"The reflections you accept into the mirror of your mind in time but bring eternity nearer or farther. You will turn from time to holiness, as surely as the reflection of holiness calls everyone to lay all guilt aside. Reflect the peace of Heaven here, and bring this world to Heaven. For the reflection of Truth draws everyone to Truth, and as they enter into it they leave all reflections behind." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 14, Section X, 1:2-7
"I will forgive, and this will disappear." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 193, 13:3
I woke up this morning from a nightmare. It was a convoluted dream, complete with an evil nemesis who took away everything I loved. Interestingly, such dreams don't make me afraid anymore. I just wake up from them feeling muddy and tired... but unafraid. I know that this is a very good sign. It means that all the remaining hidden beliefs and obstacles to Love's Presence are finally coming to the surface to be forgiven and released. As the Course reminds us, "I will forgive, and this will disappear." Not because forgiveness is magic, but because as soon as we let go of the judgment (which is all the reality or meaning that it has), there is nothing there. It's all made up, just like my convoluted dream.
"Perception is a mirror, not a fact." -- A Course in Miracles;
Everything I see and experience in the life called Mary is in my mind, and nowhere else. No matter how much I project it 'out there' it remains in my mind, since ideas can't leave their source. True forgiveness is the process of recognizing that all of these thoughts and experiences are images I have made, and so I can let them go. The Reality of our shared experience is beyond these perceptual images we call our lives. Our Reality is One, unified, safe, and sure.
"In Heaven reality is shared and not reflected." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 14, Section X, 2:1
I love that I can awaken from every dream of hatred or dissatisfaction or pain or even pleasure (all based on projected judgments of self or others... no difference), and find myself instantly in Joy, unconditioned and free. I love that my judgments are nothing. I love that salvation is always present, in every Holy Instant of Now.
"A dream of judgement came into the mind that God created perfect as Himself. And in that dream was Heaven changed to hell, and God made enemy unto His Son. How can God's Son awaken from the dream? It is a dream of judgement. So must he judge not, and he will waken. For the dream will seem to last while he is part of it." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 29, Section IX, 2:1-6
The nightmare seemed to last while I was part of it. But as I became aware that I was dreaming, I was able to stop judging the figures in the dream, and so it disappeared. Then I was able to let go of analysis or judgment of self, and remembered: "I will forgive, and this will disappear." This clearing process is our only function in the world. "Reflect the Peace of Heaven here, and bring this world to Heaven." My vocation is to forgive and release all perception (the good included). What remains is a clear Reflection of Truth. What remains when all is forgiven is the Luminous Mind of God and the Reflection of Heaven, which is everyone, everywhere, and always.
Showing posts with label Always. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Always. Show all posts
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Unshakable Awareness of Being
"Truth neither moves nor wavers nor sinks down to death and dissolution. And what is the end of death? Nothing but this; the realization that the Son of God is guiltless now and forever. Nothing but this. But do not let yourself forget it is not less than this." -- A Course in Miracles; Manual for Teachers, 27.7:6-10
One of my teachers, Gangaji, once said that her teacher's favorite sayings were, "Keep quiet," and "Give up the search." She explained that the Truth of Being can only be known when we stop looking for it or trying to explain it. It already IS, and always has been, and always will be... changeless, deathless, guiltless, and forever One.
Is it really possible to have a true experience of this Oneness? You already have had, you already do. How could you not have what you already ARE? You simply have discounted and minimized this Awareness, rather than valuing It as the Truth of Being. Instead, you've valued and focused on the fragmenting experiences of everyday life. Instead, if you're like the rest of us, you continue to value and focus on what you think you should be valuing and focusing on, according to other people and their opinions. All of this is arbitrary, depending on social and religious constructs and other mental machinations... including so-called spiritual ones. None of it is true. All of it is for forgetting and maintaining an illusion of separateness and specialness, including the illusion of spiritual progress and spiritual pride. Forgiveness, the deliberate releasing of all these mental constructs of value and reality, is for Remembering. Forgiveness, the realization that none of it is true, is the end of the world as we know it. Forgiveness, the Awareness that our Self is eternal and innocent and free, is the end of death.
Have you ever looked through a book of 3-D pictures? You can't see both the graphics of the maze and the hidden 3-D picture at the same time. You can't remain Aware of Self while continuing to value and believe your own dreams. As Jesus said, a man can't serve two masters. Choose this day whom you shall serve. Jesus' advice was and is the most practical and literal advice we can find. He wasn't speaking platitudes. Even when he spoke in parables he was pointing to the Reality beyond. His unshakable Awareness of Being, his uncompromising Oneness with God is the model for all of us. And his advice is that forgiveness, the continual releasing of all that appears to be real in the dream, is how we return to Awareness of Oneness, of Self.
We are non-dual Being walking in a dream of duality. To walk in this dream but not be of it, our allegiance must be to the Reality of Oneness. Hence the first commandment, "Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is ONE: and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." Jesus said the only other law that matters is, "Love your neighbor as your Self." (The Bible; Mark 12:29-31) Stay mindful of Oneness. Stay mindful of Self. Continue forgiving and seeing the nothingness of anything that appears special or separate. Remain in the blissful and unshakable Awareness of Being.
"What is the Resurrection? It is a reawakening, or a rebirth, a change of mind about the meaning of the world. It is the relinquishment of all other purposes, all other interests, all other wishes and all other concerns. Vision is wholly corrected and all mistakes undone. There is now no opposition to the Truth. The Son of God is free." -- A Course in Miracles; Manual for Teachers 28.1:2,9; 3:3,11; 4:3
One of my teachers, Gangaji, once said that her teacher's favorite sayings were, "Keep quiet," and "Give up the search." She explained that the Truth of Being can only be known when we stop looking for it or trying to explain it. It already IS, and always has been, and always will be... changeless, deathless, guiltless, and forever One.
Is it really possible to have a true experience of this Oneness? You already have had, you already do. How could you not have what you already ARE? You simply have discounted and minimized this Awareness, rather than valuing It as the Truth of Being. Instead, you've valued and focused on the fragmenting experiences of everyday life. Instead, if you're like the rest of us, you continue to value and focus on what you think you should be valuing and focusing on, according to other people and their opinions. All of this is arbitrary, depending on social and religious constructs and other mental machinations... including so-called spiritual ones. None of it is true. All of it is for forgetting and maintaining an illusion of separateness and specialness, including the illusion of spiritual progress and spiritual pride. Forgiveness, the deliberate releasing of all these mental constructs of value and reality, is for Remembering. Forgiveness, the realization that none of it is true, is the end of the world as we know it. Forgiveness, the Awareness that our Self is eternal and innocent and free, is the end of death.
Have you ever looked through a book of 3-D pictures? You can't see both the graphics of the maze and the hidden 3-D picture at the same time. You can't remain Aware of Self while continuing to value and believe your own dreams. As Jesus said, a man can't serve two masters. Choose this day whom you shall serve. Jesus' advice was and is the most practical and literal advice we can find. He wasn't speaking platitudes. Even when he spoke in parables he was pointing to the Reality beyond. His unshakable Awareness of Being, his uncompromising Oneness with God is the model for all of us. And his advice is that forgiveness, the continual releasing of all that appears to be real in the dream, is how we return to Awareness of Oneness, of Self.
We are non-dual Being walking in a dream of duality. To walk in this dream but not be of it, our allegiance must be to the Reality of Oneness. Hence the first commandment, "Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is ONE: and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." Jesus said the only other law that matters is, "Love your neighbor as your Self." (The Bible; Mark 12:29-31) Stay mindful of Oneness. Stay mindful of Self. Continue forgiving and seeing the nothingness of anything that appears special or separate. Remain in the blissful and unshakable Awareness of Being.
"What is the Resurrection? It is a reawakening, or a rebirth, a change of mind about the meaning of the world. It is the relinquishment of all other purposes, all other interests, all other wishes and all other concerns. Vision is wholly corrected and all mistakes undone. There is now no opposition to the Truth. The Son of God is free." -- A Course in Miracles; Manual for Teachers 28.1:2,9; 3:3,11; 4:3
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
The Past Has Never Been
"You are invulnerable because you are guiltless. You can hold on to the past only through guilt. For guilt establishes that you will be punished for what you have done, and thus depends on one-dimensional time, proceeding from past to future. No one who believes this can understand what 'always' means, and therefore guilt must deprive you of the appreciation of eternity. You are immortal because you are eternal, and 'always' must be now." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 13, Section I, 8:1-2
"By accepting your guiltlessness, you learn that the past has never been, and so the future is needless and will not be." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 13, Section I, 9:1
O.K., so today's blog is sort of a continuation of yesterday's thoughts about eternity. The ideas of past and future, of right and wrong, of guilt and innocence... these polarized ideas perpetuate the myth of separation from God, dissecting eternity into segments of time and experience, blinding us to the meaning of 'always.' Forgiveness, the release of all preconceptions and judgments, all mental constructs about a given person or situation, returns our mind to an expanded state, the right-mindedness that can directly experience 'always' and eternity. "Always has no direction."
We often think we're forgiving someone or something else, someone separate from 'me.' That is never the case. We're always and only forgiving ourselves, since the holographic dream we each experience is a projection of our own guilt in our own mind. The fact that guilt is such an individual and private judgment, a private matter, is the best evidence that it is not real. We can never know what's truly in the mind of someone else in the dream... because they're not there. Our perception of others is really a projection of our own mind. We are the projector. As Byron Katie likes to say, "No two people have ever met." :-)
The beauty here is that the past has never been! No matter what our projections are now or have been, it never happened! The miracle is that through our willingness to let go of our projections, our willingness to return to right-mindedness, we can actually experience the Truth of this. The past has never been. The linear concept of time has been dissolved in the dream. The miracle is forgiveness, the healing of our own mind. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." -- The Bible; Isaiah 1:18
"The miracle is a learning device that lessens the need for time. It establishes an out-of-pattern time interval not under the usual laws of time. In this sense it is timeless. The miracle is the only device at your immediate disposal for controlling time." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 1, Section I, 47:1-3 & 48:1
"Forgiveness offers everything I want." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 122
"By accepting your guiltlessness, you learn that the past has never been, and so the future is needless and will not be." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 13, Section I, 9:1
O.K., so today's blog is sort of a continuation of yesterday's thoughts about eternity. The ideas of past and future, of right and wrong, of guilt and innocence... these polarized ideas perpetuate the myth of separation from God, dissecting eternity into segments of time and experience, blinding us to the meaning of 'always.' Forgiveness, the release of all preconceptions and judgments, all mental constructs about a given person or situation, returns our mind to an expanded state, the right-mindedness that can directly experience 'always' and eternity. "Always has no direction."
We often think we're forgiving someone or something else, someone separate from 'me.' That is never the case. We're always and only forgiving ourselves, since the holographic dream we each experience is a projection of our own guilt in our own mind. The fact that guilt is such an individual and private judgment, a private matter, is the best evidence that it is not real. We can never know what's truly in the mind of someone else in the dream... because they're not there. Our perception of others is really a projection of our own mind. We are the projector. As Byron Katie likes to say, "No two people have ever met." :-)
The beauty here is that the past has never been! No matter what our projections are now or have been, it never happened! The miracle is that through our willingness to let go of our projections, our willingness to return to right-mindedness, we can actually experience the Truth of this. The past has never been. The linear concept of time has been dissolved in the dream. The miracle is forgiveness, the healing of our own mind. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." -- The Bible; Isaiah 1:18
"The miracle is a learning device that lessens the need for time. It establishes an out-of-pattern time interval not under the usual laws of time. In this sense it is timeless. The miracle is the only device at your immediate disposal for controlling time." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 1, Section I, 47:1-3 & 48:1
"Forgiveness offers everything I want." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 122
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