Divine Love, Judgment and Life Challenges

[AlFike]

After my visit to the Australian retreat recently I was compelled to write this essay on the topic of negative judgments. Many of us who got together for this retreat were a little wary of one another because of our preconceived notions and biases. I was not immune to such thinking. The retreat was a testimony to the power of God's Love to heal and overcome these hurdles to fellowship. Not all barriers were erased in my case but a great many inroads were made and understandings opened. We made some wonderful friends there and that alone was worth all the effort to get there. I must confess that I am still wary about 11.11 influence and other natural path ideas but now have a deeper understanding of their origins and perspectives. All grist for the mill. I have become more accepting and less judgmental because I was willing to be with others of a different perspective. This proved to be a very great blessing and strengthening process. Most of those which I wished to avoid proved to be loving and welcoming, offering their hospitality and their open dialogue as to their understandings of truth. Their disarming and beautiful souls were a very big lesson to me in regards to judgment. They were a gift in many ways. Not the least of which was an insight into my own short comings. Thank you God for leading me to light always even if that light hurts my eyes.

So here is my essay on judgment and negative thinking. It is long and maybe a little preachy but I hope that it will stimulate further discussion and learning. Since I have just admitted to not being there yet, I hope that you will read my thoughts from that perspective. We're all still human. Here goes:

I’ve heard it often said by our angel friends that we should not judge another. Love and compassion is what is required and judgment builds barriers to the flow of love to us and others. Yet we live in a world that is filled with judgment of all kinds. I’m sure that our teachers are referring to negative and unloving judgments because without our exercise of good judgment we would be incapable of functioning in our complex world. Judgment is the result of perception and perception is informed by our past experiences and learning. Our material minds are programmed to make decisions based on these factors and it is very difficult to get away from these reflexive thought patterns. We live therefore we judge. It’s all part of the package.

When we add Divine Love into the mix,a shift of perceptions begins to influence our mental attitudes from a less mindful perspective towards a soul based reality. In effect we begin to juggle two frameworks of perception which inform our judgment. This can be very confusing since we start to experience dual realities where there was only one before. Often the reality of the soul mind disagrees with that of the material mind and one begins to live in essentially two worlds. One informed by past programming and experiences and the other emerging from Divine truth and spiritual perceptions as the soul begins to be transformed from image to substance of God. How intense this tension becomes between the two realities is determined by our willingness to trust in these emerging awareness’s and how much Divine Love we obtain. Everyone experiences this shift differently and to various degrees because we are each unique in our makeup and faculties and since this is not often a smooth and steady progression, the two realities are continually trading places. Many have glimpses into the new and because of the strangeness of it, they retreat to the comfort of the old paradigm. After all, living in a shifting and evolving reality can be grounds for losing credibility in our western society and possibly even being judged as mentally unsound. This is a precarious position that I believe most of us fear .Some, however, take to it like a duck to water because they have lived this reality to some degree most of their lives. Those are the gifted ones who often have never felt that they fit into the common mold and as such they can be a guide into this new world. We are required to take this journey ourselves and in our own way but at least it is a comfort to know that others have been there too and relate to our fears and doubts . Having such people around can be a great comfort and guide. Of course God is always there and our angel friends as well. We can be well supported if we exercise our faith and trust in the process. If we allow our mental judgments to over ride our spiritual experiences then we land back into the old paradigm. Two steps forward and one step back. That’s why our angel friends often call us children.

I believe that judgment does play a large part in inhibiting and corralling our soul’s progression and that judgment comes from the material mind and is often based in fear and ignorance. Our minds seek control and dominance as the opening of our souls present a threat to the mind’s reality paradigm. Our ambivalence gives life to many inner judgments and false conclusions towards this emerging reality. We get stuck in between a desire to venture forth and a need to validate every new thing with a mental explanation. The soul struggles to find it’s place in this tug of war and many give up or sidestep the challenge by substituting soul understandings with intellectual analysis and this dance can continue for quite some time. Eventually the dam must break if one persistently prays for the Love and the purely soul understandings which emerge from the soul mind will take precedence over the material mind’s attempts to formulate the new reality out of the old paradigm. The soul then has been reborn into a form that is filled with the substance of the Creator and starts thinking and perceiving from the Divine context rather than the human reality. This evolution of being and thinking takes time as the soul must cleanse itself of impurities and encrustations in order the new reality to unfold harmoniously and for the Divine consciousness to come to the fore. Acceptance of these new awareness’s is not easy or fluid but the mind eventually becomes enveloped by the soul mind and the conflictual realities are resolved so when the transformation is well begun, the old judgments and understandings begin to recede and the Divine realities and loving acceptance of others well up from within.

On the way to this migration of awareness, we are challenged by our old ways of thinking which invariably include patterns of judgment, negative thoughts and erroneous beliefs. Those old patterns of assumptions and misunderstandings about others start to become uncomfortably evident. Only in our admission and ability to recognize the error of our old patterns is the transformation complete as we give these inharmonious parts up to God. The mind does persist in creating this distorted reality as we encounter the world. To say that this is a reality is a bit misleading because it is not an altogether common perception of the world rather it is a made up one from all the beliefs and thoughts that one accumulates over a life time. It is my understanding that the true reality comes with the opening up of the soul perceptions ignited by the Divine Love. Only then can we truly perceive truth as those faculties deep within reveal God’s Creation in all it’s complexity and beauty. The veil is lifted and the truth of what is is evident as never before. And so the existence of God becomes ever more real and palpable as we see not with just our material eyes but with the eyes of our soul to depths never before experienced or imagined. Even the physical reality is enhanced and is more clearly perceived as the filters of the mind are dissolved by the piercing sight and comprehension of the soul. Incrementally we become free of our error of thought and emotion as the transformative power of God’s Love takes precedence over the mortal mind. Negative thoughts, judgments and error are replaced by love, truth and peace as one journeys further upon the Divine Path. The old motivations borne from our learning and the earthly conditions are overtaken and healed by Love. The attachments to prestige, material wealth and personal gain etc. are transmuted into a desire to serve others in love and harmony. The true rewards for your prayers and efforts to be close to God are realized as the Love does it’s work and changes you from the inside out and freedom from judgment and disharmony is realized.

Now this description of the process of soul redemptions may sound to some a little too neat and easy. Pray for the Love that will in time, resolve all the unnecessary and inharmonious inner detritus , leaving a pure and joyful you in it’s wake. Essentially this is the truth but the reality is that what may appear simple is not. Praying for and receiving Divine Love is as simple as can be. Dealing with your own inner spiritual condition and that which surrounds you at almost every turn does not make this venture simple or easy. After all, I am talking about freedom from everything that ails you physically, emotionally and spiritually and this is not accomplished over night. It takes work and dedication. To be free from negative thoughts and judgment is to root out their causes and eradicate the possibility of accumulating more . We have been told that Divine Love will accomplish this and more. I believe that this is true and have experienced this to some degree myself but given my own impatience, I am a little more proactive. I have engaged in a lot of self reflection and introspection over the years in an attempt to sensitize myself to my own error and shortcomings. I’ve tried to speed things along by using some natural love techniques which facilitate greater awareness of my behavior and support me in changing the things that don’t work. I’ve tried to take responsibility for my behavior and made efforts to correct it. Again, these things are not altogether necessary but in my opinion which is borne from experience, they do help things along. I also believe that God does put on your path those who can facilitate your healing on many levels. These individuals are not necessarily DL followers but all those I have encountered have been good and beautiful souls. They are healers in the true sense of the word and I believe instruments of God’s Will.

Dealing with negative judgments in both thought and expression is a challenge and in many ways a canary in the mine indicating your inner state of being. The key is self honesty as more often than not we decline to voice or acknowledge our true thoughts about ourselves and others. This repression often becomes a form of denial about our true beliefs and perceptions. The law of attraction also reinforces this condition and it can be very hard to extract oneself from it if we are not willing to have an honest look. Most negative judgments reflect a lack of love within and our goal is to enhance and expand our condition of both natural and Divine Love. The Divine Love will eradicate these inner conditions in time but it is still necessary to approach this with honesty and integrity. This can be done in your prayer time with God and it can be done in honest inner dialogue and conversation with others. There are many ways to clear one’s self from negative thoughts and this is a vital step in soul growth and spiritual development as Divine Love confronts us on many levels and we are compelled to release all that which is not in harmony with it. To love oneself and others unconditionally will bring great happiness to those who aspire to it and with the infusion of Divine Love this goal becomes entirely feasible. Prayer and application of truth in your life will bring the rewards that we all seek. Passive and entitled expectations that this healing will come about with little effort from within will bring frustration and probably a very long wait. Working in partnership with God is part of our life’s experience and this relationship reaches all levels of our lives and our beings. It is an active thing which grows with time and the opening of soul awareness. The pacing is up to you as God is always there. It requires your effort and inner reaching to complete the connection and the process. I would encourage anyone seeking to be free of negative thoughts and judgments to take responsibility in understanding your own thought processes and exercising some discipline and effort to change these patterns. Without this effort, your conscious spiritual progression will be bogged down by old and unhelpful thoughts and beliefs. God and his Angels will wait until you are ready but what better time to grab the bull by the horns than now. If it is true joy and happiness that you seek through exploring the potential of your souls then this issue cannot be ignored on the way.

In conclusion I would like to say that the process of clearing oneself from error and negativity is best done through prayer for Divine Love. The active agent of this blessing draws out the poison and expedites healing. One can accomplish this task by exercising the tenants of the Divine Love truths, be proactive in consciously recognizing our own role in reinforcing error in our thinking and doing and letting all the disharmonies go to God when they become evident. It’s a life’s work but the rewards are greater than anything we may accomplish in other areas. This work allows us to gather our own inner treasures which will allow us access to higher spheres when the time comes. We can also be a more effective channel of Love and agent of change while here on earth. Our own spiritual progress through soul growth affects everything around us and makes for a life filled with joy, happiness and deep understanding. That’s the kind of wealth that I’m seeking. It’s the kind of wealth that you can take with you wherever you go. I hope that you will all agree. With much love and respect………Al

[Geoff]

I must confess that I am still wary about 11.11 influence and other natural path ideas but now have a deeper understanding of their origins and perspectives.

Dear Al,

11:11 is not a natural path influence. It is a BASIC spiritual outreach, but those spirit helpers behind it are both far more intelligent than us, and far more advanced and knowledgable than us. It certainly does receive divine love teachings, and has published one of the most significant books on the Divine Path, but you choose not to read such things. Because its a 101 outreach, you would not expect it to focus on Divine Love, well I would not expect it to do so.

It is true the human who "runs" 11:11 has such a distaste for organised religion that he has included Padgett in this "religious" camp. Its yet another example of a human with blinkers, even though he is certainly progressive in nature. The reason goes back to his childhood, and yes he has been ticked off about it by spirit, who said it was time to grow up. But I am not sure he will ever change that outlook. He is just very sour about organised religion.

If 11:11 is anything at variance with you, its that 11:11 is about progress. And I feel you are not naturally that way. You resist change, especially substantial shifts. Any way thats how I see it. I however love change, and get bored with the status quo. We are all different! One gets chosen by the angels to be a part of 11:11, and for that reason those who do not see the myriad of number prompts are typically very dismissive. There are maybe 10 million of us, so an awful lot of people are not in this progress camp.

I did not spend more than about 5 minutes at the retreat talking about 11:11, and I felt I should because the room we were using was room 1111. There are quite a number of Divine Love followers who are eleveneleveners, and I also managed to source quite a few from the ranks of those who turned up at the 101 boot camp which is the 11:11 outreach. Typically because they are progressive, it should be a wonderful source of new Divine Love followers.

hugs
Geoff

[Kristy]

Thank you, Al, for your essay; I did find it interesting.

I have come to the conclusion that I am pretty basic and simplistic; I honestly got lost in all you said and had a hard time relating to it. Not sure why.

Right, I absolutely judge. Right, I am trying to do something about it. I read a book that gave a simple approach that is an exercise for the mind vs. the soul. It suggested that whenever a negative thought which would include judgement starts to formulate, simple say "clear" or "cancel" and eliminate it. I have worked some at training my mind in the past, so I have begun this exercise and have seen improvement. And I can feel that I am now getting assistance. I am not sure if it is God or an angel or perhaps my soul, however, it is getting easier for me. I can remember a couple years ago I told myself to stop "cussing" (not that I had a major issue). This was soon after I started receiving Divine Love. I just didn't want to say these words anymore. So I began the exercise of shutting it down and soon enuff, I started getting help. It's been many months now and I do slip once in a while, but it's rare. So I know I can help myself mentally with judgement ... I just have to be consistent and practice. Another thing that has helped me is a message that Jesus gave us many months ago that said "Live and let live". I tell myself that all the time .... never mind what others are doing or saying (if it is negative or distasteful to me). Forget it. Period. Smile, be positive, Love. Prayer, Practice, Prayer, Practice, and on and on and ....

Perhaps if I keep practicing with my mind, by the time my soul catches up, I won't have much judgement left ?? Certainly, as you have said, the prayers for Divine Love will help. So I am doing both.

I have almost erased this 3 times because I feel it is so primitive compared to what you wrote. But you also said our journeys are unique to each of us, so I guess I'll post it. Right, I am plain, simple, and uncomplicated. With Love, Kristy

[Doles]

Right, I am plain, simple, and uncomplicated.

Isn't this beautiful!

[Geoff]

In conclusion I would like to say that the process of clearing oneself from error and negativity is best done through prayer for Divine Love. The active agent of this blessing draws out the poison and expedites healing.

Dear Al,

The problem is that you seriously damage your own ability to allow the Love to actually flow and heal, by holding these judgements. We received that message here.

In particular this:

I say to you that a person who lives their life in accord with these two directions and with no conscious knowledge of Divine Love can develop their souls in both Natural and Divine Loves to a greater degree that one who prays ardently for the Divine Love yet retains elements of discord in their hearts as they will then be hypocritical. However strong one’s desire to fill their soul with Divine Love and to offer healing to others this desire must function within the overall context of any person’s true way of living. Divine Love is a wonderful transformative element and the most wonderful in the universe but it will not actively overcome the Free Will of man. Each one must pay great heed to their own heart and their true care of themselves and of others.

What this tells us that our free will right to hold judgements, gets in the way, seriously in the way. The Divine Love cannot act against free will.

I consider this the most important contemporary message EVER received, and think it explains a great deal about this movement, and the divisions within it, and the advancement of some, and lack of advancement of others.

hugs
Geoff

[AlFike]

Thank you Kristy for your response which probably said just as much with one tenth the words. So elegant it is and beautifully said. I think that I talked around in circles trying to process my own thoughts so this essay was a bit of therapy for me. Thanks for your indulgence .

Geoff, you may have your opinions of me but I believe I am learning and growing every day just not in the contexts that you would aspire for me. We all have our own road and I am very happy with mine. No boredom here my friend.

Doles, thank you for at least indulging me by reading my post ( I think ). My mind does get a little pretentious at times but I do enjoy writing so as an exercise it was enjoyable. As a teaching maybe a bit of a flop. We'll see what others have to say. Much love to you my friends........Al

[Doles]

Al,
You bet I read it! Not sure I understood and/or grasp it all. But at some point one has to cease all apologies and simply fire away... . Haha...listen to me! Luxury to some...precious commodities to others I'm sure.

[Terry Adler]

Al, there are gems in your post for those who have patience to sift them out; thanks for putting your thoughts out there for us to interact with.
Kristy, so glad you posted and didn`t censor yourself! You give an excellent practical example of mental discipline that reminds us we can choose our thoughts, and what we do with them.
Geoff, you continue to be the champion of the value of other sources of knowledge beyond the Padgett messages and good on you for doing so. People are drawn to different things at different times of readiness. Perhaps one day I will investigate these writings; for now, I have my hands full.
Doles, I very much appreciate your encouraging comments.

A way I have of understanding judgment in myself is that it provides me a clue to something within myself. My judgments arise for a reason, triggered by something or someone outside of myself, but triggered because something inside myself requires a closer look. Once I have dealt with whatever it is within, I can look again at the same person, same behaviour, same situation, without judgment. Instead of judgment, I become able to look through a lens of understanding rather than criticism. This permits effective (loving) action in response to the person, situation or challenge, rather than the kinds of punitive responses that are borne out of judgment.

What I have most difficulty with is self-judgment. I continue to work on this, seeking to bring Love into the unloved aspects of self that I find unacceptable or unworthy. Some would say `get over it`. If you can just `get over it`, more power to you. I have to engage and grapple with this stuff until I can bring the Love into it. The reward is reaching another level of understanding not only of myself but of other humans.

And so it goes, continual learning. . . .
Love,
Terry

[arie2012]

O wow, much food for thought here..

This could become a lengthy discussion ! On judging, criticising, reading between the lines, the amount of words needed to express unwordable matters....

I'd love to dive into it, but I'll have to wait for a better moment.

Meanwhile, please don't get nasty with each other !!

Much love from a fellow DL-follower, who's also an 11:11-er and a former (?) Christian and...and...and...

whatever, just call me Arie

[Joseph]

Dear Al,

Thank you for having the courage and the grit to put this topic out there for discussion! Now, if you were "the Pope" and speaking as "God's mouthpiece" for us and to us, then all discussion is closed. All responses would then be cause for censorship and excommunication.

Dear Arie,

Thank you for writing what you did ... it expresses the place where I now stand. I have read each and everything Al wrote, as well as responses from Geoff, Kristy and Terry (hope I included everyone). I will return later with "my take" on this vital topic for discussion. If we will allow it, this discussion may be a very crucial step in the change that our Celestial friends are desiring us to experience.

With love and hugs to all,

Joseph