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Ascended Master Kuan Yin through Kim Michaels, September 21, 2023. This dictation was given at a conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan – Being the River of Life in action.

I AM the Ascended Master Kuan Yin.

As a representative of the Divine Mother for the East, we have decided that I would open this conference. We are very joyful, all of us who are going to speak at this conference, for this opportunity to be with you in the River of Life.

Now the topic you have chosen for this conference is not really a topic for beginners. A person who is new to the path will find it quite difficult to even comprehend what it means, even what the River of Life is and what it means. This raises the interesting topic that we have talked about several times, that as ascended masters we face a certain dilemma, you might call it, seen from the worldly perspective, at least. Even though, of course, we do not see it as a dilemma because when you are an ascended master there are really no dilemmas. There are only conditions that we need to adapt to in order to help as many people as possible. What I wish to give you here is the sense again that when people first find the spiritual path, when they hear about the spiritual path, they must have a motivation.

The self-centered motivation for walking the path

Why do you want to be on the spiritual path? Why do you want to do something that is different from what you were brought up to do? Why do you want to study these teachings that could be difficult to grasp? Why do you want to practice these rituals or invocations or decrees that are very foreign to what you were brought up with as religious rituals? Or perhaps you were brought up with no religious rituals.

People need a motivation. The vast majority of the people who find the spiritual path, who open themselves to the spiritual path, naturally have a motivation that is centered around themselves and often the situation they face in life. Many people have found the spiritual path because they face various difficulties. It can be in their personal lives, it can be world conditions, conditions in their society that they are concerned about. You see that when people first approach the spiritual path, they do it with a motivation that they hope that the spiritual path can help them change the conditions that they feel burdened by.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with this. You have to start somewhere. You have to start where you are, both in consciousness and in your physical situation. It is perfectly in order that people start the path with this, we might say, self-centered, self-focused motivation. What else can you do? What other options do you have? The reason why I am bringing this up is that in order to grasp what the River of Life is and how to flow with the River of Life, how to be in the River of Life, how to be the River of Life in action, you cannot approach this topic with this self-centered motivation. This is one of those things that will seem like a dilemma from your perspective. I understand this fully. Nevertheless if you can step back and look at it from a little wider perspective, then you can transcend the dilemma.

In a sense you cannot resolve the dilemma because a dilemma is a product of the consciousness that you find on earth, the duality consciousness, the consciousness of separation. It is also a product of the linear mind that takes two seemingly different or contradictory statements, puts them up against each other and says: “Here is a dilemma because should we do this or that? Does it mean this or does it mean that?” From that perspective often a dilemma cannot be resolved. That is why the only option is to step back to gain a wider perspective that does not dissolve or resolve the dilemma, but it helps you see that the dilemma only seems real from a certain perspective. When you step outside of that perspective, the dilemma no longer seems real or important to you.

The upward pull of the River of Life on earth

What is the River of Life? Well, it can be explained in different ways, but what can be said, based on the teachings we have given, is that earth is just one small planet in a very large universe. We have said that there are many, many planets in your universe that are what we have called natural planets because they do not have the conflict that you see on earth, the conflict between people. All of these planets are in the process of transcending themselves, moving higher and higher towards that state where they can actually ascend. I know that people who are new to the spiritual path will not have a grasp of what it means that a planet ascends, but we have explained that you are in an unascended sphere where nothing has become permanent, but that you are in the process of raising your sphere until it too can become permanent and a permanent part of the spiritual realm.

All of these planets that are in this upward, self-transcending movement are forming what we might call a magnetic pull, a gravitational pull, that pulls upwards on the rest of the universe. They also pull upwards on the earth. If you could step back, far back, from the earth and if you could trace the orbit that the earth is following through space, you would see that it is a very complex orbit. You know when you think about this that the earth is orbiting the sun, and many people have been brought up to think that the sun is standing still. But the sun is moving through space. That is what even scientists have proven, that the universe is expanding.

As the sun moves in a certain direction and as the earth revolves around that direction, the earth may make a revolution around the sun in one year, but the earth does not come back to the same place in space because the sun has moved on. The actual course that the earth is following through space is a spiral, but it is a very complex spiral. The orbit or the path that the earth is following is not only affected by the gravitational effect of the sun and the other planets. It is affected by this upward movement from all of the natural planets that are pulling on the earth in the River of Life, or the Holy Spirit.

So there is a pull on the earth, and the question for people on earth is: Can they tune in to this River of Life, this flow of energy, this pull, or will they resist the River of Life? Now you understand, of course, that this pull is not primarily a physical pull. It is a pull on the emotional, mental and identity bodies of human beings and the collective emotional, mental and identity bodies. There is a pull on people to come up higher, to transcend themselves. This is what the River of Life is.

The need to transcend self-focus based on separation

You now go back to what I said. When people first find the spiritual path, they have a self-centered, self-focused motivation. They have specific issues in their lives, or they have specific issues in the world, and they would like to see these issues resolved by their engagement in the spiritual path. But, you see, the River of Life is not created by one individual. It is created by a number of individuals that you cannot even fathom. You may have some vague idea what it actually means that there are almost eight billion people on earth, but when you talk about the number of self-aware beings that live on natural planets in your universe and that have formed this upward pull of the Holy Spirit, or the River of Life, it is way, way beyond the number of people on earth. It is an unfathomably high number.

What you realize is that in the River of Life, there is not what you would call a self-centered motivation as you see it on earth. When I say that people on earth find the spiritual path and they have a self-centered motivation, it is, of course, a separate self because they see themselves as separate beings. This is something that even people who have been on the spiritual path for a long time need to contemplate very carefully. There are many definitions, and you can find them among religious people, you can find them among spiritual people, of what it means to be selfish or egotistical. Certainly you can see that there are people on earth who are very selfish, very egotistical, only concerned about themselves. But many spiritual people, in fact most people who find the spiritual path, would say: “Oh, that does not apply to me. I am not a selfish person. I am not egotistical because I do not want to harm other people.” And this is true. Most people who find the spiritual path, who are open to it, are not selfish or egotistical.

However, this does not mean that they do not have a separate self. There is a difference. The difference can be explained in various ways, as we will endeavor to do during this conference. One way to explain it is to say that in the duality consciousness there are always two polarities. When you have this definition of what it means to be a selfish or egotistical person, that is one dualistic definition. The opposite polarity is that you define what it means to be an unselfish, perhaps even an altruistic or spiritual person. But it is still in contrast.

When you step back from this, you realize that many spiritual people, many religious people, many even non-religious people, have adopted this definition of what it means to be a good human being, a good person. Meaning you do not harm others. You do not harm the environment. You are conscious of what you are doing and the effect that it has. This is perfectly valid, but it is only one step in the path of self-transcendence. There are actually many, many people, in fact, the majority of religious people and the majority of spiritual people, who think that their positive definition means that they are unselfish. Nevertheless they still have what I have called this self-centered motivation for engaging in the spiritual path. Many people have certain conditions in their personal lives they want to change, but it is because they look at those conditions through one, or in most cases many, of these subconscious, separate selves, the selves that are based on seeing yourself as a separate individual, and as a separate individual there are certain conditions you want to see fulfilled.

Again, this is perfectly understandable. I am not in any way trying to blame anyone, but the topic you have chosen for this conference is the River of Life. What I am endeavoring to explain here is that you might see yourself as a spiritual person, you might have certain conditions you want to resolve in your own life, you want to resolve in the world, but the way you look at those conditions is still from the viewpoint of or through the perception filter of a separate self, a self based on this illusion that you are a separate being. What I am saying is that the untold number of lifestreams in the universe who are part of the River of Life have transcended that focus on a separate self. They have transcended that identity that you are a separate self. If you are in embodiment on earth and if you want to be in the River of Life, be part of the River of Life, you will also need to transcend that self-focus.

It is very, very true, as many of you will think, that this is difficult on earth because it is a dense planet, the collective consciousness is very dense. It is not an easy task, but you have chosen this topic for this conference. We have responded by saying that there must be a critical mass among you who are ready to receive a teaching about this. Even if you were not quite conscious of it when you chose the topic for the conference or when you decided to come to the conference or participate in the webinars, you must be ready to at least start to contemplate this, what it means.

The self-centered focus on the outer conditions

There are, of course, levels of understanding of this. But let us start at a fairly simple level that is easier to grasp when you are in embodiment on a dense planet. The tendency that you have when you have this self-focus based on separation is that you are focused on a specific condition, and you identify that condition as being outside yourself. This is what most people do on earth. Most people on earth are focused on certain conditions that limit them, that define them, that make them suffer, that they fear, that stand in their way, and they are focused on those outer conditions. There comes a point where you need to realize that this will not get you beyond a certain point on the spiritual path.

You need to step back and realize that the attitude or the approach that many people take when they find the spiritual path is that they are focused on the outer condition, and they think that if they can only change that outer condition, then they will be able to be spiritual and focus on the spiritual side of life and raise their consciousness. However this is, to use an old expression, putting the cart before the horse. We have talked about this in a large number of dictations given over these past many years, that everything begins with a change in consciousness. Everything begins with a change in consciousness. Consciousness comes before the physical manifestation.

You who are ready to contemplate this topic, you need to step back and say: “Yes, I have studied these teachings that talk about consciousness coming first and the need to change consciousness. But have I really grasped, have I really locked into, what the masters mean? Have I really grasped this?” What you can do, and what many people have done when they find the spiritual path, is that they say: “If I apply the spiritual path, if I study these teachings, if I give these decrees and invocations, my outer conditions will change, or the planet will change. Specific outer conditions will change.” Yet it is valid enough to give decrees and invocations for world conditions, for personal conditions. It is valid enough to use these tools that we have given you. However if you really want to be in the River of Life, this is not enough in itself. Only by transcending the consciousness, a certain consciousness, can you be in the River of Life.

You need to start contemplating that you need to step up the way you look at yourself. You need to be willing to step back and say: “Am I still focused on myself as a separate being? Do I still see myself as a separate being? I have certain conditions that I am working towards changing, but I am working at this from the perspective of a separate being because I think that once those conditions have changed, I will get something out of this as a separate being.”

There are many spiritual people, and we have seen them in ascended master movements over the decades, who have given hours and hours of decrees for changing world conditions. It is not that the decrees do not have an effect. But these people have done this from this self-centered motivation because they thought that they would get some feeling, some sense of accomplishment, by seeing these world conditions change, and they would feel: “I was part of this. I did this.” Again, there is no blame. This is a necessary phase on the path, but it will not take you into flowing with the River of Life. All of the untold numbers of lifestreams on the untold numbers of natural planets who have created this upward pull of the River of Life, they have transcended that self-centered focus. If you want to join them, you must transcend it as well. There is no other way. You cannot cheat. You cannot buy your way into flowing with the River of Life.

The River of Life wants to raise up all life

Now you might do an exercise where you, if you live near some kind of river, you can go to the river physically, or you can certainly go on YouTube and find some videos about rivers that are flowing, perhaps waterfalls. You can look at this, and you can ask yourself: “Could I change the flow of that river? Do I have any say over this?” You can realize when you stand there that the river is flowing. It does not care what you think or feel. It does not matter to the river. The river is flowing. It is doing what the river is doing. Your state of mind and what you feel about it, the river does not care. The reason why it can be helpful to do this exercise is to realize that this is how it is with the River of Life.

Now, in a certain sense you could say that it is not entirely correct to say that the River of Life does not care about you. It is just that the River of Life does not look at life through your separate selves. Therefore the River of Life does not see what you see. It may see the conditions on earth, as we of the ascended masters who are also part of the River of Life, we see the conditions on earth, but we do not see them the way you see them. We do not feel the way you feel. Therefore the River of Life is a movement created by individuals who have transcended your current level of consciousness. You cannot force the River of Life to flow through your separate selves and manifest the results that your separate selves want to see manifest. This cannot be done.

We have seen many, many spiritual people over the years, we see them today as well, who find some spiritual movement, some spiritual teaching, often these teachings about manifestation. If you switch your mindset a little bit, you can manifest all the riches, all the money, all the houses, you want, they think. We have seen people go into this thinking there is some kind of shortcut, there is some way to cheat. But this is not the mindset of the River of Life.

Just ask yourself a simple question. If you take one of these teachings that promise you that if you change your attitude, if you look only at the positive, if you create a treasure map, you can manifest great riches, great amounts of money, where you can buy anything you want. If you take one of these teachings and ask yourself a logical question: Where is the money going to come from? There is only a limited supply of money on earth. If more of that money is going to flow your way, where is it going to come from? It is going to come from that pool, and what does that mean? There will not be as much for other people if it is concentrated in your hands. Is that not what you see when you look at the world and you see that there is a power elite who have hoarded great wealth to themselves and two-thirds of the world’s population live in poverty? Is that not what you see?

Ask yourself this: How is it spiritual to take some teaching about how you as a spiritual person can manifest great riches, when it actually means you will have to take it from other people, who may have less than you have? How is that spiritual? The River of Life wants to raise up all life, so the River of Life in terms of money wants to increase the wealth, and it wants to decrease this tendency to concentrate it in the hands of a small elite. It wants to increase, and it wants to distribute more evenly. If you are using some kind of supposedly spiritual teaching to tie into this mindset of the fallen beings of concentrating wealth in the hands of a few, how is that spiritual, and how is that going to get you into the River of Life? Well, it is not, is it? It cannot bring you into the River of Life. If you have this mindset that: “I want money and I do not care how I get it or where it comes from,” you may be able to manifest money. I am not disputing that this can be done. But you are not in the River of Life.

What is your priority?

So what is it you want? Do you want these specific conditions changed or manifest that you are so focused on, or do you want to be in the River of Life? That is the question that you need to ask yourself at the beginning of this process of us giving these teachings that will gradually unravel for you this very important topic of the River of Life and what it means. I do not want to overwhelm you in the beginning, even though I probably already have, but if you take only one thing away from this dictation, it should be this question: “Do I want certain physical conditions to be changed or to be manifest, or do I want to be in the River of Life”? That is the basic question to start with. What is your priority? What is your desire? Again, we are not blaming you. We are in no way saying that you should be ready for this teaching.

If you feel you are not ready for this teaching, then look at some of the many other teachings we have given and find the teaching that resonates with your level of consciousness and focus on that for a time. You can always come back later to this teaching about the River of Life. But the law is: Ask and you shall receive. You have asked for a teaching about being the River of Life in action, and this is what we endeavor to give you, and the starting point is this question: “What do I want? Do I want physical conditions or do I want to be in the River of Life?” The River of Life is not a physical condition. It cannot be used to manifest physical conditions for the separate self.

Manifesting physical conditions with the River of Life

Now be careful. I did not say it cannot be used to manifest physical conditions. But it cannot be used to manifest physical conditions for a separate self that looks at life through that filter of seeing itself as separate and wanting something for itself as a separate being. You may still, when you join the River of Life, be able to manifest conditions, but it will not be through that perception filter of the separate self. In other words what you will be projecting into the cosmic mirror is not the perception filter of the separate self but the higher perception you attain before you join the River of Life, the higher perception that is the condition for you joining the River of Life. This, of course, means you need to be willing to look at your separate selves and the perception they have and question this. This will be a topic that other masters will address.

For now I have given you the starting impetus, and I am grateful for the opportunity to bring this forth, not only to the people who are here physically or to the people who are on both the Russian and the English-speaking webinars. As we have said before, as you are both concentrated here physically and spread throughout the world, we can use your chakras to radiate this into the collective consciousness. And, of course, you who are here are not the only ones who are ready for this message. There are many, many people who have never heard about ascended master teachings who are still ready at inner levels to tune into this message. They can have a shift in their consciousness by the mere fact that this dictation is given in the physical, and it is reinforced by all of you who are tuning into it.

For this I am grateful. I am grateful for this opportunity, and I seal you in a joyful Flame of Mercy that I AM. Mercy truly, the highest mercy, is to transcend the separate self.