Ascended Master Jesus through Kim Michaels.

As I have just explained, the only way out of suffering is to start to make your own choices and ask for guidance from the Christ mind. It should be no surprise that the fallen beings have attempted to block this way out. A very dangerous effect of the epic mindset is that it makes people think they know better than God or the ascended masters. They use a specific teaching or idea that is in the physical realm as a justification for refusing either our teachings given as progressive revelation or the words and ideas we give them directly within their own minds. You would scarcely believe how many people who actually know about ascended masters but have rejected valid directions they get from within themselves, either from their Christ selves, their I AM Presences or from their personal ascended teachers. This is clearly the greatest single obstacle for our efforts to free individuals and raise the collective consciousness.

A special concern in this respect is that there are many people who have come to accept a specific outer teaching as coming from us and therefore being a valid teaching. They now use the outer teaching that is in the physical as a justification for rejecting the Living Word that we seek to give them from within. There are even those who are still so absolutely convinced about the validity of the epic dramas that they have interpreted ascended master teachings from the epic mindset, being convinced that we really do affirm the epic struggle and the necessity to defeat dark forces.

These people will take our teachings about fallen beings and reason that it is justified to use force or violence in order to remove the fallen beings from the earth and defeat their schemes. Look back at history and see how much warring has taken place on this planet. If it had been possible to remove the fallen beings through violence, don’t you think it would have already happened?

By the very fact that it has not happened, it should be obvious that it is not possible to remove the fallen beings through violence. The simple reason is that every act of violence perpetuates the epic struggle and thus helps the fallen beings stay in embodiment and stay in control. The fallen beings were allowed to come to this planet because a critical mass of human beings had gone into duality. They will be removed only when a critical mass of human beings transcend duality. It would be a joy for us if those who claim to be our students would be among the first to take this step into a new state of consciousness where you are wise to the serpents but so harmless that they cannot pull you into the struggle.

Of course, what I have said here is not obvious to those still blinded by duality. They will insist that the epic struggle is real and they will even quote our previous teachings in order to prove their point.

The reality of progressive revelation

What I am doing through this messenger is progressive revelation. In the past, we have brought forth teachings through other messengers that were also examples of valid progressive revelation. What does it mean that revelation is progressive? In the 1930s we brought forth certain teachings that were specifically designed to help people at a certain level of consciousness transcend that level. As I have said before, we had to give these teachings in such a way that the people at this level could accept them, meaning they would have to contain elements that were defined by the limitations of people’s consciousness. The teachings also contained elements that could help people go beyond that level.

As a critical mass of people used these teachings to rise to a higher level, it became possible for us to bring forth new teachings designed for a higher level of consciousness. These teachings did not contain some of the limiting elements from the previous teaching, and this caused some students of the earlier teachings to reject them because they did not validate some of their cherished beliefs. They also contained elements that went beyond the old teaching and this caused other students to reject them because they seemingly contradicted previous teachings.

Some students did take the new teachings and they used them to transcend the level of consciousness for which the teachings were designed. This once again gave us the authorization to bring forth teachings for the next level of consciousness. When will this process stop? When the last person has ascended from earth—and realistically, that is quite a ways into the future.

There are, of course, still many people in embodiment who have not transcended the level of consciousness addressed in the teachings we gave in the 1930s or even earlier. There is nothing wrong with people focusing on the teaching suited to their level of consciousness and ignoring later teachings. Yet any ascended master student should be very careful to avoid using one teaching to reject a later teaching. If your use of a given teaching is successful, it is only natural that you transcend a certain level of consciousness. Once you have done so, you will not have maximum growth by continuing to follow that teaching for the rest of this lifetime. You will only have maximum growth by stepping up to the next teaching and continuing to do so as you get inner direction. Of course, if you fix your outer mind on having to follow a specific outer teaching for the rest of your life, you will reject that inner direction, won’t you?

Many ascended master students have the potential to truly overcome the epic mindset in this lifetime. In order to do so, they have to be willing to look at the fact that the epic mindset makes people’s egos think they know better than God and better than the ascended masters. It is essential for your growth that you make an effort to step outside your outer self and experience the pure awareness that is the open door to direct contact with your I AM Presence and your ascended teachers. Only then will you be able to accept the direction that we offer you directly within yourself. Take note that I am not telling you to follow an outer teaching, not even this messenger and teaching. I am telling you to follow your inner direction—once you are able to receive it. We have given many tools for helping you open your mind to that inner direction. [See www.transcendencetoolbox.com.]

NOTE: The rest of this dictation is available in the book Freedom from Ego Dramas.