There was nothing unusual about that particular autumn morning fifteen years ago. I had stayed overnight in a little apartment above a friend’s garage, and got up around 8am to sit for awhile in a nice lazy-boy rocking chair. Out of the blue, a disembodied male voice spoke to me: “We are here for you. As you struggle with good and evil in your world, we too push against the dark forces in our subtle realm. We are here to help you.” I had not asked for this type of help as far as I could remember. I wasn’t expecting a ‘voice from above.’ But, there it was.
Like everyone, I have voices in my head which are speaking all the time. But those are my voices. This was clearly another being communicating to me. Although this had never happened to me before, there was absolutely no doubt that someone other than me was speaking inside my head. I assumed that he was an angel or some type of higher being because of the authority in his voice, the pure feeling of his presence and the content of his communication. And for some unknown reason, he seemed to have a message for me. Later, I learned that the word angel means “messenger.”
Surprisingly, I was less afraid or shocked than inquisitive. I had often thought about beings from the subtle realm. I believed in them, but wondered why they seemed to be so absent to most of us most of the time. So without thinking, I asked a question internally: “OK, but why do you make it so hard to get that help, to receive messages from you?” I was really thinking, ‘why don’t you just walk in, sit down, and tell us how we can do things better? Why do you seem so obscure?’
His simple answer surprised me, “Because you’re too rude.” It took me awhile to understand what he meant. I’m not sure even today that I know for sure. But what I concluded intuitively about that message is as follows. We, in this world of space and time, are usually very absorbed in dense matter energies. Our earthly cultures tend to accentuate the physical and minimize the ethereal. A person who is more interested in the subtle or the unseen world is generally seen as either having their ‘head in the clouds’ at best or as a strange or bizarre person at worst.
But apparently an angelic being was telling me that the reason I and others were not getting the help, guidance and support we could use down here is because of our rudeness, which I interpreted as ‘crudeness.’ I have thought about earth analogies to the angel’s answer over the years. For example, suppose a group of people have come to a gathering to discuss philosophical or spiritual matters. If an alcohol or drug intoxicated man stumbles into the room and attempts to join the conversation, there will be a problem. Even though the group may wish the man no harm, he will not be able to commune with them, to listen and receive the information being shared. In his crude state of awareness, it will be impossible to grasp and understand the subtle nature of the conversation.
We may be sincere in wanting to receive direct grace and guidance from subtle realms. But without cultivating higher consciousness, it will be impossible in most cases. Of course angels and other higher beings may intervene unilaterally, and sometimes they do in unusual ways. We may note, however, due to free will, that angels will not usually share unless invited by invocation, and by a requesting person who is in the proper state to receive their subtle messages.
The moral of my story is this: there are higher realms which interpenetrate our world. The ‘good beings’ of these realms are able and willing to give us messages and inspiration in our struggles for good on the earth. But, without qualifying ourselves by setting our spiritual antennae to a refined state of awareness, to a proper ‘spiritual frequency,’ we will be unlikely to receive the communications being broadcast for our benefit.
This is why the great teachers of our world spiritual traditions have encouraged us to purify our consciousness through prayer, pure thoughts and deeds, and various other religious practices. What we see, what we eat, what we think and speak, who we associate with, how we spend our time, what we surround ourselves with—all of these are not simply the ‘do’s and don’ts’ of an outdated morality.
These practices are instead pragmatic means by which we may qualify ourselves to enter into an ongoing communion with the angels, the devas, or other higher beings who act as messengers of God for our benefit and for the benefit of the world.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Messengers,part II: Looking for Us
I have come to believe that angels, or messengers from more refined realms, are out ‘looking’ for us--seeking to point us toward a heavenly home world, or at least to a more heavenly consciousness on earth. I have reached this conclusion from my own personal experiences as well as years of listening to people nearing death recounting interactions and communications with angels or higher beings. In most of these 'nearing death' experiences, higher beings offer to help human beings find their way back to the spirit world.
If we assume that messengers of Heaven are out looking for us, we may then return to the question of why it seems somewhat rare that these meetings take place (except for nearing death experiences). I suggested earlier that one reason the angels don’t ‘find us’ very often is our state of consciousness---we are too absorbed in earthly affairs, our 'line is busy’ talking about the things of the world so that heavenly callers can’t get through to us.
A metaphor may help us understand why these human-angel interactions are rare. Suppose a rebellious teenager leaves home. Perhaps she leaves Kansas and hitchhikes out to California to become a movie star. If that young woman wants to stay ‘lost’ from her parents and friends, there are ways that she can do it. She will not call or answer calls. She will not give an address or a location. She will become absorbed in California living and try hard to forget her life in Kansas. She wants to be free, independent, ‘on her own.’
Perhaps her parents could find her, but they know that she will only run away again. She is using her free will to remain lost. They hope that she’ll return home when her days of California dreamin’ have faded. One day she will see Hollywood for what it is, and return home to the ones who love her---to her family.
The Biblical story of the Prodigal Son tells a similar tale of a son who left his kind and loving father to ‘sow his wild oats.’ He eventually tires of his shallow life. He 'hits bottom' and returns home of his free will. The 'lost son' is immediately embraced by his joy-filled father.
These stories are appropriate metaphors for we who find ourselves having wandered from our home world of spirit, currently moving here and there within space and time, birthing and dying within the material universe.
There seem to be at least two types of souls who remain ‘lost’ from the spirit world: (1) those who are outright rebellious, embracing this world as their one and only home, and (2) those who feel orphaned, abandoned or unworthy, not believing that they have a higher home. Both souls have a form of spiritual amnesia, having forgotten their transcendent identity, temporarily thinking themselves to be only physical beings of the earth, rather than magnificent spiritual beings on a journey away from home.
So, here we are. Angels of God are out looking for us, ready to offer help to improve our lives here and guide us toward our home of perfect peace and joy at life’s end. The question is: do we want to be found?
If we assume that messengers of Heaven are out looking for us, we may then return to the question of why it seems somewhat rare that these meetings take place (except for nearing death experiences). I suggested earlier that one reason the angels don’t ‘find us’ very often is our state of consciousness---we are too absorbed in earthly affairs, our 'line is busy’ talking about the things of the world so that heavenly callers can’t get through to us.
A metaphor may help us understand why these human-angel interactions are rare. Suppose a rebellious teenager leaves home. Perhaps she leaves Kansas and hitchhikes out to California to become a movie star. If that young woman wants to stay ‘lost’ from her parents and friends, there are ways that she can do it. She will not call or answer calls. She will not give an address or a location. She will become absorbed in California living and try hard to forget her life in Kansas. She wants to be free, independent, ‘on her own.’
Perhaps her parents could find her, but they know that she will only run away again. She is using her free will to remain lost. They hope that she’ll return home when her days of California dreamin’ have faded. One day she will see Hollywood for what it is, and return home to the ones who love her---to her family.
The Biblical story of the Prodigal Son tells a similar tale of a son who left his kind and loving father to ‘sow his wild oats.’ He eventually tires of his shallow life. He 'hits bottom' and returns home of his free will. The 'lost son' is immediately embraced by his joy-filled father.
These stories are appropriate metaphors for we who find ourselves having wandered from our home world of spirit, currently moving here and there within space and time, birthing and dying within the material universe.
There seem to be at least two types of souls who remain ‘lost’ from the spirit world: (1) those who are outright rebellious, embracing this world as their one and only home, and (2) those who feel orphaned, abandoned or unworthy, not believing that they have a higher home. Both souls have a form of spiritual amnesia, having forgotten their transcendent identity, temporarily thinking themselves to be only physical beings of the earth, rather than magnificent spiritual beings on a journey away from home.
So, here we are. Angels of God are out looking for us, ready to offer help to improve our lives here and guide us toward our home of perfect peace and joy at life’s end. The question is: do we want to be found?
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