I ask, "What is the meaning of Christmas?"

Zohar answers, “You, as a species, have the creativity and spiritual insight to turn a time of darkness into a symbol of light. I am speaking of the holiday season, specifically Christmas and Hanukkah. Your ancestors responded to the shortening of days and the descent of winter in this uniquely human style. Darkness is growing, but so is light. Light promises to vanquish the darkness with its presence, as you Star Seeds vanquish darkness by merely shining your own light brilliantly.

Do not forget that in this time of holiday cheer, there are more people, Star Seeds like yourself, who do not possess the spirit of the season. The suffer from depression and other psychological maladies, acutely felt during this time of year. Whatever the cause, it is a fact that there are more suicide attempts during this season than in any other part of the year. Many of those who suffer are Star Seeds. Star Seeds may suffer more dramatically because they feel life more passionately, they are attuned to the life force more strongly than other people.

At this time of year, when so any people are in celebration, Want is more keenly felt for Lack is more sufficiently emphasized. So, as you go about your holiday traditions, be mindful of yourself, and of others, and be sure that the light you have shines into every corner of your life, both within you and without where others can benefit from its brilliance. This way, you will experience a true season of light.

I ask, "What am I?"

Zohar answers, “As a Star Seed, you are fully human, and yet you are something more. 50,000 years ago, were confined to a small patch of Africa. These ancestors of yours were not self-aware. They didn’t have the ability to view the workings of their own mind from the perspective of an observer, removed from your behavior. Likewise, you were not aware of your own mortality. You did not ponder the great spiritual questions of life and death.

“At first, we ran into dead-ends and we continued attempting to develop a self-evolving species with the right balance of intelligence and self-awareness. We not only wanted a species that was intelligent, but we wanted one that had the capacity to view their own thoughts and emotions from within themselves, as a third party, divorced from their behaviors. Such a being would also be awareness of their own mortality. About 50,000 years ago we saw the potential of a particular tribe in Africa and we began to focus our attention on that tribe. Your ancestors multiplied necessitating more of us to track and develop you as an ancient, delicate new sub-species. You soon wiped out your competitors, the nearest being Neanderthal Man.

“We began to alter your genes in very subtle ways to enhance intelligence and what can only be called your ‘spiritual gifts.’ With this intervention, a sub-species of you became self-aware for the first time. In time, you began to over-populate the region, meaning that the food supply was insufficient to support everybody. You began to solve this problem with genocide. You wiped out the proto-human sub-species that had not been genetically enhanced with intelligence and awareness. Once this proved insufficient, you began to migrate to adjacent regions where food was plentiful. Once again, overpopulation resulted in more migrations requiring more adaptation. Thus, you became a self-evolving species.”

I ask, “Are Star Seeds alien hybrids?”

Zohar answers, “What is alien? Is stardust alien? When humankind was in its infancy, 50,000 years ago, we recognized your potential to rise as an intelligent species that could dominate the world and could eventually reach for the stars. How do you suppose your species suddenly began to migrate far from its roots in Africa, where it had been content for millions of years, to every corner of the globe? The development of your different races is literally skin deep. Less than 50,000 years ago you were all one race, born in Africa. Then, as if by magic, you all began to migrate across often barren, inhospitable landscapes. Ask yourself why? I will tell you this: It wasn’t magic.

“Prior to that stage of human development your species lacked something fundamental that sheer evolution would not provide if left to its own devices. At that time, we began to intervene. We made sure that humankind developed true consciousness, self-consciousness, self-awareness, as you think of it today. Sure, many animals are conscious. They are aware of, and respond to, their environment. They can even picture how some action of theirs would change their world, for better or worse. Still, the beasts of the field do not have self-awareness, that is, they do not have the ability to step outside their mental processes and view themselves as if they were watching a movie.

“Humans can observe themselves. You can observe the machinations of your own mind. You have the ability to project into the distant future, and most importantly, you are aware of your own mortality. This in and of itself raises you above the other proto-human species that existed side-by-side with you in those early days.

“Step by tiny step you began to connect with the divine. You began to claim your heritage as a divine entity, a fledgling partner in that vast universal consciousness. To continue along this track, the Star Seeds must take the next leap in spiritual development which is a natural step beyond yourselves as you already are.

“One day will come and the Star Seeds will awaken to the new spirituality. Until then, Star Seeds can practice their internal self-observer until it is second nature, until you can observe yourself, observing yourself! With this accomplished the love that will pour from you will be capable of dispelling even the worst darkness.”

I ask, “What do you mean by “forgetting” everything? How can I forget everything and still be able to do anything?”

Zohar responds, “The piano player spends long, arduous hours learning skills, hand placement, finger movement. He learns how hard to press the keys, how to time their depression with the rest of the notes he is playing. After 10,000 hours though, he plays without any thought as to these things. He no longer thinks about his hands or fingers. He has forgotten everything he ever learned when he is playing his best because imposing what he knows would render his performance strained and artificial.

“So too, you, have spent more than 10,000 hours in life. Forget it! You will be much the better for that. Free yourself of the constraints you have learned in your 10,000 hours of life. You will be able to live in the moment which is here and then gone in less than the blink of an eye. You fish in the stream that is never the same. You throw in your line, the water moves, but you remain steadfast with your lure as the stream changes all around you. Step in, and allow it to flow around you freely. Wake up! Go fishing!”

I ask, “How do I live in the present?”

Zohar answers, “Living in the present is not so hard as one might think. You are doing it all the time! You just don’t know it. When a real musician, a violinist for example, plays their instrument they do not dwell on the note they just played, and they do not fret about the note to come. If they were to do so it would detract from the moment, the present now. They have forgotten all that they have learned and they relish in the present note, the note they are now playing as that is the only note worthwhile. They do not dread the next.

“Likewise, an athlete like a runner does not fret about his last step or dread the next. He is absorbed in the present step, it’s form, it’s swiftness, it’s elegance. He lives in that current step and nowhere else. Winning the race is a secondary result of running a sequence of good steps. Like the violinist, he has lost all knowledge of what he has learned in order to run the best race he can, that he is able to do.

“This is living in the present. Forget everything and wake up and you will be a Master too, you will take your place among their ranks.”

I ask, "What is time?"

Zohar answers, “Time is something you are born into. Time is the regulation of cause and effect, or so it seems, but there is a principle you have in science called “symmetry.” It means many things, but with regards to time it says that there is an arrow of time that relates cause before effect, leading to more causes, more effects, and so on. However, symmetry says that you can run all the formula’s backwards. You can literally run the clock backward. You can turn the arrow of time around and go from effect back to cause. It makes no difference. The universe functions quite well whichever way the arrow of time is pointing.

“There is an ancient tribe of American Indian that has just one word for yesterday, today, and tomorrow. When they mean “yesterday,” they say the word while pointing backwards. When they mean to say “tomorrow” they say the word with their finger pointed forward, and when they mean “today” they point up. Thus, the same word conveys what appears to be three different meanings but is, in fact, one and the same.

“Tomorrow and yesterday do not exist. They are mere phantoms. Yesterday is remorse, guilt, grief, and fond recollections. Tomorrow is worry, anxiety, and fear, and anticipation. These emotions are real, and nothing else.

“So, what does exist? Today exists. The now exists. The infinitesimal present moment exists and is going nowhere. Here is where you must live. Not in the past or the future but in the present moment. So, you can quite comfortably forget about the past and future and live only in the now which is where you reside. Only this way will you see truth that transcends time."

I ask, “You mention ‘consensus reality.’ What is that?”

Zohar answers, “Consensus reality is that reality you share with other people. It is the collective of perceptional generators such as objects and living organisms that you all perceive in a similar way. For example, you can put a rock in the road and trip on it. Other people walking down the same road will trip over the same rock (or step around!) The rock, therefore, is consensus reality.

“That said, there is actually very little about the reality of the rock that is consensus. The fact that we call it a rock, and that it exists in time and space, or “persists,” is something we can agree upon, but that is where consensus ends.

“To take a personal example from Paul’s life, when he was getting married he and his bride didn’t want their mothers to wear the same color dress so Paul called his mother and asked her, “What color is your dress?” She said “blue.” Paul’s bride to be asked her mother “What color is your dress.” She said “green.” Potential crisis averted. They are wearing different colored dresses, or so Paul thought.

“On the day of the wedding, the two mothers not only showed up wearing dresses that were the same color, they were wearing the same exact dress! This demonstrates where and how consensus reality can break down. The fact that they were wearing dresses was agreed upon by all parties. The fact that the dresses had some form of color was also agreed upon, however, what that dress was and what that color was, was not part of consensus. People had their own percepts, descriptor or language, and so on.

“So, consensus reality is a tricky thing it is sometimes like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. It doesn’t want to stay put. When dealing with matters of the Spirit and of ultimate Reality you can say that there is consensus to a degree, but though you may have similar experiences that inform your particular thoughts and feelings about the divine you find that, when comparing notes, your individuality has colored your experience so your consensus as to the nature of the divine only goes so far before it breaks down into the differentiated multiplicity that is you.”

I ask, “But I doubt! How do I manage doubt?"

Zohar answers, “As a Star Seed, you manage doubt by opening your heartmind to the universal information and energy that surrounds you. Doubt exists in the mind. The heart has no doubt. It is pure, doubt free, filled with faith which, as the Master said, can move a mountain, cure the sick and even raise the dead.

“‘Think’ with your heartmind and faith will follow. Get out of your head and doubt will dissipate. Your heart is the conduit for what you need to dispel doubt. Through it, you can learn, and through learning the lessons of the heartmind you can overcome the doubt that arises from your purely intellectual mind.

“Your problem is quite literally that you think too much! Stop thinking, and start feeling. When you “feel” healthy, own that reality. That will free you of doubt and open doors you never knew existed.”