Topics: Individual vs. group meditation; the paucity of formal meditation in one’s life; the balance between being and becoming.

(Austin channeling)

We are Q’uo, and we greet this circle of seeking in the love and in the light of the One Infinite Creator. What a joy it is, my friends, to be invited to join you in this circle of seeking. We have been with you throughout your time together, in your moments of silence and in your moments of outward joy and connection. You have called to us and invited us, not just with your explicit outreach, but with the calling within your heart, the seeking to open yourself to the One Creator in the name of service to others. You have generated with your time together here a quite intense signal that we are able to utilize in joining you and entering this circle, so that we may, to the best of our ability with these instruments, share our thoughts and opinions about the queries you have for us.

Before we begin, we would ask the favor that we typically ask. And that is that you consider our words as those of a peer, of a fellow traveler upon the path, reporting what has been seen and experienced by us, but not as the master or authority of what is true for you. Instead, we encourage you to evaluate our words carefully, to hone your own discernment against them, and to utilize only those thoughts and concepts that you feel can serve you upon your journey. And without care, you may cast away any thought or opinion that does not resonate with you, for we do not wish to serve as a stumbling block upon your journey. And by granting us this favor, you allow us to speak more freely, to address your queries with more openness for we can trust that you will receive our words more closely to how we intend them, and that is as catalyst and not as instruction.

We thank you for honoring this favor, and at this time, would ask if there is a query with which you may begin?

Yes, the query is two parts read on behalf of the circle here. The first, can you please explain the energetic impact that group meditations have compared to individual meditations? And can you also speak to the transformations and energies generated during this contemplative retreat?1 Thank you.

I am Q’uo, and am aware of the query. We receive this query with great joy and anticipation. For it allows us to explore that concept that we hold so dearly and so frequently suggest to you intrepid seekers within the third density, and that is the value and the purpose and the meaning in your life of the meditation or the contemplation. Indeed, we find this query quite exciting, for it allows us to explore a somewhat paradoxical aspect of this query. We believe that when one reaches paradox, there is much spiritual work to be done. There is much fruit to be born within the seeking of paradox and the attempt to untangle and understand.

And especially for us, it is great fun to attempt, through instruments such as this, to untangle and explore paradox. For, from our perspective, these paradoxes are easily resolved and are harmonious within our experience. But from your experience, within the veil of the third density, they seem impossible and unable to be fully resolved. And within this query, we would point out some humor of this paradox that as you ask about the differences of individual and group meditation, we would ask is not all meditation individual meditation? For all is one, and as you gather and meditate together, are you not unifying as a single being and seeking that ground of unity from which you all come?

Likewise, is not every meditation a group meditation? For even if you are alone and your body is removed from the proximity of others, are you not then sinking deep into those waters that connect you with all and in that meditation, fully realizing what it means to be one with all of your other-selves? In this way, you can see that, at a certain level of the creation, there is no real difference between the individual and the group meditation.

However, we understand that within your density, there is a great desire and even need for a more practical application and response to this question. So we will descend from the Mountain of Paradox to the stable ground of practicality that is so useful to your peoples, and address the heart of this query.

There is indeed, from this perspective, a meaningful difference and effect of the individual and the group meditation. And we believe that in exploring these differences, you may come to understand the answer to the second part of this query through your experiences with your time together.

When you dedicate yourself individually to a time of meditation, you are expressing your desire, you are expressing your will. You are calling out to the creation your desire to seek deep within it, to understand the binding unity underneath. To do so as an individual can be a very powerful act, for you are removed from the eyes of others that might compel you to behave in one way or another. You are making this decision without the attempt to wear the mask of spirituality, the persona of the spiritual seeker. Instead, you are declaring to yourself and to no one else, this deep desire to know the true heart of your own being.

To do this regularly alone, without the pressure or even the support of other-selves, is indeed a powerful act. And one that, as you continue to make this decision and to dedicate time regularly, daily if you are able, such a dedication resonates through the depths of your own individual being, deep, all the way down to the heart of the Creator. And as you continue to make this decision alone, you will find that more and more in your meditations, you are not alone, and the Creator is always with you, and these individual meditations allow you your very personal, individual relationship with the One Infinite Creator that can only be realized by you as a unique, infinitely personal fractal of that One Infinite Creator.

You have, we believe, heard us speak about the power of gathering in numbers and unifying in a call and in a seeking, and we would then carry these words that we have spoken about the intention and the desire expressed in your individual meditation, and ask you to consider what might happen if, as individuals, you share this desire together. Indeed, even before you intrepid seekers made the journey to this location, the desire rang out, and together you formed a certain field that carried you here, and that began to fully manifest once you are all together. And in this experience, we [encourage you to] seek within the experiences of the weekend, the times that you have shared both in silence and conversation, the look within the eyes of your other-selves, all together, unified in this grand desire to seek and become One.

The power of this desire, the power of expressing it and manifesting it within the creation, increases in a way that can be seen as exponential. Together, you have generated what can be called a field. It can also be seen as a thought-form, even an entity in its own right, that, through your time together, has moved you and called you, spoken through you and flowed between you to do what you have done over this time together and intentionally sit together in silence, opening yourselves and your hearts to the majesty of the Creator.

The ability to realize and to sink deeper within these waters increases and becomes ever more powerful. This dynamic does not end when you return to your normal lives, busy though they are, with much to do and much to pull your attention and bring you back into the noise and the bustle of the world that is not single-pointedly dedicated to seeking and sharing the Creator as this environment is this weekend that you share.

But this field will continue to resonate throughout your being. You will continue to share a connection with all those present, and with us. The field that you have generated will not diminish. It will always be available. It can always be accessed. We encourage you in this moment to hold this field in your heart and give your full heart to it so that as you and your fellow other-selves near your departure and your separation of proximity, that you may carry with you that which you have gained ever more fully and realize it more readily when you call upon it in your normal life.

We would offer a certain metaphor to help demonstrate the effectiveness of this concept. The ability to carry with you what you have experienced here in your time together, we believe that most present and most who will read these words are familiar with the concept of quantum entanglement. This idea is quite an exciting one for it challenges your regular notions of what is possible across space and time.

The idea, very simply, is that, upon the quantum levels of your reality, particles may interact in a way that causes them to be connected or entangled in such a unique fashion that they can, in many ways, exert some type of influence or share a certain quality across the vastness of space without consideration for that illusory distance. For indeed the nature of your space/time is illusory.

This term, “illusion,” is one that we of the Confederation utilize often, and is one that is present within many spiritual systems and philosophies and religions upon your planet. But we would add a point of clarity that this is not meant to diminish the reality of your experience within this illusion. Indeed, in order for such particles to become entangled, they must share some point of origin. They must share some space within the illusion. And then once they are separated, they maintain that connection that ignores the illusion.

And so you find yourself deep within the veil of third density, operating within the confines of what we have called an illusion. You may use this illusion to learn more about the nature of your own self as Creator and the creation. And one way of doing this is to realize that in your time together, just like the particles referenced in this analogy, you have become entangled with your other-selves. This is the effect of a group meditation where you come together with other earnest seekers, guided by the same intention and desire, and spend time manifesting and declaring that desire, and in so doing, an eternal bond is formed that pierces the illusion, that transcends the confines of space and time, that can be realized at any moment, if you are able to reach within yourself and discover it once again, for it will always be there and it will always be present.

And as you continue to engage in meditation with groups similar to this, you form connections between these groups. And in so doing, a web of light can be manifest across your planet through which the Creator is more and more able to do its work to bring the realization of harmony and unity through the illusion.

And this is, my friends, the great desire that—as you have descended into this illusion, into the seeming manyness and separation—you reach so deeply into that illusion that you then realize the illusion for what it is, and the divisions between you dissolve. This work aids not just you as individuals or this group, but indeed in ways that we cannot even describe, the planet.

As you form this web of light, we of the Confederation are more able to manifest ourselves within your reality. To offer our own love and light and our great desire to see your planet brought forth into the fourth density of love and understanding, so that you, as a planetary population, can join in hearts and minds pointed towards service to others along side us of the Confederation. Then we may go forth into the creation, sharing the love and the light of the One Infinite Creator wherever it is called for. We thank you again for allowing us to be a part of this grand journey.

And at this time, we would take leave of this instrument and transfer this contact to the one known as Trish. We are Q’uo.

(Trisha Channeling)

We are those of Q’uo, and we are now with this instrument. It is with much joy that we receive this opportunity to share space with each and every one in this circle and to speak through these instruments to these queries that you have gifted us.

And so we would ask if there is a query to which we may speak?

Yes, we have another question. My primary meditation is accessed throughout my daily activities, as I engage in relating, etc., I rest as awareness in the midst of life. Am I missing something more by less often sitting in stillness than in carrying meditative awareness into my activity?

We are those of Q’uo, and we are aware and appreciate this query, my sister. We would start by stating that the meditative practice can take on many forms, many shapes, many flavors, many shades. It can activate in many spaces. It can spring forth at many times. It does not follow a strict, boundaried shape, if you will. Meditation can come in a variety of means. One does not, per se, need to sit in silence to engage in the meditative practice, as stated by this questioner. There are many tasks throughout the day that may elicit a meditative response from the seeker.

In much the same way as a seeker who sits in silence, we would state the most important and pivotal pillar of the meditative practice is the intention behind it. For you see, the engagement of the intention and the purity in which it is exercised is the ultimate motivator through which the meditative practice may spring forth.

Of course, intention can also take on many flavors and can manifest in many ways. One could say that the investment of time and energy in space to acquire a silent environment and to sit in that silence with the intention of meditation is a most productive space. However, that same investment and intention can be offered in the daily round of activities so long as the purity in which it is invested is of an intensity of its own.

Think you upon the many times in a day that you are able to find stillness in your heart and in your mind. Perhaps you may find that some of those moments are not intentionally in silence. Perhaps they are moments in which you are witnessing beauty outside of yourself. Perhaps it is when you are able to sit in a space where there is no need to engage with the outside environment. Perhaps even it is something as simple as walking in the environment around you, taking in the stimuli without engagement with that stimuli.

Meditation can be on specific and particular emotions or values. For instance, this particular instrument found herself in a meditative state simply sitting on a balcony and gazing at the vista below and feeling much gratitude.2 Allowing thoughts to move in and out, but still finding connection with Creator and with the Oneness that encapsulates all of this illusion.

And so my friend, there is no one best way to meditate, as our friends of Ra have said, if there is something missing, however, that is for each seeker to determine on their own. We understand that some seekers may have difficulty finding the time and the space to sit in silence and find more easier access into the meditative space while engaging in the daily round of activities. We realize that some seekers may find themselves more in tune with the meditative space by acts of journaling or contemplation, allowing that which can move through them to move through them. Allowing that which needs to fall away, to fall away.

Our only suggestion, and it is a humble one at that, is that each seeker interested in plumbing the depths that one may find in the meditative space attempt to engage meditation at all levels. Finding time to sit in silence, perhaps once or twice a week to begin, for no particular amount of time, simply to attempt the practice, to feel the space. And those who are on a more strict silent meditation path, to allow themselves to experiment with meditation in more dynamic forms, perhaps in the practice of dance, the listening of music, the witnessing of the outdoor beauty, or the expression of love between self and other-self. Each and every seeker will find, if their intention is pure and their will and faith strong, their own unique equation or formula for their meditative practice.

Again, it is with simple intention by which the greater fruit may spring forth from the practice. And so if you question yourself and how your meditation practice is going, we ask that you simply listen and feel into what is your particular equation. Experiment, find what feels most right to you. Keeping always at your core, your pure intention, noting your motivations behind that intention, and keeping always an open heart. With much grace and much patience, my friends, you will find that the steering wheel that you utilize to find your way will right itself. That the path will become lit and that all of these pieces that appear to inform your walk become clear. And it is through these moments of inward space that the vista before you becomes more vibrant.

My friends, we of your friends of Q’uo are simply appreciative of the desire to seek, the desire to learn and the desire to grow. It is immensely inspiring to witness your continued attempts, your continued step forward. And to see the way that your energies combine in this seeking, especially in this particular circle at this time. Have faith and much comfort in knowing that all is well, that there are no mistakes, and that unity is always running through above, underneath, and around you. You simply need to tap in and remember that unity in whatever way works for your particular soul.

We thank this circle for this particular query, and with much gratitude, we shall take our leave of this instrument at this time and transfer our contact to the one known as Gary. We are those of Q’uo.

(Gary channeling)

We are that principle known to you as Q’uo, and it is with pleasure and fulfillment that we are able to speak to those who would offer themselves to us that we may share just something of the infinite universe within which you live in, reminders of the infinite beings that you ultimately are, as you progress along that path through the darkened landscape of third density within which so little of the universe and your own nature is seen; within which even the next step in front of you on that carefully planned journey is often unknown or murky at best; or for those who have more and more learned to live from the open heart in that place which makes room for faith in the being; [those] who are able to trust that, wherever the feet may be placed next is that which is appropriate, as the Creator, and the many manifestations who work on behalf of the Creator, are there with you, our friends, through each step of that journey.

At this time, we would ask if there is a query to which we may offer our thoughts? We are those of Q’uo.

Yes, can we have guidance around the balance of being and becoming?

We are Q’uo, and indeed, we may do our best to offer that which may be used as guidance. Without expectation that we will speak, or even begin to speak, to the rich expanse which such a question opens. For this question, as so many upon the heart of the spiritual seeker, is one that continues through the great length, as it were, of the journey. Through this grand Illusion and the following and the following. We ourselves still explore this same dynamic of being and becoming as we explore our own beings to the greatest depth possible within our awareness and ability in search of where that individual or group beingness becomes the beingness of the One, of the mystery-clad unity.

In your particular environment wherein each third-density being—be they a spiritual seeker or a non-spiritual seeking entity, has inherent beingness and interacts with beingness or beings of every stripe and manifestation as it appears to you within your realm—is nevertheless focused almost exclusively upon the journey of doing and becoming, and the conceptual world that springs therefrom that sees only this becoming; and sees only the journey of choices, and growth, and decay, and death, and birth, and movement, and travel, and transformation from one form to another without, generally speaking, a conscious awareness of the underlying beingness of the self, of other-selves of the planetary being in whose influence you experience the joys and sorrows of your journey of becoming.

Among the ways to so be defined, the spiritual seeker may be seen as one who has become, we correct this instrument, has begun to become aware of their own beingness. Something within their experience opened an inner channel or door so that they might receive and hear the voice of that silent being within which speaks through the energies of love and wisdom and power as facets of that one unified being which is the ground of your being and all beings.

The spiritual seeker feels this spring flowing from some deep and out-of-sight fountainhead of existence itself, and is called forward in search of what this source and this source energy is. And why it is that the seeker feels, consciously speaking, so seemingly distant or even cut off from their very own roots. And once again, in examining this seeming dichotomy between becoming and being, we run into that rich and fertile field of paradox. For the seeker strives and develops their will and faith that they may seek and become that which they already are and always have been and have never truly left.

It is quite a paradox, our friends, that you have been, we correct this instrument, that you never been anything other than the Creator. Whether your soul stream was that of the wind blowing in the first density, or as the one known as A spoke earlier, the bamboo blowing in that wind, or the third-density or second-density entity which may make use of that bamboo. At each seeming step or stage along the journey, you have been nothing other than the Creator. But such is the convincing and compelling and seemingly, for a time, inescapable nature of this journey that you are convinced otherwise. And you engage this grand journey of seeking to become something more, something truer, something more authentic as you transfer and transition from choice after choice, as the one known as K. was speaking, stage after stage. And in this journey of becoming, you move through many, many deaths.

For inherent in becoming is to release the old limited containers that no longer serve where the upward spiraling light has brought you when your perspective widens and awareness deepens—old limiting beliefs and roles and costumes and conditioned patterns that no longer serve this next point in this journey of upward spiraling, of becoming, of moving closer to the Creator.

There are small deaths and big deaths. There is the small death of becoming conscious that you no longer need to hold on to this particular piece of armor or defense as you make contact with a strength of selfness, of rightness in self within, that you no longer need this particular pretense to guard and protect something within the self. And thus you consciously are able, whether through ritual or through an epiphany or through a silent shift in the depths of your meditation, release it with gratitude and blessing for that aspect of yourself that served you for a time. Letting it dissolve back into unity from whence you had distorted it.

And then on the other end of that spectrum are the big deaths. There is, of course, the great gateway of the conclusion of the incarnate experience. And there are the deaths that one moves through in the stages of life. From birth through the various psychological stages of growth in the childhood to the adolescence and young adulthood, and perhaps finding and committing oneself to a life partner, and so forth. And then there is the death brought on by that which is traumatic in the journey, which slams into the self, leaving no recourse but to dive deep, to face the impossible, to die to oneself.

There is that which in spiritual systems is sought through the journey of seeking that the self may so die to the self, that the self may be reborn to more authentic beingness. That beingness which is not obscured by the containers of concept which separate sense of self from itself. Where unity begins to filter up into the conscious experience, and the Creator may move more readily through such an one. Until finally, in this journey of becoming, there is the death of the affliction of the separate self altogether.

We say, finally, not to indicate that it is the terminus of the journey, for the journey goes on forever. Only that the separate self does have an end, or a return to the One, to unified beingness. Beingness is that which moves into mystery and the inevitable, we correct this instrument, ineffable. That which ultimately cannot be given over to shape and word, and perhaps may be better described or invoked in the melody, or the poem, or the art—as the one known as S was describing, your peoples are so blessed to create—that evokes drifts and aroma and nuance of inarticulate meaning that nevertheless is perceived and embodied. Which is not to say or imply that beingness is insubstantial or ephemeral, or in your scale of things, transient. For beingness is, insofar as words may point, existence.

That which exists has beingness, including and especially you, our friends. You are beings. You have beingness, and in that realm of activity with which you are so familiar from your daily experiences are small and often distorted expressions of this beingness. The being moves through the actions and energy of the self. One can perceive the beingness of self and other-self least through its particular words and outer behaviors and more acutely through the presence and radiance and peace and love of the being. Presence in particular is a window. This too, does not lend itself to easy quantification or description, but is that which is felt and intuited. The behaviors give indication and may become vehicles to the beingness, but the beingness cannot be reverse engineered from the behaviors, precisely.

The journey of becoming is an intended one. It is one that you as an individual soul and as the Creator of all things wanted to undergo. That you could play a great game of forgetting yourself. That through a grand journey of valleys and mountain tops, and oceans and land masses, and stars and galaxies, and inner and outer work, and becoming lost and confused in the wilderness, you might, through faith, find your center once again.

Lift up from that wilderness, however puzzling seems to be the maze and the confusion of the world around you, and know once more that wherever you may seem to be in the terrain of your mind or in the geography of your planet, that you are ever with the Creator. That you cannot make a mistake. That all is truly well and that your beingness is secure whatever may happen to the body or the possessions or the world within which you inhabit.

For you are not a citizen of this country or that country. You are not this ethnicity or that ethnicity. You are. in the depths of your beingness, a citizen of eternity. You are a child of the Creator. You are the Creator. You are a Logoic being. From your perspective, it seems that you become this depth of awareness and understanding through your journey. And indeed, that is the case from that perspective. But in truth, this is already true. This is inherent and inalienable to you. No other being in the universe can take this from you, can limit your experience of this. You and you alone limit your experience of this through many ways that you block and distort the Creator, which ultimately ends, or rather, which ultimately rests on a core distortion of self-doubt, of disbelief, or even of refusal to believe and accept that you could indeed be the universe itself manifesting as an individual.

We commend you, our friends, to this continued journey of meditation. For in meditation and its companions of contemplation and prayer, you set aside a mind consumed with the busyness in order to feel and perceive and become aware of your own being, which becomes more still and more silent the deeper it goes. Still and silent, but not inert or dead. Still and silent and replete with infinite potential, replete with everything. For in this infinite stillness and silence is the All which both contains and loves everything, from which everything arises. This is at your core. This is your essence.

And in these disciplines of meditation and contemplation and prayer in particular, one may die, as it were, that one might rest in this beingness and allow that battered, and bruised, and troubled, and conflicted, and fragmented personality shell to be stitched back together in a way more congruent with the love and the light that is in the center of your being. To be healed, that is to say. To be rendered less opaque, more transparent, so that your journey of becoming may be that which the Creator walks through you. So that your eyes may become the eyes of the Creator and that which you see, the Creator sees. And those who are seen by you feel that they are seen by the Creator, such is the power within you. This being seen by the Creator inherently up heals, we correct this instrument, heals and uplifts the self who is so seen, as you may know from your own internal experiences.

You carry much sorrow, you carry much self-judgment, self-castigation, and many ways in which you are sure you are unworthy. This is a painful place to be, my friends, and as you render this transparency in yourself, through your presence, your open heart, your eyes, your hands, and your listening ear, you become the Creator to another. The Creator speaks to that soul who is wounded and who harbors these same self-judgments and self-doubts that they may hear and perceive their own being, and be open to the radical proposition that they are already whole. That they are already complete. And that, even in the state within which they find themselves, they are perfect.

For as we move towards wrapping this up, as those in your group—facilitated by the ones known as L and W of the know yourself, accept yourself and become the Creator topic—were discussing, there is a balance in this journey of being and becoming whereby, as the ones known as Ra have said, the entity rests in that balanced awareness between the apparent distortions and the total perfection of the self. And where this intense seeking meets the attracted cosmic prana, realization of the One takes place.3

At this time we would, with gratitude for your patience in receiving our thoughts, transfer our contact to the one known as Austin, that we may bring this channeling to a close. We are those of Q’uo.

(Austin channeling)

We are Q’uo, and are again with this instrument. Our friends, in your invitation to us to join you, both in your silence and to respond to your queries, you are not just requesting service from us, but indeed, you serve us through this request. For your density is packed full of that which we call catalyst. The intensity of your experience upon your planet is one that is far, far beyond anything that is possible within the higher densities that we experience. Our catalyst is infinitely subtle, and much of that catalyst comes from responding to such calls and joining you and being able to have but a taste of that which you experience through your dedication to the silence and the seeking, and through your desire to ask us to speak on certain topics and merge our energy with yours.

This is an incredible service that you provide for us, and we would reiterate, as this instrument reminded this group earlier in this day, that we are available to join you in your meditations. Indeed, the quality of this gathering is unique to us in joining you and being with you through your time together, for you have dedicated much space to silence and seeking inwardly as you also connect outwardly. This has been an immense joy for us to experience with you, and we cannot express enough again our gratitude for being allowed to enter this sacred space with you and be with you in your seeking.

We offer also our gratitude to these instruments for their dedication and fidelity to the tuning into the challenging, and we offer our gratitude to each present within this circle and each who may become aware of our words. For what we are able to provide through these instruments relies upon the energy of the group and what you give of yourself to it. It is through you that we are able to share ourselves with you. At this time, we leave you as we found you in the love and in the light of the One Infinite Creator. Adonai, my friends, adonai, vasu, borragus.

  1. The Law of One Contemplative Retreat was an experimental gathering designed to incorporate elements of a silent meditation retreat. ↩

  2. The retreat center sits at the base of a mountain range looking west out over the vast San Luis Valley, the largest alpine valley on the planet, at the opposite western edge of which is another snow-capped mountain range. The valley in that area is about 8,000 feet (2,438 meters) above sea level. ↩

  3. Paraphrased from #57.33:

    In the experiences of the mystical search for unity, these need never be considered, for they are but part of an illusory system. The seeker seeks the One. This One is to be sought, as we have said, by the balanced and self-accepting self, aware both of its apparent distortions and its total perfection. Resting in this balanced awareness, the entity then opens the self to the universe which it is. The light energy of all things may then be attracted by this intense seeking, and wherever the inner seeking meets the attracted cosmic prana, realization of the One takes place.

    The purpose of clearing each energy center is to allow that meeting place to occur at the indigo-ray vibration, thus making contact with intelligent infinity and dissolving all illusions. Service-to-others is automatic at the released energy generated by this state of consciousness.

     ↩