TOPICS: The karmic cycle throughout the year - Transmuting karma and beginning the New Year - Karma is a stream of energy - Karma is an opportunity - Change is always possible - The dynamics of New Year’s resolutions - Make use of your opportunity - Be willing to realize progressive teachings - You will know me as I am today - Wanting spirit to conform to matter - Cycles are not circular - The upcoming challenges of 2015 - Use the energies of love to stay above fear - The thoughtform for 2015 - Ride the wave - Bringing forth more teachings -
Surfing the wave or crashing into it
January 1, 2015 through Kim Michaels
I AM the Ascended Master Gautama Buddha. Why do people around the world celebrate the New Year with such enthusiasm? They do so because deep within the psyche is the belief, even the knowledge, that a new beginning is possible.
The karmic cycle throughout the year
This is the wisdom of having a cycle that is celebrated at regular intervals. Almost everyone experiences that, as the year goes on, there is a certain weight, a certain heaviness. This is caused by the fact that the Lords of Karma allow the planetary karma that is due for a certain year to descend through the four octaves in sync with the progression of the four quarters.
As most of you know, the karma descends into the identity octave in the first quarter; into the mental in the second quarter; in the emotional in the third and finally into the physical in the fourth quarter. By the time people have had three months to deal with the karma descending into the physical, they are weary. They are feeling the weight, they are feeling the strain, and they are longing for a new beginning.
They do get a new beginning every year, because we now go back so that the next year’s portion of karma will start descending into the etheric. Most people do not feel it because their consciousness is not high enough to be aware of the identity level of their own mind.
It is not only a matter of karma descending. We of the ascended masters do not want to give anyone the impression that life on earth or even the balancing of karma is just a circle that repeats endlessly. This is a misinterpretation of not only the teachings of the Buddha, that I gave, but also the teachings of Hinduism and other Eastern systems of thought.
Reincarnation is not just a long cycle where you basically end up back where you started. This is an understandable interpretation when people only knew what they knew in older times. They could observe the heavens and see that there was a certain repetitive pattern in the movements of the stars and, of course, in the planet and the moon. As science has shown you, the universe is not moving in a circle. It is expanding, even expanding at an accelerated rate, and thus, the movement is not circular—it is a spiral.
The progression of years in a lifetime is also a spiral, or at least it has the potential to become a spiral that spirals upwards. This happens when you make use of the opportunity that it truly is to have the karma descend through all four octaves rather than becoming physical at once. Most people are, of course, not aware of this tremendous grace. They do not notice the karma until it starts descending into the physical and becomes harder to ignore. Many will still not understand that this is karma, but they will at least feel the weight or the heaviness. They may ascribe it to the fact that the days are becoming shorter, but nevertheless, they feel it.
Transmuting karma and beginning the New Year
You, who are the spiritually aware people, have a tremendous opportunity to use invocations and decrees to transmute the karma in the three higher octaves before it becomes physical. In this way, you can enter the last quadrant, the last quarter, of the year without having any personal karma descending into the physical realm. You may still feel a certain portion of world karma. You may even have taken on karma for others or for the world, but at least it is not your personal karma that you are dealing with. Even the karma you have taken on for that year to balance for others, you can balance before it becomes physical.
Why do people use firecrackers and other fireworks displays at the New Years? Why do we need these loud bangs? Why do we need these lights that only stay on the sky for a few seconds? They each have different functions. When the tradition of using firecrackers first started, there was a belief that the loud bangs would scare away evil spirits. This belief is not entirely superstition.
There are certain forms of entities, even discarnate souls, that can be scared away by the loud noises. They may, of course, return again in a few days, but they are often scared away for a time. Of course, the more powerful demons are not scared away by these noises so it has only a limited effect, but it can contribute to the sense of optimism that people feel after the New Year.
This optimism is also fueled by what is represented by the fireworks. They are almost ethereal in their appearance. They are fleeting and this symbolizes several things. At a surface level, it symbolizes that the optimism that the people feel is fleeting. They see the glimpse of light, their spirits are lifted, they exclaim “ooh” or “ahh,” and they feel lighter from seeing the light. This lasts only a short time. For most people, the effect of seeing a light is as fleeting as the visual experience, but beyond this there is a deeper significance. Any phenomena that is fleeting, whether it be man-made or whether you see it in nature, can symbolize that this is how the opportunity to raise your consciousness moves.
Karma is a stream of energy
Every year when the karma starts descending, the karma is not, as many people think, a form of punishment. It is actually an opportunity because the karma forms a stream of energy. It is quick, it is moving all the time and it can be difficult to grasp with the conscious mind. You may sense it in glimpses as you see the fireworks displays in the sky, but as soon as you focus on it, it is gone.
If you can grasp it, you can ride the wave, ride the stream, and move with it throughout the year. You see, My Beloved, there has been a tendency, again coming from Eastern religions, that wants to portray karma as something that happens TO you, if not as a punishment, then still as something that is forced upon you that you have to deal with, that is not pleasant, that you would rather avoid. It is something that you need to take care of, need to balance, You need to get it over with so you can move on—or so many spiritual people think.
I would like to give you a different view of karma. Karma is a stream. It has momentum, energy, and direction. It is a stream that you have created in the past. The traditional teachings on karma say that, in the past, you did something or you thought and felt something, and this sent an energy impulse out somewhere that is now being returned to you. If the karma was what most people call “negative karma,” then it is a burden for you that you need to somehow balance.
Karma is an opportunity
Many people think the only way to balance negative karma is to experience some kind of misfortune, maybe experience the same thing done to you that you did to others when you made the karma. Even many ascended master students feel that karma is a burden that they need to transmute by giving invocations and decrees. It is something that you would rather avoid and that you want to get over with as quickly as possible. The reality is that karma is only a punishment or a burden when you resist it. Instead, you can shift your perspective on karma and come to see it as an opportunity.
Karma is energy. You know very well that if you are lying in the ocean in a shaky boat and a big wave comes and your boat is turned in the wrong angle to the wave or is not construct right, then your boat can be capsized by the wave. You also know, perhaps not from personal experience but at least by watching it, that if you have a surfboard and you understand how to ride the wave, not only will the wave carry you but riding the wave becomes an immense sense of enjoyment. For some, it even becomes a spiritual experience because it is so fleeting in nature to ride the wave, just as watching the fireworks.
These cycles of nature, the spiritual cycles, even the karmic cycles, are not fleeting. They are only fleeting when you do not grasp them, when you resist them and would rather avoid them. When you turn around, shift your perspective, decide you are willing to see them and to see them as an opportunity, then you see that the returning karma forms a giant wave that has power and momentum. If you ride the wave, it will not only carry you, but it will give you enjoyment to balance karma.
Karma is not punishment; it is opportunity. You can turn it into punishment—that is the right you have been given by the Law of Free Will. It is not punishment in itself. It is, as everything else in the material universe, what you make of it. If you make it punishment by resisting it, then it is punishment to you. The universe is a mirror, as we have said many times. If you want the experience of being punished by your past deeds and karma, you will have that experience. If you want to have a positive experience where you learn to ride the cycles and turn the momentum into your favor, then that will be your experience, even your reality.
Change is always possible
What is reality? It is nothing but perception, at least not while you are still in embodiment in an unascended sphere. When you ascend, you are no longer perceiving. You are experiencing directly, and then your experience is reality.
We should say that even ascended masters can, of course, have a certain platform of perception. For example, the Chohans of the rays are all focused on their individual ray and view everything from that perspective. This gives what they perceive a coloring, but it is not the kind of coloring you have while you are still unascended.
When you reach the Buddhic level of attainment as an ascended master, then you can easily see beyond this coloring of the rays, and perceive, or rather, experience without any filter. If you are a Chohan with Buddhic attainment, as several of your Chohans now are, then you can go into viewing a situation from the perspective of your ray, but this does not mean that you cannot step out of that when you want.
Why is it that so many people make a New Year’s Resolution? It is because of this deep, inner sense that change is possible, that it is possible to ride a new wave, a new cycle. It is also the desire for something new. This deep, inner belief that progress is possible, and the desire to bring it about, is the core of all human progress, individual and collective.
If you, as a human being in embodiment, lose the belief that a new cycle is possible or the desire to experience it, then you should ask for transfer to another planet. If you, as an ascended master, lose the belief that change on earth is possible, regardless of how people behave, then you should also ask for a transfer to another planet. Certainly, there are ascended masters who have come to the point of feeling that they have given enough of their attention and energy to the earth.
Even an ascended master can have a desire to see greater results of its efforts. In that respect, planet earth is a challenging planet. You know well how challenging it is to be in embodiment on earth, but I can assure you that even for the ascended masters who work with the earth, it is a challenging planet. This is not the case when you have reached the Buddhic level of attainment, but before you reach that level, it can be difficult for an ascended master to keep the hope, the enthusiasm, for change when you see human beings so often repeat the old patterns. You see them start out with the best of intentions, such as many people do every New Year where they come up with a new resolution, and then you see how quickly they are pulled back into the old patterns.
The dynamics of New Year’s resolutions
Why do people make resolutions? Because they have a desire for change, but also because they feel lighter because of the factors I talked about earlier. The energies have changed. The New Year’s celebration itself can somehow shatter or scare away some of the entities that are burdening them, and suddenly they have a belief: “This time I can make it! This year I'm going to keep my New Years' resolution!” As the karma starts descending, as they go back to their daily routine, as some of their energies or discarnates return to them, they are pulled right back into the same old patterns. It is as if they have forgotten their New Year's resolution. It is almost as if nothing happened.
This you see as an ascended master in many other situations in life. You see that people have received a grace, they have received a resolution, a direction. They have received a setting aside of karma, and for a short time, they are having the desire to change, the intent to change, and the optimism that they can change. Then, they slip back into the old patterns. We even see this with those who are aware that the ascended masters exist.
We see how many times they find the teaching, or they go to some event, or they give an extraordinary amount of decrees or invocations. They make an effort, they raise their consciousness, and this, in many cases, prompts us to set aside some of their karma as an opportunity. Then, after some time, you slip back into the old patterns and you forget.
You may have come up a little bit, but instead of continuing the upward momentum, you accept your new level as your new equilibrium. We have seen many ascended master students, in the various movements we have sponsored, who have found an organization, found the teaching, discovered the power of invoking light, and they have made use of it with great enthusiasm, often for years. After some time, you begin to lose the drive, the enthusiasm, the joy.
When you see this as an ascended master over and over again, you can come to feel, not really what you would call discouragement or disappointment on earth. You can come to feel the need to experience a different planet where the energies are lighter and people, therefore, can more easily maintain an upward spiral.
Make use of your opportunity
This is especially something that happens to those who have ascended not so long ago. You made an extraordinary effort yourself, in order to qualify for your ascension. You feel that now that you are ascended, you are all on fire for helping other people. You think that if they only knew about the teachings, if they only knew about decrees and invocations, if they only had some of their karma set aside, then they would be as much on fire for the ascension as you were.
When you see that they do not quite respond, they do not grasp the opportunity, they do not take advantage of it, you can begin to feel a certain form of almost impatience. You would so like to see people make use of the immense opportunity that you see they have been given. It is fully understandable that a newly ascended master can feel this way.
I can assure you that one of the most significant books ever to be released by the ascended masters is the book by the Ascended Master Guru Ma: Don't Drink Your Own Kool-Aid. This book has many facets, many levels, and it represents an immense opportunity. Guru Ma poured her heart, mind, and being into it from the ascended realm. She summed up all of her efforts over all of those years and even many embodiments that led up to her ascension. It is not so easy for her to see how many of her former students have either completely ignored the book or have put it down without even reading it, believing that they can know that it is not valid.
Be willing to realize progressive teachings
What did I say while I was in embodiment? “Accept nothing that is unreasonable; discard nothing as unreasonable without proper examination.” This tendency to reject without proper examination is one of the biggest limitations that we of the ascended masters face on earth.
It is even one of the biggest limitations we face among those who call themselves ascended master students, but who are not willing to realize that, as karma is an opportunity, so is the release of our teachings. We may be saying some of the same things today that we have said in the past, but we are also saying some things today that are not like what we said in the past.
If you go into a certain mindset, you can use the teachings from the past and define them as the ultimate standard. Then you can say that anything that goes beyond or seems to contradict what was said in the past must be false. If you do this, you set yourself aside from the upward spiral of our release of teachings, for they are progressive.
How can we make the release of our teachings progressive? By saying something that goes beyond what was said in the past. This means that sometimes we will challenge what was said in the past in order to jolt people out of old patterns. It also means that we must sometimes say things that almost contradict what was said in the past. If you have taken the past teaching and turned it into a closed box, how shall we get you out of the box without shocking you a little bit? If you are so attached to the box that you reject the new teaching without even examining it, how can we reach you today?
You will know me as I am today
As an ascended master, you are one with this ongoing River of Life that forms the upward spiral of the entire universe and all of these spheres beyond it. We are constantly moving with this upward spiral. How are we doing this? By constantly transcending our sense of self. There is no other way. This means that I am Gautama, the Buddha, the ascended master that spoke through some previous dispensations. I am the same master, but I am not the same self that I was 10, 20, or 2,500 years ago. I have transcended myself innumerable times in 20 or 2,500 years.
If you want to know me, you need to know me as I am today. You cannot know me as I am today through a teaching that was given in the past. That is why so many of those who call themselves Buddhists are using the teaching that I gave 2,500 years ago to actually create a barrier between themselves and me.
They do not want to know me as an ascended master. They want to know me only as the image of the Buddha created by their particular branch of Buddhism. They do not want to know me as a living master. They want to worship an idol, and they want to feel that by worshipping this idol at a distance, they will one day eventually make it to enlightenment or Nirvana.
How will you become enlightened by someone else doing something to you or for you? Enlightenment is an inner process. It is a shift in your sense of self where you stop putting mental images upon yourself and dare to look at yourself without any filter and experience your I AM Presence as it really is, as you really are.
How do you know the Buddha? By transcending the tendency to a look at me through a filter, being willing to experience me as I am. You can take a past teaching that was given 25 or 2,500 years ago, and if you can use the teaching to tune in to me and then go beyond the teaching and experience my presence, then that teaching can help you know me.
If you turn the teaching into a closed box, into an idol, into a mental image, into a perception filter, then the teaching would only push you further away from the direct experience and give your ego all the reasons it needs and wants to reject the experience. I would much prefer that all of the people who call themselves Buddhists would be open to hearing and acting upon what I just said. I do understand why many of them cannot because they are not yet ready to know me as I am or to know the Buddha nature in themselves. I do hope that those who call themselves ascended master students would be open to knowing me as I am. If you know me as I am today, why would you not flow with the teaching I am releasing today?
Wanting spirit to conform to matter
It is so easy, when you are still in embodiment, to slide in oh-so-subtle, almost unnoticeable, increments into the consciousness that Jesus addressed when he said: “Get thee behind me, Satan!” This is the consciousness of wanting spirit to conform to matter.
How will you transcend the consciousness you are in right now? You cannot pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. You cannot solve a problem with the same state of consciousness that created it. You cannot transcend a certain state of consciousness by using the same state of consciousness. That is why human beings need the ascended masters.
If you do not receive an impetus from the spirit, you cannot rise above the old state of self. This impulse coming from the spirit must be beyond and challenge your current state of consciousness—or it cannot take you beyond that state of consciousness. Is this not logical?
If you demand that the impulse from the spirit should conform to the mental images that define your current state of consciousness, then how can the spirit help you? How can we of the ascended masters help you transcend your current state of consciousness if you want us to conform to your mental images of how we are supposed to be and what we are supposed to say?
I know that we have said this before in different contexts. I am sure that either I or some other master will say it again. Every time we say it, a few people understand. Every time we say it, those who take it in but ignore it or refuse to act on it will create a karmic impulse that will come back to them and either increase their burden or give them an opportunity to surf the wave. Even if it increases their burden, it will still disturb their sense of equilibrium, which might then force them to change because they can no longer stand it.
Cycles are not circular
Do you know that a wave in the ocean has a circular motion? It is almost as if – if you cut through the wave – you would see the water move around in a circle. It is possible to get caught in such a circle. You are rolled around by the wave until you drown because you cannot get back up.
How is it possible that a wave can move across the ocean? It is because there is a momentum that rides the circular motion. We of the ascended masters would like to see all of our students ride the circular motion instead of being trapped inside of that motion where you are not making progress. Do you understand, my beloved, what I am trying to say?
So many spiritual and religious people on this earth understand that there are cycles, but they see them as circular. You move around the circle of the year and come back to your starting point. You move around the circle of many embodiments, only to come back to being nothing or no self. This is not the way life progresses. There is no circular motion in the natural processes.
A circular motion that returns you to the same spot is possible only in a system that is affected by free will. The majority of the beings who inhabit the system have turned their minds into closed systems so that they do continue to experience the same thing over and over again with increasing intensity until they have finally had enough of it and want to move on.
Why are people optimistic at New Year? Because they hope that the next year will be better than the old one, that there will be something new. How can there be something new if you are repeating the same patterns that you had in the last year? Then it will just be a circular motion and you will return to your starting point. There can be something new only when you get up, when you raise yourself up, and you hold the balance on the surfboard and ride the wave. Is this not imminently logical?
The upcoming challenges of 2015
You see, my beloved, from my perspective as the Buddha, it is imminently logical. I know, of course, that you do not see – perceive – my words as I do. You perceive them through the filter of the mind that can always find an excuse for not changing.
Do you want a simple definition of ego? It is that aspect of the mind that always find a reason for why you do not have to change. I will not say anything about the year that has passed, for it has passed. Nothing more can be done about 2014. It was what it was.
I will say a few things about 2015. As you will recall, starting on the first of January 2013, this planet entered a cycle where each year will bring a planetary initiation on one of the seven rays. Two-thousand thirteen was the First Ray. Last year was the Second Ray, and 2015 will be the Third Ray of love.
What will be the initiations that both you and the planet will face in the coming year? There are two ways to go about this. You have an opportunity to ride the wave of love that will be rolling around this planet in the three higher octaves. You also have an opportunity to not move with the wave, and then you will have to deal with the perversion of love. There are, of course, many, but the primary one is fear.
There are two ways to go about 2015. It is to ride the wave of love or to be rolled around by the violent wave of fear. I can assure you that 2015 will be a challenging year, not so much in the physical events that will take place as in the fear that will be generated by the perceived risk of certain events. What did you see in 2014? You saw the Ebola epidemic. During 2015, there is likely to be an even greater fear, not only of Ebola, but of other diseases that can easily spread. Mind you, I am not saying that these diseases will necessarily spread in the physical. There will be a fear.
What did you see in 2014? Increased war and conflict from the Middle East to Africa, to the situation in Ukraine, and the escalating tension between Russia and what Russia calls the West. These tensions are likely to escalate in 2015. I am not saying that there is a much greater risk of physical war than there was last year, but there will be greater fear of war and conflict.
Then there is, of course, the economy, which was not so much a concern last year, but will become a greater concern in 2015. Again, I am not saying there is a very high risk of physical problems in the economy, but there will be much fear concerning the economy.
Use the energies of love to stay above fear
What I am asking you to do as ascended master students is to be conscious of the possibility of riding the wave of love instead of crashing into the spiral of fear, the circle of fear. Use your invocations and decrees to keep your energies high above the level of fear. We are gratified that people have asked to follow Mother Mary’s directions and do a regular vigil where you decree all together on the same day around the world, either at the same time or as you can do it in your respective time zones.
This can indeed help to avoid much physical calamity, but it can, first of all, help to keep you above the level of fear. If you are to have the maximum impact on the planet that we would like to see you have, then you need to stay above fear in this coming year. We have already released teachings on love and invocations and decrees for invoking love. We will, of course, release another book with teachings and invocations, but this book is more timeless, and you do not need to wait for it to start invoking more love and love-based energies.
The thoughtform for 2015
What is the thoughtform for this coming year of 2015? Love is often associated with the color pink, but love in its most intense form is the color ruby, which you know is the color of a laser beam. The thoughtform I give you for this coming year is that high above the earth – you may see it as in space or you may see it as in the etheric realm – there is a Buddha figure. This is a Buddha made of a transparent material that is not glass but resembles glass. This material has the color of a ruby. There is an ascended master called the Buddha of the Ruby Ray; yet, this is not the master that will hold the spiritual balance for this thoughtform. I am the one who will take on the Ruby Ray aspect of the Buddha and hold the planet in my balancing mind for this coming year.
The way this will work is that I am up there, wherever you see me, as this ruby Buddha. I am not sitting with my eyes closed; I have my eyes open. You may visualize this as I have both eyes open as a human being, or you may visualize that there is an eye in the centre of my brow and that this third eye is the one that sees.
Through my power of vision, I can direct a Ruby Ray of intense love energy into any condition on earth. Because of the Law of Free Will, I cannot do this on my own. I need people in embodiment who will tune in to my Ruby Ray aspect. Visualize that you are the Ruby Ray Buddha in the physical octave who is one with, or at least connected with, me as the Ruby Ray Buddha in the etheric.
You then focus first on establishing a connection or oneness with me and then you direct that Ruby Ray laser beam of light from my vision into a particular condition on earth. This is not something you need to make into an elaborate ritual, but it is something that I need you to be aware of from time to time. Maybe spend a few minutes after you have given an invocation or decrees to tune in, visualize me, visualize yourself, and then see how I am, through the power and the bridge of your attention, directing the Ruby Ray light.
Take note that you are not directing the light. You are only forming the bridge whereby the light can flow into the physical. This means that all I need from you is your attention. I do not need your opinions, your feelings, your fears, your thoughts about what should or should not change in this situation. The more neutral you can be, the more light can stream through you.
Make an effort to understand that the key to Buddhahood is nonattachment. Be as nonattached as you can be about the situation that you are focusing your attention on—and focusing mine as well. I am neutral to anything that happens on earth.
Perhaps neutral is not the best word. Perhaps nonattached is not the best word. Perhaps there is no word that can describe the state of mind of the Buddha, for the Buddha is beyond words, but I have to use words for your mind to know what I am talking about. Be as neutral, nonattached, universal as you can be about the situation. Just let the light do its work without seeking to direct it! You just put your attention on the situation and allow me to direct the light through that bridge of your attention.
Ride the wave
This is how you can do an immense service along with your decrees and invocations. Certainly, it is a possibility, as Mother Mary said, to have 500 people give rosaries and decrees together. Whether it can be done in the practical remains to be seen, whether there are enough people who will take up this torch and make an effort. Certainly, it is valid to start the process, and then, hopefully, you will be able to sustain it and build momentum, attracting more and more people as you build that upward spiral.
I hope that I have given you food for thought here, not only for this coming year of 2015, but also for the years and decades ahead. It can make such a difference for you. You can start riding the wave of returning karma, rather than crashing into it, time and time again.
Surely, if you like to crash into the wave, I have no objection to you having that experience. I just want you to know that surfing the wave is a distinct possibility. Should you desire that experience, both I and all of the other masters are more than willing to extend a hand so that you may pull yourself up on the surfboard of our teachings and so that you may more easily learn to hold the balance.
As I have attempted to explain, we have so often seen students find the teachings and take them into some kind of extreme where you are not balanced. You will know, even if you have not done it, that if you do not hold the balance on the surfboard, you will crash into the waves. We would like to see our students surf, rather than crash. If you have the same desire, then I think we can work together in this coming year and beyond.
Bringing forth more teachings
With this, I thank you for your attention, for your willingness to study and apply the teaching, for your willingness to support the spread of the teachings and the messenger’s ability to bring the teaching into the physical. You may look at the websites brought forth through the mind of this one person. You may look at the books and you may wonder: “How many more teachings do we have to bring out?”
This messenger used to wonder, but now, he has gone beyond wondering, realizing that there is much more that we desire to bring forth. He does not even want to know how much more, for it might be overwhelming to contemplate how much time and attention is required. I will not tell you how much more either, but I will let you know that there is much we desire to bring into the physical.
We do not have so many minds that can be the chalice for bringing forth this teaching. Give this mind the opportunity to make use of the abilities for which it has been trained and which it is willing to execute. Truly, if the teaching is not brought forth, how can there be change, but just as truly, if it is not accepted and applied, then there will be no change either.
Each of you is equally necessary as the messenger. Do not put anyone on a pedestal but accept all as the unique and uniquely important individuals that you are. It is, once in a while, valid to acknowledge that you have something of value, that you have made an effort, that you have made progress. This can help you sustain the momentum and recapture the enthusiasm that might have been a little bit lost in the circular movement of the daily routine.
I can assure you that we who have ascended from earth all know how heavy can be the daily routine on a planet with such dense energies. It is not an easy task to walk the spiritual path on earth. It is not an easy task to qualify for your ascension on earth. As I have proven, it is possible and as we always say: “What one has done, all can do.”
With no further ado, I bid you a joyous New Year. Gautama I AM!
Copyright © 2014 Kim Michaels
