The Christmas Gift

A talk with Father Carel-Piet van Eeden and Rev. Cindy Paulos about the Christ Light, Mother Mary, and the Christmas gift of allowing that light to be born in you. We talk about how to embody that love and light. We also talk about how the true meaning of Christmas holds deep symbolism that we can use as a guidepost to allow this time of year to be celebrated in a meaningful way.

Transcript

It's so wonderful to be here with my friend,

My mentor,

My brother,

Father Karel-Pete Van Eten,

Who's in Bethlehem right now.

Bethlehem,

South Africa.

And I'm all the way here in Maui.

We often just do communications via Messenger or maybe WhatsApp,

But it's beautiful to actually try to get our 12-hour time difference together to talk about what's important.

How are you doing,

My dear friend?

I'm doing wonderful.

And there's very few people who would understand what I wanted to share today with you because you understood the whole concept behind the writing of the Christmas gift.

This Christmas gift,

I know if I hold it up,

People will see it backwards,

Which is interesting.

But then again,

It's the book,

The Christmas Gift,

When Heaven Merges with Earth,

And you were kind enough to try to help translate my dyslexia and my problems with writing to help me get it out there.

Welcome.

It's wonderful to see you,

My friend.

Explain how you understood what I was trying to express in this book.

What resonated with you that you tried to take on the challenge of trying to edit and help get the proof out there for this?

So I think we share a passion for Christmas,

Firstly.

Over and above,

Of course,

The passion that we share our love for God.

And when I read the first iteration,

It was very clear.

I mean,

Just from our discussions,

Even before reading the iteration,

Was that Christmas has become such a commercialized,

Misunderstood part of not only Christianity,

But of society and of spirituality.

And the message in that is let's try and reclaim the divinity of Christmas and we look at different aspects of Christmas and where they come from and how they all fit into place into this beautiful story that we are entering into.

Well,

I know that you did understand that and I,

As you have been,

You're very,

Very devoted to your practice.

You are a wonderful teacher on Inside Timer,

But you also practice in many ways through the beautiful ways of the robe that you're wearing.

You're part of the white robe monks of St.

Benedict and you found a way with that wonderful organization and group to be able to practice with your heart and soul.

And the love that you have through what I do and you do is more of a mystical way of embracing the light and God and Jesus and Mary.

And I have found with that mystical approach,

As you have,

That sometimes it's hard to fit within the confines of what might be considered the traditional form of expressing love for God.

However,

If we look back at some of the great mystics,

And I can't help but think of some of the ones that were women saints,

Of course,

Including Mary,

Mother Mary was a mystic.

I think the mysticism aspect is really something that was something that I really needed to express.

The mystical perspective is really an important part of how I wanted to reach a lot of people about how this importance of bringing the highest light that was brought to earth and merged with earth through Christ and through Mother Mary was a gift that brought the spirit into form in a way that was an example.

It was an amazing way to show,

Yes,

You can bring heaven to earth,

You can bring spirit to form,

You can bring the unbelievable infinite light of the cosmos and creation into your being,

But you have to have enough of the base to be able to carry and maintain that life.

That was an interesting thing that I didn't have a chance to go into all the values that that takes but I know you've learned and expressed it.

It's a long,

Long,

Testing,

Trialing path to try to live that Christ light and that is what is Christ consciousness.

That Christ consciousness,

That being in that Christ consciousness is maintaining,

Is holding that light,

Which is such an interesting challenge.

Being able to hold that light,

Hold that light in your life at all times.

This is the cosmic consciousness of the illumination that I know Christ and Mary had.

I appreciate that you understand the unbelievable wisdom and mysticism of Mary and how Mary was able to bring this energy forth as well.

She was able to be open to that infinite unlimited love of God.

You have a deep love of Mary,

Don't you?

I do.

That is why every Sunday on Inside Timer,

Before we say mass,

We pray the rosary together.

We do an hour and a half of praying the rosary,

Connecting with that beautiful energy of our Holy Mother.

Not just saying Hail Mary ten times,

But actually taking some time afterwards and breathing in the peace and the different energies that one can link to our Holy Mother and be with that energy.

I think she is one of the most phenomenal masters out there.

I am going to be doing a retreat soon with connecting with her and the ocean.

There is so much that we can go into when we do work with Mother Mary.

I find that when I did this deep connection with Mother Mary,

I think that a lot of people,

Including myself,

When I first start to say or listen to you say the Holy Rosary,

I have to think sometimes that when we are praying in the initial stages of connecting with that energy,

We are asking maybe an unspoken prayer for that help that we know that she has,

That compassion,

That love.

But there comes a point with that.

You are going,

Oh,

Wait a second,

Maybe with all that energy of needing help,

We are putting it outside,

But at some point,

That heaven merges with yourself,

That light and that love of Mary becomes not separate.

It becomes something where you don't think of it just needing help,

But you realize you can embrace it and you can embody it and you can be graced with that Holy Spirit.

Actually,

If you believe enough,

If you allow yourself to feel worthy enough,

And I know you do,

Then you can share that same energy Mary has that she brought forth in Christ.

When I wrote the book Mystical Mother Mary,

By the end of all these beautiful messages I got,

At the end,

I felt she was delivering me as she delivered Christ.

She delivered me to Christ,

Which I needed to go through all the steps that I have in there,

Which is about forgiveness and understanding and compassion and being worthy and about being able to receive and to give,

All that then just was able to then take you to the level of going,

Okay,

Now I understand how she was able to birth that light of the Christ through her.

And now we can actually do the same and hold that Christ light in us.

Definitely,

Definitely.

And if we stay with the rosary,

I mean,

Mary,

While we say the Hail Marys,

There's a specific focus on each of the decades that we think about and the different mysteries.

And with each of those mysteries,

There comes the fruit of that mystery.

So when we think about our holy mother,

Then the first one of the mysteries would be giving over to God.

And when she said her Magnificat,

It was all about not my will,

But God's will be done.

Here I am.

And so it is again,

More than just asking for help.

It is setting our intentions to have one of those fruits of the mysteries that we then focus on through the rosary.

So it isn't just about,

You know,

Look at me,

I need help.

It is much deeper than that.

It is a focus for us to try and emulate in life.

There's a certain frequency of energy that comes just as you do chanting,

Maybe some people do chanting,

Just as you do prayer.

What you're doing through a lot of this is interesting,

Even when people just have a word,

They have a mantra.

What you're doing in a way is you're letting your mind or they call the monkey mind,

Stop and at some point,

You set up this frequency that you can actually become part of.

I sense that.

And speaking of frequencies,

I want to move into the frequencies of the star of light,

Which I talk quite a bit about the magicians,

The masters who came and guided the masters to that light.

Because,

Again,

It's a matter of when you have to have that faith to leave everything behind and follow either way.

You're following Christ or you're following Mary or you're following that star to the birth of that light.

At some point,

You use your mind to figure out and then you go beyond figuring out,

Which is the same thing you do when you're doing your rosary.

You go beyond your mind and try to think,

Well,

This is what I'm trying to do,

This is what I'm trying and all that just becomes part of the energy.

I think the stars,

Which influenced my writing of the Christmas gift,

I go out every morning,

As you know,

Early.

I get up early at three thirty or four and I go out.

The first thing I do is go up to the stars and I raise my hands up very high.

It's so interesting because you look up and you can't help but see the magnificence of the cosmic design through the stars.

Sometimes you have clouds,

But usually one or two stars come through,

Which is even more special.

Like how did that star break through the clouds?

There's an energy frequency of the cosmos and then there's ours.

If we start to align with the cosmic energy of creation,

We are able to get beyond our figure out mind.

And allow this magic,

This wonder,

This magnificence of the cosmos to speak to us doesn't make logical sense.

It's beyond trying to go,

Well,

I don't know what's happening here,

Which star is that or I don't know which is that,

But we just let that energy come through as it did for me back in November last year.

And go,

Okay,

What is this?

Just let me be a vessel.

Let me be a vehicle for whatever message you wish.

And if you can allow that,

There's such amazing light and messages that I think the universe and the cosmos hold for us.

And I think,

Of course,

You know this through the book,

The Christmas gift.

It was no mistake that there was this amazing light that was right there at the time of the birth of Christ.

It was the Christ light and I even in the CD,

An album I put out,

Love Conquers All,

There's a lot about this amazing light that the shepherds saw,

That the angels knew,

That the magi knew,

And all.

We can't forget through all that that Mary and Joseph and everyone within that place at the darkest time of the year,

This amazing light,

Which was represented,

Not by mistake,

From this brilliant light of lights of the star,

Bringing that marking of this change of time that was happening to Earth and humanity,

Right?

It is all divine harmony in the end.

It is all this beautiful,

Beautiful symphony that we are all instruments of.

And I think the star 2,

000 years ago is one of the,

If not the most beautiful melodies.

We've been carrying through that melody up to now,

And it's gone through many,

Many changes.

And it has,

In some instances,

Gone a bit into a minor key,

Some sadness.

In some places,

It's gone a bit wonky,

But the melody is still there.

And I think through what you are trying to do in the book,

As well as the album,

Is let's go back to the basic,

Pure melody.

Let's take away all the glitter and all the sequins and all the extras that we've added over the many,

Many years.

And let's just listen and go into a space of silence to hear the single,

Not even melody,

But just that single note,

That pure note of Christ.

That is so beautifully put,

Father.

I love what you just said.

Because I have,

And I refer to it in some of my messages,

The symphony of the stars.

But if you were to take it to like you just said so beautifully.

If you were to look at that one bright light of that one star from the true source.

And if you were to be able to completely turn your will over to that light of lights,

That one source in the silence,

You could align with that same energy that created that star,

Which is of course is God,

And God behind all creation,

The Creator is created.

And,

And that's an interesting and powerful transforming sound that could really truly take you right to that source of all,

And you could align with that light of all lights,

And could be transformed to feel that unconditional love that was able to be felt by Mary.

Where that amazing energy of creation,

Of God's love was able to be carried forth by her.

And as she was there in that light of that one star,

That one perfect energy,

Was brought to earth by the birth of Christ and we can't ever forget that that birth is symbolic of the birth of that one light within us.

It's so important that we not just take an outer story that becomes too familiar and forget that it's an inner mystical representation of our own birth of light our own birth of love our own embodying of the mind questioning but turning it over to the will of God because there's so much beyond what we ever could figure out.

I think we're somewhat seeing this as the web,

Beautiful web explosion of colors and light that we're seeing from this these visions of the visions that are like,

Obviously,

Beyond what we ever could have maybe imagined that are happening in the cosmos and again that wonder comes forth of like,

Wow,

Look at that,

You know,

Wow,

Look at that,

That came from that,

That where did we're could have all this come from,

You know,

Which is that innocence we have to get back to that one innocence that can be born in us again because it's so beat up by what we are living with and then the difficult times and then the illusion and the delusion and the disappointment.

The disappointment and hardships,

Right?

The delusions,

Illusions and illusions.

I hadn't thought of the illusions,

Illusions.

Oh,

That's a good one.

Yeah,

That is from my dear Bishop Robert,

When we are preparing for monastic profession.

Tell me about illusions because I don't often think of that.

So,

Illusions to me is questions that you would ask of how do I source what others think of me.

So,

How do I gauge what other people think of me?

Do I trust their words?

Do I trust the actions?

Does it really mean anything?

So,

It's not an easy answer,

Just as delusions and illusions.

What would Jesus think?

What would Mary think?

What would Joseph think?

What would all of that at that time 2000 years ago?

There obviously had to be a different group.

I believe in the Essenes and now of course there's been proof of that through the scrolls.

The first scrolls found in caves that started to let the truth out about them.

Yes,

They were the Essenes and yes,

They did live separate.

Yes,

They were able to live without fear of judgment within their community.

But when they go out into the world as Jesus had to do to show how you live this,

I think the only thing that really reached people originally was the miracles that he was able to perform.

The miracles of healing,

The miracles of walking on water,

The miracles that the rest of the world would have gone,

Wow,

This would have gone viral.

And then our time is like,

Wow,

Or people would try to disprove it.

But when you get to some point where you can't deny that there's something there,

Right,

There's something that is creating this beyond your mind understanding,

Then maybe that point,

Then the illusions fall away and people have to.

And I'm sure Christ had to think that Jesus had to think about that,

Right?

I had never thought of this till he brought it up.

Jesus is going to go out after his whole life of seeking and learning and teaching,

He's going to have to go out into the world.

So how does he have disciples who follow him?

How does he have people who believe him?

And that's an interesting,

Huge subject.

And I don't know if we can get into it all here,

But I hadn't really considered that.

So thank you for bringing that up idea that I hadn't considered that.

I think that's a several years worth of debate question.

I mean,

Whatever was behind the force of the cosmic energy of that star was enough to convince the masters to go to Herod and say,

Okay,

Where's this happening?

Where's this birth of this?

And at that point,

Maybe even putting up a red flag in front of Herod going,

What's going on?

Why are they asking about the birth of the king?

But enough for them to regardless go that knew they had to see and find this amazing prophecy fulfilled because for many,

Many centuries,

There's been that prophecy.

And there's still a prophecy,

You know,

And I know,

I mean,

That's another talk for another time about the prophecy of what is yet to come again,

You know,

In the darkest of times in the darkest night,

In the hardest of times,

Amidst the most delusion.

This Christ light is born again through us,

And maybe again through Christ,

Right?

Very,

Very true.

I always wonder the seers and the wise people who were surrounding Herod,

Why did they not pick up on the stone?

Or why did they keep quiet?

Because it was such a big sign.

Yes,

That's a very good point.

But if you're working for someone in power,

And you go to them,

And I mean,

Like just right now,

I mean,

I take for example,

You saw something,

You had a vision,

You go to the Pope.

There's a lot of things that might happen,

Even if the Pope believed you around the people that would even allow you to see the Pope,

That would limit what you might want to say,

Because it has to fulfill and be within the guidelines and rules they have to fulfill what they are supposed to do,

Right?

And what kind of faith would have to be happening for them to actually allow this to even jeopardize their jobs?

What kind of miracle is Herod going to believe in that they're going to talk about,

You know?

Or with their mind,

And I bring this up in that chapter about the Magi and Masters,

If they can't get past the mind,

They're not going to register the import of the star.

They're not going to be able,

Because it's only through spirit in your heart that you have to trust enough to go,

This isn't something that's happened,

This isn't something that,

This doesn't compute.

And in our time now we more than ever go,

Well,

How is that possible?

You know,

How do you explain it?

And you try to compute it,

But there's a lot of things about God you still can't compute.

I don't think there's a meme for God yet.

We have memes for a lot of things,

For prayers.

I was really wondering the other day,

Father,

If there's a meme for God yet.

I don't think there is.

I mean,

How do you have an AI explain God,

Right?

I have not seen it,

No.

It's difficult enough for human beings to muddle through,

Because that's impossible for us.

So yeah,

It's going to be interesting.

Let me try a little experiment here.

Siri,

Do you believe in God?

I don't have a religion.

Oh,

Siri does not have a religion.

So you think of.

Siri,

Who is God?

Here's what I found.

It takes me right to Wikipedia.

And,

Okay,

Okay so so that's a safe thing for an AI to say right.

I'm sorry,

I was told by Siri one time he's not an AI.

He's not an AI,

He's an assistant.

He's a digital assistant,

Right?

So,

You know,

What are we going to do when we realize if we turn everything over to computers that God may not compute but you have to go down only what was written by God by someone,

Right?

Very true.

I think that people around Herod,

If they did think and believe it,

I think they'd keep their mouth shut.

True,

True.

Especially then if you take the political situation into account and that's something that we don't think about over Christmas time.

Where were the Romans?

They were there already.

And the influence was massive already.

And the hardest,

Some of the hardest test of Jesus Christ in his time was how do you deal with Romans and some one or two of the Romans actually did help and save some of the followers.

The risk of their own life,

You know that they saw that goodness,

And again,

We see this we have many conversations about this father,

I don't want to go too far astray,

But I had to take it into account when I'm doing a book such as this and I did my CD,

Love Conquers All.

The limited audience we see this in Insight Timer there's going to be some people.

I think I said it one of my talks and Insight Timer,

I talked about God and God bless you.

And someone gave me a rating of like one.

I don't believe in God,

You know and said that as a comment,

You know,

And,

And again I hate offending people I don't wish to offend people,

But at the same time.

We have to address what people think God is we have to address what people think.

Jesus Christ is we have to think and address what people have the people who believe sometimes can actually be very offended as well.

We go beyond the realm.

When we look at the mystical energy or whatever I'm perceiving if they perceive it definitely you could see it now you've had to encounter this with what you're doing.

You know in the role you're playing you've had to push boundaries right.

Definitely so for us.

I am blessed to be in an order where we have a slightly different rule set to what most people would know a Catholic order would do.

So we follow the Zen rule of St.

Benedict.

So there's a lot of Buddhist influence in that.

But also then we have to maintain it's in the order.

The first is the rule of St.

Benedict,

Which starts with the word,

Our school to which means listen.

And if you read a bit further it is listen with the ear of the heart.

Isn't that beautiful is absolutely beautiful.

If we listen with the ear of the heart to God.

What we get to is that what you're talking about that one note that one creation that then creates the symphony of the stars and amazing sound all life and all creation you know if we listen with the ear of the heart.

We will understand the love that can conquer all we can understand the love for gives and has ultimate compassion,

A love that heals,

You know,

It reveals and it heals and gives us that grace to get through these challenges and I guess with that.

We could talk for hours of course but with that we probably should should should wind this particular talk up,

You know,

As you know,

And I know I don't write down questions.

And I just go okay spirit what's going to happen and then you know I go flow here and I've learned a lot from you today,

Things I hadn't thought of very interesting perceptions that I love.

And I do want to let people know that they can follow you in a few ways right.

It's available in three ways now it's it's available in Kindle,

A soccer book,

And the hardcover book now,

And I thank you and I wouldn't have been possible without you of course.

So I bow to you and I thank you.

I thank you for your dedication and love to God,

You know,

And to how you express it and share it with people it's so beautifully pure pure and it always touches me how you have dedicated yourself to to serve so beautifully so I bow to you in gratitude and I thank you.

God bless you always.

Thank you.

Thank you.

God bless.

Reviews

So wonderful talking to Father Carel-Piet van Eeden

Enjoyed the talk. Will practice taking the time to feel the energy of Mother Mary when saying the Rosary. Thank you both 🙏 💞