The Substance of All That Is

"Let all things be exactly as they are. Only reality is free of pain. Only reality is free of loss. Only reality is wholly safe." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 268, 2:2-4

"Be alert to catch this next point, because it is the secret of healing work, although of course it is not really a secret. We have said that God is the substance of all form, that God is the reality of all that is. Are we then to understand God as the substance of the body, trees, flowers, sun, moon, stars, and all that we cognize with the material senses? No; this is a spiritual universe. It is true that God is the substance of all that is; but remember, when I see you or your body or a tree or a flower, I am not seeing God's creation. I am not seeing the spiritual reality, the spiritual universe. I am seeing only a finite material concept of it. This concept is referred to as the Adam-dream, the illusion which Jesus referred to when he said, "My kingdom is not of this world." (The Bible; John 18:36) This does not mean there are two universes, the real and the unreal. It means that the only universe there is, is the spiritual universe... but what I am seeing is only my concept of it. Therefore its unreality lies in my misperception, in my false concept of it." -- God, the Substance of All Form by Joel Goldsmith; Pages 53-54

"God being Spirit, His language and meaning are wholly spiritual." -- Miscellany by Mary Baker Eddy; Page 238, Lines 9-12

In dealing with an apparent problem this morning, I realized that all apparent problems are simply mistaken identity. I dream a dream, conceive of a separate self that can be limited and suffer in ways that don't even exist in the Reality of Spirit. In Reality, there is only Oneness, Omnipresence, and endless Love that shines forever. Mrs. Eddy said, "You can never demonstrate spirituality until you declare yourself to be immortal and understand that you are so." (Miscellany; Page 242, Lines 3-5) There IS nothing but the Allness of God! A Course in Miracles reminds us that "He Who is changeless shares His attributes with His creation. All the images His Son appears to make have no effect." (Workbook 186, 9:3-4)

I sometimes dream at night, but when I wake up in the morning I don't usually try to fall back asleep to change or improve on the dream, or even to continue it. It feels good to shake the cobwebs from my mind, and become aware of the birds, the smell of fresh-mown grass, and the beauty of my summer flowers. All this takes place in my waking from the fog of sleeping dreams to the apparent reality of the five sensory world. What we haven't fully accepted is that we are simply dreaming a different type of dream... a dream of concepts and projections, that keeps us trapped in our ideas and beliefs, our self-limiting labels and imaginary relationships within the waking dream. The mind weaves a story of separation and meaning in this illusion, and has a sick investment in not wanting to awaken. The mind knows it is not even necessary. "The father of illusions is the belief that they have a purpose; that they serve a need or gratify a want. Perceived as purposeless, they are no longer seen." (ACIM; Manual for Teachers 14, 1:6-7)

We don't have to drop our concepts and stories. We just have to admit to ourselves that they are nonsense, not one any truer or more noble than any other one. As we see that everything, including our self-concepts, are fiction, we have no need for them anymore. We can continue in the dream, "in the world but not of it," as Jesus said. "The concept of the self has always been the great preoccupation of the world. Salvation can be seen as nothing more than the escape from concepts." (ACIM; Chapter 31, Section V, 14:1,3) Or, as the Indian sage Ramana Maharshi taught, ask, "Who am I?"

Please always remember that we've done nothing wrong... we simply suffer the torment of the imaginary separate self when we believe our own stories and get lost in the sensory dream. We long for Home... the state of Awakened Awareness that Jesus called the Kingdom of Heaven: "Heaven is not a place nor a condition. It is merely an Awareness of Perfect Oneness, and the knowledge [not the concept, but the experience of aware knowing!] that there is nothing else; nothing outside this Oneness, and nothing else within." (ACIM; Chapter 18, Section VI, 1:5-6) Since God, Spirit, is One and All-in-All, this knowing of Self as One is the only Spiritual Reality there is.

So whenever problems appear to arise in my waking dream, I remember that God is Spirit, and is the Substance of All that Is. That means the only thing I need to do is forgive my false concepts, beliefs, and perceptions and not take them so seriously... and to remember that whenever I'm willing to inquire, the Truth of Being is Self-evident. And what more could there be to know than the Substance of All that IS?

"All your difficulties stem from the fact that you do not recognize your Self." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 3, Section III, 2:1