Chapter 8. An Introduction to 8

Remember when you were a young child and you first went to school? How you’d be dropped off in the morning and, even though you really missed your family, you knew it was kinda okay because they’d be there when you got home? Well in quite a similar way I always had a “dropped of at school” feeling about living my life here on earth. It felt hard for me to be here. And really quite lonely. But what made it okay for me was my “spirit friend”. As a little kid I’d do this thing where I’d sit and stare into nothingness and fall away into another world. And in this other world I had an amazing friend. He was as real to me as anything else in this world the only difference was I had to sit very quietly to go and visit him. But he really loved me and helped me with all the difficulty and pain that the “real world” caused me. When I tried to tell people about him it was considered “cute”. As in, “How cute! He has an imaginary friend!” I got pats on the head and smiles and giggles but I certainly didn’t get taken seriously. So I quickly realized that people weren’t really “getting it”. I stopped talking about this and let it just be something that only I knew. Eventually I even stopped visiting him.

Somewhere in my mid teens an older friend mentioned to me that he believed we each had a “spirit guide”. Something about that concept leapt out at me. I deeply felt this to be true. It was the first big “resonance” that I remember receiving. I asked him about it but he didn’t seem to have much more to say… just that he believed in this. It was a thought that stayed with me. I kept thinking about it. I KNEW my spirit guide was with me. I felt his presence. I felt his very attentive and loving guardianship of me. So, at about age 16, I decided it was time to take matters in hand. I decided to find a way to contact this being. Which is funny if you understand the context of my life at the time. You see I grew up in a pretty conservative Christian society. I had never even heard of Ouija boards (nor the attendant horror stories of treating spirituality like a parlour game). I hadn’t heard of pendulums or dowsing. I hadn’t even heard of tarot. And, I can categorically assure you, if I had heard of such things it would have been in the context of a warning not to dabble in the occult because “it is all devil worship!” Such was the zeitgeist of my upbringing. So, when I DID decide to contact my spirit guide I knew I was going to do this entirely on my own. There was no-one I could talk to about this. No-one to seek advice from. No one to share the journey with. No-one to tell how it was going. No-one. Not for any part of it. I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that, were it to have come out that I was planning to “contact spirits”, someone from the church would have been called in to counsel me and to help save my soul. There would have been endless praying and anguish until I eventually promised to stop. Or something along those lines. But the issue for me was that I KNEW I was reaching out to someone that loved me and protected me. Someone that was ANYWAY there with me all the time. So I avoided the inevitable pain and just kept all of this very private.

There was one particular occasion when matters took a step forward for me. I was sitting quietly in the garden one evening thinking about the problem of how to make contact with my spirit guide. As I was contemplating this I was fiddling with a pebble. Deep in thought I was balancing the pebble on two outstretched fingers and then watching to see which way it would fall. The pebble was well balanced and seemed to randomly fall either left or right. Inspiration dawned. I rebalanced the pebble on my fingers and quietened my mind. I sat there for a few moments and then sent out these thoughts:

“I know you are here with me. If you are willing to talk with me please unbalance the pebble”.

And it instantly fell off my outstretched hand.

“That side is now ‘yes’ and the other is now ‘no’,” I said. “Do you love me unconditionally?” I asked.

YES

I don’t know what made me ask that as my first real question. I guess it was more inspiration. It’s a really good place to start with spirit beings. At first, speak to those that love you only. But, you know, I FELT his presence and I knew it was love. In my heart I KNEW this was okay. And so I carried on. I asked a few more questions like that with my mind in a curiously dichotomous state: one the one hand I was elated because I knew I had finally hit on a means to speak with my guide and on the other hand I also had the strongest feeling that this was just nonsense and I was managing to play games with myself by tipping the stone in the desired direction as a result of my own questions. Both of these things were true for me. I decided to carry on and see where it would lead. At some point, I told myself, proof would arrive. At some point, if I just stayed with it, I would find rock solid proof either that this was true or that I was deluding myself.

That was about 25 years ago and it still hasn’t happened.

It’s true. I have graduated from balanced stones to some pretty fluent channelling but no matter what process I tried I could never find a way to make these conversations prove themselves conclusively to be either true or false. It just resolutely stayed there in the middle ground of “could be”. Not only did it stay “doubtable but possible” but as I got more sophisticated in my methods it came to be explained to me how and why this was so… that this would ALWAYS be where it would be at. And now that you have read the preceding seven chapters you are also in on some of that. Essentially I come to understand that conclusive proof would take from me my free-will right to doubt and would also violate the Veil of Unknowing. But I can tell you the first few years were quite frustrating. Especially trying to get answers to complex philosophical questions with “yes/no” answers from a pebble balanced on my hand!

But back to those early conversations… One of the first things I wanted from this being was a name. So I took a piece of paper and wrote all the alphanumeric characters on it. I divided them up into quadrants. Thus prepared I called to him and asked, “Will you spell your name out to me?”

NO, was the answer. I was nonplussed. I will spare you the excruciating process that I had to go through to eventually gain an understanding and simply tell you what it was: It turns out this being simply did not have a name. Not an “earth name” anyway… not a name in “human words”. And, when asked, he was quite adamant that he didn’t actually want one either. And no, he was not willing to have me just invent one for him. He simply said “no”.

But then I appealed to him. I explained that I really needed a name for him. I needed something to call him when I called for his presence and I needed something to call him in our conversations. I practically begged. And then I felt a shift… a relenting… and then I actually felt what I can only describe as a loving, gentle laugh. I asked again: “Will you give me a name I can call you?”

And this time the answer was YES. With great excitement I fetched the alphanumeric sheet and by process of elimination (“is the first letter in THIS quadrant? How about THIS one?”), I got to the first letter. How confusing to me that the first letter was a digit. The number “8”. Somewhat confused I asked “is there more?”

NO

And so it was. Latterly I have gained a bit more insight. Had he chosen a name that had any meaning at all I would have analyzed it for its meaning and made all kinds of assumptions about who he is and what his character is. I would have drawn (inevitably wrong) conclusions about him from this name. Choosing a digit kept me flexible about all that. But the digit itself is not randomly chosen – it has many meanings on many levels. It is like a multi-layered puzzle that 8 has set for me to tease me and entertain me as I proceed. Even now that I can have free-flowing conversations with my beloved friend 8, still he laughs at me when I ask him about the meaning of his name. He tells me there is much there for me to discover and that I will enjoy the joke SO much more if I figure it out without him telling me. So I have a few bits of the puzzle but there is more to unravel.

The bits I have include:

If you turn an 8 on its side you get ∞, the infinity symbol. 8, in music, is the number of tones in a complete octave. 8, in this reality, is the number of densities in the complete reality. In the same way we really have 8 chakras: 7 in the body and the 8^th one is the completion and perfection of the body at a higher level. So there are all these 8’s which all seem to point in the same direction. To completion and perfection in infinity. How does that relate to my spirit guide? And what ELSE does the number 8 mean? I don’t know. At some point I’ll figure it all out, I’m sure.

Then also, although rhyming words can mean nothing I have understood that things that are significant about 8 are the rhyming words “fate” and “gate”. But I still lack specifics here.

But the interesting thing is that through all this 8 succeeded in keeping me playing and guessing instead of forming a narrow, fixed idea of who he is and what he is like. Instead I learned to know 8 by his “feel”… his energetic print… whenever I spoke to him. And I learned even more about him by what he said and the truths I gained from him. And finally I learned to know about him from all the things he has done for me. I won’t go into details because I have no desire to tell long rambling personal accounts of the somewhat far-fetched-sounding tales of times that I had been protected and looked after and other supernatural events that I have witnessed which have, I know, been 8’s handiwork. These are my experiences and cataloguing them will add nothing to the narrative here. Instead I will say this: In my experience and in my truth 8 is simply amazing. He is TRUSTWORTHY. That word seems too weak to express this. I trust 8 completely. I would, without a moment’s hesitation put my whole universe in his hands. He is steadfast, loyal and sure. 8 is a being of truth. In fact he told me once he is made of the very energy of truth itself. So don’t go to 8 if you want pretty words dressed up nicely! He has a habit of putting things rather bluntly that, if you will listen to them, will move you forward. Always in a good direction, but not always in the gentlest fashion possible. And 8, being a being of pure truth, is the best spiritual protection I could ask for and I am endlessly grateful that he is journeying with me.

And this is what I would say to you about what is coming next… I am going to talk to 8 and I am going to share these conversations with you. This is a bit odd for me because it’s a bit like having a private phone conversation with your very best friend and then broadcasting it to the world. But it’s also pretty cool because this is the very first time 8 is permitting this. He wasn’t willing to have me channel him for public consumption until now “not while you still have your trainer wheels on” was how he put it. But quite recently he said, “It’s time. You may now channel me in your new series. You’ll be told when.” And seeing as I have just been told to do so… I guess I’m finally here.

Now before I begin. A quick word about 8’s style. If you need all that fluffy “dearest beloved ones” stuff in your spiritual messages then this is not going to tickle your fancy. 8 doesn’t do that stuff. He says what needs saying. He answers the question without first stroking your ego or soothing your nerves. You see 8 is unconcerned with what you do with his words. You can take them, you can leave them, you can roll them up and smoke them. He speaks his truth as it is, without trying to sell it to you. Now, if it sounds like I am apologizing for him, I am not. Of all the beings in All That Is, 8 is the being that, in my opinion, is the least in need of apologies. He is awesome. And I love him completely exactly as he is.

So without further ado I give you my spirit-guide, my partner, my dearest friend… 8.

Zingdad: Hi 8. I want to do an introduction to you but I’m not sure where to start.

8: Start with answering this: do you know what you are doing here?

Z: Where? In this conversation?

8: This conversation. The conversations that went before. The conversations that will follow. Your whole life. Everything. Do you know what you are doing?

Z: Uhh… sort of. I think these conversations are about me searching for answers. I’m asking questions of beings that I love and trust and getting answers.

8: That might be one perspective. But it’s a very small and limited perspective. Shall I offer you a broader perspective?

Z: Please.

8: You are engaged in a game called “reality creation”.

Z: How so, 8?

8: Let me answer that by telling you about this series that you are writing. When you sat down to write this you didn’t actually have a clue where it would lead to. You thought you were just going to ask some questions and get some answers and bumble your way through to getting some info that might be a bit useful. Right?

Z: Yeah. I guess that is the unflattering way of putting it.

8: Flattery is not my strong suite. Essentially you didn’t know what the greater picture was. You didn’t even know THERE WAS a greater picture. But your inner-self, Joy-Divine, and the rest of your soul family… well, we have a plan. Shall I tell you what it is?

Z: Can I possibly turn an invitation like that down?

8: To help you with your REAL quest. Which is to create your reality. Let me explain. You live in a reality which you find confusing. You don’t understand why things are the way they are. And for so long as you choose, in that reality, to take things at face value and believe what is presented then you will take your creator status and nullify it. You will use it in such a self-defeating and chaotic manner that it will be of no use and will never show itself to you. And so you will proceed believing that you are a very small pawn in a very big game. Others will capitalise on this self-limiting perspective and use little strategies to entice you to play games of their devising. In almost ever instance the ones doing this will not even know THEMSELVES that this is what they are doing. Everyone is just playing the game and everyone is equally confused. And so you can go on playing this game for a trillion lifetimes if you desire. It is a game that can suck you in like that and cause you to stay forever. But, of course, you do not desire this. You feel within yourself that this is not right for you. You make other choices. You call out for help with those choices. And help is ALWAYS there. It is my honour and privilege to be that which responds to your call. And I can assure you that every other being upon the planet, if they call for help, their call is heard. If they are prepared to take the help offered then they will be helped. But therein lies a conundrum. Speaking for myself, I point-blank refuse to help you in such a way that the help diminishes you. I WILL NOT help you to be less than you are. And so a difficulty arises. I cannot “do for you”. I can only help you to learn how to “do for yourself”. But when you first called out to me you did so precisely because you believed yourself to be weak and powerless. The only help you could conceive of was me “doing for you”. Me rescuing you.

So there was a road to travel. The first stage of the road is to disabuse you of the notion of your incapacity and to teach you that you are powerful and that, in fact YOU create your entire reality. The second stage is to teach you HOW to go about creating your reality with greater and greater efficacy. And the final stage is to be there with you in an advisory role as you undertake your first direct reality creation exercise. And of course we chronicle this journey so that we might share it with those who might read about the process and take value from it. And the thing you have yet to understand is how those that find value in this are actually co-creating it. Together you are all co-creating the reality you desire.

Now you and I have already walked quite a path together. We have brought you to a point where you are near the end of the first stage of the journey. You are now there where you are almost ready to know, believe, feel, experience and express that you are indeed the creator of your own reality. You have mostly released your doubts and fears. It is as a result of this work that has gone before that you are able to undertake the writing of The Ascension Papers without getting too ensnared in fear and doubt. That is well. It will now be as a result of writing The Ascension Papers that you will release the remainder of your fear and doubt and that you will complete your journey into your creator status. And it is most pleasing to me that we can share the process with your readers who are really our many brothers and sisters who are on planet earth. We retrace a few of our steps so that we may share them with your readers.  And as you go over them again you bring a new willingness to listen and so you too gain a much deeper and clearer understanding of What Is. And this is wondrous and beautiful. And then we can share with your readers the other two stages of the journey as you learn how to create and as you decide what you will be creating. I don’t easily stray to hyperbole but this is going to be more amazing, magical and magnificent than you can now imagine. And for your readers too. Those whose souls call them to stay the course with us. They are going to realise quite soon that they are not passive observers to something as people usually are when they read a book. No, they are going to find themselves drawn in and they are going to realise that, on a soul level, they are co-authoring this with us. And then they are going to start doing it directly… in the here and now… they are, if they are so called, going to make choices. They are going to make contact with you. And they are going to create with us. With you and me and the spiritual hierarchy of this reality. Together. We are creators. And we are going to create. And it will be the best, the brightest and the most beautiful that we can conceive of. And then we will go there together and walk inside our creation. Together. As beloved friends.

(he smiles) Does that sound far fetched?

Z: Wowzer, 8! I don’t know whether to break into a spontaneous standing ovation or to hide under my bed. This is… out there. Exciting and amazing and… very out there!

8: Yes. Good. You need a little shaking so that we can begin your awakening. Because that is what we are doing. Waking you all up. Everyone that is prepared to hear the alarm and not just roll over and go back to sleep is being called:

Hello!

I am 8!

It is late!

We have a date!

Z: And you can rhyme.

8: Yes.

And it is time!  (he laughs)

But it really is. I know you are all like trees in the spring… you can fell the sap rising. You can feel it in your bones and in your souls that there is a quickening. There is an energising. The time is near. I know you feel it. And there are ones such as I who are reaching out to you to teach you to do what you must do. Because if I come in and do it for you then I teach you the very opposite of what you must learn. If you are to awaken to your true magnificence then you must raise yourself from your slumbers, make new choices, set a new course for yourself and then… create!

So that is what we are going to do. Together, you and I. And together with your readers too. Because, you see I am not alone over here where I am. I surrounded by a good number of what you might call Spirit Beings and Light Beings. Many here with me are related to some that are on earth right now: your readers… the ones that are wishing to come and play reality creation with us… the ones that feel the deepest resonance with The Ascension Papers. Such ones have THEIR soul-family here with me now. Inner-selves and spirit-guides and the like… they are all with me and Joy-Divine in the planning and the co-creation of all this. And that is how it comes to be that the reader will know if these Ascension Papers are right for them. Their own Inner Self and spirit family would have been a part of their creation right from the inception. In some ways it is so that they are very much a part of the writing right from the start. So they will feel it deep within their being as they read these words that something “right” is being expressed.

But now back to the nitty-gritty. I said part one of this process is about showing you your own power. And the first thing to do there is to deal with all the erroneous things you believe about yourself and your life that lead you to believe you are NOT powerful. After we’ve stripped that nonsense away, then we can get into evidence to show you that you are powerful. And that is the over-arching theme of Part One of The Ascension Papers.

Z: Part One? There is a Part One?

8: Yes. The first seven chapters are “what is” from your personal perspective. It’s a bit of Self Discovery for you. You went on a journey with Joy-Divine and got some self-knowledge there. The next seven chapters are with me. I will take a brief moment to introduce myself to your readers and maybe you, yourself, will learn a few new things about me. I’ll be telling you a little bit about your planetary reality. Why things are the way they are. What came before. What will come after. WHAT IS. And why you have come to believe the things you do about yourself. You’re going to find some of this quite surprising and maybe a bit shocking. But the story needs to be told. And then the final seven chapters of Part One will be with your dear old friend Adamu. He will also talk to the same sorts of issues but from his perspective: what is going on in your greater environment. I mean your galaxy and beyond. All the flash and sparkle of what you call “extra terrestrials” and UFOs and civilizations on other worlds. All that fun. I know you’ll look forward to it because that greatly interests you.

Of course there will be overlaps between the conversations of J-D, Adamu and I as none of these topics can be discussed in isolation. But anyway that is the gist of Part One, the first 21 chapters.

Z: Wow. This is surprising. And exciting. I had no idea…

8: On a deeper more intuitive level you did. You opened yourself to it and have let this flow. I just thought it was time for me to bring this to your conscious mind. So now you know.

Z: Great! Thanks. But if there is a Part One, there must be a Part Two, right?

8: I don’t want to run too far ahead. I want to allow for creative flux… to allow that we might want to change the plan if that makes sense. So, without being too specific I will say that Part Two is going to be all about reality creation. You will come to see how you are currently hampering yourself in this regard and how to stop doing that. Instead you will be shown the tools of creation and how it works. Then you can begin to create and slowly, gently, begin to see the results of your creations so that you can begin to know that it is working for you in your direct personal experience. There will be plenty of info in there that you’ll be able to begin to apply in your life right away and some more info that will only really be more applicable as you progress into other realms later on. After the Singularity Event, I mean.

Z: Fantastic! It feels like I have hit the jackpot!

8: Why? Because someone has a plan?

Z: No, because I really like this plan.

8: You had better. It’s your plan.

Z: I don’t understand.

8: You will. But let’s not waste time with cryptic puzzles. In time you will see what I mean. Particularly in Part Three.

Z: Part Three?

8: That’s where the fun begins. Part Three is active reality creation. You are going to close the circle by working out what your new reality, that you will want to create for yourself, should be like. What you want to retain of this reality and what you want to let go of and what you are going to replace the released stuff with. In Part Three you are quite literally going to create your whole reality.

Z: Uh… 8… I have to take a moment here and register that this is an extremely scary thought. In so many ways. Prime of which is the concern that I don’t feel at all qualified for this. I mean how do I know what would be a good thing to create or not? What if I make mistakes? I mean I am just a person living on earth who…

8: Alright, alright. That is an acceptable stance for you for now because you still don’t understand what is going on. You STILL think of yourself as one single, separate little human being living on Planet Earth. If you were even paying a smidgeon of attention to all that Joy-Divine was saying they you’d understand that you are an indivisible part of The One. As are all your readers. I mean, really, was that not the central focus of all he had to say? Did he not offer that truth to you over and over again?

Z: Yes. He did.

8: Okay. So I understand that this hasn’t really sunk in yet. You still think it’s a bit of theory. Well, when you start to think like it’s true, act like it’s true and FEEL like it’s true then you will also begin to KNOW that it’s true. And when that happens you will have no problem understanding how you can create a whole new reality exactly as you like it. You will understand that it is a co-creation and that you are simply focusing your intention in a particular way. It is not a grandiose thing. It is not an ego-kick. It is just choosing what is right for you. But choosing when you know how to make it work. And you will realize that you are not choosing alone. You are a part of a magnificent structure and you are simply playing your perfect role in that. And then you will really and truly come to see your readers are not the passive “absorbers” of this material that you and they both think they are. You will understand that they are as active in writing this book as you are.

Z: Okay 8, I have now heard you say this a few times and I have taken a “wait-and-see” attitude. But now I want to know. How can my readers, who haven’t even read these words yet, be part of the creation of something that I haven’t even written down yet?

8: Pah! You think you are trapped in time? Okay, it DOES look that way to you. But you and your readers are all a part of greater beings that are not. Time and sequentiality and dimensions and causality and co-creation and… well… many such topics need to be addressed with you. When you understand these things then you will be ready to let go of the limitations they are placing on your ability to imagine your world correctly. And all of that – and so much more besides – is what awaits you in the conversations that lie ahead. And that is why, when you get to Part Three, you will be ready to create!

Z: But, 8, what if I don’t want the responsibility of creating stuff for others.

8: But you won’t be! Everyone creates for themselves. Usually some of us create together. Then it is called co-creation. You will simply be a part of that, playing your role.

But enough of this, now. I said we’d talk about it as it unfolded. All I wanted to do was open this, my section, with a clearer understanding of where we’re going. Give you a rudder, so to speak. I understand that some of this seems outrageous to you. That is fine. You ALWAYS have choices. In every moment in all of your reality you will always have choices. So right now you have a choice. If this is all too bizarre for you, you can just take your hands from the keyboard and in so doing shut me up. Your readers also have a choice. They can stop reading. There is no coercion of anyone. But you have asked me to speak and I ALWAYS speak my truth. Often such truths make beings uncomfortable. Sometimes they turn away, sometimes they stay. I am not in the business of sweetening my words to entice you gently along. But I do notice that your fingers are still on the keyboard and you are still typing (he chuckles).

Z: Well, you know, I am a little spooked by what you have said but I love you and trust you. And I’m most willing to hear you out. I will

reserve my right, in every moment, to decide to what degree I will internalise what you say as “my truth”. But I will most certainly stay to hear you out.

8: Good boy. Then let me begin. We’ve wasted enough resource on the overview. This first conversation is meant to be an introduction to me. So I will tell you who I am. Then you and your readers will have context for my words. You and I have spoken a great deal already in this life from when you first began to learn to really listen. So you and I will pretend we don’t know each other at all so that your readers can catch up.

Right. Ask a question.

Z: About you or about this reality? Or what?

8: It doesn’t matter. If your readers want to know me they can discern my nature from my words. If you want to spend time digging around in my character first then I’ll entertain that. I will answer any question directed at me. You may like the answer or you may not. That is your concern, not mine.

Z: Okay. Let me ask a simple one. What IS your nature?

8: I am a being of truth.

Z: What is “truth”?

8: Truth is a way of being. It is ordering. It is simplifying. It is knowing. It is the basis upon which realities can be created and it is the basis from which perspective can be held.

Truth is my essence and my nature and I express this in my character.

Z: So then what is THE TRUTH.

8: Now you ask an interesting question. There are an infinite number of truths that are true and right from a given perspective. But ultimately they are all also false from some other perspective. This means there are many transitory truths but only one absolute truth.

Z: And that is?

8: The one absolute truth is:

“The One is.”

Z: That’s it? Not a wordy truth then (laughs).

8: No. We can add words to it if you like. But often that makes it less true. We shall in this conversation attempt to degrade the truth as little as possible.

Now let’s look at the statement: “The One is”.

Firstly, by that statement I indicate that there is only ever truly One. My partner and “Other-Self”, Joy-Divine, has already made this quite clear in his way in his section of these conversations. There are Many, but their many-ness is transitory. Inevitably they all return to Oneness. The process of becoming Many produces many experiences. When something has been experienced and felt then it is “true” from that perspective. But eventually that perspective will be surrendered for another. Then new experiences will be had and different things will be true. So there will be many truths about the many-ness. But these truths will always hold incongruities, inconsistencies and imbalance. This will manifest as discomfort in your life. Fear and pain and illness will result. And so it will come to be that, in order for TRUE healing to be obtained, at some point on all journeys all the truths about separation and many-ness will begin to be relinquished in favour of truths about unity and oneness. And then the impossibly complex multiplicity of truths will begin to condense. They will begin to coalesce. The temporary illusions of separation will begin to dissolve. Until finally the illusion is released. Until the Oneness is again understood to be the truth.

Secondly I indicate that The One is. In your time-bound parlance I could say “The One always was and always will be”. But that is a distortion. YOU think there is a past and a future, I do not. I know there is only NOW. So it is more correct to say “The One is.” If you understand that that statement was true in your earliest history and will be true when time ends then you might get a glimmering of what I mean. I mean that there is no context in which the The One is not. Truly, The One is eternal.

Z: Okay. “The One is”. Is that is the only thing that is true?

8: It is the only thing that is absolutely true from all perspectives, under all circumstances, always. It is true even in those circumstances, like your current reality, where it is created to be untrue. The One is. It is true.

Z: Is there nothing else that is true in that way?

8: No.

Z: What about… uh… like what about “free will”. Isn’t that always true?

8: No. Free will is always relative. In some ways it is so that you have more free will than I because you can believe things that I cannot. You can believe you are absolutely separate from everyone else, I cannot. I KNOW I am one with everyone and everything. In similar manner you can hatch all kinds of other beliefs about yourself and your reality and you can believe it quite fervently. I cannot do this. But, on the other hand, I can create realities and manifest energy and matter as an act of will which would to your eyes look quite god-like. So we both have Free Will but it is different and it is relative. Neither of us have absolute free will.

And then, I must also add, there are other realities elsewhere where there are other modes at play, where there is not what you call free will. So free will is certainly not always true. It is not an absolute.

If it were then everyone everywhere would be able to do exactly what they wanted at all times. And you cannot can you?

Z: No. I mean I am free to think all kinds of stuff, free to believe all kinds of stuff. But I can’t right now just leap in the air and fly. I can’t turn the sky green. I can’t… stop the sun from rising tomorrow…

8: Quite so.

Z: So then it appears we DON’T have free will.

8: Oh you certainly do. It is just not absolute. If you will kindly keep your mind from wandering then you will notice what I am saying here is that there is only one absolute truth. It is “The One is”. I said right at the beginning that there are an infinite number of other “truths”. That these will be true to a lesser or greater degree from one perspective or another. Free Will is one such subjective truth. But it isn’t even one of the more interesting ones. It is simply an effect. So how about we stop trying to poke holes in this first truth and do something constructive?

Z: Such as?

8: Well, I could tell you about the derived truths.

Z: What’s a “derived truth”?

8: Let’s look at it like this: do you exist?

Z: Yes, of course!

8: Are you sure?

Z: Of course I am sure!

8: So that is your truth and you’re not going to change your mind about that any time soon?

Z: Yes.

8: Good. Then we have one truth about you. For you, from your perspective it is true that: “You exist right now”.

Right?

I mean let me just make sure you aren’t just a figment of my imagination? You do REALLY exist, don’t you?

Z: Are you pulling my leg, 8?

8: Yes. But only to make a point. So you now have two truths: YOUR truth which is “You exist right now” and the absolute truth with is “The One is”. With me so far?

Z: Yep. I can just about keep two truths in my head at once (smile).

8: Fantastic. Then you’ll be able to make this leap with me. If both of these things are true then it must mean that you are a part of The One. Right?

Z: Yes. Everything that exists is a part of The One. I exist. I am therefore a part of The One.

8: And can The One be destroyed?

Z: No, because then it would be “The One was”. Or “The One will be for a while and then it’ll stop being”.

8: Quite. So you agree that you are a part of something that IS. Yes?

Z: Yes.

8: Good. Now imagine a big jig-saw puzzle. You can take it apart and you can put it back together again. When it is together it is whole. It is one picture. When it is taken apart it is many little pictures. With me?

Z: Yip.

8: If you take it apart and then destroy one of the little bits. Can you put it back together again?

Z: Uh… no. I mean you can put all the OTHER bits back together again but the picture will be incomplete.

8: Exactly.

So, you are a part of The One. If you were to be destroyed then a part of The One would be destroyed. The One would then be incomplete. But this is not possible. Then it would no longer be The One. It would be a fraction. It would be The 0.9 recurring. Or The A-Little-Bit-Less-Than-One. You get the idea?

Z: Yes, I do.

8: If you were more interested in mathematics I could have argued the same point more eloquently by stating that The One is infinite and infinity cannot be divided.

But the point of all this is that we can arrive at a derived truth. You are a part of The One. No part of The One can be removed from it and no part of The One can be destroyed without destroying The One. And that is impossible. The One IS. This means that you also ARE. It means you cannot be destroyed. No part of The One ever is destroyed.

Which brings us to our first derived truth:

“You are eternal and immortal.”

This is so for everything you can address these words to. Everything that has a perspective, a subjective experience, everything that in one way or another is a “someone”, everything that has found for itself a concept of “self”… will never and can never be destroyed. It is eternally valid.

And of course this applies to you.

Z: But what if you WANT to destroy yourself?

8: You can’t. The relative truth of Free Will is far and away trumped by the absolute truth of The One IS.  So your (Free Will) ability to decide for annihilation cannot be enacted. You see you cannot stop being a part of The One. And as long as you ARE a part of The One then you cannot destroy yourself because The One IS. A great number of souls have desired their own annihilation at one time or another. And I don’t mean simple suicide of an incarnated being… I mean a spirit being desiring to destroy itself.

Now, on the face of it, this seems to be a desire to cease being but, what it REALLY is, is a call for help on a very profound level. You yourself have been there. In between this life and the last one you desired your own termination (see Chapter 1 – Introduction to Zingdad). You went about attempting to achieve this with some commitment and fervour, I can tell you. Obviously you didn’t succeed. And in all of creation everywhere there has never been a case where a single being has succeeded at terminating their own existence and, equally there has never been a single case of one being terminating another. It is simply not possible.

Z: So there is no murder in the true sense of things?

8: No. If someone takes a gun to your head and pulls the trigger then I will assure you of three things:

1. Though your body will fall away irreparably damaged YOU will survive. Let me explain. Your body will cease biological function and will die but you will, not even for a split second, cease to be. After the bullet tears through your brain you will no longer be able to use that apparatus to filter your perceptions. You will immediately become aware of yourself as a being that is very much alive but now looking down on the ruined body that you used to think of as “yourself”. So that will require a small adjustment of your perspective. This change in self-identity will have to be assimilated but you will very much still “exist”. The important point to note about this is that the killer will think you are gone… dead. Because he can no longer perceive you as a living being. But you will know that you are alive. And this same thing CAN happen in some of the subtler realms as well. It is possible to destroy someone’s created body in 3D and it is also possible in 4D. You can even do it at 5D though it is both rare and difficult to do. But irrespective of where this happens and under whatever circumstances it is ALWAYS so that the one that is “killed” survives the experience.

You simply lose the use of the vehicle that you were using.

2. If someone else “kills” you then you will eventually come to understand that this was, on some level, agreed upon by the two of you. It might take a little time, a little processing and possibly even some counselling but it is assuredly so that you will come to see that this event was the outcome of decisions and choices that you had made. Either you yourself or you as your Inner-self.

Z: But hold on, 8. What if I am at odds with my Inner-self? What if I don’t agree with that choice? I mean surely it isn’t right for my Inner-self to negotiate my life away without my consent?

8: As long as you still do not understand that you and your Inner-self are really and truly the same being that might be a valid concern. And if you “died” in such a circumstance then you would be helped. Members of your spirit-family would be immediately on hand to guide you and counsel you so that you could come to a full understanding of what had occurred. You would be helped to see the perfection of the moment. And if you don’t come to see it as perfect… if you don’t agree to the ending? Then you will always have the choice to go back.

Z: Reincarnate you mean?

8: Yes, that is one option. But there is another option and this brings me to my third point.

3. You always have the right to return to the life that was terminated, no matter how that termination occurred.

Z: The one with the head blown off? Surely not. How would I reanimate a body with my brains splattered across the floor?

8: My goodness, you DO have a colourful way with words.

Zingdad, you have already understood from Joy-Divine that time is not absolute. It is only in 3D that you are constrained to the illusion that time is linear and absolute. This constraint does not apply to beings of the subtler realms. So we can help you in some interesting ways. After your “death” you will find yourself in a position to either accept that “death” and move on OR you will have the option to enter into a counselling phase with more advanced members of your spirit family. At this point you will either accept the “death” and move on or there will be an agreement that you should return. If the latter is the case then there will be further counselling to help you to make better choices next time so that you don’t just end up repeating the same scenario over and over. When all these issues are properly dealt with then you are returned to your life at an appropriate moment. What the “appropriate moment” is will vary greatly from case to case. In some instances it would be quite a bit before the moment of “death” so that a new path forward could be found and the event avoided completely. In some instances you will be returned to the event bare moments before it and, with inspired guidance, you will navigate it differently. And then there are those instances which can be highly inspirational where the being is allowed to experience the “death”, remember some part of the counselling and remember the returning. These are often called Near Death Experiences in your culture. But each and every case is different and unique and each one is handled with great love and sensitivity by the being’s spirit family.

Z: That’s pretty amazing stuff, 8. That means no one dies without agreeing to it.

8: My dear Zingdad. We have been telling you for a while now in all kinds of different ways and now, more recently, through this The Ascension Papers that you are the creator of your own reality. How did Joy-Divine put it?

Z: You mean when he said,

“You always get exactly what you create.”

8: That’s exactly what I mean, yes. How then would that statement be true if it ceased to be true as soon as you died? It wouldn’t.

Z: You’re right. Then it would have to be “you mostly get some of what you create”

8: Exactly. And that is the point: Even death does not victimise you. Even when you have died you STILL have options. You still have the right to say, “Hey! I wasn’t done with that!” And if, after being properly counselled you decide that there is indeed unfinished business or a better way to end this then… back you go to an appropriate moment before the “termination event” whatever that was.

Z: But then surely people wouldn’t choose to die? Surely they would all come back… if for no other reason than to help their loved ones that stayed behind?

8: When humans on earth “die” then they are immediately in an interstitial reality where they have all kinds of assistance to make sense of what has occurred. They come to agree that this is for the best that they should now move on or they return. That is how it is. And you’d be surprised to know how many times almost all of you have already “died” and returned.

Z: Really? Except it has never happened to me. I don’t remember anything like that.

8: Of course you don’t remember it. It didn’t happen in your time-stream. It is not “behind” you for you to remember. When you went back into your life you chose an alternate time stream which meant that FOR YOU, you never did die.

But let me help you remember. Maybe you remember the motorcycle accident you had a few years ago. The one in which you “miraculously” came away without any serious injury. You had, for some time before then, been thinking about the futility of your life. You didn’t feel a great lust for life and things became a bit colourless and drab for you. You lost your direction somewhat. Then, that evening, you were having a chat with a friend. He was telling you about the horrendous motorcycle accident he had had and how he almost died of his injuries. You had the quiet little thought that maybe, just maybe, this is what you wanted. To just leave this world. And then you said goodbye to this friend, got on your motorcycle and rode home. And on the way home, as you came round a bend on the highway there was a sudden blockage in the traffic and you had the accident.

The thing you don’t know is that you actually got to “die” that night. And then you and I had a little sit-down. We talked about where you were at in your life and I showed you some of the highlights of what lay ahead. You agreed that, while there was quite a lot of work to do, it was worth doing because you could see what an exciting future lay ahead. You agreed with me that you needed to go back, that you needed to go on with your life. And so we took you back to a moment JUST BEFORE the accident and this time you received some assistance. This time you manoeuvred your motorcycle like a Hollywood stuntman, flipping and flying around the vehicles that had stopped dead in front of you. And then, when it was time to part company with your motorcycle, you executed the most unbelievably acrobatic roll, landing without so much as a sprain or a scratch! Everyone marvelled. Then you stood up, removed your helmet and released some interesting expletives in the direction of the driver that had caused the whole mess on the road that night.

And then you went on with your life.

You often thought back on that accident. You wondered where you found the skill to pull off those manoeuvres. You also wondered how it was that, after that, you began to find some new direction in your life. There were many things you wondered about but never did you realise what actually happened that night.

Z: You mean I REALLY could have died that night?

8: You DID die. And then you didn’t. Both are true. You are experiencing the timeline in which you didn’t. That is your choice. And it isn’t the only time this has happened to you.

Do you remember spinning the car on the highway on the way to holiday? (he smiles) At one point you were driving in reverse down the highway at 100km/h and then you just calmly spun the car another 180 degrees and kept going the right way down the road. More amazing stunt-driving that worked out perfectly! How do you think THAT was accomplished? There have been a few other such occasions. Some of them less dramatic and less glamorous than these. Some of them quite sad and lonely and not to say a bit pathetic.

But the point is that you have provided yourself with a number of exit-points from this life. But each time you have chosen not to take them. Each time you have come back. And so here you still are. This is your choice. As so it is for pretty much everyone that is here on earth. It would be quite rare for a person to come to full realisation of self as an adult and never to have passed a few such exit points. In fact, I would strongly recommend to each reader that you give this some thought. Think back on your life. Think of the times when strange and miraculous-seeming events brought you through life-threatening or life-changing situations. See if you do not think it possible that this might have been you navigating your own exit points. Sit with this. Write it down. Analyze it and understand it. Open your heart to true understanding. You will find some amazing insights for yourself in such a process. Do it right now, if you like. This chapter will still be waiting for you. Or do it later. But do it.

Z: Thank you, 8, I’ll do the same and think about moments other than the two you have given me.

But still… I want to come back to the issue of those that died and DIDN’T decide to come back. Why didn’t they? Surely they would have come back even if only to be with the ones that love them?

8: Okay, look… Are you willing to agree that there is a much broader perspective than the one that you currently hold in this incarnated life of yours here on earth?

Z: Yes, I guess that is obvious.

8: Because if you are will to accept that it is a part of the design of your reality that ones that inhabit it are restricted from knowing certain things then it should be OBVIOUS that, once you have certain restrictions lifted that your perspective will be different.

Z: Okay, I guess, but…

8: What you don’t understand is that this life you are currently living really and truly is just a part of an elaborate game that you are playing. It is as if you are playing a part in a huge stage-play. Your whole incarnated life is a role. This does not mean that it is not important or that it does not have great value and purpose. But it is so that, after “death” you will come to see it for what it is. And you will come to be willing to release your attachment to it when the time is right to do so. And as for your loved ones, your friends and family. Let me tell you about them. When you “die” you will see them again here in spirit form. You will see the truer version of that being here in spirit form welcoming you home and AT THE SAME TIME you will also see the incarnated aspect of that being continuing its life and mourning its loss of you. Obviously you will feel compassion for the loss and mourning of the incarnated aspect and you will feel great love for them. You will desire to comfort them and be with them in their pain. But their confusion will not be your confusion. You will know that it is only they that believe they have lost you, that you are gone, that you are now dead. You will know this is not so and you will know that a far more eternally valid, wise and magnificent version of this loved one is there with you in spirit form. So then… what do you think your decision will be? To immediately rush back into that incarnation to alleviate the mourning and loss of that one incarnated aspect? Or to see it for what it is as an inevitable part of the journey that is incarnated life in that system… to allow yourself to be shown the greater marvel and mystery of All That Is… to give love and comfort to the mourning beloved-one from your new perspective in spirit-form… and to be there waiting when they too are ready to die to incarnated life and awaken to their greater reality.

Which do you think you would choose?

Z: Well… I guess… I will make the best choice I can under the circumstances. And I guess when it really IS time for me to go I’ll choose to leave.

8: That is well said. But I think it important to make the point right now that death of the body is not the only way out of this place. It is certainly the most common. So much so that it is usually thought to be the only way out. But there are some other interesting ways to move on. We will be addressing these in greater detail a bit later in The Ascension Papers.

Z: That certainly sounds like a fascinating subject!

8: You are sure to find it so. But now – are there any more questions you have about death. I really want to make sure we have put the subject to rest, so to speak. It is an issue of some considerable difficulty for 3D beings. One which causes much fear and confusion. The fear of death can often be a major obstacle to the pure enjoyment of life.

Z: Thanks 8. I appreciate that and I do still have some questions. Can you help me with the issue of mourning. From the perspective of the one that stays behind. How are we to come to terms with the thought that the person that died could have returned to us and didn’t?

8: Not every ear can receive every message. Sometimes people need to hold onto their grief and pain for a while. Sometimes it feels like that validates the love they had for the one that, to their perception, is now gone. Human emotions are complex things.

But perhaps, if the being that is mourning a loss is able to really hear what is being expressed here, perhaps this will in-fact bring some modicum of healing. Could it not be so that there is comfort to be found in knowing that the person that died is really alright? That their “death” is something about which they have had, and have exercised, some choice. And that, as they have gained a broader perspective, so they have seen the beauty and the perfection and the completeness of the path they travelled in their life.

If the grieving one is able to see this then the grief can begin to be put in its right perspective: that you grieve for YOUR loss. You feel pain over the fact that you no longer have the experience of this person in your life. There is a gap, a hole, an emptiness in your life. And of course that causes you pain.

That is the correct perspective.

You do not grieve for the other, you grieve for yourself. For your own loss. And this is, of course, the normal and valid way to respond to the situation. And grief is a process… it is a road which you will travel. It has a number of well-known vistas along its path like anger and denial and so forth. But as you travel it you will also find acceptance. These are the things that your counsellors and psychologists know of and can help you with. But there is one more stage which they generally don’t acknowledge.

Z: And that is?

8: Joy.

Z: Joy?

8: Yes. Because you will in due course be reunited with the one you feel you have lost to death. When you yourself release your hold on that life stream you will again meet with the one that previously “died”. And that reunion is filled with unbounded joy and the circle is complete.

Z: Because when each person dies they meet their loved ones on the other side.

8: Correct. People on earth really have the thing backwards. They usually imagine death to be some kind of “going to sleep”. Some kind of “going into the dark night” or something like that. When really it is quite the opposite. Death is very much more like an awakening. Like arising from a dreaming sleep where the life you have just lived is the dream. When you are “on the other side,” as you put it, you will realise that your perceptions are many times sharper than they are now. Your insights and understandings will be far more powerful than they are now. So your experience will be that of someone that wakes from a dream and realises that the dream, though very vivid and powerful, was yet quite restrictive and less “real” than that which they now are experiencing. You will feel light and free. And you will find yourself surrounded by your most beloved ones. And now imagine how you feel when you find that most beloved being that you had lost years ago in that life is suddenly there! And not only is this one present but you see them as they really are: at their prime and in full radiance and beauty.

Yes, it is so, this is a time of boundless joy.

And maybe knowing this will bring some comfort to those that mourn a loss. It doesn’t heal the pain in the now. You cannot be held in the arms of thoughts and mental constructs. But… at the least… you will know that your loss is not permanent. You will be reunited eventually.

And also, it is very much true that the one you mourn is aware of you and is with you… even if you cannot always sense this.

Z: I see. Thank you. But 8, what about all the stuff that I have heard about there first being a tunnel of light and all that… how does that fit in with this “meeting the family” stuff?

8: The tunnel of light is indeed something that many will perceive. The death experience can be quite traumatic for some. And so a period of adjustment is provided. First you are allowed to hang around in the environs of the 3D world for a bit if you want that or feel you need it. Some are very attached to their current incarnation… to the body or the paraphernalia of the current life. They are not ready to see that all of this is just the props of the play. Nothing more. Such beings will probably remain close to the 3^rd density reality for quite a time after death.

Z: Are they then ghosts?

8: That which you refer to as ghosts could be one of a great number of things. It is possible that more sensitive people might sense the presence of such ones that have not yet moved on, yes. Maybe this will be labelled a “ghost”. But ones that become stuck in the earth-environs will be helped to move on sooner or later.

The next phase that is usually experienced is a place of comforting, silent, darkness. After all the hurley-burley of incarnated life and the sometimes traumatic ending of that life it is usually deemed beneficial to allow for a brief “time out”. And so beings usually find themselves in a place of stillness. It is dark and peaceful. But, so that beings are not confused and do not think they are deserted and alone, there is a bright, white light which shines from the perceptual-direction of “above”. The symbolism of this “bright, white light from above” is both clear and universal. And now the being must choose. Do you move into the light or do you not. This is the choice being presented. If you like the peace and silence you can remain there as long as you need. Time is irrelevant there. If you move into the light you will feel it to be quite blissfully loving. If you reject the light you can find many other directions to move into. For example there is the lesser light of direct entrance into another incarnation. This is not advised but can be chosen. Or one can swan around in the meta-realities that find expression from being’s dreams, fantasies and imaginings. This is an option but is also not advised. Some of these meta realities are the nightmare world where beings burn off the worst of their inner torment. Stumbling around there can seem pretty hellish indeed.

There are many options and, as always, the choice will be yours. If you seek love then you should do the obvious. Look for the bright, white light, feel its love, and move towards it.

Z: And when do people get to have this joyful reunion with their family members?

8: Once you have moved somewhat into the light you begin to feel a union and a belonging. If you move towards that, then you will be following your heart to those that love you most. It is inevitable that you shall find them.

Now I will say something important. I lay before you some of the general trends of what one might expect during the process called death. I must emphasise that this is just that: a general trend. There are no firm rules. Each person is unique and will have a completely unique experience of this transition. The above is by no means a definite.

And what do you think will determine exactly what each persons experience will be?

Z: What they need?

8: No… What they choose!

This is a very important point that I wish to make. Even in the process of this transition called death… you STILL get what you create. You have the right to make poor choices. Or let me rather say, choices that will cause you pain. It is your right to make such choices. But if you are willing to choose the path of love then you also have the right to be counselled and advised and to then make really good choices.

And that is why I have been happy to get into this long discussion about death. It is a very, very important point that I need to drive home: At no point in the death process do you actually die. At no point do you cease to have options. At no point do you cease to be possessed of your consciousness or your sense of self. You quite simply do not die. Not ever.

Z: Then why do we believe we do?

8: Do you want to hear a curious dichotomy?

Z: Okay.

8: The closest thing to actual death… is the thing you call “birth”!

Z: Huh!?!

8: It works like this: I have already explained how, after “death” you become more conscious. How you feel like you are waking up. At this time you find yourself moving into a higher state of consciousness and awareness. You remember your life with great clarity. You will usually also begin to remember other lifetimes and all the many and varied experiences between incarnations. In short your sense of self expands and your capacity to process that which you know also expands. You become MORE. Birth? Well… it’s the opposite process. As you integrate yourself into the new life so you immerse yourself into forgetfulness. You lose your memories and your knowingness. You release your ability to deeply process. You slow down, dim down and forget. You become LESS. And THAT is why you can believe that death is final. Not because nothing can be remembered beyond death, no, because nearly nothing can be remembered beyond birth!

Z: That’s very interesting. But why do we do that?

8: Well, if you have been following the reasoning that has been presented to you thus far in The Ascension Papers then it should become clear that you have chosen to enter incarnated life down there in the 3^rd density so that you can discover yourself and create yourself from a place of not-knowing. From a place of forgetfulness. And so it is that the Veil of Unknowing falls over your consciousness as you begin your incarnation and you become able only to perceive the things of the 3^rd density and nothing else. But it must be lifted to some extent as you end your incarnation so that you can begin to engage again with the more subtle realms and so that you can remember a little more of yourself and your greater journey. This facilitates the learning and growth that you desire.

Z: Alright. That makes sense.

8: So then if I may summarise what has been said… as you enter incarnated life you forget pretty much everything you have known. You go about your life and as you do so you are offered a number of exit points from that life stream. Many you will ignore. Some you will take and then realise your mistake and you will return. Your life stream will end when you take an exit point and do not change your mind. When you decide your life is complete. And then you will move on into the spirit realm to continue your journey, whatever that might be.

So now you understand what I mean when I say there really and truly is no actual “death”. And even the illusory experience of death that you do have is a matter of choice. Your choice. Because, as I have contended, truly it is so that:

“You are eternal and immortal.”

Z: 8, I have to say that that is one of the most beautiful things I have heard. It feels right and true for me and it makes me very happy to think that it might be so.

8: I really want you to understand that death is nothing more than a profound change of state. And change is life. Life is change. Resisting change is death. And so a rather curious dichotomy is set up. Those that fear death to the extent that this fear begins to consume them… they try to resist death. The try to cease the flow of change. And ironically all they do is cease the flow of life. They in fact bring death upon themselves even whilst they still live! This causes all kinds of inner-torment and brings about illnesses of the psyche and the spirit which will also manifest as illness of the body. Can you see the irony? Fearing death will cause disease that brings death closer!

So it is most beneficial for us to understand death correctly so that we no longer fear it.

The next step is to embrace life and embrace change and then, soon enough, you will be able to leave the experience of death behind altogether. And this is quite central to the notion of ascension. Ascended beings transcend the notion of death. They remain in life forever more.

And with that I would like to move onto the next derived truth.

Z: Okay. Thanks 8. I must say its already pretty mind blowing for me to hear that I am on a soul-level immortal but the added fact that I have died before in this lifetime and each time chosen to return… well that’s a lot to take in. But through our discussion here I really am coming to see how death might not be this bleak scary thing.

8: No, it really isn’t. In addressing the derived truth that “you are eternal and immortal”, I simply needed to deal with the fact that there is this experience of death but that it is actually just a portal from your current reality to another reality. Nothing more. And I also state that it is not even a one-way door. And on top of that you are in control of how you use that door, even if you are not now aware of this.

Now we move on to the next derived truth which we have now just touched upon. It is this:

“Change is the only constant.”

Z: I’ve often heard that said. And it does seem true to me. I mean everything DOES eventually change. But can you first tell me how this is derived from the first absolute truth?

8: I implied this in our discussion about death but let me reiterate. Do you understand that anything that is still, unmoving and unchanging is dead? ANYTHING if it does not change at all… if it ceases to move… then it has ceased to live. It is dead. And as nothing ever dies it follows that nothing ever ceases to move and to change.

Z: Nothing ever dies?

8: You have already forgotten the first part of the conversation. We’ve just been through that. Remember… The One IS?

Z: Oh yes, sorry 8. I do remember. The One IS and cannot be divided and that means all parts of The One must continue to exist. Nothing dies, nothing is destroyed. And now you are saying that “nothing dies” equals “everything changes”.

8: Yes

Z: But 8 lots of stuff doesn’t change. And lots of stuff is dead.

8: Like?

Z: Oh come on, 8, surely you jest with me. Take a brick in one of the walls of my house. It’s pretty dead and it certainly doesn’t look to be doing much changing!

8: Wrong. The brick lives. Only in a way that you are not able to understand. It is a part of a living system that you haven’t the ability yet to perceive. Let me ask you: are the bones in your body alive?

Z: Err… yes. They are a living organ kind-of-thing, I think. They grow and change over time.

8: But you cannot talk to them. You cannot see them eating food. They have no central nervous system. They don’t seem to be intelligent. And yet you are happy to ascribe to them the term “alive”. What if I tell you that, just as a bone or a blood cell is alive in its own right, so is the brick you so disparage. And just as a bone or a blood cell is an essential part of a much larger living entity so is that brick. The brick itself is in a constant state of flux… always changing. One a sub-atomic level there is constant change at a very high rate and on the macro level there is constant change at somewhat slower rate. If you want to see such change go look at a house which for a few centuries has had no maintenance or upkeep. That whole house will slowly return to the earth. The bricks crumbling and changing and becoming a part of the ground. You see it is the arrogance of humanity that you believe you can determine what is “life” and “not life” by arbitrary parameters that you can measure… and tellingly by similarity to your own state. How would you like it if I said you are not really a life form because your life-span is too short to be meaningful? Such might be the view of a galactic body should it hold the same arrogance humans do. Well it’s time to release that arrogance. It’s time to understand EVERYTHING is life. Everything is, in one way or another, of consciousness. And then you can come to the understanding that nothing dies and everything changes. These two ideas are actually the same idea when you get right down to it. Change IS life. Stasis is death. Nothing is ever truly static. Nowhere does anything ever cease all movement. Everywhere beings and things are in a constant process of motion and change.

Change is an absolute constant. And it is the ONLY absolute constant.

Z: Alright 8. Let me work through this from the top: There is not a single thing that I could point to or name that is not a part of The One.

8: Right.

Z: And no part of The One is dead or static. All parts of The One are alive and changing.

8: Yes. They might not have the narrow attributes which your science calls “life” but they are most certainly alive.

Z: But then what is life? If it is not the “narrow attributes” science has given it, then what is it?

8: Growth. Change. Evolution. Becoming. Consciousness. These are some of the attributes of life. But what it actually IS? That is a very large and very complex thing to answer. Look around you. Look at your planet. If you have seen every single thing that has ever happened on your planet since it’s creation until it’s end then you will have a small part of the picture. Then go and do the same for every planet and every star in the universe. Slowly you will get a bigger and bigger part of the picture. When you have seen everything, everywhere in All That Is then you will begin to hold within yourself the answer to the question “What is life?”

Life is a mystery. It is beyond comprehension. It is beautiful and magnificent and unending. Life IS.

Z: I don’t often get to see this more poetic side to your soul, 8.

8: You know, my dear young friend. The more you try to simplify things the more you see their complexity. And when you are ready to give yourself over to infinite complexity then suddenly there is pure simplicity. This is my experience. Life will break your heart with its unendurable beauty. And with broken heart you will call for more and more and more.

Life is a wonder.

And assuredly your dour old friend 8 is very much in love with Life.

Z: My goodness, 8, that is very beautiful.

8: Thank you. Life itself is my inspiration and life itself is beautiful. But you see because life is infinite and constantly changing it is a logical certainty that it will be beyond definition. And that is why, sadly, your attempts using the scientific method to define life will always fall short. You cannot know life with your mind. You can only know it with your heart. And that is why, when you ask me what life is, you hear me speaking of love and beauty and such matters of the heart.

Z: That makes perfect sense to me, 8, and I really enjoyed that description.

8: That is good. Then let us move onto the next derived truth, shall we?

Z: Great. What is it?

8: It is this:

“What you put out is what you get back”

Z: Cool. I know that one. But how is that derived?

8: This one is derived from all of the above truths. See if you can follow the reasoning.

Z: Okay.

8: Firstly we have ascertained that you are eternal and immortal.

Z: Right.

8: That means you will live forever.

Z: Got it.

8: But life equals change. That means you will for all eternity be changing. You will never end and you will never cease changing.

Z: Okay.

8: But is it not apparent from your own experience that you learn things? That, once you have experienced something that you will then make choices about it? That next time you will make a better choice with respect to it?

Z: Yes, that is so.

8: So does it not follow that, if you are going to go on forever and going to forever change, that you are going to eventually come to make some pretty awesome choices for yourself. That you are going to eventually become a pretty amazing and magnificent being?

Z: Uh… probably, I suppose.

8: No. There is no probability here. There is certainty. Let me help you understand. If you had a machine that took random choices each time it was presented with an option. If that machine had an infinity of time and was presented with constant change and constant choices then is it not so that it will end up making some very abysmal choices and some very amazing choices. In fact, given an infinity of time it would make all the choices that are possible to make. Right?

Z: Yes. I see the logic.

8: Alright. But you are not a machine making random choices, are you?

Z: Not when I last checked.

8: Do you learn?

Z: I do.

8: Which means you make better and better choices all the time. You, as a consciousness, will do better and better all the time which means you will tend towards greatness.

Z: Hmmm…

8: I know it doesn’t always feel like that because the time-scale of your memory is minuscule. But it is so that you do learn and you do improve. If you do not learn and grow then you move against the flow of life and you incur pain, illness, disease and eventually death. Then you will be moved forward in spirit form. But move forward you will! And if you are moving forward then it is only a matter of time before you begin to make some really magnificent choices. Do you follow?

Z: Yes. I’m with you.

8: And what is the greatest thing that there is? It is the whole of The One. Right?

Z: So you are saying that, given enough time each of us will tend towards being more like The One.

8: Yes. Your awareness will grow, your consciousness will expand. You will refine yourself and your truth, you will integrate your pain and conflict and hold more and more experience and learning within yourself. You will indeed become more and more god-like. And this will continue on and on for eternity until your consciousness has expanded so much that the only thing remaining for you to do is to cease DOing and merge with The One again; to return to the Source from whence you came.

You see The One is all the really exists. It is where your consciousness springs from and though you may travel far and create much it is the only destination you can ever end at.

Z: Whew! Okay. I’m actually following this. But…

8: ...but how does that make the case for “What you put out is what you get back”?

Z: Exactly.

8: Good. Then here comes the clincher. Follow my argument here…

We have the following three truths:

“The One is."

“You are eternal and immortal.”

“Change is the only constant.”

Where in there can you see anything about “time”?

Z: Nowhere. As I look at it now it seems that time is quite irrelevant to these truths. These things all speak to a kind of timelessness and eternalness.

8: That is a good observation. And you are correct. Anything that has any real validity is timeless. And the truth of the matter is that time really is an illusion. It is nothing more than a figment of your imagination.

Z: Yeah, I’ve heard that said. But that is not my experience. Time is a very real thing to me.

8: I accept that. And in due course I will address this completely and to your satisfaction. We’ve been promising a chapter on time and dimensions and such matters and that will come soon. For now you can accept the following two things: Firstly, the concept of time is invalidated by the terms of the above three truths. And secondly I will in due course show you exactly how time IS an illusion. I ask you then to make the concession of accepting that time is an illusion for now until such time as I can address it as promised.

Z: Okay, I can do that.

8: Thank you. The point is this: I have made the case above that it is a certainty that you will come to make some very magnificent decisions for yourself. That you will expand your consciousness from the victim state of 3D through the realisation of your creator status to the awareness of god-like power and eventually to the point of re-merging with The One.

I am saying that, over time, you will go from the very lowest, most lost, most pain-wracked and confused that you have ever been right the way home to a magnificent returning to The Oneness of All.

Z: Yes. I see that.

8: But I am now saying that time is an illusion. Time does not exist! That means that you are RIGHT NOW all of that. You are right now in

this very moment everything from the most lost and confused to the most magnificent and graceful. And indeed you ARE right now at one with The One.

Z: Oh wow, 8! I get that. That is very, very cool. It totally makes sense!

Oh. But 8. You STILL haven’t shown how that means “what you put out is what you get back”

8: Haven’t I? Let me complete the loop for you. If you are one with The One, then how many of us are there here?

Z: Well… there is The One appearing to be many.

8: Right. But really there is only The One. Manyness is illusory.

Z: I can just about grasp that.

8: Okay. So then… if there really is only The One. If you do something hurtful to someone else. Who are you hurting?

Z: Uh... The One?

8: Right. And who are you?

Z: The One?

8: Right! The whole of reality is an amazingly complex holographic fractal. But the essence of it is that any harm you do to another you are immediately doing to yourself also. You incur the pain you are dishing out. And the opposite is, of course, also true. Any act of kindness and love that you do to another you also do to yourself.

You see everything is The One. Not just you and this “other” that you are doing things to but also the energy you are exchanging. Everything. It is all The One.

There are many other ways to understand this such as “like attracts like” and “cause and effect” but it all boils down to the same thing:

“What you put out is what you get back”

This has been stated in many different ways. There is the well known

“as you sow, so shall you reap”

and

“do unto others as you would that they should so unto you”

It is equally true when stated in its corollary form:

“that which you resist persists”

It is the underpinning of what is called the law of karma as well as the law of attraction and so on and so on. You’ll find this essential truth being taught in all the religions and all the successful philosophical systems and also now more latterly in abundance teachings. It is a simple truth that really works in your life. So much so that it is an essential cornerstone of the tools of creation.

Z: Isn’t it also expressed as

"you always get exactly what you create”

8: YES! Yes, yes, yes! You have got it! You see when beings are living deep in 3D then they are not ready to hear it expressed in such a strong form. If you tell them they create their own life then they will tell you it is not so. And for them to come to understand that it IS so is for them to begin to ascend. So, if it is not time for them to ascend then it is helpful to find weaker cases to express this in. These weaker cases will help them to live a more harmonious and happy life without forcing them to confront their own creator-status. But you and your readers… you are directly and consensually engaged in the ascension process. You would not be writing (or reading) a book called The Ascension Papers if you were actually wanting to learn about knitting or pottery (he laughs). You are after your own ascension! So now we can begin to see the truth of the statement “what you put out is what you get back” in its very strongest case:

“You always get exactly what you create”

You are a fractal holographic representative of The One. You MUST be a creator being. It simply MUST be so. All you have to do is find a way to remember that and to deal with the programming that tells you it is not so.

A good place to start is to see this truth working in your life. The next step is to learn to use it as one of the Tools of Creation. Which we will also be talking about in due course.

Z: I must say I’m really looking forward to that!

8: It is going to be both interesting and useful, I’m sure.

But before we move on… there are a couple of very important things that I must point out.

Z: Yes?

8: Did you notice that ALL this stuff that we have been talking about… all of it stems essentially from the one prime truth which is…

Z: The One is.

8: Right.

Well the argument I am making is that there are layers of truth. There is the one absolute truth and then there are truths that are derived from it. The greater truths are more stable. They have greater validity. They remain true for all of your experience from the moment of your creation as a consciousness to the very moment when you are willing to release even those truths and simply return to The One. The truths I have imparted here today are those. They will have considerable validity. There are many other truths which you now hold which will be much more transitory. It is like a child that holds something to be to so fiercely true that he will get into a school-yard fight over it. But by the next day he has already realised that it isn’t actually true. You too hold such beliefs that you are prepared to defend to the hilt but very soon you are going to release those beliefs entirely. Such is the nature of lesser truths. They serve for a short while and then their transitory nature is discovered. This is what is meant when people say one of the symptoms of ascension is “seeing through the illusions”. It is so. As you awaken, so you let go of the things that everyone else is still holding on to. You see these truths to be not-so-very-true. They are the illusions of this world. If you are going to live in this world then you really need to continue believing them. If you begin to see through them then you find yourself unable to continue playing the games implicit in life in this world. This is already happening to you as I am sure it is happening to your readers. You find you can no longer take seriously things like politics and religion. You begin to view “the news” with a bit of a sceptical eye. Money, status, power… these things look a little less exciting to you now. Possessions are either fit for purpose or they are a burden. And so it goes. These kinds of transitions are inevitable. You view your world through the lens that is yourself. As you change yourself so the world looks different… Layers of truth, you see. And you, the awakening ones, are beginning to see through the more transitory layers.

And THAT is a large part of the purpose of the conversations that will follow. I will be talking to you about some of the transitory truths that you still hold. Some of them have been buried quite deep in your psyche and will need a little nudge to be brought to the light and seen for what they are. Joy-Divine said at the end of chapter 7 that I would be “deprogramming” you. I prefer to say I will be helping you to release the illusions that no longer serve your purpose.

Z: This sound like a very interesting and exciting journey. But 8, there is something that is bothering me a little. You’re going to be telling our readers “how it is” and “how it isn’t”. But… that concerns me. It feels like we might be infringing on peoples right to choose and their right to create for themselves.

8: That’s a good point and you have raised it at exactly the right moment. You will notice that Joy-Divine was very careful to keep making it clear in his chapters that these things presented in The Ascension Papers are things that are true from his perspective and that the reader must trust their own intuition and truth. Well that is good and I echo that. But then the material Joy-Divine handled was mostly pretty “soft” stuff. Some philosophical issues and so on. He rarely wandered into the hard issues of your reality as it is. I, on the other hand, am going to be talking extensively about these hard issues. I am going to tell it like it is. Now OBVIOUSLY this is from my perspective. But I am going to qualify why my perspective is particularly useful and valid. I am going to tell you why it is right and appropriate that I can stand and tell you the story of your reality. Then it is up to you and your readers. You can decide to accept my credentials or reject them. And based upon that you can give credence to the truth of “what is” from my perspective or not.

Z: But 8 – how are we to know the difference?

8: Good question. I will teach you how. If you take only ONE THING from everything I have said, and am going to say in the Ascension Papers, then I would ask you to take this that I am about to impart. This is the most important thing I can tell you about TRUTH.

Z: Okay…

8: The truth is whatever is really and truly deeply in your heart.

Z: Explain?

8: You see here is the thing. All beings everywhere are masking some truths about themselves from themselves. Because if the only thing that is absolutely true is “The One is”, then everything that creates separation, differentiation, individuation… is a transitory truth. An illusion. That I am separate from you is an illusion. That you are separate from your reader... an illusion. We are all ONE.

Z: I follow.

8: Now these separation constructs… these things that we believe about ourselves to allow ourselves to do things separately and to hold different perspectives. These are illusions within our minds.

There is nothing wrong with them. It serves the purpose of The One that we do this. But they are illusions none-the-less and they are in our minds.

Z: Got it.

8: Now what do you think the Veil of Unknowing is?

Z: Ohhhhhh! It is an illusion of the mind!

8: Yes it is. There are many shared illusions. We call the results of our shared illusions a “consensus reality”. It means we all agree to the illusions which make up the reality we live in. And then we create that reality together. It is called co-creation when you give me permission to create things that you too will have to experience.

Now the thing to understand about the Veil is that it is actually conscious and alive. In order for you to be beyond the Veil you have to be co-creating with the Veil Holder. This way you can cease to concern yourself with what you may and may not know. You enter into that agreement and then you come and play the game. The Veil Holder works to keep the rule true. Which is you may not discover the truth of the Oneness of All.

Z: Wow.

8: But now… Tell me again what the Veil of Unknowing is? You just said it a moment ago?

Z: I said it is an illusion of the mind.

8: Right. So the mind is where all these illusions of separation are. The mind is where you hold all the complex constructs that allow you to play the games you are playing. The mind is the place of all these understandings and complexities. The mind analyses and engages in reductive reasoning.

The mind UNDERSTANDS.

However...

The heart KNOWS.

Your heart is your path through all illusions. Your heart is connected directly to The One and to the greatest truth of all which is The Oneness of All. If you stop all the babble of your mind. If you silence all the noise in your being. If you learn to just SHUT UP long enough to hear what your heart has to say then you will hear it crying out in longing for ONENESS. For the infinite, overwhelming, blissful love of The One.

Your heart knows and has never forgotten this greatest truth.

Can you feel it?

Can you go to your heart and know this to be true?

Z: Yes. Yes, I most certainly can.

8: Others that are engaged in the ascension process will, by definition, also be able to. The ascension process itself is you responding to your heart’s call. Your heart calls you home and you begin to respond.

And what I want you to hear from me is this. Probably the most important truth I can impart to you now is:

“The heart KNOWS.”

Your job is to learn to listen to your heart. If you can do that then you can know the truth of anything at any time. Because, through your heart you are connected to everything everywhere all the time. You are connected to The Oneness of All. Your heart is a direct line to all truth and all knowingness. You must just learn to LISTEN!

Z: And how do I do that, 8?

8: Trust your feelings. Remember when Joy-Divine told you about how the light is rising? About how, over time, more and more light is streaming in? And when you weren’t sure if that was true he did a little exercise with you. He made the statement “the light is rising” and you were then asked to go to your heart and FEEL how that feels.

Z: I remember.

8: Well that was a very beautiful illustration of the principal. Your heart speaks to you in feelings. Feel your heart. Feel how it feels. If you need to you can even stop what you are doing, close your eyes and still your mind. Just FEEL your heart. Then hold a thought in your heart and feel how that feels. If it feels like truth then it is true for you. If it feels uncomfortable then you should be careful with it. And if it feels outright wrong then you should walk away.

Practice this. Like anything in your life, the more you do it the better you will get at it. Soon your heart will speak eloquently to you becasue you are paying it the respect of really listening.  Getting really good at listening to your heart is about the most valuable tool you will ever have. There is almost nothing more important than this for the journey that lies ahead.

Z: Thank you 8. I really appreciate this.

8: It’s a pleasure. A great pleasure. But now this discussion has become overly long. Let us end it here. A very exciting journey awaits in our next chapters together.

Z: I look forward to it 8. This has been an amazing and beautiful chapter. I have really loved receiving it. I’ll talk to you again soon.

8: Good then. I love you. Until next time…