Paradigm Shift 1

        One of the big lies that the fallen ones have foisted off on lightbearers is the concept of guilt.  There are a lot of reasons why they have done this but, in my opinion, one of the biggest reasons is to convince us that in order to make our ascensions we need to purify and perfect the outer man.  There is a symbiotic relationship between these two concepts.  If we approach our path with the assumption that the outer man must meet the requirement of absolute perfection before we can be worthy of admittance to adeptship then it follows that we are constantly faced with our unworthiness which is all our fault.  Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.  We see all of our imperfections as levels of failure and we feel unworthy of the goal and responsible for our own unworthiness.

        That doesn't mean that I reject remorse and contrition for our errors.  We can't make much progress on the path if we don't recognize those places within ourselves where we fall short and, in response, strive to overcome our foilables.  In one very real sense we are responsible for our situation and the recognition of that fact can be freeing rather than burdensome.  When we realize that we made the choices that led to our extended sojourn here in the physical and cut us off from constant communion with God we can see as well that, in that same vein, we are able to make that return journey.  This is evident in the simple fact that we are still here.  If there was no possible way to return then there would be no reason for continued existence.

        With  all of that it is reasonable to ask the question, "If the goal is not dependent on our perfecting the outer man then how do we proceed and what are we to do about this outer man, this mask?" since it seems counter to all goodness to expect that imperfection not only can attain salvation but also that imperfection could stand to be in a perfect environment once achieved.  To put it another way: How much do you think your ego could stand of the presence of God?  To realize the answer of how to proceed we must change our whole concept of who we are.  When we ask that question - Who am I? - we usually come up with an answer that includes our thoughts, opinions, emotions, etc., all of the things that make up what we think of as our 'personality' - how we perceive ourselves 'to be' in our essential character.  But this is not the case.

        Who we are is behind all that.  Who we really are is a soul that finds expression on the physical both inhibited and facilitated by the outer personality.  So it is easy to mistake our outer self for the 'real' person.  This is especially true given that the outer personality would like nothing more than to be mistaken for the real being - and usually is.