I’m troubled by the fundamentalist Muslim belief that God is so weak that He needs someone to interpret and enforce His will. But I realize we can look back in the history of Christianity and find the same pattern of torture, maiming, and execution of so-called sinners that this belief leads to. The founding messages of both these religions was tolerance, love, and acceptance. Why did they stray so far from their origins?
Well, I think you can probably answer that question yourself just by thinking about the nature of humanity seeking power.
But having gone wrong, why didn’t the core message ever allow them to self-correct?
I don’t think that you can generalize and say as a whole everybody was on one side or the other. There were always those who stayed true to the original message and did self-correct. But as a whole, one can manipulate the masses because the masses desire to be manipulated. Then they don’t have to think; they just have to do the things on a list to be all right. Having “rules” is just too tempting.
What is it within humanity that makes it possible for religions to go awry?
It’s abusing the innate, natural desire for oneness with the Universe, so that that desire can be controlled by a few for whatever they believe is needed. Power is ultimately the answer.
Within that smaller group of power wielders, what would be the fear that drives them?
Well their fear would be about not having the power. As I look back, the fear of not being enough shows up in a skewed way in the power-hungry. Do you see how that can be? You prove to me that I am enough because you’re willing to believe what I have to say and you do what I tell you to do.
Again, though, you’re not going to be led around if you’re not a sheep. Be a wolf.
Is the current state of Islam in this regard analogous to medieval Christianity? It has occurred to me that we’re seeing expressions of repression, intolerance, and punishment in Islam now that are similar to the Inquisition in that era, and it makes me wonder if religions have a life cycle.
So you’re asking if all religions go through a period in which they are abusive enough to bring about change?
Yes. Was medieval Christianity going through an adolescent phase which we’re now seeing in Islam?
You know, they’re really not so different in age.
Seven or eight hundred years and that’s about the length of time since the Inquisition.
Well, everything works in cycles. Certainly patterns that work will show up over and over, even patterns of abuse. Remember that Islam, Judaism, and Christianity are all upstarts, no matter how old they seem to you.
Religion is all about control, and you are drawn to the version that you believe you are worthy of—which breaks my heart. I think that current Islam is a whole lot more like evangelical Christianity than it is like medieval Christianity, because they’re both about saying “This is the only way, and if you don’t believe it then you’re going to go to hell.”
As I write this, prominent news stories involve children massacred in an elementary school resulting in a national reevaluation of gun policies, health workers massacred in Pakistan leading to an outcry against the Taliban, a woman raped to death in India resulting in demonstrations calling for world-wide awareness of issues of violence against women. Please comment on the meanings of these deaths in a larger perspective, and especially how they relate to the transition of the planet. Were those lost lives due to commitments and compacts made before entering this plane, or are they simply due to the exercise of free will of those fighting against transition?
For the masses, greatest change usually comes about due to an emotional response rather than some kind of rational, scientific knowledge.
Nowadays, your news allows you to see something happening on the other side of the world as it’s actually going on, so there are more opportunities for events to create emotional responses that have the potential to bring about great change. But there is never any kind of guarantee that it’s going to happen in that way, so there always have to be many opportunities and many compacts for change to become possible.
In any given situation, there will always be two forces at work—push and pull; good and that which fights against good. In one such case, the rape and death of the woman in India caused many people to stand up and say “All right, enough of this!”
A year ago—you know how bad I am with time so it might have been more than a year ago—the same kind of thing went on in Pakistan: A family killed a daughter who had been raped. And on and on and on. Not everybody in situations like these volunteered for it, though very often, when faced with that kind of experience, an individual going through the horror can have a spiritual response rather than a negative one. Oh, I know you hear about the vengeance, but more often in those moments of horror, people who did not come in to make their life about changing beliefs give themselves to that very thing. It’s very, very moving, that power of the human spirit to respond in times of horrible distress.
Nonetheless, you will see variations of the same kind of experiences in different areas of the world over a relatively short time. That’s when you can say, “Hello, there’s a pattern here,” and you pretty well know the incident relates to a major change coming about in the thinking of mass consciousness, or at least an opportunity for a major change.
Good can come out of anything, but when the same thing keeps happening over and over, then even the blind can see the pattern. That’s what’s happening right now, and it is a part of what is making 2013 so important. You can’t put your hands over your eyes and pretend not to see it. Too much is coming to a head and showing a pattern.
How did humanity get to a place of violence and abuse of power if the Shining Ones came to the earth? Shouldn’t that strong spiritual energy have prevailed?
[To everyone in the room] All right, all together now.
[In unison] Free will!
You’ve always got a choice. You can function as one and remain fully aware of your connection with Source and all that you truly are. Or you can separate from that and learn on your own.
Well, if you don’t remember what you truly are, it’s understandable that you’d say, “I want to separate and learn on my own.” And the reason that sounds so reasonable is that you’re doing a version of that every day. It just seems like such a lousy bargain to me.
What do you see when you look at a dog that we are unable to sense?
More than any other domesticated creature, canines were designed to support humans. There were several different places in the world in which early humans were around wolves. Wolves were being used as meat and for protection even though they weren’t living in the same space. Eventually they became a part of the home and helped to open up emotional abilities in humans that had not opened yet.
Canines are closer to humans chemically than any other kind of creature. Their brains emit the same kinds of chemicals as yours and for the same reasons. And when I’m saying “you,” I’m not talking about Guardians; I’m talking about the human species as a whole. The human and the canine create a bond that benefits both—both, because they are so alike; and they are so alike because they have evolved together. They are designed to be perfect companions—sorry, cat lovers.
For Guardians, looking at the spiritual aspect, having a dog come into a canine body makes it very easy for energy to create a familiar, because dogs are already loyal and dedicated.
They bring out the best in people, and they give your love a way to expand. Again, I’m sorry, cat lovers.
I cannot imagine a better “can opener” for the heart. I also find their minds amazing. They put together so many more things than you realize is even possible, so that they end up knowing you better than you know yourself. The slightest change in a facial expression—even a twitch of a finger—is a signal to them. Needless to say, because of the chemicals that you give off, they can differentiate between five kinds of fear, or what’s to worry about or what’s not.
They’re not just can openers; they are ice breakers. You immediately trust someone with a dog.
For the most part, yes, ninety-nine percent of people. But there are those who see them as commodities.
What do you sense going on with the dog, in a telepathic way, that we’re unaware of.
They’re constantly—constantly—communicating, so I adore having the creatures around. When you brought Pixie to the meeting or when Quinn is at a meeting, and I get them up with me, they talk to me. They realize that they’ve got someone who knows what they’re saying. But it comes as a package of knowing; it’s not a word. You are capable of getting it that way, too; you just have to expect it. And, of course, when you communicate back to a dog, you should do it with pictures.
Dogs watch you constantly. Of course, puppies are always learning from you, and with them you have more of an opportunity to see the instinctual facial mechanisms. Of course, while you’re focusing on their faces, with each other they are communicating in many other ways. With a puppy you’re going to see a lot of mimicry because the puppy is learning from you what each expression means; they’re trying to communicate. And they are just huge bundles of trust and love, or at least they can be.
They’re excellent for teaching you healing—how to use your healing energy. Needless to say, they are good healers themselves. They are excellent in helping you get out of yourself and become more playful.
Dogs and humans are a powerhouse together.
