Messages

31

The Seven Modes / Re: "vividly _____ "

« on: May 30, 2011, 06:32:22 AM »

Yeah, going on 10 years here. The funny thing is that I sometimes wonder if I'm in Passion too but, being a scholar, am rather less passionate about my passion. Or perhaps it's just my emotional centering that feels like passion at times.

32

General Discussion / Re: Ralph Waldo Emerson

« on: May 20, 2011, 11:21:52 PM »

Pretty much all of her poems can be sung to the tune of The Yellow Road of Texas. If you so choose, of course.

33

The Four Trues (or Pillars) / Re: Four Trues

« on: May 18, 2011, 11:24:27 PM »

Satisfying the trues helps with having the energy necessary to work on the life task - no?

34

The Seven Modes / Re: "vividly _____ "

« on: May 11, 2011, 04:15:13 PM »

I completely understand the whole anger thing with folks in Passion mode. I'm pretty sure my partner is in Passion, and it's taken me a long time to realize that when he gets angry it's not nearly as major as I think it is, despite the drama. Were I to behave like that when I got angry, it would definitely mean it was a big deal.

35

General Discussion / Re: What is for you the special benefit of the Michael Teaching?

« on: May 08, 2011, 09:34:18 PM »

Is some kind of orgasm involved?

36

Michael Books / Re: Basic Michael Books

« on: May 07, 2011, 04:54:18 PM »

Is the Detroit story, and the Michael connection thereto, really really true? I have a copy of Michael's People, and in fact re-read most of it recently. In what ways did it change the Teaching? I am way curious.

37

King / Re: The King Presence

« on: May 02, 2011, 02:13:20 AM »

Good points. Lots of other behaviors pointed to King, though. I remember the Michaels saying that Kings are sometimes allowed to run households from an early age, with "predictably disastrous results." I think that obtained here.

38

Spirituality / Re: Spiritual Growth & Michael

« on: May 01, 2011, 11:41:59 PM »

I recall that in one of the earlier Yarbro books, Michael says that they provided the Overleaves so that people will stop brooding about personal relationships and get on with the life task. Or something near to that. I like to think of them at times as brush-clearers. It's easier to let go of something someone did that you might not like or not understand if you can chalk it up to a certain configuration of Overleaves. That said, I find the teachings about essence contact and intimacy deeply spiritually invigorating. I guess it's hard to say that the teachings are simply one thing or another.

39

King / Re: The King Presence

« on: May 01, 2011, 11:36:03 PM »

I had a boyfriend once who I'm pretty sure was a King. With a capital "K." I remember him once saying, in a certain public situation, "What needs to happen here?" At the time I thought it was incredibly arrogant (turns out I'm in arrogance myself - who knew?), but now I see it as a Kingly thing to say. Although he definitely was in exalted arrogance. 

40

General Discussion / Re: Ralph Waldo Emerson

« on: May 01, 2011, 11:32:45 PM »

Emily Dickinson is my favorite poet. I go through times when all I read before I go to bed is her. One of the most fascinating things I ever discovered in her poetry relates to something in one of the later Yarbro books, I believe it was, in which Michael talks about the atmosphere being a continuation of water and the oceans. One of Emily's poems states that "there is a maritime conviction in the atmosphere." Being a Scholar, I'll provide the poem:

I think that the Root of the Wind is Water --
It would not sound so deep
Were it a Firmamental Product --
Airs no Oceans keep --
Mediterranean intonations --
To a Current's Ear --
There is a maritime conviction
In the Atmosphere --

41

General Discussion / Re: What is for you the special benefit of the Michael Teaching?

« on: May 01, 2011, 11:29:31 PM »

I can so relate with the not being serious part! I'm a scholar, and my posts on here have been pretty serious in tone, but face-to-face I'm kind of a wiseass, a sarcastic NJ boy (now living in the Midwest - help!) who loves being silly and having fun. Not that I'm not serious about lots of things, I am, but one of the things I've always appreciated about Michael is their statements that most people prefer (is that the word?) learning through pain than through joy - implying, as I see it, that one CAN learn through joy. And that true intimacy is fun. That one statement is one of the pillars of the universe for me.

42

Soul Age / Re: Mature & Old Souls

« on: May 01, 2011, 11:18:56 PM »

Where I feel different from the mature soul description is in not wanting to participate in group action to right perceived wrongs. I see lots of stupidity and injustice in the world, but have this--fatalistic--feeling that things won't really get worked out until the average soul age goes up a few notches. But perhaps my reluctance to join groups comes from being a Scholar.

43

Soul Age / Re: Soul Age. How to spot it

« on: May 01, 2011, 11:15:04 PM »

The quote about clean one day, not so much the next, has always amused me, and it's one reason I think I'm more likely a mature soul--probably in the later stages, although who knows. It's not so much clean for me as order--I can live in relative clutter and chaos for a while, then go ballistic and want and need to organize it all thank you very much! Then the cycle begins anew....

44

Soul Age / Re: 6th level mature

« on: May 01, 2011, 11:09:01 PM »

Interesting to see this post, since I was going to post a query about what kind of stuff 6th level mature souls have to go through. I'm wondering if that's where I am. Any further insights or shared experiences are appreciated.

45

General Discussion / Re: What is for you the special benefit of the Michael Teaching?

« on: April 16, 2011, 08:52:23 PM »

In the early to mid 80s, I was in search of spiritual teachings which made sense to me. During a Seth phase, I found the CQY books in a Cambridge, MA bookshop, and have been pretty much hooked since then. I've been channeled a couple of times, variously as an artisan, scholar and server. My own self-observation yields Scholar (pretty profoundly so), somewhere in the Mature swamp (I'd say mid to late---but how do you really tell?), maybe an Idealist, probably in Acceptance, and I'd say a primary CF of arrogance and a secondary one of impatience, to name a few Overleaves.

The teaching has really helped me accept myself for who I am: a pretty information-loving guy for whom material things mean relatively little (although I love books and good food), a pretty emotionally centered but intellectual kind of person, who likes the company of friends and family but needs his down time. The MT were liberating for me when I realized I could "be spiritual" and still cultivate my love of intellectual things - as much as Zen and meditation in general fascinated me, I didn't have to walk a non or anti-intellectual path to connect with my soul. Au contraire. Plus the MT helped me understand what was going on when I traversed the fourth monad thing a while back (I'll be 50 this year - so like 15 years ago), and helped me come even more to terms with my being gay in this life. Excellent parents helped too.

The MT have also helped me accept other folks for who they are, not that I'm always 100% successful on that one! The one irony I find in the application of the teachings is that in one of the early CQY books, Michael says that the Overleaves were given to help people stop brooding about personal relationships and to get on with the life task. But I find that people, myself at times included, get so caught up in determining Overleaves that it becomes counterproductive at times. Over time I've realized that at best I'll have an imperfect idea (idealist talking?) of what mine and others' are, and that's how it is. Anyway, it's great to be reminded that we have souls, that we come around again to do it even "better," and that we're here to live our lives in this maddening and exhilarating world.