Catalyst
Catalyst is stimulus that can be processed by the mind, body, spirit—or any combination thereof—which provides opportunities for evolution. Catalyst is initially an unbiased, ambiguous, or neutral[14] instigator that, when utilized, offers learning (particularly of pre-incarnatively chosen lessons), quickens evolution, develops will and faith, precipitates experience, and polarizes the entity.
Essentially all that reaches the senses and everything that comes before the notice of an entity is catalyst, from the sun on the skin, to the aging of the body, to a relationship with a loved (or not loved) one, to the spiritual yearning for truth, to the various sufferings and afflictions experienced in incarnation. Among the infinite sources, other-selves are the primary mechanism of catalyst, serving as mirrors reflecting to us our blockages, imbalances, opportunities, lessons, and the unique energetic configuration that makes us who we are.
Ra indicates that the deeper origin of catalyst is “overwhelmingly” of the unconscious mind. By the time it is consciously perceived, catalyst has been filtered through the veil and, even in “the most apparently clear perception,” much remains veiled. In other words, catalyst of the mind is first generated, processed, and experienced in the unconscious. By the time it reaches and is noticed, and likely misunderstood, by the conscious mind, much of the catalyst is still veiled—perhaps not unlike the bulk of the iceberg hidden beneath the water, only its proverbial tip showing. (For greater examination, see “Catalyst and the Unconscious” in the Mind Complex entry.)
Catalyst may be randomly generated, as in the case of the entity new to third density who is struck by random catalyst until the entity begins to form a bias, or it may be highly programmed and designed by the self to learn certain incarnational lessons and to polarize in one direction or another.
As the seekers progresses along the chosen path of polarization, the unconscious mind increasingly biases the catalyst reaching the conscious mind in proportion to the purity and strength of the polarization. That is to say, as the Choice is increasingly made between service to self or service to others, the unconscious offers the conscious mind negatively or positively polarized catalyst which the conscious mind may then use to polarize further. Thus a self-accelerating mechanism is in place that helps the entity to polarize. This is first explored in the context of the archetype known as Experience of the Mind:
Ra: I am Ra. This is not only correct but there is a further ramification. As the entity increases in experience it shall, more and more, choose positive interpretations of catalyst if it is upon the service-to-others path and negative interpretations of catalyst if its experience has been along the service-to-self path. – 94.12
Using and processing catalyst requires conscious intent:
Using catalyst may take many forms, but at base it seems to involve a “process of analysis, synthesis, and inspiration.” (84.20) Which is to say that learning is distilled from catalyst by active reflection, investigation, meditation, and prayerful attention. The more that the self makes this a conscious, intentional process, and accepts the catalyst at hand, the more efficient the process becomes, and the more that the self begins to self-generate complex catalyst for the activation of the higher energy centers. Ra describes this as an act of “transforming the catalyst offered by the sub-Logos into catalyst which may act upon the higher energy nexi.”
For simple example, say the sub-Logos offers survival-related catalyst which causes the self operating at that level to see the world through the single lens of “How do I secure and store enough food for the winter for my own survival?” If that very same energy is lifted into more complex expressions, the values shift to questions of love, wisdom, and spiritual seeking. In this scenario, maybe the self grapples with how they use their resources to serve others, what the responsibility of the individual is to the group, what it would be to accept the moment, what the proper balance of self- vs. other-self-care is—ultimately leading to a sacred vision of the Creator-manifesting quality of this experience.
Here, in the discussion of the archetypal mind, we see a call for the conscious mind to use the catalyst that has arisen from the (potentiated) unconscious mind:
Catalyst, even and especially difficult catalyst, is not designed to debase and disempower, but to uplift, to ennoble, and to “discover the self as all-sufficient Creator containing all that there is and full of joy.” However complex the catalyst and the path may become, there are always two basic uses of catalyst: Control is the key to negatively polarized use of catalyst. Acceptance is the key to positively polarized use of catalyst. And:
Author’s Note: Evolution’s Raw Material
Consider that the basic non-metaphysical definition of the word “catalyst” is “an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action.” A catalyst accelerates, galvanizes, precipitates, maybe even causes change.
The concept of catalyst, like the concept of distortion, has neither positive nor negative value. A gorgeously sunny day is catalyst. The most moving and meaningful epiphany is catalyst. Giving and receiving love in reciprocated loops of joy is catalyst. And so on.
Yet among students of the Confederation’s philosophy, the word catalyst is often laden with pejorative connation. Perhaps this is because of those forms of catalyst we call pain, discomfort, and suffering. (Particularly true on this planet where Ra says a large percentage of our evolutionary progression happens by way of a type of catalyst called trauma. See: 34.14.)
It tends to be the suffering, the pain, the loss, or the limitation to which our attention is most drawn, and in which we find our most valuable lessons. This tends to be where catalyst, particularly if used, really accelerates and deepens the journey. And this is where catalyst becomes such a significant concept. Though the entire philosophy transmits a radical understanding of self-authority, “catalyst” stands out in my opinion as perhaps the single-most empowering word in the Law of One.
We have so many mental narratives about the meaning, purpose, and value of our experience. Many of those stories bespeak the ways we have done something wrongly, or have been mistreated, or have lost or failed. Maybe these things objectively happened, or maybe this is just our perception. Either way, Ra says that whatever is happening is catalyst for our spiritual evolution—catalyst to discover the true, unlimited nature of self.
Sustained consideration of this idea essentially “flips the script.” It reorients your entire relationship to that which you perceive to have transpired. It puts you back into the driver’s seat. Instead of feeling that the self has been irreversibly diminished, you see, with faith, how you might use the experience to learn and grow. Instead of sinking into despair, loss, loneliness, fear, anxiety, or the like, you realize with faith that this too is fuel for your spiritual growth.
Catalyst could be said to be synonymous with opportunity. However devastating, there is nothing that happens to you that cannot be used for evolution. In fact, the more significant the catalyst, the more likely that it has been pre-incarnatively programmed.
Certainly one must give themselves the space to genuinely experience sorrow, defeat, loss, limitation, etc. But in contemplation of the function of catalyst—indeed, of the very objective of all life experience—one realizes that the self is unlimited. There is no final defeat. There is no loss which cannot be redeemed and recovered. One may have to choose a new course in life, or come to terms with a genuine and grievous loss of life, love, property, status, desire, etc., but no matter how profound the despair or great the agony or extended its duration, the experience can and will yield self-realization if used as catalyst. This requires conscious attention, intention, and curiosity. This requires engaging the self in ever deeper levels of self-acceptance and surrender.
The entire intelligent universe and everything that transpires in your life is geared toward offering you this catalyst for your spiritual evolution. “It’s rigged—everything, in your favor,” Rumi reminded us. It is all conspiring for your growth, but it is responsively being shaped according to your use, skillful or otherwise, of free will.
Ra: I am Ra. You are correct. We may note that this is the goal of all artifacts and experiences which entities may come into contact with, and is not only the property of Ra or this contact. – 71.22
What perspective could be more self-empowering than to look out upon the landscape of one’s present and biographical past and see everything as catalyst, as fuel for one’s spiritual growth? And that you have been aided in this growth.
This holds true even when our pain seems in a run-away condition of overabundance.
In these cases it may indeed seem a great waste of the catalyst of pain; and a distortion towards feeling the tragedy of so much pain may be experienced by the other-self. However, it is well to hope that the other-self is grasping that which it has gone to some trouble to offer itself: that is, the catalyst which it desires to use for the purpose of evolution. – 83.27
This includes distortions of the body complex such as medical and health issues, and physical conditions and limitations, whether pre-incarnatively chosen, or that which is manifested in the body from catalyst not used by the mind.
In the following quote, Ra speaks to pre-incarnatively chosen catalyst, and the flipping of the script that meditates upon the positive uses of this limitation:
This is why Ra and Confederation sources always call for praise and thanksgiving—this life-affirming discipline clears the eyes to see that each moment, especially the difficult moments, hold hidden gems of spiritual insight and self-understanding. From this perspective one comes into a faith-filled relationship with life that trusts that the universe is working not against but for the self. One can let down the guard, embrace the moment as it is, and move closer to this, the most self-empowered of all attitudes:
However, to the pure, all that is encountered speaks of the love and the light of the One Infinite Creator. The cruelest blow is seen with an ambiance of challenges offered and opportunities to come. Thusly, the great pitch of light is held high above such an one so that all interpretation may be seen to be protected by light. – 95.24
Yet we have all known how a loss, an injury, or the experience of pain results instead in a sense of disempowerment, resentment, or bitterness. Ra indicates that this is catalyst which has “gone awry”:
The above can be used an index of our progress. Of course it is okay to feel bitter, or to feel whatever we are feeling. The whole self needs loved. But Ra indicates that catalyst may continue cycling in those threads until we consciously use the catalyst to come into balance. Remember that the key to positive use of catalyst is acceptance. Whether that is accepting the difficult limitations of mind, body, or circumstance, or, more fundamentally, accepting and loving what is.
What then does balance and the maximum successful use of catalyst look like?
The end result is that the catalyst is no longer needed. Thus this density is no longer needed. This is not indifference or objectivity but a finely tuned compassion and love which sees all things as love. This seeing elicits no response due to catalytic reactions. Thus the entity is now able to become co-Creator of experiential occurrences. This is the truer balance. – 42.2
Ultimately this relationship to catalyst requires moving beyond intellectual comprehension and taking the great leap into unknowing, the mid-air of faith. Likely each of our lives will, at one point or another, be rocked by modes of suffering that defy our capacity for comprehension. All the logic and the understanding of “catalyst” in the world may not avail us. To first survive and to then use catalyst at these times requires the invocation of a faith that simply and radically trusts—trusts that all is well, that there is cause to hope, that the universe is with the self, that there is a plan.
Then, at last, the soul within is free to take that which this instrument calls the leap of faith, where the meaning and the sense of life, in the metaphysical way of looking at it, begins only when that leap into midair is taken. The demands of sense and logical neatness are abandoned in favor of the full confidence in the support that comes in midair. – Q’uo, June 14, 2002
Catalyst is designed to trigger a response. The response is the catalyst. And that response is the material for your own evolution, your signal to know the self, your prompt to accept the self, and your doorway to becoming the Creator.
As Eckhart Tolle said: “Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment.”
Citations:
For further exploration, see also:
- 4.20, 5.1, 33.6-7, 33.14-17, 34.6-7, 36.17, 41.22, 42.2, 42.10, 46.7, 46.14, 46.16, 47.6, 50.5, 54.17, 61.4, 61.7, 64.20, 76.21, 83.26-27, 86.7, 93.20, 94.11–13, 94.20
- For the new and/or unpolarized entity, catalyst of a random nature is offered from the Sub-Logos with the intent of causing the entity to form a bias toward one polarity or the other. As the Choice is made and as the entity advances along a polarized path, the catalyst becomes less random and more patterned according to the free will of the individual until eventually “all catalyst is chosen, generated, and manufactured by the self, for the self.” See: 46.16, 54.17, 92.11, 95.24 and Kundalini in this guide
- The “numbers who have mastered outer catalyst is quite small.” 54.18
- “Totally efficient use of catalyst upon your plane is extremely rare.” 61.7
- Prior to the implementation of the great experiment of the veil, the archetype of “Catalyst” was unrealized in the stratum of deep mind called the archetypal mind. After the veil’s implementation, this archetype became realized and catalyst became enlarged, vivid, more intensive, and more likely to precipitate the development of will, faith, and polarity. 50.7, 77.17, 78.24, 79.27, 86.20, 93.6, 94.10–11, 95.19, 105.18
- Catalyst in third density is perhaps “one hundred times as intensive a program” as it is in any other density. This is most confusing for the entity which is “inundated in the ocean of experience.” 20.24
- Catalyst resulting from our own beliefs and orientation: 33.8
- In this guide: Mind Complex: Catalyst and the Unconscious | Veil | Faith | Disease | Sub-Logos’s Plan for Third Density