Interval VI: Trainings

Aaron: I want to speak with the reader directly, to give you a clear delineation of the basic trainings and initiations taught through many traditions. By ‘trainings' I merely mean those lessons on which you work, as a pathway to the growth to which you aspire. The initiations are the tests that life hands you, to see how well you have mastered the lesson. When it is mastered, the next period of training begins.

These trainings are present in many traditions, but they are given different names. For example, the Buddhist tradition would call it training but does not speak of initiations. I will now delineate these trainings, giving some basic information about each. Trainings one and two may come in either order and usually are learned together. They are the trainings to observe the arisings within the physical and emotional bodies. One notes that sensations and emotions arise out of conditions, and that when the conditions cease, these sensations and emotions will cease. The intended result of the training at this level is development of a lessened self-identification with what has arisen, and the ability to allow more spaciousness with difficult body and emotional experiences. Training three does the same work with thought. The phrase, "Don't believe everything you think," distills the essence of training three.

These first three trainings are the essence of basic dharma practice, but Jesus taught the same thing in a different way. He did not give us the precise steps with which to transform difficult body sensations, emotions and thoughts. He only reminded us that when one slaps us in the face, we can return love not hatred. In large part, he did not spell it out because it had already been expressed by the Buddha, and by all the practices within the various mystery schools such as those of the Druids and Essenes and in related traditions. Jesus was speaking to all the people, but I think he felt it was sufficient to remind them to "turn the other cheek," and that those who already knew how to release the anger elicited by the slap, would do so with this reminder. Those who did not yet know how would seek training. Now much of this wisdom has been forgotten so we must teach it again.

These first three were the trainings given to the youngest of children in the Essene tradition. They were taught never to despise even the most negative arisings in the self, but to recognize them as the result of conditions, to make space for them and to allow their release. Actually even little children moved quickly into the sixth, seventh and eighth trainings which I will describe shortly.

The initiations for these first three trainings were freely given in life, through the stubbed toe, the rude remark that brought anger and the restless mind with its judgments, fears and complaints.

The fourth training was the first opening into the experience of selflessness and egolessness. It was the first seeing of the small self as a created mind object, and the first knowing of the greater Self. There was as yet no stability in the ability to rest in that greater Self, only the first glimpse of such resting, seen as possible. This glimpse changes everything. If one has a deep commitment to non-harm because of the knowing of non-separation, one can no longer act out of one's ego and fear, and still be honest with one's self and true to one's values. Included in this training, are the deepening of. . .  I am hesitant to use the term Sila here because you may not know this term; but there is no other precise English equivalent. For those unfamiliar with the word Sila, it is a Pali language word. It connotes moral awareness, not a "Thou shalt not. . ." morality; but a morality deeply based on knowing the non-separation of self and other. One does not cut off ones own hand. “Love thy neighbor as thy self.” More information can be found in the glossary.

The fifth training is the opening into non-dual Awareness. When it is understood that nothing is separate, and that to strike another is to harm the self, such abuse of others is much harder to enact.  The fifth training is the fruit of the first four trainings. In this training, one more deeply recognizes relative reality and Ultimate reality. Here is the first view that these realities are not dualistic, each to each; but that relative reality is an expression of Ultimate reality. This means that when you are present with relative reality, the ground of the Ultimate is also present. When you are resting on top of the ocean's surface, rising and falling with the waves, the stillness of the depths is still there. When you sink to the depths, the waves continue to rise and fall far above you. Mastery at the fifth level of training involves a more conceptual understanding. One who has mastered this level remembers it, but is rarely able to hold both places simultaneously. In Buddhist terms, this person is often at the stream-entry 1 level.

The sixth, seventh and eighth trainings mirror the first, second and third respectively, but at a deeper level. Here one is asked to bring to awareness what one understands about the conditioned arisings of physicality, emotion and mind. These insights merge with the experience of the dissolution of the ego, and with the -- at this point -- conceptual, nondual understandings. One understands that difficult emotions will arise, for example, and one has learned non-reactivity to those emotions; that is, to not act them out or suppress them, but just to make space for them. But they will still arise. We understand that they are conditioned, and that this is the out-play of karma, or habit; but they still arise. When the training is internalized deeply enough not to react with negativity to their arising, but instead to bring kindness into play, then it is time to deepen the fifth training and to begin to use it as a tool for the transmutation of the heavier body and mind experiences.

Several practices are useful here. To summarize these practices, you turn to the Master of your heart's choosing for support, with gratitude that these models of clarity and love exist for your use. You see the negative emotion that has arisen, for example. Without a contraction, without a negative feeling about the arising, you experience compassionate regret that it continues to arise. You know it as a result of conditions. You understand that for the result to cease to arise, the conditions must change. You understand that you are stuck in this place. Then, the two levels of resolution arise. You resolve to clarify this habit energy on the relative level, and on the Ultimate level you understand the already existent resolution of the habit. You can see here why training five must precede six, seven and eight.

Within this Ultimate level of resolution, you can clearly see the balance or antidote to the heavy energy that has arisen. For example, if there is jealousy, you do not try to feel joyful for the one who has received, so much as to find that already existent joy within you and the willingness to nurture it. When there is restlessness in mind and body, you both resolve to allow the release of restlessness and you see clearly the entire resolution of restlessness, which is peace, tranquility and stillness. And you find those qualities already existent in the Self. There is the willingness not to perpetuate the contracted energy of the restlessness, but to turn one's focus to that which is more spacious.

If you see a being act in a brutal way toward another, and a heavy judgment arises in the mind, right there with the judgment you note the possibility of compassion. You do not hold to the stories of judgment; you note that holding as an old habit. You resolve to allow the arising of compassion; you see the already existent compassion and realize that you have the choice either to hold on to the judgment, or to shift into compassion. You see the nondual nature of judgment and compassion, and that judgment is simply a distortion of compassion: a fear-based expression of the inherently compassionate mind. You do not have to get rid of judgment for compassion to be known; judgment will go when it is ready. The question is whether you will focus your attention on the judgment and become caught in its stories, caught in the negativity of judging judgment, or whether you will know judgment as a distorted expression, and joyfully release it. In either case, you may move to stop the abuser. The judgment mind will attack with negativity. The compassionate mind will stop the abuse with loving energy. It will know how to say no with kindness, and without fear or contraction.

The ninth training is a deepening level of the understanding of egolessness. Here one becomes more stable in opening to that deep interconnection of All-That-Is. When something pulls you out of that spaciousness and integration, you know that you are out. You understand that it is a temporary result of conditions. You do not take it as truth. You work with that experience of separation in the same way that you have worked with difficult body, emotion and mind experiences in the sixth, seventh and eighth trainings. Thus separation and the arising of the small ego self are seen through Awareness. The greater Self is readily accessible. You understand that you can go in one direction or the other by habit and choice.

The tenth training establishes the deeper resolution of duality. One experiences oneself as a pole, feet grounded in the relative, and we could say here the base and lower chakras grounded in the relative; the upper chakras grounded in the Ultimate. The heart is that which holds it all together. At this level, you truly become an instrument of Light. I do not want to suggest that those in the lower trainings and with heartfelt intention to transcend negativity are not instruments of Light, but they are instruments of Light in training. The tenth level is the first of more mature service to the Light. It is the first level where the automatic response to negativity is to offer it love, to draw it into the Light, to draw the negativity up inward into the Light and bring the Light downward into the negativity. This is possible because you are touching both. You cannot touch both so long as there is residual aversion to negativity, and so long as there is duality.

At this point, the vibrational frequency in all of the bodies is in the process of major transformation. The person at this level is increasingly able to experience negativity as a low frequency vibration, and to understand experientially the power of Light as tool. At this level, there still may be karma to resolve so there may not be full liberation, but there is the understanding that the liberation is in sight. At the full maturity of the tenth training and initiation, often -- in Buddhist terms -- is the once-returner.

The eleventh to fifteenth of the trainings and initiations repeat the cycle. In trainings eleven through thirteen, the adept is using his/her mastery of Light in a continual way to transform negatively-polarized energy as it arises in body, emotions and mind. The fourteenth training often leads one to a more profound enlightenment experience and the ability to hold both the personality self and the Ground of Being easily. This may be the first experience of no-self, as contrasted with the dissolution of the ego. The fifteenth training and initiation is of the deepening learning to stably hold this Light, not only into the inner experiences but into the outer world. Here of course we are at the level of non-returner, although many such beings choose to return in service. Karma is resolved to the degree that karma does not force return. There is still some karma. It comes to fruition quickly and is resolved with Light.

Now we move to the higher training. I think you can see where this is going. Once this mastery is in place, anything may be done with Light. The being that has done this work while deeply grounded in positive polarity, with deepest intention for the good of all beings, will use these deeper practices for healing. By healing I mean the healing of distortion on the physical, emotional and mental levels, in itself and everywhere in the world, wherever that healing is requested. The Entities of the Casa are great masters of this process. The tools they use are those of Light. Advanced practices such as Cellular Regeneration2 are real on your present day earth, and are being remembered. As third density beings, moving into fourth density, you are relearning these skills.

The work now is to teach the third density human to bring forth these practices that were once known, but were lost through the ages of heavy density human experiences. It is not necessarily the case that, just because you have a heavier density body, you cannot still work with Light. In this process, the earth and all upon it are raised up in vibrational frequency. All who are ready to sustain that higher vibration will shift into fourth density, including the earth itself. And I think soon after, in cosmic time, into fifth density. Yet this new 4th and eventually 5th density will also be comprised of the basic elements; earth, air, fire, water and ether, and will not have just a crystalline base as was the case in the time of Lemuria.

Some of you are higher density adepts, bodhisattvas really, returned to help carry forth this transformation. Some of you are third density beings ready for transformation, who have brought this forth through your courage and repeated growth through endless incarnations in this third density plane. You are all seeking one thing together; the movement of matter into Light, without the loss of any of the beautiful qualities of matter. This shift has the power literally to transform the universe. That is why darkness so fears it.

Darkness wishes to keep matter at a low vibration, for darkness itself is a low vibration. It is based on fear, hatred, greed and self-centeredness. Light understands self-centeredness as Self-centeredness, which means holding All-that-Is is at the center. It understands that it is this All-that-Is. Negative polarity puts the personality self at the center. One is constantly at odds with the other, thus there is constant contraction.

The Entities of the Casa are not only assisting with physical healing. That is one gift of their work. But a core of their work is the bringing forth of the Light into this earth plane. We who do this work, simply call ourselves brothers and sisters of Light. You are also brothers and sisters of Light, still in training, as we are still in training, all beings going into greater and greater Light.

1 Stream entry is the first stage of realization. See Glossary.

2 This means the use of energy and vibration to regenerate cellular tissue.

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