What Has the Path Done for Me?

It is June, 2018 and I am approaching 12 years of serious study and application of the spiritual tools given by the ascended masters? On a daily basis, I have read or listened to teachings and on a daily basis I have given 30-90 minutes of decrees and invocations. The reading and listening was easy even from the start because I have always sought out and read self-improvement or spiritual books. Giving the invocations and decrees out loud was difficult at first. Even though they were very strongly prescribed as an absolutely essential element of the path, a part of me just didn’t want to do it. I felt a little awkward and embarrassed and wondered what my wife would think, etc, etc.  But soon, I realized that the part of me that didn’t want to do this was the ego, because the ego didn’t want to lose control over the real me, the conscious-self.  So, in the early days I had to constantly remind myself of the source of this resistance and push ahead. Then after many months of doing this, I took a break and found that I missed it, that I actually felt better, lighter, clearer when I did do them and so I continued the practice.


And so what did I reap as a result of this devotion and application of self to the goal of self-mastery? Well, I could go on for quite a while in response to that question, but I think the one word that best summarizes the difference between me 12 years ago and me now is the word “peace” – but not just any kind of peace, unconditional peace, “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding”.

 When I look back, I was often, maybe almost always in a state of agitation. I took myself too seriously, I was too concerned about what others thought about me. I looked at my opinions as an extension of myself and was agitated when other people didn’t agree with me feeling almost that it was a personal attack on me. I was agitated when events, circumstances and the words or actions of others didn’t match my expectations of what they should be. I was worried and agitated about the future of the country and the world.

One of the greatest lessons I have learned in the teachings of the ascended masters is that outer circumstances do not define who I AM. I AM as well as all people on earth made at the spiritual level in the image and likeness of God. Therefore: I am love. I am Joy. I am peace. I am patience. I am kindness . I am goodness. I am gentleness and I am self-control. I learned that no outer circumstance has the power to redefine me without my permission. No outer circumstance can by itself redefine me as agitated, sensitive to criticism, defensive, resentful, etc. without me at least subconsciously allowing it. That was a huge, and wonderfully liberating insight for me that has and is freeing me from all of the chains and restrictions of the images, beliefs and expectations I have carried with me for nearly a lifetime and possibly many lifetimes.