An humble soul-traveller has spent the last forty or so years recording and writing about his out-of-body experiences and life in other realms.
As you listen to Jurgen Ziewe, consider that we all take such journeys into the spirit realms without realising it in our dreams. That wise spirit Seth who spoke for many years through Jane Roberts said that most nights, our souls leave the body and travel to other dimensions of being. We are truly spirits temporarily and voluntarily encased in matter.
And we all have the innate ability to take such journeys consciously, as Jurgen has been doing for decades, though very few of us learn to do it. But even if we don't, we can learn from far-seekers like this man what human beings are capable of, and what our dreaming selves can learn to do when our waking selves are asleep.
Many are those who seek that path to awakening, but few who are willing to walk it.
And of those, some do not recognise the path when it is before them, or recognise the guides who really do point the way. The world is full of false guides and would-be teachers, perhaps more than ever before , and they promise an easy road or take us on twisted paths that ultimately lead us back to the false selves we started with.
Yet teachers there are, if you are truly ready for one.
Even in our darkest times, humanity has never been bereft of great teachers, of guidance, true teachers whose lives are living examples of the Way, the path of initiation into the intimate experience of the Divine. So many teachers, in fact, that one has to be obstinately blind, self-satisfied or cynical not to find one that speaks to his particular psyche and meets her particular need for guidance.
I have learned from several great teachers, most of them long passed out of this world and leaving behind a precious legacy of teaching. When I read about Karlfried Durkheim and his work, I knew that I had found another one who could point me to the Way and teach me the knowledge and practices that will enable me to walk it.
He is not widely known in English-speaking countries, and he is not for those who prefer light spiritual reading and practice. In fact, it was only after a third reading of his dialogue with Father Alphonse Goettmann that I began to really appreciate what 'spiritual practice' really means, and the necessity of making every day life, every moment part of that practice.
Karlfried Durkheim taught that the deep disciplines of Zen Buddhism and Christian ascetisicm can lead us in the midst of this world towards that which we were created to be: spiritualized human beings
And there is such great need in this world for fully actualized, spiritualized human beings.
At the hub of Durkheim's 'initiation therapy' is the spiritual imperative to face the shadow within each of us and accept it, embrace it, for "In the shadow is also imprisoned our true nature, our inner Christ our essential Being."
That shadow does not just contain our repressed fears, angers, passions, childhood traumas etc.; it also holds our denial of our true nature, our Essential self. "The refusal in our consciousness of essential Being produces the deepest shadow. This shadow is, however, repressed primordial light." In embracing it, we open ourselves again to the inner Divine, the Christ consciousness we 'lost' in the confusions of this world but that lies in us waiting to be released.
The key of Durkheim's therapy, then is detachment, letting go, detaching oneself in every situation from all creates walls between direct experience and Being, from all inclination and attempt to interpret, qualify or otherwise mediate between the observed and the observer. Meditation, mindfulness, the eastern Orthodox 'watch of the heart' and what the psychic Edgar Cayce described as 'watching yourself go by' are practices for developing and strengthening this essential attitude of detachment.
And once again, here is an introduction to Karlfried Durkheim.
Every now and then, I listen to this to remind me that we are each choosing each moment of every day in every choice we make what and who we are becoming, for the great Becoming never ends, as Being never ends.
Why do we find it so hard to forgive? To let go of our anger, our hurt and resentment, let the other be, and with a clear, light heart, create peace between us? Why do otherwise kind, compassionate, reasonable human beings invest so much in their anger, their hurt that they cannot seem, or maybe don't even want to accept their differences and let each other be?
It is a tragic thing to see the great gulfs of misunderstanding and judgement that people create between themselves, people who should be close: husbands and wives, friends, brothers and sisters, parents and children. And sad beyond sad to watch them perpetuate those gulfs instead of building bridges and trying to heal their relationships. For those who love them, it is agony.
And when those who are in conflict try to pull you into their anger, their judging and hurt, it can feel like being sucked into a tornado: refuse to join and they batter you, join them and you lose your integrity. Having had many experiences of that from childhood till now, between my own children, I can tell you without any hesitation that it is a hellish situation to be in.
Is forgiveness really that difficult? Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, it may require the soul of a saint, a superhuman effort. I read about women in Rwanda, Africa whose families, husbands, sometimes children were killed before their eyes, and they raped and left for dead, who much found within themselves the strength and awesome goodness to forgive their abusers.
'Portraits of reconciliation', New York Times
For all my talk about forgiveness, and my peace-loving values, I don't know that I could have done that. Many wouldn't.
Yet for most of us, the wrongdoing, the hurt is not nearly so terrible. Painful, distressing, but not terrible. So why do we still find it so difficult to forgive? Why don't we even try? We must be perverse indeed to act so earnestly against our own peace of mind.
While spiritual teacher, Ted, talks about forgiveness mostly from a religious perspective, there is deep psychological validity in what he has to say. This is a message that we can all learn from.
