[tmtranscripts] Michael 12.6.04 - Rest In His Peace

[JERRY LANE]

Dear Folks,    Here is Michael from last Monday - Jerry - Nytrayn at msn.com

Michael 12.6.04

Marin TM Group

Dear Michael and Nebadonia, our spiritual Father and Mother,     Welcome.  
You have given us to know that all You ask of us, not for ourselves, but for 
You, is that we invite You into our lives - to share our lives with You.  
But now we are mindful that on these special occasions, when You elect to 
speak directly to us, we are asking You - to share Your lives with us.  And 
so it is with gratitude that we thank You for Your nigh infinite and eternal 
viewpoint.  It helps us see our own lives from Your perspective, and for 
this we thank You very much.  Amen.

Michael:  Good evening, My children.  This is Michael.  Once again I invite 
you to rest deeply, ever so deeply, in My peace.  This is the essence of My 
being - direct from our Father.  Let this be the bedrock in your lives.  
This is a point of departure that, being of a spiritual nature, transcending 
time and space, you take along with you, in your heart, as you go through 
your busy days.

The fact that this is a spiritual dimension makes it difficult to visualize 
or realize in your ordinary time-space perceptions.  It is a point of 
departure and yet you need not leave it behind.  Mother Nebadonia last week 
gave you a vision of standing on the edge of a vast chasm of the unknown 
that, with courage, you step off into, and the ground, as if magically, is 
created beneath your feet with each step.  So you are forever on the edge of 
the unknown, and yet with confidence and faith in God’s creativity, you step 
off again and again.

My peace is what you can hold in your heart as you take each step.  And 
contrary to what you may think of, at first, as a limitation - that somehow 
this peace would interfere with your most busy or even frantic activities - 
the opposite is true. The more peaceful and steady and stalwart in your 
faith you are at heart, the more steady and tenacious can be your perception 
of even the quickest events.  To use another illustration you are very 
familiar with - a motion picture or television camera filming or 
broadcasting a scene.  The more steady the camera is, the more true it can 
capture the busiest event.  Whereas if the camera is bouncing around, 
everything is blurred, even a very slow moving scene.

Just so, the more you can rest in Me, the deeper you can be involved in 
life.  My peace does not remove you from life, but on the contrary, gives 
you the very bedrock on which you can live an ever fuller life.  Here in 
this peace and in this security you can realize and then let go those 
everyday fears which stand between you and whatever is happening.

This can be seen very quickly in an intellectual sense, but it is only deep 
in your heart and in what you call your gut feelings of the truth, can you 
realize that the more you welcome what is really real, the better are your 
chances of utilizing your abilities to their fullest.  For this is exactly 
where any kind of self-deception stands between you and what is real.  It’s 
where you are in the greatest danger.  Let Me repeat this.  Though you can 
understand this instantly with your mind, to translate this understanding 
into specific actions as you go through your day - as you meet this person, 
then that person, and you pick up this particular task or another - it is in 
a whole-hearted willingness to accept the uniqueness within each moment that 
this ability lies.

This is an ability you have to cultivate, for there is also a necessary 
human need to relate everything new to that with which you are already 
familiar.  When I say necessary, this is a component of recognition, 
re-cog-nition, re-knowing something - fitting something new into an already 
existing context so it immediately has meaning to you.  The ability I invite 
you to learn is how to recognize the newness in each moment in such away 
that you allow it to register within you, and trust yourself – for you to 
adapt to it.  You can see that this is the exact opposite of the 
psychological phenomena you know of as denial, which is another ability many 
of you cultivate entirely unconsciously.  Denial is just part of a very 
common shared psychology that you absorb merely by being in your society.  I 
invite you to see the cost of this mental ability of denial, of creating a 
reality for yourself based on an unconscious exclusion of that which is 
real.

Now the question becomes: OK, all well and good.  I can understand this.  
How do I do it?  The most profound way We have suggested so far is the 
practice of stillness, of letting so many things that drive you along, 
simply come to a stop, as many times as you can practice this throughout 
your day, to whatever extent you can practice it.  In other words, as deep 
as you can, allow this to happen for as long as you can - in a highly 
conscious manner.

Your allowing things to come to a stop, and resting in Me, is not sleeping, 
or entering any kind of trance state, but the exact opposite.  It can be 
even be a profound recognition within yourself, saying, “Michael, I just 
don’t know what to do next!”  If this is true for you, My children, this can 
be the greatest triumph of all, and your Mother and I salute the courage it 
takes to get to this point.

Here you are achieving a recognition of “home base.”  This is your bedrock.  
Now you are open to great possibilities.  Now you are realizing what We have 
called the opacity of, or sheer inability to know, beforehand, a large 
spiritual part of the future, including challenges and your own choices.  
And so you wait, moment to moment, not knowing what to do.  Your heart keeps 
beating, you keep breathing, and you begin to know the enormity of what your 
Mother invited you to experience - the enormity of just existing.  You are 
existing in Her arms.  You are aware of yourself, within Her mind.  And our 
Father keeps your heart beating, moment by moment.  Then you begin to 
notice, even on this miniscule scale of one person, moment to moment, that 
each moment is unique.  This is what We call God’s continuous creation.  And 
so it is not a disaster or some ultimate failure - not knowing what to do 
next, but an opening to real possibilities.

Since this moment is usually not one hundred percent absolute and perfect, 
soon enough your own momentum of your life and of yourself, as you felt and 
knew yourself to be, will start again all by itself.  Most of you who have 
meditated deeply know this experience very well.  But it is just such 
experiences that give you a chance to shed that extra baggage you are tired 
of carrying around, and yet have forgotten to let go of.  And it is also 
these moments that allow something new to occur to you from completely 
outside your context - the over-all personal encompassing in which you have 
been living.

This is where you have a chance to slough off an old, hardened, callused 
skin, and emerge all tender and new.  So this is a bit frightening - being 
so tender and sensitive out in the world - is it not?  But here is openness 
and flexibility, curiosity and real contact with reality.  Here in this way 
of living you can really and truly meet people, and get a real hold on the 
work before you, because you can see both them and it so much more clearly 
through your apprehensions and fears.

Here you can perceive the continuous creation and be aware that: Of course 
this day never happened before!  This day is passing, so there is no use in 
clinging to it.  Everything is alive, and yet God Himself is creating for me 
a record of all of this in my soul, so there is no need or usefulness in 
hanging on to myself so tightly.

Ironically, here is response-ability.  Here is the ability to respond 
wholeheartedly to the next situation.  Here is freedom from mere reaction.  
In the perception of this continuous creation, by Spirit, is the creativity 
of your own spirit.  This, My children, I invite you to share with Me and 
with your Mother - the creation of your life.  Here I present you with the 
miracle of not knowing – at heart - who the next person you meet is going to 
be.  Are you up for it?  Can this be your own delight?  Can you trust your 
ability to respond? - trust that this responsibility can grow?  This is what 
is possible.  And it all starts with taking the time, from time to time, to 
stop.  Get back to your bedrock.  Let it all go and rest in your Mother and 
Me.  Invite this essence of Us into your life, right in the middle of your 
busiest moments.  Let nothing stand between us.  I think you will find, in a 
very short while, the sheer delight and the intrinsic reward in this will 
help you remember.  It may seem very strange at first to be stopping and 
starting again right in the middle of living.  But this too can be part of 
the delight, part of the renewal, part of the wonder.

It is there for the doing, My children.  So take heart, literately.  Feel Me 
right in your heart as you take time to feel your heart beating, and be 
aware you are a living cell in God’s living body.  If you have any questions 
or comments, I am always glad to hear them and respond to you.

Student:  Father, I think You answered the question I had.  I’ll have to 
read the transcript to be sure, but I was wondering what You mean when You 
say, “Be in My peace,” and also when Mother says, “Be in My love?”  I guess 
that was what was going on tonight.

Michael:  Yes, C, you’ve allowed Me to take you to the heart of the matter - 
no pun intended.  This is something that has been known to what you normally 
call - wise men - throughout the history of the world.  Many individuals, 
men and women, have found this spiritual place and have tried to express the 
paradoxical nature of it – the dynamic/peacefulness of it - when put into 
words.  The essence of My peace is not a concept, it is an experience, and 
you all are experiential beings - nodules of experience that have no 
duplicate in all the universe.

So while My peace may appear paradoxical as it is expressed in words, it is 
something you can feel.  The same is true of Mother Nebadonia’s love.  Many 
cultures have expressed, in their philosophy, the concept of love as the 
ultimate connection, in a spiritual sense, much like every physical particle 
in existence is connected by universal gravity.  So you can see Mother 
Nebadonia’s love, Her actual living presence, in the connection with 
everything you know, for it is the very connection by which you can know. 
This is Her!  She is as close to you as you are to yourself, for she gives 
you the ability to perceive yourself and connect to a physical body which in 
turn connects you to the whole universe of impersonal material energy.  So 
when She invites you to be in Her love, She is inviting you to be conscious 
and loving of all you know.  Does this fulfill your question, My son?

Student:  Yes, thank You - it does.

Student:  Michael, can You give me some more general advice on how to stay 
better focused?  Because I have leisure, it’s easy for my type of mind to 
drift.

Michael:  Yes, V.  I call your attention to a duality of mind here, part of 
which you experience as drifting, and part of which you experience as an 
evaluation of that drifting.  This very duality you correctly perceive is a 
kind of mental hopscotch or leapfrog.  The drifting is intrinsic in the lack 
of focus, and the lack of focus is this duality that perceives the drifting. 
  So let’s look at the larger context in which this leapfrogging is taking 
place, for if you desire to focus, you generally need something to focus 
upon.  True enough, you can focus into the middle of space where there is 
nothing, but I sense that’s not what your heart desires.  At these moments, 
rather than using a convergent type of mind, you have to go to a divergent, 
open kind of mind and ask yourself: What is the larger context in which I am 
living today?  Since you have this leisure time, you are deprived of the 
structure you just discussed, I believe, a while ago with Welmek.  The 
context in which your life had meaning for a while - the work you were doing 
- is suddenly gone.  In this situation you have to create a context, a 
surrounding meaning in which you can choose whatever activity touches your 
heart.  This is very difficult if you do not know the length of time you 
will be in this situation, or certain other practical considerations like 
expenses and so forth, that can limit your choices as to what you are 
capable of doing.  But for the focus, as you requested, you need an object, 
or more precisely - in a time sense - an objective.  Why not ask yourself 
what your heart desires?  True, it may not be very practical, but it might 
be the most rewarding.  Does this help?

Student:  Ah, yes, it does. Thank you.

Michael:  I would add here that this is one of the great difficulties facing 
mankind, not only individually, but generally: that is, what to do with 
freedom once you have it.  I’m sure you can think of - from your own 
experience or with friends’ - some of the ironic tragedies that people get 
into that lead to expressions like, “killing time.”  So it may help if you 
appreciate the challenge. And be in My peace.

Student:  Thank You.

Student: Yes, Michael, I’ve had throughout this day the experience of what 
you have been talking to us about tonight.  When I went to work this 
morning, and I began to work, I started feeling a little bit despondent 
about how much money I need to make, and certain bills that have come up and 
need to be paid.  And how my daughter needs certain things done - dental 
work and eye surgery, and the money for that… And it just kept on 
steamrollering.  Then it went to: I’m not living the life I desire to live, 
I’m failing in my eyes and even in God’s eyes… And I was watching myself go 
through this, saying this to myself.  Part of me said, kind-of out loud, 
“God, I need money right here and now.  I need it,” and then, with that I 
thought, about that, I remembered God being abundance - and doing all those 
affirmations.  And then I remembered, going deeper into myself, the prayer 
of Saint Frances of Assisi, “Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace, and 
make me an instrument of Thy love.”  And from that moment on, the inner 
dialogue I was having in myself was at peace.  And I’ve carried that peace, 
and that sense of existing moment to moment - as You alluded to - with me up 
to this point.  And there is even a sense of being empowered.  I’m not 
saying my situation has been resolved, but it’s coming from that bedrock of 
peace that You alluded to.  In that place, the steps I’m taking into the 
future are a lot more confident and decisive.

Michael:  Yes, My son - this is what I would consider to be a triumph, not 
of the human will as you so often think of it, but a triumph of the spirit 
of truth.  In human life your emotions are such double-edged swords that can 
lacerate you and cause you much pain, and yet, at the same time, can inform 
you of certain overall, encompassing concerns that do need attention.  So to 
become merely callous and refuse to feel is not only throwing out the baby 
with the bath water, but doing real violence to yourself.  Because this is 
that denial I mentioned earlier.

In refusing to feel emotions you are also denying and refusing to 
acknowledge the message they may be carrying, and this message can have an 
enormous quotient of reality within it.  In denying emotions and refusing to 
feel them, you only require them to become sharper and sharper and more 
cutting and lacerating.  But by feeling them, by acknowledging the demands 
contained within them of - in this case, certain financial considerations - 
I would suggest this acceptance could be what led you to think of Saint 
Francis’ wonderful prayer.  It is this triumph of truth, of seeking truth, 
that has stayed with you - almost by definition, is it not?

Student:  Yes.

Michael:  Truth is that which is - that which has substance.  This substance 
endures moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day, so you can have an 
assurance, finally, of some solid ground, of discovering that the essence of 
this ground is peace. Standing even further back, you see this as a living 
process.  By staying in touch with the real living essence of what you’ve 
gone through today, you can understand: Well, this is how my mind works: not 
to short-circuit the process, but to have faith in the process.  And this is 
mirrored in your feelings of self-confidence.  Are there any other aspects 
of this you wish to discuss?

Student:  It’s just the understanding that what I was going through - the 
feeling, the feeling of frustration and negativity - just to see how little 
I felt, and how like…a “woe is me” kind of feeling…  I can see how defeating 
it was, or is - to continue in that train of thought, does not help 
alleviate the situation at all.  And so I chose not to stay there.  I think 
people on this world don’t make that choice so consciously.  And I always 
tell my children, never to make a decision from emotional distress, but come 
from this place of peace and equanimity.

Michael:  I see this as a process of maturing, for how many times must the 
human heart be torn like this before it learns, as you did today, to turn 
towards and face the fear, and find a way through it, by accepting all the 
factors of the situation?  There is a triumph in refusing, as you did, to 
wallow in self pity, or just to escape in any number of ways.

You will recall from your text the distinction between self gratification 
and self maintenance.  In this case it was by staying focused on self 
maintenance and accepting the situation - by refusing to merely waste time 
in self gratification in indulging a “woe is me” kind of pity - that you 
escaped.  The more you do this, the more you have faith - right when you are 
in the clutches of this negative emotion - to see it for the unconscious 
reaction it is.  Think of panic, the extreme case of this emotion, as a way 
in which your system is trying to liberate enough energy to confront the 
situation.  So even panic, on a certain level, is well intended, but it is 
still only an animal level of reaction that has to be transcended in order 
to effectively swing onto action.  All these negative emotions are just ways 
of trying to deal with the situation, but in a way that only perpetuates the 
status quo, or worse - causes a regression.  It is in your wise refusal to 
indulge these that you are actually swinging into action, confronting the 
situation by getting to the bottom, the real bedrock of both the facts and 
your faith.  So we have learned something today, have we not?

Group:  Yes.

Michael:  Good!  This is good.

Student:  Part of the realization too, and I’ve always thought about this: 
there is only so much I can do with the means that are here for me.  There 
is only so much money I can make with the work that I do.  There’s only so 
much I can do, so I leave it in God’s hands -to direct me creatively to 
rectify the situation.  It’s all I can do.

Michael:  This, I would suggest, is the difference between evaluating the 
situation in a truly helpful way, and being judgmental against yourself.  
Well, My son, I invite you to rest well this evening.  Sleep on this, and 
remain in My peace.

Student:  Thank you.

Michael:  And so, My children, you see how it is you acquire character.  You 
ever so slowly, but certainly, build up within yourselves that which can 
endure.  This is not to say that there cannot occur something that will 
sweep you away entirely.  But it is to say that your faith informs you that 
nothing like this is for long.  Even though you may be swept away, your 
Father - our Father, can recreate you anew on the other side with nothing 
lost - all that you were, and now this experience too.  There is no end or 
limit to the adventure, but with faith we go forward joyfully to greet it.
Be in My peace.  Good evenng.