Observations placeholder

Out on a Limb – Shirley MacLaine

 “Will there be any more inquiries then?" asked John. I looked out at the blinking lights of the fishing boat. I thought of some of the people I had talked to who found me naïve and gullible for even considering the believability of disembodied spiritual masters speaking through a medium. How could I fall for such stuff, they said. I had always replied that I felt I was simply learning. I wasn’t sure what it meant really but it somehow confirmed to me that there were more dimensions to the reality of life than one understood-in somewhat the same way that the dimensions of our own personalities and characters were a mystery to us until we began to explore those aspects which we were not familiar with and certainly were not aware of because we couldn't "see" them.

But why did I feel more comfortable than some others in allowing myself to explore dimensions of unprovable possibilities? I really didn't know. It just felt all right. That's all I could say. It didn't threaten me. It didn't upset my emotional investment in what I was already -sure was real: it did not seem to destroy my image of myself. This whole exploration simply seemed to be expanding what my perceptions of reality already were. So I wondered, then, why some of my friends, and Gerry in particular found this pursuit of a new knowledge along spiritual paths, through mediums and reincarnation, so threatening in terms of my credibility. Why were they 'so worried for me?

Out of love and protectiveness certainly. They didn’t want to see me ridiculed-any more than I did. But it was more than that. They were also threatened themselves. Why! Why not ask questions seriously and delve into areas and possibilities that were not necessarily "provable"? What "real" harm could it do? Would it shatter the conditioned images they had of themselves? Would it confuse their own views of "reality"? I turned over onto my knees.

"John," I said, why do so many people-find this phenomenon of trance channeling a disembodied master such as yourself through a human instrument so unacceptable?" There was a slight pause.

"Because," he said, "they do not remember the experience of having been disembodied themselves People think that life is the totality of everything they see.-They believe that man himself is simply a body and a brain. But personality is more."

"How do you mean?"

"Personality is the intangible aspect of consciousness which is only lodged in the body for a brief period of cosmic time."

"But they don't believe that concept is real."

 "Real?" asked John. "Is a thought not real? Yet how does one scientifically prove that? Thought is energy. Those who question the physical existence of a thought, or of thought energy, question with deep scepticism their own identities."

"Yes, but aren't questions good? I mean, absolute certainty in something creates egomania and corruptive power.”

"That is correct. But it is worrisome when skepticism becomes so profound and demoralizing that it restricts the potential of learning glorious truths which would be in their favor."

"But how can I convey to them that being open-minded is actually wise?"

"You do not have to do that. You who are open-minded simply say what is from your point of view. Give the skeptics the freedom to be skeptical. If you did not I would accuse you of being an enslaver. Give them the privilege of continuing their doubt. There will come a time when they too will want to know and they will be drawn to dimensions which are more true. They will seek a greater counsel when they are ready. If people insist upon remaining within their "logical" belief systems they are safe within their own perceived reality, and thus are safe within the position of power they hold, whatever that power might be. They will not change their perceptions and thus be required to change themselves or grow into an expanded awareness of themselves."

"But what about the security of one's ego?" I asked.

"Most people are suffering from altered egos. Altered by society, by the Church, and by education. Their true egos know the truth. I am as believable as anyone else. You cannot see me but there are many aspects of yourself that you cannot see either. People are searching for these aspects in themselves every day. But while they search they require that their worlds remain secure. To believe I am as real as they would be to deter them from their comfort zones-the zones they understand and can control. When you begin to understand more you are essentially understanding that there is so much more to understand that is beyond your grasp."

"No, but that isn't what people say to me. What they tell me is that the whole theory of reincarnation is too tidy. They say it is too simple-minded to be real."

“As I have said before to you: the truth is simple. It is man who insists on making it complicated. And man cannot just learn the truth as one would learn a lesson. He must .experience aspects of it in himself in order to go further. Learning and experiencing the truth of itself is a struggle. A struggle toward simple awareness. You must remember that the natural habitat of the human is not Earth; the natural habitat of human beings is the ether. Each individual already knows the Divine truth: They have simply complicated it and forgotten that they know it."

"But my intellectual friends say that believing one knows the truth is the ultimate act of arrogance."

“Each person knows his own truth. That is correct. But the only truth that matters is the truth of the relationship that one has with the source, or the God force. And that truth is limited when intellectual skepticism is applied to it. Because one does not need intellect to-know God. In that respect all individuals are equal. Your intellectuals seek to separate themselves from the masses in order to feel elite. They rely more on their intellect than they do on the God force within themselves. Many people, and not only intellectuals, are embarrassed to acknowledge the spark of Divinity within themselves. But the intellectual -skeptics are more likely to be conflicted, confused and unhappy within themselves. AII people-seek peace. The path to inner peace is not through the intellect but through the inner heart. Within the inner heart one finds God, peace and oneself. Intellectual skeptics avoid themselves. The self, however, knows the Divine truth because the self is itself Divine. Is this to your understanding?”

I sat up feeling that, yes, I did understand. None of this felt religious either, It just made sense. And I could not understand why some others I knew had to make such a big deal of it either couldn't understand or didn't want to. "Why are there wars, John? What causes people to want to conquer others?”

"Because those who feel the need to conquer do not understand the truth of themselves. However, if a closed-minded tyrant is exposed to inner knowingness, inner awareness, he soon loses the intent of his conquest. He sees how vast he really is and does not need to secure his own immortality by conquering others. When the human mind experiences an expansion of dimensions on many levels it becomes more peaceful, more satisfied. The skeptic’s view of higher knowledge of self is most limiting. Your dogmatic religions, for example, are most limiting for mankind because they demand unquestioned reverence for authority-an exterior authority. You are God. You know you are Divine. But you must continually remember your Divinity and, most important, act accordingly."

"John, you mentioned extraterrestrials before. I don't quite know what to think about that, but are they involved with the same struggle of inner knowingness?"

"That is correct," said john, "perhaps they are operating, at least some of them, on a higher level of awareness and a higher level of technology also. But they are not to be revered as Godlike. They are merely teachers. They have visited your Earth over the eons to bring knowledge and spiritual truth because they have found through the evolution of time that the spiritual understanding of the individual is the only understanding required for peace. All other knowledge stems from that."

"And the possible extraterrestrial references in the Bible were real? I mean in Ezekiel and all that?"

"That is correct. They appeared at that time on your Earth to bring higher knowledge of God and spiritual love. They always appear when they are most needed. They serve as a symbol of hope and higher understanding."

“'Will I ever meet one?" There was a pause.

“'We will speak of these matters again at another time. Think about what I have said and what you are willing to learn. Will that be all for now?"

My mind felt so stuffed I had to say yes. “Thank you, John," I said, "whoever you are. I just can't think of anything else right now. I have to absorb what you've said."

"Very well," said John. "Seek to be at peace with yourself and with God and his work, for you are part of that work. God bless you."