Spiritual Progress -- Let your Heart be your Judge

QUESTION:

        “I sit at my computer and listen to your interviews on YouTube.  Thank God for YouTube!  I am struggling with spiritual issues:  particularly with my religious family and ‘friends.’  They claim to be Christians but refuse to help in any way if I ask. . . which I did several years ago after losing everything, going bankrupt.  They had (and still have) plenty of money and turned their backs on me. . . recently did it again. . . then buying expensive homes by the river, etc.  They hate me because I don’t like their religious view.  I simply don’t buy it.  But I also question whether I am spiritually progressing. . . where I stand and what will happen to me when I die.  What these Christians do eats away at me and I know that somehow I have to forgive them.  But they don’t seem to question themselves.  They say that they ‘aren’t perfect - just forgiven.’  UGGHHH.  They don’t question their motives, nor do they worry about what will happen to them, as I do.

        “I have problems with anger over this utter hypocrisy.  If we do, in fact, wind up in realms with ‘like-minded people/souls,’ then maybe there is some cosmic justice.  There’s nothing worse than hurting others and then asking God for forgiveness ad nauseum.

        “Any recommendations of which book I should read?  I know you have written many books.  Oh, I want to add one last comment.  Christianity has a twisted view/version of forgiveness.  By that I mean, people who claim to be Christians can and do things that they know are wrong, things they know will hurt others and then get forgiveness.  At the same time, they will condemn those whom they feel aren’t Christians for doing the same.  They have this arrogant smugness about them and don’t seem to worry about their fate.  This is ONE of the reasons that I have developed this utter contempt for religion.  Yet, at the same time, there are things about Buddhism that resonate with me.  At least Buddhists hold people accountable.  From what I have understood about the life review is that it is all-encompassing; nothing is hidden; not even those deeds you thought you were ‘off the hook’ for.  You come face to face with it.  That is my humble understanding.  I do believe in Jesus and try to live by his teachings.  I seldom see any Christians doing that.”....Linda

ANSWER:

        Sounds to me, Linda, like you are ready for “Science of Mind” by Ernest Holmes.  Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Ernest took the best of all religions, philosophies, and traditions, put them together in a practical, organized way, and came up with what he called “Science of Mind.”  He believed that the core teachings around the world all taught the same thing and they did so in what he recognized as a “scientific” manner, that is to say, in accordance with Universal Laws.  A church developed around his work, formerly called the United Church of Religious Science - now called the United Centers of Spiritual Living.  They have a lively website (google any of the names I have given you to find it).  You can take their first year class online, or, at least by mail if there is not a study group or church in your area.  Their magazine “Science of Mind” is a monthly, digest-sized, and absolutely wonderful to read.  My husband and I subscribe to it and we read from it daily.  I took that first year class soon after I died, at a small church in Boise, Idaho, where I lived at the time.  Wisest move I ever made.  I wrote about this several issues ago in the free newsletter I publish (now archived).  If you’re not signed up yet for that newsletter, access www.pmhatwater.com, scroll over to the newsletter section, and sign up.

        In a nutshell, realize first and foremost that everyone is here on earth to learn, express, grow through, or enjoy what presents itself to us.  Picture earth as a giant school.  Some people are attending first grade; some are in high school; some are doing graduate work; some are here on recess or to enjoy time out.  You cannot compare yourself with anyone else, because you do not know at what grade level they are or what they are working through or participating in.  We are not challenged to like each other; we are challenged to love each other.  To be certain there are some people, no matter how treated, are virtually impossible to even be around.  And I am myself one who tussles with this.  Still, I bless these people and honor them for they are just as much a child of God as I am.  In my family of origin, I am the odd one out.  The rest tolerate me, well, most of them do.  Others I ‘m not so sure about.  The same with my husband’s family.  Actually, we are both the odd ones out.  We are not wealthy like the others and we do not flaunt what we have.  We make no demands and love and honor freely.  Most of them look the other way when around us; some are profoundly embarrassed to have us in the family.  This can hurt if allowed.  We choose not to engage in this type of thinking and feeling.  Serves no purpose.  Going to a family member to ask for help, seldom helps anyone.  So why bother.  I respect myself too much to be a target for ill-will.  I doubt the day will ever come, for instance, when my work will be recognized and appreciated for what it is.  I am often attacked professionally and demeaned by others who simply disagree.  Since my protocol for research is different, that makes me suspect, even though my findings, thus far, have held up in clinical trials.

        Spiritual progress?  How can you judge that?  How could I?  My judge is my heart.  If I feel I have done my best, been my best, and filled each day with smiles, how then could anyone consider me a failure?  How could I?  Spiritual progress is something you feel when you are authentically you, and remain true to the breath that breathes you.  If you are in league with people who demean you, move out and find another group.  Families are not really what you are born with.  They are what we recognize in each other when open to those who smile back.  Extended families (what we co-create with others) are often more loving and supportive than original families.  Look around you.  Find other groups of people and experiment, attend meetings, engage in discussions.  One of the fastest moving trends today are Church Homes.  That’s right.  People who band together and start their own church, and take turns deciding which home the service will be in and on what day.  They share worship, study, and ritual.  Why not start a Church Home yourself?  Do not belabor what you have lost.  Rejoice in who you are and what you are becoming!

        Blessings, PMH

NDE'r: "Please help me get my life back"

QUESTION:

"I have come to you seeking help. Up until a few days ago, I was a profound believer in NDEs. Even though I have never experienced one myself, I followed it's well-known paradigim. I based my entire life on it, and I certainly do not regret it. It gave me the strength I needed to achieve so much of my dreams, and helped me enjoy life to the fullest. But a couple of days ago, I was sitting down on the balcony observing the beautiful sky, when a thought crossed my mind. 'Can this be true? Is life really that beautiful? Or is it all just wishful thinking?' Ever since then I do not know what happened to me. I simply stopped believing in NDEs. Everytime I look back at it, it seems like it's too good to be true. Everytime I try to believe again, a voice inside my head keeps telling me 'don't delude yourself...something so good cannot be true.'

"I do not know what to believe anymore. There are so many things people are claiming to be true which are not. And the other way around as well. I do not know what I should believe anymore. I look at all those people not believing in NDEs, and I ask myself 'why?' If it is true, why don't people believe in it?

Also, I was reading your Q&A blog, and the latest question kind of upset me. The thing about the Tom Sawyer guy. In some NDEs I read that it is not our choice whether to stay there or not. Yet in some, people are asked if they want to or not. Now, in most of these, they say they want to stay, but they are asked to think it over, until they choose to come back. And that isn't different from it not being our choice, just a gentler way to tell us it's not our time, I guess. I couldn't find the NDE of Tom Sawyer so I thought I should ask you. Did he say he wanted to stay, and the beings agreed for him to stay? And yet still he came back? If that is so, doesn't that imply in a sense that NDEs are just a dream of some sort? Or did he say he wanted to stay and before anything happened, he came back? Or was he told that he will go back anyways?

"Sorry if I sounded too skeptical, Dr. Atwater. Personally I am amazed by NDEs, and maybe with your help I can believe in them again. I feel like I'm running out of strength without the belief of NDEs in my life. I look at my life right now, and I feel as if I'm looking with the eyes of a stranger. My friends, my beliefs and my dreams...Please help me get my life back."
... Robert


ANSWER:

Near-death experiences are nothing to "believe in." They are fact. They happen, and to millions and millions of people worldwide and of every age. They are not always pleasant. Some are nightmarish and haunt people; some are enlightening and uplift people; some challenge people and inspire them to look beyond what they think life is. Since we humans see barely 10% of the electromagnetic spectrum, it is of no reach to claim that experiences like this enable one to access more of what is already present in the world around us and has always been present. It's just that we didn't have the ability to look beyond the view before we were jerked around or challenged by this type of incredible phenomenon.

Please know the near-death experience, really, is just one of many types of transformative experiences that engender either the same or similar aftereffects. Those aftereffects move us closer to spirituality, to a walk with God or Deity, if you will. It is the aftereffects which validate the near-death experience or any type of impactual spiritual experience, not the other way around.

What climbed into your mind recently was your own ego, and your ego planted doubt. That's the ego's job, by the way, to keep you in the limited world of the left-brain hemisphere. Since we have two brain hemispheres, not one, it makes no sense to limit the input we receive. A healthy person is a whole person - whole brained. The world of the ego is important and meaningful. The world of the spirit is also important and meaningful. When you merge them or allow them to blend and work together, well, that's when things get really good - logic and intuition as one. I can't think of anything better - and that's exactly what Albert Einstein said - and look what he did with that combination!!!!!!!!!!! The world has never been the same since.

There are various ways to control one's ego and keep it in check. There are exercises and disciplines which are good for this. I recommend places, people, and books in the back of each book I've written. My favorite for this, though, is the teachings of Ernest Holmes and his book "Science of Mind." Good stuff. You might look into this, if it appeals to you. A good laugh will spin your ego around, since the ego has no sense of humor. Laughter, prayer, meditation, contemplation, poetry, dance, creativity - give your right-brain a chance.

What should you believe in? If you're wise, the God Within.
Many blessings, PMH

(Google Tom Sawyer. There have been several books written about him. He died not long ago, leaving behind not only his family but the effect he had on the thousands of people he helped, taught, and uplifted. The man lived unconditional love!!!!)

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

"Beginner's Guide to Conscious Dying: The Path to Soul Healing, Peace of Mind, & Unconditional Love," by Diane Goble, MSCC, CCHt, is now available. Diane is a near-death experiencer. She came back to do this work, to help people die consciously and peacefully, ready for whatever might happen next - after they cross over to the "other side."

What makes this small volume so perfectly precious is Diane's ability to see through the veil and help people in a very personal way, specific to their own needs and wishes. Diane has a relationship to this day with spiritual beings, some she met in death years ago when she herself died and then came back, others around all of us - spiritual helpers of every sort. Those who have passed over sometimes return in spirit to be with her, some you may know aided her in writing this book - like Juliet Nightingale. There is an appendices for the type of practical/legal information you need when a loved one dies, plus a good bibliography.

This book is readily available. Should you have any problems finding it on store shelves or via Amazon.com, you can contact her several ways:

• e-mail, cosmiccreativity@mac.com
• postal, 14774 Bluegrass Loop, Sisters, OR 97759, or
• P. O. Box 3352, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
• on the web at: www.ArtOfConsciousDying.com www.TransitionGuideTraining.org www.BeyondtheVeil.net

Thoughts on Prayer and Karma

QUESTION: "I have been praying (free of cost) for some people, and announced that I will pray for Reduction of Negative Karma of those who would send names. After several prayers in the last three years, and blessings by many enlightened ones, I had begun to chant mantras. (I am an Asian Indian settled in U.S. My wife is 45, I am 48, and we have no children.) I wish to manifest wealth and to be the greatest healer with Divine Energies. That is how I started praying when I mentioned to a few friends, and it kind of spread from there with a couple of friends.

"My questions are: (1) Are all the troubles that people write to me in the e-mails (divorce, not having a job, or a proper income, problems in relationships, people wanting to serve the Divine but can't seem to get out of debt, etc.), all Karmically related? Am I on the right track praying for so many (without taking their Karma on myself)? Is it possible for one person (no particular religious background, though I am Hindu by birth) to positively transform so many lives, when I had not done anything like this before?

(2) How should I manifest faster and flawlessly - in the lives of others healing what needs to be healed, and helping them in many ways, while manifesting in my life the wealth and spiritual power to help countless others?

(3) How should I become abundant so that I can serve on a larger scale? (I don't want to take money from anyone and only serve free.)

(4) There are times I give some answers to others with little thought, and then wonder if the Divine is guiding me or whether it is my ego that prompts such answers. Is there any way to distinguish one from the other?

"Could you please pray that I can serve the Divine in a larger and more selfless way, but that my wife and I do not suffer in the process?"... Mahesh

ANSWER: My goodness, Mahesh, you ask the type of questions that it would take a book, probably several of them, to answer - if then. There are not enough hours in the day for me to attempt answers here, but I can share some thoughts which may prove helpful:

*** Do not judge. If you serve the Greater Breath as a healer, you do not have the right to judge. Maybe some of the people who come to you are dealing with direct or indirect karma, and maybe you will suddenly know things about them and where the karma comes from; still, speak not of this unless you have permission - from God Who Is Within, and from the individual involved. Most of the problems people have in life are the result of making choices that do not serve them. So many people today are not practical. They live their lives as if there were no consequences to what they do. And they fail to recognize that we are all energetic beings, operating on physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels. Success is really a state of balance, balance within and between all the levels mentioned.

*** There is a wonderful spiritual axiom that says: "To change your life, change your thinking." This is so true. Most of us do not realize that our word is our command. What we think about, focus on, talk about continuously or often, comes to pass. We do it to ourselves by not realizing the power we have. Another way to look at this is: "Wherever you put your attention, is where you put your power." Help others as well as yourself learn to be more discerning of what is thought, said, and done. There are no free passes in life. A wonderful teaching for this is the book "The Science of Mind" by Ernest Holmes. You can also get a small, digest-sized magazine called "The Science of Mind." Read it cover to cover. Subscribe to it. The magazine is a monthly, with great articles, plus a spiritual message for each day of the month. There are churches and study groups across the country and the world that study these teachings. You can be a Hindu and still attend and grow from the experience. I highly recommend this work. The churches used to be called the United Church of Religious Science, but are now named United Centers of Spiritual Living. There are other teachings as well that help us put things in perspective. Do look around and see what "speaks" to you.

*** Anyone can suddenly "awaken" to the truth of their being and of reality itself, and at any time. This is one of life's great mysteries, how this happens. Usually these awakenings center around an alteration in consciousness, that lays the ground work for a transformation of consciousness later on. There are usually a number of steps one goes through, lessons and challenges one masters, before they are ready for the "big one" - a transformational event or shift in consciousness that is so profound life for them can never be the same again. This is especially true with healing. Even tiny children can heal. What distinguishes a "true" healer, though, someone who is able to bring about peace and healing on a higher level, is a lifetime commitment, a dedication, and a passion to serving the Greater Breath, The One God, Source, Allah, whatever name you use to honor Deity. That commitment usually comes with a high price you "pay" for it in the sense of cleaning out your own foibles and troubles and attitudes, turning your life around in productive and peaceful ways, learning discernment and how prayer really works, and maturing into higher and greater phases of spiritual understanding and attainment. You could call all of this "sacrifice" or "surrender" to the Greater All.

*** Does becoming a healer mean you must be poor and give up all possessions? Some faith traditions teach this, yet I have never found it to be true. What is true, however, is the need to reach a place in our consciousness where love resides, and there is peace and understanding and joy and laughter and balance and grace and gratitutde and unending love...a place where you simply exist as the Child of God you are. You come into yourself and then move through the self until you simply are. There are no words to describe this. It is something you become.

As long as you are haunted by demons and thoughts of evil and hear voices that preach destruction of self or others, you are not in a position to offer healing. Remember the warning: "Physician, heal yourself."

Always you begin with self. The journey begins within.

Blessings, PMH

P.S. See the "Big Announcement" about IANDS move to new headquarters!