THE QUESTION OF CHANNELLING

To Channel or Not to Channel - (Dynamics of the psychic world)

One of the main sources of inspirational literature is the channeled book and some of the best sellers in the new age field are channeled writings and some of the best known individuals are those who talk with spirits, deceased people, angels, aliens and extraterrestrials. Are these “communications“ real or the manifestations of our own desire for supernatural excitement or are they manifestations of delusional minds attracting the deluded? Any high-level information or teaching should be verifiable in that its source should be knowable and the so called “communication” can be checked and cross referenced to ascertain its truth. Does anyone really think it wise to believe something that may not be based in truth? It is generally easier to look outside ourselves for answers and, by implication, we absolve ourselves from responsibility for our lives and place undue faith in the abilities of others to see that, which in many cases, really just requires honesty, truthfulness, and logic on our part. For many years I have worked with, psychics, mediums, channelers, healers, and spiritual teachers (some very well known) as well as reading many books, magazine articles, and attending lectures and seminars that feature channeled information. It became apparent to me that there was much contradictory material given out regarding events and individuals and about humanity itself. I think I have heard it all from the photon belts, UFO invasions, armageddon, reappearance of the Christ, alien contact, reptilians, chosen ones, illuminatis, ashtars, walk - ins, etc. etc. and there have been absolutely “true”predictions of the end of the world, with the attendant fear and hype, through to those who say all tribulations have past and that we are in a “new era of peace”!? There have been ancient Lemurian and Atlantean warriors, angels of all ranks, saints, Jesus, Christ, Ascended Masters, monks, priestesses, mother Mary, Gods, Goddesses, Red Indian chiefs, gurus and spirits of all different kinds, (you name it!) and they have spoken to the fortunately placed channel on the earthly plane and, for some, it has meant great riches and, for others, great power, popularity, and authority. I see this as a parallel to the rise in religious fundamentalism i.e. looking for simple answers to complicated problems. It is easy to have confidence, passion and excitement when we have narrow and defined views but, in seeing delicate interconnecting relationships that constitute the bigger picture, our immediate passion can dissipate. At the same time, however, all is relative and, in the short term, it may serve an individual to follow a certain line of thought, a teacher or a teaching to take them somewhere else in consciousness and is a relevant part of the path for them. Distractions and dead ends are there for the unwary, the unprepared, and the starry eyed. In the end however, it is important to learn discipline, understanding, individuality and independence so that we can build on what we have learnt and leave behind those things that no longer serve us. Remember; the only constant is change – so, have many experiences but, be ready to change and move forward taking the things that are useful and leave behind the rest. True knowledge comes without charge and is available to and accessible by all – it is up to us to make the effort and not rely on secondhand, possibly spurious, teachings. Don’t believe everything you hear or see. In fact I wonder why every psychic is not leading the perfect life if they have access to all the knowledge from the other side – one would think that there would be no barrier to great wealth, health, and happiness.

We all have abilities to see into the future but we may not recognize or understand the messages that come our way due to fear, ignorance, and non receptiveness. How many of you have had psychic flashes, warnings, messages, or prophetic visions? From my experience of talking to thousands of people over the years all these things are far more commonplace than many would imagine. Around the turn of the millennium many people were having dreams and premonitions about the future so I decided to act as a focal point or coordinator for those who had visions particularly of tidal waves and earth changes - the response was amazing. Some of my contacts had incredible and overwhelming visions of our shared future so I was able to see first hand the way that we are able to receive high level messages from the collective consciousness or from our higher self. Our dreams are a great source of knowledge and direction and they can be cultivated so that there is a continuity regarding the messages and images that are placed in our waking consciousness. They are an indicator that when we seek the truth it will be revealed to us irrespective of whether we agree with it or not. Dreams are possibly the most important connection that we have to high-level spiritual knowledge, but, the interpretation must be accurate in order to gain the greatest value. Personally, my dream life has been a great source of direction and I trust what is given to me implicitly. ( more will be discussed on this topic later in the book). All psychic communications take place on the “astral plane” and this is the reason for the plethora of confusing and contradictory material that is available to the seeker. Psychic perceptions are relative in that they are dependent on the spiritual status of the psychic and their level of physical, emotional and mental purity, personality integration as well as the karma between the psychically open individual and the people with whom they come in contact. We all must understand the dynamics of the astral plane and the illusory spell it has over humanity. The Tibetan has written much on this topic especially regarding the great dangers for the unsuspecting student who, through ignorance or willfulness, contacts the streams of energy that can literally destroy any individual, hinder progress, and feed selfishness and pride. Many high level individuals have come unstuck when they have become consciously or unconsciously enmeshed in the energies of the astral plane not realizing that the things they see can often be reflections of themselves, distorted images of soul impressions, astral entities of a lower order inhabiting astral shells or astral thoughtforms created by the mass aspirations of humanity. This is the realm of delusion and while any of us have astral bodies that are strongly stimulated, toxic, or distorted our astral impressions will likewise be coloured by our psychic impurities – hence the emphasis in serious religious teachings on the need for purity. Any one who works with the psychic world should ensure that they are psychically clean in the truest sense of the words i.e. no drugs, alcohol, meat, tobacco, no violent emotions, and an ability to be still and quiet, as well there should be a balanced, strong, steady, developed mental body, unselfishness and correct meditation practices should be followed. It would also help if they were able to determine the relative merit of their impressions and whether these are of a high order or a lower grade communication as well as their source. In regard to the writings of Alice Bailey it must be pointed out that there is a difference between the way she worked ( AAB was an “amanuensis”) and the way a medium, a psychic and a “channel” works. An amanuensis is more like a stenographer taking dictation while remaining fully conscious (aware and awake) at the same time utilizing and possessing an intelligence and structured mental body that makes possible the reception of abstract thought forms that are projected by a higher consciousness. Keep in mind also that Bailey was very learned, well read, and wrote a number of books under her own name. Despite her busy life and heavy workload she always made time to study and learn.

A medium, on the other hand, is entirely unconscious or in a trance and their astral body is utilized by a disincarnate spirit or entity that then has a connection to the physical plane so that it can communicate to listeners; therefore, the medium is “out of body” (i.e. unconscious.) This makes it possible for interference and contact with very low orders of life (entities of the lower astral plane) that at best can be mischievous and at worst harmful, leaving open the possibility of possession or obsession manifesting as “voices in the head”, schizophrenia and other psychological problems. Unfortunately the sensational nature of this form of communication makes it popular among the general public and, as here is usually no way of verifying any of the information received, it is accepted at face value although I do think that the material attributed to Edgar Cayce and Jane Roberts is of quite high quality.

Channeling on the other hand is generally a process where the “channel” is usually awake and the communications may or may not come from outside the person . By this I mean that often these messages are from the channel’s own mind, subconscious, emotional body, higher self, mass or group thoughtforms or emotional urges and not necessarily some cosmic, alien, past life, or ancient spiritual source. It is not a case of whether the knowledge is of a high order or not, but more that it is a stream of consciousness from a person and that any claims that they come from some “highly spiritual source” are highly debatable. I see people place such undue importance on hearing something that they feel to be true because it comes from a seemingly “disembodied” source. Most (if not all) of the channeled writings I have read or heard are relatively innocuous and platitudinous truisms that cannot be generally proved or disproved and, apart from stimulating the emotions of the reader, they provide little or no verifiable fact. I see a level of “self- consciousness” present in many channeled messages and I think that the channel’s own consciousness is probably the source of the communication. The Masters, Teachers of the race, and archangels are highly unlikely to be in direct contact with people on the physical plane because, for one, they are busy guiding the evolutionary processes of the planet and the physical forms of humanity are not strong enough and would provide too much resistance to handle the streams of energy that would flow through them. Most contact has to be stepped down much in the same way power from a power station is stepped down to a point where it can be utilized in our homes via our lights and power switches. Direct contact with higher sources is not useful, practical or needed and is potentially dangerous. Our personality flaws and the presence of psychic and physical disorders will distort any inflow of spiritual energies. Of course over the eons those individuals whose karma is to provide a point of focus for higher energies have existed but these contacts have been rare and the teachings given out by them have not always been acceptable at the time they were given out – i.e. they have not been “platitudes” for the masses but designed more to shift the evolutionary consciousness of humanity and often their validity has become apparent only after the passage of time. Some of those who think they are in contact with a master or similar are more likely to have contacted the soul of one of the initiates or disciples in that Master’s ashram, so they misinterpret the quality of the energy stream for that of the individual teacher or initiate. The mental plane is usually the lowest point of contact for the Teachers of the race because they are working with humanity’s thoughtform processes rather than with individual emotional needs and wants. Most of the channeled information available is no more than expressions of wishful thinking, platitudes, truisms, niceties and basic mysticism, all of which can be found in other sources both current from older sources. Some years ago one well known channel would buy books from me and the magazine he published would then carry his channeled communications which would be uncannily similar to the books he had just bought and I was the only person that knew. This is why I ask people to exercise discrimination when reading or listening to information that doesn’t have some kind of order and sequential logic at it’s core. Don’t worry about being upset by new knowledge because this is probably just the ego coming into play to generate fear and arouse our survival mechanism so that we can avoid any perceived or subliminal challenge to our belief system. The Teachers of the race use many different types of personalities to carry out hierarchical work on the planet (some of them have very obvious character , personality and psychological flaws) and the work may be done behind the scenes and in areas of human activity that seem far away from the accepted vision of the spiritual life. The personalities involved who are working on behalf of the High Initiates, may bring chaos, pain, upset, disorder, and challenge the accepted and prevailing mindset because what they are doing is clearing out the old and redundant ways of life that hinder the evolution of consciousness within all forms of life - this is an important point to understand. In other words the celebrity channels, who are popular at the moment, are highly unlikely to be in contact with the Hierarchy or any of the teachers of the race, and that what they do, although it may help people to find a spiritual perspective on life, it is not what it is claimed to be- some are frauds, some misguided, some are useful but overall they are not able to express anything that is new, innovative or provable. Look for what is “real and true”, find people who are “real and true”, make your life a testament to reality and truth - leave behind superstition, half truth, delusion and hocus pocus - leave your comfort zone and seek that which is challenging, logical, deep, new, grounded and founded on love and service to all of God’s creation. When there is so much spiritual knowledge available that is of a very high order, it seems odd that so many people seek out that which is untrue or half true and, in some cases, form groups or organisations around a philosophy or individual and, make it a way of life or a “cause” to be to be followed. Everyone can “channel” in some way or another although we normally call it “inspirational thought” and at times it can be the soul reflected through the astral or mental bodies, but, the process is relative to the individual and it can come in quite a few different forms. This inspiration more often takes the form of philosophy, poetry, music, art and literature and many times these sources are of a much higher order than many contemporary “channeled “ works.

The modern spiritual seeker does not have exclusive access to the Teachers of the race. They work to inspire, direct, and teach using initiates and disciples in all walks of life irrespective of age, colour, race or religion in the fields of; science, politics, social work, religious reformation, the arts, economics, psychology and medicine. “The science of impression”, as it is called, is like anything governed by law and is in reality quite technical, so it is important for students to learn as much as they can about the astral plane for, as I have stated previously, this is the realm of delusion and illusion. Learn how the contact process works - understanding that individual study, meditation, service, group consciousness and the taking responsibility for one’s life are of more importance than superstitious imaginings and longings. Use whatever means are at your disposal to make progress but remain detached and unafraid. I am sure that we are able to directly assess the truth of any statement, situation or occurrence because we are specifically designed to process information on many different levels - our psychic faculties are but one of those methods. Whether or not we want to know the truth is more to the point. We can know as much or as little as we want but it takes a certain amount of courage to wholeheartedly embrace the truth that is there and waiting for us - it is in us and “we are that”.

My personal process began by asking or, perhaps, making the statement; “I want to know the truth and I will go through anything to find out” and I really meant it with all my heart. My experience after making this statement was of going through total chaos and changing on all levels - from physical and emotional/psychic changes to the development of increased mental capacities and, via dreams and meditations, I was shown certain “secrets” regarding past lives, karma, mantras, some of which were verified later on by way of my studies. A strong sense of self, powerful aspiration, focused meditation, a desire to be of service to humanity, as well as the purification my emotional/psychic body led me into areas of expanded consciousness I had not imagined in my wildest dreams. I had decided to rely on my own abilities to receive and perceive the truth and that I would disregard anything as soon as I found a new and better way to proceed. This is an era when we must leave the old behind and venture forward as if we are blind but recognizing that there is an overarching protective energy available to us as we travel in this new and radical way. My approach is to say to people that “if you are thinking or doing the same thing as the majority, then you are probably thinking or doing the wrong thing”. - so strike out on your own and “channel” your higher mind and your soul and leave behind the mainstream.

“Telepathy and the Etheric Vehicle” by the Tibetan, “The Astral Body” and “The Etheric Vehicle” by A.E. Powell are the best books to read on the subjects of the nature of the astral body, psychic phenomena, mediumship, and the structure and function of the etheric body.