Beloved Students:

I greet you in the spirit of love and understanding, peace and wholeness as together we hold forth for the accomplishment of all these qualities for Earth. May each of you be richly blessed as you continue to create your journey, both inwardly and outwardly in the world at this time. May you experience the very gifts you seek to give to the world. May your giving come from a pure heart and a true desire for world healing.

I have noticed that many of you are getting some interesting experiences as you try to discover how to be in your collective experience at this time. You go out into life hoping to share some inspiration, spiritual awakening, or just plain encouragement with others only to be met with some unexpected encounters. You find people who challenge you in ways that surprise, disappoint or discourage you. It seems unlikely to you because you may be consciously efforting more than ever to be compassionate, helpful, loving and kind. Some of you are finding that if you are not blatantly supporting the war, you are deemed "unpatriotic." Others of you have had encounters with people who challenge your intent, your spiritual path or simply your personhood. It may leave you wondering just why you are seeing these things.

It is important to remember that the energy of war always stimulates polarization, even though it may not be along the lines of the philosophical premise espoused as the validation for waging war. War always brings into view the two-sided nature of experiencing life. Thus, two sides are positioned "against" one another, and struggle begins. In fact, if you look closely you might even discover that the theme(s) which are propagandized as "pulling the country together," may actually be pushing elements within farther apart. This will, of course, have interesting effects in all strata of experiencing. Clearly, this is a time for honing your discernment.

In truth, everyone in physical form has areas of rigidity. This is part of the human experience. Usually, your rigid places come from areas where you have experienced one kind of wounding or another. Whether it happened in childhood or in past lives, somewhere within your psyche you installed a "button." When that button gets punched, poked or prodded, your ego's quickest reaction is to become defensive, hoping to avoid additional pain. Whether you recognize it in the moment or not, you employ a fear strategy, much as seen in your animal friends. You may either puff up a bit, making yourself appear larger (wiser/richer/more powerful) than you actually feel, or you may shrink, hoping to be small enough to be passed over by whatever seems to be bullying you in the moment. Recognize the pattern? Either way, your ego wins, not your True Self.

I would like to suggest that you give thanks for the experiences that come into your life that cause you to challenge yourself, your beliefs, your wisdom and your compassion. These experiences will likely come to you from individuals who, in one way or another, seem to "throw down the gauntlet" before you. You might even want to look at this as a test of sorts. It is not so much that they are testing you (although it may feel that way); rather, it is an opportunity for you to test yourself. How present are you able to be in the face of challenge? If the challenge of another causes you pain, look carefully to see if your response might also cause him/her/them to feel pain as well.

The point of mastery is to show up fully in the moment. This may not be as easy as it sounds. When you investigate carefully within, you will likely find that it requires a high level of mindfulness to be present for the moment without being influenced in any way by the past. Truthfully, there are very few people who can do this consistently. When that charge inside you goes off from one of your buttons being punched, it is because you are not truly in the moment, but at some deep level re-experiencing the past. Likewise, when someone challenges you, it is very likely that some button of theirs has been punched, and they are simply reliving some past experience and projecting it on to you or the situation at hand. If you feel pain at such, you will want to avoid doing the same thing back to the other.

When I mentioned that these times require you to hone your discernment, I spoke literally. Life seems to be asking you, in fairly obvious ways, to be discerning in three ways: 1) to discern among personal will, divine will and no will; 2) to discern the appropriate focus for your energy, time and creativity; and 3) to discern what is most helpful for the planet, in so far as your contribution is concerned.

In the first regard, remember that most people do not clearly understand how to distinguish between personal will (i.e., will of the ego) and divine will (i.e., will of Spirit, or God). When will arises within an individual, it is, indeed, most likely personal or egoic will. To experience divine will, one must surrender to it, which involves dissolving egoic will. Unfortunately, many have arisen as spiritual or political leaders who have gravely confused their own egoic will for divine will. A look through history will show some of the devastation that is possible in such a situation. An understandable (if false) conclusion, which has been derived by many as a result, is that the solution to the problem is to cultivate no will and call it "divine will." Clearly, in the surrender part of the equation, there are points where no will may be appropriate. But careful and deep inquiry into the issue at hand will begin to reveal that something else is needed as well. Egoic will must be transformed, not repressed.

Some of you asked friends and relatives to share in our "Let The Truth Come Forth" meditation, and were disappointed when you were abruptly told such was an act of egoic, or inappropriate, will. Baffled, you approached me on the inner planes seeking understanding. Perhaps you had not felt you were being willful, only trying to help in a situation that is itself baffling. Some of you got glib answers like, "everything is just perfect as it is and doesn't need your help." Now if you had a personal idea of just what the "truth" is, and if you held a belief that it would look, feel and be a certain way, then you did, in fact, use egoic will. If, however, you could in faith invoke the coming forth of truth, not knowing what you might find, nor who might be upheld by it nor who repelled by it, then you may have touched divine will. Your personal will (or how you want it to look) could have been transformed into divine will of simply wanting the whole world to have the facts. If, on the other hand, you experience no will, you are in effect saying you don't really care about the suffering or bad plight of others. Be careful about thinking this is divine will.

In our second consideration, know that it is important to discern the activities and exchanges that help you be more of your True Self from those that do not. This does not mean that you hold yourself apart from the collective experience, seeking only experiences that validate you or that make you feel good. Rather, move toward the experiences that challenge you. See what you can learn from them; see where they causes you to experience your buttons being punched; see where they asks you to stretch into being all that you can be. Should you have exchanges where others are rude or condescending to you, know that this behavior says much more about their own space than it does yours. When people disagree with you, show kindness. Be open and honest in your responses, of course, but establish yourself in loving kindness, so that if there is pain, it stops with you. If individuals are rude to you, acknowledge that you will probably have little or no effect on them by anything you say. They have already "blown you off," so to speak, so it is good to let them have their ideas, bless and release them to their own reality. Do not struggle with them or their ideas. Let your struggles lead you to do the inner work of self-mastery.

Thirdly, discern what is most helpful for the world at this time, and let that be your focus. Is it more helpful for you to win a point, or for you to hold silence and meditate on compassion? Is the world helped more by your struggling over some spiritual point, or by your applying dedicated mindfulness to giving up struggling? Does it help the world more for you to feel hurt, betrayed, belittled, wronged, or to mindfully cultivate loving kindness, tolerance and compassion? These are the vehicles of discernment that will not only serve you well, but will facilitate the planetary journey at this time. Never forget that you came to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Give thanks daily for the privileges you are afforded by your citizenship, and never forget those who struggle their entire lives to attain these same privileges. Open your hearts and minds to joy and the power of creative expression.

Please join me in listening to Magnificence Remembered, a talk I did for the group in Washougal, Washington on November 3rd. May if facilitate you in attaining the appropriate distance needed to discern well the path before you.

For this month, I would like you to daily create a connection with both with international players in current events, as well as people of various nations who are drawn into the current conflicts by virtue of their national borders, or those who have suffered in similar critical situations. If you have representations that help you focus specifically, please feel free to use them (e.g. photos, maps, news clips, etc.). See the leaders in the foreground, then see behind them the people over whom they have influence. In each case, address both the leaders and the people with this four-fold blessing:

May you be happy;
May you have peace;
May you have ease and a sense of well being;
May love and kindness fill and heal you.

Step 1: See before you President Bush, Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld. Behind them see all the people they influence. To them both collectively and individually say . . .

Step 2: See before you Osama bin Laden, behind him see the people he influences. To them, say . . .

Step 3: See President Mushareef of Pakistan before you, behind him the people he influences. To them say . . .

Step 4: See Taliban leader Zareef before you, behind him the people he influences. To them, say . . .

Step 5: Before you see Sadam Hussein, behind him the people he influences. To them say . . .

Step 6: See Vladimir Putin, behind him he people he influences. To them collectively and individually, say . . .

Step 7: Now see Jacque Chirac and all the people under his influence. Say . . .

Step 8: See also Chancellor Schroeder with all the people he influences. To them, say . . .

Step 9: See now Prime Minster Tony Blair with all the people he influences. To them, say . . .

Step 10: Next see P.M. Ariel Sharon with all the people he influences. To them, say . . .

Step 11: See Yasser Arafat before you, with all the people he influences. To them, say . . .

Step 12: See now Jaing Zemin of China and all the people he influences. To them, say . . .

Step 13: See President Koizumi of Japan, and all the people he influences. To them, say . . .

Step 14: See refugees the world over. See their terror, their impoverishment, their suffering. To they say . . .

Step 15: Sit for a moment holding the energy of happiness, peace, well being, love and kindness. Send it out to all sentient beings everywhere.

Walk in love,
Djwhal Khul