Dialogues Onward, Ho!

Wheat Field with Cypresses (1889) by Vincent Van Gogh

A more beautiful early May morning cannot be imagined right now as I (August) sit here next to the bedroom window of my home, which sits at the foot of a primaeval forest. The lilacs at its edge are in full bloom, and my room is filled with their heady, sun-drenched essence that hints of fresh mown hay and the lazy buzzing of dragonflies to come in the months ahead. Fiona and McHenry insist that the flowery breezes are unavoidably soporific, and so must take their refuge in a total stupor on the bed, and are unable to finish their "chores" (let the record here show that they have no chores, being permanently unemployed.)

It will be on such an infinite lazy summer's day (in August, of course) that I will awaken into my new and forever Risen Home, when the time comes.

As spiritual companions, Tim and I continue to have dialogues with (and sometimes, silly monologues at) one another, and so the book itself is like a living "snapshot" of our relationship. Tim tries to explain this idea of a snapshot as, "looking at the experience from the illusion of being outside the reality." (p. 156) The key word here is "illusion" — as the book itself is not something non-living.

At the beginning of the "The Risen: Dialogues of Love, Grief & Survival" Tim notes,

“This book will take much of its shape from the countless dialogues and other conversational experiences that August and I have had for almost fifteen years. Because they are real conversations and living experiences as well, this book is itself a real and living manifestation. I will also be speaking in the present to him and to you, the reader, as these pages unfold."

It is becoming clear, as readers begin to report back to us about their experiences with the text, that they are beginning to manifest their own living dialogue processes as a result of developing a relationship with various aspects of the material. Here is an example of such a short dialogue that ensued between reader, (SK) and The Risen Collective, (TRC) through August and Tim. SK has been occupied with a health concern of a family member. Any identifying factors have been changed or omitted for privacy and confidentiality.

SK: We are doing OK - both a little anxious, but in a good positive mindset at the moment. One day at a time . . . I am a 'what will be , will be' type person as I know one's physicality is tenuous and transitory - I always retreat to my deeper Self for strength and focus.

TRC: It's hard having a human body - some material on p. 3 mentions this. One day at a time is not a bad approach.

SK: I live in the 'now' and deal with the 'now' - that is enough for me! The future is only in the now as is the past in the now for me. The body's a pain - literally! - why I opted for this incarnated experience has always left me wondering - particularly this aging thing where flesh seems to strangely shift about, increase in size, and found hanging in new positions by morning! Obviously I had no choice about incarnation - this is my preliminary formative experience although "I" feel I've been around a lot longer.

TRC: There was no "option" or "choice" about incarnation; nothing more than the most unimaginable gift!

SK: Self-awareness is the ultimate gift - but for any gift to be truly appreciated - a response of graciousness requiring responsibility is required - and that response is often painful and challenging from a personal growth perspective. Life is difficult - once we accept that fact - life then becomes a little easier! (quoting M. Scott Peck)

TRC: . . . and life was never meant to be difficult.

SK: Rhetorical question? Life is what one makes of it .... my choice. I (have) found that a majority of people I have been involved with throughout my years . . . had expectations that life should have been far 'easier' for them than it was - these were mainly people who were victims, controlled by fear, guilt, and poor self-image. . . The very fact that life is confronting and challenging from an ego perspective - assists in providing insightful clarity and differentiation of one's Authentic Self. It seems to be to be a clarity born of antithesis rather than similarity.

TRC: Nothing rhetorical. We literally mean that life is not meant to be difficult, but we — under the control of the ego-mind — make it so. Life, real life, is incredibly easy, when allowed to flow. Tim hardly remembers life on earth, and the idea that life is difficult or a challenge makes no sense to him now, even when he reviews recordings of his past sojourn on the earth.

SK: My point exactly - It would make sense to me that this 'brief sojourn into flesh' is a minuscule 'flea bite' compared with the reality of the glorious wonderment of our fuller life in Spirit. Thank you Tim for corroborating this fact. Does that, then, predispose that 'growth' in spirit is not conditioned nor determined by any efforts of 'self advancement?'

TRC: Can the self advance itself? No more than a drop of water can separate itself from the ocean, or a gleam of sunlight from the sun. The closer the gleam stays to its source, the more it identifies with it as its self, the more light-filled its experience. Is this, then, growth? One's experience on the terrestrial plane would seem to be one of growth, because one cannot see yet beyond a dimension of self-imposed limitation, which is but a shadowed reflection of the greater light-filled dimension of reality, which most of us will awaken to upon Rising.

SK: You certainly know how to put the 'wow' factor back into one's 'ego sterilized' life - thank you both and The Risen Collective.

TRC: Thank you for demonstrating the "dialogue factor," which The Risen is meant to catalyze.

For those who are currently reading The Risen, and for those who might be considering reading it, as a reminder consider the following words of Tim from the book:

“One of the main purposes of this book is to assist others in enabling themselves to realize contact with the Risen. Many readers will probably try to start with just any chapter or pick selections at random. This approach might give one some interesting thoughts, but resonance will not be affected sufficiently to enable the increase in the vibration levels needed for Risen contact. Every chapter, page, and sentence has been exquisitely orchestrated in a particular Risen manner that will lead one through carefully simplified ideas—guided suggestions, really—and on through to deeper, higher vibrating concepts. Most readers will not even realize this happening, and so it is strongly recommended that they begin at the beginning and not worry about it, just as August and I did." (p. 16)

And then, as Tim is so fond of saying, "Onward, ho!"