Whatever your way is, do yourself a favor and use that way. No matter what comes into your consciousness — whether you call it evil or imbalance or anything else — use that to lift you. – John-Roger
This article by John-Roger was first published in the Movement Newspaper, February 1978.
The work that I do is not of the physical plane. It is of the spiritual level. Many people, when they hear of spiritual things, mistake the aspects of a spiritual life with being “kooky” when, in the greater reality, it is the only normal thing there is. Everything else could be considered the “kooky” area. The only qualities that endure are the spiritual qualities. All other qualities disappear; they turn right back into the physical elements and may dissolve.
When you start exploring the inner consciousness, the inner Spirit that makes each person exist as a special individual, you will start finding a treasure house of love, understanding. faith, hope, charity, wishful thinking, superstition, gossip, warmongering, imbalances, hatred, jealousy, pettiness, and lust. Those are all a part of the treasure chest. And it is all precious. All of it. If you took a diamond out of the ground, picked it up, and looked at it in its rough form, chances are you would not know that it was a diamond. After it has been polished and the facets delineated, however, you most probably would be able to tell that it is a diamond. Yet, you might throw a rough diamond away as being a dirty old nothing, while inside of it was a very beautiful something.
Have you ever thought about the value of jealousy? Have you ever thought about that quality (like most negative qualities) as the diamond in the rough? Jealousy says, “I really care about you. I really care. I care so much it makes me sick. I care so much I can’t even live my own life.” When you reach that point of emotional involvement/investment in another person, jealousy enters in, because you have so much of yourself wrapped up with that other person that he (or she) has to live life your way, or you just can’t stand it.
Jealousy can really be beautiful. Wouldn’t you like it if God came down and said, “I am so jealous of you, and I care so much, I am going to help you live your life more perfectly than ever before.” You might rather live your life yourself, in the best and clearest way you know how. You might say. “Lord, would you mind leaving my life to me? I don’t want a jealous God. I want one that will let me do it my way.” A jealous God might say, “Not on your life. You do it my way. And if you don’t, just wait and see what happens to you.” But God doesn’t do that. God continually presents to you the keys for discovering within yourself the ways that work for you. God doesn’t do it for you.
You can’t live a life of jealousy for very long, but you can use those qualities of jealousy to lift you. A long, long time ago, I was working with a very beautiful Master. I wasn’t too dumb, but I certainly wasn’t the smartest one in the class, either. If there were ninety students in the class, I might have been rated ninety-one or ninety-two. This great Master promoted somebody else; and there were quite a few of us who didn’t like that at all. We thought that any Master worth his salt would know that we were the chosen ones, or he wouldn’t be the Master. Any Master should know that, even the “dummy” we were following. The reality was that we were sitting on the fringe of the class, on the outskirts of what was: and we were getting ready to miss the boat entirely. We were creating our own return trip, our own failure. The Master had told us of our divinity, but how could we trust him? Look at who he promoted! I mean, these guys who were sitting there, doing all the exercises, who were following all the rules and doing everything just right, didn’t know any more than we did. We asked them questions and they were pretty nice, but they didn’t tell us any answers. We became very jealous of their “success.” and we raised a lot of hell.
God bless our Master. He was so smart that he used our jealousy to get us into the class where we belonged. When we had nothing else going for us except absolute bigotry, prejudice, jealousy, envy, hate, and even a little lust, he called us together and said, “If you want these things that the others have, why don’t you work for them?”
It had never occurred to us that we had to work for a desired position. It had never occurred to us that these things had to be earned. We took it for granted that when the class graduated, we would graduate. We found out that we were so busy picking and getting involved in petty areas, that we weren’t graduating. We were there a long time. New students were coming in and graduating, and we were still there.
Eventually something started awakening inside. The realization hit that we had been there for a very long time and still weren’t getting it. The Master used the jealousy and envy to make us get down and dig. Then we started getting it. When you have delayed for a long time and dragged your anchor, thinking you were at safe harbor rather than lost at sea, you get to come back and experience that again. So we had to come back, and guess who was the Master? One of the “dummies” who had been our classmate previously. He said, “I remember you. I was with you before. You’re doing the same routine now that you did before.” Something inside said, “You’re right. I know you are right. I don’t know exactly what that is, but I’m not going to repeat the same mistakes.” The Master said, “Now, the way to break this is to do these particular things. You can do them your own way, but do them; and they will break these patterns open for you and free you. It won’t be easy. If it were easy, you would have already done it, and you wouldn’t be back here.” I said, “Right, I recognize that I am the dummy here. I will recognize who I am and where I am, and I will work from that position.”
It is from the consciousness of “know-it-all” that you voice your answers, not realizing that it isn’t necessary to know the answer to every question. It is only necessary to know how to get into the soul body, to traverse your own inner realms, then the outer realms, and establish yourself in the soul realm, so that when you drop the physical body, you can go right home. That is all that is necessary. All the rest is tiddlywinks, fun and games, and heartache. I don’t care to play in those areas, so I don’t. That is why I say that I will work with you in my own way.
Some people are really surprised that I have a way that works. It does work, and I am so happy to share it with you. But I will not do it your way. You do it your way. I found the way that works for me, and as long as you allow me to work my way with you, I modify it in the inner consciousness in a way that will work for you, too. Those who are established as my votaries, those with whom I work, are often not even aware when I am present within, working. They will not perceive that things are changing unless it is necessary to let them know, to establish a rapport in their consciousnesses; then they will see a purple flash of color or a purple ball or hear a whoosh that is awfully hard to miss. Sometimes they’ll hear me laugh from way deep within, and then they’ll know my presence.
Whatever your way is, do yourself a favor and use that way. No matter what comes into your consciousness — whether you call it evil or imbalance or anything else — use that to lift you. Make it part of what works for you. Can you use depression to get into the soul consciousness? Can you use anger to soul travel? You can use it to identify another way that doesn’t work. It’s pretty simple. As you identify and eliminate what doesn’t work, you come closer and closer to what does work.
People ask me if I get depressed. I don’t, but I know that feeling. I look at it as something that is occasionally worn but can be taken off and laid aside when no longer needed. I don’t identify myself as depressed. I can take off a shirt and wear a different one. Depression works the same way. I can put it on and wear it, then take it off. But if you say you are depressed, by your own spiritual law, you lock yourself in. So, you become depressed. If you say, “I am having a bad time,” believe me, my friends, you are having a bad time. Or if you are not, you certainly will be in just a short time, because your own spiritual law will institute that for you.
Depression, that feeling of not being worthy and not being able to handle your life, can become very familiar. Even though you don’t like it, because it is familiar, you play that game and pull it to you. Then you remain depressed, thinking, “Now I know who I am; I am nothing.” Something inside of you says that you must be something, because look at how you can criticize. You criticize people from yourself, so you must think you are something. So why do you go around saying that you are nothing? You say, “Well I know that I am something, but I feel like I am nothing.” That may make a little bit more sense. A lot of times, you may feel inadequate, based upon a certain situation. Let’s look at that: If you had a magic rug that could zip you away instantly and you happened to be in some foreign land where the natives, who still fought with spears, were coming at you, what would you do? I’ll bet you would get out of there, fast. I doubt that you would say, “Magic rug, would you please take me up into the air.” I think you would probably have that rug keyed to one word, “up.” Yet people walk into situations they can’t handle but won’t say “up” at all. They stand there and let the natives “throw spears” at them. Then they say, “Isn’t it great how I’m handling this?”
If you don’t feel equipped to handle something, tell people that. Tell them, “I just can’t handle that.” That is so real and so simple. If you have trouble seeing how that works, think of having an ingrown toenail and having someone in hiking boots step on your foot. I’m sure you would say, “HEY, GET OFF MY FOOT. IT HURTS!” They’d get off and say, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Take care of yourself.” When you honestly tell people that you are not equipped to handle what they are laying on you, they can act in cooperation and, often, in loving concern.
When you see another person get badly hurt, you say, “Oh, God, let me assist you.” You get them in the car and rush them to the hospital. You chance getting tickets. If people get in your way, you push them away and say, “Get out of my way. I have to get this person help. I’m not concerned about me. Pick on me later. Right now, I am helping this person.” You do it, and when you get all through, you are so weary and worn out you could cry. But there is a feeling inside of you that says, “Well done,” and you sigh. “God, I feel good. I’m exhausted. I’m going to go home and collapse.” And you do. Sometimes you even dream about the situation because you are still involved in it. Sometimes you just drop off into a really deep sleep and wake up feeling so good, because you were given the opportunity to assist another bearer of Light and you fulfilled that. You rushed in and assisted them when they were incapable of doing it themselves. The response must be appropriate to the situation, however. If someone cuts their finger a little and you rush them to the emergency room of the hospital, that may not be appropriate. Maybe all that was needed was a band-aid.
Often when you feel like you can’t handle a situation, it’s because you’re afraid to attempt it. And often when you’re afraid to attempt it, it’s because you’re afraid to make a mistake. You say, “I don’t want to make a mistake.” Lean into your feelings, lean into what seems to be the right action, and see what happens. See the feeling you get. Put the Light with it. If it balks on you, let it go. If it seems to be flowing, flow with it, with what is taking place. Move out of the consciousness of mistakes and into the consciousness of experiences.
Life is an ongoing experience. Have you ever done something really right, and, in it, made a mistake? Sure, then you hurry up and get the mistake cleared up so nobody knows about it. That’s okay. Many years ago, an older lady that I used to call my mother (and is now much more than that) made some bread. I was at her home visiting, and I’d asked her to make some of her special homemade bread, with the crust I liked. And I wanted it with peanut butter and jam and cold mountain water, that is so great. So she made the bread for me. When it was ready, I cut it, got it all ready, took a bite, and oh God, it was terrible. She had forgotten the salt. Have you ever tasted bread without salt? Well, the family is ingenious so we figured if she forgot the salt we would add it right then. That way works a little bit, but it’s really not the best way.
I stayed over another day or two, so my mother” decided to make me some more bread. I went into the kitchen and checked, “Do you have the salt in it?” She said, “Yes.” I said, “What else do you put in bread?” She told me the ingredients. I said, “Have you got all that?” She said she was putting the last ingredient, and then it would be ready. Well, the bread turned out perfect. As we sat down to eat, she said, “I hope to God it tastes good because I almost forgot to put in the yeast. I forgot until you came into the kitchen. I put it in last, and I’ve never done it that way before, so it might not be any good. From her perspective she had made a mistake. From my perspective, the bread was perfect. I finally said, “Would you just be quiet and let me decide whether or not the bread is good. If it’s not, I’ll let you know. And we’ll get some yeast and sprinkle it on, if necessary.” Except that it doesn’t work that way.
It all comes back to who you are inside of yourself and whom you are relating to inside that other person. If you are relating to the same energy force that is within you, that one called God, you’ll find it so easy to share and extend love — not the personal love or the jealous love that says, “Do it my way or else,” but the spiritual love that says, “I love you, no matter what.”
The love that you go into has to be the love of spiritual unfoldment, or you find yourself caught in areas of lack and areas of emotional pain. If you are going into a relationship with someone, let him or her know how far you can go at the moment, and if you don’t know, just say you don’t know. If you ask a question and the response is, “I don’t know.” There is great security in that, because the honesty is evident. Maybe they don’t know because of the way you asked the question. Maybe they are not being allowed to give you an answer. Maybe there are other reasons. But there comes a security that they are not going to lay miscellaneous information on you and let you flounder in confusion. If someone asks you a question you can’t answer, just say, “I don’t know.” There’s nothing wrong in that.
If you work with people, love with them, and assist them, but don’t interfere, you are becoming a Light worker in action. You attune to the Light within each person: that quality that is called the Christ.
Each person has the Light in them. Your job is just to become aware of it. When you do, you can activate it into a greater and greater consciousness, until you reach into the Soul that is the consciousness of God and Light and Love. The Soul is well protected. It is guarded by the best guardians you will ever find. Some of those guardians are: “Woe is me,” “Nobody loves me,” “I am all messed up,” “I am ruined,” “I am going to hell,” “I hate your guts,” “I am just green-eyed with jealousy,” “I want you,” and “I want to control you.” And a key to all this is just to say, “Okay,” and go on with your life. None of these states last for very long. The consciousness that is the Soul outlasts them all. Don’t fight or resist because that will lock you to the negative. Just flow with it. Just let it be whatever it is. Work to control yourself, to direct your action in a positive way, and to use everything that comes your way as a steppingstone to where you want to be.
Baruch Bashan.
John-Roger
