With Clairvoyant, Healer and Spiritual Teacher
RAPHAELLE TAMURA
January 6, 2004

 

 

All right... the ideas of reincarnation and karma are truly some of the most misunderstood aspects of the modern "metaphysical movement." I would like to first mention that these concepts have been around for thousands of years, mostly taught in the eastern traditions. In fact, they are so common in these traditions, it is even an integrated cultural assumption.

Coming into a lifetime is similar to the idea of going on a great adventure. It is not just the thrill of going on that adventure that makes it appealing. Usually the experience of the adventure enriches the person who participated. 

Mistakes are often made along the way, the wrong paths can be taken and a person at times can become hopelessly lost, but eventually the person finds his way, (and is welcomed) "home". This analogy describes what we are doing as conscious, and individualized beings living in this dense material world. We are ALL working on finding our way back to the God-self that we are. So with this in mind, we decide to go on the adventure of a lifetime (pun intended!). 

We are made up of so much energy, and we are given gifts and purposes for which to exist in bodies. We would not have to even do any of this had we not, sometime early on, made mistakes or created such horrific experiences that we would rather forget it and start over than heal it and release it.

Instead we decide to go up the river of denial (isn't that in Egypt?? De-Nile!  Ha! Amusement is helpful, remember...) Another word for that is death and reincarnation ...That is the genius of God's creation, this life-and-death world, I think, in that once we learn to forgive and heal, we will not need 'death'. 

I seem to remember seeing this same idea all over the Biblical New Testament in Jesus' teachings, but very few folks seem to get it quite yet. Jesus' ‘dying for our sins�?for instance, was a simple way of saying that his death was the clearing of all the karma at that time, and that the game of karma had already ended. But people didn't hear him, and here we are two thousand plus years later still making the same mistakes ("sins") - and still playing the game of "karma."

Anyhow, when we turn away from the Divine that we are, and the paths that we set up for ourselves, we end up having presented to us, many opportunities for learning (painful life lessons, is an example of this). 

When we follow the impulses that are in alignment with our Divine self, then our life is less fraught with painful lessons... instead, we have the opportunity to heal some old wounds we brought in with us (karma,) and once those are healed, we then have the more "advanced" opportunity to become more fully ourselves (thus fulfilling our Soul Purpose) -  as a result, we attain the freedom to live in  a much higher octave of energy. 

No longer are we suffering from the pain of turning away or being separated from our Divine selves. Once free, we can learn, create, give of ourselves freely and evolve back toward our God-self.

One of the most common questions that is asked of me, in this aspect of understanding how to get back on the path of freedom, is, "What about those who have hurt me or damaged me?" or,  "What about those I have hurt?" or to take this one step further, "What about the really bad people in the world who have hurt many, or even millions?"

My answer to that is simple, whether you are an individual or group of any kind, such as a country. Remember, we are all part of the whole. That means the so-called ‘bad people�?are really a part of us, even if we are the most angelic persons living on the planet. 

Of course the bad people doing damage (if they really are doing that), must be stopped at what they are doing, but remember.... their twisted consciousness and decisions on what they do with their lives, is only a mere reflection of what the general consciousness of humanity contains,
and that includes you. 

Think of it this way, in any given "situation" you are always the good guy (or girl), and the other person is always the "bad guy" right? If you were looking through the other person's eyes in that situation, what you would find is that you yourself, to be the "bad guy" from that other person's perspective. It is ALWAYS that way.

We have all played that role with one another and for many lifetimes. There are really no ‘good guys and bad guys�? There is only "asleep" and "awake," one of the most problematic and persistent aspects of living on this planet.  And the most heal-able, too!!

Where can we start to heal this incorrect level of thinking and destructiveness? There is a lot of this in the world, that is for sure, so it is best to start with yourself, FIRST. Using an old Bible quote, we must first ‘take the log out of our own eye before taking the sliver out of the eye of the other person.�?nbsp; I call this being aware of and releasing our ‘matching pictures.�?In other words, recognizing what we are resisting in that person, is something that is exactly the same inside of ourselves.

Let's take that person who has hurt you. Lets say it was sexual or physical abuse. Is this always karmic? No, not always. Often some of you very brave souls choose to come into a harsh family to just get you to where you need to go. Somehow such a request, always looks better on paper - or in this case the spirit world - when you are agreeing to this experience (remember the adventure idea?) - than when you are actually experiencing the reality of it! You say, "Holy cow, how did I end up in this family anyway?" 

Well here is an answer for you.... Yes, It helps to be a little amused when you are learning about these things... In such a case, you chose that awful family or experience, because simply it was a means by which you could find your purpose for being born this lifetime. Of course your purpose is always to become more of who you are, but the way to discovering that is by following the Divine impulses that show you where you need to go from that point on. I am talking about listening to your own inner voice. 

So, for instance on a positive level, these negative experiences will guide you to such things as strengthening your ability to forgive others, or making you a much stronger person, or even perhaps to give you that extra charge of energy (even though it may come from a negative reaction to your experience), - to put you on a very particular life path. 

Some examples of a path taken after being an abuse victim for instance might be: helping to heal or stamp out family abuse by working as a healer, counselor, writing a book to raise the awareness of the problems and coming up with solutions to it, or even taking jobs (or changing things)  in the government systems that attempt to address these issues, such as prisons, social services and the like. 

So these have more to do with a choice of what you want to accomplish in a lifetime and the means by which that opportunity to do so is given to you. Then there are those of you who chose a family situation like that because it truly is karmic. Often those who were the abusers last time, become the innocent abused this lifetime. 

This is not punishment, my friends. This is what you as a soul have chosen, because you never forgave yourself for being that abuser. You just wanted to make absolutely, doubly sure that you would never, ever do that again to anyone else. Your idea of this was, that if you know what it is like to be abused, then you won't do it again. God did not do this to you. You agreed to it, begged for it in some instances, for on some level, you needed to know the pain you dished out, but the hardest part for most, is facing this and forgiving one's self for it, and the Grace is there for you to do this at ANY time.

Forgiving is the key to moving on to a better life, in either of these instances. Forgiveness is a very high vibration, for it releases into the ethers, the energy form in which you are stuck. Forgiveness is simply the act of letting go of yours, or another's, mistake that you invested a lot of your energy in. Some even have their whole life tied up in it.  So it may feel scary to want to let it go.  Who will you be then?? 

Believe me, whatever the answer, it will be better than being the stuck person you have been, once all of the energy (hatred, resentment, etc.), is released. To help with your process, conscious inner meditation helps, if you practice it.  If you can look within yourself, you can usually tell the difference between whether this is something karmic, or simply part of your life set-up to get you on your path.

Both in some ways are experienced the same, for abuse is abuse no matter what the reason is for it being in your life. And the solution for moving thru it is ultimately the same. However, those working with the karmic aspect tend to have a little more difficulty to move through it, since it will always trigger some aspect or "overlay" of the past life you did not forgive yourself of. 

Awareness is the key to finding what 'within' you needs to be forgiven.

Here's another fun thing you can do:  go out to the video store, and rent the movie ‘Ground Hog Day�? It is an amusing, albeit Hollywood, depiction of what happens to us, but instead of spreading it over many lifetimes, the hapless main character in this movie, has to stay conscious and alive through the same stupid day over and over and over again, until he gets where he is making his mistakes so he can move on.

You see karma is simply cause and effect. Something that was begun, and not finished. Like a hit and run driver, it may SEEM like she got away with the crime, but in the larger picture of spirit, this person will pay dearly for her absurd lack of good judgment, for she knows she has made a wrong choice, for whatever the reason, sane or insane, in leaving such a scene. 

For whatever is started in this material plane, must be finished here as well.  So if she  "gets away" with her crime, she must then, during her death process, look what at she did to the person she hurt. Not only that, she gets to BECOME that person and live, in minute detail, the pain and agony she caused that other person and that person's family and friends.

Most of us, are much harder on ourselves in the midst of our mistakes, than we are on other people. So you can imagine what this hypothetical person has awaiting her if she does not attempt to rectify this situation with herself, and her victim, while still in life. She has to experience the horror of what she has done, during her death Bardo. 

Then, she will be faced with it all over again in some form or another in her next lifetime. No matter what, the being cannot escape this unless he or she wakes up and calls in the Divine Grace that comes with forgiving herself for such a mistake in judgment. This is why we usually don't wish to remember our past lives.  It is just too painful. We are like the hit and run driver at times, not really wanting to look at the gravity of our mistakes.

Please do not mix this hypothetical scenario up with revenge. Revenge is only a form of punishment and is NOT the solution to karma, but instead is a very temporary band-aid for it, for the victim and ultimately, a gross perpetuation of karma. It is very clear that we are done with the time of ‘an eye for an eye�? 

The solution to karma on all ends of it is forgiveness. If you are not aware that you can end the karma by forgiving someone or yourself, then people normally just go by our instinctual patterns. So if that one is a pattern of victim-hood, then you will play that out ad nauseum, until either you get tired of being a victim and simply take a new stance, or you actually wake up to the real reason for your condition, which is more often than not, unfinished karma and non-forgiveness.

Once you do this, then you find out you have the power to drastically change everything about how you think, live and exist. When taking steps to move through difficult karma, is it necessary for you to accuse a person, take them to court and so forth? Yes, sometimes. I call this the ‘long form�?of working thru karma, we just live it out as it comes along, and make good choices during the process. 

In some situations you HAVE to because the law and courts are also involved, or you feel compelled in the depths of your being to pursue the other person to its conclusion. It is important not allow yourself the space that says, "I will never forgive you", for it will be you who will be stuck with the karma, even long after the offender has forgiven him or herself. ...Or we can do this in the short form

Right now, so many changes are happening on the planet, the knowledge of the ‘short form�?of working through Karma, is becoming more easily known, so that more folks can move into the higher octave of Grace, that allows larger numbers of us to be more helpful, healing persons in the world, giving a ‘hand�?to those who just aren't getting it.

This Grace has always been there, and has been shown to us in many ways. When we make the deep inner decision to step out of the patterns we are stuck in, and forgive everyone involved, including ourselves, then Grace steps in and it is like being reborn. I call this being in the Divine Present Moment (the only moment that really exists anyway) - and always living there. 

Don't get stuck in the future, for no matter how hard you try, you never catch up to the future. The same with the past - it is gone, unchangeable, but forgivable. This can be done if you are a convicted murderer or an ordinary person just feeling "stuck" in the world. Living in the 'now', allows you to be fully present, and gives you the power to let go of the past. Being fully in the 'now', gives you the power to make conscious decisions including those which affect other people.

The 'now' allows you to acknowledge your mistakes, rectify them as necessary (such as the convicted murderer serving his time, doing good for others in any way he can), forgive oneself for making them (but having truly learned from the experience) and continue to live in the ever-Divine Now, guilt-free. This creates a place to free even the worst person to shift his energy to the Grace of being an asset in this material world, in whatever way you can. 

I invite all of you to do this starting tonight. Meditate on it, give this Grace to yourself, for it is always there. For even the worst life on this planet is not a wasted life if the living in the 'now'. Divine Grace is allowed to be a part of who you are. Another name for this Divine Grace, is Peace.

I would like to conclude my talk with my favorite peace prayer. This gives a wonderful solution to clearing karma...

The Prayer of St. Francis

O, Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Creator,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning, that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying, that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.  ...and so it is. Love to you all!

 

 

Raphaelle is an exceptional spiritual teacher and maintains her private practice of clairvoyant counseling and spiritual healing. Together with her husband, Spiritual Healer and author, Michael Tamura, Raphaelle has conducted spiritual retreats in the United States, as well as abroad.

 

She is the business manager and event coordinator for this spiritual teaching and healing team as well as the publisher/editor of their Star of Peace Newsletter. For more information on her work, visit her web site: http://www.michaeltamura.com