The Gift is Given

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want . . . .

I shall not want is the essence of the Twenty-third Psalm. During the day, observe how much you want things to be different. If you want things to be different, you are not receiving the gift. She offers us everything in every moment. Wanting is the lead of life, not the gold. By accepting everything, we turn the lead into gold.

Everyone has the same freedom and the same choice to bring light into the situation. No one is outside of this freedom; it is your choice. But we miss the gift; you have to give the gift to yourself.  Fill yourself up over and over again with silence. All of the talking that we do—very little of it matters.

If you do not want anything, you are clear to receive God’s inspiration; you can receive it and be used. God is not hard to find; God is a resonance. You receive your heart’s desire when you move with the energy. One day consciousness becomes so stable that you shine and are uplifted in every moment.

This is everybody’s gift, but hardly anyone receives it; everyone wants to be in control. It is not difficult to receive guidance and direction if you are open to receive the gift. The gift has been bestowed; it is already with us.

(February 19, 2012)

Maresha's next blog will be published March 3, 2015.

Messages of Light is published by the Sanctuary of Universal Light on Snow Dragon Mountain in Meredith, New Hampshire. A snail mail edition is available bi-monthly, free of charge. www.snowdragonsanctuary.com 

The Quest: There is No Place to Go, There is Nothing to Do . . .

I have a question. Is the witness consciousness the same as the soul? What is it that’s watching us?

That is the question. What is it that is watching us? That is something for you to really explore through your own experience. Going into witness consciousness is bringing your consciousness to another place. This place is neutral. It is not judging, evaluating, drawing conclusions, or making projections; it is just simply observing.

What is it observing? It is observing what is. That is why I always say, it arises, it is, it dissolves. Everything that we think is so real, is not real. It arises, it is, it dissolves. That is the wave, the energy of waves of emotions and waves of thoughts. If you can observe them neutrally, they arise, you observe them, and then, if you sit with them and observe them long enough, however long that may be, they will dissolve. 

But who is observing? Sit in witness consciousness, and witness yourself witnessing; see what you see. It is a wonderful, lovingly detached place where, if you can really arrive there within yourself through sustained practice and purification, you will never take yourself so seriously again because everything is changing all the time. Not to take yourself seriously is another way of saying you will not be so self-absorbed, but you will be much more attuned to the flow of light and love. You will be carried on these currents which are peaceful even when there are difficulties and challenges; there is a peace and  steadiness there, no matter what is going on around you.

So your question is one that every spiritual warrior, seeker, or student should explore. If I wanted to answer from the head, I would say that the witness is the part of our consciousness that merges with God. But those are just words. It is better to watch what you are feeling and thinking when you are practicing the witness. It is better in that expanded state of consciousness to observe what that feels like, what the qualities of the witness are, and to learn how to be swift in going there. 

The witness place is the only place that can save you from your perpetual reaction to the stimulus of whatever or whomever in life.  Do not be like Pavlov’s dog, salivating instantly at the stimulus and thinking you have no control over it, because you do. It is time to stop acting like a salivating dog (unconsciousness) and start realizing your highest potential of spiritual awareness (consciousness).

Sometimes it seems that the reaction is so quick that only after the fact do I remember to witness it.

That is just you thinking your reaction actually means something so that you can tell yourself, “Oh, I didn’t catch that, I wasn’t quick enough.” I know when I feel a reaction; I don’t have to think about it. Just as quickly as the reaction is there, I feel it, and I know instantaneously that this is the work. When your practice is sustained, your reactions turn into responses. Let us say your husband says something to you and it presses a button. You know instantly that your button is pressed, and you know instantly that you have a choice: are you going to raise your voice, get frustrated and mad, or are you going to control yourself and breathe and be in witness? Find the fire to be beautiful. Find the fire to forge your life in every moment. You do not know how many moments you have; every one is a jewel, every one is so precious.  

With all of the current events and other issues we bring up here, it is always the same. It comes back to personal responsibility and finding what keeps your heart open so you can continue to love and feel and find your own points of balance for the best integration you can possibly create for yourself. It always comes back to being responsible for your thoughts, words, and deeds. It all comes back to that place. Nothing else is within your means to change, but you can change yourself, and when you do, it affects the whole.

People join organizations, go on marches, and participate in protests in order to bring about change. I am not saying that none of that is good, but it is not very effective. What happens there is that issues become polarized: this is good, and this is bad. Then your position becomes reinforced and you get into a fight. That is war.

So there is no place to go, there is nothing to do, and it takes everything you’ve got. You are already here, you are it, Thou art that. Over and over and over again, to the same place. There is no new technique, there is no new channeled information. All of that may be interesting, but none of it is going to make any difference except to take you off point. It will not do the work for you, but sitting everyday in meditation will, living life as a prayer will, and living life as a meditation will. Saying thank you and being grateful every day will. All the really simple things will sustain you. The beauty that is all around us is astounding and so very sustaining. The heat of the fire is sustaining, the thirst-quenching water is sustaining, the food is sustaining; there is so much that sustains us. We are so blessed, so blessed.

(October 19, 2014)

Maresha's next blog will be published February 24, 2015.

Messages of Light is published by the Sanctuary of Universal Light on Snow Dragon Mountain in Meredith, New Hampshire. A snail mail edition is available bi-monthly, free of charge. www.snowdragonsanctuary.com 

Return to Beauty

That which I am searching for is me. That which acts as an enemy is me, and that which is attempting to get rid of the self-destructive me is also me. I am the obstruction and I am the way. That which obstructs is my own creation in unconsciousness. The ‘I’ that is the light of consciousness that removes the darkness of unconsciousness and ignorance is hiding behind unconsciousness. That which I am searching for is hidden behind all the false images I hold of myself. That which remains and cannot be removed after getting rid of all that I have acquired, is the real me.  (Gurudev Amritiji)

We have been talking about witness consciousness and how to ascend into the witness, which is loving and neutral. Witness consciousness brings you into tapas, the transformation of what is heavy or agitated, into lightness of being. The way to do this is to return to the witness. Whatever you see, let go. When you witness your weakness, accept yourself and do not go into self-rejection.  Avoid blaming someone or something outside of yourself for the blockages you discover. Go through the whole process of allowing whatever it is that you have to let go of, to burn through; this is the surrender of tapas. 

Appreciate whatever small steps you are able to take, moment by moment. Be grateful for a mini-victory. Let go of an unrealistic desire for completion and be patient with the process. Every time you become impatient or frustrated, return your attention and commitment to the witness consciousness. Return again and again to the power of the breath. Whatever you witness is about you;  it is not about anyone or anything else.  This understanding is the doorway to peace and self-realization.

It is very difficult not to be affected by the times we are living in. These times are so challenging and burdensome, and change is happening so rapidly, that we cannot process it all. On top of all that, there is the microcosm of your life. You get up in the morning and you go through your day. What happens to you there? In the supermarket, at work, wherever and with whomever? What do you do about all the things that are continually arising there? The spiritual warrior must abide in the consciousness of purification. This is not purification in the sense of, “Something inside of me is bad,” but this is purification in the positive sense of allowing yourself to let go of the debris and dusting yourself off from the external insults that you suffer daily in this world.

How do you shed that debris daily so you are purifying and able to let go into tapas? Tapas is purification; it is the constant return to the witness to allow yourself to purify so that you can find lightness of being, so you can turn the lead into gold, and so  you can walk in beauty and peace. The purification process is constant, it is relentless. If you are not in the perpetual consciousness of love, it is easy to get backed up very, very quickly and get infected with what is not of God. It is easy to forget when you are upset, that it is about you and you are the only one who has the power to return to the breath, to return to the witness, to release all judgment, and to burn your reaction in the fire of love.

We are living in times of change and consequence. The changes are happening relentlessly. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by it all. But you do not have to be concerned with processing it, or trying to make sense of it. All you need to be concerned with is your spiritual path, your practice and your relationship with God. All you need to do is abide there to help you to be stable, beautiful, and fully alive in this life that we have in the best way possible.

Stay with God

Yesterday I had one of those days where I was completely out of sorts, starting at the time I woke up. It’s hard to shake myself out of that grumpy, out-of-sorts place. I had a bad reaction to something my partner said.  It was such a flash response.

When you are given the opportunity to choose love and it does not happen, just close your eyes and breathe. There are endless, infinite ways to bring yourself into balance throughout the circle of the day and to help you stay there. In the morning, bring yourself into the consciousness of purification. When you arise, shower and purify. Give thanks to the elements. Give thanks to the spirit of the water from the West that comes in to cleanse you when you are washing your face and brushing your teeth. When you give thanks to the element of water, you are in the consciousness of purification. After you have finished showering and before you put on your clothes, anoint yourself. This is a sacred day, this is a holy day, this is your life today. This purification process helps you to remember how to go through the day appropriately, within yourself. Nobody has to know anything else about this but you.

When you take food, say a prayer of thanks with every bite or just with the consciousness of being given food by the Mother and being able to eat and take in nourishment.  Be mindful, remember to give thanks.  Breathe. I breathe in, and I know I am alive. I breathe out, and I give thanks for my life. When you have a reaction, go outside into the wind and let the lords of the wind purify you. There is a place for you to go, every moment of every day. You leave the resonance of peace. God does not leave us; we leave God.

And at the end of the day, when you lie down to rest and rejuvenate, you can call upon the Guardians of the West as  you go into the dream time so that you can dream and have your vision and connection.  There are just as many infinite ways to return to beauty as there are challenges from this incredible darkness that is in our world today. But if you do not return to beauty, you will get dusty and infected, and then it is like drowning. The opportunities to return are given to us in a full circle, the circle of the day, the circle of the week, the month, and the year. It is an infinite loop. 

The practice is to train yourself inwardly through discipline, which creates discipleship, and to control yourself, not through suppression, but through a pure desire to merge with the resonance of universal consciousness. It is easy to know when you are having a reaction inside. It is easy to know that the work is at hand. Now.  That is not hard. It is the only thing to do and the only place to go, always. I do not qualify it by saying, “in these times.”  In all times—in the past, the present, and the future. Ultimately, it is the only place for you. So what am I saying?

Stay with God.

Yes.

(September 7, 2014)

Maresha's next blog will be published February 17, 2015.

Messages of Light is published by the Sanctuary of Universal Light on Snow Dragon Mountain in Meredith, New Hampshire. A snail mail edition is available bi-monthly, free of charge. www.snowdragonsanctuary.com