Sexuality of Transcendental Souls

12:31 PM 7/22/2012
MICHAEL SPEAKS
Consumerism vs Citizenry
Channel: Troy Tolley
 
[MEntity]
Hello to each of you. We are here, now. Barely, but here. We will continue to move more into focus as we deliver on the topic of choice.
 
We understand the topic of interest to be that of the shift between what might be referred to as a paradigm of Consumerism to a paradigm of Citizenship, or Citizenry.
 
This is, basically, the shift between a Young Soul Paradigm and a Mature Soul Paradigm, except in specific terms of how one's interactions in the world contribute to that paradigm, and not just how one experiences it.
 
The levels of paradigm we describe by Consumerism vs Citizenry are levels most applicable to the environment of economy and resources.
 
While any group is sharing a paradigm of Consumerism, the aim is primarily toward COLLECTING.
 
While any group is sharing a paradigm of Citizenry, the aim is primarily toward CONTRIBUTION.
 
A paradigm, here, is the larger context in which everyone is expected to participate, and is taught as being a meaningful or appealing value, both in the positive and negative poles of that paradigm.
 
CONSUMERISM AND COLLECTING
 
In the paradigm of Consumerism with its aim for Collecting, this value is regarded as meaningful and appealing, when the Collecting is done through hard work, exploitation, entitlement, investment.
 
Any way to Collect. To take one's part.
 
This paradigm is not good or bad, but simply another way of sharing the experiences of the world.
 
However, when there is a paradigm for Collecting, the dynamic inherently implies a constant imbalance as each tries to take as much as possible.
 
This paradigm, then, inherently brings with it poverty, extremes of Class, Racism, Slavery, Theft, and even violence, as the means for Collecting.
 
This paradigm supports the entire spectrum between earning and taking, as long as there is an aim for Collecting.
 
We will define "Collecting" here as an aim geared toward personal gain, meaning, motivation, fulfillment, satisfaction, craving, longing.
 
Everything that is shared in terms of an economy and resource is subject to this spectrum.
 
Those who do not wish to participate in that paradigm will be pushed to the edges of it, so to speak, and will "play by their own rules," but as quietly as possible so as not to bring attention to the breaking of rules set for that paradigm.
 
As Consumerism is quite in line with the Young Soul, the Young Soul does quite well within this paradigm, and enjoys the spectrum in many ways. It is exciting, competitive, and, forgiving the pun, consuming.
 
Regardless of Soul Age, a paradigm will be an insidious part of any fragment's life.
 
Regardless of how conscious a Personality is, and how Manifested the True Personality and Essence, there will, inherently, be some level of the self that willingly or unwittingly "plays the game."
 
Essence and Personality are not victims of a paradigm, but simply agree that if being born into a paradigm, there would naturally be some sense of it.
 
It is already difficult, if not impossible, to escape the imprinting from a culture and society, even if the imprinting from caretakers is lifted. Therefore, it is more often than not embraced to some extent, even if the Personality is resentful of it.
 
In this case, in order to "ride the rides" of this paradigm, then at least "some of the tickets" must be bought, if you will.
 
It is rare, and certainly of no significant nobility, for an Old/er Soul to opt out of a paradigm that does not cater to an Old Soul.
 
In fact, it is often just the opposite: the Older Soul relishes in the opportunity to call upon the "younger" perspective for new experiences from a broader perspective.
 
Old Souls do not flock to the pastures for retirement and tree-hugging, though many do, but often [more] for the satisfaction of False Personality, than anything, in those cases.
 
If Old Souls wanted to avoid the struggles of a paradigm, they know full well by now that all one has to do is wait for the cycles to turn, and a more comfortable paradigm will emerge.
 
Instead, Old Souls tend to flock to the most challenging of paradigms for the sake of a more complete experience. It is of no coincidence that many can say, "If I knew then what I know now." A return to High School with your adult awareness would change everything about how your choices would be made.
 
Essence gets to do that.
 
The Old Soul in a Consumer paradigm is like going back to High School, and making choices from a more adult perspective. And it is never quite what was anticipated.
 
Many Old Souls get through the entire incarnational cycle of lives without an Old Soul paradigm in place.
 
No specific paradigm is necessary for any Soul Age to evolve. Your evolution is your own, and dependent only on your choices, and what you do with them, both as Personality and Essence.
 
The shift in paradigm is moving, though, and living during a shift is always enticing to every Soul Age.
 
Every global shift tends to attract nearly all fragments still incarnating.
 
One of the reasons a shift takes "so long" is because there are usually not enough bodies to go around for everyone to be involved at once, so it is a gradual process that each gets to experience in unique ways that either passively or actively engages with it.
 
[GeraldineB] that's interesting -- similar to when ISs manifest
 
[MEntity] Geraldine, the Infinite Soul tends to Manifests directly in relation to a shift in paradigm. So the shift and/or the Infinite Soul is attractive.
 
[GeraldineB] Oh, that's right, JC came in during the last shift
 
[MEntity]
Not all shifts must be accompanied by the Infinite Soul and the Logos.
 
Only those that may be sensed as going terribly awry.
 
[GeraldineB] I will have to ask you deeper questions on that during my Project
 
[MEntity]
Though it may seem as if there is a lot of leeway, there is an awareness on the scale of the Infinite Soul that can calculate the probabilities of devastation with either little, or no, recovery for the species.
 
All fragments eventually get to participate in a Manifestation of the Infinite Soul (as it is part of the Soul Ages), as there will always be at least one parallel version of existence that is headed for devastation.
 
In other parallels, a Manifestation has already taken place in the wake of devastating nuclear war, which was averted "here."
 
[GeraldineB] yes . . .back in the 80s
 
[MEntity]
The Manifestation would have been around the millennium mark.
 
Though the war was earlier, yes.
 
For now, "this" parallel (and a great many of its parallels) appear to be doing well in terms of evolving the shift in paradigm.
 
In the parallels that did not do so well, there were fewer Old Souls in bodies. It should never be presumed that one's mere presence does not make a difference.
 
When we say "did not do so well," we do not mean this on the scale of Essence, as all of it is meaningful and valuable, but for the Personalities, "better" can mean the difference between painful suffering and comfortable growth.
 
The shift now into Citizenry is one that is a move away from Consumerism, but not excluding it. No shift in paradigm leaves one behind, but finds a way to build it into the new one.
 
CITIZENRY AND CONTRIBUTION
Citizenry will not eliminate competitiveness and Collecting, but would move it to the side as an emphasis, and bring into focus a new aim of meaningfulness and value.
 
Citizenry here would be defined by us as Conscious Participation.
 
As we said, Citizenry aims for Contribution as the predominant value and meaning instilled for that society, but would include a wide spectrum for how this plays out.
 
This can play out in the forms ranging among philanthropy, charity, mutual benefit, sharing, homogenization, global government, "one world."
 
Citizenry corresponds to a Mature Soul perspective, which can be understood as the Baby Soul perspective, Exalted.
 
The pressure to conform can be very similar to the Baby Soul paradigms, but with the aim for the benefit of each other, and not a central authority.
 
The precarious key here is in deciding what is beneficial for all in a way that does not harm.
 
It is a Mature Soul concept couched in Young Soul terms (or vice versa, for some).
 
Citizenry cannot function well with the part of the phrase "do what thou will."
 
[GeraldineB] LOL -- no, we're finding that out
 
[MEntity]
Unless that "will" is conscious in its awareness of impact on others.
 
That level of consciousness awareness is one that does not evolve "overnight," though the concept and paradigm of Citizenry will have been in place long before that development.
 
So that phrase is a helpful bridge, and has been in place for many for some time, in some form.
 
As Citizenry gathers up a momentum of conscious awareness, the shift, ironically, moves away from "so long as it harm none," to "so long as it benefit any."
 
This would mean that anyone who would be impacted by the choices and actions within that paradigm were somehow AT LEAST capable of being benefited.
 
It is not presumed that everyone will share the same will, of course, but that the aim would be for Contribution, at the very least.
 
When the aim is only for avoiding harm, choices can become clouded by fears, frustrations, guilt, defensiveness, etc., but when there is a realization that a choice may benefit more than just the self, the aim can tend to be light, fueled by enthusiasm, and creativity.
 
[GeraldineB] Would GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) fall in the Contribution category as they purport to give larger crops due to being less susceptible to insect damage -- yet they cause corollary damage and some allergies
 
[MEntity]
Geraldine, such things would fall into the category of "benefit any," so long as there is actual benefit, and benefit that can be opted into or out of without the cost of another benefit.
 
For instance, if this is the only choice for food, or if that foodstuff is not labeled for the sake of choice, then this is not considered a "benefit to any."
 
[Martha] but Monsanto is trying to own the market and take away farmer's choices, does that outweigh the benefit?
 
[MEntity]
However, if without that option there is no other choice, then it would fall into a category of "benefit" for that group.
 
Martha, your point supports our clarification that Citizenry, Contribution and Conscious Participation, always involves an expansion of choice, not a narrowing of it.
 
This may be contextual, in that a starving group may find GMO to be its saving grace of benefit and expanded choice, while an abundant society with GMO imposed may not.
 
However, the entire concept of GMO would have begun to fall by the wayside in a truly embraced paradigm of Citizenry, since this economy would lean toward a Resource-based economy, and would not require such extensive measures to create or sustain food sources.
 
Issues of starvation begin to fall away, as well, since the sharing of resources for the benefit of more than Collecting becomes emphasized.
 
Resources begin being looked at in terms of how they can help others, not in how they can protect, defend, and be withheld.
 
Even the motivation for career and income move toward how one can Contribute, not just Consume.
 
[brian] Michael, you said that the Young Soul aim might be described as COLLECTING and the Mature Soul aim might be described as CONTRIBUTION. For the sake of completeness, what themes might you use to describe the Baby Soul and Old Soul paradigms?
 
[MEntity]
Brian, that might be for Infant an aim for SECURING, and for Baby, an aim for CIVILIZING, and for Old, an aim for EXPERIENCING.
 
To make it easy to understand, one could add "use money for.... _____" and fill in the aim.
 
Old Souls tend to use money for Experiencing.
 
Mature Souls tend to use money for Contributing.
 
Young Souls tend to use money for Collecting.
 
Baby Souls tend to use money for Civilizing.
 
Infant Souls tend to use money for Securing.
 
Of course, "money" might not be what is used, but whatever is the exchange of that economy.
 
No matter what the dominant paradigm, a Soul Age will tend to "use money" for whatever the aim is for that Soul Age, even as they play by the rules of the dominant paradigm.
 
For example, even in the paradigm of Consuming, the Old Soul will tend to gladly gather money, forgo money, spend money when it brings Experiences.
 
MORE QUESTIONS:
 
We will open the floor now to more questions such as these, as we know Troy must comply to a time limit in his current environment.
 
[Bobby] my question was based on right now I feel like money to me is more about security. I suppose that really depends on what is going on in one's life at the moment as well as the major paradigm they find themselves in, correct?
 
[MEntity]
Bobby, as money is currently used within a paradigm of Consuming, with an aim for Collecting, then when one is not able to consume what one is used to consuming, or expects to consume, it can cause great stress.
 
When there is no paradigm in place for Citizenry with an aim for Contribution, there is little to consider as a network of support for fluctuations in what one can Contribute.
 
As long as there is a paradigm of Consuming in place, there will be a paradigm of lack, and the subsequent prompts for what is necessary to remedy that.
 
If that might require help, there may be shame attached to it. If that might require enduring a great shift in what was expected or familiar for Consuming, there can be a great deal of fear provoked.
 
The only remedy for the Older Soul is to INCLUDE its own paradigm as valid.
 
In other words, regardless of income, finances, comfort, there is EXPERIENCE here.
 
This does not mean that the Old Soul would embrace starvation because it is a glorious Experience, but more that the embrace of something such as that as simply being a rich resource of Experience, solutions can tend to come much easier.
 
Embracing whatever paradigm is useful within the grasp of your Soul Age is helpful. This might mean embracing the paradigm of Citizenry, and allowing yourself to ask for help, and to do what you can to help, so as to create that circuit in the life.
 
It will not negate the dominant paradigm, but can, at least, expand paradigms.
 
Thus, expanding solutions, feelings, perspectives, resources.
 
Another way to look at the situation would be in terms of drawing from your rich resources of Experience as a means for helping bring you back into a sense of security. It is not so much that you need to see the current situation as rich with experience, but that you have a bank of experience that is already useful.
 
On the other hand, Security is one of the 9 Needs, and this can tend to be a theme of exploration, regardless of what economy or paradigm is in place.
 
[Maureen] I know this is far off future, but ...Will the Resource Economy start with a Mature Soul world and move into a more "progressed" form in an Old Soul world? What will be the biggest "change" to experience from Mature to Old - especially for Older souls?
 
[MEntity]
The shift of economy for most Mature to Old is toward bartering. A resource-economy would have already been in place for this, as well as a sense of support for any individual's sense of Contribution.
 
Contribution then feeds into Experiences. Foods and goods are not as valuable as experiences.
 
Food and goods would tend to have become so freely shared that lack is a foreign concept, except in terms of experiences, and this is what would then be bartered, specifically in terms of how one might be instrumental in helping to aim for experiences.
 
[Maureen] Do you have an example for us?
 
[MEntity]
There are many examples of this via what is called the Internet.
 
A great amount of resources for expanding upon one's experiences is available there.
 
And often in terms of barter, which is not always specifically negotiated, but implicit.
 
 Simple participation in the web site generated by each of you as "TLE" is an example.
 
There are few, if any, conditions on what is exchanged, with benefit freely offered and received, with Experience as a great part of the aim.
 
That is a working example of something similar that might play out on a large scale.
 
[EricM] Bit of an overarching question, but Is this the first time humanity has ever experienced Mature as a predominant paradigm, or has it happened in the past (or alternatively, might it return to a predominantly young paradigm in the future)? I ask, as I'm trying to clarify how these shifts have happened (i.e. are they more linear or have they had cycles/starts and stops).
 
[MEntity] It is not the first time, and it will not be the last, and while there tends to be a fairly linear cycling on a global scale, they are built from sub-cycles with those that may or may not be linear or obviously connected.
 
[EricM] oh, and examples are appreciate as well 🙂
 
[MEntity]
Dominance of paradigm and Soul Age is entirely dependent upon those incarnated and participating in the world.
 
Every cycle of "recorded history" tends to be a set of sub-cycles that lead up to a global manifestation of the average Soul Age of the entire Design.
 
Most of what is currently understood as recorded history only maps the return to an emphasis on Infant and Baby, and then a shift into Young.
 
We must conclude here for today, as Troy's time has come to a close in his environment.
 
Good day to each of you.

Ask Michael Open Floor Chat
August 3, 2014
Channel: Troy Tolley
 
[Ty] I've been interested in the not-so-commonly held Historicist interpretation of the Book of Revelation lately: Could Michael comment on their perspective of what exactly is the deal with that piece of writing? (like what it means, etc)
 
[MEntity]
To examine this writing, particularly in terms of its reinterpretations of reinterpretations, would be quite a task, as there are such personal and nuanced symbolism within it that builds upon itself within particular contexts set. For example, if one were to explore the meaning of a dream where one sees a red wand that is suspended by light while swimming in a lake, one would have several elements here to explore before fully comprehending the symbolic language in its parts and as a whole as a message.
 
So for simplistic purposes, we will say that, overall, the writing is a personal account of this individual's sense of his world ending, or transforming. It is not prophetic, and was never meant to be prophetic.
 
It was never meant to refer to the world beyond his known world.
 
[Ty] So things that appear to match up quite well historically would be coincidence?
 
[MEntity]
To apply this individual's dreams to relevance in time beyond himself is about as useful as reading any one of our student's dream journals in your community as a means to gain insight into your own life.
 
Historically, there may be significance, but not beyond his own time.
 
Depending on the version one is reading, the altering of words to retrofit more recent history (relatively speaking) can be fairly high.
 
It is natural for imagination to find patterns, and then this must be navigated with intelligence to sort through which are valid. For example, there are many who feel that there is significance to a particular time seen on a digital clock when that is rarely the case. It simply happens that it is a pattern that you can extract from your experiences.
 
Some patterns are ignored because there is intelligence involved. For example, going in and out of your front door of your home is not a startling event of significance, even though it is far more likely a pattern of significance and consistency than a digital clock read out.
 
nd though a digital clock read out will never amount to more than an amusing synchronicity, many will impose mysterious significance upon it.
 
[Ty] Sounds like you're talking about Angel Numbers
 
[GeraldineB] 11:11
 
[MEntity] We use these more accessible examples as a means to point to the same process being used when interpreting writing, dreams, and records from the past as seen as prophecy.
 
[Ty] Some of the writing claim in themselves to be prophecies, such as he book of Daniel from the OT
 
[MEntity]
We once described a "future" to our students as including homes that were partly triangular shape, connected by strands of light that were used for instant travel. This was met with oohs and ahhhs until we pointed out that we were describing the roofs of homes currently on the block, connected by cables of electricity and television and internet, which allowed for instant "travel."
 
Our point being that our description of the present in more poetic terms could be interpreted outside of time and in any number of ways. This is how some historic writing is in nature, as well.

[GeraldineB] I'd like to ask for followup information about how wide-spread Transcendental Souls are spread out through out society. You've alluded to it previously as many are unknown people outside of their local area. Recently, you said that several comedians were TSs -- is this in the full sense of being O6s or in a particular way they are functioning?
 
[MEntity]
We do not think we referred to these fragments as Transcendental Souls, but as teachers/channels for Entities.
 
These are distinctly different contexts.
 
[GeraldineB] ooh ok -- I thought the term TS was used --
 
[GeraldineB] then, please explain what you did mean
 
[MEntity] For example, Troy is not a Transcendental Soul, he is a channel for us. Troy is not of our Entity, and therefore will never be a Transcendental Soul representing us. For us to be a Transcendental Soul, a fragment from our own Entity must incarnate. A Transcendental Soul is born, not channeled, though the fragment born does act as a channel for his or her Entity.
 
[GeraldineB] oooooh
 
[GeraldineB] But, you are cycled off
 
[MEntity]
Many comedians, healers, dancers, artists, etc are teachers/or channels for Entities with a teaching, just like us.
 
Different Entities teach in different ways through different Centers. Our Teaching is Intellectually based, while including the Emotional and Moving. More Movement-based teachings require channels who move, use the body more, and/or have more direct access to students, such as dancers and healers.
 
And so on.
 
All True Teachings include all Centers, but are based in different ways. We do not provide healing energy, nor do we inspire through a pirouette, but we still heal and inspire.
 
[Maureen] Which center did Seth teach through?
 
[MEntity]
Intellectual, of course.
 
If the teaching is vocal, it is Intellectual.
 
All Entities as they pass through the Causal will teach the Physical Plane in some way, so there must be a multitude of channels and methods of teaching.
 
The variation of Parallels allows for all Entities to have sets of parallels that are focused on their collection of students. Within that set, there will be at least one parallel where the incarnation as Transcendental Soul is fulfilled.
 
As for the state of Transcendental Souls on the planet, there are very few in this parallel.

[Kurtis]
Hi Michael, in the OMW section of this site I found some nifty information on how Aggression and Power Modes evolve intimacy.
 
"...Aggression is an exalted action Overleaf. Aggression evolves intimacy by way of constant change, movement, activity, progress. One must be able to "keep up." Intimacy is nearly impossible with someone who might wish to slow you down, tame you, or fault you for constant change of focus and directions."
 
"...Power Mode is about Being Present. It is an Expressive Overleaf, not an action, so it will be about making your presence known in some way. It is about owning your presence, being comfortable in your skin, "being yourself." In other words, how you might evolve intimacy is in how much of "you" can be present, be permitted, allowed, without shame, silencing, etc."
 
I was wondering if you could provide the same info for how the other modes evolve intimacy like those examples.
 
Particularly Observation, Passion and Reserve, as most students here are or slide to those modes.
 
I don't want to take too much time off of others questions so if all other 5 can't be fit in, just cut some off of course and I can ask for them another time.
 
[MEntity]
For Observation Mode, it is a matter of truly seeing and being seen. The key, however, is that it is not a static state. It is an evolving, shifting, and adaptive state of seeing and being seen. Intimacy for Observation Mode is killed if someone locks him or her in one version of himself or herself. If the one in Observation does not allow for the variations and facets of others, but locks them into one preference or expectation, this begins to repel the other.
 
For Passion Mode, intimacy is evolved through each being extensions of the other. This can show up in a range between co-dependency and co-creation. Co-dependency expects the other to represent himself or herself. Behaving in ways that are outside of the range of Passion's own behavior can be startling and divisive. This can still lead to intimacy, depending upon the relationship, because some are drawn to Passion precisely for that context of personal transformation. If this is not an understood dynamic, it can be messy.
 
This is usually the case when Passion is used or sought for teaching.
 
Co-creation is a dynamic of inspiration that feeds from one another as Passion learns about the self through other. This is more appealing, as both are learning then.
 
Both are teachers.
 
Reserve evolves in intimacy through layers of reveal. It must be experienced and processed as layers, not as a dive into a deep pool, but as a cool or warm sip at a time.
 
As you can see, the reason Observation cannot be static is because it can slide to any of these, and each of these are valid paths of intimacy.
 
We can elaborate upon all of these as a topic of focus, if that is requested.
 
[ViP1] Why is it necessary for an Entity to reunite before cycling off the Astral plane to the Causal plane, as compared to fragments being able to reside on, or move to, the Causal plane without that happening first? (Or even before that, if I remember correctly, possibly by the 6th level of the Astral?) Is the sheer amount of input on the Causal plane too much for a single fragment to process without the bonding and resonance with the rest of the Entity in place?
 
[MEntity]
There could be two valid responses to that question. One is that your latter suggestion is true. To move through the Causal as a fragment would "destroy" the fragment. The density of the Plane is such that the physics would disintegrate the fragment. There may be more accurate words to describe this, but it is fair enough in terms of understanding it here. We can only speculate on this, of course, as no individual fragment has resided in the Causal.
 
In much the same way that your Physical Body could not be sustained in the Astral, neither can the Astral Body be sustained in the Causal. At least, not in the way it was used in the Astral.
 
[ViP1] ok (I thought individual fragments also had Causal bodies, but perhaps these are built such that they must "hook in" to the Causal body of the Entity as a whole?)
 
[MEntity]
Your response here leads to our second answer.
 
The reason one is referred to as a fragment is because one is already a part of a whole. That whole already exists, and as one moves beyond the denser planes, that fragmentation is naturally left behind, even if the "individual" is not.
 
Your "Causal" Bodies ARE your Entity.
 
It is a field shared across all fragments of that Entity.
 
As a Physical Incarnation, this may be more nuanced in its relevance to the fragment, but it is still connected across all fragments.
 
Imagine an ice cube tray that could produce 1000 cubes. Your Entity is a perpetually replenished pitcher of water poured into that tray, divided into cubes. When frozen, that is like an incarnation. When thawed, that is like the Astral. When poured back into the pitcher, it is the Causal.
 
So it is not so much that the fragment would be "destroyed" as an individual in the Causal, but that the very nature of progression to the Causal, naturally, requires a different state.
 
As an ice cube, "you" are destroyed. But everything that made up that ice cube is never lost.
 
[ViP1] and all ice cube shapes are stored in the Akashic
 
[MEntity]
We realize these are crude analogies, but they work.
 
To include how the Akashic fits into this, we would have to move to a different analogy or metaphor, as it is not a Plane in which anyone resides, but is only accessed.
 
It is more like the center of a vortex that exists because of what is spinning around it. A donut hole, if you will.
 
[ROYCEonROIDS] Art as I know it at its best is a reflection of the mysterious, the wonder, the beyond words. As the world begins to approach an old soul paradigm in a few hundred year or so...how would art change. would it still be necessary in the ways we know it? as more PEOPLE become the reflection of that WONDER that art encapsulated, what place will ART have in that world?
 
[MEntity]
Though this varies among Old Soul worlds, Art escalates in range and importance among all of them. It is often no longer confined to a specific range of media or obvious creativity, but comes to include the entire life of an individual, how he or she creates his or her day, etc. This is already being glanced at in your current paradigm, though colored heavily by Young Soul filters.
 
"Reality TV" is, at its heart, a glimpse of Old Soul Art.
 
Becoming a celebrity only because one has become a celebrity is also a distorted form of Old Soul Art.
 
These things may be repulsive to older souls as they are being presented now, but these hint at an undercurrent of acknowledgement of the LIFE as ART.
 
In many Old Soul worlds, Art is entirely experiential and temporal. Exhibitions are sunsets that can never been seen again, or gatherings where spontaneous suggestions are matched up with random individuals who must then perform, create, or do the suggestion, even if it is well outside of their talents.
 
This leads to great rounds of humor and levity that is often at the core of Old Soul arts.
 
Interactivity is highly important to the Old Soul world of art, as well. For example, one installation we know of is something like a steep hill of xylophone-like panels that are carefully arranged in ways that an individual could dance down this hill in any number of ways to create his or her song of spontaneity.
 
Collaborative art is highly important to the Old Soul world of art, as well. In many probabilities, holographic-like galleries are "online" for contributors to create projects that can be altered by anyone from anywhere. No walk through that gallery is met with the same version of the art.
 
Interactivity, Collaboration, Temporal/Amorphous, and spontaneous are key traits for Old Soul arts, though we caution against presuming these traits are definitive. There is more we can say to this subject.

[Maureen]
I just realized that my question may tie in (indirectly) with Royce's question.
 
"The "rise of the selfie" is pretty well accepted now as a big part of our culture, but I can see the “darker side” of it representing a self absorption and self-indulgence that seems "boundless" some days, especially on facebook where some choose very little actual dialogue and over-posting is like an epidemic. It's a one way blast of "me-ness"."
 
Do you see that so much “self-interest” is related to
1) incomplete 4th Internal Monads,
2) the average Soul Age being Mature (including manifested Soul Age as well),
3) narcissism,
4) pure, unfettered self expression, or
5) all of the above,
6) something else?
Any comment on this would be appreciated as I would really like to understand this phenomenon.
 
[MEntity]
At no other time in your history has there been such a shared space of celebration of the self. This is a transitional state between Young and Mature. It is beautiful to us. There was a time when it was sinful, shameful, and even evil to look in a mirror, as well as dangerous to be photographed. There was a time when disowning the self in disgust was Holy. Now you are in a time when the mundane is being celebrated. The self is being allowed to be seen, not just in terms of how others see that self, but in terms of how that self wishes to be seen.
 
Yes, there is a clamoring of noise in this celebration, but that is the nature of celebration.
 
You are in a time of liberation, which often comes before freedom. True Freedom. Liberation is the relief that comes with surges of noise while still anchored in some restrictions or extremes, often with great displays for the external world, while True Freedom is owned, experienced, and known, often in quiet, internal ways.
 
It is beautiful to us because it is a step in the direction of acknowledging that you are important, that the mundane is important, that a moment is important, that context exists beyond preordained contexts.
 
Our Species has long been subject to the notion that only the next world is important, or that *things* are important, or that only that which is deemed important is important, and those things are important, but not at the expense of the singular joy in sharing, of expressing, of being, of capturing a moment of mundanity.
 
The species knows that privacy is a concept of the Young Paradigm, and that a Mature and Old Paradigm must embrace a lack of privacy in a healthy way for evolution to continue.
 
Willingly offering up yourself in the most mundane of ways may seem to be a bumbling or chaotic, self-absorbed step, but it is a step in the direction of evolution. If the emphasis were to remain only on privacy and protection, then true invasion is much more likely. But in the same way that hackers teach systems better how to manage its delicate systems, so does constant exposure help the species to learn better how to manage its delicate identities.
 
[Maureen] If Liberation is the "negative" pole and Freedom is the "positive" pole -- what are they the poles of?
 
[MEntity]
Among your options for describing the motivations of those contributing to the visual cacophony of "selfies" and other related sharing, we can say that "all of the above" would naturally be included because those motivations are reflective of the various fragments and Personalities among you.
 
In response to the last question, it could be said to be the poles at either end of whatever was being oppressed: innocence, power, sexuality, etc.
 
[Maureen] Thanks Michael. That was an interesting answer.
 
[MEntity]
When any of these oppressed states are liberated, there is "noise" that then moves into a more peaceful state.
 
We will conclude here for today.
 
Good day to each of you. Goodbye, for now.

Michael Speaks

071110

Current Events and Reality

MEntity:
Hello to each of you. We are here.

We will first speak to the question of "current events" as they may be relevant to fragments who are not directly involved, often aware of such events only through public media. Some media/current events stand out strongly to you, and some are missed completely, while others may come to your attention to generate no strong sense at all beyond a prompt for consideration. 

What we have to say today in response to this subject could go under a general subject heading that might be called "how reality works," as reality is quite subjective, quite relative, and rarely without interpretation. There IS a "reality" that is independent from your observations and interpretations, but it is rare that any experience of reality is completely free from the personal filters that "create reality" from those experiences. 

When we speak of "parallel realities," we often speak in terms that are scientific and related to quantum physics, but there are times that we speak of "parallel realities" in the sense that one group's or one person's reality is quite different from another group's or another person's, yet all exist intermingling within the same space. This is often the case among groups or among people who are, each, invested in a conclusive interpretation of reality that is not truly open to any other interpretation. In that regard, one can be acquainted with someone who is almost literally "from another reality." 

The older the soul becomes, the more inclusive and flexible the interpretive sphere of reality becomes. However, that flexibility of reality can become a rather ironic, painful, and isolating experience for those who do not "create a reality" with anyone, but allows room for the reality of many others' interpretations. This can begin to feel as if one is living behind a one-way mirror, always seeing others’ realities, but no one ever truly seeing one’s own. It begins to feel as if you are never truly seen, but merely a prop or reflection within the reality of someone else. That is simply the nature of reality, so to speak, for the older soul as a minority among younger soul ages. In that respect, it is near-vital for the older soul to find other older souls with whom reality can be shared, not so much for the validation of one's reality, but for the value of experience in being SEEN, HEARD, TOUCHED, etc. 

Fragments are drawn to each other to share reality either for the sake of Recruitment, or for the sake of Intimacy. It could be said then that, in this context, Recruitment is the Negative Pole of Resonance, while Intimacy is the Positive Pole. And to this end, "current events" are filtered as a form of Recruitment or as a form of Intimacy, as well. Your news, media, politics, and "reality" in general around you either serves as Recruitment for securing your Conclusive Reality, or for generating Intimacy within your Potential Reality. 

Recruitment emphasizes quantity and numbers of others for securing what one has deemed "true," while Intimacy emphasizes quality and exchange for exploring what one has deemed possible. Recruitment proselytizes; Intimacy shares. Recruitment has no room for questions, exploration, challenge, or possibility, while Intimacy generates space for questions, exploration, challenges, and possibilities. 

Understanding this, one can begin to observe oneself in how one interprets the news: 

Do you gravitate toward news that anchors your prejudices about reality, or do you gravitate toward news that challenges your prejudices? Keep in mind that "bad news" does not mean that it is anchoring or recruiting; often one gravitates toward "bad news" precisely because it challenges the prejudices that reality should only provide "good news," be positive, and uplifting. The manifested older souls gravitate toward "bad news," or exasperating, depressing, upsetting news because it helps the older soul to sustain a sense of spectrum about the universe. The manifested older soul knows that reality is a spectrum, not a slice. This older soul has embraced his Mature nature and knows that life can be dramatic, ugly, dangerous, upsetting, and sad. 

The older soul that avoids "bad news" as a means to sustain a sense that reality is wondrous, beautiful, and full of possibility is a disconnected or fragmented old soul, nurturing a rather fragile reality that can often be shattered with a mere few words that contradict his or her strain to uphold a slice of reality. This older soul has crippled himself or herself. This is the monk who has determined that “city life” is violating, dangerous, and overwhelming because he has spent his years upholding a contrived version of the world in isolation on a mountaintop. This is the addict who requires a constant stream of false stimulation to keep up the good feeling that is lost without that stimulation. This is the new age student with good intentions who manipulates information, observations, and resources as a means to escape into, and sustain, a more fantastical version of the world.

The older soul who can accept that “bad news” and ugliness are only part of the spectrum, and that “good news” and beauty are only part of the spectrum, and that there is a lot of life in between that, is the older soul who has moved toward wholeness. To emphasize one extreme or the other is Recruitment. 

Keep in mind that any move to a Positive Pole is only done by "entering" through the Negative Pole, so that even as one moves toward Intimacy, it will require some amount of Recruitment. And that is why we do not see one Pole as being "better than" another in any part of our system, but more a description of a process, a spectrum, a circle, a sphere. For example, when one has felt the isolation inherent in being a minority Soul Age, it may take Recruitment to establish a common ground that can then lead to the expansion, questions, and exploration that is Intimacy. We clarify this move from negative to positive so that you do not presume that if you recognize Recruitment in your gravitation toward people or the news, that you are "bad," or doing something "wrong." You are simply nearer to that point in your progress and experience of Resonance. 

Recruitment often helps one to discover if there is a valid common ground at all. However, to remain in Recruitment as a foundation for your reality and relationships is to nurture delusion, fragility, and in some extreme cases a move into fundamentalism, and into psychological disturbances that include such diagnoses as sociopath and schizophrenic. 

To wrap up our initial responses to this subject, we will say that if the older soul finds he or she is more depressed, overwhelmed, and upset by what is reported by the media as news and current events, then that older soul would simply want to balance that out with an active interest in other news that portrays the more dominant news on the planet, which is "good" or "neutral." 

As we respond to your specific questions, we may be able to help elaborate upon how certain events trigger more responses within one’s self than other certain events. We will also seek to shed insight upon some of the current events that you may ask about that are perplexing, so that one can see how events can "mean" very different things within different contexts.

[Question] South Africa has, at least for my whole life, been a country in the midst of constant fear and political upheaval. As we are a country of people with such vastly different socio-economic, educational and cultural back grounds, it often feels like there will forever be strife, disharmony and fear. The 2010 World Cup has been a break from this though. In the last month we have experienced the most profound Inspiration, Joy, Unity and Patriotism. It was the first time in my memory I felt like we where unified, and there was hope for a more tranquil life. Even the crime stats were down during this period. Was this just a fleeting thing, or should this be seen as an example of what is possible? Or just a reminder of what we may never permanently achieve? I honestly wish that the whole world could have experienced this Group Consciousness. 

[MEntity] We would say that this example is one that exemplifies Recruitment over Intimacy. Keep in mind that Intimacy is only gained after Recruitment, but Recruitment is fragile, a distraction, and often short-lived or in need of great defense. For this event to move from Recruitment to Intimacy, it would require that the passion remain beyond the illusion of bonds generated by representation in a sports team. The demographic of South Africa is quite Moving Center-centric, if you will, so it is not surprising that one way toward Intimacy might be through the Physical symbolism of a sports game or team. In our perspective, this is fairly important to keep in mind because a Moving-Centered demographic can just as easily "bond" through war, genocide, and other physical plane tragedies that then act as reasons for unity. The fact that a sports event is preferred is something one might call a “good sign.” With that in mind, we can say that this Young Soul culture's sense of unity as generated from a game is indicative of a maturing population that would rather bond over playful competitiveness than over painful competitiveness; bond over games, instead of wars.

[Question] Is moving-centered common to a particular soul-aged culture?

[MEntity]
Centering tends to become a trend, but is never a static state. Centering can tend to become a genetic inclination, a cultural inclination, and a soul age inclination that has collective momentum, but is not static. Centering as related to a Soul Age, Genetics, Ethnicity, Culture, demographic, etc is quite dependent on what is happening in the world at the time. For instance, Young Souls TEND to prefer Moving Center AT THIS POINT, but have not always leaned in that direction. A more elaborate example: "Black" culture and genetics, in general (and relevant to South Africa) are inclined toward the Moving Center, AT THIS TIME, but have only moved toward that inclination since the late 1960s after a long period of time when Mature Souls with Emotional Centering chose that ethnicity, culture, and genetics for exploration. Once the Mature Souls with Emotional Centering moved into civil riots that paved the way for civil rights and freedom in The United States, this generated a new wave of interest from fragments who found the emphasis on the Moving Center for the bodies went well with this new territory of freedom for exploration, thus attracting a large numbers of Young Souls who now find this still-developing freedom to be exciting to burst through. 

When we say "genetics" in this case, by the way, we are speaking of trends that become associated with certain cultures, ethnicities, and skin colors, but are not specifically linked in any biologically-consistent way. Some Centering inclinations do eventually become genetically-linked, such as the emphasis of strength on Intellect often having to be drawn from a pool of genetics that include poor eyesight. This tendency can be seen in Eastern Asian cultures and genetics. 

[Question] What more can one "DO" in the world to help – i.e., an Older Soul in Observation - how do you make a difference?

[MEntity]
If your question is in relation to the potential presented by the unity over the sports game in South Africa, one can only do so much if one is not a part of that particular geography and culture. What one can "do" from afar is to remain educated about the politics and potential of that area, and then to find or create a means of communication and interaction with those who are involved in that area. This communication and interaction can then provide anything from a source of support to a source of inspiration to a source of tangible help. Beyond finding a way to actually be a part of the dynamic of that culture, however remotely, one can most often only choose to trust. 

In choosing to trust, one has given some amount of recognition to the Essences involved in certain troubled areas, allowing for those Essences to experience and learn whatever it is they seek to learn and experience. This response from us is not an encouragement for ignoring or dismissing the plight of a demographic that is “out of sight, out of mind,” but to help encourage a capacity to differentiate between when one can do something vs when one cannot. Trust is a form of Doing, so there is always something one can DO, but Trust is also a form of Being, and Having, so all fragments can participate in Trust.

Trusting a population over which you have no control, particularly when that population has no direct bearing on your daily life, is a form of Essence Recognition, and Essence Recognition is the only true form of evolution available to any fragment extant. 

Evolution of any one fragment is an evolution of your species' collective consciousness, and then this potential evolution becomes available to any population.

[Question] From what was said in the opening remarks, I can see how it might be difficult for the skeptic or cynic to see the "good news" of their reality, whereas it is more difficult for the idealist to see the "bad news" of their reality. Sliding from an idealist point of view, I've begun to slide towards cynicism when learning and analyzing the current events of the world, as well as seeing the directions that vectors of current events may lead in the coming decades, namely new wars, famines, and a great deal of hardship for many. I suppose it could be said just another century on Planet Earth.

[MEntity]
It is true that certain Attitudes may be inclined toward "good" over "bad" news, or vice versa, but this would only be true from the Negative Poles of the Attitude. 

Though done in different ways, from the Negative Poles the Exalted Attitudes will tend to deny the "bad news" of reality, whereas the Ordinal Attitudes will tend to deny the "good news" of reality. It is not that these ends of the spectrum of news or life are "difficult" for the Attitudes to see, but that it is easier not to see them. What we mean is that the Exalted Attitudes "enter" reality through negative poles that tend to emphasize a lack of details, hence things are more beautiful, naturally. The Ordinal Attitudes tend to "enter" reality through negative poles that emphasize details, hence things are a bit "uglier" or pixelated, if you will. Again, we remind you that for one to move to the Positive, one must enter through the Negative, so these inclinations are “natural.” This is why we say that is it "easier," not because it is difficult to move beyond the negative, but that it takes effort. It takes no effort to rest in a Negative Pole. The Negative Pole is the starting gate. For the Exalted Attitudes to become whole in perspective, they must often experience SHOCK to move beyond the Negative Pole. For the Ordinal Attitudes to become whole in perspective, they must often experience SURPRISE to move beyond the Negative Pole.

[Question] Somehow I get a feeling the world is in for a dose of both shock and surprise. How would you differentiate between the two, in this sense?

[MEntity] We realize those terms may sound similar, but they are not: Shock is like a wall that halts one's perspective, whereas Surprise is like an invitation to go beyond the wall. The Ordinal Attitudes are not easily Shocked, but are quite intrigued by Surprise. The Exalted Attitudes are not easily Surprised, but can destroy walls of isolating, insular, or delusional perspective when Shocked. 

[Question] and the Neutral Attitude of Pragmatism?

[MEntity] As usual, the Assimilative Attitude/Overleaf would tend toward whichever is more relevant to the experience. In other words, in the context of Relationships, a Pragmatist may require Shock, whereas in the context of Career, a Pragmatist may require Surprise. 

[QUESTION] How might we try to find peace and compassion with ourselves, our peers, and the world, rather than focusing on fear and despair, even when it feels like the world either is, or is about to, burn around us?

[MEntity] We will say that the key to wholeness for the older soul in terms of interpretation, perspective, and possibility is to always ask WHAT IS THE TRUTH. Speculation IS NOT the truth, on any Level. If it is NOT the truth, then fear, panic, defense are completely useless and unwarranted. So while one might speculate that the current events may indicate leading toward disastrous futures, it is important to realize that this is SPECULATION, and that your center of power is only Now, which is not just a concept, but a point in time and space that is precise. That precise point of Now allows one to emphasize making the choices, actions, and feelings that can help steer reality in directions one prefers. 

[Question] Isn't truth relative to the perspective of the person who sees something as their truth? In which case, searching for truth is like searching for a moving and constantly changing target?

[MEntity]
That is why we said that speculation is never the truth on any level. Speculation is Speculation. Reality and truth are what you choose for it to be. However, what is true for you must be explored in terms of what is valid personally, globally, and/or universally for it to be a whole truth. For instance: it may be a Personal Truth that you are concerned about the future of the planet based on what you see occurring around you. The TRUTH is that you are concerned, the rest is interpretation; speculation. The future of the planet is not involved in any way beyond the speculations that prompt your concerns. The future of the planet as you see it is still only one of billions of possibilities. So what one can do in that situation is to ask:

A) am I using the news as a means of Recruitment? In other words, am I only emphasizing certain things in life that confirm what I've already decided is true? 

B) How can I use this concern to effectively address that which I am concerned about? 

It is true that "reality and truth are what you choose for it to be," but as older souls, it becomes important to validate those truths against the reality and truths that are independent from your preferences, interpretations, and prejudices. So while you may feel it is true that the world is headed toward demise, it would be helpful to explore all of the educational materials that not only address the problems, but suggest solutions, so that your perspective is not a conclusion, but a piece of a process. Simply deciding what is true and real does not make it true or real to any significant degree beyond yourself. This is why people are drawn to either rest in the Recruitment reflected in news or through other people so as to sustain what has been decided as true and real, or they move beyond this into Intimacy so that they can expand beyond prejudices, preferences, and interpretations. 

"Reality" is only as "real" as one concludes/defends it, or explores/expands it.

AN EXPERIMENT: We can suggest to all of our students as an experiment on reality to play with the idea that you may be "wrong" about what you know is true. In other words, encourage yourselves to move beyond what you have concluded or found familiar, and stretch into the "what if's" of your world.

For instance, if you are dissatisfied with your work environment and have concluded that you are surrounded by Younger Souls who simply do not "get you," you can experiment with "what if" questions that seed changes in your experience of that reality. Such as "what if... I let it be okay that they do not get me?" "What if... it is I who does not get them?" "What if... I not let their interpretation of me decide my experience of my day?" 

Or if one is bombarded with news of the British Petroleum oil geyser that clearly implies a long-term consequence, and one puts into perspective the history of unconscious dependence on limited resources, instead of one allowing this to be the conclusion about reality, one instills alongside one's concerns the "what if" experiment: "What if... this event helps change everything for the better of the world in terms of resources and responsibilities?” "What if... this is only indicative of one business model and mistake?" "What if... necessity is the fuel of invention, and I trust that someone, somewhere, is on this with a solution that may shorten the impact of this event?" The reason we suggest this experiment is because you already do this, but most often in the direction of demise. "What if... this is the end of the world?"

All of you play the "what if..." experiment, but it is only when those "what if's" are interpreted as conclusive, or when they are limited to one end of the spectrum of possibilities that one has lost wholeness of perspective. Challenge your default "what if's" and see what happens. 

[INTERJECTION] To which degree should this be taken? I mean, I could declare the world to be a donut, but know it not to be true.

[MEntity]
If one wants to experiment with "what if... the world is a donut?" we would be curious as to what you found in your results.

Our point, in general, is that only what you currently experience, and what is currently happening around you, however you interpret it, is "the truth" on some level. Everything else is speculation and possibility.

[Question] So many people (including many Michael students) are talking about a shift coming for “2012” with “big changes”. Every news event is another "portent". This seems to me to be antithetical to the very idea “all is choice” – what would be served by a massive, instant jump in “awareness” or consciousness level or whatever. Wouldn’t this kind of thing take away the opportunity for younger souls to work through their growth naturally. It seems like magical thinking to me, that somehow the planet will leap up to be more in tune with older souls. Is that the attraction to the idea?

[MEntity]
Every Soul Age has its own ideas about any "leap forward" in consciousness, if that concept is even on the radar for them. That the world would leap forward into sync with older souls might be an attraction to older souls, but certainly not to younger souls. 2012 as a period of accelerated shift is appealing to Old Souls for various reasons, but mostly as a means to fulfill a longing for Resonance with the whole of the world in a way that has been impossible for all of that Soul Age. You are a minority, and however fulfilling it is for each of you to find one another, to bond here, to know that others exist like you, it is naturally painful to also know that you are so "not like" anyone else in so many ways. 

The irony in this longing for Resonance that is prompting many older souls to find the 2012 projections appealing, is that the Old Soul feels this way, even when surrounded by the most like-minded and intimate of souls. This feeling is simply part of the process of Essence evolving beyond the Physical Plane. As the profundity of realization by Essence that it is part of an Entity, the profundity of isolation that a Personality can feel becomes awesome and terrifying. 

It might be thought that as one grows older in soul age that the profundity of death and evolution becomes embraced, but it is often quite the opposite. It becomes terrifying for the first time in a way that is indicative of true comprehension by the current Personality that it is one of many, and finite. Once that terror is processed, Cycling Off is fairly close in reincarnational terms. The Old Soul that has truly processed this terror is neither flippant about death, nor dismissive, but deeply compassionate about its spectrum of impact. 

We elaborate upon this because it helps to put into perspective that it is not your minority status of Soul Age that lends you a sense of isolation or lack of feeling intimate with your world; it is only you who does that, and even in the most accommodating of cultures and worlds, you can feel this way. This elaboration can also help lend insight into why the Old Soul might find it appealing to focus on some fantastical portal or scheduled shift that promises that the world might "catch up" to their perspective, or lend relief to their isolation and private misery. 

When the Old Soul realizes that no world shift, acceleration of consciousness, or global ascension will relieve him or her from the responsibility for his own presence, perspective, and power, then he or she is once again free. This Old Soul would be free from overwhelming emphasis on isolation, loneliness, and terror, and move to simply allow those experiences as a part of the spectrum of life. 

That being said, shift does happen, but it is almost always long-term, gradual, propagated, and not sudden, obvious, scheduled, or imposed.

When a group "shift" of consciousness is sudden, it is almost always short-term and specific to a group of souls who intend to exit that lifetime shortly after that shift. For instance, much of Cadre 9 "shifted" at once in various soul ages/levels during the event known as "9/11." 

We are fairly certain that some groups will impose various make-shift "shifts" upon others within December of 2012 in some way, and many will use those fabricated shifts as points that prompt personal acceleration, be it material, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, but we know of nothing "magical" on the horizon beyond the sheer magic that is already life. 

The loss of a job, a car crash, a terminal illness, a fulfilling relationship, a leap in career, and even a good mood can be one's "2012" or shift that accelerates one into new perspectives and levels of consciousness, but these cannot, and are not, scheduled on any global or cosmic calendar.

[Question] At the risk of getting a causal plane ruler slap to the Earth knuckles, here goes: I get the feeling like there is some major event pending for the early November 2010 time frame. Would Michael care to comment on what has the largest probability, perhaps geopolitical wise, and how that would affect us around that time frame?

[MEntity] The most-significant probability that we can see for that period of time would be the likely death of a rather prominent political figure. That is not a prediction, but merely a response that describes a higher probability based on current patterns.

[Question] from the US or otherwise?

[MEntity] Yes, a United States politician, or at least involving one prominently. In other words, if the leader of North Korea were to die, it might be that a prominent United States politician is presumed directly involved.

[Question] natural or unnatural?

[MEntity] Natural or Unnatural are not details within the probabilities available to us at this time.

[Question] Current potential outcome of the gulf disaster, given what we know at this stage?

[MEntity]
The highest probabilities we can see for that situation are that it acts as a catalyst for implementing alternative energy resources in one vein; is a reworking of laws for corporations in another vein; and a prompting for key members of the next generation to "never let this happen again." All of these “veins” appear to have high potential for combining ideals that are a part of the Vector toward a Resource-based Economy/World, while accommodating/bridging from the outdated ideas of a Debt-based Economy/World.

In terms of planetary impact, it is rather minor, though that is in a grand context and is not stated to minimize the painful or direct impact it has on those currently affected. We simply state that the world will move on, adapt, and eventually find this to be another blunder in history.

[Question] given that it was an accident (or was it), how do you "never let it happen again"?

[MEntity]
It does appear to have been an “accident”, and how a generation might "never let it happen again" would include moving beyond resources that would ever generate this kind of "accident."

The greatest solution we can see as taking priority in the probabilities ahead that would keep the world moving toward a Resource-based Economy would be the combination of all ideas for alternative or complementary power sources that are marketable and currently viable, allowing for individuals, households, and complexes to choose from wind, water, and solar. There is not a single alternative that stands as the solution, but the combination and appropriate implementation of one or more alternatives, relative to geographic compatibilities.

We must conclude here. Our channel is done. Goodbye.

Michael Speaks

011010

TOPIC CHAT (new format)

Self-Karma
 
MEntity:
Despite the complexities that can be involved in Self-Karma, the actual concept, exploration, and resolution are quite simple. That is not to say that the process is "easy," but that describing these elements is fairly simple.

First, we will define Karma as "any form of intensity (imbalance) as a result of interference to your capacity for Choice." Interference of Choice is not the only criteria for generating Karma. There must be an intensity, or imbalance, generated from at least one party, and most-often the party who suffered the loss of Choice.

The sudden increase for capacity of Choice is also a form of Karma, if intensity is generated. We describe this as Philanthropic Karma, and this form of Karma "feels good," but it is Karma, nonetheless, as it interfered with Choice and generated intensity.

When Karma is generated, "Ribbons" are formed as a means to track those intensities. Those Ribbons connect among the Instinctive Centers of all who are involved. It might be more accurate to describe these as "tuned frequencies" that do not lose track of the members of that frequency, but we feel that "ribbons" is easier to image.

The resolution of Karma is in the "burning" of the "ribbon," or neutralizing that frequency.

The burning of ribbons is always done through role reversal, either with the parties from each side reversing positions, or from the party who generated the karma reversing his or her own actions that generated the Karma.

A simplified example of each might be: Reversing Positions = you kill someone, that someone kills you. Reversing Actions = you kill someone, you then save that someone in a later life.

We realize that we have been sharing the details about our perception of Karma, but this is helpful in understanding your Self-Karma because much of the same dynamic applies.

We will define Self-Karma as being "a dual position within that interferes with your own capacity for Choice, and generates intensity, or imbalance." Often these are also described as "Issues."

ALL Self-Karma is contained within a single lifetime and does not carry over in the same way that Ribbons do among fragments. Self-Karma is generated by the Personality within the lifetime. However, Self-Karma can show up as patterns for an Essence, because Essence designs each Personality, and often the patterns of exploration sought by Essence generates similar opportunities across lifetimes for each Personality that tends toward certain Self-Karmic issues. If a Personality resolves his or her Self-Karma within a lifetime, that Self-Karma is usually not repeated, because Essence then has a completed set of new data from which to use for creating a lifetime. Since Essence learns through Personality, it can only progress beyond certain Self-Karmic patterns when a Personality finally figures out how to resolve the issue. That is not to say that a pattern does not repeat, but that it is rarely repeated. When we say that it is not repeated, we are speaking about a specific Self-Karma, but that issue may be a part of a larger category of Self-Karma, which we will explain in a moment.

If you are alive, you most-likely have Self-Karma. Self-Karma is so common a development among Personalities that even the hosts for the Transcendental and Infinite Souls carried Self-Karma. However, in the cases of Transcendental and Infinite Soul hosts, the Self-Karma is always resolved within the lifetime.

Self-Karma is generated in four categories of your life, which mirror the Axes of our Overleaf System. It would be more accurate to say that Self-Karma is generated in one or more of your four "bodies" that mirror the Axes of our Overleaf System: your Intellectual, Emotional, Physical, and Spiritual/Instinctive Bodies. These categories can help you to identify your Self-Karma by where, how, and when you find yourself divided in a way that interferes with your capacity for Choice.

Self-Karma is often paralyzing in its effects. When we say "paralyzing," we include those uncontrollable compulsions that force a choice even when you "know" is not a choice you would prefer to make. We include non-choice, refusal to choose, or the fear to choose, as a means to suspend yourself between two or more choices, as forms of paralyzing.

What we will share now is a simple exercise for identifying your Self-Karma in a way that allows for tangibility so that resolution can be made, if you choose to pursue such an endeavor.

Draw up a chart in a way that creates the four categories, or bodies: Intellectual, Emotional, Physical, and Spiritual.

With merely a glance at your life, considering each category, it might be fairly easy to identify at least one Self-Karma from each category.

You could translate each category into a way to help your examination, such as: Expression, Inspirational, Action, and Assimilliation areas of your life. Assimilation might be better understood as your "Learning" or "Comprehension," or the "Lessons" are of life.

Another translation: my world view; my relationships; my body; my spirit.

Questions to pose for each category, regardless of how one translates that category might sound something like:
"What do I get the most upset about in this category?"
Or "In this category, what experience repeats for me that keeps me from making the choices I want to make?"
Or "In this category, where do I wish something else would change before I can make a choice that I prefer?"
Or "In this category, to what do I tend to overreact?"
Or "In this category, what triggers reaction in me?"
Or "What frustrates me the most about myself, others, life in this category?"

At first, your examination may bring up broad categories, and that is a good place to start, but you would eventually want to narrow it down to specific triggers or situations. For instance, you may feel that issues of INJUSTICE is a large context that carries triggers for you, but upon closer inspection, you may find that you are really only triggered when someone does not comply to your way of thinking, or agree with you, or celebrate your passionate stance with the same passion. This might indicate that your issues are not so much about Injustice, but about "Being Right" or "Being Superior."

Once one has identified a Self-Karma, then the work of resolution can begin. Resolution is found when there is no longer a sense of division, and your choice is completely owned by you. We will give a very simple example:

A fragment identifies that she has "issues" with her body image, detailing that she feels ugly because she does not lose weight, but does not do the work of losing that weight. This would fall under BODY, or Physical. The broader category would be "Body Image," but she might find she is triggered in instances where she is going to be social or intimate.

Her Self-Karma then might be the division within that says she is beautiful just as she is, as long as no one sees her. Being "Beautiful As I Am" means to her to never having that concept challenged, so she remains isolated and secluded to sustain that version of herself. Being "As Beautiful as Others Prefer" would mean shaping the body into a new form, which means exercise, diet, and patience, but this is in conflict with "Beautiful As I Am," and to follow through in that direction might mean she really is not beautiful as she is, so reprimanding, self-punishment, self-hate, repulsion replace diet, exercise, and patience. She remains at home, or secretly isolated internally, even when in social situations.

The resolution would come only when she MAKES THE CHOICE in one direction or the other, and allows herself to own that choice. If she chooses to "Be Beautiful As I Am" then it would require the work of self-acceptance, self-kindness, accentuating all that is felt to be beautiful, internally and externally, and to build upon that. She would celebrate the beautiful in those people and things that she knows as beautiful beyond any standard in entertainment or social media. She would allow for all forms of beauty, knowing that this is a subjective matter, and never something that can be standardized.

If she chooses to "Be as Beautiful as Others Prefer," then she would own the steps necessary to go down that path, and begin a commitment to exercise, diet, patience, and a reality-check that she cannot transform her body to be exactly as someone else's, but that she can make it the best it can be. She would embrace the fact that she may not please everyone, but focus on moving her body into a state that is pleasing to herself. She is simply taking care of herself.

In short: the Self-Karma is a division that could be described as "Accept my self as I am/Improve upon my self-image." The resolution is to choose one of those and to own all that goes along with that choice.

The irony is that in the commitment to one or the other, BOTH are ultimately included; hence the resolution. Neither side of the division is left behind.

Accepting yourself as you are automatically includes an upgrade to your self image. Improving upon your self-image automatically brings a kindness to the process that is an acceptance for who you are all along the way of your improvement. Improving yourself in your own eyes automatically improves your representation of yourself to others, thus improving yourself in their eyes, as well. Improving yourself in a way that others may find appealing often leads to clarity about what must be improved in your own eyes.

When choosing a direction for commitment to resolution, it is often more beneficial and efficient to choose the direction over which you have the most control. For instance, taking the route of "Accept Myself As I Am" is far more within the control of that person than if she were to entirely depend upon the external factors for gauging her progress. Both paths could work, but this is why many teachings encourage one to start with the self, since that is where one has the most control, and is almost always guaranteed success. Choosing to go in a direction of lesser control that requires others to comply to your ideal is still a valid path, but a more complicated and challenging path, with less-likely successes.

The more time and care given to your examination of your Self-Karma, the more quickly and easily the resolution might come because the solutions are often within the issue, itself.
 
**************Q&A***************
Are there different gemstones with their frequencies that might be utilized to help neutralize the energies of these four self-karma categories?
 
MEntity:
If it is understood that these gemstones are merely a supportive energy, and not an energy that actually does the work for you, then there are stones that might help some fragments receptive to that energy. To understand how these work, it might be helpful to think of each gemstone as being a light of specific color, and when that light is shined into your space, it can highlight certain things. It is not that the stone is actually "doing" anything other than being itself. A flashlight in the dark is not magic, but it can certainly improve one's capacity for seeing. And so it is with such tools as gemstones.

With that being understood, the most common stones available for helping support in the process of Self-Karma might be:

Rose Quartz or Pyrite for Physical/Body Issues
Amethyst Quartz or Citronite for World View/Intellectual/Expression issues
Tourmaline or Jades for various Learning/Comprehension/Instinctive Issues
Tiger's Eye or Azurites for Emotional/Relationship Issues

These stones may help to highlight the areas prone to opportunities for resolution, but they will not resolve the issues for you, or soothe them.

There is validity to frequencies generated from inanimate objects, especially from those directly of the planet, but as with any tool, it is what you do with them that makes the difference, not necessarily the properties of that object. A hammer is just a hammer until one picks it up to use with intent, and that intent can have a multitude of outcomes.

How do you deal with cases where manifesting is involved and appears to interfere with the resolution? For example: If the woman above decides to get in shape, but then injures herself or gets into a car accident that hurts her back. How to avoid or get past that? I see it a lot.

MEntity:
The Self-Karma would remain, as well as the resolution, regardless of circumstances along the way. To make this clearer, we will use an example of a man who has lost his legs who feels he is worthless without being able to walk. The Self-Karma is not in whether he can walk, or not, but in how he experiences whether he can walk, or not. If he is divided to such an extent that it paralyzes his capacity for choice, then he has generated Self-Karma. If he embraces his experience, or if he commits to rising above it, then the Self-Karma is resolved.

For the woman who has hurt her back after committing to improving the health of her body, she can still commit to the improvement of her health and body.

When a commitment in one direction of resolution comes with great obstacles, or surprise obstacles, or challenges, the commitment itself must inherently make room for all of the possibilities of that path, or it is not a commitment.

Is there a way of avoiding or lessening the chances of that happening in the first place? It seems to me that it happens when someone forces themselves towards one choice without being ready?

You are correct that "forcing a choice" is still included in Self-Karma, as we described it as a compulsion. And that is a good point for differentiation:

Resolution comes from EMBRACING YOUR CHOICE, not FORCING your choice. Forcing a choice leads to complications that compound the Self-Karma. Embracing a choice means absolute permission to explore that choice on your own terms at your own pace, and with an invitation to Essence, your friends, your loved ones for support in that choice.

Forcing a choice is usually marked by intensity and often secrecy.

Embracing a choice is usually marked by a gentleness and an openness without shame.

That is not to say that embracing a choice would avoid any surprises, but that embracing a choice inherently brings the strength of adaptability.

In addressing self-karma through another channel once, you told me to consider my greatest concern in life and I'll be on my way to identifying my self-karma... then you asked me "how satisfied are you with your response to friendship". Would you elaborate a little more on the why of that particular question and how it relates to my self-karma?

MEntity: For examination on a broader level, we would ask about the "greatest concern in life," and this would allow one to find his or her most pressing issue/s. Following this with a question about relationships would help to identify a category. That question would have been asked if we suspected it may be helpful to look into your Emotional or Relationship Category for refinement of that exploration.

Thank you, good evening! Could you please give an example of, and resolution to, a spiritual self karma? Would perfectionism be a spiritual self karma?

MEntity:
A broad example of a Spiritual/Instinctive Self-Karma might be those issues associated with Guilt and Shame. A specific Spiritual Self-Karma within Guilt or Shame might be in the experience of being an Old Soul among family members who are Baby and Young, and having to deal with this in a way that does not leave you feeling divided between "being yourself" and "compromising just to keep the peace." In that case, the choice would be between "being yourself" and letting others deal with that, or "Compromising to keep the peace" as a means of dealing with it on your own. The resolution would be in the fact that regardless of which choice you make, you are ALWAYS "yourself," and no context changes that, regardless of the facet you choose to bring forth appropriately or strategically.

In an example you gave, - which is EXACTLY me, lol, and started with back injuries, are both options you gave equally valid for truly resolving the issue? Using that example, what happens if you improve yourself and then later on you end up backsliding or being injured, etc and are once again feeling overweight and unattractive? It seems like loving yourself as you are resolves the situation, whereas changing your body, while healthier physically, could be undone.

Self-Karmic resolution is immediate and permanent and not based upon conditions. If the motivations for improving upon the body as a path to resolution is conditional upon reaching some conclusive state that will only THEN be satisfied, then it is merely a perpetuation of the Self-Karma. If one were to choose to improve upon the body as a means for reaching a state considered "beautiful," it would have to include kindness, patience, and a devotion to the self in a way that naturally translates into "beautiful as you are along the way." The embrace of the commitment to improve upon the body as a means to reach a greater state of beauty would mean that you are merely at one point in that spectrum of beauty, rather than its needing a finish line to cross.

Another way to understand when one is in Resolution is when you know your choice is because you WANT to make that choice, not because you feel you HAVE to make that choice.

"I HAVE to make this choice if I want to be beautiful" is not a choice that resolves Self-Karma. "I HAVE to accept myself as I am in order to feel beautiful" is equally imprisoning. In this case, it would be helpful to understand that the ideal of beautiful cannot be reached without creating steps along the way that are seen as beautiful to you. Much like building a brick house, it must be completed brick by brick. It is never helpful to deny that it is a brick house simply because it is not to a point where you feel you can live in it. For instance, the simple decision to "try to like how I look today" is a beautiful decision. It may not stick, but for now, it is beautiful. The more "for now" moments of beauty you extract from your experiences will add to the materials that build your ideal structure of beauty. The decision not to eat a certain way for the day because you feel this contributes to your better health is a beautiful decision, even if you do not choose that the next day. For now, it is beautiful.

Those simple moments build into a matrix that helps to generate moments that are far more pivotal toward resolution.

So you often surround yourself with 'conditions' when you are experiencing self-karma?

MEntity:
Oh yes. Depending on the extent and depth of the Self-Karma, the more conditional your existence. "I can be beautiful as I am, as long as I am invisible." Those "conditions" generate a false reality, and that is what gets exhausting, not the actual process of resolution. Sustaining a false reality as a means to balance the divisions within is literally exhausting. All Self-Karma can be resolved in an instant once the truth of the absolute superficiality and uselessness is comprehended.

ALL Self-Karma are simply forms of self-discipline that have gone awry in the self-parenting process. Or put another way, generated during the Third Internal Monad.

Is the majority of self-karma generated during or through the 3rd IM or are their other times/experiences that generate a certain amount of self-karma as well?

MEntity: Self-Karma is almost entirely generated during the Third Internal Monad, and complicated or refined over the rest of the life. For instance: there may be the experience of being rejected based on appearance, which prompts one to be very concerned about appearance, which then becomes a divide within that acceptance is based heavily upon appearance, which then becomes specific to certain body parts, or spreads to include the entire body.

So it might be useful looking at the experiences surrounding the 3rd IM in order to help identify some of the behaviours that are self-karmic? Find their genesis, so to speak, and understanding what has given rise to them, be able to put them into a more proper perspective?

MEntity:
It is not necessary to understand from where or when these were generated. It will never matter where or when these were generated, as it is the current "you" who make the choices now. It would be similar to trying to understand when, where, and why you have brown hair. It does not matter. You have the choice to embrace that color, or to change it.

We pointed out the time frame of origin as a means to point out that many of these issues are "teen age" or "young soul" levels of issues, or even younger, and that their bearing has little validity or relevance to you as an adult or older soul.

Self-karma is created by ourselves and not circumstances or others...

MEntity: Correct. It is created when one interferes with one's own choices to the point that it generates a divide within.

Thanks Michael. You've touched on some of this already, but here's my original question/s: Could you comment on how Self Karma tends to be experienced across all soul ages, or is it more likely to be confronted by us as we mature in soul age?

MEntity: If you are alive, you most likely experience Self-Karma. Most Self-Karma is relative to the predominant Soul Age for your planet, or your current society within which you were nurtured.

So there are links to Social/Cultural soul age?
Relative...?

MEntity:
All Soul Ages experience Self-Karma, but it is true that there are emphases within each: Infant and Old tend toward Spiritual Issues; Baby tends toward Intellectual/Expression Issues; Young tends toward Physical/Body Issues; and Mature toward Emotional/Relationship Issues.

Though Old tends toward Spiritual Issues, they are prone to taking on the predominant issues of the times, and can run that gamut of issues across the soul ages, depending on what is of interest for exploration that has never been resolved.

Most Old Souls that we know of have yet to resolve Self-Karmic issues remembered from their Young Soul days and are finally "getting around to them" now. That is because the current society fully supports Young Soul issues involving appearance, body, health, etc. When most of you were in your Young Soul days, your "Baby" or Intellectual/Expression issues were most explored.

We would also point out that now that the planet is technically Mature Soul, newer generations would generate their Self-Karma during the Fourth Internal Monad. In an Old Soul Society, these would be generated during the Fifth Internal Monad. The predominant Soul Age during the lifetime usually indicates when the Self-Karma is generated, and though it can also indicate what kind, it is not necessarily limited to that.

Does this mean we would have to wait for society to catch up to work through mature and old soul issues?

MEntity: No, we simply speak about the practicality of the times, since Self-Karma is generated and contained within the single Personality, which is most-often imprinted by the current society, but anyone can work on anything at any time.

Oh, I misunderstood -- there are four categories of Self-Karma, but one only develops an issue within one category during any given lifetime?

MEntity: No. The time frame for when they are usually generated is fairly consistent, and it can indicate the root of many issues, but could include issues from any category.

In your response to another question, you mentioned that one must choose between being themselves and compromising to keep the peace. How do you accept that finding that compromise may never occur and to be accepting that your best attempts to rectify a situation will never be enough while accepting that the consequences of the failure of another will happen to them, without it creating the self-karma of guilt or shame? I seem to have this type of pattern repeating through the past five or ten years for me and I'd really like to break it somehow.

MEntity:
We see that is a helpful question that addresses the nature of resolution when it is valid. In this case, if one were to choose to compromise for the sake of keeping the peace and does not experience this compromise as an assault against one's being, but finds that compromise still does nothing, then the the point of Being Oneself is still intact, as it is clarified that no amount of compromise makes a difference, and that the issue was never about one's Being. From that space within the original resolution, it would be a matter of decisions based on what to do with these individuals, and not to do with oneself.

This may lead to another layer of Self-Karma because it might get to the Self-Karma one might have about who "should love me, no matter what." Do you endure the suffering within their presence as a means to receive potential love, or do you remove yourself from those people who should love you.

In short, it might move into issues about where love, and what love, is in your life. Is it more loving to remove yourself from the exhausting exchanges, or is it more loving to allow room for their lack of love for your presence as you choose to love anyway.

In most instances where one feels one must continually endure the presence of another while feeling exhausted and even damaged, then the question is not about love, but about Rights.

Could you explain further on your definition of Rights?

MEntity: We will include our Map of Rights in the final transcript, but as an example: every fragment has the Right to Love and Be Loved, and this Right is either supported or removed in the process of a lifetime. So it might be a question of whether those who refuse to love have more of a right to your love than you do?

Just curious about the obstacles to resolution of self-karma...what tends to keep us from resolving them? Are these obstacles different for the various soul ages?

MEntity:
The most-common obstacles to resolution are boredom, specialness, and crisis management:

Boredom is the result of rejection of Essence, and like a dog with anxiety cut off from his sense of resource, can chew off his own skin to keep busy with distraction.

Specialness is a result of rejection of Uniqueness, and spends all of its energy seeking constant external validation for any sense of value. Uniqueness requires nothing for it to Be; it is inherent. Specialness requires constant feedback.

Crisis Management is a result of rejection, or distortion, of one's strengths gained over the lifetime. It becomes far more familiar and routine to manage crises, or patterns of issues, than it is to use those strengths for managing the creation of the life, and new patterns of freedom.

Boredom is usually linked to Self-Destruction and Greed; Specialness to Self-deprecation and Arrogance; and Crises to Impatience and Martyrdom.

Put another way, Boredom often perpetuates Intellectual issues; Specialness perpetuates Emotional issues; and Crises perpetuates Physical Issues.

That is a generality, but it is fairly consistent, keeping in mind that there may be layers within a Self-Karma.

Could you give an example of Crisis Management in the final transcript? I am not sure I understand that one.

MEntity: We can give an example now: It is much more comforting and familiar to, say, manage the trauma and pain caused by your struggling to accept an invitation where you feel your appearance will be scrutinized, than to simply go, or not. Crisis Management vs Life Management. Crisis vs Choice. Crisis vs Creativity.

Hello Michaels & Troy! Initially I wanted to ask WHY self-karma arises and why would we ever want to interfere with our own choices to the point of generating a divide, but I understand that the channel may be tired by now, so will ask instead if you could give an example of the most typical form of self-karma for an Old soul?

MEntity:
We can answer both: Why one generates Self-Karma is simple to understand if one does not see it as such an imposition, but as a process of learning that moves from the experience of duality and into the experience of a spectrum, or wholeness. In every instance of Self-Karma there is duality, and in every resolution there is a spectrum, or wholeness. Self-Karma generates from over-simplifying, and Resolution comes from embracing complexity. In every lifetime, every Personality is born an Infant Soul in perspective, and seeks to not only return to the greater perspective already reached in previous lives, but to exceed that. However, this process includes a process from Duality to Spectrum, so to speak, so none escape that process.

There is no typical Self-Karma for the Old Soul. If the Old Soul lives in an Old Soul world, then the Self-Karma might tend toward Spiritual issues as "typical," but otherwise, the Self-Karma tends toward the predominant Soul Age of the planet or environment.

However, for the sake of example, a "typical" Old Soul/Spiritual Issue could be said to be the resolution between the fact of the current Personality as it exists among all Personalities across time for Essence. Recognizing the profundity of how small one really is in the scheme of things while seeking to retain a sense of identity, contribution, and participation can be terrifying.

This is why we say that Old Souls learn through Terror.

END OF CHAT
 
Map of Rights: The original map referred to in this transcript is not currently available, but the seven basic rights are well covered in OMW: Tending to Your 7 Basic Rights.

This session took place on June 8, 2008.
 
[Michael Entity] Hello to everyone. We are here.
 
[QUESTION] I see a lot of folks who have bad dreams in my work and have found that while interpretation can be useful, people often find relief just by imagining a better ending for the dream. I don't remember where I learned that (maybe from you?). Anyway it seems to bring relief from nightmares. What is the mechanism by which this works? is it just that I say it will and people believe me? Or is it something astral? or simply the subconscious mind doing its thing? All that seems to be required is a good imagination and being in "alpha" waves.
 
[Michael Entity]
There is a level of dreaming that is primarily symbolic and these dreams are where issues from the waking life are being processed or examined. It does not require a fragment to be asleep for those symbols to be meaningful, but the symbols that are recalled from the dream are often the most directly-significant to the issues. For most fragments, the dream state can help resolve these issues being played out symbolically. This symbolic level of dreaming is very similar to how fragments experience and interact on the Astral Plane anyway, but for those fragments who have not resolved the issues being played out in symbolic dreaming, then bringing in the consciousness of the waking personality can help break the worrying cycle that has led to what some describe as "nightmares." This method of resolution is a natural strength for most fragments, which is why it so naturally occurs during sleep where the Personality dissolves to its default nature of strengths and weaknesses. Nearly all fragments assign symbolism to emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and physical elements of the life, though this symbolism is often lost to the conscious personality (waking state). When you, QUESTIONER, direct a fragment to use those symbols and experiences from the dream in a conscious way to bring about a break in the cycle and to direct toward resolution, it is not only resolving the issue in many ways, but bringing about an alignment between the conscious and subconscious selves.
 
This same method can be used for those who are not having nightmares or remembering dreams:
 
Examining an issue within the waking state and breaking it down into symbolism, then manipulating those symbols into a way that brings about a sense of direction, closure, or change can help implement those very things in the reality.
 
For instance, a fragment may be feeling obstacles or patterns that keep him or her locked into poverty or survival modes. This fragment might choose a symbol to represent himself and the obstacles or patterns, adding in a current idea of a solution, and manipulate these into a way that displays a symbolic solution. Keeping that symbolic sense of solution at hand, in mind, heart, or even visually depicted (drawn out), can help to break the current symbolic pattern.
 
[QUESTIONER] cool! bypasses the intellect setting up barriers I would think
 
[Michael Entity] Your assessment is valid, for it is the Intellect that often keeps movement locked into an undesirable pattern. This is by no means true in all situations, but in many, it is.
 
[QUESTION] Could you give an example of this conscious working with symbols such as the poverty or survival mode idea?
 
[Michael Entity]
Questioner, the symbolism would have to be specific to the individual, so our example will not be universal.
 
For instance, one example might be a CAT to represent the individual, a BALL INSIDE A CIRCULAR TUBED TRACK with just a bit of a slit along the inside ring of the tube for reaching at the ball, to represent the pattern/obstacle. The current situation has the cat swatting at the ball over and over and often in a frenzy while the ball is forever locked inside that circular track. No amount of swatting or maneuvering is going to change this ball's circular roll within the tubed track.
 
This person might then change the pattern by realizing that the symbolic pattern of the ball in the track means that everything about what the cat is doing is never going to get anywhere beyond chasing current ideas, actions, and feelings in circles.
 
This situation would either require intervention (maybe a human to come along and break open the track to get to the ball) or to simply walk away to a completely new adventure. For the sake of this example, it might seem to be the most directly implementable action to simply walk away from the current ideas and actions. This person might then imagine the cat walking away wistfully and finding a small tree with accessible branches bearing dollar bills, all dangling in the wind. The cat is seen as having an hilarious and playful time jumping and swatting at the branches and knocking down the dollar bills into a pile.
 
This person, then, might keep that image in mind when he or she begins to feel trapped again within patterns that are obviously not working so that he or she can be open to other, more accessible, inputs and possibilities within the reality.
 
Keep in mind that these symbolic plays are NOT the solution in themselves, but are symbolic shifts toward internal solutions or breaks from patterns in how one is perceiving and interpreting reality, which is then a powerful step toward finding and creating external "real life" solutions and breaks.
 
We would also suggest examining why this person might have chosen himself to be symbolized by a CAT, looking at all that a cat means to that person and applying that insight as a way to discover how he or she sees the self in relation to the issue.
 
We will point out here that this topic could be an entire discussion in itself and one that might be worth examining in the future.
 
[QUESTION] What is meditation? Is it just silencing the internal chattering, or is something else involved? I recently had some personal advice in meditation from Michael, but trying to follow it, I started wondering what meditation actually is.
 
[Michael Entity]
From our perspective, "meditation" is a word to describe the work through a triad that leads to adaptable balancing among all centers. This triad could be described as: EXAMINATION, IMPLEMENTATION, REALIZATION. We will describe this in detail now.
 
First, a fragment would Examine the life to determine which Center is seeming least used, least effective, least understood, etc. For simplistic purposes, we will contain this to the 3 Primary Centers. So if one were to see that the MOVING Center is being used the least, or is the least effective, then this would determine the direction of IMPLEMENTATION. This would mean that your "meditation" would be of a Moving-Centered sort. Stillness or stereotypical concepts of "meditation" would not work for this fragment. This fragment could then Implement a moving meditation into his or her days. This moving meditation could be anything that includes the body and movement, which means that meditation could be anything from exercise to dancing to simple movements of the body while seated. Once a method has been Implemented, then the practice of this on a regular basis will lead to REALIZATION, which simply describes the effect of that particular meditation. In this case, a balance within the self that has taught the body how to call upon its moving center in a more effective way. The Implementation stage is the most important stage as it requires some amount of commitment for Realization to come about. The entirety of the experience from Examination to Implementation to Realization is "meditation." In other words, Meditation is not simply a separation from your routines (examination), nor is it simply the clear focus of intent during parts of your day (implementation), nor is it just the benefits on the other side of implementation (realization). It is a triad of effort.
 
[QUESTION] what would be an example of using Emotional as the Center for Implementation?
 
[Michael Entity] Listening to music that stimulates the emotions could be good for some fragments, while watching dramatic movies could be good for others; still others might find a walk through beautiful environments to be a means for implementing Emotional; exploring art could be another example for some.
 
[QUESTION] So it doesn't matter if I think of this and that during implementation, as long as I move?
 
[Michael Entity] The more consciousness one can direct toward that which is being implemented, the greater the Realization. So if one is implementing Movement, one can think and feel whatever one wishes, but allow the consciousness to fully embrace the body, the sensations, the experience of the movement as clearly as possible. It cannot hurt to be as focused as one can be on the implementation, but it is not necessary to block other natural elements within you.
 
[QUESTIONER] I thought so
 
[Michael Entity]
Those who experience the Realization will find that one can think, feel, and act in a way that each does not overshadow or block the other.
 
This is another topic worth exploring, if our students wished.
 
[QUESTION] I want to know about the 4th internal monad and how one would know if they were on the way to manifesting their true personality
 
[Michael Entity]
The easiest way one can gauge whether one is moving forward through the 4th Internal Monad in a way that is a positive transition, or to gauge whether one has completed a 4th Internal Monad in a way that was in the Positive Pole, is to ask one, simple question:
 
DO I LIKE ME?
 
To the degree that a fragment can honestly say that he or she likes himself or herself, is the degree to which the 4th Internal Monad is being completed, or has been completed, in the Positive Pole.
 
The Positive Pole of the entire 4th Internal Monad is Self-Realization, which is the experience of being present with who you are and generally liking who you are. The Negative Pole is Acquiescence, which is the feeling of being forced or succumbing to "who you are," and not really liking who that is.
 
In short, if you can answer the question DO I LIKE ME? with an answer of "yes" to any degree, then you are generally manifesting True Personality to that degree.
 
[QUESTION] There are different ”schools” teaching how to do psychic readings/how to read energy fields/do energy work. When doing a reading it's sometimes being used different energy techniques for different issues coming up in a reading. For instance: 1.Create and destroy, 2.Removing fear energies, 3.Delete programming, 4.Erasure and 5.Astral healing. If possible I would like Michael make a comment on the use of these techniques and the fact that some of these schools, even today, try to keep some secrecy around the energy techniques.
 
[Michael Entity]
Many "schools" who claim secrecy over their techniques are run by, and determined by, Baby Souls. The techniques involved would be beneficial to other Baby Souls, and to some Young Souls, but probably quite ineffective for Mature or Older Souls to use. This is because the techniques and beliefs that make these work are mythological and superstitiously rooted. If one can adapt these Baby Soul concepts into a more mature language and method, then the schooling might not be lost on the Mature or Older soul, but this would have to be kept in mind along the way. For instance, the idea that one can heal another is a Baby Soul concept, but the reality that one can help another to heal himself is a Mature concept. Even on the most physical of levels of intervention, a physical doctor can only do so much in treating a fragment and the fragment "being healed" must ultimately do the healing. Tending, or intervening the impact of wounds is one thing; but healing is always a personal matter.
 
The older souls know this.
 
We mention this as an example because many of the more secretive techniques and schoolings teach as an undercurrent a kind of power over others (whether for "good" or "bad,") and this ultimate power is simply not valid.
 
If your technique for healing is considerate of the dynamic that needs to be in place between healer and wounded, with an holistic awareness, then the technique would be the most effective and valid. Techniques that leave out the choice of another tend to lead to Karma.
 
[QUESTION] I have recently been involved in discussions with a few of my friends regarding political and governmental systems regarding which are the most effective. My friends would gladly describe themselves as “libertarian” whereas I cannot completely proscribe to such an ideology, if only because their description of “libertarianism” seems to give too much authority to the private sector and private interests; of which I am not entirely comfortable. They would likely label me as “socialist” or as “bleeding heart liberal” if they didn't know me better! I guess the questions are: Is there or are there ideal governmental system(s) or ideology for the current average soul age we are in currently, based on what Michael has perceived from other sentient beings? What do these systems look like? Perhaps what the United States and the rest of the world is currently experiencing in their governments are pretty typical for our current soul age development? That would be my perception at least. Also, what do typical governments look like on worlds that have a majority of old souls? Or do they even have governments?
 
[Michael Entity] The politics of any given region or period of time usually describe the friction between the approaching paradigm and the current paradigm, each respectively defined by the approaching dominant Soul Age and the current dominant Soul Age. Many of the names assigned to the varying "parties" are tedious and unnecessary, so we will speak in broader terms here.
 
NOTE FROM TROY: Some editing was done from the original text as I asked Michael for clarifications and questioned a couple of the original details. Also, the true definitions and delineations for all of the political/governmental systems can really get complicated, so Michael's response seems to be exactly what they've said, a "broader" perspective, at best. They did explain to me that there are really only three political systems, but a multitude of systems within those systems.
 
[Michael Entity]
It could be said that the following political systems are associated in this way:
 
Infant Souls have no politics or order, and are therefore at the mercy of whatever dominant political system is in place at the time. However, they may be most comfortable with Dictatorship, which would be implemented by Baby Souls.
 
The Baby/Young politics have shown up as Dictatorship, Capitalism, and Socialism.
 
The Young/Mature politics have shown up as Monarchy, Republic, Socialism, and Communism.
 
The Mature/Old politics have shown up as Monarchy, Democracy, and Anarchy.
 
Old Soul politics return to a state of no politics, but more of what might be considered Anarchy. We use the word "anarchy" in its true definition, not as the Young or Mature soul might exploit the term. The anarchy usually takes on a form that would be recognized as Tribalism.
 
In response to your questions:
 
We would say that the politics of your current world are exactly indicative of the shifts from the dominant paradigm/soul age to another.
 
From what we can see of other populations dominated by Old Soul Ages and paradigms, there are no governments that you would recognize beyond being more tribal groups in communication and exchange with one another, but with no discernible leader or authority.
 
This is one of the reasons our teaching is particularly attractive to the older soul, since there is no discernible authority beyond the self, and even the sense of self is held in question to a degree that allows for sensitive consideration of all factors involved in the life.
 
An Old Soul world is similar.
 
[QUESTION] I realize my background in government is obviously lacking when I ask this question, but: Is there any distinguishable difference between a democracy and a republic according to Michael's perception? By including both, it seems to be implied that there is a difference.
 
[Michael Entity]
We differentiate a Republic from a Democracy in that a Republic has a more specifically-defined body of qualified voters or elected representatives, while a Democracy seeks to include all people, even those who might not be obviously qualified. The concept of Democracy can get confusing in some cultures such as in the United States because several forms of government are in place. Rather than a pure Democracy, the United States is far more accurately described as a Republic, which is a form of Democracy, but not true Democracy. In addition to this, the general promotion of Democracy is run from an Authoritarian perspective, or as a Plutocracy, to be specific. It could be said that the Physical economy of the United States is run by Plutocratic (authoritarian) politics, while the Emotional economy is run by Republican (Democratic) methods, and this is to be considered when looking at politics. There are Physical, Emotional, Intellectual, and Spiritual levels of Politics and Economy to consider in any system.
 
The closest to an old soul political system that exists in your world today is what is experienced as "the Internet."
 
[QUESTION] How are the Internet and politics related?
 
[Michael Entity]
If "politics" is seen as a term to describe how a body of people govern themselves and resolve apparent conflicts, then the Internet could be seen as a system of politics. In this case, as would be the case for the Old Soul world, COMMUNICATION would be at the core of those politics, or the INTELLECT as economy.
 
The Infant Soul uses Freedom; the Baby Soul uses Authority; the Young Soul uses Capital; the Mature Soul uses Well-Being; and the Old Soul uses Communication at the root of their politics.
 
The "ultimate" political system, in the end, will have to utilize all of these factors to govern a mix of soul ages. Hence, the politics of a Democracy or a Republic will include previous political emphases to some degree, but with the more current politics being the emphasis.
 
[QUESTION] And so, just as we are doing here in this chat, everyone determines for themselves, and then relates to the outside world through communication. but as an autonomous being similarly engaged with other autonomous beings/people? Something like this?
 
[Michael Entity]
We think we have understood your question and we would agree. It could be said then that the politics of the Old Soul are CONTEXTUAL. Certain politics apply within specific instances, but are not seen as appropriate across the board. And each person determines his or her level of compliance within certain contexts, or freely moves to more appropriate contexts.
 
We realize this is far from being deeply explored, but we will move on now.
 
[QUESTION] Since we acquire new bodies each lifetime, why do we still carry "memories" of injuries from past lives into new lifetimes? How does this work? For ex. my back pain has been channeled as being from an injury from a past life that I am working out.
 
[Michael Entity]
One only carries "memories" of injuries into a current life when those injuries or memories are relevant to the current life. They are never random, and never literal. For instance, your back pain is a manifestation of similar patterns being explored within this lifetime that are resonant to other lifetimes of similar exploration. It is not that the injury was literally carried over, but that you are doing similar things in a similar way that then resonate to that other lifetime. That resonance can help in healing the current injury only insofar as insights can be gained from experiences integrated by your Essence from that lifetime. The resonance to the other lifetime is not to give justification or distraction from your current ailments, but to allow a means of direct access to the wisdom stored by Essence from that lifetime.
 
If one can imagine one lifetime as one point on a line, while another lifetime is another point at a distance on that line, and then imagine a line being drawn from one lifetime to another, that line CANNOT be "drawn" without first creating an arc through Essence, which is "above the line." Often Personality can relate to other Personalities before it can relate to Essence, so it "remembers" (or receives through a channel) the reference to another lifetime of similarity, but this is merely a method for indirectly accessing Essence. Keeping that in mind can help the point of that remembering and resonance.
 
However, to be more specific in response to your question, it is not the injury that carries over, nor the memory, but the PATTERNS that are stored in your Instinctive Center, which is pulled from one lifetime and then "inserted" into another lifetime. This is not a literal event, but the image is helpful. It can also hep to think of it as a program, or a collection of programs/software that is now available to the new personality. Depending on the choices of the current personality, certain programs/software/patterns will emerge for use, and many will not.
 
In your case, QUESTIONER, you have called upon a theme of self-esteem issues, and these issues are often ignored or overridden on the emotional or intellectual levels to a degree that physical manifestation helps in tending to that theme of issues. You will then find resonance to lifetimes where a similar physical injury or ailment was being explored for similar reasons.
 
[QUESTION] Could Michael suggest some energy-work on such an issue?
 
[Michael Entity]
The "energy work" for any given ailment would have to be relative to the ailment and the individual, but we can say that any chronic aching that is related to self-esteem issues would require "energy work" on the Emotional Body as a focal point, while emphasis of RELIEF on the Physical Body will help in allowing that focus. This energy work on the Emotional Body might be anything from cathartic expression to gestalt therapies to flotation therapies to singing therapies to permission therapies that allow for more of what one craves, etc.
 
We wish to point out here that the patterns carried over from one lifetime to another are only brought into reality by the choices of the current personality. For instance, there have have been lifetimes for the Questioner that have been lived between the past life back injury and the back injury of this lifetime. Back pain was not an issue in those lifetimes between.
 
A more poetic way to understand this might be that the songs heard from other lifetimes depends on the melodies played by this one.
 
[QUESTION] I would like more information on the upcoming (or current??) nexus. It feels to me as if everything over a period of some months has been leading to this (at least for me personally.) Lots of old wounds and even fear patterns (particularly self-esteem, self-worth issues) have been triggered. I recognize them for what they are, but I need to find a way to stay focused on what it is that I want to create, particularly in terms of my career. I am also dealing with a boss who has a very different approach to life than I do. I am guessing she is some combination of sage/priest/warrior - very focused, driven (passion mode?) energy though even though I think she is emotionally centered. Whereas, even though I am a scholar, and intellectually centered, my approach is more fuzzy, diffuse, and go with the flow, or at least it feels that way. Any suggestions here? Please direct your answer in any way that would be helpful to others in general. I can follow up with Troy on the more personal aspects later.
 
[Michael Entity]
What we can say about the upcoming Nexus is that there seems to be an exploration of the concept of COMPARISONS/CONTRASTS. This seems to be resulting from the enthusiasm/collapse extremes that we have described for many of our students. The enthusiasm comes from the Persistence energy that pushes beyond the collapsing experience of Unchanging energy. It is fair to compare and contrast the unchanging energy with the persistent energy, or the collapsing energy with the enthusiastic energy, but will not be fair to oneself to presume one is stuck in this pattern indefinitely, or to presume one has to remain in one or the other.
 
In light of this, many of you may find representatives of your inner enthusiasm/collapse around you.
 
In your case, it could be said that your "boss" represents the enthusiasm, while "you" represent the collapses. This then leads to your attributing distaste for enthusiasm because your boss expresses it differently from what you would, and this leads to distaste for yourself since you see most easily the collapse in you.
 
[QUESTION] and how to move beyond this?
 
[Michael Entity] What one could do, using your example, is to try what we suggested in our Energy Report, which is to DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT. In this case, it might mean to flip and reverse your perspective and interpretations in a completely enlightening and revitalizing way (instead of in the debilitating way that is your current pattern). Allow your boss to be the wonderful representative of how you create your collapses, and for yourself to represent what actually inspires your enthusiasm. In other words, doing things your way actually leads to productivity, creativity, and meaning, while doing things her way leads to confusion, overwhelm, and hopelessness.
 
[QUESTIONER] I'm not quite grasping this
 
[Michael Entity]
If we are seeing the situation clearly, we would say that your collapses come in your comparing yourself to others forms of productivity and trying to implement methods not natural to you, whereas realizing what does and does not work for you allows for you to implement practices that encourage your enthusiasm and do not require you to conform to anyone else's methods.
 
We believe we may be getting into personal territory and will halt our response here, but simply point out that the upcoming Nexus is one that emphasizes CONTRASTS and COMPARISONS and this is to allow for heightened awareness of what IS and IS NOT working for you in various areas of your life. The process of Comparing and Contrasting can often feel like self-judgment or judgment of others, and it is just that, but it is not something to be feared. It is simply a natural method for navigating life. To fear it is to remain stuck. To remain stuck is to remain at the extreme of collapse.
 
We will conclude here, then. Good day to each of you. Goodbye.