The Bridge of Rising

An explorer comments:

"Please be patient with my following statements. Don't see it as a personal attack. All I endeavour is to clarify for myself(ego-mind?) matters that concern me in order that I can understand better from were you come. I truly am very sympathetic towards the ideas of the risen. There is in my opinion a real problem with the Risen and that is its validity. Every thing written is a subjective opinion or experience of an individual who claims unusual powers.Guided by unprovable spirits which only he is in contact with. Unlike other mediums who often sit in a circle of people and as a result there are witnesses to the actual mediumship.No such witnessing is available from you. A person like me is compelled to accept your statements ex cathedra. For me this considerably weakens the case you and the risen wish to put across. Even your model of a self is a personal model.An "authentic self" is not something which can be easily demonstrated in a laboratory. From a therapy point of view I am sure it works on a person to person basis and is way superior to the materialists approach.
With genuine kindness.
S. "

Thanks for your comments, gentle reader; all are welcome, even those like the person who recently submitted an unhappy "review" of the book at Amazon because he didn't get what he wanted. It's better to get it out than carry it around inside and inhibit growth. Please know that we respond from kindness as well.

From your reading thus far, you must know how we like words, and consider them messages from many worlds! Join us in looking at some. The self-possessive phrases used here, such as "I'm sympathetic"; "My opinion"; "A person like me" and so on, are clear indications (to us) that an ego-mind is utilizing a simulate self or two. The use of the word "problem" demonstrates how the ego-mind loves to find problems. There are all kinds of suggestions in the book on how to move past the illusion of a problem and back to the original feeling that is the guidepost of true direction.

"Ex cathedra" — what an interesting phrase popping in! Literally it means, "from the chair" and speaks to the authority derived from one's office or position. "Armchair philosophy" and "accidental tourist" come to mind as well. The roman catholic church has commanded this phase as its own indication of the exclusive infallibility of the pope's comments on faith and beliefs.

The worry that your comments will be seen as a "personal attack" also evidences an ego-mind's delusional belief that it has the power to hurt real people, i.e. Authentic Self. Also indicated is the the ego-mind's unending wish to be entertained, not educated. "Show me; put on a show; demonstrate; prove it" and the like. This is why August will no more go on a TV talk show than he will advertise his abilities as a therapist who is also a medium, for then "viewers and witnesses" will be entranced by their ego-mind's obsession with being entertained, in order to be distracted from its constant fear of its own eventual dissolution upon Authentic Self's transition to Risen. Even the radio broadcasts carry the message "come be entertained" but the Risen still find them useful to transmit vibrations that can get through when the visual element is unavailable. There is plenty of opportunity for entertainment elsewhere which will show and prove to us anything we want. The ego-mind can only see and focus on the shadows flickering on the cave wall (Plato's Allegory). The Risen urge those so wishing to advance in their own personal spiritual endeavors to ignore the pretty lights, bells, and whistles after the original shock at seeing them passes, and to continue the journey on within. Many people want more special effects, which veil the special affects. The Risen book is here to help bring some of us to the bridge that will emerge out of the mists of delusion and illusion, the "flatland of the simulate self" (p. 309). There are plenty of people out there who will give you a show and keep you coming back for more of the same. Enough is never enough for an ego-mind.

The Risen clearly shows an anticipation of these kinds of basic and initial responses:

"...the experience can’t be forced because there is a certain degree of passivity one has to balance with the more active willingness to open up and remain opened. It’s a matter of understanding what one’s own skills and gifts are and then how to use them. They can’t be used aggressively, like a hammer and saw. These special tools are sensitive instruments, which must be finely tuned within our awareness so they can function correctly. Tim and I can share our discovery with others to help support and validate their experiences. But it can’t be emphasized enough that we are each a unique creation unto ourselves, always becoming more consciously aware." (p. 164)

"And yet, we do need skeptics. There are scientists who maintain a healthy measure of skepticism about skepticism, and remain open while questioning. This openness has led to emerging, revolutionary scientific models, such as R. A. White’s Experiential Paradigm.  Inspired in part by psychologist Abraham Maslow’s classic work on cognitive-being and his insights from what he called exceptional “plateau” or “peak” human experiences, White asserts that there’s a form of knowing that can only come from having been immersed in a particular experience. This means that the worldview of a medium can only be objectively analyzed after the analyzer has also subjectively experienced it. Mediumistic experiences often take place outside the constraints of space and time and therefore may pose serious challenges to those scientists who have always relied on such matrices in their laboratories." (p. 33)

"Tim and I share our stories with you so that there may be a gradually increased understanding of this process, from which validation and strengthened confirmation of your own experiences will arise." (p. 68)

Some of us come to this juncture, this Bridge of Rising, much more clearly than others, who may seem to be and feel like "accidental tourists."  It felt like the latter for me (August) in some ways when Tim first appeared in physical form for a brief second on my bed. Later on, as more was revealed and as I also questioned everything while learning how to open up in order to receive more information, much that was revealed was more insight into and understanding of the scarcely imaginable orchestration that had been going on outside my little cave for many, many years, to bring me to that juncture. It was no accident. It took time to secure back from the ego-mind the true spiritual authority that is everyone's inheritance as a direct offspring of Creative Source: to realize Authentic Self.  This realization appears to be an ongoing Event.