the Bodhisattva vow can be seen as a method for control that is in alignment with, and informed by, the understanding that singular and enduring control agents do not actually exist. To see that, it is useful to consider what it might be like to have the freedom to control what thought one had next.

Your future self will judge its past self (you!) as unreliable.

We report the first neural recording during ecstatic meditations called jhanas and test whether a brain reward system plays a rolein the joy reported. Jhanas are Altered States of Consciousness (ASC) that imply major brain changes based on subjective reports:(1) external awareness dims, (2) internal verbalizations fade, (3) the sense of personal boundaries is altered, (4) attention is highlyfocused on the object of meditation, and (5) joy increases to high levels. The fMRI and EEG results from an experienced meditatorshow changes in brain activity in 11 regions shown to be associated with the subjective reports, and these changes occur promptlyafter jhana is entered. In particular, the extreme joy is associated not only with activation of cortical processes but also with activationof the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in the dopamine/opioid reward system. We test three mechanisms by which the subject mightstimulate his own reward system by external means and reject all three. Taken together, these results demonstrate an apparentlynovel method of self-stimulating a brain reward system using only internal mental processes in a highly trained subject.

A part of one’s learning journey, then, is learning that comes by way of critical self-reflection.

my people

Flora Hogman conducted a case study of Second and Third-Generation, and in her sample of the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors she noticed that they feel a sense of pride and awe of the survivors. This awareness of the suffering is part of the fabric of their lives, but is channeled into empathy, political activism, greater consciousness of others suffering, and a reluctance to intermarry.

Trauma victims cannot recover until they become familiar with and befriend the sensations in their bodies. Being frightened means that you live in a body that is always on guard. Angry people live in angry bodies. The bodies of child-abuse victims are tense and defensive until they find a way to relax and feel safe. In order to change, people need to become aware of their sensations and the way that their bodies interact with the world around them. Physical self-awareness is the first step in releasing the tyranny of the past.

setting up objectives

It is for this reason that Substance must be activated from the standpoint of your experience of Being as Conscious Being. In other words, the activation of that energy field called Substance, in order to be fulfilled, must originate while you are experiencing your Being as Conscious Being, Fourth-dimensional Awareness, Awareness from that Place. For the sake of convenience, you can call that Place the Center of your Being.

The conclusion that you are coming to is correct. The only appearance of the Christ that is worth a hill of beans for you is that dawning in your own experience of your own perception of Reality. It comes as the result of being the Door. It literally doesn’t matter one way or the other whether Maitreya returns or not.

The degree of enlightenment/belief each one is at will govern the degree to which Maitreya will have followers or co-workers. Those who are enlightened will continue to pursue their own inner, unfolding Self-discovery. As that growth takes place, they will become co-facilitators in one form or another, working shoulder to shoulder with Maitreya. They will not be blinded by what He is, because they will recognize that He is what They are, and that They are what He is to some degree.

They could not conceive that it was themselves, so it had to be someone else, someone else new and small.

It is time for you to move forward being consciously and completely aware of your Self as Conscious Being, no longer a “material being.” I say that for you, because you understand that I am not speaking about being a mortal. It is a matter of the focal point.

As we go along and you have become conscious of the Body of Consciousness through observation, through your method of meditation, and through your healing work, your Self-awareness will allow me to speak about further things.

I see you caught the meaning when I used the word, “subjective” there. You are learning to value that which is subjective in the way you used to value that which was objective. You have known that it is practical to be objective about things. Now you are learning that it is practical to be subjective about things, and it would be well for you to replace the word “objective” in your thought and your reasoning and thinking with the word “subjective.“ You must learn to be extremely subjective about things, because when you are being subjective about them you are able to experience their meanings, and not what they appear to be. Experiencing their meanings will allow you to respond appropriately, to perceive appropriately, and to conduct yourself in a way that is harmonious with the totality of your Self. “Subjective” means to be Truly Aware, not to be unaware.