The Work to be Done to Ascend

The Arcturians tell us that “unconditional love is the highest resonance of the Omniverse.” (1) SaLuSa tries to describe it in words and confesses that he cannot find the right ones.

“The feeling of what it is like to live in [the love of] the higher realms … is difficult to put into words. We have previously spoken of it [as] being ecstatic, and there does not seem to a better way of describing it. The feeling of love is one you understand, but again that energy is at constant levels where you are absolutely engulfed by it.” (2)

Saul tells us that unitive consciousness is inextricably bound up with it.

“Full consciousness is a state of being in which the individual entity — while maintaining a sense of personal identity — also holds the sense, or awareness, of being one with God and the totality of the divine Creation.

“In this state, which is experienced — perpetually — for eternity — all knowledge, all memory, all wisdom is instantly available and known.

“All is at peace, in perfect joyful harmony, and the totality of All That Is is completely permeated and suffused with an infinite abundance of unconditional love.” (3)

Thus, unconditional love prevails in the Fifth Dimension. SaLuSa tells us to raise our consciousness to its level if we want to enter and remain in the Fifth Dimension.”Raise your vibrations,” he says, ” go with the flow, and be gradually uplifted so that you are ready when Ascension takes place.” (4)

“Accepting the Oneness of all life will raise you up to a point of higher conscious awareness. You can then express it by sharing your love and Light with all life forms. You will see things in a new light and separatism will no longer be something you contribute to. It becomes redundant to your thinking.” (5)

SaLuSa calls universal love the doorway in to unitive consciousness and the Fifth Dimension: “When you begin to feel love for every other soul, and it is reciprocated then you take a step nearer to Oneness that awaits you.” (6) Ag-Agria confirms that those who foster it will draw the energy of Ascension to themselves.

“Ascension is your pathway to freedom and the higher realms, but you have to see it as your goal and work towards it. The energy is such that it will be attracted to those who stand in Love and Light and seek a higher expression of it in their lives.” (7)

On this basis, then, I feel comfortable speculating that unitive, universal, or unconditional love is the key to Ascension and the doorway in to the Fifth Dimension. I agree with Maureen Moss when she writes:

“Did you know that everything except love is an illusion? That’s a key for you, and ought to simplify things. True love, the love born of a God Consciousness, having no agenda, and unattached to the mind, is the only reality that exists.

“So what does that tell you? Keep your mind out of everything but love, and experience true reality.” (8)

Given that Maureen has probably not ascended, if we need to hear the same point from ones that have, we can listen to the Arcturians: “When you recall that love’s the key/You’ll know you are forever free.” (9)

Having said that I feel universal love is the key to Ascension, I’d like to now look at what it is.

“Unconditional, unitive, or universal love” is in some respects a contradiction in terms. Genuine “love” is and can only be unconditional, unitive, and universal. We use the word “love” for romance as well, which I prefer to call by the French term “amour.” I don’t believe that amour is what SaLuSa, Saul and Ag-Agria are referring to when they use the term “love.”

The kind of love they are pointing to is transcendental, impartial, non-preferential. That’s why it’s unitive or universal, rather than dualistic or separative. The Third Zen Patriarch, SoSan, said: “Make the smallest distinction … and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart. If you wish to see the truth, then hold no opinion for or against.” (10)

The minute we introduce preference, heaven disappears. The minute we introduce partiality, love disappears. In my view, love does not discriminate, prefer, or reject. As far as I’m concerned, it is, and can only be, unconditional and universal.

But we of the Third Dimension have lived our lives preferring, discriminating, rejecting. Our conversations with each other are often based on what we like and dislike or on refining our story of our own actions by criticizing others and making ourselves right. All this is an aspect of separative or dualistic consciousness. It may result in amour, but not in love.

So what is our work? Well, I think it’s what SaLusa and the others have said: to foster unconditional love.

The minute I try to do that, one of two things occurs. I either radiate unconditional love or meet a barrier. In fact, nine times out of ten, or even ninety-nine times out of a hundred, I meet a barrier.

In the face of that, what is my work? To process those barriers.

If I intended to love and got only a barrier, then I can use the same process I’ve recommended elsewhere to clear it. (11)

I call it the “be with and observe” process. It is the opposite of reacting.

Stand in the face of the barrier, without reacting.
Observe what is happening to you internally.
Ask yourself precisely when the upset started.
Try to put a name to it – dismay, horror, indignation?
Ask yourself what earlier, similar incident is in play here? Take the first thought you get.
Try it on for size.
Observe whether entertaining it as the cause of your upset brings release.
If it does, enjoy the release. If it does not, try again.

Now let’s look at the process stage by stage.

Stand in the face of the barrier, without reacting.

The first thing I need to do when I encounter a barrier is to stop reacting to the situation. This is not necessarily the first thing I think of doing. Reacting comes easily to me and is often invisible. I react and then I review how I did, justifying and excusing myself and denying any incompetence or wrongdoing. I may only wake up to the need not to react after some time has passed.

I usually wake up when the barrier persists. When I see the unwanted condition still here, it acts like a signal and I check out whether I’m reacting. If I am, I stop. Instead, I begin being with the barrier and observing it.

It can help in this first step if I begin noticing my breathing. I keep my mind busy by having it pay attention to the breath. That frees up what Patricia Cota-Robles called the “I AM presence” to be with the barrier. (12)

There are so many places at which this process can go awry. The place here where it does is if I forget what it means to “be with and observe.” I may get into thinking about the situation and scrutinizing it. “Being with and observing” is not thinking and scrutinizing. Being with is an open spaciousness. Observation is almost osmotic and effortless.

Once I’ve achieved the place of being with and observing the barrier rather than reacting, I go on to step two.

Observe what is happening internally.

I begin to notice in a general way what is happening inside. I look for places where the energy is stuck. Do any muscles hurt? Can I breathe easily from the in-breath’s beginning to its end? If not, where does the breath become labored? How difficult is it to stop reacting? Do I feel impelled to? I get the lay of the land.

Ask yourself precisely when the upset started.

Then I ask myself exactly when the barrier started. Was it when something was said? Was it when I had a thought? A feeling? I be with and observe the beginning of the barrier. I go back and forth between the time before the upset to the upset itself and then the time after.

If I can identify the moment exactly, the barrier may disappear. If the barrier is too ramified or deep and persists, I go on to the next step.

Try to put a name to it – fear, anxiety, embarrassment?

What is the barrier? Fear? Anxiety? Embarrassment? If I can name it exactly, again the barrier may disappear.

Notice that putting a name to the condition works with negative or unwanted conditions, but it doesn’t work with positive or wanted conditions. If I put a name to love, etc., I may go into my head and lose the experience. Wholesome or positive experiences give way to mental operations, but unwholesome or negative experiences persist.

Thus if we read Krishnamurti, for instance, he’ll say don’t name experiences like love. I agree. But the same does not hold for unwanted conditions.

Ask yourself what earlier, similar incident is in play here? Take the first thought you get.

If it persists, I ask myself what earlier, similar incident is at the root of the barrier? If I ask the mind, without struggling or trying to focus it, it will do its job and feed me back a thought, a word, a feeling that identifies the earlier, similar incident.

This step will not work if I try to force the mind to yield its secrets. It will remain silent. Again, a light touch is required. That first message could go shooting by me. I have to be watchful to catch it.
If I miss or reject it, again the exercise may not work.

Try it on for size.
Observe whether entertaining it as the cause of your upset brings release.
If it does, enjoy the release. If it does not, try again.

I try on the earlier, similar incident to see if it’s the one. If it is, the barrier should lift. If it’s not, I may have to ask again.

If the barrier lifts, I find it best to stop processing. I don’t go back into the incident. If someone is helping me, I ask them to stop too. I tend not to respond to their invitation to do more work. If I do more work, I could recreate the upset and have to run through the steps all over again.

I agree with Diane of Sirius who said that love is our natural state: “You should not need to be taught how to love each other, as it is your natural way of being.” (13)

While we can intend to love, since intending is a movement of the spirit, there is no need to actually expend effort, which would be a movement of the mind and body. Expending effort might only raise a fresh obstacle.

I think what we need to do, and all we need to do really, is to clear the barriers to love and love should flow freely. This “be with and observe” process helps me overcome my barriers to love. If we overcome the barriers to love, then, since love is our own true nature, it should flow freely. I’m banking on it. It’s the experiment I’m engaged in.