The question this afternoon has to do with how we accept those retrograde moments when the world around us does not seem to respond in a way in which we would either want it to or expect it to—whether it is a desire we have to control a situation and make it come out the way we think would be favorable; or relate to another person in a way we think is most harmonious, and yet the person or the situation does not seem to allow us to do that; or when we wish to live according to our highest ideals but find ourselves falling short, and we tend to make ourselves feel guilty because we have not done that which we feel is within our capability to do. How do we deal with our own feelings of falling short, how do we accept the moments when we are in the midst of anguish, and what is the most effective way of handling these moments where we find disharmony within ourselves or another and we feel that we have been responsible for that.

(Carla channeling)

I am Q’uo. Greetings to each of you in the love and in the light of the one infinite Creator. We are gratified to be called to this session of working and especially greet the one known as C and the one known as J, who have not been with this group for some of your time. We are honored to offer our humble opinions on the topic of some of the balancing of relationships appropriate to those seeking polarity in service to others, and ask only that you be aware that our opinions are prone to distortions, as are all opinions. We therefore ask each to use the inner discrimination in evaluating our suggestions and thoughts; we would prefer you to forget that which we said rather than attempt to accept an opinion of ours that did not feel right for you personally, for you and you alone recognize your own truth and we would not put a stumbling block before any.

We shall begin the consideration of the balanced and non-controlling handling or treatment of seemingly disharmonious situations with some suggestions for consideration. We suggest that you retreat in mode of thought from the conscious self that sits in this circle, retreat until you have gained a stance outside of your circumstances, outside of your personal conditions in life, and gaze at the phenomenal illusion which you incarnated to enjoy and are enjoying. See that distance between that which phenomenally occurs and the way you construe in thought formations those many things which have risen in the phenomenal world. There is, shall we say, a world of difference between the two. We suggest that in your considerations and from this stance of increased objectivity you look at the long process that is long in description though seemingly very, very quick in your time, that proceeds from the original sensations by the physical body and its senses of the phenomena that are arising and the thought formation.

Many, many things arise in each moment. Feel with your senses now the sense of touch responding to the slight breeze of the fan, the pressure of gravity upon you as you sit in meditation, the comfort and discomfort of the position held. Listen, there are vehicles moving at a distance from this dwelling, there is the drone of the fan, the calling of a bird and so many other small sounds, even those within your own body. Follow this thought through the senses not covered by sight, through the sense of smell, the sense of taste. All of these sense impressions are thrown at you moment by moment, millions and millions of bits of information, ninety-nine percent of which you automatically tune out because they do not impinge upon your needs for survival, for comfort, for courtesy, or for those other qualities that you have prioritized in your own programs of what you will pay attention to.

We suggest that each thought that is formed within you is in actuality the result of many, many calculations based upon sense impressions largely ignored, the one percent of sense impressions remaining being distorted by the somewhat biased attitude of each seeker, including yourself, towards the issues of survival, personal comfort, and so forth. When put in this way it may not seem outrageous for us to say that in a very substantial way your thought formations are not experience but recent memory, not that which is occurring but the carefully worked out summary and recapitulation of that which has occurred.

As each knows, when four people witness a traumatic event there will be four different versions of what occurred. They will agree on some points and disagree on others. Those instances wherein there is disharmony between people, part of the disharmony lies in the basic distance between the arising and dissolving of phenomena and the arising and dissolving of thought formation. That which you sense is not that which you live. In some we are suggesting the consideration that life and the experience of living is a story which you tell to yourself. Even in the most clear minded, quiet and objective individual this will hold true to some extent, therefore, that feeling of absolute surety that is the basis of righteous indignation and certainty of various kinds is, though useful and sometimes needed, also less than completely accurate, for if life is a story told to the self then there is the haunting knowledge that all thought formations coming into your mind are already biased.

When two biased entities interact, a portion of any seeming harmony or disharmony will be what you might call real, and what we would call less of an illusion. Then the portion that is already distorted, which we might call an illusion within an illusion—or less real, thusly—if there is the need to deal with disharmony it softens the heart and makes more fertile the ground for harmony to move in realization that in the simplest illusion things are simply arising and dissolving and that you have got a portion of what is arising and are dealing with it as it dissolves. But you are not getting the whole picture, you are not responsible for getting a whole picture; you are not getting it entirely accurate, nor are you responsible for such.

In this way you may already take a short moment to smile at your predicament, for you don’t have all the facts, you are not hearing anyone else’s sum total of all his facts. There is no possibility of perfect communication because there is no possibility of perfect realization within the illusion. There are those who seek perfect realization, but within the illusion we have the opinion that the purpose of the illusion is to present you with difficulties and frustrations in order that you may test the wings of your love and desire to serve, and test also the structure of your belief system of ethics, how you put into action the tools and resources you have gathered about you as ideals, ethical points of view, and tenets of faith.

Now, when one is asked to accept the self or another self there is fundamentally, precisely the same difficulty, but because of the self-consciousness so important to your learning experiences within third density the work done in regard to the self and in regard to the other self will differ somewhat. When working with acceptance of the self there is the push towards a complete self-honesty. This is not so difficult for the spiritual seeker to accomplish. Then there is the desire for acceptance of and desire for the self. This is very difficult for all entities in third density to achieve. The ability to accept the self is hindered by the feeling that since the thoughts of the self are ever imperfect it seems reasonable not to accept the self totally but to continue to judge the self.

In your density you are not privy to the private thoughts of other selves. You may think that other selves have more pristine thought processes. This assumption is likely to be false, yet you are able to forgive and accept other selves a hundred times more easily that you are able to accept the self. We say to you that you do not need to accept the self all at once. Since you are home to yourself at all times you have a long relationship with your own student persona. Trust in that relationship, and be to yourself as the excellent teacher, one who encourages the student, one who accepts the student’s errors, pointing them out and then giving another quiz or test which the student now may pass with honors, having learned the facts as opposed to erroneous and mistaken facts of a given situation.

Lean into the persona of the nurturing teacher to the self, the nurturing parent, the nurturing authority, and in the end, the nurturing Creator, and realize that you have no need to consign yourself to some perdition because of errors. The moment for an error comes and dissipates, and the process of healing may begin as soon as you allow yourself the charity that must needs accompany the beginning of such healing. This is important to your polarity in service to others for you have been told by the master known as Jesus to love others as you love yourself.

Learning to love the self in the midst of perceived imperfection then is, we suggest, a key to going about the steady work of one who is of service-to-others polarity.

Now, gaze at another self which has assaulted the senses with unexpected hostility or simply has presented some situation which is awkward or in which there is a high degree of possibility for miscommunication. If the life is a story, then it is well to tell the story to each other when there is the possibility for missed signals and confusing conversation. If there is an accepting ear and a willing communicator on the other side of the equation of the self and other self we suggest taking the time, and time is most valuable, to communicate in vulnerability and honesty with the other self, allowing yourself to be shiningly clear. This means not defending the position that you find yourself in but simply stating it and asking for clarification from the other self. When there is such a one there is formed at that moment a true bond. Two entities have entered into a heart-felt transaction, and that which was difficult has become clear, for there is open communication, there is an open heart, and where there are two open hearts there is always exchange of energy and the healing of breaches which were experienced.

If the entity which is the other self is not at this moment ready to communicate openly and clearly but rather continues to be accusatory or frustrating or simply puzzled in some deleterious way then the matter is imperfect yet concluded, and the rest of the work is done within the self, forgiving the self for being unable to create apparent harmony, forgiving the other self for the same, and accepting in the self the desire to control the harmony of the situation even though this control is positively intended and ends up seeming to be a negative value since control exercised without resolve is more apparent in its manipulatory aspects.

Gaze at that seeming manipulation and realize that with self-consciousness comes the manipulation of objects and of thoughts to understand, to accomplish. The manipulations are not all of the same kind nor are they to be judged the same way. Negative manipulations are carefully to be recognized, but the attempts towards harmony, if not carried beyond the first attempt, are certainly not negative, except that each entity has the responsibility to manipulate the world of illusion, to mold it in love and in light. Mistakes may seem to be made—simply keep the intention high and the efforts to understand the other self intensive and persistent.

As for the recalcitrant-seeming other self, we suggest the use of prayer; realize that one which runs from love and compassion is a sorrowing and hard-pressed entity. The root causes of this sorrow or misery are not necessarily known even to the other self, yet you may pray that light may bless this self, that love may touch the heart of this self that you have no way of understanding unless that self speaks clearly to you, yet always is there the strength of praise and thanksgiving for the opportunity to hold another in the heart and offer that held other self up to the love and the light that streams infinitely from the infinite One.

Energies in a confrontation feel like jagged lines. What one wishes to do as a positive entity is to attempt through clear communication and the right use of compassion and compassionate manipulation to cause a mutual feeling of dancing in one spiraling circle, upwards in the light. When this is not possible you simply continue this dance by yourself, swirling and dipping in the rhythms of the eternal with a keen and loving ear to the music of love and light. This way of speaking of prayer is hardly literal but this is the sort of feeling we encourage in the prayers. One does not always know for what to pray for another’s needs, yet one may, when in the flow of the eternal, pray those abiding prayers of love, praise and thanks for each and every experience which has been experienced with this entity, thereby offering this entity to the Creator in order that the Creator’s love and light may be felt more and more in that other self’s life to the end known best by the other self and its Creator.

At this time we would transfer this contact to the one known as Jim that it may conclude this session of working. We thank this instrument and this group again, and would at this time leave this instrument in love and in light. We would transfer now. We are those of Q’uo.

(Jim channeling)

I am Q’uo, and greet each again in love and in light through this instrument. At this time it is our privilege to offer ourselves in the capacity of attempting to speak to any further queries which those present may have to offer us. Is there a query with which we may begin?

Yes, I have a query. Is channeling—the way Carla and Jim do that here—is this something for everyone, is this the way of the future, or is this something that derives out of the desire upon the entity [inaudible] to do?

I am Q’uo, and we are aware of your query, my sister. Each seeker upon the path of truth seeks that which is most helpful upon the journey, and by far the great number of seekers is that kind of seeker which you would call unaware that there is a journey, and these entities utilize the daily round of activities in a sense which is less efficient, shall we say, but more filled with the mystery of the journey, and these entities utilize that which circumstance provides as they attempt to find a sense and a center to the life pattern.

Those seekers who are conscious of the journey and who place themselves there in faith and in love utilize tools, methods and teachers which are drawn to them according to the manner in which they seek, some finding great comfort in the process which you have called the channeling and which we at this time partake in. This kind of catalyst is of an unusual nature in relation to the great number of alternate…

[Side one of tape ends.]

(Jim channeling)

We are again with this instrument. We shall continue.

The unusual nature of the channeling process makes this kind of method of seeking difficult for some to utilize and makes it more attractive for others, for there is much notoriety which has been associated with this phenomenon through much of your recent past. We find as we observe those not only within this circle of seeking but the great number of conscious seekers upon your planetary sphere that the movement into the utilization of channeled information has as its natural continuation the opening of each seeker’s channel for finding the personal and internal sources of information so that each seeker is more nearly an instrument of a purified and rarefied nature, which is to say that all catalyst—such as channeling, astrology, tarot, numerology and so forth—serves as an intermediary for a certain portion of time for the seeker. Thence there is the movement towards refining that channel which is ever and always available to all seekers, for each entity upon your planet channels the life, channels the responses, the activities, the words, the thoughts, and so forth. This channeling of the life then provides the basis by which each entity may refine this movement of energy and inspiration through the life pattern.

Thus, we would respond in short to your query by suggesting that channeling as a life endeavor and as a personal process is far more important than is the channeling in which we now engage, for we wish to serve as catalyst, and as each seeker channels his or her own journey there is where the treasures are truly found.

Is there a further query, my sister?

No, thank you.

I am Q’uo, and we thank you, my sister. Is there another query?

I have one. I was surprised a little bit, even though I was the one channeling—when we talked about the question beforehand, I had thought to myself that there is probably going to be some channeling on, oh, just surrender to that which was required of one or desired of one by the infinite Creator, just a faith in that, and I was sort of surrendering to faith instead of trying to work with things, and I noticed that in talking about how to deal with this particular question there wasn’t any talk of surrender. It was really pretty well focused on the ways and means that we can work within our own minds and our own parts. I wonder if you can speak to that.

I am Q’uo, and I am aware of your query, my sister. As we spoke on the query for this session of working we observed that each entity present was well aware of the value of the surrendering to the undeniable circumstance, for each has journeyed long upon the path and has felt the force and momentum of the daily round of activities, so that the need to surrender to that which seems inevitable and right is obvious to each. We wish, therefore, to build upon the concepts of action considered in the light of surrender, for all activities that you accomplish within your life pattern are of a nature where there is a necessity for interaction of some kind. The conscious seeker of truth will wish to give the effort that is of the highest quality, reflecting the essence of its deepest being and wishes, to know how to form the response that is loving, intelligent and flexible in any situation.

Thus, we spoke to activity and response as those means whereby entities may gather their resources, shall we say, and utilize them to the fullest within the boundaries of the illusion in which you move, and with the recognition that the surrendering heart and mind are the attitudinal components, shall we say, by which all such activity may be accomplished. Thus we thought to provide the paradox how one may act with the attitude of surrender.

Is there a further query, my sister?

Let me just sum up and have you say “Yes, you have an understanding” or “No, you don’t.” You say that it is the living of a life in faith or the attempt to live a life in faith which is continuous surrender that enables one to raise the question “How can I best find honesty and acceptance in my personal interrelationships?” Would that be a fair summary of what you just said?

I am Q’uo. Not only would we suggest that is a fair summary, but an eloquent one.

Is there a further query at this time?

No, you old charmer, thank you very much. Q’uo, it’s a pleasure to talk to you.

I am Q’uo, and I thank you, my sister. Is there another query?

[Pause]

I am Q’uo, and as we assess the energies and lack of queries at this moment we feel that we have spoken for the appropriate length of your time, and we thank each entity for providing us with the desire to know that which we have to offer and with the patience to listen to what we are aware has been a somewhat lengthy discourse. We are always grateful for the opportunity to speak to this group and to any group which seeks so wholeheartedly for the love and light that will illuminate the journey yet one step further. We cannot express our gratitude enough to each present. We thank you, my brothers and sisters, and we shall take our leave of this group at this time, leaving each, as always, in love and in the light of the one infinite Creator. We are known to you as those of Q’uo. Adonai, my friends. Adonai.