from Letter Thirteen "Three Suggestions"

"Here we go again. I'm seeing stars! And I don’t mean like in the old cartoons. These
are real! I'm getting images of quickly flowing lights, streaming gases, chaos. I feel like
there is a bubble of light around me. It seems to be alive! Suddenly darkness. But this is
not ordinary darkness. This is infinite blackness. No hope of light anywhere. I sense
great fear, intense resistance. I can't help but fight against it; it's pushing on me so hard
from all sides. It's like this darkness is thick with its own presence, its own essence of
fear. The sense of confinement is unbelievable. It is living death, totally alone. What on
Earth is this?"

I feel that it is not on this Earth!

"Yes. It’s somewhere else. At last I feel a small degree of relief around me in the
darkness. It's hardly a glimmer, but something is there … a tiny glimmer of light …
and now it's gone; it's all gone. I'm shaking all over from this. What was it, O? I don't
like it at all."

It makes me think I must bring you more quickly into an open understanding of our
project. I will initiate that upon completion of this next step. I want first, however, to
give you a few, simple suggestions. Here they are:

Feeling resistance, either around you, or within you, is the clue to recognizing that ego
is controlling your perception. Resistance may be thrust upon you in powerful,
threatening ways, or it may be subtly disguised within your thoughts and emotions.
The outer forms that come are more easily recognized. However, they may come in
simple feelings, like a lack of inspiration; or you may look at another person and think
she's not behaving according to your standards. Notice that underneath this feeling is
always a reference to yourself, as the standard for rightness. That reference is guided
by defensiveness. Notice, at these times, the feeling you have inside. Great or small,
this is resistance to what is. Always look at your own resistance, if you wish to awaken.
It is your ego's desire to exist, and resist that awakening in every way it can.

Here’s a little trick that one of your human observers created ages ago: Look at
resistance as a fluid, that you can pour into a situation. You have a choice to use this
fluid or not. When you feel resistant in any way, you can simply decide not to pour it
on. That fluid is your own emotional energy; it can be sent out into a situation or it can
be recycled back into the system of your being. If you choose not to send it out,
remarkably, you will feel less burdened, and less resistant. The theory behind this, of
course, is that it is easier to deal with the resistance before you apply it than it is to
remove it later, once it has been put in place.

“What about the other side of ego, the pushy, over-confident type? Is this connected to
resistance too?”

Yes, that’s intuitive of you. When an ego assumes arrogance, it is looking for strength
it feels is missing. Ego always feels it is losing its identity. It continually tries to re-create
its own existence by identifying with forms. It craves form and fears formlessness. It
wants to deny the formless reality. Denial is resistance.

“Sometimes I’m just plain lost in this world, like there is something going on, but I
haven’t the faintest idea what it really is! This is different from my common worries.
This feels like some kind of root, existential fear. Is this my ego wanting to cling to form
and deny the formless?”

Yes. The ego is actually correct here. You are lost, my friend. Accept it. It is the state of
being in a homo sapiens body-mind. I don’t mean this to sound glib or hopeless. Rather
take heart from recognizing the reality of your species. This is ego feeling the truth
about its lack of power. It cannot be avoided. Feel it directly and fully whenever you
encounter this. Take it as a high opportunity and a gift. Feel it all the way through. Do
not let it dominate your awareness. As you notice fear, regard it as a doorway. Accept
it as a portal into the Now. This is your true and ultimate salvation from fear. In this
moment, all energies and powers arise.

You do not have to find your way out of being lost. Thinking cannot get you out of
this. At best, thinking provides only a distraction; it puts wallpaper on a crumbling
wall. Let the walls fall. All the while be conscious. Rather than finding your way, allow
your way to find you. Be ready and alert when it arrives in your presence. That means
practice your presence. Fully acknowledging your feelings, opens the door to
acceptance, and empowerment; this is destiny in action. When destiny arises in you, I
guarantee, you will no longer feel the slightest bit lost.

“Are techniques like this actually a way for us to become more like you?”

You guessed it. These are steps into the transmutation of your genetic structure. While
you cannot make it happen through mental or physical action, as I have said, you can
get ready. For each and every one of you it surely will happen when its time comes.
“How can time come, if there is no time?”

Time is a form, part of the flowing stillness. It is a manifestation of our lives in this
world. As we create forms of any kind, time is generated. All forms change
continuously, but the Now never changes. It is always the space where action happens,
the space into which forms come and go. Time is a way of measuring the change of
forms within this space. If you do not look though the forms, you will come to identify
with them and make yourself like them—always changing, always restless.
Awakening is all about disentangling from form, and finding peace.

Copyright © 2009 by Robert Potter