Simple Seekers

A simple seeker was accepting the reality of being something akin to being possesed, even though the very thought of that possibility sent shivers of fear through her body. It seemed to bring memories, or stories, or were they from lived epeiences of an earlier lifetime, of the torture inflicted upon millions of helpless individuals (mostly young women) who were accused of being witches, by self-proclaimed, but generally accepted, male representatives of God.

Of course, Spirit may not be a spirit at all, but a materializd adept, living in a secret community, perhaps in the mountains of northern India, and using occult powers to control her, or attempt to, or attracted to her by the Universal Law of Attraction, to harmonize His wisdom with her simple thinking.

“What is a materialized adept?”

“A highly evolved spirit who has chosen a human disguise, in order to develop enlightenment among ordinary humans.”

“So, a spirit in disguise as a human?”

“Yes”

“Aren’t we all playing that game?”

…..

A simple seeker’s note to herself

Thinking back to my discussion with Spirit about materialized adepts, if there are any, it might be as a game to Him, but for some of us, we may not be aware of being more than physical humans.

“Perhaps, for some, they’re not yet aware of being much more than animals.”

“Are we all materialized adepts?”

“Yes and no.”

“What does that mean?”

“What do you think it might mean?”

“That we’re each and all spirit beings, living in a physical body?”

“What about us all being adepts?”

“No. Perhaps a few of us might have that potential, but most of us are likely content just to live a physical life, within a wide variety of states of awareness.”

“Yes, and the problem arises of how to live in harmony with people who may possess different states of awareness, and a possibly infinite variety of personal rules of conduct toward other people.”

“Strict, general rules of order would necessarily have to be designed to ensure peaceful co-existence.””

“Yes, and if necessary, enforced.”

“By whom?”

“By those who have power and/or a sense of responsibility to do so.”

“How do they get that power?”

“Freely given, or taken””

…..

A simple seeker was meditating on the concept of intention, and she was attempting to connect and merge individual human energies with those expressed on the Kabbalah Tree of Life and, also necessarily, those expressed on The Ladder of Light. To be on one tree …

“Not on, but within.”

“We’re moving beyond form?”

“We were always beyond form.”

“Then what purpose does form serve?”

“As a map.”

“Where does intention fit on the map?”

“Intention isn’t on the map.”

“But if the map is a guide …”

“A guideline, not a guide.”

“But the structure of the map …”

“Or tree, or ladder?”

“Yes. Don’t they point a way to travel?”

“No.”

“Then what purpose do they serve?”

“They represent posibilities.”

“Potential possibilities from which to choose?”

“Choose what?”

“The path or way we want to travel, from among the various possiblities represented on the map.”

“Yes. We choose the way we want to travel.”

“As we go?”

“Where?”

“Along our way.”

“Which way is our way?”

“The way we have chosen to travel.”

“A predetermined way?”

“Can it be considered as a predetermined way if I’m only considering the next step?”

“Yes.”

“How is that possible?”

“It’s the only way.”

“How can that be, if I see the destination that I wish to reach?”

“Wishing isn’t moving.”

“Then, choosing …”

“Yes. If we consciously choose the destination that we wish to reach, if we can, then a map can provide us with a guideline.”

“But intention is our guide along the way?”

“Yes.”

…………….

A Simple Seeker’s Note to Herself

Looking at a map doesn’t move us anywhere. We can sit in a cafe and study a map, and even make plans about where we would like to go. But we have to get up on our feet and start moving if we intend to get anywhere.

“Yes. Looking at a map doesn’t get us anywhere, but it does help us to plan where, how, and when we intend to go.”

“But even then we need intention to inspire us to move forward?”

“Or backward, up or down, this way or that way.”

“Please explain.”

“A map as a guideline can refer to a plan of moving forward with our life, in many more ways than one. A daily schedule is as a map of how we plan to spend our time.”

“Are you suggesting that I need such a map?”

“Do you plan your daily activities?”

“For activities of importance, yes.”

“What percentage of your daily activities are important enough for you to plan for?”

“I do priortize. Isn’t that planning?”

“Yes.”

……..

A simple seeker was meditating on the concept of serving a sacred cause, alone if necessary, but not necessarily alone.

“What cause?”

“I don’t know.

“So, all that is missing is the cause?”

“The cause? Not, a cause?”

“Could it be any cause?”

“No.”

“Then, that narrows the field, somewhat.”

“You’re mocking me.”

“Yes.”

“But I do seem to need to do something with my life.”

“You have.”

“What have I done?”

“You’ve lived.”

“So has everyone else.”

“Yes, but with a difference.”

“And the difference is?”

“Everyone else lives his or her own life.”

“And I have lived mine?”

“Yes.”

“But that relates to the past.”

“Are you not living now?

“In the present?”

“Where else can you live, now?”

“I want to do something in the future that I haven’t done in the past, or now.”

“What?”

“I don’t know.”

“Will you know in the future?”

“Yes, of course. But I want to plan to do something.”

“How you’ll do whatever you’ll do?”

“How can I know how to do what, when I don’t know what to do?”

“How have you done what you did in the past, and are not doing in the present?”

“I did what I seemed to need to do, as well as I could.”

“We can never do more than that.”

……….

A simple seeker’s note to herself

Thinking back on my discussion with Spirit about planning for the future, He seemed to be reminding me that we each live our life from day to day, more and/or less, and that it’s just not possible to know for sure what will be important to us in the future. But if we work to do what’s important to us now, as well as we can, then we’ll be developing skills and habits which will help us adapt to whatever the future brings our way.

“Yes. Study and practice whatever you think is important for you to do, now. In the future, perhaps you’ll be interested in something else. So what? Then you can study and practice doing that something else. The skills you’re learning now, and the study habits you’re developing now, can be adapted to whatever situation and/or opportunity that presents itself in the future. You’ll be prepared.”

……………

A simple seeker was meditating on the concept of reverse transcendence.

“How did that idea get into your mind?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps you put it there.”

“For what purpose?”

“Perhaps to inform me of the topic of today’s lesson.”

“How would you explain reverse transcendence?”

“In traditional yoga practice, the mind of the student and that of her teacher become interconnected.”

“Where does reverse transcendence fit into such a situation?”

“As the student absorbs more and more of her teacher’s understanding …”

“Understanding? And not wisdom?”

“Are they not the same?”

“Yes. Go on.”

“Then her own wisdom, or awareness, expands as she absorbs some of his.”

“Does she transcend her own mind?”

“No. An overlap, such as in a paradigm shift, develops between the student’s mind and that of her teacher’s.”

“Duality becomes one?”

“Not totally.”

“So she absorbs his energy without losing her own?”

“Perhaps our unique energy could never be in danger of being consumed by another.”

“It could be weakened, or strengthened. Is this the result of a student attracting and absorbing her teacher’s energy?”

“Perhaps neither happens.”

“Then what does, or might, happen?”

“The student may become increasingly aware of her own vibrating energy, through a more relaxed and trusting association with his.”

“Very good. But where does the concept of reverse transcendence come in?”

“I’m still vague about it, but transcendence suggests going beyond, and if her guru’s energy is strengthening her own, then the flow of higher energy is from without to within – a reverse flow from the generally accepted view of transcendence as going beyond, or from within to without.”

“Does the teacher lose anything from this transfer of energy?”

“Is there a transfer?”

“Yes.”

“Then the higher energy that the teacher transmits to his student would be rfeplaced by an even higher infusion of energy from his source of enlightenment, as a pressure gradient system might work.”

“Is that all?”

“For now, yes. Did I do well?”

“For now, yes.”

……

A simple seeker’s note to herself

Thinking back on my discussion of transcendence with Spirit, what did I learn?

“Perhaps you learned that transcendence is not possible without an infusion of higher energy into your mind.”

“Yes. But what triggers such an infusion of higher energy?”

“What triggers growth within your body?”

“My body may be designed to grow when nutrients are provided.”

“Yes, and yet it grows from within to without.”

“But it can only expand when nourished by outside forces.”

“Yes, and so it is with your mind.”

“Could you be considered as an outside force?”

“From the perspective of your limited mind, yes.”

…………..

A simple seeker was meditating on the mystery of Tarot.

“How did you manage to move your focus from The Hermit, as a solitary seeker of enlightenment, to comparing Aces?”

“The Major Arcana, which includes The Hermit, relates to general personality characteristics, while …”

“Did I ask..?”

“The Aces introduce each of the four suits of the Minor Arcana, and offer a sacred gift – a promise, almost.”

“How could a gift or promise be sacred, and still be no more than an almost?”

“It’s not a freebee.”

“Then what does it cost?”

“It’s not for sale, at least it can’t be purchased.”

“Then how does one receive a gift that isn’t free, and yet can’t be purchased?”

“It’s a promise of reward, if effort is made to follow one’s dream or path, and is meant to inspire self-confidence.”

“How does Tarot differ from I Ching?”

“You’re asking me?”

“Yes.”

“From my limited understanding?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. They have little or nothing in common.”

“How so?”

“I Ching explains and supports social stability, within a system of generally accepted rules of order.”

“And Tarot?”

“Tarot explains inner dimensions of personal experiences; feelings, desires, needs, and interests, and helps us to make sense of them, and to learn to blend them together, and more. It encourages us to believe in our individual values, and inspires us to reach for success and happiness.”

“And I Ching does not?”

“Personal satisfaction and happiness don’t seem to be high priorities, from an I Ching perspective.”

“Then why study both?”

“We seem to need both individual and collective general rules of order, but we also need personal, emotional satisfaction.”

“Where does awareness fit into this two-sided view of the ideal society?”

“I didn’t call it ideal.”

“No. I did.”

“Then I’ll let you explain where and how awareness fits into the picture.”

“Awareness is understanding the reality that the individual and collective are as two parts of an infinite oneness, within which they share a dynamic relationship to each other.”

………..

A Simple Seeker’s Note to Herself re A Dynamic Relationship

Spirit seemed to be helping me to understand that though I live my individual life, I also live as a contributing member of a community.

“Yes, and this is necessarily so, even within our individual families and neighbourhoods.”

“We can’t escape being personally responsibile, both for ourselves and others?”

“Why would you want to escape from responsibility?”

“It can get too much, when everyone seems to want from me something that I can’t give, without giving less to myself.”

“Perhaps the secret is to develop a sense of balance between caring for self and caring for others.”

“That sounds easy enough, but how to live it in the real world of everyday interactions with others?”

“If you study both I Ching and Tarot, with intent to learn, you will discover how to balance your personal needs and desires with your responsibilities and/or duties to your family, your loved ones, and to the many levels of society that you necessarily are a part of. And then, having done what you can, release yourself from any further responsibility.”

“Does it really work?”

“Yes. It really works, if you work at it. Of course, you don’t really need to study I Ching, Tarot, or any other formal or less than formal system. You could simply learn to trust yourself to do right in any given situation.”

……………..

Lesson Two A Common Root

A simple seeker was meditating on her spirit teacher’s explanation of their relationship. He didn’t need physical existence or human form, He told her.

“Why?”

“I use you as ballast, to connect to your particular world of illusion.”

“If my world is one of illusion, and I can reluctantly accept that it is, or seems to be, at times, then at least some others must also be living in a personal world of illusion. Are they each separate from each other?”

“Yes, we each seem to know that our so-called individual world is intricately connected to everyone else’s world, even though surface appearances deny this reality.

Only on the surface do our individual worlds of illusion appear to be separate.Beneath this illusion there’s a common root that holds us together; that connects us inextricably together, as one.”

………………………..

A Simple Seeker’s Note to Herself

Lesson One Perhaps Spirit was helping me to accept that we live in a world of illusion if we think that we’re separate from other people, places, and things. But He and I live in different worlds.

“Worlds are as communities and the same rules apply; the correspondences are the same. No world is totally isolated from any other. The forces, or Universal Laws of Integration and Synthesis impel us to develop personal relationships with other individuals and groups of individuals.

Perhaps, not-so-simple seeker, you also learned that there’s no real separation between people, places, and things. Everthing and everyone is connected to everything and everyone else.The ten thousand forms of plant life each contains roots that connect them to a common ground that nourishes them all, and without which they couldn’t survive.

Collectively, we’re as a picture puzzle, with each being as a piece of the whole. There is only one world, which contains all smaller worlds. There is only one humanity, which contains all races. There is only one religion, which contains all religions. We each may live in different ways and/or in different worlds, but we each live.”

…………………….

Lesson One – A Beginning

A simple seeker was lost in thought. What thought? She was meditating on The Fool, the Tarot’s anti-hero, or so he seems to be, at least as he begins his journey through life. He isn’t given even a number, unless zero can be consideed as such. Like herself, or as she once was, he seems to be full of high hopes and self-confidence. But, again, as she once was.

“How are you any different, now?”

“I don’t quite fit the picture anymore.”

“In what way?”

“The Fool, at the beginning of his journey, has no real life experience and is totally unaware of immediate dangers, let alone of those that are waiting for him somewhere down the line. He’s lost in thought, enjoying the perfume of the rose that he’s holding in his hand. He doesn’t see the cliff that he’s about to step off, into high altitude. Even his small, four-legged companion seems unable to warn him. But, perhaps we were all innocent at sometime in our past.”

“What would it look like?”

“The Fool, I guess.”

“Yes, and yet, as the Tarot’s Fool will discover through life experience, innocence is a begining – the only possible beginning of our life’s journey, our mission to discover who and what we each are.”

“Only a beginning?”

“Yes, but an important one.”

“In the sense that we have to start somewhere?”

“Yes, or something like that.”

……………………………………….

A SIMPLE SEEKER’S NOTE TO HERSELF

Lesson One Looking back at my discussion with Spirit, what did I learn, if anything?

“Perhaps I was trying to help you understand that life experiences are as lessons. We learn something from everything we experience, or we might.”

“How can we know if we’ve learned from them?”

“We?”

“Okay, me. How can I know if I’ve learned from my life experiences?”

“Which life experiences?”

“Any of them.”

“Perhaps you need to choose which life experiences need to be reflected or meditated upon, to protect yourself from repeating them, if they were unpleasant, and to find a way to repeat them if they seemed to be pleasing.”

“To try and learn from my mistakes?”

“Yes, and to try to attract more of those experiences that seemed to have a positive outcome.”

………………………

I hope you enjoy my very first post on Simple Seekers, a blog that I created to share excerpts (one short lesson from Spirit, followed by a simple seeker’s note to herself) from Spirit Teaches a Simple Seeker – Thirty-Three Lessons of Life. The book has been an incredible learning experience for me, if for no one else. I plan to post every Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. PST whatever response, or lack of it, may develop. It would be great to hear back from readers and possibly use the post(s) as conversation starters. I invite feedback.

Love,

Jean

How and when did I become a simple seeker? Perhaps I was born to be as I am, or seem to be. And perhaps you, dear reader, were also born to be just as you are, beneath all the social conditioning that has influenced your thinking from the moment you were born, if not earlier.

We each learn how to live by living, and there may be no better way. Of course, we often, or not so often, mess up. So what? It may all be part of a lifetime learning experience.

I’ve always been so critical of myself, as if I expected myself to be perfect, even though that seemed impossible, for me. Spirit tells me that it’s more than unhealthy; it’s self-destructive to devalue ourselves. We can never be more than we are at any given time, He tells me, but we owe it to ourselves to become aware of both our weaknesses and our strengths, and to intend to improve.

It’s all about love, He tells me.We are each and all loved more than we may ever know. Who loves us? Of course, we each love ourselves more and/or less, and some of us seem blessed to be loved by some others. But our unique inner spirit loves us with an unconditional love, just as we are.

Then, why try to understand life? For me, it’s a personal journey that we each and all share, with or without awareness of life being a journey of discovery, or of moving along the road (or path) of Life.

I invite you all to share my experiences with Spirit as my guide and teacher, as if they were your own. And, in some way they are or may be.

Jean

Simple Seeker