2002-03-28-Joys Of Easter

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Topic: Joys of Easter

Group: Unknown

Facilitators

Teacher: Welmek

TR: Unknown

Session

Opening

Good evening, this is your friend and teacher, Welmek, and I am glad to rejoin you after my absence of last week.

Lesson

Tonight, I wish to share with you a presentation on the joys of Easter. I have selected this topic because of the time of year, but also because due to the spiritual quickening that is presently occurring on the planet, there are many people who are undergoing inner turbulence. And I wish to punctuate this idea of the joys of Easter with the idea that out of great struggle and conflict comes great faith and great joy.

Each of you has had his or her own cross to bear in your lives. Some people struggle with abusive family members, employers, financial difficulties, health problems. But whatever the obstacle or difficulty is in life, it nevertheless seems that there is this load on your shoulder that you are bearing. I ask you to now go into the stillness and I wish you to recall a time in your life where you felt your cross, and when you are ready just share it with me what that felt like and we will continue our lesson. (Long pause) Who would like to begin with what they felt in their experience?

Dialogue

Student: I'll begin. First of all, I feel so blessed, because there aren't very many times in my life where I can look back and feel like I've had a cross to bear, and had to think, where in my life was this? I feel so privileged that I had to search, and what came to me was when my husband and I got separated. And the feeling of sadness in my heart for my children, that I still feel, and I say that's probably the weightiest thing that I feel that I have to bear.

Welmek: Thank you, for sharing that with me. I appreciate your openness and trust in revealing this to us this evening.

Student: Welmek, I feel I can comment, maybe a little sooner than the others, because this came up with my daughter in that "Who Am I" meeting. The worst thing that I had to endure was this a total sense of defeat because my analytical mind knew that I was being separated from my wife's former children and that I'd never have that link with them again and I was right. At the same time I went around the world and I had to take a leave of absence from work, but the real yoke was not the betrayal after trust that I was feeling or imagining, but the real burden was the separation from those gifted children, that the speed of communication never picked up, or was able to be increased to the same level, and time went on. So, that sense of defeat was very real.

Welmek: Thank you for sharing that. I know it is not easy, what I am asking you to impart this evening, but I do ask you to bear with me while we move through this exercise. If this is uncomfortable for you, then I do not expect you to answer. It is not as important to reveal the circumstances as what you experienced or felt than what that circumstance was in your life.

Student: Welmek, I had a very philosophical, reflective father and I think I developed an illusion all through high school, to be kind of a loner, being overly sensitive. I had this enormous illusion, that a certain kind of grasp of life was possible. I could actually know what is was all about. And I looked around, and it seemed everybody else was lost in their own little world, there own little subjectivity and if we could just be objective about life, it would be a Paradise. Everything would be all right, everything would be solved. And sometime during my freshman year in college, a circle closed in my mind, a circle of logic in which I realized that what I needed most to know had to be questioned for that very reason, because I needed so desperately to know what was the truth. And once that, I guess I was listening to the existential philosophers, I went through a several year period of kind of questioning a state of doubt that seemed to be spiraling down and down til finally I was able to make a breakthrough by holding a cocked and loaded pistol to my head and realizing that between my brain and my intention and my finger on that trigger, there was a "oneness" to me and of course then I was horrified several minutes later to think: "If this thing had gone off by mistake, what my family might have suffered". But there was a period of a number of years that extended clear into the Marine Corps and all that I experienced in there that; it was a questioning of my own existence and, really the goodness, if you will, of the creation. It was very much in doubt for a long time.

Welmek: Thank you for your openness and honesty.

Student: Good evening Welmek. I look back on my life and realize that there have been many times where I have felt a tremendous burden of life. Family situations, health situations, financial situations; just so many times where I've felt just crushed by the burden of life. And the feeling, when I was younger, it was like going into a bottomless void, a dark void. And out of that I began to realize that there was something greater than myself to trust in, and as I grew in spiritual maturity and understood, being, placing myself in the loving hand of God and letting all my conceptions about what was happening and how to resolve situations, I would just fall asleep in the hand of God and wake up the next morning and start anew, not knowing the answer, but really trusting that God would not leave my abandoned. And the greatest thing that I realized was even though I thought that I would end or that I could commit "suicide" and end it all, every morning I'd wake up whether I wanted to or not and even if I thought that the world was going to end, it never did. The sun rose every morning. And so as I grew in years I grew in that basic trust that it would all continue. I didn't always have that feeling, that it would continue, but now I have that faith that no matter what, it goes on.

Welmek: Thank you, for sharing your experiences.

Student: Welmek, this is D. And I fall along the lines of S. as well that there have been events in my life where I've had to really fall upon my trust in the Universal Spirit and power and I actually have felt myself grow, expand in faith and in trust and integrity. And I've been experiencing that over the past five months. I've been experiencing my cross to bear right here and now, as we speak, over the past five months. And during these five months I've experienced a whole, whole panorama of feelings and emotions running from betrayal, to being demeaned, to feeling compassion and forgiveness and love, to fear, to renewed faith and strength. But I also know, I'm experiencing, and you shared this with me, a greater authenticity of who I am and knowing that whatever transpires in the next coming weeks, that I will be led towards greater communion with God, with the universe, and my faith and trust in a universe will grow and bear fruit. And as Jesus told me to rise above it all and I have to keep on reminding myself of that.

Welmek: Thank you, for sharing these deep feelings with us this evening.

I did not ask you to go into that place of remembrance to trigger feelings of pain or regret in you. They were meant to serve as a reminder that human life, particularly as it has been on this planet, has been mired in much that we would consider to be dark and potentially evil. And so that all of you have been tinged and affected by this in some form or fashion. But the very fact of your presence here this evening indicates that you are also drawn by the light forces within you. The illuminating spiritual presences that are now drawing within your heart and mind to fashion in your mind a new idea of what life could be like. And while you have yet to taste the fullness of the life in the light, you are well on your way to that destination.

What I would ask you to do now, is to again to revisit that place and when you are in that place of feeling dejected, betrayed, angry, frustrated, ask for the light to come upon you and ask for that light to fill your heart. And when you have felt the fullness of the light within your heart I would be most interested for you to share with me what your feelings are, and what it is you feel has replaced the darkness within you. Take a few moments and when you feel ready please share your feelings again. (Long pause)

Student: Welmek, I can share what I'm feeling now. And I feel happy, I have a smile on my face and I feel a lightness in my heart and a trust that everything will be OK. Welmek: Thank you.

Student: Welmek, I had an experience, I must have been about twenty-five, I was just out of the military and back from overseas and the Far East and Vietnam. And I think I've learned that simply, if you persist, it you don't give up, if just keep staying true to yourself, even in this state of enormous doubt. I had a whole, on a mountaintop down at Big Sur; I had a complete super-conscious kind of death and rebirth experience that has remained thirty-five years later still, ineffable. I just suddenly, I came into existence. I was no longer questioning even whether I was, what my nature was. I simply - was. And part of that experience was just a feeling, a knowing that there was an absolute goodness in existence. It seemed like a perception at the time. Although, now I think it's more a matter of faith. But my life just turned around and forever since that time, I was actually kind of giddy and high for several years afterwards. I got accused of being a "Pollyanna", and not taking life seriously, I was just so overwhelmed with that experience. But, it stayed true!

Welmek: And; Is this what you experienced now; when you asked for the light to shine within you"?

Student: Yes! It's still there, as something that - kind of an assurance. The textbook has, put it in one little sentence that: "we little pollywogs, we little human beings, we out here in the nurseries of time and space, taking our first tiny, tiny little baby steps into eternity - we actually participate in God the Absolute in the simple fact of our existence". That one sentence gave me a great joy.

Welmek: Thank you.

Student: Welmek, I think I can comment on what I experienced in the now is the best thing to say it that my Thought Adjuster will own my personality.

Welmek: And how does this factor in your internal environment?

Student: That's where death is swallowed up in victory, like Handel's "Messiah", the death has no more sting. The defeat was real at the time, because it was a time burden, that I knew was going to happen, but the Thought Adjuster contact is the bright light, almost a literal light, in the dark valley of real suffering.

Welmek: And do you feel a sense of relief or a release? (Student: Tremendous! Yes!) Thank you. Student:

Welmek, this is D. As I surrender myself to the light at this moment, I feel a sense of freedom and, and the release of the burden of my cross to bear. But, I still don't know the outcome but I know it will be for my greater good and for the good of all who are involved. All I can do is surrender. That's all I can do.

Welmek: Thank you. Our Master as he lived his human life had many burdens on his shoulders: the watchcare of his father's family. His mastery of the human mind, his subsequent realization of his divine mission while living the life in the flesh was a tremendous endeavor for Him. And while your lives will not constitute such an endeavor, the model that he revealed by spending time in prayerful communion with his Divine Father, that love and light that illuminated His mind and heart gave him all of his strength and courage and faith and direction to forge ahead into the very jaws of death. And while it may seem at the time to you in human experience that escape from your trials and tribulations would seem a way to ease your pain, it is only by forging ahead that you find true liberty and true peace.

The light which illuminates your mind carries within it a sword or a laser beam, you might say, to cut through the darkness, to diminish all of the roots of evil and any of the confusion that afflicts you as you are moving through this conflict. It is virtually impossible at your level of experience to not request that this illumination come into your being. How could you possibly move through life, through all of your challenges, without the answer that comes from your Divine Source?

It was through Jesus' mastery of His human mind that allowed Him to step forward in faith and to make the pronouncement through His ignominious death, "Not my will, Father, but Yours be done." And in so doing the Father revealed to Him through the light and through His love the way to the victory over the very, as you say, sting of death. The resurrection is the regeneration within your soul. The resurrection within your soul will always yield to you this deeper meaning, this truth, this freedom.

Each of you is becoming so much more than what you can possibly glimpse at this time. These experiences that you have moved through, and now bring into the light, create a resurgence or a resurrection of a new idea within your soul. This new idea within you is a new meaning and value of the Father's love within you. Most of these experiences and meanings of the Father's love would not be able to be born without some degree of inner turmoil that comes from the human mind yielding over to the divine realignment that is triggered by you inner spirit. Each time you create this new soul-awareness within you; you are expanding your capacity to live and feel and know and intuit the joy and the happiness that comes with being a child of a loving and guiding spiritual parent.

It is at times very difficult to go through these experience, and I am not underplaying the difficulty that you face at the time, but it is important to always remember that the light at the end of the tunnel will only grow stronger the more you spend time in communion, in stillness with the Father and asking for the guidance to grow stronger. And to forge that path within you heart gives you the strength to carry-on in the midst of the difficult burdens of life. Your soul has a tremendous capacity to experience light and joy. Each time you experience joy, remember, that it is something new that you have learned. And, that your experiences no matter how difficult they once were will always lead you to greater happiness and awareness of all that you are becoming and all that the Fathers' plans for you will reveal in time. Do you have any comments or questions at this time?

Student: Welmek, I've been wondering for weeks how Jesus would, even tell his parents, that he'd just like to have a little talk, a few minutes with his Father before he went to sleep? Was he talking with his Thought Adjuster? Or was the Jewish culture, just much more experienced at teaching children to talk with their Father in Heaven, as though they were personal friends. That seemed to be such a very successful technique at such a very young age. I really wish I knew how to teach that to young children, what he correctly hit on, even way before he was twelve. He was like, five! How did he do it?

Welmek: Within the Jewish tradition there was the idea of an Almighty Being who was in a sense a spiritual patriarch and under the leading of Jesus' Thought Adjuster, he very early on was able to be inspired to want to have a relationship with this spiritual patriarch, his Father in Heaven. So as you are the human father to your children, you can also tell them that there is a parent who loves them so tenderly and fully and understands everything that they are going through - all of their secret thoughts. And, that there is never anything to be ashamed of, and that they can speak to their spiritual Father in just the way that is right for them. Help them to feel free to share with the Father the things that they may have trouble in sharing with you or with their mother. And also reiterate to them that God will only love them and guide them the more they go to God with their thoughts and dreams and prayers. They will in time begin to listen, but at first the addressing God in this way is of utmost importance. Do you understand?

Student: Yes, I do. I think it's very important thing that our culture needs to learn, at that fragile point. I know my boy's questioning a lot right now and that would have helped him to have.if we had set that up better for him.

Welmek: But you can now encourage him to spend ten minutes or so in just speaking with God and encouraging him to share with God everything that is on his mind. It is quite simple. Does this help?

Student: Yes it does, and I will work with it, right away. Student:

Welmek, this is S. and I have been dealing with much information this week on the United States government and it does bring much fear to my heart and much sadness and much questioning. And it's like a burden that is growing and growing. I don't know how to, how to balance what I hear in the world, with what I feel spiritually. Can you help?

Welmek: My dear sister, I do empathize with your concerns. There are many evil influences still affecting many areas of political life on this planet. To assure you, I can say that there are many angels and spiritual forces who are at work in these arenas and that there are humans who are aware of the myriad complexity of political life as it now stands on this planet. But for you to find that place of rest in your heart, you must in your own mind come to an understanding of whose agenda will prevail here. The out-workings of political struggle will still be with you for some time to come. You, in your own role as a citizen of this country will be affected somewhat by this in some aspects of your own life. But there is another way to approach this and that is to allow yourself to step outside of your role as U.S. citizen and to look at yourself as a child of the universe.

What does this mean to be a child of the universe? What boundaries are you constrained by here? I ask you in the coming days to consider this idea more deeply and ask for a deeper level of encircuitment so that your sense of identity begins to shift now in your mind from that of citizen of a country to citizen of a universe where there is truth and beauty and righteousness and justice and fairness and liberty and mercy and compassion. All of these elements will be available and sensed within your heart and mind when you identify yourself as a child of the universe. And so when you step back into your identity as citizen of this country, you will feel not so constrained by the current situation, as you will see that these are only the out-workings of the humans who know not of the Father's ways and of the Father's truth. And you in your own personal role as citizen can begin to share your truth of what you know as a child of the universe to your brothers and sisters. Does this help?

Student: Yes it does. Thank you.

Student: Welmek, I'd just like to thank you again for being with us and also just in general to share with my friends here sense of this absolute wonder that we are alive at this time at this enormous transition, just to have the Urantia Book - something as enormous as this revelation. It seems we're really blessed. When you think of all the generations and generations of people who did not have such a thing.

Closing

Welmek: The time is coming when the pain of the past will be washed clean, and humans will rise from their degradation into the resurrection and the new life. And so in closing, the joys of Easter are not just the words that I speak, or the words that you read in your text, but they are the living truth of the rebirth that occurs within your soul each time you walk through a valley of challenges, even death.

And so in closing, I would like to lead you in an exercise once again, and this one is to ask for the power of the resurrection that Jesus experienced to enter into your heart and mind and fill you with the joys. Take a few moments now and ask for Him to come in, and to fill your being. (long Stillness)

On behalf of all the teachers here this evening we wish you a most happy and joyous Easter and may the love and the power of the resurrection within your soul continue to unfold and blossom into light and truth and love. Good evening.