonds those of us who do resonate at such a deep level? 9. Please close with an attunement for us to use this month. STUDY GROUP READING #95 November 1994 OPENING TEACHING 1. Can we do anything in this lifetime to help us keep the memories and abilities acquired so far so that we do not have to start over again to remember the reasons that we came in this lifetime? 2. How might we get off the wheel of karma? Do we have the opportunity in this present life to resolve all of our karma and unfinished business, or do we have to keep coming back into human form? 3. You have said in past readings that there is no badness in life. Many of us are having difficulty understanding this. Would you elaborate on this idea? Are you saying that things like the human violence and slaughter in Rwanda, in Bosnia, and during the Jewish Holocaust, are not badness? 4. Is there life on Mars? Has there ever been or could there be in the future? 5. Many people practice Tai Chi as a form of exercise and meditation. Please give us your perspective on the ancient Chinese belief in Chi as a life energy which needs to be balanced and moved for health and spiritual growth. What benefits can the practice of Tai Chi have for us both physically and spiritually? 6. Some doctors have claimed that music can help heal physical illness. Please give us an understanding of how music can help us heal ourselves and others . 7. How can a couple resolve the issue of children when one partner wants them and the other does not? 8. Globally, two apparently opposite trends seem to be occurring: some countries are trying to separate into smaller nations that are more racially, religiously and ethnically homogeneous, while other countries are coming together to form broad alliances that span vast differences in order to facilitate financial and social health. Even though the motive is financial, at least on the surface, it seems that the impulse to join together in spite of differences is healthier than the impulse to separate. Will you comment on any larger spiritual trends that are playing out in these two different world patterns? 9. Please close with an attunement for us to use this month. STUDY GROUP READING #96 December 1994 OPENING TEACHING 1. We’ll be continuing our tradition of focusing our December reading on Jesus and the Christ force. I want to ask a question about the opening. What kind of choices are you talking about that we can make in our lives so that we can step into our death in the way that you’ve been describing? 2. In last month’s reading, you said that the eternal souls who created earth reality intended for human beings not to have a full conscious awareness of our eternal existence while we are in human form so that we may have a more intense human experience. Yet, in other readings in the past, you have said that Jesus was a person who was able to bring a full conscious awareness of God into his human experience. You have also urged us to follow the same kind of path that he followed so that we may become consciously aware of our divine nature. This is a bit confusing since, on the one hand, it seems that we as souls have designed our human personalities to not have an awareness of our eternal nature, and, on the other hand, it seems that you are advising us to follow a path like Jesus so that we may have full conscious awareness of God within us. Please clarify this area for us. 3. Please identify any teachings of Jesus in the Bible that refer to reincarnation. What were his beliefs and his teachings about reincarnation? 4. At this time of the year, much of the Western world focuses on Jesus and the traditions of Christmas. For people who do not resonate to Jesus and his teachings, what would you say to them regarding this period of time? 5. Please give us an attunement that will help us feel the presence of Jesus and the Christ force in our lives and in our hearts now. |
