BOOK REVIEW - "WALKING THROUGH ILLUSION" by Betsy Otter Thompson

WALKING THROUGH ILLUSION:
    Jesus Speaks of the People
        Who Shared His Journey:
            An Emotional Biography

by Betsy Otter Thompson

betsy[at]betsythompson.com

242 pages

ISBN: 978 1 84694 292 1

O Books / John Hunt Publishing, Hants, S024 OBE, UK

Review Text & Images 
© Copyright 2017 by Neall Calvert

Walking Through Illusion, a re-enactment of New Testament biblical times as seen from the standpoint of Jesus Christ, is a unique and transformative spiritual book. It consists of ‘interviews’ with Jesus about the emotional or soul lessons of the people around him—people whose names have passed down through the centuries to become mythic figures in western culture. Readers will encounter Peter and Paul, Matthew and Mark, Thomas and Judas, Mary, Herod, Pilate and others—and Jesus—living life to the best of their abilities. I daresay they will also find their own life lessons among the many being so clearly enacted here.

Each succeeding interview seems to draw the reader into closer relationship with Jesus. It’s like being there, and it is an experience not to be missed. Equally enlightening is when Jesus speaks of his own life lessons and how he developed himself into the effective metaphysical teacher he became, overcoming his own temper and his sensitivity to those around him, teaching about the power of love, about emotional growth through seeing the people around us as our mirrors, and about overcoming the fear of death, as he did. (I also liked hearing that he enjoyed attending the theatre, and that he appreciated the fine clothes made by his tailor.) This is the most accessible book I have read about Jesus, his divinity, his mission, his teachings, his personality and his times, and I have read every one that has come to my attention.

Walking Through Illusion operates on the assumption that life is an emotional experience. As one of my teachers, a yoga master, put it: “E-motion means in-motion”: life in motion. There’s lots of life in this book. One of Jesus’ major teachings, the author writes, is that the people around us that we find ‘difficult’ are actually our emotional mirrors, showing us our own unknown aspects. In showing us our shadow selves these people turn out to be our teachers for growth (which is what we are here to do). We are getting back exactly what we are giving out emotionally. Jesus calls this “the physics of action / reaction”—and sometimes it can happen quite quickly. And like the Buddha, he says to try things out; in essence: “Why not explore this new idea, see if it works, see if it’s true?” . . . and “What if knowing and living this truth will make you happier?”

The question arises, Is this a book of channelled material? In her heartfelt Preface, the author claims Jesus as “my collaborator” in learning: “My energy is merging with the energy of Jesus. When we are together the best in me is revealed.” Jesus willingly collaborates with all of us in helping us learn that the lessons of being on earth are ones we have created ourselves. We have chosen the parts we are playing, he asserts—as he also chose his. There are no martyrs and no victims other than self-created ones. In other words, we walk through the illusion called everyday reality until we wake up to the truth of the eternal life of the spirit—a life of love, and of freedom from fear and worry.

This was helpful information to me, as in my own case I created a life in an abusive fundamentalist Christian family with a raging father who could not, during his lifetime, apologize for his terrorizing of family members. Several years after his passing, however, one quiet evening at my home he began whispering to me “I’m sorry . . . I'm sorry . . .” and continued for what seemed like twenty minutes. . . . When I later attended channelling sessions in Vancouver, BC, Canada with Jesus / a.k.a. Sananda, I was told it had taken the years of being out of his body for my father to do his emotional / soul healing—as I am now doing mine, for having created a lifetime as his victim.

Another powerful teacher, Kryon, channelled through Lee Carroll, confirms Jesus’ teaching that we have chosen our life circumstances [www.kryon.com]:

It’s abhorrent to think that perhaps we would plan something like abuse in our lives, but clearly this has been channelled over and over that it’s exactly what we do in order to get the ‘kick in the pants’ that we need to move spiritually . . .

Jesus’ words in the twenty-three interviews in Walking Through Illusion cover a lot of ground: ecology, healing of illness, emotional or soul growth, past and future lives, life purpose, where and what is God, how Lazarus arose from death, child-abuse recovery, creating happiness or heaven on Earth. Here is part of chapter 4 on the life of the fisherman Peter, who later became the leader of the apostles:

Was Peter’s reason [for living] connected to the sea?

Indirectly, yes. He noticed a cycle that not only kept the water healthy, but the creatures within it as well. As he respected this evolution and took only the fish that knew completion, his own completion flourished.

What did it mean for fish to know completion?

It meant for them to experience a sense of fulfillment. Destiny for the fish was to nourish other life-forms. Granted, the fish couldn’t ponder, now I’m ready to nourish, but they didn’t have to; instincts handled that beautifully.

Everything that existed was emotionally charged and capable of fulfillment. Maybe not to the same extent, but not all humans were charged to the same extent either. Peter’s only need was to honor his instincts and remember that the young didn’t need to be taken for him to earn a living.

His resolve weakened when the number of fish diminished. Then he believed that the number of fish he caught was more important than the number of times he could love while fishing. He also had to contend with a boat full of men who favored a full stomach and a full purse over any law of the sea. . . .

Are you saying that Peter struggled with greed?

Yes, and when he was greedy regardless of the consequences to other life forms, others played greedy with him. Friends mirrored this greed by wanting free handouts whether he’d fed his family or not. Workers mirrored this greed by demanding a take of the day whether he’d made any profit or not. . . .

Was Peter’s friendship with you an easy one?

It got easier when I returned from solitude. Peter launched his boats one day in the face of a gathering storm. Although he knew the outing was risky, the sea was ripe for a haul and he felt up to the challenge. His friends trusted his judgment, and set out to sea as well.

As the storm intensified and Peter lost his way, he had to rely on his instincts to get home safely. Some of the crewmen in other boats didn’t fare as well. Peter did what he could to help the injured and thanked the people who braved the storm to help.

As Peter saw me approaching, he expected the same dressing down he usually got from challenging nature’s forces. Instead, he was praised for the ample haul he’d made in the face of impossible odds. This was a more accepting Jesus than he was used to experiencing.

Was Peter an aware person at the time of this encounter?

He was a person who met his mirror.

Even though he hadn’t been in seclusion?

Are you suggesting that I needed hours at sea to find my inspiration? And if not, why would hours in seclusion be needed by Peter? Meditation was the way within; not the sea or solitude. That’s why honoring self was so important; each of us was here to honor our own hearts, not somebody else’s.

Peter told me how his instincts had guided him through the storm and I said, What do you hope to accomplish from trusting this wise and sentient you?

He said he hoped to share the wisdom he’d found from knowing the sea as a friend instead of an enemy. I told him I was gathering people together to discuss these kinds of issues. And if he wanted to participate, I’d be thrilled to include him.

Weren’t you gathering people together to share their belief in God?

I was gathering people together to encourage belief in self. Self was the only place I knew that God could always be found.

Peter was thrilled to be included and, just as he’d been finding the highest form of nourishment in the sea, he began finding the highest form of nourishment in the heart. But wisdom from the former held him in good stead with the latter.

What did Peter sense from attending these meetings?

He sensed a love so pure and deep it overshadowed any fears he had regarding the physical, or the lessening of his strength. When he started equating power with the love of God, he saw no limit on the size he could become.

Did Peter ever stop wanting to be greater than he was?

He never stopped wanting to be happier than he was. The whole of energy yearned for greatness in this respect. As he nourished the energy around him, he nourished himself at the same time. As he strengthened his convictions alongside me, the fish strengthened theirs alongside him.

Did Peter’s purpose change over the years?

Yes, where once he’d been after a big fat purse and a big macho image, he was after a big kind heart and a big honest love; where once he’d been mining the sea to profit his purse, he mined the soul to profit his heart—and his skills improved as he mined the source.

What did it mean for Peter to see beyond illusion?

It meant for him to see reality, or the love in what he saw. For instance, What was happening to Peter on the inside as he was giving something away?

That depended on why he was giving it.

Exactly; his feelings were his reality. Illusion was the picture of giving something away. Reward didn’t come from the act of giving; it came from his enjoyment in the act. . . .

Did Peter struggle to find the love in himself he sensed in you?

Sometimes, but Peter was a man of purpose. When he heard an idea he liked he tested it immediately. In this respect, the sea was an excellent teacher. He couldn’t be a good fisherman and a good procrastinator at the same time.

As he learned decisiveness at sea, he used that trait to prove to himself that heaven on Earth existed. But to get that proof, he had to act on his conviction that heaven was possible, not talk about its possibility. 

Was it hard for Peter to retire from fishing?

No, it was a beautiful transition full of growth and alignment.

Did he receive your help as his new career paid off?

Peter was a big-hearted friend making his own career pay off. Had he depended on me for the love he sought, he’d still be looking for it.

But Jesus, you seem to be downplaying the role you played in his life.

Because you think of me as the catalyst for making Peter’s [life] blissful? I only proved that nothing in illusion could kill the love in my heart. Peter respected that resurrection and got busy creating his own. But his good fortune stemmed from his action, not anything I did.

In the last few weeks of your life, was Peter supportive?

Not always. He sensed my fate. Fearing it would be his, he distanced himself from me, making light of our friendship. Peter hadn’t counted on his own sense of integrity, and it brought him to his knees. When he begged for my forgiveness, I told him to forgive himself as soon as possible.

Nevertheless, action / reaction prevailed, forgiven or not. Then ego screamed in his ear, You’re the scum of the earth, a loathsome human. Kill yourself, and get out of this nightmare immediately. He felt tormented, and he didn’t follow through. Betrayal returned, however, as the people he loved and believed in denied their friendship with him.

Cowardly behaviour was hard to stomach for a man who lived by his honor. He hadn’t supported me and he had to live with that fact. But the picture was collapsing all around him and a friend was being crucified for holding certain beliefs.

To be unconcerned, he either had to be so enlightened that fear had lost its power, or so disconnected that feelings were wholly suppressed. He was neither. He was living his life to the best of his abilities, trying to find love and trying to figure things out.

He wasn’t prepared to die for a few beliefs; he didn’t know why I was. Peter had not yet lived what I had lived: eternal life in the human thought. And since I had proven that death did not exist, my faith was unshakeable.

Why did you attract destruction if you weren’t destroying anyone?

I was destroying someone: I was destroying ego, or the absence of love. And I was destroying it quite effectively with every action I took and every breath I spoke. I was able to do this so effectively because of my inner reality, or the overwhelming presence of love.

The fact that ego could counter so forcefully was why I decided a crucifixion had meaning. I wanted to prove that ego could flaunt its ultimate threat: that of death and destruction and, still, love would triumph.

How did you know that love would triumph?

The same way I knew that Monday followed Sunday. I had lived it over and over, and proven to myself that ego was only a voice within, catered to or not.

Did Peter release his old beliefs for the new ones you enjoyed?

Not exactly, he just felt new incentive. Old beliefs told him how to behave and who to love; new beliefs created a person doing so. Old beliefs were philosophical, analytical, and theoretical; new beliefs put them to good use. Old beliefs attracted outer approval; new beliefs created inner approval. He was a man who believed in getting results; therefore, he thrived on the formula getting results for him. . . .

This is just part of one of many stimulating chapters in the book. Each is preceded and followed by aphorisms like “If you have to change others to be happy, no one is going to change for the better from knowing you.” The sections on the resurrection of Lazarus and on Jesus' own fearlessness at the time of his crucifixion, not to mention his resurrection, are profound. . . . Not all of the language in this book is immediately clear—sometimes it seems that a new language is being created—but investing one’s time pays benefits, and it is the overall energy of the writing that is the most important gift in it. At the end of each chapter is a worksheet with questions to make the material personal, as well as the author’s open and honest accounts of lessons gleaned from the material in the chapter. These I found particularly uplifting. If she could overcome these kinds of issues, so could I.

I consider Walking Through Illusion a life-changing book, one that can create or restore a relationship with the magnificent loving spirit of Jesus Christ. It took me a while to write this review; I needed to understand at a new level how masterful a teacher Jesus was (and still is). Where I grew up, people talked a lot about Jesus and God, but they didn’t seem to love or care much about themselves at times, and definitely not much about me. And part of the reason I continued to feel like a victim in life was that I believed Jesus was a victim on the cross, instead of a victor. "The Master of Love left this earth on his own schedule and no one else's," states Kryon. . . . Those were complicated “illusions” to have to sort through. Spiritual maturity takes a lot of work. I count on progress, not perfection. . . .

The story of how the book came into my life is a bit unusual. One afternoon I received a Touch for Health session with two practitioners at Comox (British Columbia, Canada) United Church. (In the waiting room on the wall is a marvellous huge image of a laughing Jesus.) I don’t attend Christian churches as I am more New Age oriented and consider the Christ force available for awakening in everyone, but I did pray for the healing power of Jesus to be present during the session. Later that day an e-mail arrived out of the blue from the author, whom I have never met, but who had been reading my website of Higher Self channelled material [www.neallcalvert2.blogspot.com], which she had discovered through a Google Alerts notification on Dr. Wayne Dyer, whom I mention in my writing. She offered to send me a copy of her book if I would review it and post the review online.

When I saw that Betsy Thompson’s book was about “Jesus and friends” I realized that I had heard about it after experiencing a healing session with “Jesus and friends,” so in some way her message was part of the answer to my prayer for healing. And the red-orange-yellow tones of the cover are the colours of a recent change for the better in my own energy field (yes, it is possible to know the colours in one’s aura). And I am growing a new career path as a writer and poet [www.neallcalvert.blogspot.com], photo artist [www.flickr.com/neallcalvert & www.society6.com/neallcalvert] and healer. And when I first saw the image of the cover that the author e-mailed me, I recalled having seen the book somewhere before. It was at the home of a writer friend in Vancouver—who turns out to be a good friend of the author, who lives 5,000 kilometres away!

So there was synchronicity, or meaningful coincidence, involved, and I understand synchronicity to be evidence of the divine in action, and in that spirit I am pleased to present this review of a book that I would end up reading twelve times. . . .

Walking Through Illusion is an attractive book. Its radiant cover in the colours of the rising sun speaks to the light in its pages. It is well-bound and has a solid feel to it, so it should last through many re-readings. Each time I read it I receive something more, something deeper. (The contents, though, would have benefited from a careful proofreading; there are far too many typographical errors and misspelled words.) . . .

In her postscript, the author states: “Walking Through Illusion is not a supplement to another [well-known] book; it’s a supplement to the heart.” I agree. The heart is where the divine enters to uplift humanity. It's the home of self-affinity, self-acceptance and self-approvement, of courage and compassion; the place where healing occurs. It’s “an electromagnetic field that balances the whole body,” says healer / author Gregg Braden.

Walking Through Illusion turns out to be a first-class spiritual manual. It encompasses a comprehensible teaching; it’s the real stuff.  | ~ |