How important is the knowledge of the self for a channel and for the contact? This is knowledge in the metaphysical sense, the knowledge of the essence of the self by which a channel may offer a challenge to any discarnate entity, and why, when such a challenge is offered, cannot a discarnate entity lie about who it is when it is thusly challenged. How does its knowledge of itself keep it from lying?

(Carla channeling)

I am Q’uo. Greetings to each in the love and in the light of the one infinite Creator. How tender is the mercy that allows us to come to you! How blessed the event of our joining! We greatly appreciate the opportunity to share our views with you and hope they may be helpful, for that is our service and your service to us is to ask for the teacher, who is still learning. We experience each of you as colleagues and the deepest blessing of all perhaps is the beauty we experience in sharing the vibrations of each of you and the group as a whole.

It is as a teacher, although one prone always to error, that we address the question of the importance to a channel of its knowledge of itself. Any person that experiences contact and channels it in an outward form that may be perused by others is responsible to the effect that information has upon those beings about it. Thusly, one who channels incomplete or outright false information does so in a situation that sets up for that entity an honor and responsibility to that body of teaching. Such an entity is responsible firstly for living the life promulgated by the information as being the most spiritually evolved. Further, if one is teaching, whether one can or cannot see that student which is also that colleague, one is still responsible to the results of the catalyst to others that has been offered.

Consequently, it is, while literally unnecessary, spiritually efficacious to have gained sufficient knowledge of the self to be able to be responsible stewards of the gift of channeling. It is sometimes felt, especially as many of your peoples are engaged in combat, that words, as this instrument’s old time rhyme says, “cannot hurt one,” whereas bullets and other destructive weapons can hurt one. This is indeed so. Within the relativistic illusion which you occupy, the round sphere upon which you live and abide seems to be one in which there are few true examples of the connective tissue between words and consequences. Certainly, words do not drill a hole in the body. However, metaphysically speaking, they do indeed carry a tremendous weight. Depending upon how listeners are able to have access to the information, whether a teacher is considered a spiritual teacher, an academic teacher or any other kind of teacher, the teacher’s awareness that it is expressing itself with authority may be understood. How, then, can one become responsible stewards of a gift, such as channeling?

As always, the answer lies within the self. Each of you, each of us, and indeed all of creation which is conscious of the self is imbued in a vast ocean of overlapping and various illusions, some of which are brighter than others. In order to be able to find words that are evocative of the truth, the channel is most well prepared who has deeply considered the nature of the self, for the depth of the channeling, in its most appropriate configuration, is equal to the depth of spiritual solidity within the channel.

Let us give you an example. Say that an entity discovers itself able to heal but not able to continue the healing. The entity whom the one who channels healing wished to help has been given the illusion of health, but it finds it must return to that fountain of health that exists within the healer. Insofar as this is so, the healer has become negatively oriented in that it is causing dependency in the illusion that one entity intrinsically knows more than another. Far better that the healer first ride the horse of ego, experience self-importance and generate sufficient hubris to create nemesis, surrender to that force which has given this gift.

In just the same way, if one who channels does so from even the dearest and sweetest hearts, but is not able to ground that channeling in self-knowledge, that entity will be unable to refrain from responding to any and all questions that are asked without discrimination. This is due to the fact that when personal and freedom-robbing questions are asked of one such as we who are merely messengers and not planetary entities, we become, in the inept channeler’s mind, the same identity, subjectively, to the channel, but quite a different energy altogether in terms of the metaphysical qualities of the entity which is calling itself by the same name as did the positively oriented entity which it first contacted through this gift.

Thusly, the instrument takes it upon itself to claim that it is psychic. It does not shrink at prophecy or dream interpretation or information about Earth changes or any other of the myriad of phenomena which assaults any channel. In the same way as with the healer, the clumsy and inexpert use of this gift creates learners which are dependent upon the teacher, and increasingly so as time goes on. Thusly, instead of the channeler being able to aid those about it, it may well become, through infringement of the free will of the questing entity, a negative, controlling, authoritarian voice.

We do not come among your people in thought to be authorities, to give worldly advice or to contemplate out of the vast range of possibilities and probabilities events, situations and processes that are beyond the scope of a free will outer planes entity. Thusly, we may say that in our opinion it is extremely important that one who wishes to use the gift of discernment of spirits learn first to discern the nature of the self. Any channel which is not so grounded in self-knowledge is open to offering misinformation and thus creating far more folly than aid to humankind upon your globe.

We have materialized and attempted to work within your peoples face to face, and we have found that not one single experiment of this kind has added to the richness and the depth of third density experience. Indeed, the reverse is true, for there are, in the majority of entities in third-density, enormous desires to be secure, to be safe, to be invulnerable. Thusly, before a spiritual teacher may lead others beyond the illusions of time and space, that entity must first reckon with eternity within itself. Certainly, most entities have a vaguely ethical code by which it leads the little life of one incarnation, but this can be related to true spirituality as impulsivity created—we correct this instrument—compared to well thought out suggestions grounded in the best ideation, analysis, creativity and intuition of which that instrument is capable.

How, then, does one work upon knowing the self? Firstly, we would say that one does not work upon the self by the use of outward authority. For instance, this instrument is a devout Christian. However, this instrument also does not see Christianity as an authority, or, indeed, even the one known as Jesus. But rather, it sees the realized human entity living a life that is an exemplar for all peoples who are able to respond to this particular narrative of a life lived and lost in joy, love and charity. The instrument does not give authority to any but the Creator. Nor does it give it to itself, for it has done the great work to the point where it realizes that it is merely a steward harboring, abetting and polishing those gifts which are its own unique gifts.

One of an infinite array of paths is the correct path for each individual spirit. No two entities are able to come to self-knowledge in the same way. However, there are things with which one may begin to learn about the self. Simple observation of behavior is a good beginning. Allow the observer within the self to become stronger without hindering the spontaneous choices created by the catalyst of the present moment. You may observe yourself being angry and throwing an object against the wall to hear the satisfying sound of breakage. However, one is also observing just how the object is tossed, just precisely the feelings within and the expression upon another’s face. If an entity finds it difficult to observe the self and act spontaneously, it is well—and this is for the most part tending towards a truth for the majority of entities—to refrain from analysis until the day has darkened into the sweet evening dusk, the work of the day is over and one is ready to lay the head upon the pillow and surrender to sleep. Then one is able to go over the behavior, the responses, the thoughts, the actions and inactions that were the harvest of that day.

It is well, in order to use a deeper source of information about the self, to work with the dreaming. There are no two who dream in the same symbology. Many generalizations are true in the majority of cases, but there are no images within dreams that are precisely and archetypically the same for any two entities. Consequently, when studying the dreams, as in studying behavior, it is well to allow a large portion of your time, which this instrument calls years, in order that this process may bear fruit.

There are other means of working upon knowledge of the self. One passive but extremely helpful way is meditation. Now, meditation has been greatly misunderstood among your peoples. It is thought that one is to make one’s intelligence a blank tablet, a “tabula rasa.” One is supposed to find silence within. Only then in that silence is the meditation considered successful. This is not our understanding of the helpful value of meditation. The intention of those who meditate is that they may be open to spiritual grace—not knowledge, for there is no such absolute within third density—but grace. Thusly, whatever thoughts come into the mind, even if they pelter one, moment by moment by moment, it is the resistance to this listening to the voices within that cannot be stilled that creates a poor meditation.

If one is simply mindful, and notes without emotion or condemnation each thought that moves through, allowing it to arise, allowing it to dissolve, then meditation has done that which it was intended for. It has allowed the entity to step back from the trees and see the forest. It has removed the tension of judgment and consideration and allowed a time that is truly free, a time in which the observer may simply watch thoughts arise and dissolve. Not turning them away, not holding onto them. One may plan an entire menu, a shopping list or any other thought whatsoever during meditation if it is observed without that feeling of necessity to solidify the intelligence of the mind around the shopping list or the menu.

Let this thought about meditation sink deeply within each, for when one judges oneself for having a poor meditation, one has just stripped oneself of the saving help which is available to the meditator. The key of meditation is a silent, accepting and nonjudgmental observer, not that “thing in itself” [ding an sicht]. Never judge, calibrate or measure in any way the spiritual work that you do. Firstly, that which is done out of fear—the fear of not being worthy or any other fear—is liable to catastrophe. It is far, far better to have what is subjectively called a bad meditation and find the self being able to accept the bad meditator.

Self-knowledge can also be called self-acceptance. Self-acceptance can also be called self-forgiveness. Self-forgiveness can also be called self-redemption. Within you lies all these things. Not because you are a wise and powerful being, but because the self is one with the Creator. Would you suggest to the Creator that It may be having a bad day? Would you berate the Creator for having roses grow from gravel? It is not likely that one who is not hit by outward catastrophe would find reasons to blame the Creator for that which is occurring to one. Thusly, as the realization begins to dawn through immediate experience that the Creator is truly within, that all lore and love flow through rather than from the self, the entity who wishes to channel is more and more able to invest in that tenuous quality called faith or trust.

Faith is quite important to any entity and to any channel. How can one then encourage faith? When the groundwork has been laid in knowledge of the self by observation of behavior, observation of the subjects and hints of dreams, and aware of the aid given in meditation, one is then beginning upon a long, long journey. As one walks upon the journey, observing the self, observing the dreaming self, and investing in meditation, one begins to collect to itself a floating sea or ocean of catalyst that is not necessarily chosen to solidify about the heart of the self. Just as thinking about food or seeing it in pictures can make one hungry, so entities are endlessly suggestible, and as they open themselves more and more to the resonances of the present moment the catalyst which occurs from that point ceases to become feared and begins to become appreciated.

Since the third density is rife with duality and confusion, if not downright chaos, on the part of the entities of humankind which dwell upon its surface, it is only to one who is doing the inner work that there ever appears even the thought of finding a positive choice in a seemingly impossible situation. Yet, that is what each incarnated to do, that is, to find positive choices where none seem to exist, to love the unlovable, to console the inconsolable, to accept the unacceptable and to allow its grip upon the consciousness to loosen little by little, until finally one’s heart does not find it necessary to hold the armor of the past and the future over the vulnerable and naked self.

This instrument has said recently that history is relevant. This is quite true. All that happened before this present moment has been harvested and lies whole, intact and progressively healed within the deep mind. One who begins to know the self begins to lose fear, for gradually one becomes aware that if one believes not in the Creator, then one is liable to believe virtually anything, and one is then truly adrift in an abyss of unpolarized feelings and thoughts.

Another tool for inner work is the gazing at the kingdom of the Creator which is visible. All the beauties and balances and rhythms of life as you perceive it can be seen to be endlessly and over-generously beautiful. The more sensitive one is to the vast numbers of miracles which occur with regularity in blooming, in fruit and in harvest, the more one is able to perceive a love that created balance, harmony and rhythm. If the Creator created that which you can observe, then what has the Creator created in you? Would the Creator depart from Its basic nature in Its creation of anything? We think not. We find, rather, that the Creator has given to us a creative power and the freedom to make choices. The Creator has infinite faith in each entity, for It allows each entity complete freedom to believe, doubt or disbelieve any and all qualities and absolutes, all of which are invisible and unreachable by the measurement of your scientists.

Each pilgrim is on its own walk, but it certainly does behoove those who are going to have to be responsible for that which they have uttered or done, first, to know the abilities of the self so that one does not overstep those abilities, and, instead of being a voice of truth, becoming a voice of confusion. We would, however, broaden the scope of this answer to include all beings, for the essence of polarization in the positive sense…

[Side one of tape ends.]

(Carla channeling)

…experience the leaping into the abyss of unknowing to find that there is a rainbow bridge that faith creates. Once that bridge has been crossed the first time it stands slender, frail, but there. It has been erected. And each time the spirit moves to that bridge, to eternity, and crosses it, it becomes more and more aware that it is a citizen of eternity. We do not encourage, in those who are doing inner work, complete retreat from the world unless that be a specific and heartfelt calling. For, you see, each entity comes to this incarnation with gifts, and until the entity knows the self well enough to appreciate the gifts that have been given and to dedicate themselves to the right use of those gifts, such a person shall be forever unsure, forever dithering, dallying, sitting upon the fence, as this instrument would say.

We urge each to find the path that comforts him the most, to move off the fence and into the green and growing life that expresses itself within your nature as the grass, but which, in a metaphysical sense, is the healthful, healing and supportive ground upon which right knowledge stands firm and may be shared. We ask you to understand that whenever we use terms like knowledge or understanding that we are approximating that which is possible within third-density experience.

To know the self is to know the universe. An entity which does not know itself sees many things and believes them. An entity which starts upon the path of spiritual seeking finds one after another landmark disappearing. It realizes that it does not know anything, that it cannot depend upon its five senses or upon logical thought in order to make skillful choices within third density.

Perhaps the goal of knowing the self in the end is to find that one does not know and cannot understand, except within that great open and radiant energy which is called the heart. It is from heart wisdom that channeling springs, and it is well, when working at that level or any other within third density, to bring to the occasion the tools and resources of spiritual self-knowledge. Who are you? Who am I? Take this question which has been asked so often and ask yourself that question many times a day. In this way you shall discover just how scattered your identity may be and just how much you need to discover the true roots of your consciousness and being.

May the Creator become apparent to each of you. May clarity light your path and may you never judge yourself as you strive to learn, to love and to bear the fruit of your gift’s bounteous tree. We apologize for speaking overlong, as usual, and we would at this time transfer with thanks to this instrument, to the one known as Jim, that this instrument may of its own gifts move towards the ending of a session which we have greatly enjoyed and are still enjoying. We are those of Q’uo. We would now transfer.

(Jim channeling)

I am Q’uo, and we greet each again in love and in light through this instrument. At this time it is our privilege to offer ourselves to those who may have queries for us. If there is another query at this time, may we begin with it now.

Could you speak a little bit more on how one can accept the self?

I am Q’uo, and am aware of your query, my brother. The self that is to be accepted must first be known. This knowing of the self requires a careful observation upon a regular basis—daily, we would recommend—so that you have the opportunity to review those expressions and responses of the self to the catalyst that has come before you, and that in this observation you make careful note of those responses which are other than you would desire, which are other than the ideal by which you have chosen to live your life. This observation and notation of response may be accomplished in the meditative state, in the contemplative state or through prayer if that is a means by which you find nourishment.

When you have noted those deviations in thought, most importantly in word, secondarily and of least importance in deed, then within your inner room retire there to consider in meditation once again those deviations. Begin first with that which seems to you to be of most significance. See again the situation which brought it about. Relive in the mind this situation. Intensify in the mind the response that was the deviation from the ideal, until the response is ridiculously large and all encompassing as you can imagine. Then, without further conscious thought but remaining in that feeling state associated with the enlarged thought, allow the polar opposite response to grow within your conscious awareness. Allow that opposite response to grow until it is as large as was the first response with which you began. When you have felt this feeling for as long as you are able to hold your attention upon it, then see both as the means by which the one Creator has come to know Itself more fully and richly and with greater variety through you and through your experiences.

Continue in this manner until all deviations from your ideal have been considered, meditated upon and balanced with their opposite. This means of balancing is most effective when carried out, as we have said previously, upon a daily basis. This means of balancing is, in effect, a speeding up of the normal process which occurs in each life pattern, for if you will look in that which you call your past of this life and note those experiences that were of difficulty in whatever manner, you may with the perspective of the present moment see that within yourself there is more acceptance of the self at that time than there was acceptance of the self while the experience was occurring. Time and experiences within time tend to seat themselves in such a manner that the emotional charge one gives to a situation begins to dissipate and it is easier to forgive and accept the self for that which has passed than it is to forgive and accept the self for that which is currently being experienced as a distortion within the life pattern.

To balance the self in meditation upon a daily basis, then, is to intensify, to speed up the process which each entity finds itself within during the entire length of the incarnation.

Is there a further query, my brother?

Q’uo, it has occurred to me that there have been not just one, but many exemplary lives lived on this planet which offer to spiritual seekers a kind of template by which to live their lives in such a way as to approach an immediate realization of infinite intelligence. Is it possible… or let me put this in another way. I have thought to myself that it is possible that Jesus, the Christ, as well as many other entities, are part of a social memory complex which at the so-called time of the end of fourth density, beginning of fifth, have chosen to offer themselves when the need is found for a new telling of the story of Love. Could you comment on this supposition: that there are many individuals who deserve [inaudible] and that Jesus is one of them but not all of them, but rather a social memory complex which we could call Christed has offered sacrificial entities in order to express the nature of love so the people can polarize and move into civilization. Could you comment?

I am Q’uo, and we are aware of your query, my sister. Your supposition, by itself, is correct, for many entities which have been both known and unknown to the majority of the population of your planet. There are many entities whom you call wanderers who have offered themselves in attempts to be of service along the same line or means of providing that which you have called the template to this planet’s population, but who have done so in a manner which is far less well-known and observable. There are also many entities who have come from this planet’s second density through graduation into third and what you might call the normal progression of evolution, who have been able to so balance and crystallize their own energy centers that there has been the contact with intelligent infinity and the resulting channeling forth of the intelligent energy of the one Creator in a manner which is also that which offers a viewpoint, a template once again, or a blue print, shall we say, or portions thereof for many entities upon this planet’s surface.

There are those who have come to this planet from other third-density planets which have joined this third-density progression and who have accomplished this same feat, shall we say, for it is rare upon your planet but is that which is the goal of each entity which incarnates within the third-density experience, for within your experience there is the veil that covers so completely, it would seem, every hint of the trail that leads to the One, and each entity that finds itself a conscious seeker upon this path lends some assistance to others that also seek and receives assistance from others that have gone yet further ahead and who have turned back to offer the helping hand.

There are many entities who have reached that point in their own conscious development where they have been able to establish a stable contact with the one Creator and have been able to channel some form of intelligent energy as a result of this stable contact. These are those whom you have called the Christed Ones. They have attained a level of development which allows them to share, as the Creator shares, from Creator to Creator. There are those who have chosen to be more visible, shall we say, and to offer themselves to a larger portion of your planet’s population. There are those who have chosen to remain hidden, and who seek to work upon the development of the planet itself and upon the development of the population of this planet as a whole by offering the love and healing vibrations in what you may call the magical means of visualization and the sending of love.

Is there a further query, my sister?

No, my brother, you anticipated my follow-up by talking about different parts of entities working with planetary needs. Thank you.

I am Q’uo, and we thank you once again, my sister. Is there another query at this time?

[Pause]

I am Q’uo, and we are aware that we have spoken for a great portion of your time at this session of working and we are very grateful both for the call to join this group and for the patience to listen to our somewhat lengthy responses. We shall be with you in your future at your request. We look, as you say, forward to these gatherings with great joy and anticipation. We shall leave this group at this time. We are those of Q’uo, and we leave each in the love and the light of the one infinite Creator. Adonai, my friends. Adonai.