How Much of Your Soul Do You Own?
a witness of Elizabeth Clare Prophet and the ascended masters by Larry Stanley

      I had the great opportunity to work closely with Mother from 1973 until 1996. Beginning in the graphics department in 1973 and transferring into the position of photographer in 1980, I was almost always there when she would teach. Over the years we developed a personal friendship that never got in the way of the strict and loving discipline of the principle of Guru that shines so brightly in Mother. We had a frank and respectful relationship. I could always speak my mind with Mother and likewise she never spared me her insightful perspectives and sometimes stinging admonitions.
    Looking back over those years, if I were to share one insight that most benefited me on my spiritual path it would be a teaching I would title as “How much of your own soul do you own?” Mother taught this at great length and I also got the benefit of her first hand instruction on this subject in a specific situation. I was working for someone within one of the church departments that was given to intense fits of anger and rage, often losing physical control of himself. I saw his temper displayed toward others many times, and one day the fury was released towards me personally. I was strongly inclined to engage in the argument or to physically retaliate, which I would have done without second thought as a young man, but instead I walked off the job very disturbed by the experience. The next day I walked into the personnel department and asked them to please place me in some other department. I went right to work in the staff kitchen and helped prepare meals.
   Later that day, I got a call from Mother asking me to meet her in her quarters to discuss what had transpired. When I arrived, she was in her kitchen with a big bowl of cherries. She invited me in and we stood and talked for over an hour, sharing the fresh cherries until they were gone. Rather than getting into the events of the day before, she spoke to me of her experiences, shared stories of people in her own life that had displayed rampant rage and anger and shared a most profound teaching.
     If you allow others to upset you and control you with their anger and rage, you will never be free. If someone can upset you with their tantrums or outbursts of anger, you are in fact giving them a piece of your soul. Hence the question, “how much of your own soul do you own?” To free myself from this upset, Mother gave me the key of equanimity that is born out of a stronger reliance upon God and the Universe. I needed to trust that, as the Christian scripture puts it, “vengeance is mine, I will repay, sayeth the Lord.” I have contemplated this often over the years. In situations both gross and subtle, this has been extremely valuable to me personally.
     As I view my life today and where my path has led me after having spent a quarter of a century with my Teacher, I feel greatly blessed. My inner treasure house is full of golden memories and valuable lessons that I can now share with my family and friends when someone needs a little help. What greater witness can I give to my Teacher than to share what I have learned and benefit others, as she has so graciously benefited me!
     I believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I believe in Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. I believe in the Dharmakaya, the Sambogakaya and the Nirmanikaya and I take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. Homage to the person and the principle of the Guru. Warm regards to all my friends near and far.