Yes. We are wishing to welcome you. We are Li Chen. We are most happy to be together with all of you tonight. We are choosing to speak on resurrection. This is certainly one of the celebrations of your great master, Jesus, you are so very fond of here in your western culture.

Topic of resurrection is certainly a very vast topic; can be perceived and understood in variety of ways. We will begin with the most obvious, the most direct, and move out from there.

The resurrection, of course, is referring to the coming back to life, after the death by crucifixion, of the master Jesus. This was perhaps one of his greatest and certainly his last teaching. The lesson here being death, in fact, does not exist.

When Jesus appeared three days later, there were certain of his followers who could perceive and receive him. The great lesson was, yes, I remain with you. I am with you always. As ever, Jesus was on who was teaching each of you your full potential of what you can be. Not so much who you can follow, but truly what you can become. And this lesson of resurrection was a quite literal acting out of the fact that when one is leaving the body, one is certainly not dying, but in fact freeing oneself of the confines of the physical — corporeal existence — and moving outward and beyond. Freeing oneself from these confines, these limits, into far more powerful and limitless experience. Very joyful. This is, quite simply, the experience of resurrection in this sense. Death of the body as doorway to greater life.

Then there are many other ways to perceive this. One can understand resurrection and create and often direct resurrection at any time in your own life, by offering the death of a way of life or a greater aspect of life. One can offer the death of the self, the ego self, this great ego death, in order to become a vessel for greater knowledge. Being directed and guided by a greater captain, perhaps, than the ego or the will or the desire of the mind and the small self to do this and that and another thing. To allow yourself to die to the smaller self in order that you can give birth to the greater self, God within.

This is certainly the essential teachings of your master, Jesus — it was so with all great masters — who was showing, by example, what you can each one become. What your true potential is. And showing you, by example, how you can do this. As you are having a willingness to die to the small self, you are then inviting, praying to God, to move through you in a far larger manner. Then you are truly like vessel. This was the experience of the life of Jesus.

Not that he did not have his human aspects, for he surely did. He had his fears and doubts, as each of you do. Yet, he also had the courage and the knowledge that he was being used by a greater force as a tool in the world for God’s work. And in this way, the resurrection came through the work of the entire life. Each one of you has this potential, each one of you can do this.

Author, Jocelyn Graef Each action that was happening, all these miracles that were happening through the mast Jesus, were examples, in a way, of resurrection. Of ego death. Of the moving aside of the small self so that the greater self can emerge. This was not planned, this was not designed by Jesus. He was in such ideal alignment with his source, with God within, that he was simply following directions. Go left, go right. Touch this one for the healing. Allow this water to become wine. Allow these loaves and fishes to multiply, to feed the masses of hungry people. Each time a miracle was performed, he was quite as amazed and awed as each of those experiencing and / or witnessing each of these miracles. He did not know beforehand what would occur.

This perhaps is what is preventing many of you from becoming more fully realized. Is this idea that you must plan out God’s work for God. We can tell you this. God is quite capable of making His own plans, finding His helpers in the world. People who are willing to give themselves up for something far greater are always finding profound fulfillment as result. A great joy and a sense of purpose. A deep connection within self. A rightness, a sense of belonging that has nothing to do with what things are looking like.

This is a deep, intrinsic feeling when you are aligning with God, when you are partnering with God. Life then becomes far larger, for you are greater than you could ever be being directed by mind or smaller self. So. As you desire to be resurrected into a greater life; a greater richness, a greater serenity, a greater joy, a greater knowledge, and certainly a greater service, you do not put conditions on this. By putting conditions, such as, “Oh, yes, God, I long to be your servant. This I live for, this is my hearts commitment, yet make sure it only looks like this and this and this, and I will most happily do this. Make sure that I do not work too late at night, or I do not have too little money, and I will most happily be your servant,” you are limiting God. This is not how it works. This requires much faith.

Faith is another aspect of partnering with God — certainly your Jesus was speaking of this throughout his life. One must have faith. For when you are opening self to become true partner by being the one in the world who is doing the action while directed by God, God is coming to you in the moment that the action must take place. And in this way, you are simply the one performing the action. You are not the creator or designer, the blue-print maker. For when you are partner with God, you do not know what will happen tomorrow or next week. You often do not know five minutes beforehand what will be required of you or asked of you. This takes much faith indeed. So as you pray to be of greater service, know this is where your fulfillment lies.

When we speak of ego death, we do not mean that you will deny self or become a different person. You will most surely maintain your identity. Your humor, your faults — all these things that make up you. What you are giving up is your idea that you are somehow in control. This is very freeing, this is not frightening. This is cause for great celebration, for there is a greater hand than yours moving in your life. Guiding you, directing you, upholding you. Loving you. Also, whatever you are doing, you are not doing this alone. This is our message again and again; you cannot be alone. Regardless of how you are feeling, how alone you might feel at times, this is an illusion.

Photograph by Dena Ventrudo God dwells within each of you as well as around you in all that is. So each of you is possessor of God, on deepest level indeed you are God. It is this aspect that carries on, that maintains, that is immortal. So. As the body leaves, then you are remaining intact. You are resurrecting each time into a greater presence, a greater reality. As you pursue your cycle of reincarnation, you become in each moment, in each hour, in each lifetime, accumulating all lessons of the soul — gaining, learning, growing and helping each other, your brothers and sisters, as you move forward on your path, never alone.

This is the main aspect of resurrection. This can occur again and again throughout your life at any time. Resurrection need not be an aspect of death, of simply leaving the body, to then go back to source, go back to spiritual family. Resurrection can occur at any moment. So if your life is not working for you — and we are seeing this more frequently now during this time of great change that is feeling so chaotic to so many of you — very simple choice you can make here.

With a small prayer of, “Oh, Lord, use me as your tool in the world. I long to become more aligned with your desire for me.” For what God is asking you to do is easily achieved by you. God has designed a desire in each of you to serve in your magnificent ways in your lifetimes. These ways are unique, perfectly suited to your individuality, to the gifts, skills, all those aspects that you have worked so hard to gain throughout your many lifetimes.

This does not mean there will not be fear, or struggle, or darkness. This is human. This is human, for you cannot see the larger picture. You may long for a resurrection in your own life, yet when this is offered to you, you can find yourself in moments of great despair. Feeling as though you are being asked to leap off cliff, with no net underneath, no soft spot to land, Yet, this is always what will be required. Faith. From each of you. Not that you are given any promises for the future. God does not make these promises.

What is asked of you is your service in the moment. For the moment is the only reality. What is happening in the moment, how you are responding in the moment. Courage is always a requirement. Courage is simply the other side of fear. If you had no fear, you would not need courage. There are moments in each of your lives where you have required much courage, and in those times, when you are required to be courageous and you fail in that moment, there is no judgment here. You will be given opportunities again and again and again. God indeed guarantees your success — for your growth, for your returning home, for your being of service to the world, for your fulfillment and your joy. This is guaranteed.

How you are arriving at this is your own process, however you are able to receive God into your life, however you are perceiving God. What is your understanding of God? This, too, is highly individual. This all comes back to learning to listen to whispers deep within you. To those feelings, to that intuition. to those longings. Oh surely, God speaks to you through your longings and your joy.

Let us use small analogy here for illustration. Let us say you would like to be on step six — this is where your joy lives — yet you are now only on step two. You do not know how to get to step six. If you are knowing that you are desiring, with great intent, to arrive at step six, you will find a way there. There may be long routes, there may be dead ends, there may be pain and darkness and confusion. Do not let this deter you. Continue moving forward and always, always pray for guidance, pray for enlightenment, pray for vision and pray for assistance. For these are not withheld from you, AS you long to understand God, as you long to remember the God within you, God also longs for you.

Most interesting question has been brought to our attention in recent days during this time of Christian Easter. This question of archaeologists or religious scientists questioning the reality of the resurrection itself. That perhaps this was a false thing. That perhaps the body of Jesus was, in fact, not put in this tomb initially, or somehow removed. This is a most curious thing.

Typical of science to look at the physical rather than the bigger picture, regardless of what was occurring. The truth is most surprising according to what the Bible is telling you, for it is quite different. But the truth remains that Jesus was fully realized human being. Great master, this one. And with great courage, for this required powerful commitment. He chose to return into body so that he could teach each of you what you can become. Miracle workers. You are immortal, great partners with God in the world — you are potentially all these things Jesus was. You, too, can be that.

In fact, just for your curiosity, when the body of this Christ was entombed in this cave, it was in the dark of the night removed by this group of people who had for hundreds of years been preparing for the birth of Christ. This was the group known as the Essenes. They were separating themselves, preparing themselves, purifying themselves for hundreds of years before Jesus made his appearance. They were give to understand that he would come to this tribe, which he did. From that moment of the great vision, they began the preparation. Not knowing when he would arrive. Not knowing when this great event was to occur, and in fact it was almost three hundred years from the initial vision to the final experience of Mary giving birth to Jesus.

This group of people has, in the dark of the night, removed the body of their master from his tomb and carried him back to this colony where the Essenes have been living. The apparition, the presence of Jesus, in his resurrection, was very real. He appeared indeed, and he only appeared to certain specific ones. There were many who did not need proof of his resurrection, for they already knew. Their faith was perfect. The already understood.

Those who he was returning to in his spirit body were those who still needed his help, needed his teachings and needed this proof to help them go deeper with their knowledge and understanding. This was powerful gift. Now. Let us have questions.

Q: In the experience or the transition of ego death, this is often very difficult — not only for the one going through this, preparing for something greater, but also ver difficult for those in their lives — family, friends, co-workers and so on. How can we ease this difficulty for others?

A: Simple answer is, you cannot. This is not your job. Your job is to prepare yourself for something greater. You cannot take care of others. Understand that each one is perfectly where they are in their development. That your own process, your own interaction with others is their opportunity to learn lessons for themselves. You cannot explain what you are going through, beyond the fact that you are dying to something greater, That you are wishing the death of the smallness so that the greatness can move freely through you. And because the greatness is not based and does not live in the mind, how can you comprehend this? You cannot. You feel this, you know this from direct experience. This is far more powerful than any thought you can have.

It is during this time of ego death, of preparation, of getting rid of all these filters of ideas, of social conditioning, of philosophies. Of all the mind-based and ego-based things. This is a very important cleansing time. You are not replacing this with anything, for the point of this cleansing is to become like empty vessel, so you can be filled up with something greater. You then are not the source of this, but rather god — that part of you that surely dwells within you, yet is not of you.

So when you are going through this process of ego death, this can be very painful. Or it can be most joyful. Generally the experience is some of both. For this will depend on how tightly you are clinging to those beliefs and ideas and philosophies that are not based in a greater truth. Necessary for these things to be removed, like weeds from a garden, so that the flowers of truth can blossom more beautifully, with greater health, with greater vigor.

Barbados - Photograph by Dena Ventrudo In this process, is very important you are protective of self, that you are not telling everyone you know, “Oh, yes, I am working on ego death here.” For then you open yourself to ridicule, to concern by others. Ego becomes fully engaged. There will be those who will try to convince you of the error of your ways, so on and so forth. By knowing that others cannot possibly understand your path — how could they when you do not understand your own path — then you, in turn, cannot understand theirs, cannot help them to learn their own lessons here except to serve as example.

In this process of giving up so something greater can work through you, very important that you do this carefully, gently and be protective of self. There will be many things that come to you in meditation and dreaming place that you cannot understand with you mind, yet are undeniably moving within your. Something rich and deep operating here, yet you do not know what this is.

Rather than speaking on these things that you do not have words for, write them down. Keep journal. Do not require that you understand. Do not make up reasons. If you do not understand, acknowledge this. This will teach you that it is not your responsibility to know, but rather be in your moment and do what you are asked to do. Cleanly, simply, without reason. This is honest. This is real. And the more simple and the more clean you can keep this, more powerful the results. Not your job or ability to explain yourself or explain this process that you do not understand.

So. What will occur then, there will be those in your life who will feel somehow, beyond the understanding of the mind, will resonate to the cleansing and deep changes within you. And these people will become closer in your life. Then there will be those who will look at you and say, “Good heavens, this is not who I thought he was. He is not at all who I thought he was.” Yet, in fact, you are becoming more who you are than you have ever been before. It is they who have never accurately perceived who you are. And as you become who you are, you become brighter in the world, you become more easily seen, and those people who are not appropriate to your path or your process will shed away like old skin. This is very good, this is appropriate. This is not personal. This is profoundly impersonal process, with deeply personal results.

Jocelyn Graef can be contacted through email at jegraef@comcast.net

Great Awakening: Part 1 by Jocelyn Graef

Great Awakening: Part 2 by Jocelyn Graef

Reincarnation & Karma by Jocelyn Graef (Part 3)

Purpose of Life by Jocelyn Graef: Part 4 of Great Awakening

Relationship by Jocelyn Graef: Part 5 in Great Awakening

Spirit Guides by Jocelyn Graef: Part 6 in Great Awakening

Developing Christ Consciousness by Jocelyn Graef: Part 7 in Great Awakening

Dying, Death and Afterlife by Jocelyn Graef: Part 8 in Great Awakening