February 2008

At 72, I have been on the self-improvement path longer than you have been channeling. Over the years I have read many books, attended seminars, workshops, retreats, vision quests, and quests that held no vision whatsoever. Nonetheless, I have always been inspired and amazed by Spirit and the spiritual path. In spite of the rigorous challenges of this path, I readily acknowledge that my life would have seemed less valuable had I chosen differently, but where has the respect for Spirit gone? Where does the audacity to argue with Spirit Teachers at seminars come from? I may belong to a previous generation, but I have never seen as much argumentative interaction at seminars as I do today. Why the constant interruptions? Why the fidgeting, standing, sitting, eating, bathrooming, knitting, etc. Why? At the risk of aging myself into a previous century I must say that in my day it was a privilege to be invited to an event where channeled Spirit Teachers were present to assist and to guide. Bothersome individuals were politely asked to be civil or to leave. Today they are given command of the microphone or the stage. Please indulge my age and my still-unfolding journey with a quick response.

As you may know, I am without bias, so your age is less than impressive where I am concerned. I am far more interested in the journey that you have undertaken and the discoveries you have made along the way. I am also interested in what confuses and confounds you, and it appears that you have shared it rather well. Now set aside your years madam, and entrust yourself to the youthful spark of creativity that I now address.

Some time ago, in the previous century, humanity entered its Season of Discontent. Every age has one so there was no surprise on my part when this one showed up in its own divine timing. The characteristics of this season include a restless desire for something better, nonconformity with the status quo, and a general dissatisfaction with almost everything. Disrespect, although misplaced where Spirit is concerned, is a less friendly or useful companion of the season.

Discontent is a very useful motivator, particularly during times when the possibilities for evolutional growth are present. If an adolescent did not become discontent with his parents perhaps he would not seek his own adventure. If scientists and explorers were satisfied with the known, perhaps they would not study other planets or build ships that travel to them. Discontent with a lesser truth opens the door to a greater truth, unless of course, one is content to be discontent. At least in part, this is what is tiresome for you and for others, too.

Your journey with and for Spirit began long ago, certainly before the life that you are journeying through now. The same is true of many of your companions, even those you find annoying today. This is the only comparison I will draw between you. Do not turn away too soon so that your haste does not blind you from a greater truth! The mirror is indeed a dimensional one, and it is important that you be willing to see your image in it, as it appears rather than how you would have it appear. In other words, we must approach the subject without reproach, do you see?

The Season of Discontent manifests differently within every kingdom. For instance, discontent within a species might cause a mutation, and greater discontent could even mean the extinction of that species. Humanity is currently polarized toward discontent. Quite literally, its axis is leaning toward the negative pole. Why? Because that is where its greatest strengths are. Humanity has only to recognize this and begin to utilize the tools of disposition that are readily available. Why has it not done so yet? An excellent question!

To begin with, there is a difference between being discontent with your life and with being in a season of Divine Discontent. A discontented life is one that lacks maturity and imagination. It is a life lived for the sake of an outer reality or a lesser truth. Sooner or later a lesser truth will let you down. Like an inferior product, its longevity cannot uphold its own density. It cannot be faulted for being what it is, and indeed when it eventually falters and before then as well, the higher truth is already present. These sometime difficult moments, or gaps between reality and illusion, are always blessings in disguise, but never in the moment, always later, in hindsight hmmm?

Divine discontent is the path of the journeyman, the past-life martyr who refuses to succumb to martyrdom this time around. It is the path of the blind that yearn to see and the deaf who hear only the continual call of a distant, but incessant echo. The effect of Spirit upon discontent can feel like a gentle touch and a warm embrace, but it can also feel like the sting from a bee! It awakens a longing that is almost too severe for some to bear, yet bear it they must. Many are able to do so gracefully, but it is just as common for an adolescent awkwardness to manifest, and to linger at that. The faces of divine discontent are many. I offer a few brief descriptions here to inform as well as to entertain, for we must never take ourselves overly seriously, regardless of what we are or where we stand.

Problem: Indigos, their name is as timeless as they are tenaciousness, and history has placed a bookmark in the pages that number their return. The Indigos will remain upon the earth for the next one hundred years or so. Their mark is only now beginning to be felt. They are the free agents of the universe. They will go the distance and it is certain you will tire before they do. They are represented by a color that is deep and potent, and like the inkwell of old, the effect of these individuals is fade resistant, if not indelible. These individuals know how to get under your skin. Celebrated in books and as system busters, most seminar attendees tend to breathe a sigh of relief when an Indigo chooses a seat elsewhere. Indigo light is like the dark matter of the universe; it is thick with chaotic and unspecific creativity. Unaccustomed to boundaries, they has little effect upon them. Typically, an Indigo has less than genteel ways and their poor manners often precede them.

Solution: Fault them if you will, but it will change little or nothing. Sideways glances and sneers on your part will only reflect your own inability to accept what is. You say that you are ready for them to bring change, but what happens when they bring it and drop it in your lap? Indigos attend seminars because they need some divinity to add to their discontent. They need to calm the fire that burns within them. Unknowingly, many seminar attendees fan and fuel an Indigo flame. An Indigo will offer you the opportunity to practice what you preach. Take it. Be at peace even when there is disruptive energy around you. Honor those whose cause and purpose is diversely different than your own. Their genetic sequencing is more advanced than yours. Can you learn from it? Can you work on your own energy (not theirs) while you share the same environment? Can you refrain from handing them your business card and telling them that you can help them? Take a deep breath and see yourself reflected in their chaotic ways. How hard are you trying to reorder your life and to hold everything together before it falls apart? You are trying to make sense of chaos and to reorder it. They are trying to show you that the present order is senseless and that chaos is a better choice. They are here because you invited them to be here. Offer them a smile and an embrace. The effects will be long lasting for both of you.

Challenge: Do you find these individuals irritating? Does their lack of respect trouble you? It may be worth taking note of when and why you are more concerned with being nice than with telling the truth. What would it take for you to rise as an advocate of change? Would it have to touch your own life or that of your family? Your pocketbook?

Problem: The Know it All Experts, have been here a very long time. That is why they know it all, and they have been here long enough to read it all, too. These individuals are lonely. They have seen their friends come and go many times. Many of their companions have already moved to other dimensions and planes, even though if you asked a Know it All, they would tell you that they weren’t ready yet, or that their qualities were less than perfect. They have been searching for perfection for such a long time that many have simply settled for searching or for assisting others in their search. Simply put, these individuals seek a perfection that is more defined and more perfect than yours. They do not mean to point out how much more knowledge they think they have, or how flawed yours is, but they can’t help it. They also can’t help but tell you how long they have been ‘on the path’, how many master teachers they have studied under, how many certificates they hold, how many books they have read, etc, etc. These individuals are the would-be teachers and when they speak at conferences and lectures they often begin with, ‘Isn’t it true that . . . ’ or ‘Hasn’t it also been your experience that . . .’ or even ‘My teachers have taught me to . . . ‘The problem with this group is that they have not put their knowledge to the test. Only in one’s own life can wisdom attest to knowledge gained. It is not theory, but the practical application of principles that causes one to advance in body, mind and spirit. Where failure looms, success shines its lantern.

Solution: These less than perfect individuals live in fear that they will not be able to achieve perfection, so you must forgive them at the outset while they compare themselves to you silently or aloud. With a smile, but not a smirk, allow them to make their spiritual measurements, and even to point out one or two of your flaws. They will more than likely tell you what books you should have read and what important seminars you have missed. Thank them. One day they will thank you for allowing them the opportunity to share their insecurities with them. Compliment them on how much they know and invite them to put it to use right away. When they tell you that one day they will, encourage them to do so sooner rather than later. Remind them that you are eager to listen to the presentation you are both attending and to put its information to immediate use. Tell them how much you have learned to value the art of listening.

Challenge: Can you imagine just how much information these individuals have amassed? Can you allow them to continue to think they are experts without refuting their knowledge or comparing it to your own? Can you see beyond their arrogance? Can you celebrate how imperfectly perfect you are?

Problem: The number of I Need Attention individuals continues to grow steadily. Why? Because humanity misunderstands its value as a collective race of beings, it also misunderstands the needs that the individual values. Humanity has not yet learned to love itself. Lack of love is well represented in every other form of lack. Including lack of respect. Individuals that do not respect themselves will also find it difficult to respect others. This includes seminar leaders and seminar participants. Lack of respect for others often masks a need for love that is not being met elsewhere, the greater the lack, the louder the demand for a placebo-like substitute. In seminar situations a need for attention often translates into a need to share something or anything, appropriate or inappropriate, related or not. While there is no immediate relationship between maturity and the need for attention, need emerges from a juvenile place, and the wants of a child are always genuine, even when they are expressed disingenuously. The incessant requests of those who require attention include being heard or ministered to frequently, being critical of their immediate environment, chairs, facility, etc, fidgeting, sorting through personal belongings, as well as an inability to control one’s body including the need to visit a bathroom more often than on other occasions, coughing, sneezing and even sleeping.

Solution: This ongoing problem is not an easy one to fix, as these individuals require more patience and compassion than most. That being said, any assistance they receive must include a reminder that they are in an adult environment designed to serve the needs of the many that are the One. Share an innocent moment with them as you both declare that seminar room chairs are among the more uncomfortable on the planet, but encourage them to make the very best of the opportunities presented. Those who require attention have holes and gaps in their field that remain unfilled, which furthers they’re feeling unfulfilled. Consciously or unconsciously the attend seminars, workshops and retreats to be with those who are like-hearted. Their over-zealousness is an attempt to heal themselves, even if when it seems disruptive to others. Can you be both compassionate and bold? If so, you may say to these individuals that while you continue to enjoy their intelligent questions and all that they have shared, you are also deeply interested in the questions and comments of the quieter, more shy audience members. Ask your seatmate to join you in creating an opening for this smaller segment. Again, if you can do so with compassion, remind your fellow seminarian that you are hoping the seminar leader will have time to present new or spontaneous information or guidance, which requires an unattached moment here and there.

Challenge: Judgment! Can you attend a seminar without targeting the few individuals whom you have already placed into this categorical box? Can you speak directly to someone who needs attention without speaking indirectly about them to others?

The preceding categories have been offered for your consideration. Look back now, and notice just how many times the word individual was used. The categories do not contain individuals; instead it is the individuals that contain the categories, because an individual is much grander than a category or a box. I urge you to look beyond the opinions that guide your unconscious and automatic thoughts in this regard. It is a promise that if you do, you will see something that is much more beautiful. The path to greater consciousness is a varied and interesting one, and your individual experience will draw to you what your progress demands based upon your awareness of where you feel you fall short.

The measure of a man (a group, a race, a civilization, or a species) sometimes rests within his ability to survive in extreme conditions. Survival requires tolerance for deviation from a standard or norm, but what is the limit within which something or someone is allowed to deviate from the norm? What is your personal limit? Is your allowance of others the same as the allowance you desire for yourself? Tolerance requires interaction, allowance, and even acceptance of different views, and fairness toward the people who hold these different views. Tolerance asks that you recognize the rights of others to have thoughts, beliefs, and practices that are different than your own without an attempt to suppress them. Is that not what brought you to the very subjects that you consider today? Do you recognize a lack of tolerance in today’s family environment, workplace, spiritual center and relationship? Can you see that each person, cell and atom is a part of the problem, the solution and the challenge?

Here is another question for you to consider: Who is responsible for the experiences generated as a result of the seminars you attend? The seminar leader who has prepared a presentation? The channeler who offers willingness and their body? The entity, group consciousness or sentience that employs the channeler’s body (and the seminar body) purposefully? The host who has contracted the facility and made other related arrangements? Those who have received your money in exchange for your experience? The guides, angels or teachers who guided you there? You? And again: Who is responsible for what you bring and what you take from the experience itself? Do not allow yourself to think that Gaia would drop all the responsibility in your lap with a simple, ‘buck up, you create your own experience, you know’. And yet I will ask that you accompany me all of the way through your experience rather than simply to it.

The seminar body is responsible for the experiences generated before, during and after the event. The seminar body includes all who present themselves for the experience, including those who stand behind it energetically, financially and symbolically. All experiences are co-created and inter-related. Your individual experience depends upon the wellness of the whole. The same is true of your individual experience upon the earth. In every instance, bring the very best that you have to offer the Wholeness; even it is something intangible such as desire or potential. Whenever possible, leave your expectations behind for they seldom find satisfaction and are often overly critical. Whenever possible, bring along a remembrance that includes self-love, self-respect and respect for others, regardless of their capacity to earn it or deserve it.

Be deferential where Spirit is concerned, and guided by a frequency of reverence or profound respect. Spirit presents itself at the invitation rather than the insistence of those who gather. Spirit is not an entity or a teacher. It is the essence of that which is whole and complete. Although Spirit is present in all things and all moments it is made real when you acknowledge its potent companionship in word and deed. Spirit is the cause and your experience is the effect. Will you not give it and you all that the moment deserves? As a true seeker of Spirit, the chair that holds you upright and supports your spinal column will seem less significant. Demand that your body obey you and recognize that you are not enslaved by its needs. Contain your bladder and your bowel and train it not to infringe upon a moment that may be significant to the whole, of which you are a part. Do not fail to notice that where you put yourself first, others will do the same, and by your leave. Be prudent in thought, deed and action, compassionate in words and true to All That Is, at whose invitation you Are.

Copyright 2008 Pepper Lewis, The Peaceful Planet