Painful Accounts

2000-10-20 10:47:00

Interesting post on hearing bells, Robin. You'd be surprised how many similar accounts I have received since publishing "The Immortal."

It sounds like the group has identified many types of pain and learned important lessons from them.

I identified with Susan's problems with custody of her children. My first wife thought I was in league with the devil when I started believing in reincarnation and other metaphysical teachings. At our divorce she did everything in her power to prevent me from seeing them at all. As a result, all my boys still think I am going to hell. They are nervous about spending any amount of time with me or talking about anything but the weather or small talk. My girls tolerate me a little better, but have little interest in anything metaphysical or even religious.

I know that if I could have spent more time with them, things would have worked out differently. My failure to do more for my children has been a great difficulty in my life, but the key to handling this, and all other problems beyond our control, is to just do our best and accept our limitations.

Even the Masters and the Christ himself have to do this. Time after time the work of disciples fall short of the goal, and mankind does not progress as hoped for. In such circumstances even the Great Ones have to accept what is and move the Plan forward the best they can.

Many of our emotional problems, and the pain connected with them, will be replaced by peace if we learn the art of divine acceptance. There have been several milestones of acceptance in my life that led me from emotional pain to peace. There's a lot of truth in the old adages such as not crying over spilt milk. Sometimes we just have to accept the fact that the milk is gone, but then we can always get a refill and proceed with a determination to not spill it the second time round.

Thank God that reincarnation is built into The Plan! It allows us to make right the injustices of the past, especially in our relationships with our children and other loved ones.

And Trish, anyone who gets upset at the human touch innocently given has a problem. I'm sure most people appreciate your friendly manner.

Yvon, I can understand your problems with Ekankar. In my own search I visited them and studied their books. I found them to be at least as authoritative as the Mormon church, but with a fancier vocabulary. When I visited their meetings I found that asking a question not in the program brought me glaring looks similar to what I received when I visited the Jehovah Witnesses. I think Paul Twitchell received some initial revelation, but went off on his own illusions and failed in his mission.

Jean, you faced emotional pain and claimed a victory over victimhood that is running rampant in this world. Diane joins Jean in this attitude which is marvelous when you think of all the problems she is facing.

Rick talks about the pain of loss. Yes, we've all had to deal with that. From a higher point of vision there is no loss, but that is often of little consolation when we focus on this world we are in. Again, acceptance is key to facing loss.

And Dehara's account of the value of relationship is worth reading twice. Even the Great Ones depend on relationship for growth and higher learning.

Glenys' account of her "dark night" reminds me of the advice of the Apostle Paul to remain steadfast in season and out of season. Djwahl Khul also speaks of the importance of moving forward with or without the help of the higher powers.

And my old friend Rob's accidental post was a good accident. He asks:

"What if giving in to the higher will creates more pain than the old behaviors?"

JJ:

It will create more pain, as long as we keep any attachment to the old and have not completely accepted the new. Again, acceptance is the key.

He also writes:

"In relation to the first question, is it not true that too much change brought about too quickly is as disastrous as staying in the old behaviors that cause pain?"

JJ:

This is an excellent point. The adage of making haste slowly comes to mind and is good advice. The methodical tortoise always beats the hasty hare. Soul contact is important because the soul will never give us more change than we can handle, but the personality wants the ultimate achievement right now.

Difficulties do come upon us, Rob, and we would never have chosen many of them in our right minds. But the soul, from its vantage point, knows no pain and only sees the end result. Except for about one seventh of humanity on their Sabbath life, the rest of us have all the problems we can humanly handle. If we face and solve our problems much growth and joy will be the end result, even though it may seem bleak at the time.

We are finally done with the Principles of Discovery. Hopefully they can help us in our quest for light and truth. The next major topic will be Principles and Laws.

Questions:

What is the difference between a principle and a law?

What is the first law and the principle behind it?