Earthquakes and Disasters

(Transcribed from a channeled tape made in reply to an anguished phone call from a friend in San Francisco, October 19, 1989.)

Question: Why has this happened? What are we meant to learn from it? There is so much suffering. My home is destroyed. Why? I am terrified by the instability.

Aaron: Greetings, Ted. I send you my love.

You have been through a terrifying experience and a painful one, and of course the pain has not yet ended.

You have seen great suffering, seen your world turned upside down in a moment. Of course you wonder why such horror is permitted. And you wonder at your own feelings of terror. Let me talk about these separately.

You know that no natural disaster is meant as punishment. We are simply contending with energy here, the forces of the universe. They are neither inherently good nor bad; they simply exist. Yet, as with anything else in our lives, we choose and use these forces to teach us.

Everything in your life is part of your learning. In an experience such as this, people have died, people are in physical pain from their injuries, people are homeless. Any person with a caring heart screams out "This isn't right," "How can this be permitted?"

Who is permitting it, Ted? Some may say, "Why does God permit it?" God has given free will to men. Always, you make the choices for your lifetime; God cannot protect you from your choices. I do not mean to sound harsh when I say that those who choose to live above an earthquake zone have made a choice, but this is quite obvious. Similarly, those who have chosen to live in a war zone have made a choice. In the wisdom of each being's soul they are always where they need to be for the next lesson they need on their journey.

Of course there are those beings who seem to have little choice, whose poverty shapes their lives and prevents their leaving. There are children, there by their parents' choice. Each of them is there for a reason; there is something for them to learn. Trust the wisdom of each soul to be where it needs to be, to experience what it needs to experience. If that experience ends in great injury or death, that is part of the lesson. I do not wish to sound cruel, but try to look at it from my perspective for a moment. You live so many lives. Each one is precious, I'm not denying that. But also each life is like the blink of an eye.

You are asked to keep both perspectives simultaneously, and this is difficult I know, especially when there is suffering. You can best help to relieve the suffering by maintaining an equanimity that accepts the experiences that come, not with rage and blame, but with a deep trust in the wisdom of each soul and its choices. Trusting that knowledge, your love and compassion allow you to work to relieve suffering in any situation while accepting that it is and will be part of human experience.

There are other lessons to be learned here. I have previously spoken about this in terms of those who died in concentration camps, who gave their lives in great love to teach others. Consciously they did not choose this, but at the depth of their soul's wisdom they did.

There will be more shifts in the earth and fiercer earthquakes, not just in San Francisco but all over the world. I mentioned free will before. Man lives on a planet which is unstable, where there are tornadoes and earthquakes and volcanoes. He must learn to live with this instability if he is to survive. This is one of your universal lessons.

That highway should have been designed to withstand an earthquake. If the earthquake had been a 9 rather than a 7 thousands of people would have been killed along the whole length of the highway. Can you understand the gift of these people's lives when seen in this light? Had nobody died, do you think it would have been taken as seriously? A tremendous effort will be made as rebuilding is begun to better understand the engineering that is required to prevent loss of life in the future. Do not feel sorry for those who have died, Ted. Rather, thank them with all your heart for the gift of love they have given to teach others. When they return, perhaps the world will be a safer place.

Let us talk about your own fears here. You cannot get past your attachment to wanting comfort, to wanting the continuation of your home, until you understand where your true home is. Then your present home will take a clearer perspective. I understand how painful it is for you to lose the security of this home, to have to find a new place to live. Go deeper, Ted. What do you have to learn here as you examine your attachments? Try to let go gracefully. Open your heart in trust and faith that the learning that will come from this will be good, will be a positive step on your own path. Look at the "now" rather than holding on to what is past.

I have little to add to what your heart's wisdom already tells you, other than to assure you that you do understand what is happening to you. For those such as you who understand it, this is a very deep lesson in impermanence. Highways, bridges and buildings that seemed so strong and permanent are gone in an instant. You can never count on anything to be the way it was a moment ago. All things are impermanent! It is a reminder, and a strong reminder, that we must seek ultimate reality, not apparent reality.

Open your heart to that which continues forever, not that which may be gone at the snap of a finger or the shaking of the earth. This lesson is the gift this earthquake gives to all beings. Bless it for its teachings and go on to the work of caring for those who have suffered, rather than raging against that which you cannot change. Allow its lessons into your heart with forgiveness and love.

I love you!

Aaron