< DivineHuman 5 >
It is that Joe is Shaumbra, like you, going
through many changes in his life… learning to understand that he is God
also… learning to release the old things that no longer serve him… going
through changes that some days have him puzzled and wondering what he is
doing… but knowing that there is guidance… knowing that he is never alone.
Like you, Joe is searching for his enlightenment.
Joe is searching to understand his divinity and
his connection with Spirit.
One night in a lucid dream, Joe found himself going to the inner Temple of Divinity, the Temple of Divinity within him. He felt that he was journeying across time and space and dimensions. But, yet he was really, truly only taking an inner journey to the inside of his own being.
In his lucid dream, Joe came to the Temple of Divinity. He opened the door. And, behold, he saw a grand and beautiful hall filled with light, light that seemed to have no source. Everything was illuminated, brilliant, and gold, and shimmering.
Joe walked into the Temple of Divinity and glanced around. He noticed that the entire perimeter was filled with angels. He recognized many of them as being aspects of himself from the past. And he recognized many of the angels who assembled in the Hall of Divinity as being ones who had walked beside him in past lives or in this lifetime.
The angels were all familiar to Joe. There were hundreds and hundreds of angels. They were gathered because they knew Joe was coming.
Joe saw a lone chair in the center of the hall. He knew it was time for him to approach this Chair of Divinity and to sit in it. He slowly approached the Chair of Divinity, glancing at all the angels who were present, knowing that there was some type of ceremony that would take place.
He stepped up into the Chair of Divinity, sat down, and said, "Dear Spirit, am I ready for my enlightenment? Am I ready for my divinity?" A silence fell throughout the whole hall.
One angel stepped out from the group. One large, beautiful, powerful, glowing angel stepped up to the chair where Joe was seated, and said, "Joe, we are honored to have you here in the Temple of Divinity. And, Joe, you are not ready yet to receive your enlightenment."
A sadness came over Joe, and confusion, and anger. His anger caused him to wake up from his lucid dream, to wake up remembering all the details of going into the Hall of Divinity, and remembering the letdown when the angel told him he was not ready. He sat up the rest of the night, and through the next day, and through the next day, wondering what he needed to do to receive his enlightenment.
At the end of the second day, Joe concluded that he had not studied enough, that he had not learned enough. So Joe began a very aggressive program of reading books, going to workshops and learning everything he could. For the next six months of time Joe read, and studied, and listened. Every moment of his waking hours was spent absorbing material, trying to find new pearls of wisdom.
After six difficult, grueling and tiring months of loading up his mind with information, he went back to the Temple of Divinity one night in his lucid dreams. Once again he opened the door of the temple. And, once again the temple was filled with hundreds and hundreds of angels, all of whom Joe recognized.
Once again he walked up to the Chair of Divinity and sat down. The grand angel stepped forward knowing what Joe would ask next. With a bit of nervousness in his voice, being wearied and tired, Joe said, "Am I ready for my enlightenment?" And once again the large angel said, "Joe, you are not yet ready for enlightenment."
The emotion of the response from the large angel threw Joe back to his everyday human world. He woke up in bed sweating, remembering every detail of the dream. Once again Joe sat up throughout the rest of the night and for two days afterwards, wondering what was keeping him from his enlightenment.
He finally figured it out. He had too many possessions that were holding him back, too many material things in his life that were keeping him from enlightenment. He felt they were anchors around his legs, dragging him down, keeping him from his enlightenment.
Joe went out and gave away everything he had - his house, his car, his savings accounts, everything except the clothes on his back. He went out and lived as a beggar on the streets, eating only enough to allow his physical body to survive, accepting only enough from those who gave him money or food, accepting only enough to get by. For six months of time, Joe led a life of poverty, a life of lack, releasing everything material around him so that he did not have these as anchors.
After six months, Joe once again found himself in a lucid dream where he traveled to the Temple of Divinity. He opened the door, walked in, this time very tired, and emaciated, and hungry, but not carrying any material goods with him except the clothes on his back. Joe sat in the Chair of Divinity with much anxiety as the angel approached. Once again Joe asked the question, "Am I ready for my enlightenment?" This time the tall, beautiful angel said no words, but simply shook his head, "No. No."
This nonverbal response flung him out of the lucid dream, back to his human world. He found himself laying on the street corner, for he had no bed… laying on the street corner wondering, wondering, wondering what it was he should know. He laid on the street corner for a long time until somebody came and moved him away, like he was a piece of garbage or dirt.
Joe thought about his lifetime, thought about his journey. It suddenly dawned upon him that he had not done enough service for others. His life had been about himself. He knew that he was selfish, that he had spent so much time on his own spiritual journey and awakening. Surely, surely, the reason he was not be ready for enlightenment was that he had not given enough to others.
So Joe embarked on a whole new program of being in service to others. He found every opportunity to help someone. He helped the elderly with their groceries. He helped children in the park who had fallen down and gotten hurt. He helped couples who were quarreling. He looked for every possible opportunity to be in service to others, to earn his "enlightenment points."
After six months of giving of himself in every possible way to any human who would possibly allow him to do so, Joe went back to the Temple of Divinity one night. He opened the door, saw all of the angels, but this time didn’t pause to feel their love and their energy, for he was a bit angry by now. (audience laughter)
He wanted his enlightenment. He marched to the Chair of Divinity and sat down. Before the angel could even come to him he said, "Am I ready now for my enlightenment?" A hush fell over the crowd, and in unison, hundreds and hundreds of angels said, "No, no, Joe, you are not ready yet." (audience laughter)
At that point Joe broke down in tears and said, "I give up, I give up. I have tried everything I possibly could to achieve my enlightenment. I have given up all my material goods. I have been in service to others. I have studied about spirituality and religions. I come back here and you tell me "no" one more time."
Joe broke down. He had tears coming from his eyes. And as he broke down, he released all of the Old Energies that had been pent up within him.
One tall, grand angel came forth, put his hand on Joe’s shoulder, and looked at him with eyes of compassion. Even through the compassion, Joe could see that the angel was smiling, even chuckling. This angered Joe even more to think that the angel would laugh at him.
Joe asked, "What is it that I should know? What is it that I need to do to achieve my enlightenment?" The angel laughed and said to him, "Joe, it was so simple all along. You could have just asked. We would have told you. But now that you have tried everything, now that you have experienced all these different things, now you ask the question. We will show you the reflection of yourself in the mirror. Within that reflection you will see the answer."
Joe gazed at the angel and could suddenly see himself in the angel’s face. He could suddenly see his own being reflected from the grand angel who stood in front of him. Then the answer came to him. It was simple. It was so simple that Joe felt ashamed for a moment, and then broke out laughing.