‘Search For Self’ Homework Shared

Search For Self – Session 9 – Homework Assignment

“Write in an email or attachment… and describe what the ‘Search for Self’ presentation has done for you. Describe a small highlight of each session… and how it influenced you. Eye opening, mind stretching and so on… Should be sent in a few days before the next (last) session.”
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My Submission

Kris said when he offered us the ‘Search For Self’ series that he would make available an effective means of connecting with our Source Selves in an enduring way.

I believe he’s done that and more. With the chanting that Kris has given us I feel that I not only have an enduring connection with my own Source Self, but I have a budding relationship with the Param Atma, the spark of All That Is in my heart.

This is the same Param Atma in everybody’s heart, except that I have a unique relationship with this Glorious Being, [as does everybody.]

Session 1 Highlight

For me the highlight of the first session was the idea that chanting our mantra infused our perception with transcendent energy. For me this is a really powerful idea. Chanting, properly done, becomes a basically foolproof method for focusing our concentration on the transcendental layer of our being.

And of course we all know what happens when we concentrate on something!

Session 2 Highlight

For me the main idea in the second session was that when we ask high questions we get high answers. The very act of asking ourselves sincerely, “Who am I?”, awakens the higher intellect within our focal awareness. And as Kris described, “There are answers!”

It is so powerful that just asking the question will activate certain aspects of ourselves and begin providing us with answers.

Session 3 Highlight

I guess the kicker in this session, that was actually mentioned first in the previous session, is the idea that consciousness is the effect of Self. This really opens up my understanding of the primacy of Self because I had been thinking that Self was inside of consciousness. It is a revelation to realize that consciousness is inside of Self.

Session 4 Highlight

This is the session where Kris talked about all the qualities of a self-realized being. The list is long and very expansive and embodies every valued quality of a human personality and then some.

For me this list was a bit daunting at first. For whatever reasons I have always been a fairly shy person about pushing my own qualities forward. But a deeper understanding that these are qualities of All That Is that exist in unlimited quantities  and quantities has opened up my perspectives.

Understanding that I am an expression of Source and All That Is means that exhibiting these qualities is a natural expression of my nature and not something to shy about.

Session 5 Highlight

This was the session where Kris addressed the concerns that many were having about the uncanny resemblance between his presentation in the last session and material from a website describing the same ideas in the same words.

He said that the source of the material was not important, although the contents were valid no matter where they came from. The most important thing was what we went through in our own thinking about the issue.

My process was very interesting, in fact I wrote a blog about it. The bottom line is that for me this echoed another event that caused me to leave Eckankar 15 years ago over issues of plagiarism.

At that time I was devastated and rejected the whole teaching when this came to light. This time I did not for an instant feel the need to reject the experiences I have had with the Kris material.

Certainly I was curious about how the similarities came about, but there was not a quiver in my faith in the explorations and expansion that I have undertaken under Kris’ auspices. The results are just too total and unquestionable.

This represents a dramatic change in my level of trust in myself and my values. The issues that arose around last session was a very powerful way to bring that home to me. In fact, as I look back on what I learned in Eckankar, I probably threw the baby out with the bathwater to some extent by rejecting the whole of my 20 years in that religion based on some evidence of plagiarism.

The upshot of all this is my understanding that it doesn’t matter where information comes from. [it’s all Me anyway, right!] What matters is my own sense of trust and security in myself and with my choices. What matters is my relationship with myself, with all that that entails.

The rest of the session explored the three causes of suffering and the six stages of consciousness we all go through to find relief.

It was very useful to position myself in this progression, mostly in the 4th and 5th stages. This has helped me to set my sites on moving fully into the 5th stage with an eye to what lies ahead in the 6th.

Session 6 Highlight

The main highlight for me in this session was the concepts of dharma and adharma.

It was very illuminating to begin to see my daily habits and patterns as either dharma or adharma, and how they move me towards or away from my intimate relationship and sincere responsiveness to the Param Atma in my heart.

This has given me a whole new way to evaluate and prioritize what I do every day.

Session 7 Highlight

I think the kicker for me in this session was the idea that our different moods, which influence our behavior so much, are different aspects of ourselves.

I have been quite happy with the idea of aspects in a conceptual sense until now, but this opened up the idea to something much more personal and immediate. I understand viscerally what it means to move from mood to mood during the day.

And don’t forget, Kris has spent a lot of time giving us tools and helping us to understand that we can change our moods! If I can control my moods, then I can control my behavior, and thus I can control my outcomes. Cool!

And when I apply this to establishing myself in a transcendent platform, as opposed to creating a parking space that may already have been there, I begin to understand what real reality creation can be about.

Session 8 Highlight

For me the highlight was that it is our ability to hear, and the mental discipline that is required to hear, that is the basis of any spiritual learning. This seems to relate to some other material Kris has offered in the new e-book about the primacy of transcendental sounds in manifesting the universes.

From this I put 2 and 2 together and come up with the idea that a disciplined mind enables us to hear transcendental sounds, and this is the basis of spiritual learning. And I have a clue about what constitutes a disciplined mind.

Kris mentioned in this session that true listening may often require us to set aside the instant opinions that the mind generates. The mind, like the irrepressible legs of a 2-year-old learning to walk, knows that it is supposed to come up with an assessment to any given stimulus and does so reflexively, even when it is completely uninformed.

Thus the power of the chanting becomes even better understood because it is all about disciplining the mind and truly listening.

Session 9 Highlight

And finally, the highlight from the last session would be the idea that a set routine, such as chanting at the same time EVERY morning, is very beneficial. It is very grounding for me spiritually and has health benefits also.

But the main benefit is in setting a consistent tone for every day. This lays the groundwork for events later in the day where my energy may create what Kris calls a self-effulgent effect.

Since I am a creature of habit anyway, and have always loved routines, this information is very comforting to me. The only thing is the content of the routines. This is where new priorities are emerging!

Overall Impressions

Interestingly, the ‘Search For Self’ series started just as the radio show ended. The last radio show was the end of July this year, and SFS started on July 19. I think it helped fill the ‘Kris-gap’ for me in some ways.

And now here’s the funny bit. Since that time in the summer, when we embarked upon the ‘Search for Self’, my life has taken on a whole new layer or depth. It is as though something clicked, or I was finally able to turn some kind of corner within, everything just started working out! [Humming along in sync with the cosmos.]

Perhaps my Search for Self has ended. No, no, not ended! That’s silly.

It must go on eternally, as I do, but definitely entering a wonderful new phase!

Thanks to Kris, Serge, Mark and all!

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