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Ascended Master Master Hilarion through Kim Michaels, June 5, 2023. This dictation was given at a conference in Seoul, Korea.

I AM the Ascended Master Hilarion.

What is truth? Well, here is a question that the linear mind loves, for this, it thinks, it can define in a very clear way: Truth is the opposite of untruth. Truth is something that can be understood, that can be grasped, that can be put on a linear scale, with truth at one end and untruth at the other. Certainly the linear mind can do this with all of the God qualities, but truth, it really feels, it has under control. The fallen beings have for so long, since they fell, felt they had truth under control. They have believed that they can define truth. Of course, they do not broadcast this to the people, for example here on earth, that they have defined truth. They instead broadcast that this truth is given by some ultimate authority. Therefore it is the highest possible truth.

The simplest definition of truth

But what is truth really? Truth is that which takes you closer to oneness. What is untruth? Untruth is that which takes you away from oneness. That is the simplest possible definition of truth that can be given, at least on earth.

The linear mind will, of course, be very, very unhappy with this definition, for how do you then define what truth is? There must be some ultimate truth. It is not enough to say it takes you closer. There must be an ultimate truth, and then you are in oneness. But the reality is that only the Creator is ultimate truth, which means that at any level of creation, any level of the world of form, there is a specific truth that can be grasped and fathomed at that level. Of course, earth is very far below the level of the Creator, which is why we have so many times said there is no absolute truth that can be given on earth, but we can actually say there is no absolute truth anywhere except in the Creator. Whatever level you are at in the progression towards oneness, if you are not at oneness, it is because you still see some distance. There is then a truth that can help you rise to the next level up. Therefore, it is never the goal to fathom some ultimate truth, but to see the truth that will take you to the next step up.

Levels of self-realization

Now again the linear mind will be unhappy, for it will say: “Well, then that must mean there is something wrong at every level until you reach the Creator, that even these beings in the first sphere that ascended so long ago, that have had so long to grow and transcend themselves, even they are living in illusion.” This is again the linear mind that must think as the linear mind thinks. It operates with a dualistic scale, and on the dualistic scale there is one extreme and the other extreme, and they are both ultimate, either the ultimate truth or the ultimate lie. You might say that until you reach the ultimate truth, you are still affected by a lie, but that is not the case. Once you become one with the Christ consciousness, become the Living Christ, you know and experience that Christ mind, which is the mind of Oneness. You know that everything is one, but you also see and experience that there is a hierarchy, a linear progression of levels of consciousness leading from where you are to the Creator. This is not illusion.

Once you have ascended from earth, you are not in an illusion because you know the underlying reality is oneness. You are simply at a certain level of self-realization, and you know you are on the path to going to higher levels of self-realization until you reach the ultimate state of self-realization, which is what we have called the Creator consciousness. Ultimate in this world of form, that is. You are not in illusion because you experience oneness, and you do not think even in terms of higher or lower because you are part of a process, an ever self-transcending process, the cosmic dance of self-transcendence. Serapis Bey talked about an ongoing acceleration, and this is an important concept to consider. The linear mind will, of course, have trouble considering this never-ending, ongoing, accelerating self-transcendence. It will always look for the ultimate, but it will also ask why does it need to transcend itself if it has reached a higher level? Why do you need to transcend yourself? If you have reached the 96th level and you experience the Christ mind, why do you need to continue to transcend yourself?

The ever-self-transcending River of Life

Well, the truth is that the entire creation, the entire world of form, is what we have called the River of Life. What is a river? It is water that is constantly flowing. If the river stops flowing, you do not have a river. You have a lake. Sooner or later the quality, the purity, of the water in that lake will deteriorate. The water might evaporate, various sediments and impurities might come into the water, and gradually it will start to become toxic. Why does it not become toxic in the river? Because it is moving. The water molecules are moving, shaking off impurities. They are mixing with oxygen, which purifies the water as well. So you see that the entire creation is this upward movement, constant self-transcendence. This does not mean that you as an individual being cannot say: “I have reached a certain level. I want to enjoy it here for some time.” You have a right to do this. But if you stay too long at a certain level, then your mind will start to become stale. Therefore you will fall behind that upward movement of the River of Life. You will be behind where you could have been if you had been willing to transcend.

The wise ones, those that are in touch with the River of Life, you can stand still and enjoy life for a time at a certain level, but you will sense intuitively when it is time to move on. Many of you who are spiritual people have sensed that it was time to enter a new cycle. It was time to move on and do something different. Truth is constant movement. There is a truth at the 48th level which can help you overcome the separate self, the illusion at the 48th level, and rise to the 49th level. There is another truth at the 49th level, and another at the 50th and so forth. There is not one truth. Of course, this is what the linear mind wants: “Give me the truth, the highest truth, the absolute truth.” Well, here it is then: The absolute truth is that there is no absolute truth. Or we can say that there is a multitude of absolute truths. The truth you can grasp at your particular level is the absolute truth for that level.
Truth, of course, is that which takes you closer to oneness. That which takes you closer to oneness cannot be put on a dualistic scale, where there is truth at one end and untruth on the other.

The dualistic concept of ultimate truth

The Living Truth is not the opposite of some lie. Only that which is defined from the duality consciousness can have an opposite. The duality consciousness defines something as a lie and the opposite as the truth, but they are both out of duality, so they are both relative. They are relative to each other, relative to that dualistic scale, relative to the dualistic consciousness. You may say: “But is not the truth that takes you to the next level up relative to that level of consciousness?” Well, yes, but it is not on a dualistic scale. When you are on a dualistic scale, you might say: “Here is an untruth.” And you might begin to move towards the other extreme of the scale. You might think you have gone through quite a journey to move from that relative truth, relative untruth, to that relative truth but it has not brought you closer to oneness. You are still in duality, and that is why thinking you are a good person who has the truth will not bring you closer to oneness. It will just keep you trapped in duality.

I can assure you that those who believe they have the ultimate truth are the most difficult people to reach for me. Why do they need the Chohan of the Fifth Ray when they already have the absolute truth? What could I possibly offer those who have the absolute truth defined here on earth? You may say: “But I (Hilarion) am an ascended master! I am at a higher level of consciousness, so obviously I can offer anyone who is unascended something”. But they will not see it that way. Just look at the fact that the Ask Real Jesus website was put online over 20 years ago. Do you really think the cardinals of the Catholic church have not heard about it or come across it? Have they changed anything based on what was stated there? Have they been open at all to the possibility that the Ascended Master Jesus could give directions today? Of course not. Why would they need the Ascended Master Jesus when they have the absolute truth in their doctrines?

You see many other people, be it the communists, the materialists, the environmentalists, the philosophers of this and that persuasion, the leaders of this and that religion, they do not need ascended masters. They do not want ascended masters. They do not want divine qualities, for they want to experience the sense of superiority that they get from believing they have the absolute truth. If you believe you have the absolute truth, what higher truth could there be? What could anyone, even an ascended being, offer you? You, of course, as ascended master students have transcended that level of consciousness, but you need to recognize that your separate selves, the separate selves you have left, have not transcended that level of consciousness. The Conscious You has freed itself from complete identification with these selves, but you still have selves that color you and that can make you believe that you have reached some ultimate level of understanding or some ultimate level of consciousness.

Being open to a progressively higher truth

This is what has happened to many spiritual students throughout the ages, but it has also happened to ascended master students, especially in previous dispensations where they thought they had the highest teaching or the final revelation that would be given by the ascended masters, and thus why would they need something else? Why would they need progressive revelation? You always need to be a little bit on the lookout for this tendency in a separate self or even the formation of a separate self that makes you think: “I have been on the path for so long. I have done all of this work. I have done all of these decrees. Surely I have reached some level.” And you have. You have made progress, you have reached some level, but not an ultimate level. If you had reached the ultimate level that could be reached on earth, you would have ascended. When you have reached some ultimate level on earth, you will no longer be on earth. If you are on earth, well, there is a higher level to rise to, and how will you rise to that higher level? By reaching for the truth that is the highest truth you can grasp at your current level, which will take you the next step up.

In this dispensation it is difficult to be trapped in this state of consciousness if you study the teachings and strive to internalize them. We have been clearer about the need for ongoing progression than in any previous teaching. Still the ego is what the ego always is, and it does what it will always do, attempt to stop your progress at any level. You need to be open to a progressively higher truth. This is partly why we give progressively higher teachings, but you individually in your mind need to be open to receiving that next insight that helps you see through your current illusion, so you rise to the next level.

Hilarion’s offer and visualization

And where will you get it from? Well, you will get it from your I AM Presence. You will get it from your ascended teachers, but only if you ask, only if you are open to it. We will, as we have said so many times, not violate your free will. Certainly you can ask me, Hilarion, to show you the next truth. You can give my “Decree to Ascended Master Hilarion.” You can use the book The Mystical Initiations of Vision to tune in to me. You can look at my decree, find two sentences that truly appeal to you, learn them by heart, meditate on them, and you will see that you will get directions from me if you are close to the Fifth Ray. There are many tools you can use, but I will give you a simple tool like the other Chohans have done.

The simple tool is this: You go into a quiet room, sit down comfortably, close your eyes, and then you visualize that you have your two eyes. You know, if you think about this, that you have two eyes because this gives you the perception of depth. You can evaluate the distance between you and another object better because you have that dual vision. Having two eyes is not the same as duality. We have never said that when you escape duality your two eyes will start moving together until they form one eye in the center of your forehead. You do, of course, have the third eye, the third eye chakra, but the visualization is that you have the two eyes, and you now visualize that they move further and further apart until they are at some distance from your body. Then you look with these eyes forward, and you see that in front of each eye is a line. You look along this line into the distance. If you know anything about geometry, you will know that the perspective will make it seem like these two lines come closer and closer together the further you move away.

The rest of this dictation, along with an invocation based on the dictation, is found in the book: Connecting with Your Spiritual Teachers.