"Mind reaches to itself. It is not made up of different parts, which reach each other. It does not go out. Within itself it has no limits, and there is nothing outside it. It encompasses everything. It encompasses you entirely; you within it and it within you. There is nothing else, anywhere or ever." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 18, Section VI, 8:5-11
I've been undergoing a lot seeming outer change. Travel, work, new friends, many holy encounters that are very much outside the box. But the one constant is the reassurance of the Holy Spirit, the still, small Voice of Self that always says there are no real differences. There's nothing any different now than before, nothing any different here from there, nothing any different anywhere at all. In fact, it becomes more apparent there is only Mind Awake, and there is never (and never has been) anything else, anywhere, ever.
Mind Awake reveals the complete illusory nature of time and space and all the differences that masquerade as the material world. Each seeming challenge resolves and melts into nothingness. Each seeming judgement reveals itself as nothing, which is what forgiveness is. Each person, place, and thing reveals the Love that shines within Mind Awake, the only Reality. And all that was ever needed was my full attention.
Ironically, my full attention has nothing to do with the seeming individual human mind. It has nothing to do with busyness or thinking or any seeming distractions. No matter what the human mind is immersed in, Mind Awake remains eternally Present and unchanged. I don't have to do anything at all. Because Mind is not made up of different parts that need to wake up. Mind encompasses me and all that I seem to think or do or be. Each Holy Instant reveals full Presence and the Light of Self. Nothing to do, nothing to change, and nothing else at all.
"When peace comes at last to those who wrestle with temptation and fight against the giving in to sin; when the Light comes at last into the mind given to contemplation; or when the goal is finally achieved by anyone, it always comes with just one happy realization; "I need do nothing." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 18, Section VII, 5:7
Showing posts with label Spirituality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spirituality. Show all posts
Monday, November 11, 2013
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Accept and Give Miracles
"You are entitled to miracles because of what you are. You will receive miracles because of what God is. And you will offer miracles because you are One with God. Your claim to miracles does not lie in your illusions about yourself. It does not depend on any magical powers you have ascribed to yourself, nor on any of the rituals you have devised. It is inherent in the Truth of what you are. It was ensured in your creation, and guaranteed by the laws of God." -- ACIM; Workbook Lesson 77
"I am under no laws but God's. There are no laws but God's." -- ACIM; Workbook Lesson 76
I am inspired to offer this as a day of miracles. Instead of the world we think we see, we are entitled to the miracle of healed perception. This is my only prayer for each and every one of us.
"Hold your mind in silent readiness to hear the Voice that speaks the Truth to you. You will be listening to One Who says there is no loss under the laws of God. Payment is neither given nor received. Exchange cannot be made; there are no substitutes, and nothing is replaced by something else. God's laws forever give and never take." -- ACIM; Workbook Lesson 76
We claim miracles for ourselves whenever and wherever we find ourselves forgetting Who We Are. And we give and share miracles as the Voice directs... always in overflowing Love and Gratitude for the Allness and Oneness we share.
"Ask for them whenever a situation arises in which they are called for. You will recognize these situations. And since you are not relying on yourself to find the miracle, you are fully entitled to receive it whenever you ask." -- ACIM; Workbook Lesson 77
Accept miracles today. And give them freely. This is your natural vocation.
"Let us today open God's channels to Him, and let His Will extend through us." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 76
"I am under no laws but God's. There are no laws but God's." -- ACIM; Workbook Lesson 76
I am inspired to offer this as a day of miracles. Instead of the world we think we see, we are entitled to the miracle of healed perception. This is my only prayer for each and every one of us.
"Hold your mind in silent readiness to hear the Voice that speaks the Truth to you. You will be listening to One Who says there is no loss under the laws of God. Payment is neither given nor received. Exchange cannot be made; there are no substitutes, and nothing is replaced by something else. God's laws forever give and never take." -- ACIM; Workbook Lesson 76
We claim miracles for ourselves whenever and wherever we find ourselves forgetting Who We Are. And we give and share miracles as the Voice directs... always in overflowing Love and Gratitude for the Allness and Oneness we share.
"Ask for them whenever a situation arises in which they are called for. You will recognize these situations. And since you are not relying on yourself to find the miracle, you are fully entitled to receive it whenever you ask." -- ACIM; Workbook Lesson 77
Accept miracles today. And give them freely. This is your natural vocation.
"Let us today open God's channels to Him, and let His Will extend through us." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 76
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Forgiving by Making it All the Same
"Make this year different by making it all the same." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 15, Section XI, 10:11
"This world seems to hold out many purposes, each different and with different values. Yet they are all the same. Again there is no order; only a seeming hierarchy of values." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 20, Section VIII, 8:8-10
"It is impossible that one illusion be less amenable to Truth than are the rest. But it is possible that some are given greater value, and less willingly offered to Truth for healing and for help. No illusion has any truth in it. Yet it appears some are more true than others, although this clearly makes no sense at all. All that a hierarchy of illusions can show is preference, not reality." -- A Course in Miracles; Chpater 26, Section VII, 6:1-5
Happy Boxing Day! I meant to write this post for Christmas, but am a day late... so Boxing Day it is. Which is actually perfect for the ACIM quotes I'm writing about. And for making it all the same.
From infancy we are all carefully conditioned to differentiate and categorize, to establish values for everything we see. Good, bad, better, best, ugly, beautiful, or just O.K. Regardless of the placement in a hierarchy of values, everything we come across has this in common. We judge it to be valuable or valueless, and place it somewhere in our personal hierarchy of illusions.
Now this is how we seem to make sense of the world, and how we manage to get out of bed in the morning. The problem with this sort system is that it hides the ever-present Truth... that we have given everything (EVERYTHING) all the meaning that it has... that everything exists in Mind, and Mind alone. As long as we're categorizing and judging, this simply cannot be seen or known, and true forgiveness is impossible. It's only when we realize that it's all the same because it's all made up... only then can we begin to glimpse the Truth.
How many of us are willing to see the world without the conditioned judgments of a lifetime? Without the comfort of our own bias? As the Mind that is projecting it all, rather than some fictional character it's all happening to? Forgiveness is impossible without this realization. Otherwise, we think something really happened that needs our forgiveness. Whereas true forgiveness is the simple realization that nothing actually happened except our own misplaced categorizations and judgements.
How liberating this is! "I will forgive, and this will disappear." ACIM Workbook 193, 13:3
"It is a dream of judgment. So must [you] judge not, and [you] will awaken." A Course in Miracles; Chapter 29, Section IX, 2:3-5
"This world seems to hold out many purposes, each different and with different values. Yet they are all the same. Again there is no order; only a seeming hierarchy of values." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 20, Section VIII, 8:8-10
"It is impossible that one illusion be less amenable to Truth than are the rest. But it is possible that some are given greater value, and less willingly offered to Truth for healing and for help. No illusion has any truth in it. Yet it appears some are more true than others, although this clearly makes no sense at all. All that a hierarchy of illusions can show is preference, not reality." -- A Course in Miracles; Chpater 26, Section VII, 6:1-5
Happy Boxing Day! I meant to write this post for Christmas, but am a day late... so Boxing Day it is. Which is actually perfect for the ACIM quotes I'm writing about. And for making it all the same.
From infancy we are all carefully conditioned to differentiate and categorize, to establish values for everything we see. Good, bad, better, best, ugly, beautiful, or just O.K. Regardless of the placement in a hierarchy of values, everything we come across has this in common. We judge it to be valuable or valueless, and place it somewhere in our personal hierarchy of illusions.
Now this is how we seem to make sense of the world, and how we manage to get out of bed in the morning. The problem with this sort system is that it hides the ever-present Truth... that we have given everything (EVERYTHING) all the meaning that it has... that everything exists in Mind, and Mind alone. As long as we're categorizing and judging, this simply cannot be seen or known, and true forgiveness is impossible. It's only when we realize that it's all the same because it's all made up... only then can we begin to glimpse the Truth.
How many of us are willing to see the world without the conditioned judgments of a lifetime? Without the comfort of our own bias? As the Mind that is projecting it all, rather than some fictional character it's all happening to? Forgiveness is impossible without this realization. Otherwise, we think something really happened that needs our forgiveness. Whereas true forgiveness is the simple realization that nothing actually happened except our own misplaced categorizations and judgements.
How liberating this is! "I will forgive, and this will disappear." ACIM Workbook 193, 13:3
"It is a dream of judgment. So must [you] judge not, and [you] will awaken." A Course in Miracles; Chapter 29, Section IX, 2:3-5
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Wholeness is a Way of Looking
"Ultimately the entire universe (with all its 'particles, including those constituting human beings, their laboratories, observing instruments, etc.) has to be understood as a single undivided whole, in which analysis into separately and independently existent parts has no fundamental meaning." -- Physicist David Bohm, from Wholeness and the Implicate Order
I've been noticing how I view the world a lot lately. Paying attention to who (or Who) is looking. There is the habitual fragmented, divided self with its ongoing life story. This self sees a fragmented, divided world that is always full of drama and resolution, of desire and fulfillment or disappointment. This self sees everything as desirable or undesirable, as safe or scary, as clean or unclean, healthy or unhealthy, etc. But when I relax the rigid conditioning that has produced this fragmented fiction, I am suddenly looking through the utterly natural eyes of Self.
This Self is Whole, in the sense that it embraces and includes everything. It sees the world through a lens of Wholeness, and so balance and harmony is what is seen, an interwoven and interpenetrating dance of Wholeness. As David Bohm wrote in his book Wholeness and the Implicate Order, Wholeness is a way of looking.
We have to let go of the conditioned lens of judgment and fragmentation in order to access this entirely natural, and ultimately true way of looking at the world. We're not talking about physical sight here... physical perception is simply a projection of the conceptual lens we're using. Wholeness as a way of looking is a conscious awareness, just as fragmented perception is a way of looking that is largely unconscious conditioning. When it becomes conscious, the lens (awareness) of Wholeness is naturally revealed.
How do we know that this is true, that Wholeness is Reality? David Bohm explains it with quantum physics. But I suggest that you simply try it. As I said at the beginning of this blog, I've been paying attention to who, or Who is looking. And that makes all the difference.
I've been noticing how I view the world a lot lately. Paying attention to who (or Who) is looking. There is the habitual fragmented, divided self with its ongoing life story. This self sees a fragmented, divided world that is always full of drama and resolution, of desire and fulfillment or disappointment. This self sees everything as desirable or undesirable, as safe or scary, as clean or unclean, healthy or unhealthy, etc. But when I relax the rigid conditioning that has produced this fragmented fiction, I am suddenly looking through the utterly natural eyes of Self.
This Self is Whole, in the sense that it embraces and includes everything. It sees the world through a lens of Wholeness, and so balance and harmony is what is seen, an interwoven and interpenetrating dance of Wholeness. As David Bohm wrote in his book Wholeness and the Implicate Order, Wholeness is a way of looking.
We have to let go of the conditioned lens of judgment and fragmentation in order to access this entirely natural, and ultimately true way of looking at the world. We're not talking about physical sight here... physical perception is simply a projection of the conceptual lens we're using. Wholeness as a way of looking is a conscious awareness, just as fragmented perception is a way of looking that is largely unconscious conditioning. When it becomes conscious, the lens (awareness) of Wholeness is naturally revealed.
How do we know that this is true, that Wholeness is Reality? David Bohm explains it with quantum physics. But I suggest that you simply try it. As I said at the beginning of this blog, I've been paying attention to who, or Who is looking. And that makes all the difference.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Back to the Basics
This morning I heard quite clearly to begin blogging again... and to title this entry 'back to the basics.' What exactly did I hear? In my understanding and interpretation of it, I heard my Self. In another interpretation it might be called inspiration. What I do know is that True experience always inspires and motivates me to inquire more deeply, to be more fully present in authentic ways, and to enjoy every minute of it.
As I inquire without an agenda, without a spiritual or scientific preconception or predisposition, these are the basics that occur to me as essential to experience the Truth of Being in my life:
1. Ask open questions... and be willing to hear different answers.
2. Be fully present with life, and appreciate it just as it is... even when it isn't comfortable or pleasant.
3. Be willing to be surprised and delighted and transformed.
4. Take joy in the simple and everyday... but don't be a slave to it.
5. Take joy in the unusual and abnormal... but don't be seduced by it.
6. In other words, take joy in letting everything be as it is, without judging it... and then...
7. Be willing to see it all differently.
8. Most of all, be willing to see your self differently, without definition or preconception.
9. Be willing to see through the eyes of the inclusive Self.
These are the basics I return to every day, whether it's through meditating, walking in the woods, sharing a meal with friends or family, working on a thorny computer issue, writing about technology or music or spirituality, or playing with my animals or grandchildren. It's all of a piece. There is no real separation... just categories of mind and consciousness that I have defined and that weave in and out of experience. It's up to me to return to the basics so I can live fully in an awareness of inclusivity, of my true Self that is all of it and more. How do I know? Back to the basics... inquiry and experience are the only true tests. Everything else is simply hearsay.
As I inquire without an agenda, without a spiritual or scientific preconception or predisposition, these are the basics that occur to me as essential to experience the Truth of Being in my life:
1. Ask open questions... and be willing to hear different answers.
2. Be fully present with life, and appreciate it just as it is... even when it isn't comfortable or pleasant.
3. Be willing to be surprised and delighted and transformed.
4. Take joy in the simple and everyday... but don't be a slave to it.
5. Take joy in the unusual and abnormal... but don't be seduced by it.
6. In other words, take joy in letting everything be as it is, without judging it... and then...
7. Be willing to see it all differently.
8. Most of all, be willing to see your self differently, without definition or preconception.
9. Be willing to see through the eyes of the inclusive Self.
These are the basics I return to every day, whether it's through meditating, walking in the woods, sharing a meal with friends or family, working on a thorny computer issue, writing about technology or music or spirituality, or playing with my animals or grandchildren. It's all of a piece. There is no real separation... just categories of mind and consciousness that I have defined and that weave in and out of experience. It's up to me to return to the basics so I can live fully in an awareness of inclusivity, of my true Self that is all of it and more. How do I know? Back to the basics... inquiry and experience are the only true tests. Everything else is simply hearsay.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Take Joy in It!
"There is one thought in particular that should be remembered throughout the day. It is a thought of pure joy; a thought of peace; a thought of timeless release, limitless because all things are freed within it." -- A Course in Miracles; Manual for Teachers 16, 6:1-2
What brings you joy? Nothing and no one. Joy is a state of being, not linked to any form or referenced to anything. Nothing brings us joy... we take joy with us wherever we go. Taking joy in someone or something simply reminds us that Infinite Mind, Our True Self, is the Source and Substance of that Joy.
The freedom this brings us is limitless. We're here to take joy in it! Whatever it is! We are the radiating center of the Presence of God... and Joy and Love and endless Bliss are ours to give, to share, to BE.
It amazes me how many of us think our life needs to adhere to certain guidelines for safety, for comfort, for practicality. How much joy do we deny ourselves and others by setting limits on the Son of God? Not that Joy isn't still present... but what we deny in ourselves, we deny in awareness and experience. As ACIM puts it, "You can't HAVE what you're not willing to BE." Having and Being are one and the same... it's all the One Infinite Mind in infinite manifestation. Being is the reality... the apparent forms it takes in projection, as our world... the forms and possibilities are infinite. We don't have to play it safe. We can realize that when something appears in our lives that symbolizes joy, it's a shining symbol of Who We Are.
This Valentine's Day, please don't turn away from the Joy that is your Self. Let it flood your heart and mind and thus your life. Take Joy in it!
What brings you joy? Nothing and no one. Joy is a state of being, not linked to any form or referenced to anything. Nothing brings us joy... we take joy with us wherever we go. Taking joy in someone or something simply reminds us that Infinite Mind, Our True Self, is the Source and Substance of that Joy.
The freedom this brings us is limitless. We're here to take joy in it! Whatever it is! We are the radiating center of the Presence of God... and Joy and Love and endless Bliss are ours to give, to share, to BE.
It amazes me how many of us think our life needs to adhere to certain guidelines for safety, for comfort, for practicality. How much joy do we deny ourselves and others by setting limits on the Son of God? Not that Joy isn't still present... but what we deny in ourselves, we deny in awareness and experience. As ACIM puts it, "You can't HAVE what you're not willing to BE." Having and Being are one and the same... it's all the One Infinite Mind in infinite manifestation. Being is the reality... the apparent forms it takes in projection, as our world... the forms and possibilities are infinite. We don't have to play it safe. We can realize that when something appears in our lives that symbolizes joy, it's a shining symbol of Who We Are.
This Valentine's Day, please don't turn away from the Joy that is your Self. Let it flood your heart and mind and thus your life. Take Joy in it!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Waiting for God
"I have no cause for anger or fear, for You surround me. And in every need that I perceive, Your Grace suffices me." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 348
We're conditioned from an early age to listen to our parents, our teachers, our friends, our church... in other words, we look to the outer world for information, direction, and validation. Learning to listen within and wait for God's appointments and direction seems counter intuitive, and even crazy. Interesting defense, isn't it? The ego (the fictional aggregate of mental constructs we call a self, imagining we're separate from God and each other) is the very definition of insanity... a delusional defense against the whole. So it calls what is true, false, and insists that the unreal has substance and validity. That's how projection works. It's also the justification for fear and anger and all the insanity the ego insists is real.
Only take a moment to consider rationally... God, the very Ground of Being, is everywhere... pure and eternal Life and Love without form or condition. We live and move and have our Being in God. So how could we look anywhere other than God for what is essential and true? How could we look anywhere other than God for Who We Are? There is nowhere else. There's nothing out there but projected ideas based on a mistake... the mistake that somehow walling ourselves off from the whole will give us what we want and keep us safe. And when has that ever been the truth? Safe from what? What else is there but God, the All in All?
Waiting for God doesn't involve the future... it involves a present willingness to be still, to listen each holy instant in unceasing mindfulness. This doesn't involve effort or struggle or even a technique or practice. Once the willingness is given by the mind, the beauty of our true Self takes over. Stillness, one-pointedness, awakened awareness, pure joy and unshakable peace... these are all attributes we find to be our own, as natural as breathing. More so.
Waiting for God means we're willing to release the false and embrace the True. And we at last remember the Grace that enfolds and surrounds us and suffices us in all things.
We're conditioned from an early age to listen to our parents, our teachers, our friends, our church... in other words, we look to the outer world for information, direction, and validation. Learning to listen within and wait for God's appointments and direction seems counter intuitive, and even crazy. Interesting defense, isn't it? The ego (the fictional aggregate of mental constructs we call a self, imagining we're separate from God and each other) is the very definition of insanity... a delusional defense against the whole. So it calls what is true, false, and insists that the unreal has substance and validity. That's how projection works. It's also the justification for fear and anger and all the insanity the ego insists is real.
Only take a moment to consider rationally... God, the very Ground of Being, is everywhere... pure and eternal Life and Love without form or condition. We live and move and have our Being in God. So how could we look anywhere other than God for what is essential and true? How could we look anywhere other than God for Who We Are? There is nowhere else. There's nothing out there but projected ideas based on a mistake... the mistake that somehow walling ourselves off from the whole will give us what we want and keep us safe. And when has that ever been the truth? Safe from what? What else is there but God, the All in All?
Waiting for God doesn't involve the future... it involves a present willingness to be still, to listen each holy instant in unceasing mindfulness. This doesn't involve effort or struggle or even a technique or practice. Once the willingness is given by the mind, the beauty of our true Self takes over. Stillness, one-pointedness, awakened awareness, pure joy and unshakable peace... these are all attributes we find to be our own, as natural as breathing. More so.
Waiting for God means we're willing to release the false and embrace the True. And we at last remember the Grace that enfolds and surrounds us and suffices us in all things.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Talking to Myself
"No two people have ever met." -- Byron Katie
"Conflict is sleep, and Peace awakening." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 331, 1:8
I have to remind myself frequently that I am always talking to myself. We all are. As we move through our day, we are observing and interacting with our own projections. "Perception is a mirror, not a fact." (ACIM) This is why the world we see seems so confrontational and full of differences and conflict. It's the continual out-picturing of our own divided mind, our own judgments and beliefs. I'm always and only talking to myself.
In all personal and professional relationships, it's especially important to see this. Two people are talking about the same topic, but neither one is hearing the other. Both come to the table with myriad assumptions... both think they are talking to someone else, but they are only talking to themselves. A Course in Miracles calls this phenomenon 'level confusion.'
The easiest way to understand this is to consider that at the level of conflict, there are always what seem to be real differences and problems. It's the nature of the dream of separation from God that we 'project' this illusory separation onto the screen of the mind and experience it as many and different. But as the mind is healed, as we experientially remember God and our true Self as One, we discover that it was all imagined. There were no real differences at the level of Reality... no real problems. Like a child who awakens from a nightmare, we discover that we have been safe at Home all along. We have all been safely One in God, and remain so eternally.
Einstein wisely said that you can never solve a problem at the level you're seeing it. If you're seeing it, you're projecting it. The practice of forgiveness, of giving up our judgments and assumptions and yielding to the ever-present Truth of Being, allows us to ascend to a level closer to Reality, where there are no differences or conflicts in sight. There's only One of us. So I am still always and only talking to myself... but in Reality, I am talking to my Self.
"Forgiveness is the light [that] shines away all conflict and all doubt. No light but this can end our evil dream. For this alone will never fail in anything." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 333, 2:1-2, 4
"Conflict is sleep, and Peace awakening." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 331, 1:8
I have to remind myself frequently that I am always talking to myself. We all are. As we move through our day, we are observing and interacting with our own projections. "Perception is a mirror, not a fact." (ACIM) This is why the world we see seems so confrontational and full of differences and conflict. It's the continual out-picturing of our own divided mind, our own judgments and beliefs. I'm always and only talking to myself.
In all personal and professional relationships, it's especially important to see this. Two people are talking about the same topic, but neither one is hearing the other. Both come to the table with myriad assumptions... both think they are talking to someone else, but they are only talking to themselves. A Course in Miracles calls this phenomenon 'level confusion.'
The easiest way to understand this is to consider that at the level of conflict, there are always what seem to be real differences and problems. It's the nature of the dream of separation from God that we 'project' this illusory separation onto the screen of the mind and experience it as many and different. But as the mind is healed, as we experientially remember God and our true Self as One, we discover that it was all imagined. There were no real differences at the level of Reality... no real problems. Like a child who awakens from a nightmare, we discover that we have been safe at Home all along. We have all been safely One in God, and remain so eternally.
Einstein wisely said that you can never solve a problem at the level you're seeing it. If you're seeing it, you're projecting it. The practice of forgiveness, of giving up our judgments and assumptions and yielding to the ever-present Truth of Being, allows us to ascend to a level closer to Reality, where there are no differences or conflicts in sight. There's only One of us. So I am still always and only talking to myself... but in Reality, I am talking to my Self.
"Forgiveness is the light [that] shines away all conflict and all doubt. No light but this can end our evil dream. For this alone will never fail in anything." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 333, 2:1-2, 4
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Awake in the Dark
"There is nothing you can hold against reality. All that must be forgiven are the illusions you have held against your brothers. Their reality has no past, and only illusions can be forgiven. God holds nothing against anyone, for He is incapable of illusions of any kind. Release your brothers from the slavery of their illusions by forgiving them for the illusions you perceive in them. Thus will you learn that you have been forgiven, for it is you who offered them illusions." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 16, Section VII, 9:1-6
I lay in bed in the dark, in the wee hours, unable to sleep. Thought upon thought weaves through my awareness, everything murky and uncomfortable. Nothing awful, mind you... simply the haziness of illusion, weaving itself in a downward spiral into stories and projections of judgment and separation. None of it true. How do I know that none of it is true? Because it is restless, murky, and unclear. There is no peace. When a thought arises that is in alignment with the Reality of God, there is an immediate lightening in consciousness. And that thought leads to another, and then another, on an upward spiral back to peace.
Remembering that all my judgments are nonsense helps a lot. "Forgive your brothers from the slavery of their illusions by forgiving them for the illusions you perceive in them." Yes, I'm the perceiver... whenever I see a problem, I'm always the one naming it and weaving a story about it in my mind. So I'm the only one who can forgive it. "Thus you will learn that you have been forgiven." Yes, all the judgments about me were in my mind, too. They are all my stories.
Everything is mind... mind asleep, or Mind Awake. Mind asleep is not really doing anything or creating anything... simply dreaming, even when it seems to be awake. Our One Mind Awake is the Source of All that is Real. It is the Mind of God, and it is my real mind. And yours. And everyone's. In Reality, there's only One of Us.
The One Awakened Mind, the Mind that created us and lives us, is joyous and free and at peace. It has always been. "The sleep of forgetfulness is only the unwillingness to remember." (ACIM; Chapter 16, Section VII, 12:4)
Why do we seem to prefer our dream stories and problems? Why do we worship them with our time and attention, when only a little sigh of release will return us to sanity and peaces? Forgiveness offers this and so much more. "Remember that you always choose between Truth and illusions." Minute by minute we get to choose. So every holy instant is a new beginning. Awake in the dark, I remember.
"Seek and find His message in the holy instant, where all illusions are forgiven. From here the miracle extends to bless everyone and to resolve all problems, be they perceived as great or small, possible or impossible. There is nothing that will not give place to Him and to His Majesty. The Truth lies here and nowhere else. You choose this or nothing." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 16, Section VII, 11:1-3, 6-7
I lay in bed in the dark, in the wee hours, unable to sleep. Thought upon thought weaves through my awareness, everything murky and uncomfortable. Nothing awful, mind you... simply the haziness of illusion, weaving itself in a downward spiral into stories and projections of judgment and separation. None of it true. How do I know that none of it is true? Because it is restless, murky, and unclear. There is no peace. When a thought arises that is in alignment with the Reality of God, there is an immediate lightening in consciousness. And that thought leads to another, and then another, on an upward spiral back to peace.
Remembering that all my judgments are nonsense helps a lot. "Forgive your brothers from the slavery of their illusions by forgiving them for the illusions you perceive in them." Yes, I'm the perceiver... whenever I see a problem, I'm always the one naming it and weaving a story about it in my mind. So I'm the only one who can forgive it. "Thus you will learn that you have been forgiven." Yes, all the judgments about me were in my mind, too. They are all my stories.
Everything is mind... mind asleep, or Mind Awake. Mind asleep is not really doing anything or creating anything... simply dreaming, even when it seems to be awake. Our One Mind Awake is the Source of All that is Real. It is the Mind of God, and it is my real mind. And yours. And everyone's. In Reality, there's only One of Us.
The One Awakened Mind, the Mind that created us and lives us, is joyous and free and at peace. It has always been. "The sleep of forgetfulness is only the unwillingness to remember." (ACIM; Chapter 16, Section VII, 12:4)
Why do we seem to prefer our dream stories and problems? Why do we worship them with our time and attention, when only a little sigh of release will return us to sanity and peaces? Forgiveness offers this and so much more. "Remember that you always choose between Truth and illusions." Minute by minute we get to choose. So every holy instant is a new beginning. Awake in the dark, I remember.
"Seek and find His message in the holy instant, where all illusions are forgiven. From here the miracle extends to bless everyone and to resolve all problems, be they perceived as great or small, possible or impossible. There is nothing that will not give place to Him and to His Majesty. The Truth lies here and nowhere else. You choose this or nothing." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 16, Section VII, 11:1-3, 6-7
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
What's Changing?
"The thought God holds of you is like a star, unchangeable in an eternal sky." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 30, Section III, 8:4
I was just talking to a friend who commented how everything in the world is in the process of monumental change. My rather surprising and spontaneous comment was: "Not here. Everything here seems to be hardly changing at all." I think it took me by surprise as much as it did my friend! And it gave me pause. After all, there are a lot of outer changes in my life. I was just blessed with grandson number four. I just took on two new cats and a new dog here at the Sanctuary, and a new Quaker parrot may be coming, as well as another horse. I'm making changes in my websites and the content offered there. And I've started doing more public speaking appearances. So what is the source of the 'nothing's changing' comment?
People are always complaining about their lives, of course. Either everything is changing or nothing is changing... and both seem to be cause for complaint! So what is the real issue?
A Course in Miracles explains that literally everything in our daily lives, the things we think we want and the things we think we don't want, serve only one purpose: to keep us so preoccupied with the illusion of life, the constantly changing kaleidoscope of forms and events, that we don't acknowledge that it isn't real. Our true Self is eternal and unchanging, the Ground of All Being... and the changing, shifting forms that come and go are mere shadows, and are falsely perceived as substance by the egoic, conditioned mind.
The more our awareness of the eternal deepens, the more we notice that there is no real difference in content in all the constantly changing forms. The quality of all of them is nothingness... and so nothing really changes. Forms shift and change, the furniture is rearranged, but nothing in the world of illusory forms ever really happens. It doesn't matter if we move from one side of the world to the other... we find that nothing has changed. Because what is Real remains in us... unmoving, eternal, perfect, and joyously serene.
It's the Real and eternal shining in my new grandson that I celebrate. It's the Real shining through the eyes of the animals and people in our lives that we love. It doesn't change, even though our emotions may be in flux, and the forms and relationships may shift and change. The Real, the Eternal, the True, the Love... no matter what we call It, THIS is always effortlessly present, and can be attended to with our awareness in the midst of it all. This we can depend on. This will never change.
"As God created you, you must remain unchangeable, with all transitory states by definition false. And that includes all shifts in feelings, alterations in conditions of the body or the mind; in all awareness and in all response. This is the all-inclusiveness which sets the Truth apart from falsehood." -- A Course in Miracles; WB 152, 5:1-3
I was just talking to a friend who commented how everything in the world is in the process of monumental change. My rather surprising and spontaneous comment was: "Not here. Everything here seems to be hardly changing at all." I think it took me by surprise as much as it did my friend! And it gave me pause. After all, there are a lot of outer changes in my life. I was just blessed with grandson number four. I just took on two new cats and a new dog here at the Sanctuary, and a new Quaker parrot may be coming, as well as another horse. I'm making changes in my websites and the content offered there. And I've started doing more public speaking appearances. So what is the source of the 'nothing's changing' comment?
People are always complaining about their lives, of course. Either everything is changing or nothing is changing... and both seem to be cause for complaint! So what is the real issue?
A Course in Miracles explains that literally everything in our daily lives, the things we think we want and the things we think we don't want, serve only one purpose: to keep us so preoccupied with the illusion of life, the constantly changing kaleidoscope of forms and events, that we don't acknowledge that it isn't real. Our true Self is eternal and unchanging, the Ground of All Being... and the changing, shifting forms that come and go are mere shadows, and are falsely perceived as substance by the egoic, conditioned mind.
The more our awareness of the eternal deepens, the more we notice that there is no real difference in content in all the constantly changing forms. The quality of all of them is nothingness... and so nothing really changes. Forms shift and change, the furniture is rearranged, but nothing in the world of illusory forms ever really happens. It doesn't matter if we move from one side of the world to the other... we find that nothing has changed. Because what is Real remains in us... unmoving, eternal, perfect, and joyously serene.
It's the Real and eternal shining in my new grandson that I celebrate. It's the Real shining through the eyes of the animals and people in our lives that we love. It doesn't change, even though our emotions may be in flux, and the forms and relationships may shift and change. The Real, the Eternal, the True, the Love... no matter what we call It, THIS is always effortlessly present, and can be attended to with our awareness in the midst of it all. This we can depend on. This will never change.
"As God created you, you must remain unchangeable, with all transitory states by definition false. And that includes all shifts in feelings, alterations in conditions of the body or the mind; in all awareness and in all response. This is the all-inclusiveness which sets the Truth apart from falsehood." -- A Course in Miracles; WB 152, 5:1-3
Friday, July 23, 2010
Our Name and Our Inheritance
"This is a Course in how to know your Self. You have taught what you are, but have not let what you are teach you." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 16, Section III, 4:1-2
"Repeat the Name of God and call upon your Self, Whose Name is His. Repeat His Name and all the tiny nameless things on earth slip into right perspective." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 183, 5:1-2
It is becoming clearer and clearer each day. The only thing that matters is remembering and remaining anchored in Who I Am. All problems, issues, and challenges point to one thing only: the false self. Only the false self, the conditioned persona, can be victim of illusions. The True Self remains changeless, all powerful and all loving, lacking nothing, confronted with nothing other than Self, in the heaven of endless Oneness and Completion. It is such a joy-filled ride, awakening. Such a kick to relax and realize I Am, and have always been, right here in God, God appearing as and through me, always new, always expanding, yet always complete and whole. There really aren't words in our vocabulary to describe this Beingness and this process of Awakening. Many have tried, simply because the joy of it can't contain ItSelf, and wants to be shared with Self. So forgive me the inadequate symbols, and listen instead to the Truth that shines unimpeded through these words.
The news that we are One and the same as God is not new. Even the Bible has it stated quite clearly: "I say,"You are gods, children of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless you shall die like mortals, and fall like any prince." (The Bible; Psalm 82:6-7) Because we insist on embracing the false identities of separateness and lack and limitation, we die as if we're NOT sons of God, NOT One and forever Whole. And why do we insist on hanging on to a fiction of self that seems to suffer and die? Because it seems safer in our insanity to pretend we're small and at the mercy of our own dream, than to take responsibility for our choice to live in endless illusion, in a shadowy world of projection and skewed perception. Because for as long as the dream has seemed to be, people have been threatened by the Truth of Who We Are.
Look at the following passage from The Bible: "Jesus replied, "I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?" The Jews answered, "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God." Jesus answered, "Is it not written in your own law, "I said, you are gods?" (The Bible; John 10:32-34)
We stone ourselves now, each time we let the inner voice that says, "Who do you think you are?" or "What are you, God?" throw us back into unworthiness and guilt. We are the Sons of God, and God has ONE SON. That is US... not separate little selves, but the Self we are collectively, with all of creation. This Self has a Voice that speaks so clearly in our hearts and minds that it can never be mistaken or forgotten, unless that is what we want and what we choose.
"Sooner or later must everyone bridge the gap he imagines exists between the selves. Each one builds this bridge, which carries him across the [imaginary] gap as soon as he is willing to expend some little effort on behalf of bridging it. You will go through this last [imaginary] undoing quite unharmed, and will at last emerge as your Self." (A Course in Miracles; Chapter 16, Section III, 8:2-3 & IV, 2:3)
There is no gap! How can there be any separation in what is eternally whole and One? If there is One God, and we are gods, then each of us must be a transparency for the One, and for nothing else. All that is required, as ACIM reminds us, is to expend a little effort to remember as we go about our lives. For nothing else is real, and we are not who we thought we were. The Christ, the Son of God, reflects only God. This is our name and our inheritance.
"The Name of God is my inheritance. God's Name reminds me that I am His Son, not slave to time, unbound by laws which rule the world of sick illusions, free in God, forever and forever One with Him." -- A Course in Miracles, Workbook Lesson 204, 1:1-2
"Repeat the Name of God and call upon your Self, Whose Name is His. Repeat His Name and all the tiny nameless things on earth slip into right perspective." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 183, 5:1-2
It is becoming clearer and clearer each day. The only thing that matters is remembering and remaining anchored in Who I Am. All problems, issues, and challenges point to one thing only: the false self. Only the false self, the conditioned persona, can be victim of illusions. The True Self remains changeless, all powerful and all loving, lacking nothing, confronted with nothing other than Self, in the heaven of endless Oneness and Completion. It is such a joy-filled ride, awakening. Such a kick to relax and realize I Am, and have always been, right here in God, God appearing as and through me, always new, always expanding, yet always complete and whole. There really aren't words in our vocabulary to describe this Beingness and this process of Awakening. Many have tried, simply because the joy of it can't contain ItSelf, and wants to be shared with Self. So forgive me the inadequate symbols, and listen instead to the Truth that shines unimpeded through these words.
The news that we are One and the same as God is not new. Even the Bible has it stated quite clearly: "I say,"You are gods, children of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless you shall die like mortals, and fall like any prince." (The Bible; Psalm 82:6-7) Because we insist on embracing the false identities of separateness and lack and limitation, we die as if we're NOT sons of God, NOT One and forever Whole. And why do we insist on hanging on to a fiction of self that seems to suffer and die? Because it seems safer in our insanity to pretend we're small and at the mercy of our own dream, than to take responsibility for our choice to live in endless illusion, in a shadowy world of projection and skewed perception. Because for as long as the dream has seemed to be, people have been threatened by the Truth of Who We Are.
Look at the following passage from The Bible: "Jesus replied, "I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?" The Jews answered, "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God." Jesus answered, "Is it not written in your own law, "I said, you are gods?" (The Bible; John 10:32-34)
We stone ourselves now, each time we let the inner voice that says, "Who do you think you are?" or "What are you, God?" throw us back into unworthiness and guilt. We are the Sons of God, and God has ONE SON. That is US... not separate little selves, but the Self we are collectively, with all of creation. This Self has a Voice that speaks so clearly in our hearts and minds that it can never be mistaken or forgotten, unless that is what we want and what we choose.
"Sooner or later must everyone bridge the gap he imagines exists between the selves. Each one builds this bridge, which carries him across the [imaginary] gap as soon as he is willing to expend some little effort on behalf of bridging it. You will go through this last [imaginary] undoing quite unharmed, and will at last emerge as your Self." (A Course in Miracles; Chapter 16, Section III, 8:2-3 & IV, 2:3)
There is no gap! How can there be any separation in what is eternally whole and One? If there is One God, and we are gods, then each of us must be a transparency for the One, and for nothing else. All that is required, as ACIM reminds us, is to expend a little effort to remember as we go about our lives. For nothing else is real, and we are not who we thought we were. The Christ, the Son of God, reflects only God. This is our name and our inheritance.
"The Name of God is my inheritance. God's Name reminds me that I am His Son, not slave to time, unbound by laws which rule the world of sick illusions, free in God, forever and forever One with Him." -- A Course in Miracles, Workbook Lesson 204, 1:1-2
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Spiritual Paranoia
"Once you understand it is impossible that you be hurt except by your own thoughts, the fear of God must disappear. You cannot then believe that fear is caused without [from outside your own mind]. And God, Whom you had thought to banish, can be welcomed back within the holy mind He never left." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 196, 8:3-5
Welcoming God back into the holy mind He[She] never left?? God is in my mind, and has always been????!!!!!???? These are very frightening thoughts to all of us. For we find so much objectionable in our minds and thoughts... things we would never want anyone else to know about, much less God! What is God, some kind of spirit lurking in the recesses of our minds, attempting to overtake us? If God is IN our minds, then what is this other stuff??? And how can it be there if God is All, and everywhere and everything???
These thoughts, or something like them, arise in all our minds when we get too close to the Truth. Our spiritual paranoia is such that we would rather die as weak and sinful mortals than acknowledge the grandeur of our true Being in God, as reflections and extensions of the Infinite. We would rather live with the illusion that we are at the mercy of the world around us, that we are powerless and subject to all the laws the world evangelizes: the laws of health, of diet, of economics, of 'nice' relationships and people, of judgment and punishment and guilt, of cause and effect as the material laws proclaim them. As ACIM puts it, "The thing you dread the most is your salvation. You have sought to be both weak and bound, because you feared your own strength and freedom. Yet salvation lies in them." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 196, 9:4 & 7-8
This can be quite terrifying. "When you realize once and for all that it is you that you fear, the mind perceives itself as split." Both bondage and salvation, both in my own mind! Yikes, what hope is there, then? Won't it always be just this war of the worlds????
If we want to know the Truth enough to come this far, then it is easy to see the certainty of outcome. The very nature of mental constructs and thought forms is that they are illusory... not real. They are phantasms of the mind, as all fear is. What is real is eternal and formless, and resides in the Mind of God, which extends ItSelf to all that Is, eternally whole and loving and calm, strong and free, infinite in Truth and in Being. We are One with this Mind, and so sanity and Truth are in us, and we are always free to return to this Awareness of Self. Or we can continue to make up scary stories and pretend to be bound by them.
So remember, when we find ourselves in the grip of such spiritual paranoia, it is a very good sign. It means we are very close to reclaiming our power... to realizing that we are the terrorist, and the healer.
"This is the only thing that you need do for vision, happiness, release from pain, and the complete escape from sin, all to be given you. Say only this, but mean it with no reservations, for here the power of salvation lies:
I am responsible for what I see.
I choose the feelings I experience,
And I decide upon the goal I would achieve.
And everything that seems to happen to me, I ask for,
And receive as I have asked.
Deceive yourself no longer that you are helpless in the face of what is done to you. Acknowledge but that you have been mistaken, and all effects of your mistakes will disappear." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 21, Section II, 2:1-7
Welcoming God back into the holy mind He[She] never left?? God is in my mind, and has always been????!!!!!???? These are very frightening thoughts to all of us. For we find so much objectionable in our minds and thoughts... things we would never want anyone else to know about, much less God! What is God, some kind of spirit lurking in the recesses of our minds, attempting to overtake us? If God is IN our minds, then what is this other stuff??? And how can it be there if God is All, and everywhere and everything???
These thoughts, or something like them, arise in all our minds when we get too close to the Truth. Our spiritual paranoia is such that we would rather die as weak and sinful mortals than acknowledge the grandeur of our true Being in God, as reflections and extensions of the Infinite. We would rather live with the illusion that we are at the mercy of the world around us, that we are powerless and subject to all the laws the world evangelizes: the laws of health, of diet, of economics, of 'nice' relationships and people, of judgment and punishment and guilt, of cause and effect as the material laws proclaim them. As ACIM puts it, "The thing you dread the most is your salvation. You have sought to be both weak and bound, because you feared your own strength and freedom. Yet salvation lies in them." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 196, 9:4 & 7-8
This can be quite terrifying. "When you realize once and for all that it is you that you fear, the mind perceives itself as split." Both bondage and salvation, both in my own mind! Yikes, what hope is there, then? Won't it always be just this war of the worlds????
If we want to know the Truth enough to come this far, then it is easy to see the certainty of outcome. The very nature of mental constructs and thought forms is that they are illusory... not real. They are phantasms of the mind, as all fear is. What is real is eternal and formless, and resides in the Mind of God, which extends ItSelf to all that Is, eternally whole and loving and calm, strong and free, infinite in Truth and in Being. We are One with this Mind, and so sanity and Truth are in us, and we are always free to return to this Awareness of Self. Or we can continue to make up scary stories and pretend to be bound by them.
So remember, when we find ourselves in the grip of such spiritual paranoia, it is a very good sign. It means we are very close to reclaiming our power... to realizing that we are the terrorist, and the healer.
"This is the only thing that you need do for vision, happiness, release from pain, and the complete escape from sin, all to be given you. Say only this, but mean it with no reservations, for here the power of salvation lies:
I am responsible for what I see.
I choose the feelings I experience,
And I decide upon the goal I would achieve.
And everything that seems to happen to me, I ask for,
And receive as I have asked.
Deceive yourself no longer that you are helpless in the face of what is done to you. Acknowledge but that you have been mistaken, and all effects of your mistakes will disappear." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 21, Section II, 2:1-7
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Everything and Nothing
"We thank our Father for one thing alone; that we are separate from no living thing, and therefore One with Him. And we rejoice that no exceptions ever can be made which would reduce our wholeness, nor impair or change our function to complete the One Who is HimSelf completion. We give thanks for every living thing, for otherwise we offer thanks for nothing, and we fail to recognize the gifts of God to us. We have been given everything. If we refuse to recognize it, we are not entitled therefore to our bitterness." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 195, 6:1-3 & 9:2-3
"Simply do this: Be still, and lay aside all thoughts of what you are and what God is; all concepts you have learned about the world; all images you hold about yourself. Empty your mind of everything it thinks is either true or false, or good or bad, or every thought it judges worthy, and all ideas of which it is ashamed. Hold onto nothing. Do not bring with you one thought the past has taught, nor one belief you ever learned before from anything. Forget this world, forget this Course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 189, 7:1-5
I highlighted passages from the above quotes to make a point. We have been given everything, literally... as Beings who live and move and have our Being in Oneness with the Infinite, everything is ours. But to return to an awareness of the Everything that IS, we have to let go of the nothing that ISN'T.
The easiest way to come to this awareness is to just be still. Here I am. I didn't create myself. I am. And so there is an 'I' that exists without effort, that is aware of what comes and goes, but never moves or changes in itSelf. This 'I' holds everything in its awareness. 'I' have been given everything. But as soon as the attention contracts to the specifics of thought, form, judgment, and analysis... as soon as the awareness zooms in and trys to grasp what it is aware of, the 'I' that is aware fades into the background, forgotten and seemingly obscured by the exclusiveness of individuated mind and its thoughts. Only the unconditioned awareness of 'I' is capable of the inclusiveness that returns the awareness to the All, the Everything.
Allness is beyond the grasp of the individuated mind... the me that I think I am. This me is preoccupied with survival and comfort, with being liked or loved, withdrawing into the safety of the familiar. But resting in the Silence of 'I' for only an instant, the Inclusive Self returns to awareness. Everything is Who I Am. As they say in Advaita Vedanta, "I Am That." And in the Bible it says, "I Am That I Am." We have simply to be quiet and allow, "I Am" to rest in unspecific and unconditioned awareness. And let the nothingness of daily thought and identity go. What remains is the simple Truth of Being.
"Nothing is so easy to recognize as Truth. This is the only recognition that is immediate, clear, and natural." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 7, Section XI, 5:7-8
"Simply do this: Be still, and lay aside all thoughts of what you are and what God is; all concepts you have learned about the world; all images you hold about yourself. Empty your mind of everything it thinks is either true or false, or good or bad, or every thought it judges worthy, and all ideas of which it is ashamed. Hold onto nothing. Do not bring with you one thought the past has taught, nor one belief you ever learned before from anything. Forget this world, forget this Course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 189, 7:1-5
I highlighted passages from the above quotes to make a point. We have been given everything, literally... as Beings who live and move and have our Being in Oneness with the Infinite, everything is ours. But to return to an awareness of the Everything that IS, we have to let go of the nothing that ISN'T.
The easiest way to come to this awareness is to just be still. Here I am. I didn't create myself. I am. And so there is an 'I' that exists without effort, that is aware of what comes and goes, but never moves or changes in itSelf. This 'I' holds everything in its awareness. 'I' have been given everything. But as soon as the attention contracts to the specifics of thought, form, judgment, and analysis... as soon as the awareness zooms in and trys to grasp what it is aware of, the 'I' that is aware fades into the background, forgotten and seemingly obscured by the exclusiveness of individuated mind and its thoughts. Only the unconditioned awareness of 'I' is capable of the inclusiveness that returns the awareness to the All, the Everything.
Allness is beyond the grasp of the individuated mind... the me that I think I am. This me is preoccupied with survival and comfort, with being liked or loved, withdrawing into the safety of the familiar. But resting in the Silence of 'I' for only an instant, the Inclusive Self returns to awareness. Everything is Who I Am. As they say in Advaita Vedanta, "I Am That." And in the Bible it says, "I Am That I Am." We have simply to be quiet and allow, "I Am" to rest in unspecific and unconditioned awareness. And let the nothingness of daily thought and identity go. What remains is the simple Truth of Being.
"Nothing is so easy to recognize as Truth. This is the only recognition that is immediate, clear, and natural." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 7, Section XI, 5:7-8
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Grace without Cost
"His Grace the answer is to all despair, for in it lies remembrance of His Love. His gift of Grace is more than just an answer. It restores all memories the sleeping mind forgot; all certainty of what Love's meaning IS." - A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 168, 2:3, 3:5-6
I have seemingly had little work and few new clients for nearly 6 months now. Work is a topic I have been praying about regularly... not just to have it (and I've applied for countless 'jobs'), but to see what errors in my own mind and heart I am seeing reflected in the world. I pray to understand and forgive and heal this seeming lack for all of us, since I know we are One Mind and One Heart. And I know from my direct experience of God that this is not being done TO me (or anyone else). God has given us everything... but I can only receive what I accept. What do I accept as true about work? What do I accept as true about myself? What do I accept as true about God? Do I think these are different subjects, unrelated? Since God is All, they must be One.
In listening to my own thoughts and words on this topic, I realize that even when I talk about changing my perceptions, I say, "I'm working on... (fill in the blank)." Hmmm... Why is it that we associate the word 'work' with words like 'hard' or 'effort' or 'struggle' or 'a work in progress?' Where has all this efforting gotten us? What about the word Grace? What about the Joy of living and moving and having our being in God? What about Grace without cost?
We are created in the image of God. In God we live and move and have our being. This is beyond question, since it is a direct experience NOW. If it's not your direct experience, I urge you to spend time in silence and allow yourself to remember Who You Are, as a reflection of God, as a transparency for God. Never take anyone else's word for this. That's like reading the menu but never actually eating the feast. And Grace, the expression of remembering Who We Are, is the effortless flow of Awareness that pours from this fountain of Joy at the core of our Being. As the quote above reminds us, it's the catalyst for remembering the Love that We Are. Grace has no price and no cost. It's always pouring from within our Being, and requires no effort, no 'work' on ourselves. It is the effortless remembrance of what has always been. We have only to accept it.
As I remember minute-by-minute and day-by-day that Grace has no cost, I soften and open and allow Love to move in my life. I continue to receive unexpected donations for the Sanctuary and for my Spiritual Direction and ACIM Classes. New clients call out of the blue. My books sell more copies and my CD project takes wing as more and more people pre-order. I am loved and nurtured and supported in my work, without efforting. Grace has no cost... we don't have to earn it or be good enough or do it right. We just have to return to our right Mind.
However and wherever we find ourselves, we are in the midst of God. Right where we are is holy ground. That's Grace for you. Grace without cost.
I have seemingly had little work and few new clients for nearly 6 months now. Work is a topic I have been praying about regularly... not just to have it (and I've applied for countless 'jobs'), but to see what errors in my own mind and heart I am seeing reflected in the world. I pray to understand and forgive and heal this seeming lack for all of us, since I know we are One Mind and One Heart. And I know from my direct experience of God that this is not being done TO me (or anyone else). God has given us everything... but I can only receive what I accept. What do I accept as true about work? What do I accept as true about myself? What do I accept as true about God? Do I think these are different subjects, unrelated? Since God is All, they must be One.
In listening to my own thoughts and words on this topic, I realize that even when I talk about changing my perceptions, I say, "I'm working on... (fill in the blank)." Hmmm... Why is it that we associate the word 'work' with words like 'hard' or 'effort' or 'struggle' or 'a work in progress?' Where has all this efforting gotten us? What about the word Grace? What about the Joy of living and moving and having our being in God? What about Grace without cost?
We are created in the image of God. In God we live and move and have our being. This is beyond question, since it is a direct experience NOW. If it's not your direct experience, I urge you to spend time in silence and allow yourself to remember Who You Are, as a reflection of God, as a transparency for God. Never take anyone else's word for this. That's like reading the menu but never actually eating the feast. And Grace, the expression of remembering Who We Are, is the effortless flow of Awareness that pours from this fountain of Joy at the core of our Being. As the quote above reminds us, it's the catalyst for remembering the Love that We Are. Grace has no price and no cost. It's always pouring from within our Being, and requires no effort, no 'work' on ourselves. It is the effortless remembrance of what has always been. We have only to accept it.
As I remember minute-by-minute and day-by-day that Grace has no cost, I soften and open and allow Love to move in my life. I continue to receive unexpected donations for the Sanctuary and for my Spiritual Direction and ACIM Classes. New clients call out of the blue. My books sell more copies and my CD project takes wing as more and more people pre-order. I am loved and nurtured and supported in my work, without efforting. Grace has no cost... we don't have to earn it or be good enough or do it right. We just have to return to our right Mind.
However and wherever we find ourselves, we are in the midst of God. Right where we are is holy ground. That's Grace for you. Grace without cost.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
The Willingness to Give
"To have all, give all, to all." -- A Course in Miracles
"Supply is infinite, but there must be receptivity. We can have all the supply we will give. But that is where the barrier is... we must have the willingness to give. That is where the lack and limitation is." -- Joel Goldsmith
The issue of supply, of income, is a very popular topic for all of us, and for the media. There seems to be a lack of supply for a lot of us at any given moment. So the question that arises is this: how can there be a lack of anything in what is infinite and ever-present and ONE? This apparent conflict is the age-old struggle of the illusory separate self to maintain its apparent existence through fear and self-created lack. This illusion can be illustrated by the following story:
A little boy was given a package of cookies to take to school and share with his classmates. But the little boy, fearing there wouldn't be enough for him, chose to hide them in his desk and have a few each day for himself. Was there a lack of cookies in that classroom? No, but it appeared that only one child had cookies. The reality was, they were given to him to SHARE... and if he opened his desk and shared them, all the children would have cookies. And where would more cookies come from? From the same place... because the little boy's parents loved giving, too. And many of the other children would then ask their parents for cookies or treats to share, too. Sharing is fun, and much more natural than hoarding.
So when the little boy was afraid, he hoarded. When he trusted in the love that gave him those cookies to share, he shared and experienced an abundance of cookies and other treats. And so it is with us.
Does this seem too simplistic? It's simple alright, but not easy to be willing to pour yourself out to all of life. Our egos resist, insisting that we can't, or we won't have enough. We're not talking just about money, or about anything specific. We're talking about the unwillingness to give that is the nature of the egoic, illusory self that hoards and takes in the name of I, me, mine. Our true Self gives without condition, pours out of the infinity of Being. "We must begin to pour, to start the outflow. The damming up of supply results from our failure to pour in some manner." -- Joel Goldsmith
So what is it that we are unwilling to unconditionally give? Our time? Our love? Our presence? Our attention? Our honesty? Our devotion? Our commitment? Our money? Our unwavering support? Our talents and abilities? Our acceptance and approval? Our forgiveness? Our companionship? Our diligence? A non-judgmental listening ear? If we are lacking in any of these, it is certain that it is our own unwillingness to give that is appearing as the illusion of lack. All of these are IN us... we ARE the infinity of God pouring forth in the world. We can only appear to lack what we are unwilling to give.
"The subject of supply plays a major role in our lives. Until we begin to live as if we are One with God, as if all the Father has is ours, and act that out by sharing our resources, sharing forgiveness, cooperation, understanding, patience, whatever it is... until we are willing to give in this way, spiritual consciousness has not yet touched us." -- Joel Goldsmith
"Supply is infinite, but there must be receptivity. We can have all the supply we will give. But that is where the barrier is... we must have the willingness to give. That is where the lack and limitation is." -- Joel Goldsmith
The issue of supply, of income, is a very popular topic for all of us, and for the media. There seems to be a lack of supply for a lot of us at any given moment. So the question that arises is this: how can there be a lack of anything in what is infinite and ever-present and ONE? This apparent conflict is the age-old struggle of the illusory separate self to maintain its apparent existence through fear and self-created lack. This illusion can be illustrated by the following story:
A little boy was given a package of cookies to take to school and share with his classmates. But the little boy, fearing there wouldn't be enough for him, chose to hide them in his desk and have a few each day for himself. Was there a lack of cookies in that classroom? No, but it appeared that only one child had cookies. The reality was, they were given to him to SHARE... and if he opened his desk and shared them, all the children would have cookies. And where would more cookies come from? From the same place... because the little boy's parents loved giving, too. And many of the other children would then ask their parents for cookies or treats to share, too. Sharing is fun, and much more natural than hoarding.
So when the little boy was afraid, he hoarded. When he trusted in the love that gave him those cookies to share, he shared and experienced an abundance of cookies and other treats. And so it is with us.
Does this seem too simplistic? It's simple alright, but not easy to be willing to pour yourself out to all of life. Our egos resist, insisting that we can't, or we won't have enough. We're not talking just about money, or about anything specific. We're talking about the unwillingness to give that is the nature of the egoic, illusory self that hoards and takes in the name of I, me, mine. Our true Self gives without condition, pours out of the infinity of Being. "We must begin to pour, to start the outflow. The damming up of supply results from our failure to pour in some manner." -- Joel Goldsmith
So what is it that we are unwilling to unconditionally give? Our time? Our love? Our presence? Our attention? Our honesty? Our devotion? Our commitment? Our money? Our unwavering support? Our talents and abilities? Our acceptance and approval? Our forgiveness? Our companionship? Our diligence? A non-judgmental listening ear? If we are lacking in any of these, it is certain that it is our own unwillingness to give that is appearing as the illusion of lack. All of these are IN us... we ARE the infinity of God pouring forth in the world. We can only appear to lack what we are unwilling to give.
"The subject of supply plays a major role in our lives. Until we begin to live as if we are One with God, as if all the Father has is ours, and act that out by sharing our resources, sharing forgiveness, cooperation, understanding, patience, whatever it is... until we are willing to give in this way, spiritual consciousness has not yet touched us." -- Joel Goldsmith
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Begin Again in 2010
Here we are, beginning again in the circle of time. I invite anyone who is interested to join in the ongoing study of A Course in Miracles which begins again on Wednesday, January 6, 2010. You can always get updated information about the calls on my website, at http://www.sundarya.com/ACIMteleclasses.htm. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. And so we begin again.
Beginners mind is a mind that has released its need to know. Beginners mind is a mind that has emptied itself of past associations, so it can see Reality as it is. Beginners mind, the innocent mind, is the return to zero, to nothing... and then everything that emerges from this sacred space is pure Inspiration from Source, from our True Self, from God. As we are willing to let go of everything, of all our human constructs and identities, they are translated and transformed into instruments of Light.
A Course in Miracles begins with these statements of Principle: "There is no order of difficulty in miracles. One is not 'harder' or 'bigger' than another." (ACIM; Chapter 1, Section I, 1:1-2) This means there is no human identity or concept that cannot be released and therefore translated, no human experience that will not become a miracle when it is forgiven and all past meanings released. There is no order of difficulty, and therefore there are no exceptions. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." (The Bible; Isaiah 1:18) This is reasonable; this is rational; this is Principle.
"Miracles are part of an interlocking chain of forgiveness which, when completed, is the Atonement. Atonement works all the time and in all dimensions of time." (ACIM; Chapter 1, Section I, 25:1-2) No exceptions, and omni-directional, omni-dimensional. No exclusions. And so this completed chain of forgiveness leaves us washed clean, erased of human concepts, white as snow. Beginners mind.
"Miracles represent freedom from fear. 'Atoning' means 'undoing.' The undoing of fear is an essential part of the Atonement value of miracles." (ACIM; Chapter 1, Section I, 26:1-3) And so the miracle is the undoing of what never was... the erasing of illusory and transient memories and concepts from the mind... and we find in the sacred space the miracle of beginners mind, and the Freedom and Love of our True Self.
"Miracles honor you because you are loveable. They dispel illusions about yourself and perceive the Light in you. They thus atone for [undo] your errors by freeing you from your nightmares. By releasing your mind from the imprisonment of your illusions, they restore your sanity." (ACIM; Chapter 1, Section I, 33:1-4) Released from past associations, from the many memories and stories that populate our split mind... released from all self-concepts, we find our Self again. This is my prayer for us all as we begin again in 2010.
"Spirit is in a state of Grace forever. Your reality is only Spirit. Therefore you are in a state of Grace forever." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 1, Section III, 5:4-6
Beginners mind is a mind that has released its need to know. Beginners mind is a mind that has emptied itself of past associations, so it can see Reality as it is. Beginners mind, the innocent mind, is the return to zero, to nothing... and then everything that emerges from this sacred space is pure Inspiration from Source, from our True Self, from God. As we are willing to let go of everything, of all our human constructs and identities, they are translated and transformed into instruments of Light.
A Course in Miracles begins with these statements of Principle: "There is no order of difficulty in miracles. One is not 'harder' or 'bigger' than another." (ACIM; Chapter 1, Section I, 1:1-2) This means there is no human identity or concept that cannot be released and therefore translated, no human experience that will not become a miracle when it is forgiven and all past meanings released. There is no order of difficulty, and therefore there are no exceptions. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." (The Bible; Isaiah 1:18) This is reasonable; this is rational; this is Principle.
"Miracles are part of an interlocking chain of forgiveness which, when completed, is the Atonement. Atonement works all the time and in all dimensions of time." (ACIM; Chapter 1, Section I, 25:1-2) No exceptions, and omni-directional, omni-dimensional. No exclusions. And so this completed chain of forgiveness leaves us washed clean, erased of human concepts, white as snow. Beginners mind.
"Miracles represent freedom from fear. 'Atoning' means 'undoing.' The undoing of fear is an essential part of the Atonement value of miracles." (ACIM; Chapter 1, Section I, 26:1-3) And so the miracle is the undoing of what never was... the erasing of illusory and transient memories and concepts from the mind... and we find in the sacred space the miracle of beginners mind, and the Freedom and Love of our True Self.
"Miracles honor you because you are loveable. They dispel illusions about yourself and perceive the Light in you. They thus atone for [undo] your errors by freeing you from your nightmares. By releasing your mind from the imprisonment of your illusions, they restore your sanity." (ACIM; Chapter 1, Section I, 33:1-4) Released from past associations, from the many memories and stories that populate our split mind... released from all self-concepts, we find our Self again. This is my prayer for us all as we begin again in 2010.
"Spirit is in a state of Grace forever. Your reality is only Spirit. Therefore you are in a state of Grace forever." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 1, Section III, 5:4-6
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
All We Could Ever Want
"No call to God can be unheard nor left unanswered. And of this I can be sure; His answer is the one I really want." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 358
There are calls and answers bombarding us every day. At work, at home, at church, and even on the internet we are called on to help, to assist, to serve. At home, at work, at church, and through our internet connections, we also call on others to help, to assist, and to serve. But calling out to God is not like this. We think God should respond like a 'good' human. And we humanly act like we expect God to help, to assist, or to serve us in our need as we see it.
How could this be possible? Our God-Self knows that the projections we see are phantoms... they are all made up. Our real need is to awaken from the grip of our own delusions. Jesus knew this, and in his compassion told us quite plainly that "God is no respecter of persons, for he makes His sun to shine on the evil and the good." In other words, the sun shines... that's what it does, without judgment as to who or what it shines on and through. The sun gives life by being what it is. God IS... Being IS... Awareness IS... that's what it IS and what it does, without judgment or interference. God IS life and love and goodness itself, and by Being in God, we too have all life and love and goodness. It's only the cloud projections of our own thought-forms, our own stories, which hide this from our awareness.
What then, does our quote mean when it reassures us that "No call to God can be unheard or unanswered?" To really understand this, to really glimpse it, is freedom.
In many, many posts here on this blog we've repeated the Truth that sets us free... we are created in the image of God... perfect, whole, and completely spiritual, as God is Spirit. The Truth that answers us when we call can only answer spiritually and always and only reminds us of the Truth... that we are perfect, whole, and holy... perfect reflections of the Love of God. That any imagined need is met in this knowing. That imagined needs arise out of forgetting Who We Are. The Grace and Love of God, our true Source and Ground of Being, is truly our sufficiency in all things.
Which brings us to the second part of the above quote... that "of this I can be sure; His answer is the one I really want." We can always be sure that the remembrance of the Truth of Being, of our eternal perfection and goodness and love, is all we ever really wanted, and all we could ever want.
"God hides nothing from His Son, even though His Son would hide himself. You will never lose your way, for God leads you. When you wander, you but undertake a journey that is not real." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 11, Section III, 5:1, 3-4
There are calls and answers bombarding us every day. At work, at home, at church, and even on the internet we are called on to help, to assist, to serve. At home, at work, at church, and through our internet connections, we also call on others to help, to assist, and to serve. But calling out to God is not like this. We think God should respond like a 'good' human. And we humanly act like we expect God to help, to assist, or to serve us in our need as we see it.
How could this be possible? Our God-Self knows that the projections we see are phantoms... they are all made up. Our real need is to awaken from the grip of our own delusions. Jesus knew this, and in his compassion told us quite plainly that "God is no respecter of persons, for he makes His sun to shine on the evil and the good." In other words, the sun shines... that's what it does, without judgment as to who or what it shines on and through. The sun gives life by being what it is. God IS... Being IS... Awareness IS... that's what it IS and what it does, without judgment or interference. God IS life and love and goodness itself, and by Being in God, we too have all life and love and goodness. It's only the cloud projections of our own thought-forms, our own stories, which hide this from our awareness.
What then, does our quote mean when it reassures us that "No call to God can be unheard or unanswered?" To really understand this, to really glimpse it, is freedom.
In many, many posts here on this blog we've repeated the Truth that sets us free... we are created in the image of God... perfect, whole, and completely spiritual, as God is Spirit. The Truth that answers us when we call can only answer spiritually and always and only reminds us of the Truth... that we are perfect, whole, and holy... perfect reflections of the Love of God. That any imagined need is met in this knowing. That imagined needs arise out of forgetting Who We Are. The Grace and Love of God, our true Source and Ground of Being, is truly our sufficiency in all things.
Which brings us to the second part of the above quote... that "of this I can be sure; His answer is the one I really want." We can always be sure that the remembrance of the Truth of Being, of our eternal perfection and goodness and love, is all we ever really wanted, and all we could ever want.
"God hides nothing from His Son, even though His Son would hide himself. You will never lose your way, for God leads you. When you wander, you but undertake a journey that is not real." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 11, Section III, 5:1, 3-4
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Sailing on Light
"Light carries not just energy but also momentum -- a story told by every comet tail, which consists of dust blown by sunlight from a comet's core." -- Setting Sail into Space, Propelled by Sunshine; by Dennis Overbye for the NY Times, November 10, 2009
"Being must be extended. The Kingdom is forever extending because it is in the Mind of God. Your Self-fulness is as boundless as God's. Like His, It extends forever and in perfect peace. Its radiance is so intense that It creates in perfect joy, and only the whole can be born of Its Wholeness." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 7, Section IX, 2:6, 4:1, & 6:7-9
Sometimes I read a phrase or even a word, and I'm transported or returned. Sometimes it will be a passage of music or the eyes of a friend. Whatever the symbol, whatever the reminder, it returns me momentarily to my Self. It can be anyone, anywhere. It IS everyone, everywhere. And the awareness of expansion, of inclusive vision, IS our natural state. So when I read the above quote in the NY Times this morning, it worked in consciousness like yeast in a loaf of bread...
We are such expansive Beings, living and moving and having our Being in the Mind of God. We are emanations of that Light, in relationship with It like the sunbeam is to the sun. The notion that light has not just energy but momentum is pregnant with meaning for us. It means that just by being what it is, light creates. It means that the simplicity of Being is our vital and essential function, and that function has energy and momentum. We are. We radiate. We extend. Just like our Source.
Unlike our material experience with its limited life spans, ideas expand and extend without limit when they're shared. We're spiritual creations, ideas in the Mind of God, and are blessed with each other to allow the Love and Light that is the core of our Being to extend and emanate forever. As it says in Christian liturgy, "Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen." We're still always and only talking about the Oneness and Allness of God. The Son emanates from the Source, and Spirit extends, expands, communicates and expresses. To paraphrase the quote from the NY Times, the Allness of Being (God) extends ItSelf through energy and momentum that are forever One with their Source.
What does this mean for us? Or is this just a beautiful abstraction? Oh, it's so much more than that. It's an affirmation of the simplicitiy of Being, a reminder that all our human machinations are beside the point. That whatever we do, wherever we find ourselves in our human drama, Who we are is untouched and eternal and forever emanating the Light of God. It's not ours to decide. It's not ours to do. It's simply ours to BE.
Let there be Light. I Am as God created me. I Am Being, sailing on Light, extending as the Light and Love of God. No other prayer is needed.
"God is All in all in a very literal sense. All being is in Him Who IS all Being." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 7, Section IV, 7:4-5
"Being must be extended. The Kingdom is forever extending because it is in the Mind of God. Your Self-fulness is as boundless as God's. Like His, It extends forever and in perfect peace. Its radiance is so intense that It creates in perfect joy, and only the whole can be born of Its Wholeness." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 7, Section IX, 2:6, 4:1, & 6:7-9
Sometimes I read a phrase or even a word, and I'm transported or returned. Sometimes it will be a passage of music or the eyes of a friend. Whatever the symbol, whatever the reminder, it returns me momentarily to my Self. It can be anyone, anywhere. It IS everyone, everywhere. And the awareness of expansion, of inclusive vision, IS our natural state. So when I read the above quote in the NY Times this morning, it worked in consciousness like yeast in a loaf of bread...
We are such expansive Beings, living and moving and having our Being in the Mind of God. We are emanations of that Light, in relationship with It like the sunbeam is to the sun. The notion that light has not just energy but momentum is pregnant with meaning for us. It means that just by being what it is, light creates. It means that the simplicity of Being is our vital and essential function, and that function has energy and momentum. We are. We radiate. We extend. Just like our Source.
Unlike our material experience with its limited life spans, ideas expand and extend without limit when they're shared. We're spiritual creations, ideas in the Mind of God, and are blessed with each other to allow the Love and Light that is the core of our Being to extend and emanate forever. As it says in Christian liturgy, "Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen." We're still always and only talking about the Oneness and Allness of God. The Son emanates from the Source, and Spirit extends, expands, communicates and expresses. To paraphrase the quote from the NY Times, the Allness of Being (God) extends ItSelf through energy and momentum that are forever One with their Source.
What does this mean for us? Or is this just a beautiful abstraction? Oh, it's so much more than that. It's an affirmation of the simplicitiy of Being, a reminder that all our human machinations are beside the point. That whatever we do, wherever we find ourselves in our human drama, Who we are is untouched and eternal and forever emanating the Light of God. It's not ours to decide. It's not ours to do. It's simply ours to BE.
Let there be Light. I Am as God created me. I Am Being, sailing on Light, extending as the Light and Love of God. No other prayer is needed.
"God is All in all in a very literal sense. All being is in Him Who IS all Being." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 7, Section IV, 7:4-5
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Inclusive Vision
"There is no place for hell within a world whose loveliness can yet be so intense and so inclusive it is but a step from there to Heaven. To your tired eyes I bring a vision of a different world, so new and clean and fresh you will forget the pain and sorrow that you saw before." -- A Course in Miracles; T31, VIII. 8:3-4
"Truth is not fragmentary, disconnected, unsystematic, but concentrated and immovably fixed in Principle. The best spiritual type of Christly method for uplifting human thought and imparting divine Truth, is stationary power, stillness, and strength; and when this spiritual ideal is made our own, it becomes the model for human action." -- Retrospection and Introspection by Mary Baker Eddy; p.93, lines 11-16
I love that the words 'intense' and 'inclusive' are used in the same sentence, in the above quote from ACIM. It is no easy task to return our minds to inclusive thinking. It requires focus and willing discipline... the willingness to surrender our fragmented , selfish ideas to the inclusive vision of our High Self, the Holy Spirit. It requires the focus to notice when we're not doing that. It requires the willingness to Awaken.
All of this is done in consciousness. Notice Mary Baker Eddy points out that lifting our thought in this way is done through stillness and strength, through stationary power. It's never about the outer, which is only the image-making projection of what lies in consciousness. What appears without is projected, and therefore illusory. As Mrs Eddy says in her scientific statement of being: "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all." (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy; p. 468, lines 9-10)
I was reminded of this in a very dear way by a friend. I was in the process of sending out a letter about some business matter. My friend commented that by sending out the letter in this way, I am in effect acknowledging that I see it happening to me, taking place 'out there,' and that I somehow need something else to happen 'out there.' She suggested that I write a letter in consciousness, thanking the recipients for having already met the requirements... in effect, forgiving their debts... and for the opportunities and income that have resulted for so many. All of this taking place in consciousness. Not out there. The letter will never be sent. Its purpose is not to get anything to happen 'out there.' There is no 'out there!' The purpose of the letter is to return my mind to Wholeness, to the realization, in stillness and stationary strength, that it is all taking place in consciousness, where every imagined problem, separation, or need is seen to be nothing. Whose consciousness? My dream is occurring here in my mind... and in the stillness I remember that there is only One Mind. I can release and forgive my aberrant dreams, the scattered dreams that see separate, fragmented selves.... and I can again welcome the inclusive, expansive vision of my High Self, the Holy Spirit. This all-inclusive vision is the Holy Spirit's gift to us when we are willing to once again be still.
Inclusive Vision is not about manipulating or trying to change the dream. It's about returning our mind and heart to what is true. There is only One, only God, only GOOD. Inclusive Vision returns us to the Wholeness of our right Mind. It is the Grace of God made manifest, on earth as it is in the Heaven of Oneness.
"In returning and rest you shall be saved. In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." -- The Bible; Isaiah 30:15
"Truth is not fragmentary, disconnected, unsystematic, but concentrated and immovably fixed in Principle. The best spiritual type of Christly method for uplifting human thought and imparting divine Truth, is stationary power, stillness, and strength; and when this spiritual ideal is made our own, it becomes the model for human action." -- Retrospection and Introspection by Mary Baker Eddy; p.93, lines 11-16
I love that the words 'intense' and 'inclusive' are used in the same sentence, in the above quote from ACIM. It is no easy task to return our minds to inclusive thinking. It requires focus and willing discipline... the willingness to surrender our fragmented , selfish ideas to the inclusive vision of our High Self, the Holy Spirit. It requires the focus to notice when we're not doing that. It requires the willingness to Awaken.
All of this is done in consciousness. Notice Mary Baker Eddy points out that lifting our thought in this way is done through stillness and strength, through stationary power. It's never about the outer, which is only the image-making projection of what lies in consciousness. What appears without is projected, and therefore illusory. As Mrs Eddy says in her scientific statement of being: "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all." (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy; p. 468, lines 9-10)
I was reminded of this in a very dear way by a friend. I was in the process of sending out a letter about some business matter. My friend commented that by sending out the letter in this way, I am in effect acknowledging that I see it happening to me, taking place 'out there,' and that I somehow need something else to happen 'out there.' She suggested that I write a letter in consciousness, thanking the recipients for having already met the requirements... in effect, forgiving their debts... and for the opportunities and income that have resulted for so many. All of this taking place in consciousness. Not out there. The letter will never be sent. Its purpose is not to get anything to happen 'out there.' There is no 'out there!' The purpose of the letter is to return my mind to Wholeness, to the realization, in stillness and stationary strength, that it is all taking place in consciousness, where every imagined problem, separation, or need is seen to be nothing. Whose consciousness? My dream is occurring here in my mind... and in the stillness I remember that there is only One Mind. I can release and forgive my aberrant dreams, the scattered dreams that see separate, fragmented selves.... and I can again welcome the inclusive, expansive vision of my High Self, the Holy Spirit. This all-inclusive vision is the Holy Spirit's gift to us when we are willing to once again be still.
Inclusive Vision is not about manipulating or trying to change the dream. It's about returning our mind and heart to what is true. There is only One, only God, only GOOD. Inclusive Vision returns us to the Wholeness of our right Mind. It is the Grace of God made manifest, on earth as it is in the Heaven of Oneness.
"In returning and rest you shall be saved. In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." -- The Bible; Isaiah 30:15
Sunday, July 26, 2009
An Affirming Flame
This excerpt from a poem by Auden moves me to tears, because it could have been written about the thought currents and fears of the world today:
Poetry like this is powerful because it points to what we all must face. We have to accept and acknowledge the world around us as we have projected it... "The appreciation of wholeness comes only through acceptance." (A Course in Miracles; T11, V, 13:2) Acceptance means we no longer blame or project, but that we realize what true forgiveness is... "This is the shift that true perception brings: What was once projected out is seen within, and there forgiveness lets it disappear." (ACIM, MT4, 6:1)
Why is seeing and accepting the negation that is the world so important? Aren't we supposed to simply focus on what's good and positive and affirm the nothingness of everything else? This is the common wisdom in new thought traditions. The thing is, by denying what seems to be, we're simply engaging in self-deception. We haven't realized that we're the one projecting it. We may see our thoughts as having cause and effect, but we don't actually see that everything is thought. We're not actually aware that we can only see our own projections, our own interpretations... "Perception is a mirror, not a fact. And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward." (ACIM; WB304, 1:3-4)
A Course in Miracles reminds us that "Perception can make whatever picture the mind desires to see. Remember this: In this lies either heaven or hell, as you elect." (ACIM; MT 19, 5:2-4) The acceptance of this, taking responsibility for our own projections and perceptions is the first step in true forgiveness, which realizes that "there can be no form of suffering that fails to hide an unforgiving thought. Nor can there be a form of pain forgiveness cannot heal." (ACIM; WB198, 9:5-6) Only by facing our own projections, our own shadows, can we finally see that they are all made up. We have done this. And this we undo, day by day, through forgiveness.
We become the Just, the points of light in Auden's poem. We don't deny the world, we transform it. We are the forgiving, affirming flame.
"What cause have you for anger in a world that merely awaits your blessing to be free?" -- A Course in Miracles; T30, II, 4:1
I sit in one of the dives
On Fifty-Second Street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade;
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth,
Obsessing our private lives...
Defenseless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out whenever the Just
Exchange their messages;
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
Poetry like this is powerful because it points to what we all must face. We have to accept and acknowledge the world around us as we have projected it... "The appreciation of wholeness comes only through acceptance." (A Course in Miracles; T11, V, 13:2) Acceptance means we no longer blame or project, but that we realize what true forgiveness is... "This is the shift that true perception brings: What was once projected out is seen within, and there forgiveness lets it disappear." (ACIM, MT4, 6:1)
Why is seeing and accepting the negation that is the world so important? Aren't we supposed to simply focus on what's good and positive and affirm the nothingness of everything else? This is the common wisdom in new thought traditions. The thing is, by denying what seems to be, we're simply engaging in self-deception. We haven't realized that we're the one projecting it. We may see our thoughts as having cause and effect, but we don't actually see that everything is thought. We're not actually aware that we can only see our own projections, our own interpretations... "Perception is a mirror, not a fact. And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward." (ACIM; WB304, 1:3-4)
A Course in Miracles reminds us that "Perception can make whatever picture the mind desires to see. Remember this: In this lies either heaven or hell, as you elect." (ACIM; MT 19, 5:2-4) The acceptance of this, taking responsibility for our own projections and perceptions is the first step in true forgiveness, which realizes that "there can be no form of suffering that fails to hide an unforgiving thought. Nor can there be a form of pain forgiveness cannot heal." (ACIM; WB198, 9:5-6) Only by facing our own projections, our own shadows, can we finally see that they are all made up. We have done this. And this we undo, day by day, through forgiveness.
We become the Just, the points of light in Auden's poem. We don't deny the world, we transform it. We are the forgiving, affirming flame.
"What cause have you for anger in a world that merely awaits your blessing to be free?" -- A Course in Miracles; T30, II, 4:1
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