This Q&A with John-Roger was originally published in the New Day Herald in November, 1996.
Q: Several years ago, I was dealing with a situation that was very difficult for me, and my life just seemed “ruined.” When I wrote to you, you said that I had opened a “karmic flow.” I’d like to know how a person “opens” a karmic flow, so I can avoid doing that again.
J-R: Being in a karmic flow is not an easy situation to handle. It may not seem like it, but starting one is a matter of choice. Sometimes you hold on to something that is not for your highest good, even after getting feedback about that. The way it can often start is that you are already tied to the situation karmically, making it difficult to get out of – but not impossible.
People who are oriented toward listening to their feelings can sometimes have the most difficulty with this, as they are accustomed to listening to and following their feelings for a sense of what is “right” for them. The feelings can be a vehicle for intuition and spiritual guidance. However, when the emotions get attached and involved with someone or something, they can create so much static that you may not be able to hear the quiet of your inner wisdom. It can get very tricky.
People who are oriented to the mind can also run into difficulties. They may have developed great mental clarity, which can become clouded when attachments or desires are involved.
So the problem usually comes down to the level of attachment you have to a situation or person. Sometimes you just want someone or something so badly that you will use all your resources, inner and outer, to support you in getting it/ them. If you put things into the Light, and then hold on like hell to what it is you want, then when the Light comes in, it throws up the negativity or attachment, and you with it. It is in your attachment that you open the karmic flow.
This world is a place of learning and growing. You may not have liked an experience, but you can gain wisdom if you hold the attitude of learning from it.
Remember that nothing is done to truly hurt or harm you, and you are always loved, even in the difficult times. Do your spiritual exercises, even if you don’t feel like it or you feel as though they are not working for you. Read your Discourses. Serve where you can with a grateful heart. Remember seeding and tithing as physical actions that strengthen your connection with Spirit. These are just a few of the tools that have been given to assist you along the way.
Q: Sometimes I feel as if I have emotions, thoughts, or even physical sensations that are not mine, and I think I may be picking them up from others. Is there a way I can clear these?
J-R: There is a technique that you can use to clear people, places, things, etc., from yourself. You put the palm of one hand over your forehead and say the name of the person (or whatever, let’s call it X) and then say, “Anything from or through X. Clear, disengage, disconnect.” (You can also say something like “cut off,” or any other verb that gets across, to you, what you’d like to take place.) Then, while your hand is still on your forehead, you ask that this be done through the Traveler, Christ, and Holy Spirit, and have the intention that it will clear completely. That’s it. You might take in a deep breath or two, but you don’t need to concentrate intently because whatever is going to happen is going to be done through the Spirit. After you have cleared something, immediately place the Light in and around you; then just let go of whatever it was you cleared and don’t look to see if it is still there or not.
You may find that this clears whatever it is, or you may find that after about 5 or 10 minutes or so, you feel you need to do it again, at which time you can just repeat it. Sometimes these essences clear one at a time, so you might be doing it until all of them are gone. In addition, sometimes it may take quite a few times to clear some of these things; they come off like a peeled onion.
One other thing: when clearing a person, you may have to say the person’s name backwards. In other words, say you are clearing “John Smith.” You may also need to say “Smith John” when you do it, because the name has gone in “backwards.”
Q: I was in a home recently that had been built over an old cemetery. The residents described many sightings of ghosts, etc. What is the best way to minister to earth-bound ghosts? I set a Light-column, sent Light and said a quick prayer. Anything else I could do if I find myself in such a place again?
J-R: Everything that you did was fine. In a situation like this, if the residents are open to it, there could be a house blessing with other ministers in attendance. You can also ask the Great White Brotherhood for spiritual assistance.
Q: I have given up a lot of things over the last few years that were keeping me under the law in order to live more in grace. But I think I somehow make it hard to be in grace. What does living in “grace & ease” mean and how can I do it?
J-R: It sounds as though you are moving in the right direction when you describe the things you have given up. But I think maybe you’re looking for grace to be like some temple in the sky that you sit in all day. You might think, “That would be nice,” but the truth is, no it wouldn’t, because you have a body you have to walk around in.
Grace is not hard. If it’s starting to be hard, you are under the law. So you even have to give up the struggle of going for grace and just say, well, I’m not going to go for grace. I’m going to give that up. And that might be the thing that releases you so you can experience it. It isn’t something you go for as much as it’s something you allow, you just let it become.
You may not know it is happening. You want it to come like thunder, lightning or a big train so you know it’s there. You know, lots of noise and drama. It comes in naturally, however, like breathing. Some people who are living in grace, and have for a long time are moving very slowly into it. After maybe ten or twelve years of Discourses, they go back and read Discourse 1 or 2 and realize, “Oh my God, I am really full of something beautiful.” They may look at the notes they took in the early Discourses and realize that they don’t go through those things anymore. When did it change?
It’s like in the song from Fiddler on the Roof, “I don’t remember growing old, when did it happen?” Sunrise, sunset, everything just goes on in a pretty normal way. Then you go to something like the Grace retreat and remove yourself from the structure of your everyday life – and you come to life. You come to the awareness that grace is present.
Now the challenge is to take that structure of grace back into the everyday structure of your life. And it won’t fit. That’s the law. You have to have the attitude of walking through the structure of living in the grace. That is where you are focusing your awareness, your attention. If you just practice focusing your awareness, in your mind, on the internal child, the divine being that you are, you can see it or sense it as a beautiful picture. It isn’t necessarily a picture you have to hold. It is an attitude. The attitude is formed, practiced, and incorporated into behavior. Then the body mechanism takes over and incorporates it as a habit. Then we start to walk through life not even knowing that we’re happy until people say, “My you look happy!” You may think, I’m happy because I haven’t had any of these other things that used to bother me. What other things? If you look, you may find that you can still see them, but they simply don’t bother you any more. Why? Because you don’t focus on them.
So nothing leaves your life, per se. You haven’t given up your mind or your experiences. You are not brain-washing yourself into some kind of oblivion. You are simply focusing on what is really important to you.
Q: Any suggestions on what my job is with my self, my husband and my son?
J-R: Love them. And forgive any judgments you have on you or on them. You may spend a lot of days going, “I forgive myself, I forgive them, I forgive this judgment, I forgive – geez, am I going to be able to eat today? I forgive myself..” Forgiving yourself is better food. Because you can miss a meal and it won’t hurt you, but you miss the forgiveness and it’s lodged against you.
You may ask, “What if I don’t know what to forgive myself for?” Forgive yourself for not knowing what to forgive yourself for if you judge that. If you don’t know if you’ve judged or not, forgive yourself for things that you don’t know you’ve judged. Get it going inside of you like an ongoing affirmation.
Every moment we do something, we can set it up to be for us – every moment. When I am clearing myself, I say, “Every time I clear myself I become healthier and happier.” That’s a good affirmation. Sometimes I say, “I’ll be more relaxed by clearing myself.” I start to become more relaxed before I even start to clear. That’s the mental power of our intention.
Q: I have been working on getting my intention clear, and I’m wondering if you have anything you can say to help?
J-R: You can’t get your intention clear because God is your intention – and God is already clear. God is intention. But you get yourself clear regarding God. And I’ll tell you what it is: God loves all of Its creation. Out of God comes all things. Not one Soul will be lost.
Baruch Bashan
