Relationships and the Michael Teachings

Relationships and the
Michael Teachings

BY PHILLIP WITTMEYER

Clarity and happiness constitute our personal mental health, but of course our well-being also affects everyone we encounter. Sharing these things with others is what love and Agape are all about. In this division we discuss factors from the personality system that affect our relationships with others — particularly with our significant other, our intimate companion.

INTIMACY

To have as much intimacy as possible on as many levels as possible is a drive in many people. On the other hand, some people do not seek intimacy, even in their "intimate" relationships. They have other things on their agendas. To them the following is irrelevant. If you are among those who do want intimacy, please read on.

There is of course a continuum of intimacy from zero to infinite, but for convenience I ignore the degrees of acquaintanceship and distinguish three levels of intimacy. I call these "intimacy", intimacy, and Intimacy. The level of intimacy is not the same thing as the level of closeness or involvement. My experience has been that you can only just get so "intimate" or intimate or Intimate with people — some people more so, some people less so. There seems to be an approximate upper limit that depends on the degrees of Clarity and Affinity in their personal selves. Clarity you already know about. "Affinity" refers to how similar they are and how much attraction and how little repulsion they experience in True Personality.

At the first and lowest level, you are unable to see the other person much deeper than their False Personality, no matter how long you are around them. I refer to this as "intimacy" in quotation marks, since it is false intimacy, based on False Personality. There is not much if any contact with the True Personality or Essence of the other person. Offenses often accumulate and keep the relationship strained. Misunderstandings abound. Pretense is common. Garbage keeps them apart. The reason for this is that Clarity and Affinity are both low. This category often includes the people you work with, for instance. You may get to "know" them very "well" — superficially — but you do not have enough in common with them to relate to them deeply. Most families function at this level of "intimacy", unfortunately. That is why so many of them are unhappy or they fail. This level of "intimacy" does not satisfy most people. Its highest expression is tolerance.

The second level is intimacy — with no quotation marks. It takes place primarily in the True Personality. For the most part there is openness, acceptance, appreciation, and happiness in each other's presence. Rarely do people at this level have to explain themselves to each other. They drop their usual barriers and pretenses. The relationship exists because it is mostly effortless and enjoyable. Close and enduring marriages, companionships, partnerships, and friendships exist at this level. Usually the two have a strong Affinity in True Personality. They overlook each other's garbage. The level of trust is such that it is impossible to offend each other. If the Affinity is low, then high Clarity must function in its place to achieve this level of intimacy. This level of intimacy satisfies most people. Its highest expression is personal love.

The third and highest level is Intimacy, with a capital "I". This most often occurs between those who have a high degree of Affinity and a high degree of Clarity and operate in their higher Centers. In a truly Intimate relationship, the innermost being of the two is revealed and nourished. The two people know each other deeply and fully. They see each other for who they really are — Essence. They see beyond personality, False and True. Simply stated, Intimacy is Clarity in a relationship. This Intimacy is the same thing as Agape — Essence Contact with another person. This level of Intimacy is known primarily to saints and mystics, but is also experienced occasionally by others.

From here on in this division, we will discuss mostly intimacy, rather than Intimacy or "intimacy", since intimacy involves the True Personality, of which the Traits in the personality system are a part. I will discuss two major factors in achieving intimacy: Clarity and Polarity.

For many people, there is nothing more rewarding than an intimate relationship. They expect the most happiness in this relationship. Any two people who are garbage-free can achieve intimacy (perhaps even Intimacy) quickly — and experience the happiness that goes with this. The problem is that none of us has perfect Clarity, and insofar as we lack Clarity, we will not recognize intimacy and we will not experience happiness in a relationship. People who lack Clarity go wrong in many ways. They are attracted to factors of Maya — money, power, glamour, status, romance, lust, intrigues, thrills and adventures — rather than to true intimacy. This causes suffering and misunderstanding. They violate and manipulate the other person rather than enjoy them.

Intense experiences tend to reveal our garbage, and close relationships often provide this intensity. For many people, the thought of "intimacy" brings up fears because of what they have suffered in past "intimate" relationships. The suffering is a result of garbage exposed by the "intimacy", because our "intimate" relationships function at the level of False Personality. When a measure of Clarity is achieved, intimacy can actually diminish what garbage remains. When garbage comes to the surface in an intense and intimate situation, wise and understanding people will recognize this experience as an opportunity for garbage reduction and greater intimacy. "Other-observation" is the key for dealing graciously with other people's garbage, just as "self-observation" is with your own. This is commonly called "nonattachment" or "non-identification". It is not detachment. You are involved and concerned with, but not identified with and lost in, the garbage. This is a very important principle: be vigilant for intimacy without attachment, manipulation, pretense or expectation. Otherwise it is not intimacy. It is just "intimacy".

The degree of Clarity is a big factor in who associates with whom. The reason for this is that it is uncomfortable to be closely involved with those of unequal Clarity. The negativity of people of lesser Clarity is often an "energy drain" to those of significantly greater Clarity. This is just another way of saying that psychologically healthy people gravitate to healthy people, and sick people gravitate to sick people.

Clarity is the most important factor in experiencing intimacy, but the potential for intimacy also involves Affinity. The following factors of Affinity do not constitute "specifications" for a successful intimate relationship. The specification for such a relationship is the recognition by two people who have some Clarity that intimacy already exists, and that it is their choice to pursue the experience of it. Therefore, none of the following factors of Affinity are necessary for intimacy to occur. If all of them are present it does not guarantee intimacy. However, the more of these factors there are, the more likely or the more easy to recognize and develop the potential intimacy. There are other characteristics of Affinity that are very important in successful intimate relationships. For instance, similar cultural backgrounds and interests, and approximate equality in age, education, and intelligence are all significant. We will not discuss these since they are not part of the personality system. There are two types of Affinity factors in the personality system: Similarity and Polarity. The Similarity factors provide common bases for relating in True Personality. The Polarity factors provide attractions in True Personality. Both of these are strong enough to help overcome barriers to intimacy created by our garbage. We will discuss Polarity at length because it is the more significant type of Affinity.

POLARITY

In previous divisions we saw how Polarity worked to create love and Agape with the Positive and Negative Poles and with complementary Traits and Centers. Now we see how it works with relationships. There is a strong attraction between the Polar opposites. Two people often experience the pull of the Polarities in True Personality as the potential for intimacy. The more of these Polarities that exist between two people, the greater the potential for intimacy, other things being equal.

Most people instinctively seek relationships with the opposite gender that are challenging, stimulating and interesting. There has to be some "hook" that grabs both of the people, or there has to be some "issue" for the two to work through. The more different the two people — the greater the Polarity — in the hook or issue, the more they learn from the situation. This is fine when both have some Clarity and healthy issues and hooks are involved, but often this is a "sick" hook or issue and the two play out some game that causes them grief. The Polarities are healthy hooks involving healthy issues. With them one can experience less garbage and more bliss.

Difficulties arise when Polarity factors create a strong attraction, but other factors create a strong repulsion. A typical example is that you strongly attracted to a person sexually, but the person has personality traits that are equally repulsive. It is of course frustrating when it happens the other way around also — attractive personality but not attractive physically. It is this sort of thing that causes us to examine ourselves and our values. What value will we choose? This is another type of Polarity, and not a very pleasant one. Nevertheless, we learn from it — who are we and who are we not.

The Polarities that we will discuss are: gender, Role, Casting, Overleaves, and Bodytype. The more of these Polarities you have operating in the relationship, the greater the potential for intimacy or the more intense the intimacy you can achieve, other factors being equal. There is a "chemistry" in relationships. The psychology of Polarities defines some of the principles of this chemistry. Understanding and applying it is a major factor in achieving intimacy once you have achieved some Clarity.

GENDER POLARITY

In most cases, we expect and achieve the most intimacy in an enduring sexual relationship. The Polarity that exists between male and female is responsible for this. Sexuality is a powerful force of attraction, and it includes a lot more than the urge to copulate. Doing sex is just one expression of intimacy with the other half of the gender Polarity. However, when the only purpose of the sex act is to alleviate horniness, then the other aspects of gender Polarity go unsatisfied, and full intimacy is not realized. The sex act can lead to transcendent experiences that unite the partners in love and Agape. This happens when intimacy is present in all aspects of male/female Polarity — philosophical, mental, spiritual, emotional, behavioral, and somatic. This was mentioned in the section on Tantric sex.

There is a factor of Polarity within the gender Polarity that figures prominently in achieving intimacy. That is the spectrum of masculinity and femininity. There are people (male and female) at both extremes, and there are people in the androgynous middle. If a man is androgynous, he will probably prefer a woman at the feminine extreme. This will Polarize what masculinity he has. If a woman is androgynous, she will probably prefer a man at the masculine extreme. This will Polarize what femininity she has. The wider the spread in Polarity between the two, the stronger is the attraction and the more likely is the possibility of achieving intimacy with the help of this factor.

Gender Polarity is such a strong factor that it often brings and holds together two people who can be no more than "intimate" with each other. The following Polarity factors provide bases for true intimacy, whether or not gender Polarity is present.

ROLE AND CASTING POLARITY

You have probably heard it said that opposites attract, when it comes to intimate relationships. We seem instinctively to seek out people who are our "missing half". Polarity functions in the Roles and Casting as well as in the sexes, and this accounts for some of this attraction of opposites.

There is the pairing of the complementary opposites of Sage with Artisan, Priest with Server and King with Warrior. The Neutral Role, Scholar, is not paired. These Role pairings attract each other and form complementary dyads in a way not unlike the pairing of male and female. That is why, if you are seeking an intimate relationship, it works well to find a person of the opposite Role as well as of the opposite gender. There is a type of excitation that occurs between people of opposite Roles. For Sages and Artisans it is primarily a mental excitation — involving thoughts. For Priests and Servers it is primarily affective excitement — involving mood. For Kings and Warriors it is primarily physical excitement — involving action.

Everything discussed above about Role is also true of the Casting factors of Entity, Cadence and Position. They are almost as strong a determinant of personality as Role is, although they function in a different way. Refer to the section on Casting to refresh your memory. To a large extent, the Role and Casting Aspects are all interchangeable in terms of this interaction. For instance, a person in the Third ("Artisan") Cadence or Position is very much like a person who is a Artisan in Role. This person will fulfill polarity with a Sage almost as well as an actual Sage.

OVERLEAF POLARITY

Recall that all the Traits on the personality chart are called "Overleaves" except the Role and the three Casting numbers. All the Overleaves except those in the neutral Assimilation Process (Equilibrium, Observation, Stubbornness, Pragmatist, Instinctive, Fourth) have Complementary opposites, just as the Roles do. Acceptance is obviously the opposite of Rejection, and Arrogance is obviously the opposite of Self-deprecation. So it goes for the twenty-one pairs of Polar Overleaves. The interaction between Overleaves requires more explanation than between Roles alone. This is discussed following the next section.

BODYTYPE POLARITY

In almost all relationships there is an element of Bodytype attraction, compatibility or repulsion present. Either you feel comfortable in the presence of another person's body or you don't. Of course, this is especially important in sexual and other intimate relationships. (Bodytype attraction is not the same thing as sexual attraction.) It is much easier to become intimate with a person where Bodytype attraction or compatibility exists. If it does not exist, then other factors of attraction must function in its place or an intimate relationship will not likely develop. Most people are aware that they find certain Bodytypes attractive, but are not sure just why. The reason is, as with the factors mentioned above, there is a Polarity here. The reaction is automatic — according to the laws of nature, not choice, just like sexual attraction. There are three pairs of opposites and a neutral, as with the personality Traits. They interact with Identicality, Complementarity, and Incompatibility just as the Overleaves do, as we will see in the next section.

We will examine the seven Bodytypes as given in the teaching of Gurdjieff. These types are named after the seven visible planets — Sun, Mercury, Venus, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn — with characteristics taken from the deities of Roman mythology. Few people are a pure Bodytype. Most people will combine various percentages of two or three of these Bodytypes. I am about 70% Mercurial and 30% Martial, for instance. The designations in parentheses after the names of the Bodytypes refer to the "Dimension" the Bodytype is in (see introduction to the personality chart), and its Polarity. For instance, (2D+) is two-dimensional positive. It is paired with 2D-, of course.

MARTIAL (1D-): Martials are naturally muscular, or at least athletic and sinewy, whether male or female. They are built for action and toughness. They are brimming with energy. The shoulders are broad, the hips narrow, and the chest deep. The face is mannish or womanish rather than boyish or girlish. The opposite type is:

JOVIAL (1D+): At whatever height, Jovials are thick and stout, if not overweight. The waist is large, the limbs fleshy, the neck short. They are not muscular in the way that Martials are, but they are built for action.

LUNAR (2D-): Lunars tend to be short to medium in stature with small bones. They are rounded and fleshy in form, but not necessarily obese. They have pale or luminous skin and a round face. hair is slight. The opposite type is:

SOLAR (2D+): Solars have refined and delicate features on a slight, childlike frame, perhaps even frail. Often their skin is luminous, or radiant, as if they shine with an internal glow of light.

MERCURIAL (3D-): The Mercurial is slender of build and slight of bone, whatever the height. The facial appearance is usually girlish or boyish rather than womanish or mannish. They are built not for action or inspiration, but for thought. Hand-eye coordination is good. They are skillful at whatever they do. The opposite type is:

VENUSIAN (3D+): Venusians are physically attractive whether male or female. Female Venusians are beautiful, and the males are pretty too, with thick hair and large dark eyes and dark skin, and with well-proportioned bodies and faces.

SATURNIAN (PD=): Saturnians are medium to tall in stature, large boned with a large frame, but not overweight. Their faces are bony and angular also. This is the Neutral type.

Notice that in the above Bodytypes, the Action and the Neutral types (Martial, Saturnian and Jovial) are better suited for a male according to our cultural stereotypes, and the Inspiration and Expression types (Lunar, Solar, Venusian and Mercurial) are better suited for a female.

So what do you do with this information? First, figure out what type or mix of types you are. Then review the romantic and other close relationships you have had. You will probably discover that the most satisfying to your body was the opposite Bodytype. The most fulfilling physical relationship for me was with my exact Polar opposite, a Jovial-Venusian type. I could not believe that Bodytype could have such enjoyable effects. There were thrills. There were comforts. We could not get enough of each other's bodies. However, I do have a few words of caution. Do not mistake the urge to merge complementary Bodytypes with the urge to merge your entire being. Bodytype attraction facilitates intimacy between bodies, and it might facilitate intimacy between minds and hearts, but not necessarily.

POLARITY INTERACTIONS

So then, how do these Role, Casting, Overleaf and Bodytype Polarities interact in relationships? We all know we get along with some people, and others we don't, but do we really know why? There are often reasons in False Personality — "intimate" relationships — but we will not discuss them. Here we only discuss how the Traits on the chart — factors in True Personality — work with each other in intimate relationships. There are eight basic Trait interaction types. The first seven given below do not apply to Maturation (Level and Age). Maturation is therefore considered separately. Any two people in a relationship may have several of these eight types operating. An "S" in parentheses indicates the Affinity type of Similarity, and "P" indicates Polarity.

IDENTICALITY (S): This is when two people have the same Trait (or Traits). Obviously this provides much Affinity. Interactions motivated by the Identical Trait are comfortable and pleasant. Such transactions are relatively effortless because there is neither attraction nor repulsion at work. This is one of the most enjoyable interaction types, but there are two potential problems. If the two people are in the Negative Pole of the Trait, this will exaggerate the negativity. Also, if there are too many Identical Traits, the relationship may become stagnant, since it lacks dynamism.

COMPLEMENTARITY (P): This is when two people have Traits in the same Aspect but in opposite Processes, such as Dominance and Submission, or Arrogance and Self-deprecation. People attract people who have the Complementary Trait or Traits. They sense that the other is their missing half. Indeed, the dynamic tension here is like the attraction between male and female. The problem is, in spite of the attraction, there cannot be a reconciliation of the two. This makes Complementarity difficult to deal with until both learn their proper place and give each other space. Complementarity can also help you stay in the Positive Pole of your Trait as we saw in the section on Positive and Negative Poles. This is the second most intimate interaction type. Recall the discussion in a previous division about using Complementary traits to help each other stay in the Positive Poles.

RAPPORT (P): This is when two people have Traits in the same Process but in opposite Aspects, such as Rejection and Caution, or Stubbornness and Scholar, or Realist and Moving. People attract people who have Traits in Rapport with theirs. There is a positive feedback between the two. Interactions are agreeable and harmonious. Rapport has the advantage that it is dynamic like Complementarity, but it lacks the degree of stress of Complementarity. Rapport is therefore stimulating and fulfilling without contradiction. It is the most intimate interaction type. A problem to watch out for is the potential that the Negative Poles of the two Traits will exacerbate each other.

COMPATIBILITY (A): This is when two people have Traits in the same Process but not in Rapport, such as Rejection and Skeptic, or Stubbornness and Observation, or Realist and Impatience. The interaction is similar to Rapport in that there is attraction and harmony, but it is not as strong as Rapport because they are not in the same Aspect Dimension. People with Compatible Traits are on the same "wavelength" or "vibration" in the areas of life covered by their Compatible Traits. This Affinity is enjoyable and comforting, with no significant drawbacks.

OPPOSITION (P): This is when two people have Traits in opposite corners of the groups of four Traits, such as Priest and Self-deprecation, or Dominance and Perseverance. People with Traits in Opposition are both attracted and repelled by each other. There is attraction in that there is interaction between two people with Opposing Traits, but there is repulsion in that the two Traits are antagonistic to each other. Between some people this produces a "love/hate" relationship. The best that can come of Opposition is to let the contrast purify or define yourself. The worst outcome of Opposition is the destruction of the relationship.

INCOMPATIBILITY: This is when two people have Traits of the same Dimension, either in Process or Aspect, but not both. Examples are Priest and Impatience, or Priest and Reduction, or Priest and Sage. Because they share a Dimension, there is significant interaction, but it is of an inharmonious type since another Dimension is not shared. Interactions between such Traits produce misunderstandings. They are uncomfortable and unsatisfying, sometimes repulsive. There is no benefit to Incompatibility other than learning tolerance. There is no intimacy here.

INDIFFERENCE: This is when two people have Traits that are neither in the same Process nor Aspect Dimension. It covers all interactions not covered above. About half the Traits are Indifferent to each other. Examples are Aggression and Artisan, or Acceptance and Stoic. There is no significant interaction between such Traits, either of attraction or repulsion. They are neutral or meaningless to each other. There is no intimacy here.

MATURATION (S): Maturation (Level and Age) is much like chronological maturity in that the closer two people are, the better they understand each other, and the more similar their perceptions will be. Younger Maturation people cannot understand the perceptions and values of older Maturation people — they find them incomprehensible, or even "crazy". Older Maturation people perceive younger Maturation people as simple-minded, immature, or even foolish. People are uncomfortable or bored with those not of their Age — the further the separation in time, the worse the situation. The closer two people are in Maturation, the more they have in common, and the more similar are their behaviors, beliefs, and values. (Level has about one quarter to one third of the force that Age has.) This is a huge factor in achieving intimacy.

For those who have interest, I have a twenty-five page exposition on these Trait interactions. Some brief comments will do for now. Generally speaking, the more two people have of transaction types Identicality, Complementarity, Rapport and Compatibility, and the closer the Level and Age, the greater the potential for intimacy. Dynamic Polarity types such as Complementarity and Rapport are most conducive to intense interpersonal involvement. Identicality is most conducive to comfortable relationships and harmonious work on outer projects. Ideally an intimate relationship will have a little Identicality to make it comfortable, a little Rapport and Complementarity to make it dynamic, and a little Opposition to make it challenging.

MEANINGFUL TRANSACTION INDEX

There are many things that determine how "meaningful" a relationship will be, but I have found that the Traits of the two people have a lot to do with it. You can determine roughly how "meaningful" a relationship will be in terms of the Traits by counting how many "meaningful transaction" cases (Identicality, Complementarity, Rapport, and Opposition) occur between the Traits of the two people. Here are the rules.

Delineation, Representation and Formation count as Dimensional pairs, so they have the potential for all four meaningful transaction types. Level and Age are not a Dimensional Pair, and they have potential for Identicality only. Entity, Cadence and Position are a Dimensional triad, and they have potential for Identicality, Rapport and Complementarity, but not Opposition. For simplicity's sake, count only the primary and secondary Features and Centers. For body types, count instances of Identicality and Complementarity. Add up the total quantity of these four cases, then diminish the total of above cases by 1/6 for each Age that separates the two people. Further diminish the total by 1/8 for each Level that separates the two people. I call the result the "Meaningful Transaction Index", or MTI.

On average you can expect to have an MTI of about 3 or 4 with another person. This is not very much and it does not make for a very meaningful or intimate relationship. Fewer than this and you will find the relationship even less than normally meaningful, other things being equal. If the MTI exceeds 5, then the relationship becomes significantly meaningful. An MTI of 7 is very meaningful, and 9 is extremely so. I have not experienced an MTI greater than 11. The maximum possible is 26.

All the above may seem kind of silly and complicated, and generally speaking it is, since most people size up other people rather quickly and they know how meaningful the relationship is without all this mathematics. The reason I bring it up is to emphasize that the higher the MTI the easier it is to find intimacy, other things being equal. People with some Clarity can determine quickly and easily how intimate a relationship can be without knowing about all these transaction types. However, people at the beginning of the Clarification process could perhaps use some help in what to look for. The more of the favorable transactions there are between two people, the more "transparent" are the personalities, False and True. In other words, with high Affinity (Similarity and Polarity), there are few personality differences to keep two people from interacting easily and naturally with each other. Thus it becomes easier to recognize intimacy and Intimacy, other things being equal. Knowing this, you can wittingly be on the alert for such relationships if you like. I remind you: as Clarity increases, the importance of Affinity in achieving intimacy decreases.

FULLNESS AND EMPTINESS

It is satisfying to the personal self to have a mate or lover who is intellectually, emotionally, and sexually attractive — these are fulfilling to the Positive Poles of the lower Centers. One can then elevate the relationship by experiencing the higher Centers together. However, many people are driven to seek "intimate" relationships by the Negative Poles of the three lower Centers — boredom, loneliness, and horniness — and by other negative drives in False Personality. They believe the other person will fill the emptiness. They approach the relationship from need, and hope to find someone to fulfill the need. Other people seek "intimacy" as a reaction to a feeling of alienation. They are polarized toward strangeness, so they seek a companion to give them the sense of belonging that they otherwise lack. Such people often do find someone to play their game, and this type relationship is being called "codependency" these days. This is sick. I want to emphasize that this is not the same thing as experiencing intimacy with the other half of one's Polarity, which is a positive and healthy thing.

This negative approach leads to much suffering and disappointment. There is an energy drain in dealing with needy negativity proportional to the amount of garbage in both parties. If we live an intimate relationship from a positive position of fullness, we are energized. That energy is an expression of the higher Centers, the Positive Poles of our Traits, and of Clarity. Healthy intimacy exists not in two people with certain specifications to fill their lacks but by both being whole and self-contained. Without Clarity we will always be dissatisfied with a mate or a lover or anybody else because they will never be just right.

An exaggerated expression of the needy lover is their romantic fantasy about meeting a "Soul mate" who will exactly fill all the emptiness. There may or may not be such a person for us. We don't know. They might or might not fill our emptiness, even if we meet them. If we lack Clarity, we may not perceive or understand intimacy when we encounter it. What do we do? In the intimacy achieved through Clarity there is happiness regardless of any Soul kinship. The principle is this, that we cannot find intimacy with others until we first find intimacy within ourselves — Clarity. We must be able to maintain Clarity fairly consistently, or we will likely screw up our intimate relationships, whatever the Affinity or soul kinship may be. People who lack Clarity pursue not real intimacy with those close to them, but manipulation to get what they "need". The more Clarity we achieve, the more these "needs" transmute to positive drives. Then we will recognize intimacy and value it above all other considerations. When we perceive intimacy with someone, we can choose to follow wherever it leads without attachment, distraction, expectation, or specification.

We will know we are doing it wrong if it seems like work.

CONCLUSION

You have read that the purpose of this spiritual path is to increase the ability of the personal self to express love and experience Agape. You have read that you can also become more conscious, self-aware and free by following this path. You have read that the path is to reveal the transpersonal self by dumping the garbage carried by the personal self, and to experience the higher Centers in ourselves and in our relationships. CONTACT WITH ESSENCE IS LOVE. LOVE IS OBSCURED BY FEAR AND ILLUSION AND IGNORANCE. THE GOAL OF ESSENCE IS BLISS. BLISS IS ACHIEVED THROUGH TRUE INTIMACY WITH SELF AND OTHER. TRUE INTIMACY IS ACHIEVED IN THE HIGHER CENTERS. This is the essence of this spiritual path.

One final point to be made is that this spiritual path serves to disconnect our personal happiness and fulfillment from dependence on external circumstances. The personal self must realize that happiness and contentment is entirely an internal state. Happiness is not determined by the crystal on the mantle or around the neck or under the pillow, or by what planet is in what house in what sign, or by what tarot card the psychic reader turns up. Nor is happiness determined by how much money there is in the bank account, or by what the employer does, or by what car is parked in the driveway, or by what person shares the bed, or by which toothpaste is used. We have the power of happiness within ourselves — Essence. Essence is ever waiting for us to acknowledge it and invite it in.

.....................................................................................................................................

Phil Wittmeyer is a longtime Michael student and scholar of the teachings. He can be reached at: wittmeyer@hotmail.com