KNOW THYSELF: THE PATHWAY TO PEACE

Know Thyself:  The Pathway To Peace

Nancy B. Detweiler, M.Ed., M.Div.

“I lift up mine eyes to the mountain from whence comes my help.  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1)

I lift up my eyes to the mountain of my I AM PRESENCE … and look out over our planet.  Hovering close to the surface, dark clouds of fear and violence appear to engulf our home planet.  But wait!  Just above the dense clouds, ready to scatter the darkness, a matrix of shimmering, white light enfolds the entire planet.  It reminds me of riding in an airplane as it climbs upward through thick rain clouds.  For a few moments, I perceive my surroundings as dreary and gray.  Suddenly, the airplane emerges from darkness into brilliant sunlight.  I gasp.  My world is, instead, radiantly beautiful!  Dreary gray is transformed into sparkling, white clouds, opulent in their fullness and sprinkled with varying shades of rose pink.  Life is not as it appears to be.

From the physical plane, I behold a world that appears to grow more violent with every passing day.  Some try to ignore the potential repercussions of violence and go on with our lives.  Others openly pursue courses of action that will inevitably lead to violence.  Still others, out of fear for what might happen if we do not pursue the violent path, offer their support to those actions that sow the seeds of violence.  At this point in time, the heroic few take a stand for peace and for demonstrating compassion for all of humanity.  What would happen if we all sought to “Know Thyself”—to know the Truth about who we are?

The chaos so vividly evident on our planet is the result of humanity’s lack of comprehension of who we are.  We perceive ourselves to be a physical being that did not ask to be born … that will live this one lifetime … that will eventually die.  Those who believe in life after death tend to view it as taking place in either heaven or hell.  These misconceptions about who we are form the basis for all of life’s decisions from the personal level to the planetary level.  At present, our planetary culture is founded on non-truth.  To “Know Thyself” holds the capacity to transform our world.

Who are we?  “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness ….’  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:26-27)  To be created in the image of God means that we began our individual journeys as gods.  Jesus quoted Psalm 82:6  when he taught the crowds in Jerusalem, “Is it not written in your law, I said, you are gods?’” (John 10:34)  According to the Cayce Readings, Jesus wrote Psalm 82 during his lifetime as Asaph, the Temple musician.  It is interesting to note that Jesus is responding to an angry crowd who believe problems are solved by violence.  They pick up stones in order to stone Jesus because he recognizes his true identity as a god.  Yet, Jesus responds to their anger by telling them that they, too, are gods.  Jesus reveals that the way to peace is to “Know Thyself” as god.

During the eons of living life as individual entities, we have forgotten who we truly are.  All sorts of non-truths dominate our belief systems.  We have taken the world’s sacred scriptures and interpreted them via the surface words only.  In most of these scriptures, the prevailing allegory for our life’s journey is that of a soldier entering battle under the protective arms of a Warrior God who fights against some warriors, while favoring others.  These misinterpretations have resulted in the non-truths upon which we are basing our present battle plans.

In order to “Know Thyself,” we must seek the Truth about ourselves and our entire human family.  Jesus taught, “You are gods.” We must come to know ourselves as the gods that we are.

One of the most helpful meditative tools I know of is Elizabeth Clare Prophet’s “The Divine Self Chart.”

http://tsl.org/2009/10/chart-of-your-divine-self/

Copies of this chart may be ordered from the Summit Lighthouse.  I encourage you to order a copy and to meditate upon it daily.  Doing so will transform your life!       The Divine Self Chart reveals we are far more than we think.  It depicts the truth about humanity.  We are gods!  We have simply forgotten who we are.  Through the eons of incarnating on planet Earth, our conscious awareness has decreased to such an extent that we believe ourselves to be separated from God … to be solely the physical body we can see and touch … to be powerless.  We have come to believe in lack, deprivation, illness, evil, and death.  We are afraid because we believe ourselves to be helpless victims in the face of evil.  We are willing to resort to violence because we believe in death and therefore, that we must kill before we are killed.  We perceive our world as a dangerous place as a result of believing in death.  In truth, no one can hold the power of death over us.  We experience the loss of life only because we are so limited in our conscious awareness.

Recall the Divine Self Chart … the physical body stands on the physical plane.  For most of us, the physical body, emotions, and intellectual mind are the only parts of ourselves of which we are consciously aware.  This is why we feel so vulnerable to deprivation and harm.  The physical heart is depicted as a threefold flame, reminding us that we are gods.  The heart is the life center; it is this divine spark dwelling within the physical heart that grants us life.

The physical body stands surrounded by a purple flame.  This purple flame can be used to transmute negativity.  When we call to the Flame to remove all negativity from the energy field that surrounds our lower bodies (meaning physical, etheric, emotional, and intellect), we shield ourselves from any harm coming to us.  Like attracts like.  When our energy field is freed of hate, prejudice, resentment, lack of forgiveness, and fear – and – instead filled with love, compassion, and the recognition that we are One Human Family, we attract love not hate … abundance not lack … peace not violence.  We, as gods, assume the responsibility for the type energies we attract to ourselves.  We, as gods, choose and create the qualities that are present within our environment.  In doing so, we attune to the tremendous power dwelling within us.  We use God-power, not human-power.

Recall the stream of light extending upward from the top of our heads to the Christed, or Higher Self.  This bridge of Light is an open channel through which we can make contact with our Intuitive Self … with our Soul … with the part of ourselves that knows the divine plan for this physical incarnation.  This part of ourselves beholds the physical challenges we confront.  The more we attune to our Higher Self, the more intuitive guidance we will receive.  If we listen and obey, we will know when danger to the physical body is present and know how to avoid possible harm.  This is the part of ourselves that knows the Way.  It is the part of ourselves that recognizes soul brothers and sisters, meaning those with whom we have shared many physical incarnations and played a variety of roles.  It is the part of ourselves that will recognize our twin flames when the time for reuniting arrives.  The Higher Self grants access to knowledge that is not available through the intellect; it is the source of inspiration and invention.  Conscious attunement to the Higher Self/Soul allows us to experience life on multi-dimensions.  We come to know that we are not alone on this planet.  Many beings in spirit are present to assist us in transforming our planetary chaos into the Garden of Eden through which we, as gods, entered the physical dimension.  Via attuning to the Higher Self, we—as gods—can receive the inspiration and guidance to develop peaceful solutions to all planetary difficulties.  We—as gods—possess the capacity to solve all problems with compassion and justice for all.

Recall the stream of Light extending upward from the Higher Self to the dove.  This dove signifies the Holy Spirit.  The stream of Light continues to be an open channel through which we can receive instruction from the Holy Spirit.  The Greek word Christed means anointed by the Holy Spirit.  To be anointed by the Holy Spirit is to become enlightened.  We behold life on multi-dimensions … we work cooperatively with those beings inhabiting the higher dimensions.  We have an example of this in Jesus’ transfiguration initiation.  While meditating on a mountain-top (signifying his I AM PRESENCE), Jesus beheld and talked with the Ascended Masters Moses and Elijah.  His disciples (Peter, James, and John) could observe Moses and Elijah discussing Jesus’ forthcoming crucifixion initiation.

Once more, recall the stream of Light extending upward from the dove to our I AM PRESENCE.  The channel of Light remains open and awaits our attunement to the part of ourselves that is the I AM—God individualized as you and me.  Our I AM PRESENCE is the all-knowing, all-powerful, omnipresent part of ourselves.  Attunement to our I AM PRESENCE allows us to see through the Eye of God … to live our physical plane lives as God manifesting through us.

Attunement to our I AM PRESENCE offers the opportunity to behold our One Human Family from an elevated level of consciousness.  From the perspective of our I AM PRESENCE, divine order is unfolding.  We can perceive the matrix of light enfolding our planet.  As we watch, we can see the pockets of darkness dissipating.  Darkness can suddenly evaporate through a seemingly random event or decision.  The surprising destruction of the Berlin Wall is an example.

Looking at life through the Eye of God affords a depth of understanding that can not otherwise be acquired.  The external appearance of evil can be transformed into Good when viewed from higher dimensions.  From this level, we intuit the overall plan, not just the physical plane appearances.  Thus, the events—regardless of how horrible they may seem on the physical plane—can be the very events that bring our human family together in compassion and peace.  From the level of our I AM PRESENCE, we can intuit how “all things work together for good.” (Romans 8:28)  Attunement to our I AM PRESENCE allows us to so powerfully manifest the Light that all darkness disappears.  Then the One Human Family will “beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war any more; but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of [their I AM PRESENCE] has spoken.” (Micah 4:3b-4)

World peace … no more fear … abundance for all … are the fruits of attuning to our I AM PRESENCE and solving all challenges from this level of expanded consciousness.

“Know Thyself” becomes the pathway to peace!

WAR IS A RACKET

This summary of General Smedley Butler’s book, WAR IS A RACKET, was lifted from an excellent site:  http://www.wanttoknow.info/   The bold print was done by Fred Burks, owner of the Want to Know website.  General Butler writes in 1935, but his words remain relevant in 2010.  General Butler received two Congressional Medals of Honor.

WAR IS A RACKET – by General Smedley Butler

War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. In the World War [World War I] a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted huge gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows. [Please note these are 1935 U.S. dollars. To adjust for inflation, multiply all figures X 10 or more]

WHO MAKES THE PROFITS?

The World War cost the United States some $52 billion. That means $400 [over $4,000 in today’s dollars] to every American man, woman, and child. The normal yearly profits of a business concern in the U.S. are 6 to  12%. But war-time profits, that is another matter – 60, 100, 300, and even 1,800% – the sky is the limit. Uncle Sam has the money. Let’s get it. Of course, it isn’t put that crudely in war time. It is dressed into speeches about patriotism, love of country, and “we must all put our shoulders to the wheel,” but the profits jump, leap, and skyrocket – and are safely pocketed.

Take our friends the du Ponts, the powder people. The average pre-war earnings of the du Ponts for the period 1910 to 1914 were $6 million a year. Now let’s look at their average yearly profit during the war years, 1914 to 1918. $58 million a year profit we find! Nearly ten times that of normal times, and the profits of normal times were pretty good. An increase in profits of more than 950%.

Take one of our steel companies. Their 1910-1914 yearly earnings averaged $6 million. Then came the war. And, like loyal citizens, Bethlehem Steel promptly turned to munitions making. Did their profits jump? Well, their 1914-1918 average was $49 million a year! Or, let’s take United States Steel. The normal earnings during the five-year period prior to the war were $105 million a year. Then along came the war and up went the profits. The average yearly profit for the period 1914-1918 was $240 million. Not bad.

They sold your Uncle Sam 20 million mosquito nets for the use of the soldiers overseas. Well, not one of these mosquito nets ever got to France! There were pretty good profits in mosquito netting, even if there were no mosquitoes in France. When the war was over some 4 million sets of equipment – knapsacks and the things that go to fill them – crammed warehouses on this side. Now they are being scrapped because the regulations have changed the contents. But the manufacturers collected their wartime profits on them.

If anyone had the cream of the profits it was the bankers. Being partnerships rather than incorporated organizations, they do not have to report to stockholders. Their profits were as secret as they were immense. How the bankers made their millions and their billions I do not know, because those little secrets never become public – even before a Senate investigatory body. It has been estimated that the war cost your Uncle Sam $52 billion [X 10 or more for inflation]. Of this sum, $39 billion was expended in the actual war itself. This expenditure yielded $16 billion in profits. That is how the 21,000 billionaires and millionaires got that way. This $16 billion in profits is not to be sneezed at. It is quite a tidy sum. And it went to a very few.

WHO PAYS THE BILLS?

Who provides these nice little profits of 20, 100, 300, 1,500 and 1,800 per cent? We all pay them – in taxation. But the soldier pays the biggest part of the bill. If you don’t believe this, visit the American cemeteries on the battlefields abroad. Or visit any of the veteran’s hospitals in the United States. On a tour of the country, I visited 18 government hospitals for veterans. In them are a total of about 50,000 destroyed men – men who were the pick of the nation 18 years ago. Mortality among veterans is three times as great as those who stayed at home.

Boys with a normal viewpoint were taken out of the offices, factories, and classrooms and put into the ranks. There they were remolded. They were made to “about face,” to regard murder as the order of the day. They were put through mass psychology and entirely changed. We trained them to think nothing at all of killing or of being killed. Then, suddenly, we discharged them and told them to make another “about face!” This time they had to do their own readjustment. We didn’t need them any more. Many of these fine young boys are eventually destroyed, mentally, because they could not make that final “about face” alone.

Beautiful ideals were painted for our boys who were sent out to die. This was the “war to end all wars.” This was the “war to make the world safe for democracy.” No one mentioned to them that their going and their dying would mean huge war profits. No one told these American soldiers that they might be shot down by bullets made by their own brothers here. No one told them that their ships might be torpedoed by submarines built with United States patents. They were just told it was to be a “glorious adventure.”

HOW TO SMASH THIS RACKET!

Well, it’s a racket, all right. A few profit – and the many pay. But there is a way to stop it. You can’t end it by disarmament conferences. You can’t eliminate it by peace parleys at Geneva. Well-meaning but impractical groups can’t wipe it out by resolutions. Steps must be taken to smash the war racket. We must take the profit out of war. And we must limit our military forces to home defense purposes.

I am not a fool as to believe that war is a thing of the past. I know the people do not want war, but there is no use in saying we cannot be pushed into another war. Woodrow Wilson was re-elected president in 1916 on a platform that he had “kept us out of war.” Yet, five months later he asked Congress to declare war on Germany. In that five-month interval the people had not been asked whether they had changed their minds. Then what caused our government to change its mind so suddenly? Money.

An allied commission came over shortly before the war declaration and called on the President. The President summoned a group of advisers. The head of the commission spoke. Stripped of its diplomatic language, this is what he told the President and his group: “There is no use kidding ourselves any longer. The cause of the allies is lost. We now owe you (American bankers, American munitions makers, American manufacturers, American speculators, American exporters) five or six billion dollars. If we lose (and without the help of the US we must lose) we, England, France and Italy, cannot pay back this money. So…”

Had secrecy been outlawed as far as war negotiations, and had the press been invited to be present at that conference, America never would have entered the war. But this conference, like all war discussions, was shrouded in utmost secrecy. When our boys were sent off, they were told it was a “war to make the world safe for democracy” and a “war to end all wars.” Very little has been accomplished to assure us that the World War was really the war to end all wars. Disarmament conferences don’t mean a thing. At all these conferences, lurking in the background are the sinister agents of those who profit by war. They see to it that these conferences do not seriously limit armaments. So … I say, TO HELL WITH WAR!