Life Question of the Week: 3.6.26

0:00Peace and Rich's Blessings, I am Michael B. Beckwith, the host of Take Back Your Mind. Blessings to all of you and thank you for tuning in. To take back your mind, life questions of the week. I am your host, Michael B. Beckwith. His first letter comes from Jesse. I have suffered from a chronic illness since I was very young because I always felt deeply connected to

1:02spirituality. I clung to believe that everything happens for a reason. For a long time, this belief served as a lifeline because I thought that my suffering had a purpose to make me better, wiser and more empathetic human being. However, that belief turned completely against me. When suddenly occurred to me that if bad things truly do happen for a reason, if I then try to prevent them through helping others, I might actually be taking something valuable away. This thought terrified and crushed me in a way that I can't fully describe. He's been stuck in my mind ever since. I want nothing more than to be a loving human who takes good care of others and myself. I volunteer. I help. I try to give love wherever I can and wherever I can, but underneath it all, I'm constantly afraid that helping others might somehow be wrong. Yet, that feels horrible

2:05and completely out of alignment with my soul. I've always believed that fully experiencing life allows us to love ourselves more deeply. But how can we fully experience ourselves without encountering things we would instinctively try to prevent, like illness, suffering or abuse? It must be a way to make sense of this. I just can't seem to grasp it. Everybody says casually, you can't have darkness without the light, but I refuse to believe that horrible things are simply part of the curriculum. A loving universe would design for us. Can you help me make sense with this? So first of all, you had a jolt in your consciousness where you thought suddenly that helping others was bad because the suffering has a purpose, so you may be taking away their purpose if you help them. No, that only is true where butterflies are concerned. If you try to help a butterfly come out of the chrysalis too soon, it doesn't get strong enough to fly.

3:12Individuals who are growing in compassion, kindness, empathy, without trespassing on others, we can become a blessing to individuals. I see it quite a bit these days since the economic system has gone haywire in many cases. I'm seeing these wonderful beings out on the street who are assisting people that are homeless, assisting people who are right at the edge and they're bringing in and they're helping them get their homes or giving the money. I don't think that their purpose was to be homeless for the rest of their life and these particular people who are helping are blocking their good by helping them. No, said how that works. That's an errant thought. That's a garbage thought that's got you snagged for a moment. What you have to be reminded of is you're not here to be a martyr either and you have to take care of yourself as well. Everyone knows by now the old tenant of,

4:19you know, when you get out of the airplane, anything goes down, you put your oxygen mask on first, then you help somebody. So being a martyr would be it's you're out here helping but you're not taking care of yourself and then you become overwhelmed, you become sick. No, make sure, Jesse, that you're taking care of yourself first, that you're doing what is necessary for you to live a life that's whole full of joy and play and creativity, etc. And the thought that rolled into your mind about you helping others might take away their particular purpose is incorrect. Now, there are times, historically, where people have trust pass, thought they were doing good, but they were doing negative. When the missionaries went into Africa and tried to give them their understanding of Jesus, it ruined cultures. It ruined a lot of

5:22things on the African continent. So they thought they were doing good, but they went in and they were doing something that was not good. I don't see you doing that. I see you asking a question of how can I serve and how can I help my fellow human beings. I think that's fine. No, I know it's fine. So your volunteer work, the fact that you give help whenever you can, I think is magnificent. Now, you know, all your answers here. I fully believe that I've always believed that fully experiencing life allows us to love ourselves more deeply, but how can we fully experience ourselves without encountering things we would instinctively try to prevent illness, suffering, or abuse. You know, this is the lesson that Gautama the Buddha learned because he was born to riches, but his father kept him in the kingdom so he couldn't see poverty or illness or things that particular nature. Then when they got out and he saw the illnesses and he saw people being sick

6:29and he saw all manner of things that he had never seen before because he'd been locked away. That said him on a path that ultimately yielded enlightenment and the non-attachment and compassion was birthed from that. Non-attachment is not being detached, it's being non-attached to an outcome and compassion is a very high form of love. It is the loving, it is a high form of love in which you are loving that which is not understood. And so what am I saying here? That ultimately don't fall prey to believing that if you help somebody, you're stopping their progress. And of course you'll be guided. Like I'm saying, you're not going to be a missionary

7:31in mess up a culture. Nor are you going to help somebody to such a degree that they can't help themselves, but going out, feeding people, going out and doing what you do, it's a beautiful thing. It says you can't have darkness without the light. It's actually the statement is actually you can't have light without the darkness. And that's a whole nother teaching. It's a whole nother teaching because darkness is the absence of light. It's not a thing in it of itself unless you have a black light. You can't take some darkness and put it into the bottle and give it to somebody. But you can't take light everywhere you go. The horrible things that happen in the world being a part of the curriculum.

8:34Let me tell you how that works. What you're really asking is why do bad things happen to good people. One, a person's thinking. A person can be afraid of something and then that consciously or unconsciously, then that pulls that into that person's experience. So the first thing is your thoughts can help create your experience. A lot of people get stuck on that when they just don't go any further. The next one is called a lesson, meaning that we are all evolving, are all unfolding. And if you ask right now that you want to demonstrate something beautiful in your life, what's going to happen is you're going to be prepared to receive that blessing. And in being prepared, you may suffer a little loss. Something may occur that will have you been prepared. Now understand, this is a very deep teaching and I necessarily don't do this

9:39on the podcast because I have to set up all manner of principles and show you the principles of these things. But I'm just giving it to you so you understand. The third domain is blessing. That means that our individuals who have come to the planet who knew they were going to go through hell in order to help humanity birth compassion. It's not karma. It's not their bad thinking. They just took on the vibration of what the world would say is negative in order to lift the consciousness of compassion that this shall not ever be done again, whatever that this is. In the fourth window, these are called windows of manifestation. The fourth window is as long as there are belief in scarcity, lack, limitation, not enoughness. As long as that's a belief, then there will be people who experience it because by default, their life is being lived by

10:45default rather than by design. So it's akin to the first window of your thinking, it helps create your experience, but it's a little different because it's actually a global thought that we all get affected by. So first window, our thinking creates experience. Second window, we're in the middle of a lesson. Third window, we've come to bless. Fourth window, it's a world view that's taken over somebody. And so those are the four windows and that's a back with teaching. I came up with that. I was on the Oprah Winfrey show and we were sitting in the green room and she comes running into his Michael. People keep writing about why do bad things happen to good people. She says, I'm going to call you to answer that question. And then she said, and you can't teach a class on it, just give it a couple of moments. And I'm thinking to myself, this is a very deep subject to do on television in five,

11:48that's in five minutes. So I sat in meditation and what was born with the four windows of manifestation that I just gave you a bit of. So I hope this helps keep being of service to humanity, please. Our next letter comes from Sandra P. Ivory Coast. I have a situation I'd love your guidance with. After having a censored and distant relationship with my mom for 15 years after a brutal family incident, I decided I want to have an authentic and sincere relationship with her. And for us to communicate enjoy and in love, I wrote an appreciation list or I wrote four things I love about her every day for 30 days. I say affirmative prayers for her. I've stopped badmouthing her when she does things that I condemn. And I am 100 percent certain our relationship will be great if I continue with this

12:53mindset and practice. And I already feel a slight positive change within myself towards her. Even though I know I still need to forgive her and myself for things that have happened in the past. However, there are other things that are still happening that I'm struggling to unconditionally love and forgive her for. For instance, she's not talking to my brother. She doesn't care to hear about his sons. And she has said horrible things to both him and our sister. I have lots of compassion for her and her own life experience. But how can I be authentically loving and connected with my mom when she has such abusive behaviors towards our family? I should not even try to do that and merely focus on our relationship first. Thank you for your time consideration and help. Your mom, man. Interesting. So the exercises that you're doing,

14:03the mindset and the practice is really good for you to clear up the debris in your own mind about your mother and to come into a level of compassion and the level of forgiveness and the level of love. Compassion is the understanding of the lack of understanding. Doesn't mean you agree with what your mom is doing or not doing. Compassion is the understanding of the lack of understanding. In other words, she has a lack of understanding where love and familial love is concerned. So you have to just have compassion on her. But your last question is, so you just work on the relationship? Yourself with her and not try to bring in your sister and your brother. The answer is yes. You begin with you and see if there's a relationship that can bloom through your prayer, meditation, compassion. Is it there? And if something begins to develop and unfolds, then perhaps you'll be close enough to say, hey, brother needs to hear from you. He's got two

15:08kids. You're a grandmother. Sister needs to hear from you. You gave her birth. But take care of yourself first with her and have no attachment to the outcome because she may not want to grow. If somebody doesn't want to grow and you try to force them to grow, that's called spiritual trespassing. So there's no opening. You love from afar and you have compassion. I hope this has been helpful. Have a beautiful day. Peace and dynamic blessings. Many of you have written letters about how much you really appreciate the Take Back Your Mind podcast and the Life Questions. So appreciate those letters. Now, our particular program here, these episodes, it's powered by spiritual purpose, but it also has powerful sponsorship. The primary sponsor is a Goppa International

16:11Spiritual Center. So everything that goes on here, a Goppa is behind it. So what I want you to do, I want you to support to take back your mind podcasts. Go to agapelive.com, make a donation, put a little indication that you're supporting the podcast in that donation or text the word give to 424-321-6243, right? The word podcast. So we know you're supporting this wonderful program of Take Back Your Mind. The secondary sponsor is Neutral Rise. This is the company that actually produces my particular supplemental line called Adapta Zen. I have the supergreens. I have the elevate, fermented mushrooms and a number of other products that are emerging. Just go to Neutral Rise.com. Find Adapta Zen and you know what? Uplift your spirit. Uplift your body. You remember to share

17:14all of this with your friends and support our wonderful sponsor. Have a beautiful day. The Art and Science of Meditation is what we're about to enter into now. And another way of saying it is welcome to you. That when you enter into meditation, you're actually establishing an intention to welcome yourself to yourself. Not go far out, but to go far in. You cultivate an inner realization of who you are, your true self. It's right here. The meditation allows for the debris that we've all picked up from the world, from familial toxicity, religions, so-called education.

18:17You all are to a greater or lesser degree influenced by these thoughts that become beliefs, they become emotional content, they become experience. So in meditation, you are stopping, becoming still and quiet. Quiet too is the order of the day, so that which does not belong to you. All of those thoughts from the Sea of Mental Garbers, they don't belong to you. They're not yours. Something you picked up can begin to be seen, recognized, and transmuted by your observation and your intention. It's the Art and Science of Meditation. So that's what you're going to do. Close your outer eye. Stab us an intention to wake up to your glorious nature.

19:31It's an intention, and as you're intending this, you're becoming aware that your body's breathing. You're not breathing your body's breathing. Notice the breath. The inhalation, the exhalation, the space between the inhalation and the exhalation. Just notice. Do you notice that that breath is happening presently? It's not in the future, it's not in the past, it's just happening presently. So it becomes a living talisman for you to stay present, your intention, and your breath. Now, become aware that someone is about to tell you a mighty secret,

20:33and notice how your body becomes receptive. But you're becoming receptive to the ear that's beyond the ear, not the physical ear. You're becoming receptive to catching the broadcast of that there be light, that there be love, that there be life, that there be beauty. It's everywhere. And this is the very first time you've ever done this. Whether you are a veteran or someone that's new to the practice, you always enter in, the beginner's mind, childlike nature. Here you'll sit, paying attention to your intention and your breath. Come with me.

22:28Come with me. Thank you. Now take your attention and place it into the expanding feel of gratitude and gratefulness, as if the feeling tone of gratitude well up on the midst of you and go through your entire body

23:30temple, your mental body, your emotional body, your physical body, your subtle bodies, are drenched. At this feeling tone of gratitude, you reek with it. So grateful. The misconsciousness of gratitude, I have the privilege of offering this prayer for all of us, for spiritual liberation, for divine freedom, that our lives become pinpoint articulation, but more good that we could possibly imagine, that everything is working together for our good, that life is magnificent. We're yielding to this awareness right now, giving thanks for it, and whatever it is that we need, need metaphysically means the activation of something we already have,

24:30so whatever it is that we need, we have it now, we feel it now, we have it, and we give thanks that this is so, and so it is, Amen. Peace and blessings to all of you, maintain some level of practice on a daily basis to the best of your ability, and we'll see you next time, and take back your mind, life questions of the week. Your time is very valuable, so I want to thank you for tuning in to take back your mind. If you want to submit a life question, please do so. Email us at podcast at Michaelbackwith.com and perhaps one day I'll be answering your question that will touch the lives of so many. If you've enjoyed this show, you might as well submit a five-star review. You might as well

25:31tell your friends and family. Let's spread the love until we meet again, maintain your awareness, take back your mind, because when you take back your mind, you take back your life. Peace and blessings.