October 8, 2012 Monday Afternoon, Seattle Retreat, Open Q&A

Akashic field; ever perfect template; healing; simultaneity of the distortion and the ever-perfect; four steps to “head in the demon's mouth” practice;

In [ ] are comments added during transcription, which can be deleted or edited.

(Not recorded: Q: Is the ever-perfect template the same for everyone?)

[The question began with Aaron's suggested healing practice of imagining oneself as a baby again, feeling the flexibility and ease before the present distortions began and so forth, which I've found an easy and useful technique, but of course if the baby also had the distortions then one would need to go beyond it to the ever-perfect template. And from there, wondering if genetics would limit the potential for healing in any way.)] (ereading this question; Aaron says no; no limits. .

Aaron: My blessing and love to you all. You had a question about healing, about what we call the template of the ever-perfect. Is it the same for everyone? Yes, and no.

Let us look at a stream flowing from a high mountain spring, and  coming now through a wide valley, a stream whose waters have become polluted. The stream, if it had the intelligence and free will—it does have free will and intelligence, but if it had the consciousness of the human, it might look at itself and make the decision that it wanted to become pure water as it once was. Now of course the pure water is always there. It has not gone anywhere. The dirty water is there with the pure water. Or put differently, the pure water and the pollutants are mingled together. So the stream looks at the ever-perfect template of itself, which is free of pollutants, and makes the decision to fully express that perfection instead of the polluted aspect of itself.

A mile away is a sister stream, flowing down the mountain. It also has an ever-perfect template of itself, which it may choose to express. But they are not identical because one stream flows gradually through a wide valley and the other one flows rapidly over waterfalls and down a steep cliff.

They come from the same essence. So we trace it back. There is the ever-perfect expression of each stream based on the ultimate ever-perfect. But the ultimate ever-perfect must be brought a step further to the specific conditions and placement of each stream, be it water or human. What is the present experience of a stream of pure water running over a muddy bed? What is the present expression of one running fast over rock? Yet the water essence is the same.

So the ever-perfect of your aura and the ever-perfect of yours and yours and yours and yours is not identical, but is of the same essence.

Q: So where does the ever-perfect template come from at the point of incarnation?

Aaron: The ever-perfect template is not always fully manifest, but it's always there. Then the human karma plays on that ever-perfect template to create the original manifestation of that human at birth. So a child who has the karma to be born with one leg longer than the other, because of old karma, the ever-perfect template has the legs the same length, but out of its own free will, at some point the human has allowed the manifestation of this inequality because of a desire to purify that karma and thus the need first to bring the karma into manifestation so it's accessible for purification.

Q: So if you worked with the ever-perfect template, you would be going past that (level of distortion) to (work with the undistorted ever-perfect level)...

[So there is the higher ever-perfect, the upstream that all streams draw from, and then an ever-perfect “customized” for each stream/incarnation by taking into account (interacting with) the particular incarnation (karma/genetics/environment), and finally the physical body that manifests distortions. And healing is not limited by genetics.] Aaron: yes. Gradations; all perfect!

Aaron: If someone is born with a genetic disorder because at some level they agreed to experience that genetic disorder, a sibling, even an identical twin, might not express that genetic disorder, even though it carries the same genes.

Q: But their ever-perfect template would not carry that genetic disorder.

Aaron: Oh, no, no. The ever-perfect template does not carry any disorder but it allows for free will choice to manifest the disorder, because until the disorder, which is one expression of karma, becomes manifest, it cannot be purified.

[But if someone is born with an extra finger on each hand, which would or could be considered a human distortion, and injured that finger, they could mirror healing to that finger from their ever-perfect template, correct? My confusion is in thinking of the e.p.t. as a sort of energetic body double, a field around the body, holding the most perfect form and potential for health and light etc that that physical body could express if fully purified. (And until now I thought of there being a single “human” e.p.t. common to every incarnation, somehow.) This might be over-simplified or incorrect. So this extra-finger “distortion” would then either be part of the e.p.t. if the e.p.t. is like an energy body-double, or the e.p.t. is not like an energy form at all but more a formless high pure vibration holding a potential perfection for the physical to draw on to manifest perfect material form. Not the right wording, and not trying to be detailed or exact, just was looking for the gist of what the e.p.t. is, and refining understanding of how to work with it.] Aaron; Thank you for an excellent question.   We'll leave this question for now; please get back to me with it when I can speak directly, perhaps back in Seattle in  March .

Each of you has karma that has never expressed in this lifetime. It's in the background, it's hidden. Your work to purify it cannot arise until you experience the karma. So you allow the, I'm not sure if allow or invite or simply co-create the expression of that karma, so you can work with it. If you chose every bit of karma and every possible distortion in one lifetime, you'd be totally overwhelmed. So there is a pre-birth plan about what will be brought into focus, and that sometimes is followed and sometimes is not accurately followed. Is there need in this particular lifetime to more patience, more compassion, release of judgment of the self and others, the learning of generosity? What is foremost that has brought that human into the lifetime? And then, once here, those traits will manifest and other traits will not manifest and lie in the background. But they're still there. Given certain conditions, they will manifest.

One person could be born with a trait that it had some intention to clarify around holding and greed and jealousy, but born into such a loving and generous home that those traits never have the opportunity to manifest until somewhere in middle age when suddenly there's a bout of some poverty brought about by various conditions. Then one sees the greed and grasping. Then one has the opportunity either to go deeper into it and enhance the manifestation, or to purify that trait.

Those who are on any kind of awakening spiritual path will see it as an opportunity for learning. That doesn't mean you'll enjoy it, only you'll see it as an opportunity for learning. Those who are not on a spiritual path will blame others and simply deepen the karma.

For healing, especially healing of the physical body and emotions, there needs to be awareness of why what has arisen has arisen. That is, that it is an opportunity for learning, a free will choice made to open into that opportunity, unpleasant though it may feel at the moment, and then the willingness to observe the simultaneity of the distortion and the ever-perfect. And with free will, to choose the ever-perfect and work with the practices that support that choice. In other words, one cannot just say, “I choose generosity” while struggling with greed and anger and want. But one can ask, “What will support generosity here?” and begin to work gradually with the issues. What will support patience? What will support the opening of kindness, even when there is anger?

In this way, you come closer and closer to that ever-perfect template, with awareness that as the human, you're never going to fully manifest it, and that's okay. Your work is not to manifest it. It's simply to purify the karma that it points out to you. Okay?

Q: I have been working with trying to put my head into the demon's mouth. I have been starting with love and emptiness, inviting the heart to look at the distortion, to touch the distortion with the heart.

Aaron: You're still separating yourself from the demon.

Q: That's it! I sensed separation. What am I doing wrong?

Aaron: Notice your question, ”What am I doing wrong?” Be gentle with yourself.  

This practice asks four things of you. One is to recognize the seeming illusion of the demon.

Second is the intention to resolve the relationship with this demon.

Third, to note the non-duality of what you perceive of as demon and true self. So the demon may come in the appearance of feelings of unworthiness, and the true self knows its divinity. The demon may come in the form or rage, and the true self knows its ability to kindness. The demon may come in the form of greed, while the true self knows its innate generosity.

The last step is the place where you see that there is no duality. That this which is capable of the utmost of kindness is also capable of rage. This which is capable of the zenith of generosity is also capable of greed. And the heart is open, fully open to the human condition and making the choice: I choose generosity. I choose loving kindness. And I hold the space for that which arises in antithesis of these, without fear of them.

In that way, in putting your head into the demon's mouth, you resolve all of the duality. So it's a symbolic gesture of saying, “I see both sides of this, and I am fully at peace with both sides, yet I choose to manifest one and release the other, and to keep doing whatever practices are skillful to release the other, to purify the other.”

Q: I don't think I ever get there.

Aaron: Does anybody here think they'll get there? (No.) Trust me on this one! All of you will, in time.

Q: It's hard to perceive the non-duality when I feel pain.

Aaron: But you keep coming back again and again to the possibility of that non-duality based on the high intention to purify the karma, to purify the energy, and to manifest that innate perfection, for the good of all beings. To quote the Buddha, if it were not possible, I would not ask you to do it!

So “I'll never get there” is just another story. And there has to be compassion for the human that's feeling “I'll never get there.” But hiding in that “I'll never get there” and saying, “Since I'll never get there, I'll stop trying” will certainly not get you there.

Q: I have glimpses of the non-duality, but then the contraction comes back.

Aaron: Getting there is not really the point. You're already there. Where would you go? The whole of the distortion is an illusion, but it is the teaching illusion of the moment.

The point is simply the deepening of love that's willing to keep going, not to fix the self, simply... If you stopped washing this window, never washed it again, it would accumulate a lot of dirt. The dirtier it got, the more you might say, “It will never get clean. Why should I try to clean it?” And then the next year it's even more covered with dirt, until you finally cannot see through it. “What clear glass? I don't believe there ever was clear glass there.” But each time you wash it off even a bit, it reminds you of the pure glass that's there at the base, even if some streaks remain once you wash it. The streaks do not impair the glass.

So you are not intended to “get there” so much as to hold the heart open to the human that is continually re-caught in the illusion and seeks liberation for itself and all beings. Because it is that seeking that keeps the heart open to the possibilities and keeps washing off the dirt as it arises, so the glass remains pure enough that you can remember the radiance of the glass and have compassion for yourself and other humans whose glass seems sullied.

I want to point out here, this does not deny the reality of the full liberation experience, and that eventually each being becomes the arahant and is completely released from all the impurities, the karmic stream washed clean. It can happen in this lifetime, but you are not practicing so much to become an arahant as simply to become wise and kind and loving.

Q: Will you work with me on this practice?

Aaron: Of course. Did you say will I, or was I?

Q: Well, you were!

Aaron: Will I? I was, and I will!

Some of you have been experiencing a bit of this “I'll never get it right.” in this retreat and recently in your lives. You are beautiful, you are radiant divine angels. Just, each time there's some soil on the glass, be willing to pick up a soft warm washcloth and rinse it off. Just keep going with it. That's all that's asked. Trust your innate capacity for love. Trust your innate open heart, your innate aspiration to be of service in the world. Just trust these things, and stop berating yourself that you have not yet gotten it perfect. That's just more mud on the glass.

(to new Q) Daughter, I suggest you try something with regard to a personal question of yours. Ask your children: how do you rate me as a mother? They bring home report cards from school, and those report cards help them to know what their strengths and their weaknesses are. Tell them you'd like a report card. What are your strengths and what are your weaknesses? In what areas would they like you to polish the mud off the glass? In what areas are you irreplaceable to them, wonderful, and shining?

Q: I have asked them, how can I be a better mom to you? And the answer usually consists of, “Buy us more toys!”

Aaron: Ask them, if they answer that, say, “I hear that you'd like more toys. Is there anything else, anything deeper?” But don't phrase it, “How can I be a better mom?” “What are my strengths as a mom, and what are my weaknesses?” Remember they're children. Toys, candy! You might ask them, “Is that all that matters to us? If I was mean to you but bought you toys, would that be okay?” So use it as a learning opportunity with them. What do you value most with me as your mother or as your father? It's important to you. They might say, “Spend more time with us.” Or, “Play.”

Others?

(yawns) Excuse the yawning. I nudged this instrument out of a sound sleep and said, “It's 2:30pm and time to come downstairs.” The body is jet lagged, and not fully awakened.

Are there any other questions?

Q: This summer, (a loved one) died. We were with her when she died. She died about one month ago. Is there anything we can do to support her now?

Aaron: There's an excellent book called American Book of the Dead, based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead, but a highly accessible English translation. I have found this a helpful practice with those who have passed. It starts immediately after death and is to be read for 40 days. Just start it whenever you do and read it daily. It's usually only a page. Read the page out loud, and then translate it. Speak to her with your heart and tell her what you think it means. You will talk about becoming more aware of one's surroundings, opening to the light, finding joy.

Sometimes as you read, you may feel a need to repeat that page again the next day. Other times you may skip through it and say, “Oh, you know this,” and just feel guided to go on.

There are two parts to this. One is that you're taking time to be with her daily, and to let her know that she's loved and thought of and supported. And two, that you're offering some specific and valuable guidance and translating it into terms that she's more able to understand.

Q: She is very Christian.

Aaron: Then translate it into Christian terms. If it says, “Go into the something light,” speak of it as the Christ's light. Put it into words she can understand. But remember that where she is now, she is not a Christian, she's in a much broader place. So that what you read also may have a surprising amount of meaning to her even if she had no Buddhist spiritual practice in her lifetime.

Q: Should we start at Day 30?

Aaron: Day 1.

Q: Okay. As she was dying, it was very humbling, because we didn't know how to accompany someone in that sacred transition. How to be with and support somebody in that sacred transition. We loved her...

Aaron: It's one tradition with different branches, different names. There is only one divine center, however you name it, and the highest manifestations of that center, such as the Christ, the Buddha, the saints and great teachers of other religions. So referring the person to those saints and teachers that will best call out to them is most helpful, because you're not naming anything different, it's just a different title for it, a different label.

Q: I am also mindful of my parents, who are getting older. I want to be of service to them.

Aaron: How old are they?

Q: My mother is 83. My father is 84. But they don't really have a spiritual belief.

Aaron: It's fine to include them in your prayers as you meditate. Wish them well. Pray for them that they find their own deepest inner light and heart opening and peace. That's really all you can do. You can't force a spiritual path on somebody else.

Barbara's mother is 96. When Barbara is with her at times, she's asked her, “Do you think about what death might be like, or this experience of getting much older that you're going through?” And she says, “I don't want to talk about it.” “Do you have any spiritual beliefs about what may happen?” “Nothing. I'm here, and then I'm gone.” So that's where she is. So all Barbara can do is hold her in the light in her heart, and pray that when she does make this transition, she will very soon open to that highest light and love. That's all she can do.

Interestingly, Barbara's father, who had no spiritual beliefs about an afterlife, he was a sometimes practicing Jew but mostly only on the high holidays, did not go to synagogue regularly or pray regularly, but when he was within a year or so of his transition he began to speak about feeling beings in the room with him. The doctor said to Barbara's mother, “He's hallucinating. It's because of drugs.” Once during a visit he said to Barbara,  “The doctor says I'm hallucinating. But I feel these beings.” In meditation Barbara said, “I feel them, too.” They're your loving guides and spirits. And one of them is—“ She spoke a few specific names, and he said, “Yes, that's who I feel. And this is who I feel.” So she was able to offer some confirmation for him and help him to trust the transition process, that he was being welcomed by these guides, by these loved ones. And that it was a safe process.

Are there any more questions? (No.)

(recording ends)

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