Category: Perspective

Episode 39: Encounters with Negativity

Posted on | by jeremy

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

Episode 37: The Mysteries of Service

Posted on | by jeremy

Nithin Reddy joins Jeremy once more to dive into what those of Q’uo describe as the mysteries and paradoxes of service. How do we know whether we’re truly serving the other self, when the other self may not understand its own spiritual project and true desire? How do we give freely with no conditions so that we can give others the freedom to discover themselves that we seek to give ourselves? What do we as servants desire from those we serve, and how do we use even services that go poorly as ways to understand ourselves better? Where do the social norms and pressures fit into all this?

We can strive to be more polarized, but this is so difficult without any way to judge our polarity. Service encompasses all of the mysteries contained in an illusion of separation refracting and mediating the underlying unity of the Creator. Q’uo offers novel approaches to keeping the faith that love expressed and received are the true natures of service. As we learn to abide in patience and bring through more and more purified love and light, we make ourselves open, available, and even grateful for all the opportunities for growth and connection that service offers.

Show Notes

Episode 36: Skillfully Working with Catalyst

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Nithin Reddy and Jeremy discuss a 2008 Q’uo session on the subject of processing and distilling catalyst. What about our experiences is the lesson on which we’re working? Conversely, what about our experiences needs to be let go and not belabored? How do we deal with our triggered feelings in the moment when catalytic situations first present? Q’uo shares some ideas on the skills involved in the personal and delicate matter of exercising compassionate discernment in facing the events of our lives and balancing their aftermath. Nithin and Jeremy tease apart the nuances of Q’uo’s message, including the role our guidance and other synchronicities play as well as the benefits of a meditative approach as we discuss the “diet of catalyst” in our lives.

Show Notes

Episode 31: Criticism

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Joseph Dartez steps in as Jeremy’s cohost to tackle the subject of criticism. When is critique a form of service to others? How do we account for our own feelings, ulterior motives, distortions and biases in our communication to others? What kinds of spiritual principles are involved in a human way to register our reflections to others? How is this complicated when third parties are involved? Joseph and Jeremy will take a stroll through all of these topics and more as we wrestle with the positive and negative characteristics of criticism.

Show Notes

Episode 29: Scientific vs. Spiritual Understanding

Posted on | by jeremy

Happy one year anniversary of the inaudible podcast, other selves! On this episode, Ryan and Jeremy discuss the differences (and similarities) between the scientific understanding of reality and the spiritual understanding of reality. This takes us into the way scientific progress is marshaled to political and practical ends that reflect our spiritual immaturity. However, if we recognize that all narratives of reality are limited, we can learn how to adopt and discard narratives to suit our higher, spiritual ends. Spiritual discipline allows us to maintain a concept of self that is not fixed to one narrative, making it possible for us to transcend limitations without losing ourselves in the process.

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