I’m proud to admit that I’m a learner. I examine reality, both yours and mine. On this plane, in material reality, I think that we’re all initiates. Some of us learn quickly, some of us need couching, and some of us need kicking in the head. However we will all eventually learn even if it takes a thousand life times. “No soul is ignorant forever”-Seth.
“In one of my past lives”, Seth continues, “I was a woman living in England , unmarried, with twelve children each from different men. I was toothless and filthy. My children and I were homeless, sleeping where ever we could find warmth. We begged for our food. To us a crust of bread was more delicious than Marie Antoinette’s cake. I found much happiness during that lifetime within the laughter and joy of my children. I learned more during that life time than I did during my lifetime as a Pope.”
(During his life time as a Pope, strangely enough, Seth learned about the "man's ambition for power". One would expect to learn on a spiritual level in that position.)
Poverty does not teach us, for there were others that were poor, but they did not learn.” Seth Speaks, channeled by Jane Roberts)
I first read Seth Speaks in 1992, and connected with this particular experience in an enduring way. Somehow, I guessed that I was missing the point he was trying to make. Eight years later, I began to understand.
Seth, in this powerful example, hints at a reality beyond the overwhelming circumstances during her lifetime. The haggard woman had been used and neglected. She and those she loved were starving. It would have been natural for her to be angry at those who used her body and left her with the consequences. She might have made the children’s life miserable because of their very existence. She might have been envious of those who had more than she.
More than those things, she might not have noticed the joy of life she shared with those she loved. But she did notice, and that enriched her soul through many lifetimes and exists to this day within Seth’s memory. I wish that I had known her.
The point Seth was making was that the most satisfying lessons come, not because of our circumstances, rather in spite of our circumstances. Those lessons are also the most difficult.
Circumstances and events are sometimes so encompassing and so overwhelming that any spiritual growth is a miracle.
Old saying: “Its hard to remember your main objective is to drain the pond when you’re up to your ass in alligators.”
The reverse of these circumstances might also lead to spiritual enlightenment. Shirley MacLaine has had an important impact in my education. She’s always a step ahead of me, and I follow enthusiastically.
MacLaine is wealthy, famous and influential. Her accomplishments as an actress, dancer and author are more than most of us could hope for in one life time.
One would expect MacLaine to work within the perimeters of her talents. She might manage her assets, enjoy her wealth, or continue her movie and stage career. Power might become a temptation.
Instead, risking humiliation and ridicule, she reaches beyond the circumstances of her life by seeking understanding. Further, she doesn’t horde the treasures she uncovers, she shares the treasures! For those of us who can’t or don’t, she does it for us.
She shares her failures and her successes; As a learner, I relate to both. If I had her wealth, I might be tempted to give in to the comfort of money. Not MacLaine. Instead, she works all the harder. Since I probably won’t ever get the chance to thank her for the books she wrote, I’ll say it now.
Shirley MacLaine works and searches for enlightenment not because of her money, fame and power, but in spite of her money, fame and power. I wonder if she’s noticed. It took me eight years.
Its difficult to learn during a lifetime when its easier not to. There are those of us who suffer disease or accident. Some of us are traumatized and brutalized. War and conflict. Even an uneventful lifetime can lull us away from important matters of spiritual growth because we get too comfortable.
Its enough just to understand.
Blessings,-- Davene