Drop Down Into Safety

Art by Debi Bodett.

Full collection of illustrations of Bartholomew quotes at https://www.instagram.com/quotesbybartholomew

A beautiful collection of illustrations

A few months ago I received an email from Debi Bodett, whom I did not know at the time but who turned out to been a long-time Bartholomew fan. A graphic artist by trade, she felt inspired to illustrate some of Bart’s quotes with evocative and beautiful images, all of which can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/quotesbybartholomew/. They are just stunning. Thank you so much, Debi!

With her permission, I borrowed the one above, one of my favorites, because it illustrates one of the suggestions made repeatedly by Bartholomew over many tapes, which is: take a few minutes as often as possible during the day to stop everything you are doing and simply “drop down into the Self”. Here he suggests to do it “a hundred times a day”, which means roughly every 15 minutes. We will get back to this process later. It’s as simple as it is powerful. For help, there is a convenient little app called MultiTimer that will help you “remember” but let me just warn you that 15 minutes go very fast. Some may prefer 30 minutes intervals.

A Gift from Australia

Sometimes surprises come from far away. In response to my call for the missing tapes from the Japan-India trip of August 1992, I was contacted by Lin Bell, who was on that trip (see picture below, with Mary-Margaret holding hands with the Dalai Lama, and Lin to the right of her). She kindly offered to send me a few tapes she had kept, not from that famous trip itself (I’m still looking for them), but from a two-day workshop that took place in Byrons Bay (Australia) on July 22-23, 1991. I had never heard of that workshop! I am therfore especially grateful to Lin. The tapes will be added to the site soon.

Bartholomew Bot: a new interim solution

Since our last Substack letter announcing the creation of the Bartholomew Bot thanks to the kindness of Rick Archer, creator of the famous Batgap.com site, we’ve tightened the search parameters to a degree. Now, when you go to the Bartholomew Bot to ask a question (at the bottom of the page), you get answers gleaned exclusively from the Bart material instead of the vaster library of other sources grouped under the “Compassion Bot”. With the caveat that, unlike a full search engine, the Bot selects only a limited amount of information gleaned from the totality of the Bartholomew material (more will be added later), the results are nevertheless impressive.

As an example, I asked a question related to the quote mentioned by Debi above: “Can you explain the "drop down" procedure you have mentioned many times?” (as if I was talking to Bartholomew directly).

Here was the answer:

“Certainly! The "drop down" procedure is a practice I often emphasize to help you move beyond the chattering of the limited ego mind and into a deeper state of being. It's a way to connect with your true self, the part of you that is beyond the surface-level thoughts and emotions.

To begin, let's define what I mean by "drop." As I said, "Drop. To me, drop means whatever way you have devised, and everyone has a different way, of dropping past your limited ego mind that's always chattering into that space that we've talked about today that we're trying to build power in" (The Bartholomew Materials: Tape 286X1 2, 1h14m10s).

The essence of the "drop down" procedure is to let go of the mental noise and sink into a state of pure being. Here are some steps to guide you:

1. Awareness and Intention: Start by becoming aware of your current state. Notice the thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations you are experiencing. Set the intention to drop into a deeper state of awareness.

2. Letting Go: As you become aware of your thoughts and feelings, consciously let them go. This doesn't mean you push them away or suppress them, but rather you allow them to pass without attaching to them. "Just let go. Just get into your being and let it go."

3. Dropping into the Moment: Focus on the present moment. Whether you are sitting, walking, or engaged in any activity, bring your attention fully to what you are doing. "The job is not to have you drop as you sit. That's simple. But to drop as you walk, to drop as you listen, to drop as you hear, to drop as the mind starts to buzz" (The Bartholomew Material: Tape 416X1 - 05.09.87 - “Real Guidance”, 21m52s).

4. Trust and Surrender: Trust the process and surrender to it. Know that you don't have to create anything new; you are simply allowing yourself to fall into the deeper arms of your true self. "All you have to do is let go and fall in. You do not have to create the arms. Just let go and fall."

5. Practice Regularly: Make this a regular practice. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. "Each time you drop, you make the way easier. You drop deeper, you drop faster, you drop fuller, time after time."

6. Integration: Finally, integrate this practice into your daily life. "Drop and then speak, don't drop and think and speak because you will fall back into that same mode of thinking with a personal ego which is very, very set on defending itself against the world" (The Bartholomew Material - Tape 454X5 - 09.18.88 - “How to Fall Into God's Stuff,” 41m18s).

By practicing the "drop down" procedure, you cultivate a deeper connection with your true self and navigate life from a place of greater awareness and peace. Remember, be kind to yourself as you practice this. It takes time and patience, but the rewards are profound.”

Note that the source of the quotes (i.e. the tapes) are mentioned, but since not all of them have been added to our site yet, some can be checked (such as the ones for which I added direct links above), and others cannot yet. Patience…

More uploads to the site

To address this problem, I have now accelerated the upload of more tapes, focusing for now primarily on the 500 series. Tapes number 500 to 525 are all uploaded, but to appreciate the number of recent additions, you need to go to the Workshops page where the majority are located. You will then notice that these new uploads can be identified by the fact that the “Audio” box has a white background. As more are added, you will see more of these white boxes.

That said, it’s become clear that even that procedure is too slow, so I’m adding a new one: the direct upload of all the tapes “as is”, which means that the quality of the audio has not been checked yet, but people can still listen to them as I have received them, warts and all included. In due time, they will all be improved where needed. These tapes are identified with the letters “Not Ev. Yet” (i.e. “Not Evaluated Yet”) in the (audio) “Quality” box colored in fuchsia. Can’t miss them.

If there are tapes that you listen to that you find of poor audio quality, please let me know and I will put them on the priority list to be processed and hopefully improved.

Enjoy!

Which is (are) your favorite tape(s)?

There are so many good tapes it is impossible for anyone to decide which one takes precedence over the others, but we all have listened to one or more that have had a special impact on us. If you feel like sharing what they are, it could be beneficial to everyone else.

One such tape was pointed out to me by none other than Ann Claassen, who did the amazing job a few years back of transcribing (without the tools we have today) the entire body of 8 tapes from the last workshop Bartholomew gave at the Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu (NM) in 1995. Reminder: the PDF file Ann generously made available can be found here (Tapes 600X1-X8).

So Ann wrote recently to highlight Tape 43A (“Ego and Projection”), which she did not hesitate to call “foundational”. Additionally, in response to my standing request that fans (or devotees) of Bartholomew share how his teachings have impacted their lives, she sent me the following observations regarding Tape 43A:

Since you would like more dialogue on what the Bart info means to people, I'll give you the highlights of what I've gotten from Tape 43A:

• Most of the time I am in reaction mode, interpreting others' words/actions as an attack and so counterattacking (projecting).

• My first reaction to another's negative words/actions is fear and guilt, so I interpret them as attacking and I counterattack (project). But if I understood that about myself, and that whatever they say/do (project) has no rational connection to my beingness, then I can end the game of action-reaction and instead extend.

• Extension arises out of remembering "home", with which I may connect through beauty, nature, wonder etc., and I can then extend that to others, which may start a ripple effect.

• On some level, I know whether I am projecting or extending.

• It is possible to always extend.

• If I truly believe that there is a Power that fills the Universe and that is within me and that is accessible to me, why am I wasting my time doing anything else?

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Ann!

A private forum?

It appears that Substack is coming up with a new feature that may be very promising: a private forum. Currently, any message you post is public and anyone can read them. With the private forum on the other hand, it will be open only to the people (100 or so currently) that have subscribed to the Bartholomew Material Substack, keeping it more “in the family” so to speak.. You will receive a separate message confirming the opening of this forum. I hope it will encourage more of you to share your thoughts.

Support

For all its user-friendly format, Substack is trying very hard to lead its users into monetizing their contributions. I keep eliminating their automatic “upgrade” buttons because I want to keep subscriptions entirely free, as promised to Mary-Margaret. That said, I have steady costs attached to this whole project, which has already been going on for several years now and for which I don’t get paid a penny (and that’s my choice). So I am not asking the few generous subscribers who have already made contributions as I don’t think it’s fair to always rely on the same people, but I would like the people who have not contributed anything so far to ask themselves if they think that what they’re getting from listening to the Bartholomew tapes is worth a few dollars a month. Any such support is deeply appreciated. The direct link to make a donation (either one-time or recurring monthly) can be found here. Thank you!

J.J. Surbeck