Can you explain the terms ego and Spirit?

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In past messages, we have used the terms ”ego” and ”Spirit”. Perhaps this is a good time to define what we mean by them. Those of you who are or have been working with A Course in Miracles may be familiar with how it uses these words. We will treat them in a similar way. We would begin by reminding you of the truth of who you are, of your personal divinity. You are created in the image of God. You are one with God, who loves you unconditionally no matter what you might choose, do, or think. However, the part of you that we call your ego does not believe this or trust it for a minute. Your ego, in fact, is terrified of God and believes that you are separated from Him. It thinks that God is angry with you for this separation and is going to punish you. Your ego’s agenda is all about protecting you from God. One of the ways it does this is by punishing you, before God can do it. Another way of dealing with this fear is by trying to be ”good” in the attempt to win back God’s love. Your ego is absolutely insane. It’s crazy. Your ego believes that you have to try to do everything right. You have to eat right, wear the right clothes, meditate in the right way and with the correct frequency, have right thoughts, treat others right, and so on. This comes from the belief that you are separate from God, which you cannot be, never have been, and never will be. It is an absolute impossibility. The nature of who you are is a child of God. You are created by God in His image, and there is nothing you can do about it. But, your ego doesn’t believe this. Your ego will do anything to protect you from God.

Your ego is the voice of fear, anger, jealousy, hatred, pain, suffering, doubt, and self-flagellation. None of it has anything to do with God’s love. We would put it this way. God simply does not see your illusion of separation that you have created here through your ego. He does not see it.  God doesn’t see this hell that you have created. He does not even see those moments when this world your ego has made feels blissful, even heavenly. Even the ecstasy you might experience on the physical earth pales in the face of the true joy, love, and creativity that you are. It is but a taste of it. You may have heard that the human mind only uses five or ten percent of its full capacity. What if it worked at 100%? When you experience bliss in your body…enjoying the beauty of the earth, dancing, having sex, eating food, sharing love with another, or whatever the connection might be…you are at best only experiencing 5% of the totality of the absolutely unlimited bliss, joy, and love that you are. Happiness is a very relative term. If you are receiving electric shocks and then they stop, you may feel happy. Happiness can only exist if there is also unhappiness. Divinity is infinite rather than relative. It has no opposite; it is the ”is-ness”, the truth of who you are. Your ego, meanwhile, is fighting like hell for that 5%, while denying the existence of the 95%.

What is Spirit? Spirit is a little harder thing to put your finger on. It is not physical, nor of the material world. We could call Spirit an intermediary between you and God. Whereas, God does not see this physical-ness, this illusion – in fact you created it so that you could hide here from God – Spirit is able to see it. Spirit is in between; it is absolutely connected and one with God and at the same time can recognize your confusion. You can have a direct communication with Spirit about your inner turmoil which you are unable to have with God, who doesn’t recognize anything about you but your divinity. Spirit can enter into your dream and help you transform it. When you ask Spirit for help – some people use the term “pray” – it is the same thing as asking Jesus or any other ascended master for help. The ascended master is a soul like you, but has recognized oneness with Spirit and can act in this realm while also being absolutely connected with God.

Your job becomes very simple. You can listen to your ego or you can listen to Spirit. You can be guided by your ego or you can be guided by Spirit. You make the decision. It takes a very conscious intention to choose Spirit because the world around you tends not to. The world around you will probably reflect that you would be insane to choose Spirit, even the mirror that claims to be religious. What do you do in the face of such overwhelming opposition? First comes the recognition, the knowing of which of the two you are listening to, your ego or Spirit. If any of the qualities above, which were listed at the beginning of the second paragraph, are present – you are listening to your ego. If you are listening to Spirit, the following qualities might be present: first of all, trust, and secondly an absolute integrity (being true to yourself). Your ego wants you to act in a way that is not in line with your true self, out of fear of what might happen if you are true to yourself. The trust and the integrity fit hand in hand. Meanwhile, your ego is warning you of all of the consequences of going down that road. When you are listening to Spirit there is never a competition, never an either/or, never winners and losers. Spirit always speaks with unconditional love, free of judgment. Your ego speaks from fear and always has limits, competition, and the need for protection.

The next question might be, ”Okay. I know I am listening to my ego, but how do I stop?” First you set an intention and you invite Spirit in. You ask Spirit to guide your life. After you have done that, there are two main things you can focus on. One is to have a constant awareness of when and how your ego is acting. Ask yourself how Spirit might guide you here. How would Spirit choose? What might Spirit say to you? If an answer doesn’t come quickly, ask Spirit to send you support. The second thing is to practice forgiveness. Your ego operates out of guilt. That is its main fuel. Forgiveness destroys guilt. If you could eliminate guilt from your life, your ego would starve to death. It needs your guilt or the guilt of others, which is easy to find. You simply point your finger and say, ”It is your fault”. But we know that everything you see around you is just your own reflection. It doesn’t matter whether you perceive it in yourself or another. Remind yourself that it is an illusion; that person didn’t do anything to you. You haven’t done anything either. You are all innocent. You forgive both. You constantly search for the guidance of Spirit, and you continuously forgive when you realize your judgment is in the way. A good benchmark for telling whether your judgment is in the way is to see if you have any. If you do, it is in the way. Nothing is too big or too small. Choose Spirit. Ask for support. Forgive. Know that you are always loved at every moment. Know that you do not have to do one thing to deserve that love.

God Blesses You, 

Sanhia 

How do my home and relationships affect my intention to ascend?

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We talked several years ago about home and having a sense of home. I encourage you to reread that message, but we are going to talk a little differently about home today. We have also talked about relationships before. Again, you may wish to review that subject, but we will go in another direction with the information today. Finally, we previously talked about intention, and of course you are invited to revisit that correspondence – in fact, it would probably be the most supportive of the three in fully receiving today’s communication. We are going to weave these three topics together for you.

Everything always begins with intention. Everything. If you do not express clear intent, you, by default, give your life over to the mass consciousness and to the confusion brought forth from your past lives. When you have the goal to experience ascension, the only thing between you and the full realization of your divinity is the illusion of time. That could involve lifetimes, but it will happen. Much of what we share with you is given with the hope that you might reduce the time it takes you to realize your divinity. Knowing what you want, expressing intention, and making ascension the most important thing in your life – these are the great time reducers. Whatever else you are considering, choices you have before you, confusions you have – ask yourself, “Is this in line with my intention to ascend?”

I want to specifically direct this focus of achieving the realization of your divinity in two ways: first dealing with home, then with relationship. I have mentioned several times about the ”mirroring” effect of others. Whenever you are around others, you see yourself reflected in them. Whatever you notice about them shows how you feel about yourself. Your judgments of them are your judgments of yourself. Your love for them is your love for yourself. If you feel yourself to be a victim to them, it is you who have created the attack because of your belief in a need for punishment. As you are conscious of this, you can use it as a healing tool. Your ego does not want to accept these reflections as you. It wants to project on others and to be a righteous martyr. Take this home with you. Work with this within the safety and security of your home. These are frightful things you are encountering. It is a great challenge. It is not easy to fully confront your illusions and your fear, even using the five-step process. That’s why we encourage you to create a safe home. This is a place where you will have minimal opposition from your mirrors. You will never escape them completely, nor would you want to if your primary intention is to ascend. On the other hand, if you are constantly challenged by your reflections, you go crazy. It’s more than you can handle.  Create a secure place; I call that home. For some of you this home is the place where you live. But for others your residence is not a shelter. For some of you, home might be a group you get together with, a close friend, or a quiet spot in the woods. That is where you feel protected. The first thing we are suggesting around home is that you make sure you have it somewhere. If your residence doesn’t provide such a haven, find someplace else. Look for a space where you feel nurtured and supported in your spiritual process.

If you are in a relationship that doesn’t support your spiritual process in a nurturing manner, I ask you what your first priority is? What is your intention? If it is your chosen purpose to become aware of your divinity, living day-to-day intimately with someone who does not reinforce this path makes that realization much more difficult. If this is the case for you, perhaps you have created a safe pocket within your residence. But, still you must venture out into the rest of the house and interact with your partner. The questions are ” What are you choosing?” and “Why are you choosing that?” Perhaps your response is to say that you know that your partner is your mirror and so you are using your partner to promote your spiritual growth by taking responsibility when you become upset over what is going on between the two of you. I say that is wonderful, but do you need or want your life to be a constant barrage of perceived attack from your mirror? If you are open and willing to see your fears and what your ego is telling you, there will be plenty of opportunities to experience your ego’s voice as you go through your daily life. But, if you are ”sleeping with the enemy”, it can actually be harder to change your story.

Let’s talk further about relationships. Some of you, as you read this, are saying, ”What relationship? I wish I had one.” If this is your situation ask yourself which is more important to you, realizing your ascension or having a relationship. Be honest. If being in a relationship comes first, it is not likely that you will manifest one that supports your spirituality. You will also likely find the relationship to be a co-dependent one, because you may be entering it out of neediness. What other parts of yourself might you be willing to deny to keep your partner from leaving? If you decide to leave, you have to begin the whole process over again. What will make a new relationship any different? I encourage you to be conscious of what you are choosing. Ask yourself what you really want from a relationship. What would leave you unfulfilled if it were not a part of your partnership? If you have expressed your intention to realize your divinity, how can a relationship be fully supportive if it is not based on a mutual desire to experience your divine natures?

If ascension is your highest intention, you might be more strongly supported in it through creating a safe home for yourself, rather than focusing on having a relationship. If this leaves you feeling hopeless, your issue for healing is hopelessness. Create a network of friends or groups that share and support your intention. Choose a home where you can work with your process, deal with your ego, face your fears, and focus on loving yourself and others unconditionally, without having anyone in your face. Also, work with your fear of never finding the right partner. Come up with a new story. What likely happens is that you will create the partner who fully supports you in your ascension process when you don’t need that person, when you are already doing that for yourself. If you are looking for a partner to come in and save you in your spiritual process, you are back to a co-dependent situation. Ask Spirit to bring a supportive partner into your life. This partner can magnify the effort you are already making. Nobody ascends alone. We are all connected. You are never alone. When the person is ready, the partner will appear.

Your ultimate relationship is with yourself and with Spirit. Your process is expedited when you are clear about your intention, create a nurturing home, and are uncompromising when it comes to choosing a partner who supports your intention. I am not necessarily suggesting that if your relationship does not feel supportive, you should move out today or have the locks changed. But, it may be time to initiate a different kind of conversation with your partner. See if that mutuality can be found. If your partner is not able to support you – you have a clear choice to make. Remember that your truest partner is Spirit, and Spirit always loves you unconditionally.

God Blesses You,

Sanhia 

How does the ego divide and conquer?

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There is a strategy that has been used throughout history by those who seek to take power from others called ”divide and conquer”. If one can get different groups or individuals to fight among themselves, it becomes easier to take them over. It is when people are united that conquest becomes a larger challenge. The clever conqueror discovers how to sow the seeds of discontent, to get people’s fingers pointing in many different directions. Individuals fail to recognize the real source of their difficulties. They think it lies everywhere else. Many politicians have mastered this ability. Divide and conquer. The ego has always used this technique. Where did these controlling leaders learn how to do this? From the ego. Those who seek to dominate others are the highest expression of the ego on the planet, using force and fear to wrest power from others. Of course, no leader can do this without your consent. This kind of power feeds off of fear. Now we want to look at how the ego accomplishes this.

Some of you, in conjunction with the previous two messages, have been working with your “old stories”. We have heard wonderful reports about the successes you have had in using the five-step process with them. Some of you have realized that you hadn’t previously made the decision to really let go of the “old story”, and decided that it was now time to do so. Now we want to take it to another level. What the ego will often do is let you go off trying to change a story and therefore claim your power and your divinity. But, before you fully achieve success with that issue, the ego taps you on the shoulder and points out another issue which you need to heal. You drop the first issue and go to the second. Then the ego taps you on the other shoulder and points out a third issue, and another, and another, and so on. You are left exhausted and hopeless. There are so many issues to heal. How can you ever get to all of them? Before you can put out the first fire, there is another fire calling for your attention. What to do? You throw up your hands. After a time, you probably find the energy to tackle another “old story”, but the same cycle continues. You melt into a puddle of helplessness. Divide and conquer. The ego wins.

Once you are conscious of your divine nature, the ego has to step up its game. Your full embrace of your divinity is the death knell for the ego. This awareness of your divinity will lead inevitably to full realization and your ascension; however long it might appear to take. Being alert to the ego’s techniques allows you to minimize that expanse of time. Being mindful to how the ego works will lower your susceptibility to the divisions it is provoking. You begin to understand the ego’s game which is intended to keep you in this endless cycle of victimhood and powerlessness.

What we are going to suggest as means for ending this seemingly unending division is that you choose just one “old story”. We don’t suggest that just any story will do, but that you choose the one that appears to you to be the largest, the most insurmountable. Choose your greatest challenge, the one you feel would be the hardest thing for you to achieve. The truth is that there is no order of difficulty, but the ego is telling you that this one challenge is greater than all the others. The ego tells you that this one is too hard and that you should go for something more easily achievable. Even when you make this choice, you can be sure that the ego will remind you of the roads you haven’t chosen. Don’t listen. This choice will be easier, because you know that you have taken on a big challenge. Likely, the other baits the ego tries to tempt you with are nested within this larger challenge. If the ego, in its desperation, should tempt you with an even larger challenge, you might choose to let go of the one you have in favor of the new, seemingly bigger story. If this should be the case, you still are left dealing with only one story, and you can thank the ego for its helpful diligence. The ego will sometimes shoot itself in the foot in order to get what it wants. Ultimately, the biggest “old story” is all inclusive. Don’t worry about finding it; let it find you.

Your job is to choose the major story that you are aware of and willing to release. Use the five-step process or whatever other technique you might have to transform that “old story” into one of divinity, power, and love. Give it attention every day. Do this by focusing on your new story, chosen in the fourth step of the process, holding that in the forefront of your consciousness throughout the day. If you should notice pieces of the “old story” creeping back into your consciousness in the form of little fears or guilts nibbling at the edges of your new story, then redo the five-step process. Do so every day if necessary. When you are working with the second step, and you have felt the energy transform and have moved it to your heart chakra, try doing a full body scan from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet to see if there is any other place where you are feeling discomfort. If you detect any imbalances, work with those spots until you notice no further distress. You might wish to continue doing scans until everything feels clear. Then, it is time to release the energy from your heart chakra.

Feel the simplicity of having just one story to deal with. You may reach a point where you feel that you have fully left the “old story” behind. Congratulations! Now, what is the biggest “old story” you want to transform? Notice that you are not simply jumping from one story to another. It is not an example of divide and conquer. You are simply “trading up”. Eventually the ”new” old story will be the one that is truly all encompassing. You will stay with that story until you realize your ascension. Remember always, that you don’t escape your fear by running away from it or by closing your eyes and making affirmations. You deal with your fear by confronting the terror and diving right into it. The ego may tell you to run away, but turn around and face your darkness. Know that Spirit and love are always with you. You will meet them at the heart of darkness. Have a wonderfully focused time with your new story.

God Blesses You,

Sanhia 

Why is it hard to let go of victimhood?

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In the last message, we talked about recognizing your “old story” and choosing to let it go. But, you really have to want to let it go, and you don’t always want to do that. Sometimes, things have to get so bad that there isn’t anything else to do but to let the “old story” go. I am a believer in the idea that the least pain brings the greatest gain. You don’t have to really suffer to grow spiritually. If you are proactive and get out in front of things, you can choose to have your spiritual progress be as painless as possible. However, the part of you that we call the ego – the division that doesn’t believe in your divinity, thinks you are separate from God, and believes you are going to be punished for this separation – wants you to hold on to the victimization. It seems safer. Remember that the ego isn’t sane; it is absolutely crazy. It believes in insanity. And it draws immense pain and suffering to you.

I want to talk about how this operates for you. The ego says to fear punishment by God for being guilty. There is a hesitation to ever admit guilt. The ego tells you that to admit guilt is to invite the inevitable punishment. What you do then, is to project. Why is your life not working? Why are you upset today? Why are there problems? Because he did this. Because she did that. Because of the government. Because of my boss. Because of my parents. There is always a place to put blame. Unfortunately, blaming never helps. The ego claims it is buying time, that it is protecting you. But blaming never brings joy; it never brings peace or a sense of love. It creates feelings of helplessness. Blame leaves you always victim to the whims and the actions of others. Always. That is an illusion, because victimhood is a lie. It is not the truth. You are the creator. You are the divinity. Whatever exists comes from you, even if you are not aware of your part in the manifestation. As long as you pretend to not be responsible for your creations, they will continue to attack you. You will continue to fight them and to suffer.

I think that most of you can recognize yourself here. But some of you also play the game of ”Woe is me”. You tell yourself that you are so horrible and weak, and you go about accusing yourself instead of blaming others. However, if you look deeply, you will probably find many judgments of others mixed in with the self-blame. The ego thinks that by taking blame it might be able to avoid the wrath of God. But blaming yourself is the same thing as blaming others. It is an illusion; it is a lie. And, it never makes you feel better. It never heals. Remember that in the eyes of God there is no blame, no judgment, and no separation. God sees only your divine nature. For you to experience your divine nature, give up all blame and guilt, take full responsibility for everything in your life, and forgive yourself for every judgment you are holding about yourself and others. When you find the going to be tough, that is the place for the five-step process.

I began by saying that you are to be fully willing to give up your “old story”. There is a very good reason, according to the ego, for holding on to this blame/victim pattern. It manifests in a variety of ways, but they all have something in common. To the ego, it feels like there is a lot to lose by giving up victimhood. There is a comforting security blanket in being the helpless victim. This is something you can share with everyone around you. It is said that misery loves company. You go to your friends and you tell your pitiable story. ”Look what (fill in the name) did to me”. ”Guess what happened to me at (fill in the place)?”. ”You won’t believe what this jerk driver did”. It goes on and on, and your friend hugs you and says, ”Oh, poor you. I know how that feels”. You have this great connection and it feels good in the moment. It is a way to immediately sense love coming from others. They support you. This may be the only way that you know how to feel this love. The glow doesn’t last, however. The pain of being a victim remains. If you do decide to let go of your victimhood, there is a fear that others will abandon you. If you stop joining in the game of enabling victimhood, of supporting it in others and allowing others to support it in you, what is left in your relationships? Maybe others will grow angry and judgmental toward you? How will they react if you stop sharing your blame stories? What if you suggest to them that they give up their victimhood and claim their full power? ”Who the hell do you think you are?” they might say. There is a tremendous fear of taking your power. The ego judges power. It is terrified of it.

There is a similarity here with the experiences of those who choose to go to Alcoholics Anonymous. In that case, you want to give up an addiction to substances, as opposed to an addiction to blame. You may find that you will give up many of your friends and relationships, because they only share and support your addiction. You may choose to replace these people with others who are opting to take their own power. A great change may be required. Parents with younger children might have the fear that if they gave up their attachments, they might not be there for their kids. You might lose your marriage, your parents, or your job, along with your friends. You will become a social pariah. The ego does a wonderful job of spreading this kind of terror.

Ultimately it will come down to one question for you. Are you tired of this shit or not? Do you want to hold onto your victimhood and your unhappiness because you have the solace of fellow sufferers? Is that worth it? If the answer is ”yes”, you will continue with your “old story” until the answer becomes ”no”. If you want, now, to experience your divinity, feel your power, know only love, peace, and joy – you say “no” to the ego. You choose to let go of all judgment and blame, and refuse to have pain, suffering, and failure be part of your life anymore. Now, you are ready to let go of the “old stories”. You are willing to transform the fears you have been holding in your body into love. This will take some time, but the rewards will begin to be felt immediately. You don’t have to wait until life breaks you. You can be proactive. Choose to listen to the voice of love. You can experience the minimal amount of pain by choosing now. The more completely you commit yourself, the less pain you will feel. When you make this choice for yourself, ask for support from Spirit. It is there always. It always has been there. It has only been waiting for you to ask.

God Blesses You,

Sanhia

What do you mean by my “old story”?

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For some of you there has been some confusion over the first step of the five-step process, misunderstanding the meaning of your ”old story”. Your ego tells you stories all of the time about your experiences and what they mean. For example, your brain-mind might say, ”I am really good at athletics”, or ”I am a good problem solver”, or on the other hand, ”I just don’t get along with the opposite sex; I don’t know how to talk with them”, or ”I never have enough money”. As you repeat some of these tales, they fill you with confidence and power. Relating other narratives may leave you feeling uneasy or even terrible. There is a sense of ”that’s my story and I’m stuck with it”. These are the “old stories” that we are talking about, the ones that bring you discomfort, the ones that hurt. We call it a story because it is something you have made up. It’s not the truth. Anything that is not about unconditional love, joy, and passion is false. It is an illusion. Today we will talk about these “old stories”.

You don’t have to live with them anymore. You may not want to hear this, but you are living with these old tales because you are choosing to do so. Nobody is forcing them upon you, though your narrative may state that others are, indeed, forcing your story upon you. If your account is, ”this isn’t my story, this is just the way the world is,” you are denying your divinity. You are pretending that someone or something else is running your life. As long as you hold on to that fantasy, it will be true for you. My job is not to tell you to change your perception. That’s your job. I am simply here to tell you that there is no story you are stuck with. That is the simple truth. Let me retract that. There is one story you are stuck with. You are the divine, innocent child of God. You are all powerful. Everything in this world is your creation. You are stuck with that. You can deny it, but you can’t get rid of that story. It is the only statement that is absolutely true. All of the others are optional; they are whatever you want to choose.

You can hold on to painful stories as long as you wish to, but I encourage you to remind yourself of your divinity regularly, daily. Emphasize to yourself that you are the loving, infinite, immortal power behind everything in your life, even though your ego may be screaming out ”I don’t believe that; I’m not all of that!” Remember that God loves and blesses you always, no matter what you do. Replace the story of the punishing God with one of a loving God. Let that be your daily focus.

For now, we want to direct our energy toward dealing with these “old stories”. They are simply things that happen in your life that cause you pain. It may be that you are not fully conscious of having a story. It might just feel like your experience. Something happened in your life and it hurt. You can feel where you are carrying that pain in your body, both when the event happened and when you recall it to your memory. That is an “old story”.  That is what we are talking about transforming through the use of Spiritual Alchemy. The five-step process will only work well if you decide that you don’t want the story anymore. You may have an unpleasant “old story” that you are not ready to let go of. That’s fine. Hold on to it as long as you wish. But, if you are ready to let go of what is painful in your life, you can do that. Be honest with yourself. Either way the story is serving you. You are not a victim. If you are ready, you can do the process.

There is something else I would like to say about this process of letting go of the “old story”. It is a habit to play your tale over and over in your head or through sharing it with others. Every time you revisit the “old story”, you give it energy; you feed it. It lives and it continues. If you have done the process and the story comes back, likely, there is another level of the energy to be transformed. Acknowledge it and redo the process. You don’t always get every bit of it at once. You transmute what you are able to each time. Eventually, the pain will all be gone from your body. Remember that you are not chasing the fear away, you are transforming it into love. Meanwhile the fear affects you on every level. Eventually it kills you. You leave and come back and do it again with a new plan. When you have made the decision to let go of the “old story”, really let it go. If the story comes back, repeat the process. To repeat the tale is to hold onto it. The only catharsis that comes from the retelling is to feel the pain that you are carrying, so that you can focus on it while doing the process. Otherwise, do not give attention to the story either mentally or verbally. Your story is fed when you receive pity from others. It can be a helpful self-discipline to simply stop. See what happens. Replace the “old story” with your divine story. Ask yourself how a divine child of God would react in your situation. In each moment you are choosing whether to feed love or fear. Be vigilant in noticing which you are giving life to. Don’t allow yourself to focus your mental energy on the ego’s fear.

You are love and you are loved. Keep your focus there. Step by step you are moving toward the full realization of your divinity. You will get there. That is a given. The five-step process merely accelerates the movement. Alleviating the suffering now; that is a choice. God only sees your divinity. Everything in this world is your creation. We encourage you to take your power and to use it, inspired by the love that you are. Have a wonderful now.

God Blesses You,

Sanhia 

How should I celebrate Christmas?

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I would like to talk about Christmas. This is the most important holiday in the western world. That is a confusing thing for some people, perhaps for many. Christmas is supposed to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus. However, Jesus was a Pisces and was born in March of 4 BC. Yes, that’s right. He was born four years ”Before Christ”. The Christian religion, however, chose December to celebrate Jesus’s birth. We want to state very clearly that Jesus had nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of Christianity. We’ll discuss more about that, later. The reason the holiday is observed in December is that as Christianity was developing and spreading in Europe, one of the most significant existing festivals had to do with the return of the light. This was more important in ancient agrarian times than it is today. Now you can always go to the store or open the refrigerator to find food. In those days there was only what had been saved from the previous harvest, along with any successes from hunting. It would be a long time until things began to grow again in the spring. In December the light was scarce, it was cold, and there was often concern about how long the food would last. The midwinter solstice was the longest night of the year. From then on, the light began to return. This brought about optimism and a revelry. There was fear about the dark and this festival expressed the hope that there would eventually be warmth, then growth and more food. Christianity co-opted this celebration, but chose to keep many of the old elements intact. That is why there are Christmas trees, elfish beings, lights, feasts, and more. That is why we have this holiday.

Let us take a look at Jesus. Certainly, the word Christmas contains” Christ”. Whether or not you consider yourself to be a Christian, and whether or not you believe in Jesus’s existence or divinity, you are well aware that Jesus is the reason for the holiday. As I have said, Jesus did not begin Christianity, and he would not have done so. The religion is not representative of his teachings. There is a small amount of Jesus that can be found there. If you read through the New Testament and look at the words that are attributed to him, perhaps twenty percent of them are in the ballpark of something he might have said. There are an equal number of things that are absolutely opposed to anything Jesus taught. Absolutely opposed. How do you know which is which? If you read those words – in some Bibles the words attributed to Jesus are in red, like someone has highlighted the juicy parts for you – take a deep breath after each statement and ask yourself if this fills you with feelings of unconditional love and lifts you up. Or, does it cause you to feel guilt or fear? If it does the latter, it is probably not an accurate representation of Jesus’s real words. When in doubt, throw it out.

I will tell you what I know about Jesus, both from being his disciple in my lifetime as Thomas and also from what I learned after he was no longer directly in my life (lives). I did write down many of the things that I heard him say. These writings have been referred to as The Gospel of Thomas, which was found in the 1940’s along with other ancient scrolls in the Egyptian desert. But, that version is not mine. That transcript had gone through several re-writings. Perhaps half of what is there was close to what I had written. Again, use your own guidance if you read this text. Coming back to Jesus – there are some things to say about him that are absolutely true, and that he said himself. He taught over and over that the way to find heaven was through unconditional love. It was not about doing ”right” things over ”wrong” things. It was not about judging or being judged. It was about being in a state of love. He also said that he was a child of God, created by God. He said that we were just the same as him, that we are no different. He was to us as an older brother, with more experience and wisdom, who was further along the path. Jesus saw the divinity in each person, whether or not the person was capable of recognizing that divinity. He did not teach that there were rules to be followed. He didn’t speak of the Ten Commandments. He did not make any statements about what people should do. He did not speak about roles that women should take in society, as opposed to men. He did not differentiate between people based on their religion, sexual orientation, state of servitude, or race. His primary tenets were unconditional love, forgiveness, and the honoring of personal divinity.

That is what can be celebrated at Christmas. It is not about the birth of a savior. Jesus would be the first to tell you that birth was not his beginning. He had always been and always would be, as you have always been and will always be. To make Jesus special, to make Jesus different, would go against the heart of his teaching. He said ”this and more you shall do”, that is, that whatever he did, we are capable of doing…and more! Make Jesus divine in your thoughts, but not at the cost of denying divinity to yourself. The observance of his birth is the celebration of his divine eternal spirit, which is also the honoring of your divine eternal spirit. It is at this time in the darkness of the year, in the coldness and the unfruitfulness of the season, that it can be helpful to reaffirm your divinity, to hold that light in the dark.

There is no need in your spiritual process to pay any attention to Christmas, whatsoever. It’s not necessary. Neither God nor Jesus will frown on you for not honoring the birthday. God does not operate in that way. He honors and celebrates whatever you choose to do and loves you without conditions, as does Jesus. It is for you with your inner guidance, to decide what to do with this day, if anything. But if you are thinking about Christmas, you can use the moment to align yourself with your brother, Jesus, remembering that he holds you always as his equal. His coming was not as a sacrifice, but was as an expression of love. Not only did he not die for your sins, he didn’t recognize your sins. Only you hold on to the energy of that. This can be a wonderful time to light a candle and to see the purity and the brilliance of the light that is you. Or find it in the fire you may be sitting before for warmth. For those of you who find yourself in the southern hemisphere, this celebration might feel more appropriate for you in June, in the dark of your year. However, the memorialization can happen at any time, in any month, or not at all. Follow your own heart. You can celebrate your eternal flame at any time.

God Blesses You,

Sanhia 

How do I deal with the religious conflict in the Middle East?

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We would like to further develop the previous message, What is a spiritual response to a world crisis?, beginning with the history of conflict in the area called the Middle East and how it ties in with religion, particularly the three major monotheistic ones: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The story begins with the oldest of the three, Judaism, and the tale, as told in the Old Testament, of Abraham. He was told to take his people to the land that is now Israel, and to begin a new religion that honored the one God. This land was not empty. From the outset we had somebody guided for religious reasons to take over a land that belonged to someone else. This Jewish god demanded obedience; there were severe consequences for breaking his laws. Years later, the story tells us, the Hebrews left and went to Egypt where they became enslaved, then, following generations of captivity, broke free behind Moses’ leadership. Forty years after this, they returned to the “Promised Land” and, again, other people were living there. In the name of god, they fought for and won this land. Over the next 1200 years there was a nearly constant state of war with other religions, mostly not monotheistic, for control of this land.

At times the Jews lost control and were subjugated. This was the case when Jesus was born, with the Romans controlling this land. Jesus was a Jew, we could say a rabbi, and not a Christian. He did not start a religion. But many who were not Jews began to follow some of his ideas, primarily through the influence of Paul. Thus, began the religion called Christianity, which was only loosely based on the words of Jesus. The half of his sayings that were eliminated were partially replaced by the inclusion of Old Testament, or Jewish beliefs. However, the wisdom of Jesus had little to do with the Ten Commandments or the idea of a “chosen people”. Jesus’s message was simply one of unconditional love and of personal divinity, that held everyone as divine. You love your enemy, because in truth you have no enemy. His teaching was at one with my teaching, as he was my teacher. However, historically, Christianity became the wolf in sheep’s clothing. The unconditional love and acceptance of Jesus transformed into a pattern of war and conquest.

Along came Mohammad and Islam, also tracing their roots to Judaism. Jesus was held as a prophet, but not as the son of God. On the one hand they were right; there is nothing special about Jesus over anyone else. What they missed, as did the Jews and the Christians, is that everyone else is as special as Jesus, that we are all sons and daughters of God. So, you had three different groups claiming to have the true knowledge of God, asserting ownership to the heart of their religion, Jerusalem. Over the years there has been a constant conflict over “the Holy Land”. When we talk about this dispute, we are not talking about all Jews, all Christians, and all Muslims. The clash is between those who could be called the fundamentalists of their respective religions. Fundamentalism results when fear is the basis of religious belief, rather than love. They are afraid of God and prostrate themselves before the divine. They do not respect themselves or see that they can find the truth within. Fundamentalists go to the sacred texts and claim them to be direct revelations of the thoughts of God. They try to find in the text the truth of what God wants them to do. They have the fear that the failure to do God’s bidding will bring His judgment down upon them.

Today, Jewish fundamentalism is responsible for many of the policies of the Israeli government and its refusal to provide a home for Islam in the Holy Land. Islamic fundamentalism is responsible for terrorism in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world. Christian fundamentalism, which has a particularly strong influence on the government of the United States, accepts neither Judaism nor Islam as true religions. Even in Europe are found judgments about Islam and Judaism, seeing the former as intolerant and terroristic, and the latter as controlling international money. That is the situation as it appears to exist today.

I am speaking to you as neither a Jew, a Muslim, nor a Christian, but as a divine child of God, because that is all there is. If you look at these three religions, you will find that the majority of their followers are not fundamentalists. They are trying to find a place of unconditional love and acceptance through the tenets of their religion. They want people to take care of each other. We have just heard the Pope come to the United States with a message to share the wealth, to work to end the vast differences between the haves and the have-nots. This has always been the message of Muhammad, as it has been a tradition within Judaism.

All of this comes back around to and hinges on the teachings of Jesus. Yes, Jesus said to take care of the poor, but his deepest message is the one that is the key to the whole situation in the Middle East. This was to love your enemy, and in fact to see, in truth, that you have no enemy. He was talking about the concept of the “mirror” as I have shared with you on many occasions. What you judge in another is what you judge in yourself. It can be no other way. To bring peace to the Middle East you first find it in your heart to love every single person there unconditionally. Let go of your judgment. Let go of your belief that any child of God could be a victim – not the refugees, not those who are imprisoned or tortured or murdered, not those soldiers who have been physically or emotionally damaged. There are no victims here. The way you care for people is by seeing the divinity in them. When you see their divinity, you cannot see them as a victim. You don’t have to travel to the Middle East to accomplish this peace. At the same time, as you hold on to your judgments, you are feeding the fire there.

Drop all stereotyping. If you notice that you are having thoughts about a person because of their religion, let them go. Let your thoughts be about the individual, rather than the group they represent. Then, look into that individual’s heart and see who he or she is as a unique child of God. If you find that there is a part that you have difficulty loving unconditionally, that is the part of yourself that you judge. Do the work on yourself, not on them. This is how you bring peace to the world. You don’t have to leave your own living room. It is not about arguing with others or convincing them. If you hear prejudicial statements, notice if they upset you. If they do, the healing is to take place within you, not within the other. Use some process to move the energy. It can be the five-step process, Ho’oponopono, A Course in Miracles, or whatever works for you. There is no one way. The belief that there is one way leads to fundamentalism. If you think that your spiritual techniques are superior, you are feeding the flames in the Middle East. It is okay. All on earth is illusion anyway. However, you  will not experience your own ascension while holding feelings of superiority or inferiority.

Remember that it isn’t real. In the atrocities that you hear or read about, no souls were injured in the production of that movie. These are all divine, immortal, eternal children of God. There is no damage. The part of you that feels that there was damage is the place to begin your healing. It is the place within you that doubts your own divinity and what Jesus taught when he said, “This and more you shall do”. This and more than what Jesus did. Let the peace begin with you. Know that it is all perfect. It is all as it should be, exactly what you need in order to experience your personal divinity.

God Blesses You,

Sanhia 

What is a spiritual response to a world crisis?

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As you are working with your own spiritual healing, realizing your personal ascension, and perhaps using the five-step process, there often seems to be a stark contrast between the spiritual work you are doing and what seems to be the “reality” the world is presenting you with. One of the current “realities” is connected to the situation in Syria. This appears to be a complex political situation. The Mideast was destabilized by the Afghani and Iraqi wars instigated by the United States. This led to the formation of terrorist groups in the former Iraq. These groups spilled over the border into Syria. The long-standing dictatorship in Syria began to experience a civil war. Of the groups opposing the regime, ISIS emerged as the strongest. For those of you who are intent on rescuing to make the world a better place and to supporting the “good guys”, it is hard to find a champion. In addition, an extremely large number of Syrians have felt that there was no choice for them, in order to protect themselves and their families, but to flee the country and to seek refuge elsewhere. Many of them have fled to Europe, because there were few good options in the Middle East. That is the stage that has been set.

The situation tends to trigger extreme reactions for some people. One response is, “How can we take care of all of these people? We have our own problems. We don’t want to accept more Muslims in our country because their ways and beliefs are so different. We would have to take care of them, which is expensive, and they don’t want to follow our laws or respect our way of life.” On the other hand are those who say, “Oh, these poor people. We have to do everything that we can to provide them with a safe haven, to help them to get there, and to assist them in starting their new lives.” Oh, and another response for many people is one of hopelessness. The inner voices might say, “What can I do? This is all too big for me to make a difference. It just isn’t my problem.” All of these viewpoints come out of a place of fear. For those who do not want to take on the responsibility of helping there is the fear of lack and the fear of becoming victims to the refugees. For those who want to take care of the refugees there is often guilt, which is a manifestation of fear. It is the belief that you have behaved badly and that you will be punished if you don’t somehow make up for it. This all comes out of the illusion that there was a “wrong” and that it, therefore, can be corrected. Hopelessness is the fear that one is powerless. The ultimate fear is of death. You can also reread What am I to do with death? for help in dealing with this issue.

It is time for us all to take a deep breath and to collectively take a giant step backward. Let’s look at this whole situation in a different light. First of all, it is absolutely essential to remember that whatever you see in the world is a projection of your ego. If you see chaos, if you see victims, if you see people who don’t deserve help because they are responsible for their own troubles, this is a projection of your ego and how you perceive yourself in the world. The first step to take in healing what feels to be enormous world problems, and specifically the situation in Syria with the refugees, is to look and see where your fear is attached. Take responsibility for it and realize that this is about you, not about them. Looking at the situation with unconditional love, taking full responsibility for your own life, you might consider Syria and say, “My, this is an interesting opportunity for healing that they have chosen for themselves.” You would not see victims. You would see powerful children of God who have collectively chosen to create a situation that forces them into enormous change. Such change always leaves wide open the opportunity for healing. In your own life, your greatest opportunities for healing often come in the face of what appears to be adversity.

Deal with your own fear that is triggered, perhaps using the five-step process, and see this as an enormous spiritual gift for the Syrian people as well as the people of all the countries that are also deeply affected. Then you can look at these people freed of your judgment, guilt, and the feeling that you have to do something to help. Rather, you can see their divinity and the opportunity they have created. You can go into a place in your heart and see if you are guided to support this healing process in some way. Only from this place of unconditional love and acceptance can you be guided to an action that will truly support the spiritual process of another. Remember that the solution to a problem is never about changing others or changing the outside. It is always about taking responsibility, about looking at the situation and acknowledging, “This is me”. The solution lies with healing yourself. If you absolutely succeed in that, your personal ascension will change the world.

This is an enormous challenge. It is one thing to choose to be a monk and to go into solitude to work on your spiritual process. It is another thing to stay in your community, your family, and your work where you are dealing with the energies of others and are exposed to much of what is transpiring in the world. But, this is the challenge that you have chosen, to be in the world but not of it. You might wish to go back and read two messages that dealt with world problems for further support: How can I change the world? and How do I deal with my environmental fears?. You have created Syria for your own healing. This a great gift and an opportunity for you. We encourage you to make the most of it and to find that unconditional love within you. And to live there.

God Blesses You,

Sanhia 

Do you believe in a punishing God?

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Let’s start by defining mass consciousness. Mass means a large number of people, though not all. Consciousness is the awareness that is in your mind. When you are unconscious of choosing your beliefs, you have surrendered your consciousness to the control of others. The ”others” can be called the mass consciousness. In any culture there are a set of beliefs that are held by most people in that society. If you are unconscious, you simply accept those beliefs and they run your life. Though in truth you are divine and powerful, you will manifest according to the illusion of reality of the mass consciousness, and thereby prove its correctness. It is an endless loop. Whatever you believe in, you create. Your ego says, ”See. I was right”. It is considered blasphemous to oppose the mass consciousness and to proclaim your personal divinity.

Perhaps the cornerstone of the mass consciousness in western society is the belief in a punishing God. Some of you may already be saying, ”Oh yes, I was raised with that, but I don’t believe in it anymore”. My question for you is, ”Are you so sure?” Let us start with the first peg. God is unconditionally loving. That is the simple truth. The idea of a punishing God is man-made, not a divine idea. God is unconditionally accepting. There is nothing you could say or do that would be blasphemous to God. Absolutely nothing. The only one who can provide consequences for your words, thoughts, and actions is you. Only you – not God, not other people. If you cannot accept the belief in a loving non-judging God, there is nothing more to say here. You are welcome to follow your life and to make the best that you can of it. However, you would not be here reading this message unless at least a part of you was open to accepting the truth about God. I am speaking to that part of you.

The next step, once you have changed your mind, is to move everything in your body you are holding that doesn’t believe in your innocence and your divinity. It is one thing to state the belief – and that does come first – but that is not mission accomplished. It is simply setting a course. The path you are traveling is across what you believe to be your separation from God. If you believe in an angry and judging God, the chasm is uncrossable. How can you approach something that you are terrified of? In that case, you do whatever you can to keep the lion away from you. Your choices include living in the way that you think God wants you to, in order to avoid punishment – or denying the existence of God altogether. Either choice is designed to keep God away, not to bring God closer. That is what keeps you safe, in this illusion of an angry God. Being ”good” is a way to deflect God’s attention. You also want to hide what you think are your transgressions, both from God and from yourself.

The following step is to realize that that there is no such thing as a sin. There is no such thing as doing something bad that needs punishment. Sin is an illusion of the ego. If there is no judging God, there cannot be sin. You are off the hook. You have the absolute freedom to do anything you want. God will never judge you. This idea of good and bad, and right and wrong, is man-made. This thought can bring a level of terror to you. Because you haven’t fully accepted the truth of love as the ruling aspect of the universe, your ego in its fear says that people would be out raping, murdering, stealing, and God knows what else. You are terrified of the chaos that such a world would bring. Take a deep breath and feel that part of you. Ask yourself what part of unconditional love would want to kill or be killed, or to be involved with stealing, raping, or punishing? What part of unconditional love would wish to bring harm to anyone or would deny you whatever it is that you want? What part of unconditional love would create scarcity so you’re going to have to fight over what’s there?

Whenever these fears arise of what would happen if there were no rules of right and wrong, no judgments, and consequences, they arise out of the belief in a punishing God. If the energy that created you is unconditional love, how could you be anything else? How can the creation of a loving God be sinful? You have accepted the mass consciousness that God is angry and judging, and you are punishing yourself before God can get a chance to. You create sickness, financial struggle, relationship problems, victimization, trade-offs, and, finally, death.

First accept a loving God, accept your sinlessness, and give up your guilt. Forgive yourself for everything including your judgment of yourself and of God. Of course, there is truly nothing to forgive. God is not judging, but, because you are, it is a helpful step to take. Since you believe there is something to forgive, continue forgiving until you realize there is nothing to forgive. We would improvise slightly on the maxim ”To err is human, to forgive is divine”, changing it to ”To believe in error is human, to forgive is divine”. We could say that the state of divinity is the state of constant forgiveness. Forgiveness becomes acceptance.

Now we come to the place where we arrive in every message. If you are trying to work through all of this with your brain-mind only, you are still holding on to mass consciousness energy. Your brain-mind does not have the ability to let it all go. At best, it can convince you that you can experience your divinity and that God might not be punishing. You will still draw in the illusion of punishment, because deep within your body you still hold the belief in a punishing God. One way to move this is by giving it to your belly-mind by doing the five-step process. There is no should, or right or wrong, about doing this. Use any other technique that leaves you experiencing unconditional love. There does not need to be a great deal of struggle in whatever procedure you use. To use no method delays your experience of unconditional love. You deserve to feel unconditionally loved all of the time. Whenever the feelings of fear are felt in your body, go to the website and listen to the recording. Allow yourself to be guided through the process. You can also lead yourself through it or ask the support of a friend. Transform that fear into the love that is truly you. When you do the five-step process you are allowing yourself to fully feel the unconditional love of God, instead of the judgment and struggle of the ego. I will end by giving you my judgment of you. You are divine. You are loved, unconditionally. Always. No matter what you say, no matter what you think, no matter what you do. Your birthright is unconditional love.

God Blesses You,

Sanhia 

How can I reduce stress in my life?

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When you don’t see perfection in everything that is happening around you, or when you don’t experience the divinity in yourself and others, you may think that you have to fix things. You often feel that the responsibility lies with you and a heavy weight descends upon your shoulders. It seems that you must deal with all of these challenges and with the ”idiots” surrounding you. It appears that you have to protect yourself from the latter, avoid them, or attempt to control them, so that they don’t ruin this great effort you are making to create perfection. It sounds like a tough job. I’m glad I don’t have to take that one on.

Your life becomes such a struggle that you lose sight of how total, constant, and unending the battle is. You try to reduce the amounts of stress you are aware of to a level that is bearable, but no matter how much you are able to alleviate situations, life remains a battle. This struggle is your creation. You are choosing to have hell on earth. No matter how much you let go of, the inferno remains. The questions is, ”Why are you creating hell on earth to begin with?” You can see divinity and perfection, or you can choose to fight. We have spent the past two messages focusing on the former, so let’s try working from another side this time. You don’t have to see the divinity in another, when they seem to act as your trigger. Nor do you have to see the perfection of what is happening, to give up your resistance. Just say NO to struggle. Decide to stop fighting. Let go of it. Decide that there is nothing that is so important that it requires straining.

If today were the last day you were going to be in this body, would you spend it in struggle and stress over little things? This is one acid test to see if struggle is involved in your day. Ease up on yourself. As you become aware that you are struggling, take a deep breath and relax. Go do something that does not feel like struggle, something that feels like fun, or joy, or even ecstasy. What would you truly rather be doing right now?

Buried deep in your consciousness is the belief that your very existence depends upon struggle, that if you don’t fight to survive you will simply go down – for the third time. And that’s it. Your whole life is defined by separation from divinity. Your brain-mind is full of reasons why you have stress. Things have to be done, it argues. This is a story of separation from the divine, a belief in your weakness. Argue for your limitations and they are yours. You are that powerful. The ego arguments for struggle are very rational to your brain-mind. There is no end of them. You will carry them to your grave. Or, you can just say NO. You can refuse to listen to them. You can change your mind. This might throw you into such terror that it will be best to do the five-step process. Eventually, you will be able to choose your passions over your guilt and fear with greater ease. The first step, as always, is to have the intention to give up the fight. Remember that what you are fighting against is always an illusion. It is never the truth.

There are two primary places where you can get stuck. One is the belief that the nature of life is simply that you have to struggle. You think you have no choice but to work at something you don’t like, that you are required to do all these things you don’t want to do merely to survive. If you want to do better than just subsist, it seems you have to strain even more. Look how much hassle is involved just to go have fun on a vacation. The other belief is that anytime somebody else is involved with what you are doing, there will be a battle. You anticipate working together as a challenge and relationships as hard work. That’s the story. It is a belief in struggle. You don’t have to do it anymore. The battle is totally within you. Nobody else can force you to fight. Every time that you give up a little piece of this resistance you realize a little more of what true joy can be like. If you absolutely give up control, you can sense your divine nature right here, right now.

You have experienced this. You have had moments when you were at peace and your brain-mind was at rest, not wrestling with any devils at all. You were enjoying what was there right then, feeling the unconditional love of the belly-mind. You feel that when you finish the second step of the process. But you have the story that it is not practical to stay there all of the time. You wonder how you could get anything done, how you could survive. On the other hand, when you believe that there is nothing but struggle, you begin to call for and welcome your death on a subtle level. Nobody wants to live forever if survival means constant stress. Let’s talk about what true responsibility is. You are responsible for choosing your reality. You are not responsible for taking whatever steps are necessary for making your reality happen. Spirit does that for you. Let it. There was an advertising program for an American busing company back in the 60’s. The image was a powerful, comfortable bus with a competent, professional driver. The voice-over said, ”Leave the driving to us.” The ad implied that you would enjoy the ride, have fun, relax, be safe and protected, and arrive well rested. In your mind, hear Spirit saying, “Leave the struggle to us.”

God Blesses You,

Sanhia