The Masters Of Wisdom – Who They Are And Why They’re Here
by Julian Middleton
To understand who the Masters are and why they’re here, it’s worth pausing to consider who we are and why we’re here. Many in the Mind, Body and Spirit field are familiar with terms such as ascension, grace, enlightenment and so forth. I also suspect that many of us have only somewhat vague notions as to what these phrases really mean – ideals only, perhaps, to strive for and hopefully attain in a far-flung future. Indeed, the Masters are those Great Ones who though countless incarnations and much struggle and suffering (as well as great achievement) have attained such lofty states and thus achieved the prize of release from the Great Wheel of death and rebirth. They have matriculated from the university of life, where many of us remain in truth strictly first years, having undergone every conceivable experience life on earth has to offer, learned every lesson and passed every test. In so doing they have, in effect, attained a humility that we dare only dream of. They have mastered themselves on every level – physical, emotional, mental and spiritual, and as a result have no further need to incarnate on Earth. All power, wisdom, knowledge and love are theirs.
For millions of years, the Masters worked openly among us, and humanity was evolving steadily under Their wise guidance and tuition. Following the destruction of Atlantis around 98,000 years ago, however, the Masters of the time were forced to retreat to the remote areas of the planet – the deserts and especially the mountains, from where they have continued to guide us. They have in particular operated through their initiates – great men and women throughout history who have themselves been evolving under the Masters’ tutelage, albeit not necessary consciously: Churchill, Shakespeare, Darwin, Einstein and many others. For, as we grow and evolve on the long road toward perfection, we embark on a final series of lifetimes where we become initiated into the Mysteries and must demonstrate our own growing mastery over the various planes of mortal existence: physical, emotional, mental and so forth. Each step brings us closer to the final breakthrough that unites us with our very highest self, enabling us to graduate from the academy as a Master. We may then choose to move on to higher work, or remain on earth to help suffering humanity, as many do. So it is that the Masters of Wisdom have walked the same paths that we walk, made the same mistakes and learned accordingly, and for this reason they are known too as the Lords of Compassion.
Now, as we enter the 21st century, the Masters are returning to live among us: a relatively small number have been living in some of the great cities of the world since the 1970s, incognito for now, in preparation for Their Emergence into full visibility. They do so because it is part of Their development as a group consciousness, but also to guide us out of the present morass and world crisis into a new and far greater civilisation that will reflect man’s true inherent divinity, obscured for so long. The Masters are themselves guided by Their own Master, Maitreya, who has also been living among us for some forty years, waiting for the right time to step forward. Humanity must renounce selfishness, greed and acquisition and inaugurate the ways of the Aquarian Age: altruism, selflessness and above the principle of sharing in order to bring about justice and peace. Currently we live in a world where millions starve when there is more than enough food for all, where a tiny wealthy minority possess as much wealth as the poorest three billion, and where the environment deteriorates daily under humanity’s rape and pillage, to the peril of all.
Those who study esotericism know that this dark hour is truly the moment before the dawn, before we emerge from the edge of the abyss and climb into the brilliant sunshine of a new and far better world. But humanity must be ready in sufficient numbers to accept the new world, to renounce selfishness, greed and war. Until it is ready, Maitreya and His Masters cannot come forward, because to do so would infringe our free will, and that They cannot do.
There have been three principle exponents of Ageless Wisdom and writers about the Masters in modern times. The first, Helena Blavatsky, wrote The Secret Doctrine and Isis Unveiled in the late 19th century, and founded the Theosophist movement. Alice Bailey wrote many volumes in the earlier 20th Century (many dictated telepathically by her Master). Finally, Scottish artist Benjamin Creme founded Share International and wrote and lectured for over forty years, before passing away late last year. He enjoyed similar telepathic rapport with his Master, who wrote many articles and answered thousands of questions through Creme. These may be found in Benjamin Creme’s books and Share International magazine.
Which side are you on? Which path will you choose?
About the author:
Julian Middleton is a White Eagle Astrologer and author who has been writing fiction for many years, actually mostly children’s books, and studying spirituality, in particular the works of Alice Bailey and Benjamin Creme. His works can be found on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/
The Seven Attitudes of Mindfulness
As the modern Western lifestyle spreads around the globe, so too does metabolic syndrome — a cluster of symptoms that increases the risk of developing heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other conditions. The good news: metabolic syndrome can be tamed by a sensible program of exercise, natural foods, stress management, and quality sleep. In his new book Turbo Metabolism, Dr. Vij distills a mass of medical research into a simple, effective program for vibrant health. Avoiding fads and gimmicks, he provides practical advice, case studies of ordinary people, and brief sections that debunk common medical myths. We hope you’ll enjoy this short excerpt from the book.
Managing stress requires being mindful about the here and now. The barrage of stimuli we endure every day from all our electronic gadgets is the antithesis of mindfulness. Technology is constantly distracting us with stimuli from outside our current time and place.
The next time you are walking in a park on a spectacular sunny day, note how many people are staring at their electronic devices, sending or receiving messages or checking social media, when they could be enjoying the present time and place. Our modern-day addiction to devices that are supposedly “connecting us” is actually taking us to a place other than the here and now. Why are we so afraid to observe our own thoughts that we constantly need to fill our mind-space with busywork?
The Seven Attitudes of Mindfulness
by Pankaj Vij
Here are seven attitudes that define or contribute to mindfulness: nonjudgment, patience, beginner’s mind, trust, nonstriving, acceptance, and letting go.
Nonjudgment: Take the stance of an impartial witness to your own experience as it happens. This is the ideal “witness state” of a human being. Notice the stream of thoughts and judgments: “This thought is good/bad/neutral.” Become aware without trying to stop the flow. The mind is constantly judging situations and people, but mindfulness means seeing things as they are without adding judgment.
Patience: Let things unfold in their own time, and practice patience with yourself. A child may try to help a butterfly emerge by breaking open a chrysalis, but this will likely harm or kill the butterfly. Why rush through some moments in order to get to other, “better” ones? Your life is what you experience in each moment. No particular experience is better or worse than another; only our judgments label them as such. Be completely open to each moment, accepting its fullness, knowing that, like the butterfly, things will emerge in their own time.
Beginner’s mind: Too often we let our thinking and our beliefs about what we “know” stop us from seeing things as they really are. Cultivate a willingness to see everything as if for the first time. Be receptive to new possibilities. Don’t get stuck in a rut of your own expertise. Recognize that each moment is unique and contains unique possibilities.
Try cultivating a beginner’s mind with someone you know: Ask yourself if you are seeing this person with fresh eyes, as he or she really is. Ask yourself the same question with your problems, with the sky, with your dog, with the clerk in the corner shop.
Trust: Develop a basic trust in yourself and your feelings. Trust in your own authority and intuition, even if you make some “mistakes” along the way. Honor your feelings. Take responsibility for yourself and your own well-being.
Nonstriving: Practicing mindfulness means seeking no goal other than being who you already are. Pay attention to how you are right now, whatever that is. Just watch. The best way to achieve your own goals is to back off from striving and instead focus on carefully seeing and accepting things as they are, moment by moment. With patience and regular practice, movement toward your goal will happen by itself.
Acceptance: See things as they actually are in the present. If you have a headache, accept that you have a headache. We often waste a lot of time and energy denying what is fact. We try to force situations into how we would like them to be. This creates more tension and prevents positive change from occurring. Now is the only time we have for anything. You have to accept yourself as you are before you can really change.
Acceptance is not passive; it does not mean you have to like everything about yourself and abandon your principles and values. It does not mean that you should stop trying to break free of your own self-destructive habits or give up your desire to change and grow. Acceptance is a willingness to see things as they are. You are much more likely to know what to do and have an inner conviction to act when you have a clear picture of what is actually happening.
Letting go: Letting go is a way of letting things be, of accepting things as they are. Let things go and just watch. If you find it particularly difficult to let go of something because it has such a strong hold on your mind, you can direct your attention to what “holding on” feels like. Holding on is the opposite of letting go. Looking at the ways we hold on will show a lot about its opposite. You already know how to let go. Every night when we allow ourselves to fall asleep, we let go.
About the author:
Pankaj Vij, MD, FACP, is the author of Turbo Metabolism: 8 Weeks to a New You: Preventing and Reversing Diabetes, Obesity, Heart Disease, and Other Metabolic Diseases by Treating the Causes.
As a doctor of internal medicine, he has helped thousands of patients lose weight, manage chronic health conditions, and improve their physical fitness. Visit him online at http://www.doctorvij.com.
Excerpted from the book Turbo Metabolism. Copyright ©2018 by Pankaj Vij, MD. Printed with permission from New World Library — www.newworldlibrary.com.
Live More Fully By Embracing The End of Life: 8 Steps
Death is something most of us fear and avoid thinking about at all costs. But according to Patt Lind-Kyle, author of Embracing the End of Life: A Journey Into Dying & Awakening, our conscious and unconscious fear of death prevents us from experiencing true contentment. Preparing for our eventual death now—mentally, emotionally, and spiritually—enables us to release the uncertainty and fear of dying.
Lind-Kyle’s eight-step process, which she calls The Journey to Freedom: A Guide to Life, lays out the psychospiritual transformation we all can go through long before we die. This journey gives you the understanding of why you must train your mind to live fully and prepare yourself now for your eventual death.
Steps 1-4 explain how the mind develops over time into an identity that Lind-Kyle calls the constricted self. Steps 5-8 teach the steps for unraveling the constricted self and transforming into the expanded self. Keep reading to learn more.
STEP 1: The Journey of Separation. In this step you explore how fear begins to be a central part of your life. Lind-Kyle says your “constricted self”—the ego structure that encompasses body, mind, and brain—was born when you separated from your mother’s womb. This is the anxious, angry, shame-filled, survival-driven self that believes it is separate from the expanded self. (It’s the “expanded self” that realizes all is connected and that death is merely an illusion.) As you grew and explored your new world, this sense of separation from the “other” was reinforced. Also, at certain stages of life—from ages 3-5, from 30-34, from 60-64, and from 90-94—this sense of separation intensifies.
Lind-Kyle provides a series of exercises—involving journaling and meditation practices—to help you explore the birth of your constricted self and your deep fears and insecurities around separation.
STEP 2: The Journey of Emotions. Imagine a plant growing in the earth. As it gets a little water, it sends its roots deeper to get more connection and be more earthbound. In this analogy, your emotions are the water that makes you more bound and constricted as you grow older. These emotional structures create boundaries that keep you separated from yourself and others.
From ages 34-38 and 64-68, you may find yourself wanting more of everything, better relationships, or more passion and creativity. These strong desires build and create tension, restrictions, or blocks in the flow of your life. This resistance manifests as judging, negating, doubting, or belittling yourself. Further, in moments of fear, you may experience reactive emotions like anxiety, worry, anger, shame, panic, and guilt.
Lind-Kyle offers exercises to help you examine and cope with the emotional patterns you have developed over your lifetime. Using the Enneagram—an ancient energy template revealing the nine human interconnected personality types—she helps you recognize how your particular Enneagram “type” influences your dominant feelings and defense mechanisms.
STEP 3: The Journey of the Mind. Your thinking process can become a powerful force dividing you from your physical body. Around ages 8-12 (and then again at ages 38-42 and 68-72), your focus on language moves your attention from your body to your head. You become enthralled with talking, thinking, and figuring things out, which separates further from the sense of being grounded, and from your emotions and sensory awareness. As a result, you are cut off from the source of your core energy; living in your head robs you of your vital, alive self.
When the mind is the driver of the doer, there is an intense need to feel recognized, to be in power, and to be loved for the power and accomplishments. This craving overpowers the practical needs or emotions that allow life to flow. The goal of this strong desire is to be happy and to move out of the fear of survival and suffering, but instead it moves toward an excess of worldly pleasures. These come in all kinds of packages such as wealth, fame, sexual pleasure, food, and appearance.
The physical ramifications of being out of balance in this energy frequency are issues of digestion, liver, pancreas, spleen, stomach, gallbladder, kidneys, chronic fatigue, acidity, hypoglycemia, diabetes, and back pain.
STEP 4: The Journey of Self-Identity. This process describes how you identify as a separate person from the world around you. You strongly identify with your name, family, partners, history, job, and friends. Then in early adulthood, a main identity—for example, parent, doctor, or gardener—becomes dominant. With that firm label, you have a stable personal identity and feel secure. In midlife, the constricted self compels you to look at what you have done in your life in terms of your talents and accomplishments, and this confirms your identity once again. In later life, it is looking back and trying to confirm meaning and purpose among the various identities that you have played out throughout your life.
To help you recognize how The Journey of Self-Identity has affected your life, Lind-Kyle provides several exercises and meditations. Using your individual Enneagram type, she helps you recognize how your personality patterns have affected your sense of identity over the years.
Steps five through eight help you face and unwind your ego-created journey—your constricted self. (Note that this is the same process that happens when you die.) When you surrender the constricted self, it doesn’t vanish or go away, but it is no longer in control of your life. The great blessing of letting go is that you now have a choice of what behaviors and actions you choose.
STEP 5: Freedom from Personal Identity. In this step, you begin to detach from your constricted ego. This path to freedom allows you to embody, accept, and become open to all aspects of your separation without self-judgment. Now you will begin to shift your perception to your expanded self and move into a space of awareness. Lind-Kyle says forgiveness is the energy of the heart that releases the binding structure of your self-identity and removes the feeling of being a victim. It also enables you to release your deepest fears.
To begin the transformation and opening of your heart, focus on these four simple forgiveness meditation phrases. Fill in the person (including yourself) or people you would like to forgive:
I forgive (myself, the other, or group) for not understanding.
I forgive (myself, the other, or group) for making mistakes.
I forgive (myself, the other, or group) for hurting (myself, the other, or group).
I forgive (myself, the other, or group) for not following (my, your, their) deepest values.
STEP 6: Freedom from the Mental Self. This step involves releasing the mental patterns that have bound you to your inner pain and suffering. Lind-Kyle says the key to releasing your controlling mind is practicing gratitude. Gratitude increases the vibration and energy of the heart center and enables your neurons to fire off in new patterns that generate joy, happiness, freedom, and inner contentment. The greater the gratitude, the more the mind chatter dies away, and clarity of awareness of your expanded self continually opens. Practicing gratitude also reveals that you are not the “doer” of the self-centered constricted self.
To start practicing gratitude, Lind-Kyle offers this exercise:
- Make a list of all the things you are grateful for, and a list of all the things you are not grateful for. Keep adding to the lists for a few days.
- Say the words “thank you” for both the positive and negative people, situations, and events you experience.
- A few days later, touch your heart area when you say “thank you” for both positive and negative events. The physical touch and feeling will begin to open the love doorway wider and wider.
STEP 7: Freedom from the Emotional Self. From the moment you wake up each day, you are driven by an inner dialogue that keeps you racing in fear, anger, judgment, confusion, pleasure, uncertainty, and so on as you process your thoughts, sensations, feelings, and emotions. Unwinding your emotional impulses helps you gain the possibility of inner expansion and release from fear. According to Lind-Kyle, practicing appreciation trains your reactive mind to stay focused in the present moment. The energy charge of appreciation activates the feeling state within you and shifts your moods, attitudes, and beliefs.
Every day, look for people and situations to express your appreciation—by simply seeing and acknowledging what you see. For example, if you see a cat stretched out on a windowsill, you might say, “You look beautiful in your relaxation,” or if you notice a coworker working late, speak your appreciation to his or her effort. As you speak your appreciation, feel the energy speaking from your heart. The awareness of your appreciation builds an energy charge between you and the other. Keep the appreciation going throughout the day. The more you appreciate consistently throughout the day, the more the energy will increase the clarity of your awareness.
STEP 8: Freedom from Separation. This final step recognizes the illusion of your “false” outer home and the separation you have lived with all your life. The means to return to your “real” home—as a complete human—is through kindness and compassion. These two practices fully open your heart to embrace your expanded self. Once the constricted self surrenders, unity envelops you, and your sense of identify shifts to become the entire universe. Yes, this is what happens when you die. But this is also what can happen for you now, today. When the constricted self crumbles, the mind clears and the heart of kindness and compassion opens up. This is the place of awakening to your essential human self in this lifetime.
Lind-Kyle offers powerful exercises and meditations to help you attune to the high-level frequencies of kindness and compassion.
If you allow it, this eight-step process can heighten and raise your consciousness. You come now to the place of integration to combine all the qualities of the heart to become whole within you. It creates the potential to shift you into being free of all that creates tension, pain, and fear within you to a quality of expansion and acceptance of your true self.
About the Author:
Patt Lind-Kyle, MA, is the author of Embracing the End of Life: A Journey Into Dying & Awakening, and is a teacher, therapist, speaker, and consultant. Her book Heal Your Mind, Rewire Your Brain won the Independent Publisher Gold Medal Award and a Best Book Award from USA Book News. Patt has written a chapter in Audacious Aging, and she is also the author of When Sleeping Beauty Wakes Up. She lives in Nevada City, CA, and can be found online at www.PattLindKyle.com.
About the Book:
Embracing the End of Life: A Journey into Dying & Awakening (Llewellyn Publications, 2017, ISBN: 978-0-738-75356-0, $22.99) is available at bookstores nationwide, Amazon.com, and BarnesAndNoble.com.
The Power of the Infinity Symbol
By Barabara Heider-Rauter
What is the infinity sign really about? There was a time when knowledge of the power of symbols was the preserve of initiates only and it was passed on in secret. The infinity sign, or lemniscate, is one such fascinating symbol and produces its power regardless of whether we believe in it or not. In this article you will discover how it has been used in many different cultures and how we can make use of this powerful symbol today. Let us immerse ourselves in the magical world of ancient symbols. I wonder, will we feel its force straight away?
We all know what the infinity symbol – the sign that represents the immeasurable and the boundless – looks like, but very few of us know what power it holds. It has been highly prized for centuries, used for protection and the bringing of harmony and balance to opposing entities in many cultures. The band across the forehead of Egyptian pharaohs bore the image of a snake in the shape of a figure eight. It was also the number of Thoth, the Egyptian god of the Laws and of wisdom and magic. In Indian cultures, we see the infinity symbol in depictions of Kundalini energy and in the staffs carried by Hermes and Asclepius.
From a spiritual perspective, eight is the number of the initiate – those who have transcended the seven stages of awakening and passed through the seven heavens. Eight is the number linked with the power of resurrection and regeneration, symbolizing happiness and paradise regained. In Chinese tradition, it represents wealth and prosperity and is used in Feng Shui to arrange living spaces harmoniously. The infinity sign is also within us, in our very cells and the basic structure of our genes. It is in the double helix of the strands of our DNA, a continuous chain of figures-of-eight.
How can we make conscious use of the infinity symbol? How can this powerful and dynamic symbol help us in our daily lives? I suggest that when we feel the need for something, for example greater richness and serenity in our lives, we can draw an infinity symbol and inscribe these two words in each of the loops. A single loop can contain more than one concept. The lemniscate will bring dynamism and balance to whatever is important or of interest to us. It will help us to find harmony and equilibrium in every way, bringing balance to opposing forces.
The infinity sign can also provide help with healing. By visualizing or drawing the lemniscate as a symbol, we can use it on any part of the body where balance and harmony are needed. If we feel under the weather, we can write the world “health” on an infinity symbol and carry it with us.
The figure eight can also be of help in the run-up to an exam. Write the words “knowledge” or “wisdom” on an infinity sign and put it in your pocket. If you don’t want to draw or paint the symbol on something, use it in jewellery instead and wear a piece decorated with the lemniscate. Its effect is felt via the energetic field of our skin and throughout our innermost being.
The infinity sign is often engraved on wedding rings, where it symbolises the everlasting nature of the relationship between two people. It can also be extremely effective when used to restore harmony in problematic relationships, whether conflict lies within yourself or with others; in this respect it teaches us a way of understanding how seemingly irreconcilable opposites can be reunited. It helps us to find a new perspective on apparently insoluble problems.
I also use the infinity symbol to make decisions when I am unsure or doubtful. Draw a figure-of-eight on a piece of paper and write one option in one loop and the other option in the second loop. Then take a pen and trace along the infinity symbol until you feel better. Repeat this tracing exercise for a few days until a way of approaching a solution emerges. The infinity symbol, a closed loop with no beginning and no end, can provide you with unlimited energy if you find yourself in a debilitating situation. It is also considered a powerful tool in kinesiology and is used to integrate the left and right halves of the brain, bringing harmony to a person as a whole, in mind, body and spirit.
The power of the infinity symbol can also be used to restore the connection between people in a harmonious way and to promote loving and peaceful relationships. Picture yourself in one of the two loops and the other person in the other loop. In your mind, keep tracing around the infinity sign that now links you together until you feel that everything has reached an equilibrium and any negative emotions or thoughts have been laid to rest again. If you are arguing with your partner, for example (or even if you just wish to boost the harmony between you), mentally place yourself in one loop and your partner in the other. Keep tracing around the line of the symbol in your thoughts until you feel a harmonious connection. The energy of the lemniscate is not intrusive so you can perform the same exercise on behalf of others.
As simple and practical as many of these exercises may sound, together they constitute the great personal development that the infinity symbol can generate: it is all about our spiritual growth. As a symbol of the infinite and eternity, the lemniscate opens up a further level of consciousness, helping us to restore our lost unity with Creation and to once again feel at one with the world and all living things. The number of ways in which we can use this powerful symbol is impressive – you can paint or draw the symbol, or even just picture it in your mind, and then you will feel so much.
About the author:
Barbara Heider-Rauter is the author of The Power of the Infinity Symbol: Working with the Lemniscate for Ultimate Harmony and Balance. She is an Aura-Soma therapist and educator, the owner of a specialist spiritual shop in Salzburg, Austria, and a leader of seminars conducting ‘heart journeys’ to England and Ireland. For more information, please visit www.barbara-heider-rauter.com
© article and interview by Barbara Vödisch, first published in the magazine Herzstück Nr. 5/17
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