The Thing That I Seek

First, I want to send everyone infinite love and blessings for the New Year.  This is Who We Are!  May all Being remember this!

"I am the goal the world is searching for." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 318

"I am that I am." -- The Bible

"I am That." -- Nisargadatta Maharaj

Reading the above quotations, the natural response of the conditioned self is, "No, I'm not."  Or if you are a bit more open to the possibility, it may lead naturally into self-inquiry... "Who am I?" Or maybe even "What am I?" Am I what I seem to be, or am I beyond the seeming?  Am I what is experiencing the seeming, or what is noticing the seeming?  And if there is both, then are there two of me?  What is the truth of all of this???

For those of us that have been reading and studying and even teaching A Course in Miracles for a while, it is apparent that every sentence and even every word is pointing to this Truth.  "My mind is part of God's, and I am very holy."  I am.  I already am.  So who or what is it that is constantly trying to fix up an unholy, flawed self?  And who or what is that flawed self?  Who, what, and why?

This morning I turned in the Workbook to Lesson 47: "God is the strength in which I trusts." To the split mind, this is a dualistic statement of God and me, self and other.  But it is actually referring to God as our True Self.  

To trust in a false sense of self is to suffer, and to live in the constant fear that is the world we see every day.  But when we remember our shared God Self there is only Love, Goodness, Infinite Strength and Power and Security and Joy.  And there is no limit to the miracles that are revealed when this is truly known.  "I am the goal the world is searching for."  Try contemplating this statement between now and the new year.  Try remembering Who You Really Are throughout the new year, and always. 

"Let go all the trivial things that churn and bubble on the surface of your mind, and reach down and below them to the Kingdom of Heaven.  There is a place in you where there is perfect peace.  There is a place in you where nothing is impossible.  There is a place in you where the strength of God abides." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 47:7:3-6

Impossible Things

"There is no use trying," said Alice. "One can't believe impossible things."
"I dare say you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age I always did it for half an hour a day.  Why sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." -- from Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll

"It is through the holy instant that what seems impossible is accomplished, making it evident that it is not impossible." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 15, Section VI, 14:1

Trying to understand the notion that all is Mind, and that Mind is the only Substance that exists, is like trying to tell the Emperor that he isn't wearing any clothes.  We have a very vested interest in the world we have projected, and we have no real desire to have the Truth revealed to us.  We like to play at seeking the Truth, but we don't really want to find it.  Like Alice, we have already judged that one can't believe such impossible things.

In moments of true quiet, moments of present awareness when walking in the woods or by the ocean, we feel an unexplainable contentment and joy. These holy instants reveal what is True, and what has always been True.  We are Infinite Mind, infinitely Aware, infinitely Perfect, infinitely Whole, infinitely Loving and Aware of the Perfection of Self.  These instants of awareness are the storehouse of every so-called miracle.  Perfection can only see the perfect.  Wholeness can only see the whole and holy.

The practice of mindfulness touches on this, but as commonly practiced mostly limits us to being mindful of a body and limited self image.  It can help quiet the mind, which can lead to glimpses of awareness.  But we can practice mindfulness of Mind, of Awareness ItSelf.  What A Course in Miracles calls the holy instant is this moment by moment mindful awareness of our True Self, which is Infinitely Loving and Aware.  

Self is Mind, and Mind is Self.  There is no other.  And as ACIM reminds us, "Ideas leave not their Source."  We are like waves in the ocean of Mind, and we cannot be other than Mind.  What we call matter does not matter; it doesn't exist in the sense that we imagine it does.  If Mind is all, then we have simply misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misjudged the world.  We have forgotten Who We Are, and so we have forgotten the Reality of all things.

Letting go of these judgements, interpretations, and misunderstandings is what the Course calls forgiveness.  Forgiveness is the bridge to Awareness, because once the mind is cleared of the clutter, Truth is radiantly Present.  Forgiveness and miracles go hand in hand, since we cannot be aware of the miracle of Perfection that is already here, as long as we insist on the imperfections we think we see.  Like Alice, we have already decided that perfection is impossible.  But like Alice, we can let the rabbit holes in our lives reveal the Truth to us. We can forgive and jump in... we can let go of what we think we know.  And we can let the Awareness of Truth in each holy instant set us free to experience the impossibly possible Goodness of Life and Truth and ever-present Love.

"There is nothing outside you.  That is what you must ultimately learn, for it is the realization that the Kingdom of Heaven is restored to you.  For God created only this, and He did not depart from it nor leave it separate from Himself.  The Kingdom of Heaven is the dwelling place of the Son of God, Who left not his Father and dwells not apart from Him.  Heaven is not a place nor a condition.  It is merely an awareness of perfect Oneness, and the knowledge that there is nothing else; nothing outside this Oneness, and nothing else within.  What could God give but knowledge of Himself?  What else is there to give?  The belief that you could give and get something else, something outside yourself, has cost you the awareness of Heaven, and of your Identity." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 18, Section VI

With God, all things are possible. -- Matthew 19:26

The Least of These: Animals & A Course in Miracles

There are many places in A Course in Miracles where the voice of Jesus speaks to us directly.  I open and close this blog posting with two of those passages, like book-ends that echo His message.

“I assure you that I will witness for anyone who lets me, and to whatever extent he permits it.  Your witnessing demonstrates your belief, and thus strengthens it.  Those who witness for me are expressing, through their miracles, that they have abandoned the belief in deprivation in favor of the abundance they have learned belongs to them.” -- ACIM Chapter 1, Section IV, 4:6-8

“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” -- Matthew 25:40 

Who are the least of these?  In the world of ideas and projections in which we live, the least of these refers to everything that lives, especially the ones we tend to overlook as less important.  And the reality of even the least of these is the Christ-Self that is the Truth of Being for everything that lives.  Do we extend our spiritual practice to knowing the Christ in all that lives?  Or do we overlook the least of these?

“In His Thoughts, which have no opposite, we understand there is One Life; and that Life we share with Him and with all creation, whom He created in a unity of Life that cannot separate.” – ACIM Workbook Lesson 167

When people think about practicing the principles from A Course in Miracles and bearing witness to the Christ in all, they usually don’t think about animals.  But there are many passages in the Course that clearly show that Life doesn’t mean human life.  Since we’re pure Spirit, not bodies at all, it is easy to see that the Oneness of this Spirit includes all… literally all.

“God gave you all there is.  And to be sure you could not lose it, did He also give the same to every living thing as well.” -- ACIM Chapter 29, Section VIII, 9:7-8

In 2007 I founded a 501c3 animal sanctuary which is currently home to over 40 animals, large and small.  Since then this has been much of my practical application of A Course in Miracles, seeing the Christ in all of that lives, and using the Atonement principle of Oneness to care for all the animals.  Yes, I have continued to teach the Course and to take on private clients.  But the animals and farm have been my training ground.  Learning to live in a state of miracle-readiness and allowing the Divine Mind to continually reflect the means for care and support has been a real stretch for me.  Through many challenges I've learned that there can be no compromising when it comes to the actual practice of miracle principles.  As the Course frequently reminds us, we can’t live in two worlds.  So realizing that the animals aren’t bodies, that they are pure spirit, and that none of us is dependent on anything but pure Spirit for our daily care, is a continual practice that leads to joy and remembrance of Who I Am.   And as Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Consider the lilies of the field… they neither toil nor gather, yet even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.”

The hardest part of this spiritual practice has been coming out of the closet.  There have been so many demonstrations of physical and financial miracles over the past six years, but I have kept them very private and not shared these stories with very many people.  I thought my reasons were humility and practicality until I heard a YouTube video by David Hoffmeister about spiritual honesty.  And I realized that my reasons were linked to my own fear of joining with others, my own judgments and fears about disapproval and criticism, which sounded something like this: "I mean, people probably won't think an animal sanctuary is too weird, but one based on the spiritual principles of A Course in Miracles?  In the Midwest?  And really, who else will be interested in this?  It’s pretty rough, certainly nothing fancy… and it’s a lot of hard work, with so many things needing to be done.  And there are so many animal organizations asking for help, people aren’t interested in another non-profit.  They’ll either think this endeavor is very naïve or extremely presumptuous, or both!"  My limiting beliefs and fear of joining in the form of judgments went on and on… and on… and on…

Thanks to that YouTube video by David, and through a lot of self-inquiry about all these judgments and beliefs (and forgiveness of those I've dredged up thus far),  I’ve realized the necessity of spiritual transparency for Awakening, and how important it is to bring our own hidden fears, judgments and beliefs to the Light.  To truly Awaken, the last thing we want to do is hold things in or hide them, because then they continue to project themselves as a world of separation, and the dream goes on and on.  So for purposes of Awakening, mental privacy is not a necessary thing, but an egoic construct that acts like a veil over our awareness.  Only a body needs privacy… the Christ Mind is One with all, and welcomes all.  Coming out publicly with the spiritual nature of this Sanctuary, welcoming the input and support of all, is direct and loving guidance from Holy Spirit.  Welcoming others and their ideas, including those who might want to visit and experience this Sanctuary and join in living the Course more deeply is also part of Holy Spirit's guidance. 

“God hides nothing from his Son, even though His Son would hide himself.” -- ACIM Chapter 11, Section III, 5:1

 “…the recognition that there is nothing you want to hide even if you could… brings escape from fear.  When you have become willing to hide nothing, you will not only be willing to enter into communion but will also understand peace and joy.” – ACIM Chapter 1, Section IV, 1:3-5

So this blog is an invitation for input, participation and support to any who care to join me in witnessing to Christ in this way, through these words, in this place, in whatever capacity.  Through volunteering, through visiting, through sharing of resources, through simple phone or e-mail conversations… all are welcome.  There is no plan and no agenda.  But as David Hoffmeister points out, we all need Mighty Companions to share in this Great Awakening, as we daily listen to the Voice of the Holy Spirit and deepen our witness to the Christ in all that lives.

“The miracle is a sign that the mind has chosen to be led by me in Christ’s service.  The abundance of Christ is the natural result of choosing to follow Him.” -- ACIM Chapter 1, Section V, 6:1-2 

Click here to learn more about The Claire Foundation Animal Sanctuary.

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

The Blessed Residue

"Every loving thought that the Son of God ever had is eternal.  The loving thoughts his mind perceives in this world are the world's only reality." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 11, Section VII, 2:1-2

"In Heaven there is no guilt, because the Kingdom is attained through the Atonement, which releases you to create.  The word 'create' is appropriate here because, once what you have made is undone by the Holy Spirit, the blessed residue is restored and therefore continues in creation.  What is truly blessed is incapable of giving rise to guilt, and must give rise to joy." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 5, Section V, 2:1-3

I woke up in the wee hours last night, inspired to search my mind for unforgiveness.  I woke up with a new understanding of hidden places and grievances.  I realized that every expectation of person, place, or thing is only in my mind, is all made up, and is a grievance.  Every person or organization that I want or expect something from, every animate or inanimate form I look to for anything at all is a fictional mental veil across the face of Christ.  I experienced a flood of gratitude for each insight, and pure joy at letting it all go.  And then I heard the Voice speak the words "blessed residue."  I knew that I was to write about these words, and remembered reading them in the Course, so I asked if I should write them down or look them up.  I was told to go back to sleep, that I would remember.  And I did.

Love is the blessed residue.  When everything is forgiven, there is only the innocence of pure Love.  When everything is forgiven, even the things you thought were problems are revealed as pure, innocent Joy.  This is a spiritual alchemy that has been written about by mystics throughout time.  The irony is that we already know this, but pretend that we don't.  If we open our minds even slightly, the floodgates open and we can no longer pretend that the minutiae of our world is true or even really there.  So we practice tunnel vision on worldly problems and details, and even spiritual questions, clinging to them as if they were our safety and survival.  This is their only reality.  "I have given everything I see... all the meaning that it has for me." (ACIM; Workbook Lesson 2)

An utter dependence on Love and the Holy Spirit is our true safety and security.  We can safely give our every question and care to the Holy Spirit and know that Love can only give and expand and increase in joyous intensity.  This is true creation.  "Love created me like ItSelf," we are reminded in ACIM Workbook Lesson 67.  We have only to give over (forgive) each thought, each judgment, each expectation to the Holy Spirit to be undone.  And the blessed residue, which is pure Love and our true Self, is restored to creative awareness.  It was here all along. 

"You have not lost your innocence.  It is for this you yearn.  This is your heart's desire.  This is the Voice you hear, and this the Call which cannot be denied." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 182, 12:1-4

Forgiveness Is the Miracle

"It must be true the miracle can heal all forms of sickness, or it cannot heal.  Its purpose cannot be to judge which forms are real, and which appearances are true.  If one appearance must remain apart from healing, one illusion must be part of truth.  And you could not escape guilt, but only some of it.  You must forgive God's Son entirely.  Or you will keep an image of yourself that is not whole, and will remain afraid to look within and find escape from every idol there.  Salvation rests on faith there cannot be some forms of guilt that you cannot forgive." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 30, Section VI, 7:1-7

Both the miracle and forgiveness are the state of mind that looks beyond appearances, that overlooks the ephemeral, projected world and sees everything through the eyes of Christ.  Forgiveness sees only perfection and innocence, and the miracle sees only the effects of that perfection everywhere.

"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." -- Workbook 198, 9:5-6

Every form of pain and suffering is the projection of the belief in a separated world, a world that is imperfect, a world apart from God.  Because everything lives and moves and has its very being in God, where would this world be?  With the Holy Spirit's help, we look beyond such false concepts and projections, into the heart of Love, which is everpresent.  The Awareness of Love's Presence dissolves everything else.  This is the miracle of forgiveness.

"An unforgiving thought is one that makes a judgment that it will not raise to doubt, although it is not true." -- Workbook Part II, 1.2:1

It's hard to recognize our own unforgiving thoughts when the entire world we see is based on them.  There are so many things we are unwilling to question, because we have an investment in not seeing... our entire identity is wrapped up in our unquestioned thoughts and beliefs, the judgments that make up our thought process.  That's why problems and challenges are such a gift... they give us the opportunity to question everything, to realize that nothing is what we judged it to be.  They give us the miracle, when we are willing to see the Love and Perfection that are the Reality of everyone, everything, every seeming.

The Course says that all of our time, every day, should be devoted to forgiveness and miracles.  It can become a habit, just like the conditioned self and its serial narratives has been habit since we were children.  And each of us has a vital role to play, so our forgiveness is essential.  The Course reminds us that "the salvation of the world depends on me." (ACIM Workbook Lesson 186)  Forgiveness is the Miracle of remembering that we are the holy Son of God, the Christ, pure and innocent... and so is everyone and everything.  Forgiveness is the Miracle that returns us to this One Mind, this One Self, this One Love. 

"Forgiveness is the the only function meaningful in time.  It is the means the Holy Spirit uses to translate specialness from sin into salvation.  Forgiveness is for all... Each must do what is allotted him, for on his part does all the plan depend.  He has a special part in time for so he chose, and choosing it, he made it for himself.  His wish was not denied but changed in form, to let it serve his brother and himself, and thus become a means to save instead of lose." -- ACIM; Chapter 25, Section VI, 5:3-11

The Light of Strength

"The light of strength is constant, sure as love, forever glad to give itself away, because it cannot give but to itself.  No one can ask in vain to share its sight, and none who enters its abode can leave without a miracle before his eyes, and strength and light abiding in his heart." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 92, 8:1-2

Constant, sure, abiding... these are the shining attributes of the ever-present, unchanging Christ Self that is our Reality.  Vacillating, uncertain, always in flux... these are the attributes of the conditioned self, the egoic self-concept.  Sometimes in the midst of the egoic delusion, the only way to give ourselves over to the Holy Spirit and return to sanity is to gently remind ourselves that what is true doesn't shift and change, and so this (whatever version of egoic stuff is arising) must not be true.  It's like Ramana Maharshi asking, "Who am I?", and going through the process of elimination... "Not this, not this..."  All of 'this' that the mind can conceive is simply concept, not reality.  When the mind is wiped clean of all its concepts, what remains is the effortless light and strength of Mind Awake, which is pure Love.

Forgiveness is the process of washing the mind of concepts.  As we give over every thought, emotion, judgment, and experience to the Holy Spirit for healing, the mind becomes quiet.  In the Introduction to the Course, we are told that, "The Course does not aim at teaching the meaning of Love, for that is beyond what can be taught.  It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of Love's Presence, which is your natural inheritance." (ACIM; Introduction, 1:6-7)  Every single apparent block to awareness is a mental construct, a concept held as true in the sleeping mind.  "Salvation can be seen as nothing more than the escape from concepts." (ACIM; Chapter 31, V, 14:3)

As we forgive all concepts of a world and of a self, the mind becomes still, radiating only the light of strength and that is the ever-present reality of our true Self. 

"The power of decision is our own.  And we accept of Him that which we are, and humbly recognize the Son of God.  To recognize God's Son implies as well that all self-concepts have been laid aside, and recognized as false.  Their arrogance has been perceived.  And in humility the radiance of God's Son, his gentleness, his perfect sinlessness, his Father's Love, his right to Heaven and release from hell, are joyously accepted as our own." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 152, 10:1-5

The Other

I remember years ago when I attended Loving Relationships Training with Sondra Ray.  She had us all looking for our personal lies.  If we could let that one lie go, she insisted, then all our false beliefs about ourselves and the world would fall away.  She used the image of a hand (the personal lie) holding a bunch of balloons (our beliefs about ourselves and the world).  If the hand is released, the balloons are too.  It's a great image.  However, the reason it didn't appear to work for anyone for any length of time might be because it was based on belief.  A belief about beliefs is still belief.  What lies behind all beliefs?  What is the original lie?

What I mean is that Truth, being True, just IS.  It doesn't need belief to BE.  Who We Are in Reality must be True, because when every thought and belief is released, I Am.  The only accurate statement I could make about this is that I Am Awareness ItSelf.   So are you.  What has been termed the Christ of Our Being is Whole, with no other.  Oneness, Aware of ItSelf as I Am.

The original belief, the original lie that projects all other lies is that I am Other.  I am other than God.  I am other than you, or them, or it.  The Other belief is then projected onto the screen of the mind as a host of others, with a host of issues and problems and longings and sorrows.  The Other is never complete... how could Completeness be experienced in such a fragmented state?  When I am the Other, then everything is experienced as other.  Nothing is ever whole, never here, never complete.

A Course in Miracles tells us, "My function here is to forgive the world for all the errors I have made."  This is a way of taking back the responsibility for all the otherness we seem to experience, instead of the projected pretense that it's happening to us.  Once released, it's possible to return to the awareness of I Am, instead of I am with an otherly object.  In the Great I Am, there is no other.

When I recognize the Other in my life, I need only forgive and release.  Behind every seeming lies the perfection and holiness and beauty that we are... that I Am.  This is the Miracle.

"...Say, 'Will ye first the Kingdom of Heaven' and you have said, 'I know what I Am'... " -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 3, Section VI, 11:8

Infinite Grace

"Whatever lies you may believe are of no concern to the miracle, which can heal any of them with equal ease.  It makes no distinctions among misperceptions.  Its sole concern is to distinguish between Truth on the one hand, and error on the other.  Some miracles may seem to be of greater magnitude than others.  But remember the first principle in this Course: there is no order of difficulty in miracles." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 2, Section I, 5:1-5 

"Miracles are thoughts. Thoughts can represent the lower or bodily level of experience, or the higher or spiritual level of experience. One makes the physical, and the other creates the spiritual." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 1, Section I, 12:1-3

Grace and miracles are synonymous, like all the attributes of Truth.  They each seem to highlight a facet of Being, but are in fact One.  Have you ever been in an airplane, looking down on what appears to be an infinite ocean of white, fluffy clouds? The sense of expansiveness and joy that such a sight arouses is not to be taken lightly.  That very 'sense' is closer to Reality than any bodily sight or sensation.  It points to the miracle that is Grace.

The thoughts that arise from this sense of Grace are wholly spiritual (and holy, too!).  The thoughts that arise from apparent physical sensations are completely projected and false... in other words, they generate a false sense of self and project a world to populate that false sense.  As the quote from ACIM emphasizes, Miracles/Grace represent your true thoughts, the only thoughts that reflect Reality... the only thoughts that arise from the unified Mind of our True Self, which we also call God.

What happens, then, when we completely forget the misperceptions and misconceptions of the false self? What happens when we allow the ocean of Infinite Grace, the Awareness of One Self, to completely occupy our minds and hearts?  What happens is that we allow Infinite Grace to live our lives.  We allow the Miracle of Love to reflect here in the earth-dream, as it is in the Heaven of our Awareness.

The Miracle of Grace has no limits and no cost.  It simply is, without condition or definition.  And yet it gladly flows through this computer keyboard, embracing us all as we read and write this.  That's what Infinite means.  As ACIM puts it, this is the act of creation, to flow and expand, to radiate without limit or condition.  Infinite Grace is our very Being.

"You were created only to create, neither to see nor to do." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 14, Section I, 4:4

The Awareness of Being One

"All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation." -- Mary Baker Eddy

"Heaven is not a place nor a condition.  It is merely an awareness of perfect Oneness, and the knowledge that there is nothing else; nothing outside this Oneness, and nothing else within." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 18, Section VI, 1:5-6

I love the way Life continually presents us with opportunities to see Truth everywhere.  Truth being, of course, simply another name for Oneness.  Discovering that Good is the Reality of this Oneness, no matter how it appears, is so flipping exciting I have a hard time writing about it coherently.  After all, we've all heard this a million times:  "It's all good," we say hopefully... all the while noticing how not good it appears to be.  

The above quote from ACIM helps... there is nothing outside Oneness, and nothing else within.  How could there be?  So with only the One, there is only, well... the One!  All Good, only Good... in Principle and in manifestation.

The thing is, this all sounds good, but I see riots in Egypt and people going hungry and pets being mistreated, etc., etc., etc.  I see my bills mounting and donations falling short.  I see people judging one another and arguing over things that don't matter.  So how does Oneness even matter, in Principle or in manifestation? 

Again, A Course in Miracles helps to discern the false from the True: "Perception is a mirror, not a fact.  And what I look on is my state of mind reflected outward." (ACIM Workbook 304, 1:3-4)  Obviously, when the mind is unaware of Oneness, it projects duality in person, place, and thing.  The awareness of Oneness is the Principle that reflects the wholeness and perfection that is Reality.  The awareness of Oneness reflects the All-Good in all ways.

I have experienced, and continue to experience, many miracles of healed perception.  Always what occurs is that I have, at least momentarily, accepted the One Mind as All.  This is the healing... and the healed mind reflects wholeness, abundance, and endless Good in all possible forms.  As I mature spiritually, it becomes more and more comforting to rest in the awareness of Being One, which is the miracle for everyone and everything, in every situation.  There is nothing else.  The seemingly hidden Presence of Good awaits only our recognition.

"In all thy ways acknowledge Him [Biblical speak for the One] and He shall direct thy paths." -- Proverbs 3:6

Merry Christmas!

"You Who remember what I really am, remember what I really want.  And all I want is what You offer me, in just the form You choose that it be mine.  Let me not forget, my self is nothing, but my Self is all." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 358, 1:1, 4, 7

As I sit waiting for the dawn on Christmas morning, I'm filled with gratitude for the Self we share, the Christ-Self that is born again and again as each holy mind awakens it ItSelf.  And I know that no story of Santa Clause, however sweet and wonderful, can compare to the miracles we experience through remembering our Christ-Self.

Our way is lit by miracles... the healed perceptions that lift us to remembrance.  And each holy instant becomes sacred, regardless of form or appearance.  "All I want is what You offer me, in just the form You choose that it be mine."  Yes!  Such freedom and grace in this effortless and radical reliance on what is True.  "Let me not forget, my self is nothing, but my Self is all."

May the merriest of joy-filled moments be yours on this Christmas morning, as we remember Who We really Are.

"The sign of Christmas is a star, a light in darkness.  See it not outside yourself, but shining in the the Heaven within, and accept it as the sign the time of Christ has come." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 15, Section XI, 2:1-2

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

Blessing or Curse?

"The mind can think it sleeps, but that is all.  It cannot change what is its waking state.  It cannot make a body, nor abide within a body.  What is alien to the mind does not exist, because it has no source.  For mind creates all things that are, and cannot give them attributes it lacks, nor change its own eternal, mindful state.  It cannot make the physical.  What seems to die is but the sign of mind asleep." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 167, 6:1-7

I've been reflecting on what I seem to be seeing and hearing from people around me... stories of struggle with what is really happening or what is really true, with spiritual paths, with physical symptoms, with sticky relationship problems.  I know that all of it is my perception, and that nothing is as it appears.  And so I forgive and release these projections to Holy Spirit (which is another name for my True Self), ask for healed perception, and accept the healing of Atonement.  And as I do, I'm led to reflect on the blessing (or curse?) of this.  To the world around me, including clients, family and most friends, this non-dual view of the world would seem a curse... because I am no longer apparently in alignment with any popular thought-system in the world, including much of religious thought.  They might ask how I could possibly see such an (apparently) aberrant world-view as anything but a curse.

Upon reflection, I find it extraordinary that the Truth is aberrant to people.  We would rather see a world of opposites, with mysterious bad things happening without a source.  We would rather believe that bad stuff really does happen, and then try to forgive it even while we think it's real.  Do we think God creates bad things and punishes us?  Or do we think we somehow usurped the power of God and created it ourselves?!  Do we think all this crap is really happening?  And if it is really happening, what allegiance do we owe to a divine Parent who would treat us this way, or even allow it to exist as creator of all?  If it were an earthly parent, we would report them for child abuse.  But friends, God is the All-Good.  God is the Source of All, and All is Love and Light and Truth.  Where would the darkness or the mistakes come from?  What would be their source? 

"There are not different kinds of life, for life is like the Truth.  It does not have degrees.  It is the one condition in which all that God created share.  Like all His Thoughts, it has no opposite.  There is no death because what God created shares His life.  There is no death because an opposite to God does not exist.  There is no death because the Father and the Son are one." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 167, 1:1-7

There is no opposite to God... there cannot be God and anything.  Why would we not find this Truth comforting?  Why do we prefer a dream of opposition to God, of illusory suffering and death, of struggle and lack and limitation?  In India they call this compulsive dream 'samsara', which roughly translates to the wheel of suffering.  The wheel turns, the characters and situations seem to change, but the stories are all the same.  And every awakened soul who has walked this dream has come to tell us that it's our dream, and it's up to us to snap out of it.  With such good news, wouldn't we rather be happy than right?

A Course in Miracles offers simple yet elegant tools to awaken from the dream.  But we have to be willing to shed our fixation with the world as real.  It is not.  Often I awaken from my night time dreams to hear the Voice reassuring me that these dreams are just like my daytime dreams, and all of them are easily released and transformed.  This has been my experience.  There is no order of difficulty in miracles because only God is real, and nothing else is at all.  There is no hierarchy of illusions, and there are no steps to take to awaken.  Mind is asleep and believing its own dreams or it is awake in God.  And only one of these seeming choices really exists at all. 

While we dream, forgiveness and Atonement allow our dreaming perceptions to be healed and released, day by day.  More and more we walk through our life as one awakening from a deep sleep, where the dreams make no sense at all.  There is no real curse to be found, anywhere.  There is only our true Self in God, and endless blessing. 

"Let us today be children of the Truth, and not deny our holy heritage.  Our life is not as we imagine it." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 167, 10:1-2

A New Creation

"Therefore if anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new!" -- The Bible; 2 Corinthians 5:17

"Let me remember that there is no sin.  Sin is the only thought that makes the goal of God seem unattainable.  What else could blind us to the obvious, and make the strange and distorted seem more clear?" -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 259, 1:1-2

It's very early morning, after a rainy night.  The earth smells fresh and clean, and breathes with peace, the way I feel after an early morning shower.  Everything feels new, although most would argue that it is the same world I went to bed looking at last night.  That is not my experience.  

Every minute of every day we are awakening to a new creation.  And only the thoughts of limitation and adjustment that we insist on bringing with us obscure each holy instant of release and freedom.  A Course in Miracles calls these limiting thoughts and conditioned beliefs 'sin'.  And then reminds us that it's all made up.  There is no sin.  There is only mind that imagines itself separate from its Source, and therefore separate from everything that is.

What does it mean to be 'in' Christ?  ACIM puts it this way: "Christ is God's Son as He created Him.  He is the Self we share, uniting us with one another, and with God as well.  He is the Thought which still abides within the Mind that is His Source.  He has not left His holy home, nor lost the innocence in which He was created.  He abides unchanged forever in the Mind of God." -- ACIM; Workbook Part II, 6.

This is our Reality, our true Self.  To be a new creation in Christ is simply to remember Who We are as God created us.  And how does this make all things new?  "The Holy Spirit reaches from the Christ in you to all your dreams [false perceptions], and bids them come to Him, to be translated into Truth."  This is the process of forgiveness which ACIM calls the Atonement.  "For when forgiveness rests upon the world and peace has come to every Son of God, what could there be to keep things [seeming] separate, for what remains to see except Christ's face?" -- ACIM; Workbook Part II, 6.

So every minute of every day we are awakening to Who We Are.  This awakening feels like rebirth, again and again, and we literally are become a new creation.

"Home of the Holy Spirit, and at home in God alone, does Christ remain at peace within the Heaven of your holy mind.  This is the only part of you that has Reality in Truth.  The rest is dreams.  Yet will these dreams be given unto Christ, to fade before His glory and reveal your holy Self, the Christ, to you at last." -- ACIM; Workbook Part II, 6.

The Judge of What You Are

"Let Him be Judge of what you are, for He has certainty in which there is no doubt, because it rests on Certainty so great that doubt is meaningless before Its Face.  Christ cannot doubt HimSelf.  The Voice for God can only honor Him, rejoicing in His perfect, everlasting sinlessness.  Whom He has judged can only laugh at guilt, unwilling now to play with toys of sin; unheeding of the body's witnesses before the rapture of Christ's holy face.  And thus He judges YOU." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 151, 8:1-4

Wow, in the last couple of days alone I have had five or six conversations with people who are judging themselves very harshly.  This is of course my own journey as well, so it's a wonderful opportunity to see my projections in living color. 

Who is the judge of who and what I am?  I've taken it upon myself to judge my inadequacies at every opportunity.  I've imagined I see the physical flaws, the mental limitations, the emotional vulnerability, the failures and the successes as I judge them.  These are the false perceptions that begin within and are projected without as a flawed and struggling world full of flawed and struggling people.  Whether I see them as enemies or friends is irrelevant.  I don't see them at all.  I see my projections, and nothing else.  "You cannot judge.  You merely can believe the ego's judgements, all of which are false.  It guides your senses carefully, to prove how weak you are; how helpless and afraid, how apprehensive of just punishment, how black with sin, how wretched in your guilt." -- ACIM; Workbook 151, 4:3-5

But we all know how very familiar and real this false sense of self and other seems to us.  The compulsion to live our life as this false self dictates is nearly overwhelming at times.  How do we stop this addictive and destructive behavior, this constant judging of everyone and everything, this constant assumption that we know who we are and what we're doing?  ACIM says we must learn to doubt the evidence of our senses rather than our Self.  As we cease to judge according to appearances, we "clear the way to recognize Self, and let the Voice for God alone be Judge of what is worthy of belief."

And so we come down to it, once again.  Forgiveness is our function here, not judgment.  We do not and cannot know the big picture while we walk about in this dream world.  But we can forgive and release our judgments to One Who Knows, and allow Him to lead the way.  "Let Him be Judge as well of everything that seems to happen to you in this world.  His lessons will enable you to bridge the [seeming] gap between illusions and Truth.  He will remove all faith you have placed in pain, disaster, suffering, and loss.  He gives you Vision which looks beyond these grim appearances and beholds the gentle face of Christ in all of them.  You will no longer doubt that only good can come to you who are beloved of God, for He will judge all happenings and teach the single lesson that they all contain." -- ACIM; Workbook 151, 9:6-7, 10:1-3

And what is the single lesson that everything contains?  "Let Him evaluate each thought that comes to mind, removing the elements of dreams, and give them back again as clean ideas that do not contradict the Will of God.  Give Him your thoughts, and He will give them back as miracles which joyously proclaim the wholeness and the happiness God wills His Son, as proof of His eternal Love."  -- ACIM; Workbook 151, 13:4, 14:1

The single lesson is always that the Son of God that we are remains in God, sinless and eternally perfect and beloved and loving.  And no dreams or fantasies have ever had the slightest effect on this Reality.

God is the only judge of what you are, and what I am, and what all creation is.  And the single judgment is always the Truth about the Son of God. 

"As each thought is thus transformed, it takes on healing power from the Mind which saw the Truth in it and failed to be deceived by what was falsely added.  All the threads of fantasy are gone.  And what remains is unified into a perfect Thought that offers its perfection everywhere.  Your ministry begins as all your thoughts are purified.  So are you taught to teach the Son of God the holy lesson of his sanctity." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 151, 14:2-4, 15:2-3

Eyes and Ears

"Having eyes, see you not?  And having ears, hear you not?  And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand... ?" -- The Bible; Mark 8:18-19

During last night's ACIM teleclass, the subject of sense perceptions came up, along with Jesus' words about having eyes to see and ears to hear.  It's very clear to all of us that what we sense with the five senses, especially what we see and hear, is very real to us.  It seems very clear that the sensed object or situation exists first, and we sense it as an effect of the sense/cause.  But wait a minute... that means that we are an effect of something 'outside' or 'other'.  How can this be?  We are reflections of God, living and moving and having our being In and Through this reflection.  A reflection can only reflect the qualities and image of its Cause.  So what and where are the objects of our human senses?  What causes them?  What can exist outside the Cause of God?

Jesus performed many miracles that seemed to contradict what people's physical eyes and ears were telling them.  Even the disciples were hard pressed to explain this except in terms of the supernatural.  Jesus told them again and again, in parable and more directly, that our true eyes and ears are wholly spiritual, not physical... and that we can see only the reflection of God's Kingdom, the Truth of Being.  In Truth, there is only wholeness, abundance, harmony, and peace.  Jesus saw only the Kingdom everywhere, only the Truth of God reflecting as man.  And so there was a whole person where there had appeared to be a broken one.  And so there was bread for five thousand where only five loaves appeared to be.

This is a hard lesson for those of us who are heavily invested in the physical, in the sense world.  We have depended on our physical eyes and ears for so long, it's hard to trust what seems invisible.  It's hard to fathom that what we think we see might not really be there... that what we thought we heard was not there at all.  We know Jesus' words are true... but we mistakenly think he was talking about spiritual vision and hearing in addition to our physical eyes and ears.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

The things we see and hear with our physical senses are false perceptions; they witness to our imagined separation from God and each other, in effect telling us what we want to hear, to maintain the illusion of an autonomous existence.  This is not idle speculation; this is demonstrable Truth.  Jesus walked us through the ways to demonstrate this, and reminded us that the eyes and ears we really have are the Vision and Voice of God. 

"Perception's fundamental law: You see what you believe is there, and you believe it there because you want it there.  Perception has no other law than this." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 25, III, 1:3-4

See and Be Radiant

"Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, and the wealth of the nations shall come to you." -- The Bible; Isaiah 60:5

"Miracles are seen in Light.  It is important to remember that miracles and vision necessarily go together.  The miracle is always here.  Its presence is not caused by your vision; its absence is not the result of your failure to see.  It is only your awareness of miracles that is affected.  You will see them in the Light; you will not see them in the dark." -- A Course in Miracles; WB 91:1:1, 4-7

I had a really bad dream the other night.  It was so real, and so scary, and I felt so awful when I woke up.  I was so discouraged that I could hardly drag myself out of bed.  When I took a few moments to go within and examine my feelings, I realized that my emotional reaction was based on old (unsubstantiated) judgements that it was wrong to have such bad dreams... that I caused them somehow by not being spiritual enough, by not keeping my mind and heart stayed on God enough.  In other words, if I was good enough, my dreams would be good.  Isn't that the basis of all 'positive' thinking, too?  And of all the endless attempts to manipulate the dream, to make it better, to 'attract' something we think we want?  This all takes place in the dream.  It's all made up!

I finally noticed that I was making the dream something.  I was giving it a reality and meaning in my mind.  And it wasn't even really there!  All of that reaction and emotional turmoil over fiction!  Just like the first time I saw ET with my children, years ago when they were still little.  My daughter Joan and I couldn't stop crying after it was over... the pain of that image of being separated from what we love was overwhelming.  But it wasn't even really happening!  All of that suffering over fiction!

There's a pattern here that you may recognize.  We dream our dreams, both at night and in our daytime projections... and then we judge and categorize and attribute qualities to this nothingness.  We may be temporarily pleased or we may temporarily suffer, but either way we live as if these dreams are life.  And they are actually not... they are nothing, zero, like the dreams we have at night.  And we dream endlessly... because we cannot see the Truth, and the miracles that symbolize the Truth in the dream, without Light.  We are dreaming in the darkness of conditioned mind, the imagined mind of the mortal self who thinks it is weak and vulnerable and transient.  And all the while, in the darkness of conditioned, reactive mind, we suffer over fiction! 

God, our True Self, is All-in-All, and All Good, All Power, All Love, All Life.  No bad dream has ever changed the Reality of this Truth.  The miracle, the vision of Truth reflected in the dream, awaits our Light.  It is the Light of our own Awareness we bring... the forgiveness of the dream (it's a fiction!) and the acceptance that we are the Light of God here in the dream.  As we shine our awareness on the world, awake and aware of what is true, the miracle of the happy dream, which reflects the Goodness and Love of God, is revealed.  Then we really shall see and be radiant! 

"What you think you are is a belief to be undone.  What you really are must be revealed." -- A Course in Miracles; WB 91:6:7-8

Gang Wars

"You always choose between your weakness and the strength of Christ in you.  And what you choose is what you think is real.  Simply by never using weakness to direct your actions, you have given it no power.  And the light of Christ in you is given charge of everything you do." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 31, Section VIII, 2:3-6

I was watching some crime drama on T.V. (don't ask me why!) and I saw very clearly the choices that led a young man from a good family to become a member of a street gang... and not just a member, but an active participant in an ongoing war against other street gangs.  The choices he made were always based on who he thought he was, and where his safety and fulfillment could be found.  Wrong choice after wrong choice led him to a nasty ending.  Does this sound familiar?

I love how extreme examples in our lives and cultures serve to show us our own mental choices.  We project them and create cultural stories and tragedies to pretend they are 'out there.'  We live in perpetual cultural gang wars... clashing ideas, values, stories, all seemingly competing for our time, our allegiance, our money, and our very souls.  What gang do you belong to?  What are your colors?

I used to belong to the 'spiritual' gang.  We tend to act like we're not a gang, but we are.  We pretend we're lacking enlightenment, so we have to perpetually seek fulfillment.  We attack the culture and society that seem to prevent us from living as we want to live, that doesn't seem to honor us or understand us.  We pretend to be 'better' and more evolved, and so we are entitled to judge the other gangs.  We think our safety and fulfillment lie in these games.  We are no different than any other gang.  We are mentally at war with the world.

Every country, every culture, every political party, every passionate cause, and even every family has its colors and its gang culture.  We all belong to gangs within gangs, and sometimes our gang wars overlap and intertwine with each other.  But make no mistake... every conflict, no matter how mild, is the result of gang wars, always based on choosing to value a weak and fictional self as real.  "Trials are but lessons that you failed to learn presented once again, so where you made a faulty choice before you now can make a better one, and thus escape all pain that what you chose before has brought to you.  In every difficulty, all distress, and each perplexity Christ calls to you and gently says, "My brother, choose again."  He would not leave one source of pain unhealed, nor any image left to veil the Truth." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 31, Section VIII, 3:1-3 

How simple to realize that we are always choosing between the false self, the gang member, or our True Self, the Christ in us!  The false self is like that boy in the crime drama... he thought he was weak and limited, thought he needed to belong to a gang to be strong and protected.  Was he ever wrong!  And so are we.  "The images you make cannot prevail against what God HimSelf would have you be.  Be never fearful of temptation then, but see it as it is; another chance to choose again, and let Christ's strength [your True Self] prevail in every circumstance and every place you raised an image of yourself before.  You are as God created you, and so is every living thing you look upon, regardless of the images you see.  What you behold as sickness and as pain, as weakness and as suffering and loss, is but temptation to perceive yourself defenseless and in hell.  Yield not to this, and you will see all pain, in every form, wherever it occurs, but disappear as mists before the sun." -- A Course in Miracles, Chapter 31, Section VIII, 4:1-2 & 6:1-3

Wow.  This seems too good to be true, doesn't it?  And besides, we are loyal to our gangs.  Our family is still our family.  We should be grateful to belong to (fill in the blank).  Our family, country, church, school, group, etc.  is so much better, isn't it?  What if we belonged to that country?  What if we had those people as relatives?  What if, what if, what if... an endless litany of justification for our choices of misplaced allegiance and mis-identification.  We feel safe and protected by the numbing familiarity of belonging.  And we never question.

But we can always choose again.  As Scarlett said, "Tomorrow is another day."  Each instant is new, fresh, infinite in possibility and beauty.  We have only to choose again.  Gang wars only go on as long as we think there are separate, conflicting gangs.  When we remember that we are collectively One Self, one with God and everything that lives, there can be no more war... only endless love, appreciation, and joy.  We have simply awakened to the Truth, safe in God.

"Learn then the happy habit of response to all temptation to perceive yourself as weak and miserable with these words:  I Am as God created me.  His Son can suffer nothing.  And I Am His Son.  Thus is Christ's strength invited to prevail, replacing all your weakness with the strength that comes from God and that can never fail.  And thus are miracles as natural as fear and agony appeared to be before the choice for holiness was made.  For in this choice are false distinctions gone, illusory alternatives laid by, and nothing left to interfere with Truth." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 31, Section VIII, 5:1-7

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

One Son

"It should especially be noted that God has only one Son.  If all His creations are His Sons, every one must be an integral part of the whole Sonship.  Any part of the Sonship can believe in error or incompleteness if he so chooses.  However, if he does so, he is believing in the existence of nothingness.  The correction of this error is the Atonement." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 2, Section VII, 6:1-2, 7-9

"Our emphasis is now on healing [God's Son].  The miracle is the means, the Atonement is the principle, and healing is the result." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 2, Section IV, 1:1-2

As a coach and spiritual director, every single client I have ever worked with has mirrored this one error... and according to every spiritual tradition, it's our only error.  The split mind that results from believing ourselves to be separate from God and each other and all creation... this fragmented perception is the source and sum of all the problems we think we have.  We're always focused on the fragments, on what is irreparable... "and all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again."  It's not possible to 'fix' what amounts to fictional perceptions.  Just as it's not possible to 'fix' the delusional perceptions of the mentally ill.  What heals them is the dawning awareness that they are delusional. 

ACIM reminds us that all of this belief in our own fragmented perception is the belief in magic.  "The whole distortion that made magic rests on the belief that there is a creative ability in matter which the mind cannot control.  This error can take two forms; it can be believed that the mind can miscreate in the body, or that the body can miscreate in the mind.  When it is understood that the mind, the only level of creation, cannot create beyond itself, neither type of confusion need occur." (ACIM; Chapter 2, Section IV, 2:8-10)  The Course calls the correction of these errors the miracle, and the principle on which all this is based is the Atonement, our Oneness with our Source.  This Oneness is principle, unchanging, the rock on which the healing of all our holy minds depends.

There is a Light in each of us that can be seen and remembered.  The way to return to this wholeness of perception is through the regular, habitual forgiveness and release of our false perceptions, and the habitual asking for the miracle of true perception instead.  This is the willingness to see through the eyes of Christ.  It's through seeing the Light in each other, and in every aspect of creation, that we again see the face of Christ, the One Son of God, in all things.  "The Atonement can only be accepted within you by releasing the inner Light." (ACIM; Chapter 2, Section III, 1:1)

We are One Son... the very Light of God, pure Spirit, safe in the Mind of God, as are all things.  

"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