Entering into Others

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them. I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:7-10

In the last reflection we considered the new clairvoyance – insight through rigorous thinking. We saw how this insight brings with it a spiritual responsibility. We live in a time when we are hardly conscious of the workings of our soul and our I AM, we struggle to escape the idea that we are a physical body moving around in the world.

Just for a moment picture yourself as an “I” walking down the street and you meet a friend and they also have an “I”. Remember that your soul and your “I” are like a cloud around you. This cloud penetrates your body and it also mingles with all that is outside your skin. Think of the Roadrunner in slow motion.

When our “I” encounters another “I”, in order to grasp the other “I” we have to penetrate into the nature of the other person. Or it may even be a tree or an animal. So if you and I meet your “I” has to enter into me. This might appear to be a simple and straightforward thing. Wouldn’t your “I” and my “I” have to be compatible for you to enter into me and vice versa? Wouldn’t this explain why we are uncomfortable with some people; we are not able to enter into them or they won’t let us enter into them?

Now if our “I” is going to enter into someone it must become like a sheep; a simple, innocent being who has surrendered. What would our “I” surrender? All its understanding and knowledge. For a moment we must become an ego-less being.

If we want to enter into the other person we have to strip ourselves off, leave everything outside; it’s the story of initiation, of going into the temple. We cannot fully enter into another person with all our own preconceived ideas. Not only that, we also have to know ourselves. We have to be able differentiate ourselves from the other person when we enter into them.

So when we are inside the other person our “I” takes a snapshot of the other person, a copy of what is going on in the other person during our exchange. Then we withdraw back into ourselves to see if the copy of their inner being (to the extent that we could enter into it) is compatible with our inner being. Does the copy please us or not? Can we understand it or not, is it similar to some of the things we have in ourselves or is it too different?

If the Christ Impulse is active within us, and our I AM has a strong connection with our inner being, then we will be able to be very objective. It is our “I” that is constantly trying to bring itself into harmony, in-tune with, the copy of the other person. If what we find warms us we form a bond, we easily connect with the other person.

This reveals how disagreements arise - these are the thieves and robbers. We can’t go in and out and find pasture if our lower untamed soul levels rise up in a murky fog of like and dislike. If we are too busy with self we can’t take the other person in. How easy it is for us to kill and destroy others with our misunderstanding thoughts. We kill and destroy our relationships. All because we want to take a stand and we can’t enter into the other person or let them enter into us.

Sure, it may not always be wise to enter into another person, but we must continually strive for the higher I AM state of being. Those of us who were taught by Rev Mario Schoenmaker (or no doubt any other spiritual teacher) had the experience of being deeply known by him. We allowed him to enter into us, we trusted him, and in that trust he could teach us. Since his death some people even say that they feel they will never be known like that again. Rev Mario had such control of his “I” that he could enter into you, experience you totally and come back into himself and give you the advice you knew you needed to hear. Let us always strive to be the sheep led by the Good Shepherd so that we can move in and out of each other freely and find pasture.