Phoenix Rising:  You have focused on communication a lot this year, and one aspect of communication is what you have referred to as "communication with yourself." What purpose does communication with oneself, including one's "greater self," serve, and how can we best work with that "self-talk"?

Samuel:  The answer begins with the adage about knowing yourself, because if you're going to talk to yourself, you ought to know whom you're talking to. And what I mean by that is to know your different voices. The voice that your spirit uses is very different from your ten-year-old-becoming-independent-but-more-afraid-of-the-world-than-not voice, and when you get those two voices mixed up, you're going to get really confused and make big mistakes about important decisions. If your ten-year-old-becoming-independent-but-I'm-afraid-of-the-world voice is mistaken for your spirit's voice, what do you think is going to happen?

You're not going to act in a very spiritual way.

And your decision is going to be "Should I do this thing that I think will be fulfilling my Guardianship in the world? Oh no! I shouldn't because it might bring failure, and I must not fail." And unfortunately, that can—and does—happen a whole lot. So it's very important to know yourself, and who's talking in the moment. So the answer to a large part of that question shows up in another question, which is, How do you know which voice is talking at which time? What's the question you need to ask yourself in order to know "this voice is talking"?

I ask myself who benefits from this decision.

That's a perfect, perfect answer right there. But you've got to take it a little further. Go with that, but play it out a little more.

If I act on this voice, does it help me in the world or does it help the world? Does it help me feel more comfortable? Am I the only one who benefits, or is there a greater benefit that could come out of what I do? Or, could it be because of who I become?

That works when deciding whether it's the spirit voice or one of your personal voices. So now take it to another level. How do you know which one of those personal voices it is, because that's how you're going to be able to better act. Yes, "Who benefits? Is this just satisfying my own personal needs or does it have a greater purpose in the larger vision?" is the question, but that same answer works for determining which one of those selves you're working with, too. And one of the easier ways to get that answer is to turn the question around into what, unfortunately, might look like the negative aspect of it, and that is, "What am I afraid of?" This is a way you can discern which self is talking, because all of those personal selves are there for the purpose of security. They are taking care of a part of you. That's why they are the main voice. The child self is taking care of a different part of you than the husband, wife, or lover self.

So what fears come up with this decision? And if you have a sense of what your different voices are, you're going to be able to see what those fears mean. The fresh-out-of-college-and-ready-to-take-on-the-world-excited-first-job person might not be the self that should be making the decision about this.

So, first, let yourself figure out who's talking, and the two questions that are good for that are "Who benefits from this?" and "What am I afraid of, and where does that fit in?"

Knowing which part of you that you're talking with then makes a difference, because you can allow yourself to use the strengths and avoid the weaknesses that that particular self has. Or, to say it in a different fashion, you know that the child self is working to protect your physical essence from pain, so everything's going to be based on "Oh no, don't do this, you might get hurt." And that's just as true with its fear of emotional pain. So if you know that this voice is going to be there to try to talk you out of anything that might be painful, then you're going to be able to respond in a different way.

Remember, self-talk is what I'm discussing here. I'm not speaking about "talking to yourself." Talking to yourself, as I see you doing it, tends to be more of a verbal tennis game that nobody wins. Self-talk is a tool. Talking to yourself is chatter. Self-talk is "Let's take a look at what's really going on here." Talking to yourself is putting color into the picture, and is probably not going to be very focused on what you are honestly seeking.

When you find that you know the difference between self-talk and talking to yourself, then you are going to be able to go a very long way towards reaching your goals. You can do the next thing on your journey, because self-talk is a means of stepping forward, whereas talking to yourself is a means of procrastinating.

When you're saying "your selves," do you mean personality selves, the different aspects of personality that are here, now? And then the greater self would be the big-S Self, the entity.

Correct.

And talking to yourself would be like the mental "laundry lists."

That's the chatter.

And the self-talk is when you're focused on realizing that you have choices to make and discerning the right choice and how to make it.

Yes. Maybe you want to think of it as, self-talk has to do with large steps. Talking to yourself is the little steps. Maybe you want to think of self-talk as having to do with the greater vision, chatter having to do with the little things that are required in order to go there.

I'm trying not to say that either one is better than the other. There are times that not taking a step is the right thing to do, in which case that procrastinating chatter can be helpful, because it—rightfully—is forcing you to just think through every little step. It's good because it lets you know you're afraid of something. It's good because it stops you from making a leap that might not be in your best interests.

The thing that you've got to be careful about is that it's not the only guiding force. When it's the only guiding force, then you become mired in it. But if it's input that you realize is all security-issue stuff—always—then, because you know that, you're going to be able to give yourself a more rounded view and, hopefully, be able to make better decisions. Talking to yourself is a good thing.

Talking to yourself involves self-talk and chatter. Use them both. Don't use either exclusively.

And know the difference.

That's right.

You have often described the types of dreams by which we communicate with ourselves. Apart from dreams, what are some methods or tools for communicating with self, and how can we make best use of them?

In the very same way that dreams are a tool for your mind to work out the lake of the known and all of the input that you're getting, so is quiet time. In the Guardianship Program, one of the things that you must do as part of the assignment is take a thirty-minute walk, with fifteen minutes of it quiet. Now, that quiet time has two purposes, and both of them are going to make you a better communicator. First, quiet means you don't allow anything outside of yourself to distract you from hearing your inner voice. You don't allow anyone else's input into your energy at that moment. You're not talking to the trees, to the birds, to the dogs, to anyone else. Giving yourself silent time is going to make you more aware of "the still little voices in your head," lets you know about those voices, helps you connect into them, and hear them. And that puts you on the road to being able to control them, because step one is listen, and step two is don't listen. Listen to hear what can be heard, listen to hear what self that is, listen to hear what is being said, and once you're able to do that, learn to turn it off. Learning to turn it off is so much harder. In order to turn it off, the exercise is to learn to focus on one thing only. Some meditative techniques teach you to focus on breathing. It's not because you're going to do something magic with your breathing; it's because that focus allows you to settle the mind, to not listen to anything else. That focus could also be really paying attention to washing a dish, because it's allowing your mind a little free time that doesn't involve listening to anything.

For example, you can pay strict attention to your in-breath, and, even though the whole time you're saying to your little, inside self, "I feel my stomach expanding; my abdomen is getting larger and at the same time I am bringing air into my sinus cavities, and I feel the air as a cool . . . ," it's totally correct insofar as learning to quiet your mind. You're totally focused on that, talking to yourself through it the whole time. And that is properly focused on your breath, because it keeps you from being focused on anything else. So the first thing that's a really good tool is allowing you to have quiet time as a means of not hearing those voices, and listening for those internal communications.

Another thing that's very, very good for learning to communicate with your selves, and with spirit—because, of course, everything works at both levels—is learning to listen. Now, that's different from learning to be quiet, learning to recognize the voices. In your day-to-day conversations, learning to listen means not jumping ahead and thinking about what you're going to say and how you're going to say it. It's about consciously and purposefully giving yourself to the one that you're talking with. That is also true internally. Learning to listen is the only way you're going to be able to do what we've discussed so far, it's the only way you're going to be able to know which voice it is. It's the only way you're really going to know yourself, by listening to that voice that's saying—and what might it be saying? "Oh, go ahead, do that." "No, don't do that." "This could be a really good way to celebrate Lughnassadh." Anything those voices might say. Mind, most of the time your voices are only about "be afraid of this," or the greater self saying, "Do this." Most of the time those voices are easily separated. Nonetheless, you've got to hear it to know that separation.

The only other tool I would give you is, learn from the interactions you are a part of. Use them as something you can go back to as an instructional video, so to speak, in which you ask yourself what were the dynamics of that conversation? What were the skills that were brought to use? What were the techniques that made me pay attention? What were the techniques that caused me to not pay attention? When you look at those interactions you have, those interactions that you felt really good about were probably successful communications. The ones that you did not feel good about were probably not successful. And again, that's as true in your day-to-day, out-in-the-world interactions as it is with your interactions with yourself and your interactions with your higher self.

It seems to me that you're really talking about that dirty word "discipline." One of the things I've done, as a little exercise, is to go to a discussion group at Phoenix, saying to myself, "I'm not going to open my mouth during the next hour." But it's very hard to do, because the mind is constantly engaged in processing what is going on, and you want to put a verbal affirmation of it out there.

Very well said and, in fact, particularly at those discussions where the focus is on spiritual understanding. You've walked in there with the intention not to talk, and so you're not popping off with what you thought of while somebody else was talking, but your mind is still at work, thoughts are all moving through you anyway, and because of that you actually come up with some of your best insights. And that makes it so much more frustrating, doesn't it, because it's so good. So what you want to learn from that is the ability to go in with the intent that "I'm not here to give my blessed opinion," but when the opinion is a jewel, rather than a pretty rock, go ahead and do give that. And that's working the extremes into a balance, and then allowing yourself to make use of that balance.

It might ruin discussion groups too.

Aye well, in any sort of discussion group, there are always people who need to hear themselves—always. There are always those people who are convinced that they know what is best for everybody else, and very often they're going to do the most talking, and that's all right. You just need to know within yourself that you are honoring your greater insights and try not to judge anybody else's greater or lesser insights.

To what extent are we—meaning humans and other life forms—linked in ways that make non-physical, non-verbal communication possible and useful? Is telepathy a skill that can be developed, and if so, how useful is it?

I like this question a lot, because it relates very well with the idea that information comes as a seed, as a whole, that it doesn't come in words, but as a full thought.

Do you remember the rules of merging, how to do it? One of the key parts of merging is to recognize what is the same. Ultimately, what is the same is that you are both functions of energy that is a function of Source—"Namaste: I recognize God in you." You communicate on the level of what is alike. So you're standing at that tree and you are consciously aware that you are both functions of life force energy connected to pure Source. And with that link, pushing away thoughts such as "Can this tree talk to me? Does it have a mouth? Does it have a brain like my brain?" putting all of that aside and working on the link of life force energy as a function of Source, you then open up to that whole seed instead of limited words. You are much more able to practice and see results with your dogs and cats, for instance, than you are with a tree, because a tree's response is going to be within your head, and you're not going to see any physical response that confirms what is happening.

How do your dogs know when you want to take them for a walk? Do you use words?

We don't have to.

You don't have to, and, in fact, a lot of the time you don't; you look at your dogs and, by thinking about the walk, you send the picture of a walk, and all of a sudden they jump and get excited and happy. That affirmation tells you that you made that connection.

That kind of communication is a very good thing to be working on, because it's going to help you in your communication with Source. Then you can start connecting with another human that way, because you're going to have that practice and confirmation behind you—those successes.

So you work with another human, consciously and with that person's agreement, and you learn to read the whole thing, the non-verbal, non-physical as well as the recognition of that whole thought, so that when you're practicing with that person and you say, "What did you think I was sending?" and they say, "I'm not really sure, but I find myself wanting to go to the park," or "I am thinking of a park," you can say "I was sending 'let's go for a walk,'" that's the kind of success you need. You need confirmation before you can allow yourself to acknowledge something you are being bombarded with all the time.

Telepathy really is just one more version of the input you're constantly receiving, and using it only requires focusing on it. But your acceptance that you're doing it requires practicing in such a way that you're able to receive confirmation.

What part do the pineal and pituitary glands play in communication between different levels of ourselves, and between other realities and us?

It's like asking what does breathing have to do with communication? On one level, it keeps you alive, and on another level it provides the necessary vibratory ability of the larynx to make those words.

The pineal and pituitary—particularly the pituitary—have a whole lot to do with necessary physical and chemical reactions in the body, which in turn have an effect on the emotional self. A very quick and easy example: the pituitary works to regulate hormonal output. Hormonal output can have an effect on how you're feeling emotionally. For instance, what does adrenaline do for you?

It's a stimulant. It kicks in the fight-or-flight response.

It puts everything on alert, and that has an emotional component. Whether you feel safe or unsafe determines how you're going to end up responding. And that's why the adrenal output can be a really good thing—it can keep you really focused and clear—or it can be a very bad thing, kicking in all of your fears

So the pituitary has not only a good, healthy balancing effect, but it also affects the emotional self. Does the emotional self have anything to do with the spiritual self? Well, yes, of course it does. As long as the way you function in this world is the means by which you judge your spiritual effectiveness, it's a huge key. Is it correct? Hopefully not throughout your whole journey. Hopefully it's not going to be the means by which you judge your spiritual self through the whole of your life, but it is going to be for some of the time.

So the pituitary, functioning at its most perfect, has the ability to allow your spirit to move out of the body and return. The pituitary's chemical output becomes like a trail of breadcrumbs on which you move out and return to that body, but that requires the pituitary to be functioning with a perfected pineal as well.

In the same way that the pituitary works with the body's hormonal system, the pineal works with the emotional, the memory and internal sight, which could also be called the psychic senses. Due to the unfortunate limitations of scientific measuring, it would probably be said that the pineal is providing hallucinations, because the pineal-pituitary combination creates the otherworldly experiences that you have under hallucinogenic drugs, for instance. Chemically speaking, it's that physical doorway. Spiritually speaking, it's the ability to know what's going on when you are having real dreams, when you are moving out of body or inter-dimensionally. That shows up when you know something's about to happen, and it does—you have a dream that comes true. When you have sacred sex, the connection made with the orgasmic experience is registered through the pineal. Your knowledge of an emotional response is the pineal. It is involved in your ability to visualize. When I'm sending you up the mountain to the Crystal Palace, your ability to see it like a movie is the pineal.

All of those things have a physical use, but when they are moved to the spiritual, they become tools for moving out of this dimension. And that's also why, unfortunately, those of you who do not believe you are actually seeing anything have a hard time knowing when you are doing that very thing—moving out of the dimension—because you relate so much visually that you want it to be the same way. But I'm talking of inner eyes, not outer ones.

Although we are one with Source, we also feel a desire to communicate with Source . . .

I'm so glad.

How can we best understand that dichotomy and work with it?

Although you are you, you still talk to yourself. It's the same thing. It's the same thing. You argue with yourself. You work things through in your mind—pro, con—you talk to yourself. Same thing.

Those who work closely with you feel an inner connection with that composite which we call "Samuel" on a physical level. What can we do to heighten our awareness of this connection and to communicate with you internally in the most effective way?

None of this is new information, and hopefully by my saying these things this time, the "new" you will get it in ways that the old self could not.

There are two things about communicating with me outside of using the Form [Lea]. The first one is, learn the energy signature. The second one is, it's not coming from me in words.

The signature of the energy—you recognize it particularly if I have had the absolute pleasure of an individual session with you. You're more familiar with it than not if we've been in a small group together. In large groups, for instance at your first workshop, you're not tuned to the bond with me, but you are tuned to the general feel of the energy experience with me, so that's the least effective way. But the more of those experiences you have, the more you will become aware of that energy interaction. But it's the awareness of what happens to your energy that allows you to recognize my energy. You recognize my energy because of what's happening to you. So the very first thing is to do what you can to be in my energy enough that you are able to see a pattern of response in yourself.

Does that include merging with you in toning?

Well, because in toning you are actually putting forth energy and having energy come through you at the same time, it might be harder to recognize my energy and still continue the toning process. But, many times after a toning, several people will say, "Wow, that was a great toning," while in that very same circle there might be somebody saying, "Were we actually on it? Was it working?" The "Oh, that was a good one" is your form registering a positive response to an energy function. So you can say to yourself, "Looking back, is that the same sort of positive response that has happened in the two workshops that I have been to?" If so, you're recognizing my energy.

But then comes that other one: Remember that I don't talk to you in words. However, I am very patient, and I try very hard not to be patronizing when you say to me, "I had a dream the other night and you said this, this and this to me. Was that you?" I try not to dash your hopes and say "No, that was not me. That was your brain turning what I was giving you into words." But that is what it is. I do not talk in words except through the Form, because you do not connect to me with words except through your form. When your brain needs it in words, you're dealing with fear.

Instead, when I am communicating with you, you get every bit of the information on many levels, in all sorts of variations. And instead of recognizing that Samuel says this, this, this and this, you have an awareness of all of it together, and then you are able to break it down into the pieces that satisfy your brain. So when I am communicating with you, don't look for words. Look for awareness of the whole. And the more you find yourself in that place where you have a decision to make and you seem to automatically know the possible consequences of any particular action, you know that because you got it, you got the whole. So that's a way to help you know that that communication with me was indeed there and worked.

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