Lesson from Djwhal Khul Sept 2009

Plane-to-Plane Memorandum
To: My Beloved Students
From: Master Djwhal Khul
Subject:

September 2009 Lesson
Date: August 27, 2009

Beloved Students:

I greet you in the wonder and magnificence of a planet in change, and I celebrate with you the amazing opportunities that are unfolding in the collective human journey. As you celebrate the autumnal equinox this year, may each of you know true balance in your life. May you open to the exquisite forces that now come forth, and may you dedicate both your learning and your spiritual transformation to Earth and all Her precious beings.

As you contemplate your personal journey, what new level of balance are you observing? Are you witnessing your own progress easily, or is the business of attaining greater balance still a bit of a mystery for you? Whatever your perceived condition of the moment, remember: it is never too late to choose balance (over chaos) as the rule and measure for your beautiful life.

As we near our annual Peace Convocation, I hope each of you is at peace with your personal growth and spiritual progress thus far in 2009. You will, of course, certainly have additional opportunities this year to enhance your current level of balance and apply your accomplishments in all areas of your life. The important thing now, however, is to celebrate your accomplishments, and to do so with the magnificence and grace of your true nature.

As you bear witness to your spiritual progress, it is important to periodically recommit to your personal growth intentions. As you must surely know by now, I am always in favor of “raising the bar,” since doing so demonstrates your commitment to creating your way to the next level of spiritual attainment. Indeed, many people may have lost some ground, spiritually speaking, in the chaotic intensity of 2008/09. Maintaining continuous focus on personal balance, however, will help you remain calm and serene – no matter how complicated and intense life may prove.

Therefore, to negotiate these times well, it is probably important to be fully aware of your commitments to yourself. I say this not to en-courage self-importance, nor any kind of ego inflation, but to bring to light a latent tendency for some of you. I have noticed that some of my students are good at keeping their commitments to others, but fall down a bit on keeping their commitments to themselves.

I suggest that each of you take a moment to consider whether such might be true for you. Do you find that you effort significantly to keep your commitments of time and tasks to other people, but become negligent about the commitments you make to yourself? Do you have difficulty finding time for your personal spiritual practice because you feel torn by commitments to family, friends and your work? If so, please know that you have a lot of company!

While I am certainly not suggesting that you break commitments made to others simply to clear your schedule, I do think it is important to consider whether or not your ego may use those commitments to others to override (or ignore altogether) the important spiritual promises you have made to yourself. Know that those egos are highly adept at finding ways to skirt issues that pertain to one’s spiritual development. In truth, egos have skillfully demonstrated this adept faculty for ages.

How do egos do this? Often, egos have a way (or several ways) of reinforcing the old notion that you are separate from other beings. The stronger the sense of duality seems, the easier it is for the ego to reflect duality to engage com-paring mind. Its goal is to pit commitments made to yourself against commitments made to others. Then, the ego will likely entreat you to accept an either/or position that compels a choice between spiritual service rendered to others and spiritual service rendered toward your own enlightenment. The ego can be very convincing, and if you are not ever mindful of its machinations, you may find yourself thoughtlessly following its lead.

While it is not quite accurate to say the ego is to blame, I think we can probably agree that it is pretty good at finding ways to convince you of its most prized arguments. It is so good, in fact, that you often do not even question it. Perhaps it has held sway in your experiential realm for lifetimes, and its forcefulness is so trance-inducing that you simply remain asleep, even though your intentions are to become fully awakened in all areas of your life.

Perhaps this is the perfect time to take stock of commitments to yourself that may have fallen through the cracks in your busy life. Perhaps you have felt over-burdened with the number of responsibilities you may have. I notice that many of you are experiencing stress at levels you have never previously experienced, and that can indeed make for a difficult time in sorting out all those commitments. I also notice that to cope with the stress and the commitments, many of you simply try to put the matter out of mind. This strategy, at the very least, seems better than continually beating yourself up with critical mind.

The problem here is that ignoring the matter does not solve it. You will likely still feel over-burdened, and the ego will try to convince you to simply avoid thinking about that, as well. Suspended over time, this practice can give rise to considerable denial, which only complicates things further by leaving you feeling not only overwhelmed, but also depressed. If you know depression, you probably also know its presence can trigger further feelings of guilt and confusion rather than providing a sense of accomplishment or confidence in your spiritual path.

Lacking confidence in your path may bring up many different types of mental afflictions: fear, anger, hesitation, even hostility and disrespect for both yourself and all others who are on spiritual paths. While it would not be accurate to say that depression is the cause for the succeeding emotional states here mentioned, it is fair to say that in the midst of so many potential emotional influences, most folks might miss the underlying consideration altogether: that of not keeping their personal spiritual commitments to themselves.

Additionally, there may also be challenges in stabilizing balance between their inner and outer worlds. I have noticed that some of my students keep their commitments to others out of a sense of guilt, which can also lead to un-pleasant mental states. When a commitment is kept out of a sense of obligation, it is no longer a gift to the other person. Rather, it becomes a burden to the one keeping the commitment/ obligation. Some would argue that commitments to others are indeed obligations – obligations to keep one’s word. While this is of course true, if one cannot keep one’s commitments to others with a generous spirit, then perhaps those commitments, and the meaning behind them, should be examined further.

While I am not suggesting that reneging on commitments is appropriate, I am putting forth that ruthless self-examination is always appropriate. However, the point of ruthless self-examination is not to cultivate a sense of guilt, but to learn balance in the area of commitments, and competence in keeping commitments made to one’s self.

Please join me this month in listening to the lecture I recently recorded for you, entitled Supreme Balance. In it I have given some suggestions for preparing for this year’s Peace Convocation, and some additional thoughts on this business of keeping the commitments you make to yourselves. While this may seem a small thing to some of you, it turns out to be a major spiritual stumbling block for many people.

Your loving Teacher,

Djwhal Khul