Encounters with Negativity

Ryan and Jeremy return from an unexpected hiatus to discuss oppositional forces encountered on the spiritual path. Q'uo reminds us that all that challenges and frightens us originates from our own distortions and biased perceptions, whether it is experienced as other than self or as self. Since all is self, polarization must involve a way of opening one's heart to these aspects that are hard to accept. As we recover these unaccepted portions of self and integrate them, we increasingly identify with a deeper self, a self we do not direct but rather with which we learn to cooperate.

This deeper self we build a relationship with through work in consciousness is closer to the truth of our unity with all other selves. In finding compassion for the self and its rough spots within, we find the strength and confidence to extend love and patience to others, despite their flaws and the buttons they push in us. By being willing to feel the pain we encounter instead of avoiding it, we discover that it's the same pain others feel, that it connects us. Instead of using negative encounters as an excuse to give up on seeking, we can use them to lovingly incorporate into our heart each thread of the Creator's love we come across in our lives.

Show Notes

• Q'uo on negative encounters on the path (December 5, 2009)
• Hatonn on tempering the self through experience (August 14, 1983)