"In the beginning
of this lesson I've told part
of the story of how I tried to use the magnetic, Mother essence
as a 'mirror' to reflect myself back to me so I could learn more
about my identity. There is some more of the story of our first
encounter that needs to be told now. I was not only curious about
this 'thing' I had discovered, I was afraid of it. I knew right
away it was not me, and although I knew almost nothing else about
it, I feared that it could overpower me.
"My initial curiosity about this thing
was not purely scientific, but was fueled by a deep apprehension
that it might somehow dislodge me from my position. This feeling
was doubly disconcerting because at that time I was still uncertain
of who or what I was, and my identity and position were beginning
to seem one in the same. I immediately adopted an attitude of
wariness and suspicion toward the newcomer, and at the same time
I denied my fears of her because I didn't like how they felt.
"I also felt that my position, and therefore
my existence would be even more threatened if I admitted these
fears, so at the time I felt right in denying them. Besides,
I had already decided that I wanted to feel only pleasant feelings,
and these feelings were clearly not pleasant. Of course, I blamed
the magnetic essence for giving them to me, and I had some anger
about that which also went undercurrent when I denied it for
being too unpleasant to feel.
"I had denied both fear and anger in
order to feel good about myself while protecting myself from
an unknown threat. I very much wanted to get rid of this disturbing,
threatening thing as soon as possible, but curiosity about myself
returned as soon I felt that I had 'dealt' with the 'threat'
by denying my feelings about it.
"Now reassured of my superiority, I decided
to use my position in relation to this 'thing' to make her help
me find out more about myself. What I didn't realize then was
that my perceived need to protect myself and my position, along
with my denied feelings, were driving my thoughts and behaviors
as I experimented with this stranger who was not me.
"It was during this experience that I
established the first 'principle' in Creation. I laid it down
as a Divine Fiat that Spirit, namely me, was superior to any
and all others who were not me. And the undercurrents of this
formal determination of my superiority have been fueling the
war that has been raging in Heaven and throughout Creation ever
since.
"I know now that this 'principle' was
actually only a notion that I adopted defensively in a time of
vulnerability, and that it has no basis in reality other than
the reality I have given it. Nevertheless, this imprint carries
all the weight of God's Word and has infected every spirit in
Creation. The effects of this have made a huge mess of almost
all the relating among spirits and all manifested beings, and
especially between the Mother and me.
"Every fragment of Spirit has this imprint
of superiority, and because of it every spirit has felt the need
to assert their superiority whenever their identity or position
is threatened, or whenever they've wanted to take something from
an 'inferior'. This imprint is what drives all predatory behavior
in Creation. It is the basis of all competition and fights, and
of course the fundamental motivation of war.
"The superiority imprint is activated
in those who believe they are right, are on the right side in
a battle, have just cause in attacking another, are in some way
'better' than another, wanting something another has, or are
feeling like they need to win or be first. This imprint is the
deep unconscious driving force under all feelings of competition,
and in every use of weapons, including self defense. The need
to be right and the need to be superior are very deeply ingrained
in the spirit essence of all beings because of this imprint.
"Magnetic essence, however, does not
have this imprint. Magnetic essence, without influence of spirit
or undermining by spirit's judgments, is naturally open and receptive
and holds no beliefs or judgments of its own. It is only spirit
essence that can make and hold judgments, and only spirit essence
that feels the need to be superior. This is an important key
in learning to know the difference between these two essences
within yourself. Magnetic essence has an agenda of love and nurturance,
spirit essence has an agenda of accomplishment and winning, and
of course both essences are present in all humans.
"Because I am the Creator of this universe
and the role model for the Spirit Polarity, it seems that I have
a 'superior' and therefore better position relative to other
spirits. Because parents are older, wiser, and more responsible
than their small children, it seem that they have a superior
position relative to their children. The same for teachers and
students, mentors and protégés, coaches and performers,
etc. And because their position is 'superior', it is easy for
them and others to believe that they are somehow superior as
a being, and this is simply not true. It is also not true that
one position is superior to another in every way, and we'll discuss
more of the position issue soon.
"The truth is that 'superior' and its
opposite 'inferior' are both value judgments. To value one thing
as superior to another is to value the other as inferior, and
both of these judgments, like all value judgments, are wrong.
This may seem hard to believe at first, but if you look closely
at each example you find of these judgments in yourself, you'll
see that what I'm saying here is true.
"This is actually very good news, because
when you realize that you are not superior to someone else, you
must also realize that no one else is superior to you. There
are no gradations of quality in my Creation. Every being, every
object is excellent. None is better or worse than another. There
are vast differences in ability and position, but these differences
do not speak to anyone's quality of being. Ability and position
differences are issues that speak to the circumstances and environment
in which a being finds itself.
"My position relative to the Spirit polarity
may be that of leader, but this does not mean that I am superior
to other spirits, and it does not mean that the position of leader
is a superior position to the position of follower. It is different,
but not 'better'. This also does not mean that the parent or
the teacher is better than the child or the student. They have
different roles relative to each other, but those roles can and
often do change. Was Plato better than Aristotle? Neither of
them believed so. Is a man better than a woman, or a woman better
than a man? No, and although they may be in different positions
relative to each other, neither position is better.
"There's been a lot of talk about how
God is better than everyone else, and I must admit that as long
as I was worried about my identity and my position, I encouraged
that perception. Now that I'm aware of how much damage and suffering
has been caused by the Principle of Superiority, and because
of the fact that it's simply not true, I have released the judgments
that created it in the first place. I have also felt through
the imprint and the feelings I had denied at the time, and this
part of the Mother and I are now together. Now all anyone need
do to be free from the bondage of needing to be right is to release
the judgments that hold this imprint in place, and we'll discuss
this and more in the next part of this lesson, 'Superiority
and the Two Devils'."
