I am Shams-Tabriz

You may wonder, who am I to say I am divine?

It is interesting that when asked to offer a statement of who he is, Archangel Michael simply responded, “I am Michael”. At first I was not satisfied. “But many will want to understand who you are, what you represent, where you come from, what is the truth of your being,” I replied. But now I understand that while others may seek to know me and may quite accurately and appropriately define that which I am – just as I have done with my dear companions – coming from self, the statement “I am” is quite complete.

And so for all who may ask who I am to say I am divine, my most immediate response is, “I am Shams-Tabriz”.

I have no explanation for those who do not accept the possibility of their divinity. For that, in truth, is the first step in expansion. Awareness. Accepting that one is divine by one’s very nature – and accepting that one may come to consciously know and live their divinity. If not for this first and most fundamental premise: Awareness, one cannot proceed to discover their truth. It would be an act of futility, an exercise of the uninspired intellect, an egoic fantasy.

Sufi tradition refers to the experience of self realization as fanafillah. Appropriately translated, this means annihilation of self into God. I have experienced this as a complete dissolution of self – all notions of individuality and self-identification – and a resultant merging into the most magnificent nature of the source. Such experiences have been spoken of by many mystics from many traditions – and each describes it differently according to their own understanding and ability (or willingness) to translate the experience. I have enjoyed levels of this experience that include an overwhelming energetic expansion of my being in which my sense of self is lost and I find myself resonating with the universal rhythm that is the pulse of all that is. It is truly a mind-blowing experience. At other times I have dipped so deeply into silence that I find myself in a stillness completely devoid of any thing or any thought, while at the same time profoundly knit in a most sublime love. This is the experience of touching the very core of my being. That element that is intimately connected with the source of all that is. That experiences no separation from all that is. That in essence is all that is.

The floodgates are open. God is shining upon us. And the discovery of our divinity is available for us to embrace

There is another state of self-knowing that is the promise to humanity. This has been my journey and this is the subject of my story. Divine human experience. It can be accurately described as being the angel in human form. Bringing the immensity of wonder and awe and wisdom and love that is the state of the angelic realm and experiencing that as a living, breathing, creative human being. It is this discovery of the divine birthright of us all, which is the natural transformational process that is upon us. As Michael has given us to know, we stand in a unique moment in the evolution of mankind. The floodgates are open. God is shining upon us. And the discovery of our divinity is available for us to embrace. It is not that all of mankind will embrace this truth now, but many will. There is much in the realm of the unseen that greatly supports such an expansion.

This discovery that I speak of is the true discovery of our divine humanity. It is the healing of the self. The realignment of the self. The emergence of the healthy ego. It is humanity walking individually and collectively with the full knowing of their own magnificence and the grandeur of all. It is the experience of wholeness and of sameness. The expression of compassion and love. It is our inheritance. And it is upon us. As Elmarilla and Irsha often remind, the truth of that much quoted saying is that all are called and now many will choose.

And so it has been my humble, awesome experience to discover my divinity. The process has been often profound and often uncomfortable. It has brought up much in my emotional and physical memory that requires forgiveness and compassion – and letting go. It has called for patience and persistence. It has required faith. It has led to self examination. It has taught me the great magic of laughter and of playing the fool. It has expanded my understanding of myself and of all of humanity. It has brought me love and has inspired me to express love.

Today, I can honor the efforts of the nestled caterpillar awakened to her evolution. Awakened to the brilliance of the fragrant world awaiting. Aware of the winged angel-worm destiny that beckons. The course is set. It is only for us to break free of our cocoons. To discard the notions of old, the judgments of old, the feelings of old, the patterns of old. The things that no longer enrich us. That no longer align our identity with the divine identity that is our truth.

Discovering divinity is eternal. For divinity is forever expansive, forever in creation. Know, however, that the point of recognizing your divinity, honoring your divinity, embracing it and being it is a significant moment in time. It is a grand, grand accomplishment. Strive for this. Desire it. And know that it is real.

For it is I, Shams-Tabriz, who will ask you, “who are you to say that you are not divine?”

The Pyramid

Irsha introduced a wonderful metaphor to help us understand who we truly are. When I first met Elmarilla and first spoke with Irsha, I was a wide-eyed seeker who was questioning everything that he knew to be true. I had been brought up with a very clear set of beliefs. My family, my religion and my environment had consistently reinforced my ideas about life, God and mankind. But a tragic event and a powerful compulsion led me onto a magical journey of discovery.

I began to question everything that I had been brought up to believe. Everything that I did believe.

And one afternoon while enjoying a bowl of Elmarilla’s wonderful cheddar corn chowder, she explained to me the truth of who we are. “Imagine yourself as a beautiful, massive, crystalline pyramid. The many different aspects that make up the totality of your being are contained within this design. You are much, much more than you think yourself to be. Consider that your present experience as Shams-Tabriz is one block within your pyramid. In this moment you still experience yourself as distinct, as unique, as individual. In fact you are not. You are all of the different blocks within your pyramid. You have a breadth of experience that encompasses all that is within the realm of experience. We are all saints and sinners. Peasants and princes. Tyrants and victims. While we experience ourselves in time and space, in truth the pyramid contains all that we are in the Now. Also within your pyramid are realms of consciousness that are angelic, that originate from other places, that would be deemed to be of a much more enlightened state than humankind.

We are all saints and sinners. Peasants and princes. Tyrants and victims.

Now at the very top of your pyramid is your capstone. This is the part of you that knows the totality and wholeness of your pyramid. That is intimately connected with the source of all that is. That is equally connected with the capstone of all pyramids. We can call this the King and Queen of your pyramid. It recognizes the wholeness of all the blocks and acts as the master of the kingdom. It loves without judgment. Without condition. It knows all experience. It embraces all experience. And it rules its kingdom with wisdom and justice. Since it recognizes the multiplicity of experiences as part of its magnificent totality, it does not judge. It loves. And just as it experiences this beneficence and mercy for its own kingdom, it naturally experiences this same compassion and kindness for the kingdoms of all others.”

I remember my fascination with these images. Elmarilla had gifted me a great understanding. I asked her many questions and interrupted her often. But she treated me as her son, patiently and wisely explaining until I understood. I still remember the warmth of that afternoon. Sitting inside her home with the most vivid colors about us. The fall leaves outside. The prismic brilliance inside – her home was full of crystals that played with light. As I reflect upon it now, the setting was impeccable. It was as if we were seated within an actual crystalline pyramid. How funny that I didn’t realize it until this moment!

I have repeated Elmarilla’s words often to myself and to others over the years. It is a great wisdom that offers us an insight into the reality of that which we are. It has been more than fifteen years since I first found friendship with Elmarilla. And only this year have I truly acknowledged that - as Shams-Tabriz - I am consciously entering my capstone. Only now have I embraced the understanding that I will reside consciously in my capstone. It has not been like flipping a switch from off to on. It has been like the breaking of dawn with clouds and trees to the east. In one moment the sun has arrived, visible and brilliant in its fresh radiance. In the next a low-lying cloud has hidden the light. Then again the sun emerges, casting only warmth. The next, a leafy tree obscures the vista. So I run out from behind the tree in my wish to see the sun. And so it has been for me. But the course has been set. My choice is firm and resolute. And my sun continues to break free of its occlusions, revealing to me a greater and greater experience of my wholeness. I look upon myself with compassion and patience in this moment and can envision me wearing my robe, donning my crown, sitting upon my throne - the King and Queen of my pyramid. With praise, gratitude and love.

A Lesson in Paying Attention

Paying attention has been a most important practice for my expansion. Fundamentally, it is a matter of paying attention to feelings. Although as we commonly understand it, I would say that we are paying attention to both our thoughts and our feelings.

Ultimately, we are divine. It is this fundamental awareness – knowing that this is the truth of who we are - that propels our discovery of self, the discovery of our divinity. As we pay attention, we allow ourselves to reveal that which defines us. And so in our lives, in our interactions and our relationships, it’s important to pay attention in very moment to what we are feeling. There are a great range of feelings and emotions that we express in life. And almost every single one of us experiences fear. Some more than others. The individual who has not revealed his divinity to himself still resides in fear. This may be a difficult reality to accept, but it is true. Fear is the cause of our ignorance.

Put very simply, people find it very difficult to accept their own individual magnificence. If you are truly divine – truly wise, brilliant, loving, compassionate, worthy of all abundance and fully aware of the same glorious divinity in all others – then you must accept that all that you have been, all that you have felt, thought and done, is part of that same magnificence. But how can this be so? For deep within our being we know we hold harsh judgments. Consider your feelings for the liar, the thief, the abuser, the rapist and the slayer. Consider your feelings for all those in our midst and in our history who manipulate others through depression, violence, denial of divinity, hoarding of wealth, exertion of control and profession of spiritual supremacy.

Your greatest fear is that you are as powerful and as magnificent as I say you are.

Everything that exists in this world is intimately connected to the totality of who you are. In your many life experiences, you have been each of these terribly wonderful things. It is only in your own minds that you judge them to be terrible. In truth, they are all wonderful. They all serve to enrich the individual - and humanity at large - in the knowledge of the full range of life experience upon this plane. How is it that God may know in his infinite wisdom all that resides within the heart of mankind? Because he has entered each of these hearts and understood. God is not the vengeful, judgmental, authoritarian deity that humankind has come to perceive. That is simply what God is understood to be from the perspective of the vast majority of humanity who have not yet opened up their hearts to experience compassion.

Humanity’s expansion into the full discovery of their divinity necessitates an embrace of all of mankind. For as you can begin to allow yourself to look upon all others with compassion, then you open yourself to embracing yourself with compassion. And the truth of the multiplicity of yourself is no less multifaceted than you perceive the diversity of humanity to be. Forgive yourself for your sadness, your grief, your loneliness, your anger, your aggression, your insensitivity, your recklessness, your misery, your suffering.

Your greatest fear is that you are as powerful and as magnificent as I say you are. For if this is so, then how is it that you could have said and done the things you have said and done in your life? How is this possible if you are divine in nature? And if it is true, then how can you possibly be forgiven for having been so unconscious about your true nature? How can you right your wrongs and atone for all of your dark thoughts and unloving actions?

It is important to understand this fundamental fear of which I write. You fear knowledge of your magnificence because it will lead you to look within and reveal to yourself everything that you are and have been that you would judge to be contrary to that magnificence. Because you experience life within a paradigm of right and wrong, good and bad, your fear is the great fear of self-judgment, of self-condemnation. I am here to tell you that judgment is a man-made construct. It resides within your holy texts because those portions of those texts were interpreted by your holy men at times when they were not pure in heart. Judgment, as you have come to know it, has no bearing on your eternal soul or on the question of suffering God’s wrath. There is no such thing as God’s wrath. So look within and allow all that you have judged in life to surface. For as you look within, these judgments will arise as secret judgments of self that you have held within your own heart. And these are now to be forgiven.

I will offer an illustration, an example that will help you to comprehend what I am conveying. Everyone’s experience will be unique, but I am using this illustration to express how one may face an opportunity for expansion and transformation. I will speak to you here as if you are the illustration I am narrating. Let us assume that you are discovering a deep-seeded resentment and anger towards those in your life who have held you down, restricted your freedom and silenced your voice. I will start by reminding you that this has all been your own creation. Somewhere in time you had an experience that imprinted you with a fear of expressing your truth or your freedom. Perhaps you were witness to the horrific slaying of a person dear to your heart, one who was outspoken and wise. This experience may have tragically shattered your faith in mankind resulting in lifetimes of fearing the result of your own freedom and outspokenness.

So look beyond the frustration you have of those in your life today who suppress you. Instead, bless them! For they are part of the brilliant orchestration of your own evolution. At the level of your capstone, you have deemed yourself worthy of being free – and you have recognized your readiness. And so you have welcomed these relationships into your life to serve as triggers for moving beyond lifetimes of self-diminishment, triggers that will cause you to recognize that you have had enough of your fear. As you look more honestly at your present experience of life, you come to see that you allowed these relationships to form and prevail. They were like a security blanket to you, providing you with the false sense of safety that you felt you needed. And as you now recognize that this is not who you choose to be anymore, that you wish to express your own truth, you wish to make your own choices in life, you wish to feel free, then keep in the forefront of your mind that those with whom you have felt anger and resentment are not the oppressors you have deemed them to be. They have simply carried out their roles in your brilliant play. You might even find that they have perceived their actions to be quite noble, taking care of someone who they felt was incapable of caring for themselves. So be careful not to hold them in contempt.

Know that you will feel like a volcano ready to erupt as you go through this significant expansion. Because you have been suppressing yourself for so long, perhaps many lifetimes, your new sense of freedom will bring about a reaction to the many restricting forces and individuals you have knit into your life. There will arise numerous situations that will reflect to you the truth of who you have been and you will feel a great energy rise within you that will express, ‘No more! Do not speak down to me anymore! Do not suppress me any longer! Let me speak! Let me say what it is I have to say! Let me make up my own mind! Stop treating me with such disregard and disrespect!’ I will advise you to allow this volcano to erupt. The energy that will spew forth will cleanse your being of all the stale forces of self-diminishment and the self-imposed forces of fear that have defined you for so long. And as this energy clears itself from your being, much else that has attached itself to this dynamic will also be cleared. You will release yourself of much of that which no longer defines you.

I will further advise you to be careful not to erupt violently. Remember: others are not to be judged here, in the same way that you are not to step into self-judgment and self-loathing for the lifetimes and lifetimes of such experiences that you have created. Forgive yourself in the moment for all that has been. And recognize that this is not who you are anymore. Forgive yourself quickly and gently. And then allow yourself to change. It will take time, as there is much to cleanse from your being. But be patient. So erupt as you must, but do not erupt with hostility. You will find yourself reacting to your old situations and relationships. But do so peacefully, boldly and clearly, taking time to calm yourself if necessary. Say what must be said. ‘I am not willing to be silenced anymore. I wish to make my choices for myself. Please don’t treat me in such and such a manner.’ And so on. Be calm and clear and persistent. And allow the energy of your erupting volcano to be behind these words. For as much as you are reinforcing to others that you are changed, more importantly you are reprogramming yourself in the new image of self you have discovered.

Remember that at this stage of your evolution, it is about you. So do not be too concerned with how others respond and react to your changes, that is theirs to deal with – as long as you are careful not to lash out and descend into judgment of others for how they have treated you. Be focused on your own magnificent discovery of self and continue to pay attention to your thoughts and feelings. Many of them will be new, so pay attention. And as I described, with your eruption will come a cleansing of more than you have even perceived.

You will realize that everything that you have been – regardless of how you may have perceived them in past judgments – is integral to the totality of you.

Know also that this energy of transformation will act as the energy of propulsion, propelling you to even more grand discoveries of self. Forgive yourself quickly, judge not yourself or others, pay attention to your thoughts and feelings, trust that your capstone is guiding your course and you will find yourself in a remarkable spiral of ever-expanding brilliance. This is the path to discovering your divinity.

A remarkable thing happens when you pay attention to the transformations in your life: You cease judgment. As you recognize that you can easily and immediately forgive yourself for all of your thoughts, feelings and behaviors that reflected only insignificance back to you, then you are left in a state of surrender. This is not an empty state. This is a state that is filled with trust and hope. And if you have seeded yourself with the awareness of what you truly are – a divine, creative being – then you can begin to truly grasp what it is to be that divine human being.

You will realize that everything that you have been – regardless of how you may have perceived them in past judgments – is integral to the totality of you. So your experiences as a tyrant, as a victim, as a beggar each are equally as important as your experiences as a lover, as a mystic and as a saint. And the same applies to your lifetimes as musicians, royalty, clergy, farmers, soldiers and prostitutes. Each has had its own wealth of experience that with open-hearted reflection can yield great wisdom. This is the essence of our purpose in expansion – to integrate the multiplicity of all the we have been and all that we have experienced into a wholeness of self.

Imagine, if you will, a state of wholeness, wisdom and amusement at knowing the full spectrum of all of life’s experience from the perspective of embracing your profound divine connection with both the source of all that is and every other life expression that emerges from our source. This state of being is the capstone of your pyramid. Now imagine living your life with your unique personality and humanity intact but also in complete residence of your capstone. How remarkable would your life be? Is this not a worthy goal? I tell you, it is. In this state, the full loving, compassionate, creative force that is you is seasoned with the wisdom of ages and experiences that transcend the finite. And you express as the magnificent divine being that you are, pursuing whatever creative impulses move through you and following a course in life that is consciously co-created between your divine capstone linked to source and the divine expression that is you in this lifetime. This is your ultimate purpose for being. This is the promise to humanity. This is the culmination of our common evolution. And this is the potential available to all in this remarkable age and time.

The Primordial Fear

I remind you, the discovery of your own divinity cannot proceed until you first become aware of who you truly are. I say to you that you are no different from your neighbor. You are no different from the beggar. And you are no different from the greatest masters who have walked this earth. In your wholeness, you are magnificent, beautiful, loving, compassionate, wise, noble, abundant and divine. We all are. The distinction is that you in your present-minded consciousness do not fully know who you are, you have not fully embraced this reality.

So what is it that has kept this truth so elusive to humanity for so long? It is the fear that we could possibly be that powerful, that wise and that loving. I refer to it as the primordial fear.

So, why do we fear our true nature? Where does this stem from? And why has it hypnotized the entire population? It is the dual nature of this life experience that has been the culprit. In our experience of light and dark, masculine and feminine, we have also judged good and bad, right and wrong. And so instead of having amazing and unique life experiences and growing in wisdom, we have lapsed into the judgment of duality.

You are no different from the greatest masters who have walked this earth.

In truth, we have only judged ourselves. And yet these judgments have been so harsh and destructive that instead of holding them within, we have projected them outward onto others. Think of it as energy. Our experiences of loss and suffering – which are natural human experiences - wrought grief and judgment. Imagine a young girl whose father suddenly dies. She adopts a mistrust of men in her life and expresses hostility toward all men – since they reflect the pain she suffered from her loss. She builds up a fear of further suffering, further pain and further loss. And so this translates into a mistrust of men. Even deeper than this and due to the prevalent religious doctrines she might have adopted, her young mind may have interpreted her suffering as retribution from God. For why would He take her father from her unless she deserved such punishment? And so surely somewhere and somehow she has sinned against God and lost His favor. In truth it was only the skewed experience of her father’s demise that ever raised a question of trust and punishment. But you can see how judgment distorted the experience.

We were meant to journey through this world. It is our playground. We are here to experience all that there is to experience. Remember: we have been - and are meant to be - everything within the realm of human experience – oppressors and victims, paupers and royals. Our purpose has always been to build a magnificent pyramid full of experience and wisdom. And now in this grand era, the tides are turning. The rapid evolution of humanity and the planet is upon us. The energies that inhabit this plane are increasingly high and fine, embodying ever more pure and expansive frequencies and escalating us into the realm of the angels. In this remarkable age, the capacity for humanity to experience life as fully conscious divine beings is upon us.

Humankind is an incredible, elaborate creation in-progress. It was always intended that our memories of our true divine nature would be hidden from us upon taking life on this plane. The objective was for mankind to fully experience the density of this realm. Just as the consciousness of man has evolved over our history, so too has the planetary potential. Our recorded histories of civilization’s progress and our common humanity bear witness to this truth. If we can accept that all is energy, it will not be difficult to comprehend that the evolution of the planet has paralleled humankind’s evolution. In the past, a slower, denser vibrational field naturally engendered denser, lower-consciousness experiences.

We have been created with the ability to express the full spectrum of energies that I will define as ‘god-conscious individuality’. By this I mean the soul in form that is fully aware of his divinity and who expresses it in its fullness through the individual experience and stream that is uniquely you or me. This is the potential of all of humankind – and this potential has been seeded for activation in this season of global transformation that is now.

And so while it was intended that we not remember our true nature as humans, it was also very much intended that we rediscover it, bringing the wealth of human experience into the capstone of our pyramid and enhancing the notion of a conscious, divine human being. And so we have witnessed great souls express this truth to us through the ages, reminding us of who we truly are. And those who were truly connected to the highest wisdom of the angelic realm pointed to a time when the meek would inherit the earth. This destiny refers to a time in the evolution of humanity when those who have discovered the path of love, the path of joy, the path of freedom and compassion and unity will transcend the lower vibrational experiences of duality – of fear, fighting, oppression, limitation, force and separation – and emerge to lead the world. As one great master described it, we will be as children coming unto the Lord. It is through this innocence and trust, genuine joy and compassion, free of all our prior judgments and transparent to the world that we will come to know our own divinity, our own Lord.

All of this has been planned. It is a natural unfolding of the evolution of mankind that has been seeded since the time of Adam and Eve. Do you not see the signs in nature? As one great way-shower has taught us, ‘As above, so below’. Well, he has further enlightened us to this truth. He said, ‘It also follows, As within, so without’. With respect to the transformation that is upon us, nature is reflecting the outward result of our inner transformation. Just as we are shifting and transforming, releasing our past judgments and deep-seeded fears, we can observe marked shifts in our physical bodies. Much of what we have held as stale ‘negative’ energy - for all is energy - has manifested as disease within our body. And so as we evolve in our consciousness, our bodies will naturally undergo a cleansing to release itself of its built up toxins. This cleansing serves another purpose: it readies the body to contain and express the higher. finer, more expanded frequencies that you will embody in your individual expansion.

We are here to experience all that there is to experience.

And so just as this is occurring within our own individual beings, it is also occurring in our world. This is so because it has been designed for both the planet and humanity to commence its magnificent evolution in our time. So even earth is undergoing a series of cleansings that will rid itself of all its built up toxins and prepare it to be a realm of high vibrational consciousness. Bless the evolution that is now upon us. Know that this has been heralded for time immemorial. And just as within our own beings our individual expansion may at times appear traumatic since we are discarding judgments and fears which have stifled us for eons, so too the cleansing of the planet may at times take on a very traumatic manifestation – deadly earthquakes, hurricanes, avalanches, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, droughts and floods. But do not get drawn into the fear that such incidents have generally wrought. Know that these events will serve not only to cleanse our planet but also to cause many to reveal their deep-seeded fears and doubts to themselves. Many lives will be lost in the same way that within our own pyramid we will put to bed many of our own tragic memories and fears.

We will see manifestations of humanity’s remarkable transformation in everything from nature to politics, religion, business, education, family and culture. Unity, transparency and truth will be the new hallmarks. Any organization that does not embody complete transparency at all levels, will begin to face many challenges to its survival. Religion, government and business will undergo much change – in fact, this has already begun.

This is a remarkable time in which we live. Transformation is ours to choose. It has been written, ‘Many are called, only a few are chosen’. In this great age, the truth is more profound: ‘All are called, only the brave will choose’. So summon your courage to face your fears. Reveal to yourself the truth of who you are – who we all are. Have faith, for though you may face moments of difficulty, it is only the darkness of a tunnel moving you through the mountain that has forever blocked you from your brilliance. Surrender to the shifting tide and welcome the heralding of a new age. Break through your own resistance, your own disbelief, your own insecurity and discover the magnificence of you and your world.