THERE ARE A GROUP OF BEINGS called humans, who do not fully accept the magnificence of their beingness. Humans have free will, so they cannot simply be given enlightenment because, unless they accept it themselves, it will not hold. They must learn who and what they are for themselves - not by themselves, just for themselves.

Humans operate from two basic states. Compassion is their natural state. The alternative, the ego state, is a set of mental constructs humans use when they are unable to hold the wisdom of their natural compassion. At this stage in their evolution, when challenged, they easily move into fear, become anxious, shut down and live through their egos. They are often unable to hold compassion. In that state they become self-focused and are capable of destructive and harmful behavior.

Fortunately, the Laws of The Universe encourage humans to evolve. They do not have a word for the most important force, the force that maintains balance in The Universe. The ancient Chinese referred to it as the Tao. Spiritual teachers refer to it as the force of self-realization. The impact of this force is subtle but incredibly powerful, so even though it may not always be evident, it is an extraordinary force that can move entire galaxies.

The force of balance moves humans toward harmony both within themselves and in their relationships. Because of this force, when people operate from compassion, they experience peace and joy. When they operate from ego, they will feel discomfort and pain. The discomfort increases the further we move away from the center of self-realization. And the more we persist in operating from our egos, the greater the pressure for change becomes, leading eventually to a physical breakdown or an emotional crisis.

So, given these considerations, if you were God what would you do to help these beings?

As long as humans knew they were eternal beings, they would have few concerns and little motivation to change. But, as God, you would have the power to make them temporarily forget their eternal nature. Then, you could install their spirits into vulnerable bodies with a limited lifespan. Having bodies would make humans aware of stress and pain when they moved out of alignment. Their bodies would also be vulnerable to injury and disease, so that when they operated out of harmony, they would create threats to their health and well-being. This would all be significant to them, but if you allowed them to reincarnate, they could continue their learning.

Having bodies, humans would need a place to live. Let's call it Earth. On Earth people could interact easily with each other. When humans are insecure, they can feel significant internal conflict. And when they interact and create dissention, they create even more internal conflict. They will eventually tire of the turmoil and will begin to search for alternatives. That search will eventually lead them to the truth.

In each interaction people would have the option of choosing compassion or creating conflict and tension by retreating into fear and anxiety. Each time they chose compassion, they would move that much closer to enlightenment. Having free will, people would be free to choose where on the ego-compassion spectrum they felt safe to operate from.

As God, you could also place at their core an awareness of the truth as a fail-safe mechanism. This would not be a dominant voice, rather a small one, that when they quieted their egos and listened, could provide them reliable guidance. As another reminder, you could surround them with the magnificence of nature as an additional reminder of the incredible universe of which they are a part.

But, this would mean that the human experience of life, i.e., the road to enlightenment, would be fraught with difficulties. As God, you would see these as learning opportunities, but humans will mostly see only difficulties and struggle. People will have trouble seeing beyond their immediate problems, but eventually their perspectives will shift.

This might seem to be cruel or uncaring, but as God, you would not create this conflict called life out of cruelty or a perverse sense of sadism. You would do it because it is the most effective and efficient way to encourage a species with free will to learn the truth about themselves and evolve. The pain that humans feel will eventually cause them to examine the truth of the beliefs they hold that make them feel insecure and that drive their behaviors.

In order to facilitate people's learning, a few triggering mechanisms would be helpful. The first would be that when humans assume physical form and separate from the Greater Consciousness, they will experience the separation as a personal rejection. You would need to set this up so that they would not remember this until the later stages of their development. This would mean that their feelings of rejection and abandonment would be tangible throughout their Earthly experiences. These feelings would serve as an underlying current, drawing into question their worthiness and lovability in virtually every interaction or thought.

Feeling unworthy, people will be reluctant to challenge their closely held beliefs. It is only when they have nowhere else to turn that they will begin to question the validity of their beliefs. But since these things cannot possibly be true, the power of this process is that people will come to know the truth on their own, deepening their conviction beyond anything possible through any other means. They must eventually come to know the truth, because there is nothing else!

The Creator does not make good frogs and bad frogs, he just makes frogs, and He loves them all. Humans are children of God and were created in His image. They cannot possibly be unlovable. Humans will also eventually come to realize that it is impossible to separate from God's love and that His love has always been there for them (although it certainly has not always felt that way).

In order to further facilitate human evolution, you would want to create a triggering mechanism involving human interaction. It would begin in a social structure called "family." In family, children will ask to be unconditionally loved, which will put their parents up against their own inability to give love freely. The parent's reluctance will then trigger the latent feelings of unworthiness in the child, unresolved since the separation. Triggering each other in this way, each family member will serve the growth needs of each other by stirring up each individual's fears and anxieties. This dynamic will serve as the fundamental triggering mechanism in each lifetime and will apply to all humans, regardless of race, ethnicity or culture.

As people move outside the family, each person's fears and anxieties will provoke the fear and anxiety held by others. This will create a massive chain reaction, unearthing the fears held by every human. This process will continue like a forest fire until people grow tired of living this way.

Humans will know this as "having problems." They will tend to focus on their immediate circumstances, and often not realize the larger lessons The Universe is asking them to address. This process will continue until there is no more friction being created. When humanity has moved into compassion, it will have moved well into its enlightenment.

During the process if a person's fear is too great, he or she will be able move into their ego for temporary shelter. But, because they will still trigger other people's fears, there will continue to be blowback, maintaining the pressure on the individual to change.

© Ross Bishop, 2009

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

There are two kinds of Shaman. Some people have a gift and study for years to develop that gift into a healing art. Ross Bishop is what is called a natural Shaman, someone who seems to have been born blessed with a gift for healing. Ross has brought the core of the ancient traditions of Shamanism into a form and practices that can be easily used and understood by the Western mind.

In a former life, Ross was president of an advertising agency and a communications executive for Northern States Power Company (NSP) in Minneapolis. After leaving NSP, with a colleague he founded Creative Power Workshops and traveled the country teaching creative thinking to advertising writers and art directors. Seeing the limitations fear placed on people's creative passion led Ross to undertake a spiritual journey in search of answers. That journey covered many miles, years and brought him to many teachers. Finding some answers, Ross also found his natural Shamanic gift for healing. He returned to this country and conducted vision quests for spiritual pilgrims throughout the Southwestern United States. Today he concentrates his energies on writing, raising birds and on an active healing, teaching and counseling practice in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Visit Ross online at www.rossbishop.com, and check out his books and cds, including his new book, Journey to Enlightenment which was just released in January of 2008.