Hello, everyone, and welcome to a brand-new month. Having negotiated the delicate points in the transition from 2023 to 2024, I welcome you to the freshness of a new year—even though we may still be dealing with some of the persistent stale points of the prior year. May we all find a way to mark our progress graciously, with good humor and deep respect as we face another election year (here in the U.S.). May the fires of division be quelled as we offer our primary attention to the process of spiritual liberation—for ourselves and all sentient beings.
 
For our shared teaching this month, Master has recommended what I believe is one of his finest teachings ever. This lecture, Know Thyself, was offered in May of 2019. As many of you may recall, His teachings that year were utterly spectacular, as He drew examples from the cosmic process to show us the way to greater inner spaciousness and spiritual illumination. I forgot how much I love this teaching, and rereading it brought a gentle sense that even though life on Earth seems utterly steeped in chaos and turmoil, the Cosmos “is intact, on time, and okay,” to borrow one of Master’s favorite phrases.
 
I asked Master why He chose this teaching for this month, since it opens by drawing out attention to the tragic fire that devastated Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France that year. He responded by saying that many of us are engaging greater dimensions of consciousness right now, and that this teaching might contribute significantly to the process. In the text, Master noted that we “are all called to be High Witnesses for Earth’s transformation and ultimate paradigm shift,” and that this service is an “opportunity often lost on the spiritually immature, or the lesser evolved.” He goes on, "Let me here point out something that is probably worth noting. I have been saying for some time, now, that a New Age will require new parameters for the spirituality that will ultimately take root. Perhaps the chaos that seems to be erupting some-where in the world literally every day might be offering a clue."

Of course, this teaching is not so much about the actual events that were arising in 2019 as it is about the expanding Consciousness of the Universe, and how this mega-process pertains to spiritual aspirants today. Indeed, with regard to Earth’s rather messy transition, Master notes that: "While the burning of Our Lady's Cathedral is yet another potent New Age wake-up call, it is probably more important to bear witness to the event than to ascribe meaning to it. .. Indeed, by entering a mental state of highly engaged and fully awakened neutrality one can call upon, and connect to, the human dimension of the Universe."