This session addressed the central paradox of enlightenment that has confounded seekers throughout history, found in the Buddha's teaching that trying prevented awakening, yet not trying also failed to achieve it. Bartholomew explained that students have been "banging their heads against the wall of consciousness" for years, hoping that sufficient effort combined with right conditions would produce awakening, but this approach has consistently failed. He announced that his teaching was entering its final spiral, tightening down from the broad concepts of earlier years to focus on one specific point, with the work scheduled to end in early 1995 when students would know exactly what was required while simultaneously understanding they couldn't accomplish it through personal effort.

The session emphasized the unprecedented opportunity of the current time period, describing an acceleration of consciousness that was making many people increasingly impatient for genuine awakening rather than settling for conventional happiness or material success. Bartholomew explained that external teachers were beginning to leave the earth plane because secret teachings previously hidden in select communities like Tibetan monasteries were now becoming publicly available worldwide. This democratization of wisdom means that students no longer need to rely on external authorities but have to develop their own direct relationship with truth, ultimately making it their own rather than following prescribed paths indefinitely.

A central theme involved the recognition that what was being sought was so ordinary, abundant, and ever-present that it has been consistently overlooked. Students have created mental ideas about what enlightenment should feel like, and these preconceptions prevent them from recognizing what is actually present. Bartholomew emphasized that "this is it" - whatever is happening in the current moment, including thoughts, emotions, sensations, and perceptions, is the very reality being sought. The problem isn't that awakening is hidden or requires special conditions, but that it is so obvious and familiar it has become invisible.

The teaching addressed the universal tendency to try to escape or fix painful experiences rather than discovering what they actually contain. Bartholomew explained that every feeling, including the most difficult ones, has the same divine essence at its core - the Self or God is present within all experiences without exception. Instead of running from pain through various escape strategies, students were encouraged to turn their full attention inward to discover what is really present beneath the surface appearance of any experience, whether pleasant or unpleasant.

The practical instruction involved learning to be silent internally while continuing normal activities, turning attention inward for brief moments throughout the day to ask "what's really here?" This isn't about formal meditation practice, which could become another form of seeking, but about developing the capacity for inner silence regardless of external circumstances. Bartholomew warned against making awakening into another achievement or identity, whether as "seeker" or "finder," since both create separation from immediate presence.

The session emphasized that students need to reach a point of genuine desperation - not philosophical interest but the recognition that they can no longer bear living without knowing their true nature. This intensity can't be manufactured but arises naturally from fully acknowledging the sorrow and longing that active lifestyles often cover up. Rather than trying to fill this emptiness with relationships, achievements, or even spiritual practices, students are encouraged to feel the yearning completely, since this very longing is God calling to God.

Bartholomew concluded by stressing the urgency of the opportunity - having a human body and access to these teachings was described as "a gift beyond price" that shouldn't be wasted on endless distractions. He clarified that the goal isn't to stop being distracted but to look for "the jewel in the heart of the lotus" within whatever is happening. An enlightened person doesn't stop thinking or functioning normally, but experiences all activities rising and falling within a constant background of bliss rather than the reverse. This transformation from ego-foreground to divine-foreground is available immediately, requiring only the willingness to stop looking elsewhere and discover what is already closer than hands and feet, breath, and all apparent activities.