HELPING ME BECOME MY ETERNAL SELF 4

Terrestrial Mentors:

PERSONAL PRE MORTAL SPIRIT

Just a quick reminder that the mentor we are referring to here is that spirit which resides within our physical body and which existed in our pre mortal life as the offspring of Heavenly Parents.

(Old Testament-Psalms 51: 6; New Testament-Corinthians 6: 20; Matthew 26: 41; Doctrine and Covenants 131: 7; Book of Mormon-Ether 4: 15)

Preparation:

There are many who are born into mortality that have an automatic and continual connection between their pre mortal spirit mentor and their physical mind. We see this demonstrated not only in prodigies of music and the arts and sciences, but also see it manifest in many who from birth seem to enjoy special spiritual insights.

However, for most of us this connection happens as we gain a basic understanding of the Plan of Salvation and place our feet on the path where we are striving to live a good life.

(Doctrine and Covenants 84:85)

Process:

There is a connection between some of the practices of the religious life which aids in helping our physical mind connect with our personal pre mortal spirit mentor.

Fasting is an activity where we tell the physical body it will be denied of some of its needs until it submits to the desires of the mentoring of our personal pre mortal spirit.

Prayer is a process where we attempt to turn off the noises of the world, so that we can allow the mind to be subjected to the mentoring of our personal pre mortal spirit.

Scripture study is where the physical eye and ear can become accustomed to the language familiar to our personal pre mortal spirit.
Remember, when the Savior dwelt on this earth in His mortal body, His personal pre mortal mentor or His own pre mortal spirit was Jehovah the Creator.

(Doctrine and Covenants 43: 34; 89: 19; 88: 124; Book of Mormon-2 Nephi 15, 16)

Caution:

Constant and continual filling of the mind with deceptive and incorrect concepts which have been arrived at by man relying too much on his own intelligence, can hamper the connection between our physical mind and our personal pre mortal mentor.

(Doctrine and Covenants 112:23; Book of Mormon-2 Nephi 9: 39; Alma 31: 5)

Celestial Mentors:

Two weeks ago on the second installment of this extended Thought I wrote this quote from Joseph Smith, which is found in the Documentary History of the Church Volume 1 Page 339 and was given on the 13th of April 1833.

And again we never inquire at the hand of God for special revelation only in case of there being no previous revelation to suit the case…
It is a great thing to inquire at the hands of God, or to come into His presence; and we feel fearful to approach Him on subjects that are of little or no consequence, to satisfy the queries of individuals, especially about things the knowledge of which men ought to obtain in all sincerity, before God, for themselves, in humility by the prayer of faith…

This quote is especially appropriate to recall as we branch into the relationships we have with mentors whose activity becomes increasingly originated by the mentors (which consist of the Godhead – the Holy Spirit – Jesus the Christ – and our Eternal Father) and the learner becomes less of a factor in when or where or if direction will be given. This loss of control of being able to be the cause of mentoring seems to increase as we move up in the hierarchy of the Godhead. The Holy Spirit is most accessible, Jesus the Christ less accessible and the Eternal Father rarely accessible to the majority of us during our mortal lives.

HOLY SPIRIT

(New Testament-John 14:6; Book of Mormon-2 Nephi 32:3-5)

Preparation:

Although all of Heavenly Father’s children are privileged on occasion to enjoy the mentorship of the Holy Spirit, through the process of gaining faith in Jesus the Christ as our Lord and Savior, sincere repentance, baptism by one having the proper authority and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit we can become beneficiaries of the constant mentoring of Holy Spirit.

The constancy of the mentoring by the Holy Spirit will be increased as we continue to progress in righteousness and practice Christ like attributes. I don't know if it is true or not, but I have wondered, if the reason our being mentored by members of the Godhead is somewhat monitored by our progression towards becoming righteous, is because we need to be moving closer to becoming Eternal Beings in order for the mentoring to be understandable and comfortable.

(Doctrine and Covenants 50:27, 28; 4:5; Book of Mormon-Moroni 8:25, 26; Alma 34:17, 28, 29, 38)

Process:

Although I haven't paid the price to do the research myself, I have heard it said that the teaching of seeking, knocking and searching is the most frequently used verse in the scriptures. Therefore, especially when we are speaking of the mentoring which we should be seeking from the Holy Spirit, it seems that we should be constantly seeking His mentoring.

I suspect that most of us, much like we did in our school days, have our minds so occupied by the daily distractions of life, that many times we fail to receive the offered mentoring. Therefore, we need to make sure we not only understand the process of mentoring by the Holy Ghost, but also make time available when we can be alert and receptive to His instructions.

Since the Holy Spirit speaks to us in a still small voice, it seems like it would be a good idea to understand how that happens.

I have used this simple chart to illustrate this process:

Holy Spirit  Personal spirit   Physical mortal mind

This chart is based on the understanding that spirit speaketh to spirit. It doesn't take much of a leap to realize that my former experience with learning to listen to and be in tune with my own personal pre mortal spirit mentor is an important elementary training to receiving mentorings from the Holy Spirit.

Learning from the Holy Spirit is sometimes referred to as revelation, but would better fall into the category of inspiration.

(Doctrine and Covenants 6:5-7; 6:36; 9:7; 1:34; 8:2,3; 35:19; 121:43; Book of Mormon-Moroni 10:3-5)

Caution:

Hugh Nibley once quoted his father as having said, ‘if an angel came into the room I would jump right out of the window.’ There have been those for whom the first experience of receiving inspiration from the Holy Spirit has been so overwhelming that they were left with no desire to have further mentoring. We need to be valiant enough and have sufficient faith that our Father will not give us that which we are unable to bear. It would be part of our eternal sorrow if we cut off this divine mentoring because we couldn't stand the heat of the refiner’s fire.

In the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord explains to the Prophet Joseph Smith, that Satan can counterfeit the mentoring of the Holy Spirit. I think this is another reason we need to have had experience with our personal pre mortal spirit so that we are familiar with and easily recognize the sureness of these whisperings.

(Doctrine and Covenants 50:2, 3, 9, 31, 32; Pearl of Great Price-Moses 1:18)

(To be continued)