Beloved Students:

I greet you in joyous spirit, in the preciousness of the moment, and I hope you will meet me in a moment full of wonder and beauty. May you ever walk in wonder at the magnificence of Earth. May Her beauty magnify your own, and may your beauty complement Hers.

As you move more deeply into the cold season, it is good to draw your energy in and reflect upon the mystery of life. It is a good time to ponder how it is that you are alive, and enjoy the blessings that are available to you, while others have died, releasing their physical connections with friends and family. How is it that your health continues, while the health of others succumbs to terminal conditions, or degenerates to highly restrictive conditions? How is it you still have your job while others have lost theirs? How is it you have enough food and warm clothing while others starve and freeze in the cold season?

As you reflect upon your life to this point, take stock of your most significant accomplishments. Notice if those accomplishments supported more your wisdom path or your compassion path. How have they helped deepen your spiritual journey? Also, note your most significant relationships. How have they taught you to deepen your capacity for love and understanding? How have they stimulated your quest for wisdom? How are you a better person for the experiences of your life? How much energy have you put into your enlightenment? How seriously have you taken your life? How well have you loved?

If you were to die tomorrow, what would you wish you had done today? Have you forgiven yourself for your most painful mistakes? Have you forgiven others for not having lived up to your desires and expectations? Are you caring for the physical, psychological and spiritual parts of your own being? Are you actively pursuing your enlightenment with the full strength of physical, emotional, mental energies?

The autumn season is a time of preparing for death. Even if you are not among those who will die this winter, it is good to be prepared for what will at some point be inevitable. While you may recognize that your physical bodies are doomed to verticality, do you live your life in a fully conscious way, making the most of each moment, and efforting to resolve any and all of your unresolved (or irresolved) matters?

Try, dear friends, to live with conscious recognition of the preciousness of each moment. Be awake to the wonder that surrounds you, and give the part of your ego that wants to complain a vacation! Recognize that the ground upon which you walk is holy ground. It has been sanctified by those who knew well how to love and cherish humanity, those who gave themselves, in one way or another, to procure the liberation of the Earth. Hold well the vision of that liberation, and live every moment of your life in appreciation for the opportunities which have graced your own path of spiritual discovery.

Celebrate goodness wherever you find it, and spend some energy looking for it. Do not make goodness come looking for you. Rather, see it in the faces of all you meet, whether friends or enemies. Practice kindness at every turn, and let the warmth of your compassion melt away the icy edges that arise in you from time to time. Walk in full knowledge that you are offspring of the Divine, generating pure thoughts, words and actions. Open yourself to the great mysteries, and celebrate the unknown as much as you celebrate the known. Cultivate genuine sincerity, and let the light of lovingkindness shine through the dark moments, when they arise.

Put your spiritual path first. If you cannot do this for yourself, then do it for someone you love. If you find you do not love anyone deeply enough to make such a commitment, pretend you love someone that much. Renounce the hold the desire realm has on your mind; move toward your own liberation so you will be able to show the path to those who may need you as a teacher. Find some way to convince yourself that you are dying to live, rather than living to die.

Take joy in the turning of the seasons. Recognize that such is a stabilizing factor in a world perforated by instability and tenuous relationships. Dedicate all your efforts toward healing and wholing to those who do not have the opportunities and riches that are available to you. Never forget that often things "turn on a dime," and recognize the uncertainty of anything remaining constant, even those things you hold sacred. Utter words of support and encouragement at every opportunity, and cultivate compassion for all sentient beings, recognizing you are preparing now for your next life. Create it well.

Please join me for November in listening to the taped lecture, Autumn: Dying to Live. I sincerely hope this message speaks to you deeply and that you celebrate your ability to distill from it the courage to face not only your death, but your life, as well. Endeavor to focus fully this month on the preciousness of every single moment, taking none for granted, and sharing your goodness with all you meet. Live each day as if it were your most profound opportunity to generate kindness for Earth and all Her sentient offspring.

Continue sitting for 30 minutes daily. Begin by sitting quietly with your eyes open, gazing at the floor some two to three feet in front of you. If you would like to place on the floor at your gaze point a colored sheet or piece of fabric that is uniform in color, please use a solid color, choosing from among blue, yellow, red, green or white. Follow your breath for 15 full breath cycles. If you lose track of the count, simply start over. When you complete the cycle of breaths, close your eyes, and feel yourself to be in the presence of your Spiritual Teacher. Make the feeling as real as possible, engaging as many of your senses as you possibly can. Feel true reverence and respect for your Teacher, and allow yourself to be fully appreciative for His/Her assistance in your life. As you learned previously, see yourself sitting before your Teacher, who is seated on a platform or lotus throne about eye level for you. Think of some quality of the Teacher's that is special for you, and bow before your Teacher as a sign of respect both to the Teacher and the quality you are cherishing. Be aware of your Teacher's love streaming to you, and feel deep appreciation for this gift. See yourself making a physical offering to your Teacher - something that the Teacher would know came from you. As your Teacher receives your offering, feel a loving smile coming to you from this Precious One. Feel yourself nudged to make a deeper offering - perhaps your promise to meditate daily and dedicate whatever good thing(s) that comes from your meditation to your teacher.

Begin to review your life for the past 24 to 48 hours. Think of your most negative moment, and notice whether it was due to your thoughts, your words or your actions. Let yourself experience some genuine remorse for this, and then make a promise to your Teacher that you will not do this again for the next 24 hours. Next, think of a moment of kindness that you generated in that same period. As this memory arises, allow a feeling of warmth to arise at the heart level. Promise yourself that in the next 24 hours you will look for more opportunities to create goodness and kindness in your life.

Next ask to see the Teachings in every aspect of your life. In difficult situations, ask to see the Teacher's face on the face of those who try your patience, those who tempt you to fall into any degraded activity, as well as those you serve in love and kindness. Now ask your Teacher to stay with you for the duration of the next 24 hours. In the palace of your heart, create a room for the Teacher that is quiet and filled with love and reverence. Visualize the Teacher becoming small enough to fit into a beautiful pearl. Open the petals of your lotus crown, and allow the Teacher to descend through your Crown Chakra on an energy flow that brings the Teacher to rest on a lotus throne in your lotus heart. As the Teacher becomes settled there, ask Him/Her to be a witness to your life in all respects. Ask Him/Her to know your every thought, word and action. Ask Her/His help in seeing your own thoughts, words and actions, that you may continually increase the purity of your motivations.

With the Teacher enthroned in your heart, bring your focus to the floor or colored cloth before you. Using it as a backdrop, try to hold the image of the Teacher. See Him/Her as a living person (not just a photo or statue), and envision Him/Her doing the kind of things He/She would do were He/She in physical form today, such as giving a Teaching, or conducting a blessing ceremony or an empowerment. Try to hold this living, working image as you simply remain aware of your breath. Watch the Teacher performing virtuous tasks as you simply say "rising" on your in-breath, and "falling" on your out-breath.

Try to hold this image and stay connected to your breath for at least 15 minutes. Should you find it difficult, forgive yourself and just keep trying.

When complete, become aware once more of the qualities of the Teacher you wish to manifest in your own life. With each breath, draw those qualities into yourself, receiving them as a gift from your Teacher. Appreciate your Teacher's example, as well as your own opportunity to receive precious teaching at this time. After about 5 minutes, let yourself arise with royal dignity, knowing yourself to be purified by this work, and trusting it has generated transformation for yourself and Earth.

Walk in peace, give peace, share peace, and above all, become Peace.

Djwhal Khul