Beloved Students:

May 2004 bring you many blessings, and may it, in some personal way, facilitate your journey into enlightenment. Be assured that even in the midst of chaos, enlightenment is possible. In fact, it may be that in experiencing the wave of frustration produced in the wake of the rampant chaos you now seem to face, that your renunciation for such meaningless suffering will arise powerfully enough to cause a breakthrough in consciousness for you. Thus, celebrate the potential for transformation that is now before you.

As 2004 begins, those of you in the U.S. have heard from your President that you will soon be exploring Mars. As some of your better known journalists are now speculating, perhaps he will indeed find out where all those “weapons of mass destruction” went. All joking aside, this is a call to expand the limits of consciousness, whether recognized by the Bush Administration, or not. This is a good opportunity for spiritual students everywhere to observe how the spiritual plane can use even the unsuspecting and the unlikely to put out a call. As I stated to the group gathered in Denver to celebrate the birthing of the Vajra Flame Foundation, the thrust of this Foundation's energy is world enlightenment.

While that may sound a bit grandiose, it is time for you on Earth to think in these terms. Clearly, expanded awareness is needed for most of you to even imagine such. For most of you, it sounds good, but may leave you wondering at the practical application in your own case. I challenged the group in Denver to begin thinking in terms of “we” (i.e., all sentient beings) rather than in terms of “I.” While such may sound a small thing, it is actually much larger than most minds can yet grasp. It is, however, basic to transforming the chaotic forces now focused on Earth, into forces for peace. Besides, this kind of thinking reflects what actually is, rather than what appears to be.

As many of you have heard me say (for nearly 20 years now), one of the important elements in spiritual growth is learning to see beyond the obvious. When you look around you at what appears to be going on in the world, you learn respect for appearances – often by witnessing the seemingly unending suffering arising in response to the heavier experiences of control, domination, killing, stealing, and plundering devastation of warring mentality. The real question becomes, “Can you expand your consciousness enough to see beyond the terrifying images that appear before you daily?”

Can you look beyond the obvious enough to see that the events of September 11, 2001, may have served as a convenience to open the door to war in the world? Can you look beyond the obvious enough to recognize that those who have war-monger mentality are likely to play upon the fear of the many to serve their own ends? Can you look beyond your own despair at the current situation? Can you look beyond your sense of helplessness in the face of large government? Can you look beyond fear and doom, beyond the corporate greed that you see, beyond the rampant lies that are promulgated, beyond all the negative throes that, at times, seems to paralyze the divine spark within you? Of course, the answer is, “YES!”

Clearly, such will necessitate expanded awareness. You simply cannot envision a mental picture that is vaster than the obvious destruction (both happening and waiting to happen) with a small or closed mind. Yes, expansion is the name of the game - “the only game in town.”

As I explained to the group gathered on the VFF birthday, learning to think in terms of “we” rather than “I” is core to the call to expand. It is time to acknowledge the “I” as a small part of the all-sentient-beings category. When you pray, or meditate, do so as spokesperson for all sentient beings. Try to expand your mind enough to hold that all beings are actually seeking enlightenment, no matter how you interpret their outward behavior or presentation. This is not to say they all know what they are looking for, but the truth of the matter is that all are seeking freedom from suffering. As you hold that in mind, you can quite easily see yourself as the spokesperson for all those who look for liberation in the wrong places.

Although war propaganda sometimes uses terminology similar to spiritual attainment, simply stated, freedom, liberation, and ultimate happiness do not come from beating up the “enemy.” Since the real enemy lives within the mind, creating suffering over all manner of matters, doing battle is only an outward manifestation of the internal state.

Some of you are very active at this time seeking ways to shift that external manifestation. While some of you in the U.S. are actively involved with political campaigning, seeking to create a new power base in Washington, D.C., others of you are raising awareness through other means. I find it interesting (and quite encouraging) to watch as you make Internet connections, participating in on-line discussions with concerned people around the world, learning from them, asking their help, and inviting others to join you, as well. Such is the work of what we might call “spiritual globalization,” and if carried out energetically enough, could even supersede the imperialist notion of “trade globalization,” a notion that is categorically good for the few and bad for the many.

Now it goes without saying, of course, that you are learning to do this social/spiritual work from a neutral point of centeredness. If such does not seem possible to you as yet, just know you are working in that direction. To create the most profound shifts in the collective consciousness, it is necessary to become established in the “we” type of thinking. When you recognize that “we” all want to be happy, you can then have compassion for those who do things you can see will not lead them to happiness. Out of compassion, “we” can move in lovingkindness toward all other parts of the “we.” “We” can be gentle and kind, recognizing that with-in the “we” there exist great levels of suffering. As “we” love more, “we” suffer less, and the entire physical realm is seeded with new possibility.

Perhaps you are coming to understand that what is being addressed here is not politics – even though the manifestation of the core issue may be in the political realm. What we are grappling with is really expanded consciousness, not only individually, but collectively. The call to explore Mars, is whatever it is at a political level (one president of the U.S. to sound like an earlier president of the U.S., perhaps). At a larger level, however, it is a call from the spiritual plane to “think outside the box,” as someone put it. Clearly, such is necessary in our combined seeding process for Vajra Flame. But at an even vaster level, such is what Earth needs at this time. Since all of you are part of the “we” of Earth, surely you can see that expanding the consciousness that is seated within each of you is pivotal to the transformation Earth is now asking of each of you on Her behalf.

Please join me this month in listening to the lecture I gave in Denver on January 18th of this year. It is titled Cultivating Lovingkindness. I am hopeful it will help you see the real call and need at this time upon the planet. May it demonstrate to you a viable path, and may it facilitate your deeper understanding of the enlightenment process. Use the practices I offer, and allow yourself to become even more skillful in working through the demands of your time.

Please continue with the meditation practices I have given you. Whether or not you have as yet recognized it, this training is paramount to your learning to see the Pure Land, and ultimately stop suffering. May you find the inspiration to walk your path courageously, and may you have the blessing of purified body, speech and mind. May each one of you be filled with inspiration and confidence to become what Earth is now asking of you.

Djwhal Khul

P.S. For those of you who so desire, Master's talk at the birthing celebration was recorded on CD, and is available to those who would like it. He was clearly excited, and His enthusiasm is quite contagious. I so wish all of you could have been with us for Master's remarks, and the wonderful lunch celebrations afterward. Know we all tried to hold you with us in the experience. Kathlyn