Mistakes?

We all struggle with the results of our karma. We all make what we believe are mistakes, but White Eagle tells us we also learn from what we do, and our soul and spiritual consciousness expands as a result. In order to learn and grow we are bound to make mistakes because they are part of the process of creation. To believe this does not make us lazy, rather it releases us from the prison of our guilt and shame, so that we can learn.
White Eagle says: ‘We fail, of course we all must fail at times; all souls, according to their level of development, have their failures. We should not be in this form, manifesting as we are, if we were above failure. Let us remember that though the brother/sister by our side fails, we fail too, and because of this, we know how he or she feels. Let us remember also that through failure, we may mount the hill of vision. Failure is good; many a great and glorious temple is built upon a strong foundation which was built through the lessons learnt by failure.’

What Learning Is

Consider learning a new skill—let us say, playing the violin. In the process some most unpleasant noises are produced; you feel clumsy; half the time you have no idea what you are supposed to be doing; the mind and the fingers seem to have become disconnected, and you make mistakes constantly! Even when you have some experience there is no point in just playing the simple beginners’ pieces, so you drive yourself, or are challenged, to continuously play at the limit of your ability, in order to push that limit further out. This means that you still make mistakes—you are constantly making mistakes, because there seems no end to the learning. The noises produced can still sound frightful!
White Eagle says:‘What you think to be failure does not matter because you cannot judge. Failure in your eyes is often achievement from the spiritual standard.’

Persistent thoughts

To be fair, it is very hard to let go of these persistent thoughts. We are told so often that we need to be responsible for our actions, and so when we seem to let ourselves down, for example, the agony is understandable. The thought is that perhaps by dwelling upon the events we might find a backdoor which will allow our shame to escape—of course that never happens, we just dig a deeper pit of guilt, until time  does the healing.

What would God want us to do at those moments? We believe He would want us to move on; to move forwards with Him/Her, rather than surround ourselves with the murk of our own failure. Moving forwards with God requires that we truly believe it is possible to do so. We have to be able to step firmly away from the inner world of past and future time, and embrace the outer moment innocently.

To be able to approach each moment with innocence is a wonderful way to live. How else but through innocence do we allow ourselves to come back to wholeness and Godliness; to reconnect with love?
White Eagle says: ‘The answer to every human problem lies in that simple heart-love which is harmony, which is God. God makes all crooked places straight. Therefore withdraw, withdraw yourself from whatever human problem is yours at this very moment. Drop it—in other words, surrender it to the divine spirit. Have confidence in the Source of your being, the Great Light. Your problem will then no longer trouble you. You will know within that God will answer. All will be well. But this is a spiritual state to which the soul has to attain, and when the soul has attained to surrender to God, the power will work. When we say “surrender” it does not mean entering into a state of apathy. Surrender means a strong certainty in the soul that all is working for good.’

Also: ‘Don’t go about with your eyes shut; be intelligent, interested, and alive, and concentrate on the point of the moment, and let everything else go. This will help you to the first rung of the ladder, to control your thoughts.’

Return to Innocence

When we feel guilty we lose all sense of ourselves as innocent; with hindsight we even forget how young we were, or the particular difficulties that caused us to behave in the way we feel guilty about. We can believe that we are not worthy of healing; not strong enough to overcome the perceived negativity; powerless to affect change within ourselves and to move on. There is even a way in which hanging on to the feelings of guilt makes us feel punished, which may be something we think we deserve, or something which strangely helps us feel better!

Yet White Eagle says you are a spiritual being and: ‘You have an innate urge to grow’. So no matter whether consciously or not, you will be moving/changing/growing. Why not help the process through trusting yourself, and thus helping your greater self to work?

Moving Forwards

Take this analogy and compare it to the schoolroom of our lives in physical matter. In order to learn, and to go on learning, we are often on the edge of what might appear to be chaos. Learning is like carving a path through a jungle. You can choose to stay in the clearing if you like, but you don’t learn anything new, and you don’t get anywhere. Or you can walk out into the jungle where you are constantly falling down, tripping up, losing your way, feeling unsure, clumsy, stupid, and constantly making mistakes and having to retrace your steps. But through these mistakes learning comes—growth comes—new vistas open out. This is the nature of our schoolroom. Why blame ourselves, then, when we make mistakes? Mistakes are the necessary tools of creation—of finding new life. All creation and discovery begins at the moment of pain and chaos, as White Eagle says: ‘All growth is apt to seem an uncomfortable process, and birth also can be uncomfortable; but see what it leads to in the end.’

There is only one place to truly live

How can you move forwards; how can you make amends and reach out towards those who you think you’ve harmed? Guilt is partly caused by persistent thoughts of what has happened. The past can be running through your mind so frequently that you feel tired and wish your brain would stop thinking about it? Time then becomes past time, and fixed—no matter what your brain does, the events still turn out the same!

These obsessive events also seem to project themselves into the future; the future seems coloured by the past, and thoughts of what might happen because of it can be just as pernicious. At that moment, what has happened to the moment—to the now? White Eagle says: ‘On earth you have to think in terms of years, of time and space, but you can learn to get beyond these factors, and comprehend the meaning of eternal consciousness, because life is consciousness.’ Therefore, if you wish you could change the past, be now as you would like to be. Radiate goodwill now. Live in this moment with love, and that consciousness will pervade all levels of existence. It may not change events that have happened, but it will influence the results of those events both in yourself and in others.

Helpful Thoughts

In order to learn and grow you will make mistakes.

Whatever you think you have done, nothing will change it now.

In this moment you can make a difference.

You never lost your innocence.

You can control your thoughts.

Punishing yourself will not help others.

You can trust yourself.

You are strong in character and will; you have ‘an innate urge to grow.’

Practice

• Practice mental control

UNDERSTAND: In order to let go of feelings of guilt you need to understand and accept the natural process of learning and growth.

 

When thoughts of your wrong-doing arise, practise letting them go as soon as you can; replacing them with thoughts of what you have learned from what happened, which can help you and others from now on.

 

Practice openness

• REMAIN OPEN: Openness is the way to show others who you really are inside—it feels scary, but it is powerful.

 

When thoughts of your wrong-doing arise, and you feel shame, anger, despair, these feelings will close you off from others; it will feel as if you are naked with them, and therefore vulnerable and ashamed at the same time. When this happens, move forwards towards others if you can; even if only in your thoughts. Imagine giving them a hug; saying something kind to them; asking them how they are. Try to do the opposite of running away, whether that be physically or just closing off emotionally. In this way you open the door to mutual empathy and change.

 

• Affirmations

When I make a mistake I am learning

I move on from the past with new understanding

I trust myself

I am in control of my thoughts/my feelings

In this moment I can change; I can make a difference

My vibration is positive and helpful to others

I am strong in character and will

 

• Be prepared for anger

Anger is a natural reaction. It arises when someone has felt vulnerable, hurt, or afraid. You may have to deal with this, but if you are prepared, you will be able to cope without lashing out, or running away. See the other person’s anger as the means by which they can release their tension and get back to their love—like an energy which is finding its way out. Often the anger will not only be to do with you, no matter what is said, but a chance for old anger to find it’s way out too.

Stand open to the winds of anger, and they will blow themselves out. You have the strength to do this. This is part of the process of moving on.

 

• Practice trusting yourself

TRUST: In order to get back to innocence you need to trust yourself again.

Despairing of yourself will not make things better, and will not help others.

 

First remember you are still learning and growing. Remember a time when you felt most loving and loveable. You never lost that; it is part of you, and will always be so. Picture yourself strong in character and will; fearless and powerful; tender hearted and wise—all this is you, when you drop the veils which hide you from yourself and others. Imagine all sorts of situations in which you are demonstrating this inner self. Allow the vibration of that thought out into life, and it will gradually become uppermost in all you say and do.

 

LET GO: The events of the past have an energy which traps you. Allow yourself to let them go and you will find your way forward.