No Greater Love

"Do not interpret against God's Love, for you have many witnesses that speak of it so clearly that only the blind and deaf could fail to see and hear them.  This year determine not to deny what has been given you by God.  Awake and share it, for that is the only reason He has called to you. His Voice has spoken clearly, and yet you have so little faith in what you heard because you preferred to place faith in the disaster you have made.  Today let us resolve to accept the joyful tidings that disaster is not real and Reality is not disaster.  Reality is safe and sure and wholly kind to everyone and everything.  There is no greater love than to accept this and be glad.  For Love asks only that you be happy, and will give you everything that makes for happiness."- A Course in Miracles, Chapter 16, Section II, 8

No greater Love than to accept happiness.  Wow.  

We associate love with sacrifice.  We think love involves denying happiness for ourselves to give someone else happiness.  We don't notice that this belief is based on separation and duality.  And in duality, someone wins and someone loses.

In the Awareness of Love, there is unity and there is Oneness.  In Oneness there is no sacrifice, because there is wholeness and happiness everywhere, always.  The thought of sacrifice is meaningless when Oneness is accepted and known.  Only our stubborn belief in the disaster of our projected world prevents accepting and knowing what is eternally Present and True.  This is why we can let it all go in any Holy Instant we choose.  We give the world and everything in it all the meaning that it has. Like a movie, without an audience it is nothing.  

"You have never given any problem to the Holy Spirit He has not solved for you, nor will you ever do so.  You have never tried to solve anything yourself and been successful.  Is it not time you brought these facts together and made sense of them?" -- A Course in Miracles, Chapter 16, Section II, 9:1-3

I love the irony in the above quote, because it calls lightly to us to laugh at the absurdity of it all, rather than make it all seem so heavy and real.  Instead of sitting in the dark in this theater of the absurd, we can Awaken.

"This is the year for the application of the ideas that have been given you.  For the ideas are mighty forces, to be used and not laid idly by." -- A Course in Miracles, Chapter 16, Section II, 9:4-5

It is up to us to allow the Truth to permeate all our thoughts, all our actions, and all our perceptions.  What we do comes from what we think, and what we think arises from the ideas we habitually focus our awareness on.  This is all there is to it.  We are giving our awareness to Truth, or we are sitting in the dark theater, focusing only on the grim illusions we have projected because we prefer them to Love.

"This year invest in Truth, and let it work in peace." -- A Course in Miracles, Chapter 16, Section II, 9:7

We who have treasured our painful and crazy perception of a world gone mad, can also forgive it and let it go.  How hard is it to let steam rise and disappear?  Letting go of illusions is no harder than this!  Simply bring all your insane beliefs to the Holy Spirit and let them go.  And allow the Truth to reveal the Love that is All, and Everything.  Let Truth work in peace.  There is no greater Love than to accept this, and be glad!

Have a blessed and holy holiday, and an Awakened New Year!

Undivided

"Only Love is strong, because it is undivided." -- A Course in Miracles, Chapter 12, Section V, 1:1

The current atmosphere in the world can only be described as fragmented, divisive, and competitive.  How can we even conceive of a world where there is One Mind, One Purpose, where Love and Joy and Peace are our shared and constant state of Being?

A Course in Miracles tells us that our purpose becomes unified when we share a common goal.  And when the goal is undivided, the means and end are in complete accord.  "You need offer only  undivided attention" to that goal, it reminds us.  There's that word again... 'undivided.'  The Course points out over and over again that this unification of purpose, regardless of seeming circumstances, is what allows our mind to return to sanity, to awareness of Oneness. Undivided. 

So everything is returned to holiness and Wholeness by this simple unification of Purpose.  No longer is the purpose of fixing dinner to feed a body.  It is to remember that our true Self is pure, undivided Love, eternally Whole and Complete, and we participate in this world to joyously remember the Love that we are.  This is our only Purpose.  No longer do we interact with others to get something.  Our holy Purpose is always to see the One Love that we are in all things and all Beings.  Our holy Purpose is to let the Love that we are be the guiding Force in our lives, because only Love is strong in Oneness.  Only Love is undivided.

In a world where unity has different meanings to different people in vastly differing cultures, Unity is still possible.  But not out there.  Only in the heart of each of us can Love be Love.  Only by making this return to Oneness our only Purpose can we experience Oneness in the  midst of seeming insanity.

So every time we are tempted to judge the world as it appears, let's remember to ask, "What is it for?"  This reminds us that, in Truth, everything shares one purpose, without exception.  This returns our undivided attention to the One Goal that all things share, and lets the undivided strength of Love be reflected in the most unlikely of places.  Every time we remember to ask, "What is it for?" we always receive the same answer.  Our unified Purpose is to remember that God, Love, is All. There is only God, only Love, no matter how it appears. Which means that right where I seem to be, as a separate self with separate agendas and purposes, there is only the One Self that we share in God.  One Self, One Light, One Love, reflected everywhere.  Undivided.

"You need offer only undivided attention.  Everything else will be given you." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 12, Section V, 9:4-5

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

Everyone, Everywhere, and Always

"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.

The War Against My Self

"Innocence is strength, and nothing else is strong.  No one is strong who has an enemy, and no one can attack unless he thinks he has." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 23, Introduction,1:2, 5

The news lately doesn't bear repeating.  There appears to be so much anger and hatred teeming everywhere, so much unfairness and senseless violence. 
My question to myself is, "Who is seeing this?" 
I am seeing both victims and enemies. 
I am seeing both villains and innocents. 
I am seeing this. 
And as ACIM reminds me, no one can attack (and seeing a world like this is an attack on Self, on the Christ that I Am!) unless he believes in enemies and victims.  So how do I give up this War Against My Self? (ACIM Chapter 23)

"Walk you in glory with your head held high, and fear no evil. The innocent are safe, because they share their innocence [see it everywhere, in everyone and everything]. Nothing they see is harmful, for their awareness of the Truth releases everything from the illusion of harmfulness.  And what seemed harmful now stands shining in their innocence, released from sin and fear and happily returned to Love.  They share the strength of Love because they looked on innocence."

To those of us who deeply cherish our belief in suffering and death, this is a challenging section of the Course.  To accept the responsibility that my awareness of the Truth releases everything from the illusion of harmfulness can seem impossible.  But remember, forgiveness (the release of everything from the illusion of harmfulness) is our only function here.  Remember, the Course says very plainly and literally, "I will forgive, and this will disappear."

These are not pretty words to read and then put away.  They are the Truth, and so encompass everyone and everything as the Reality of All.  When we forgive, nothing is really happening.  We are simply letting go of all the seemingly harmful ideas and concepts we held about ourselves and the world around us.  When the concepts are shed, it's like the veil is lifted, and the Beauty and Joy of Truth is revealed as All, literally All that is ever happening.

Awakening to Truth is not escapism, and it is not for those who still think there is truth in the world of images and concepts.  It is the Way given to us by Buddha, by Jesus, by all the Awakened Ones throughout the seemingly endless stories of the world.  In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells his disciple Arjuna, "Fear Not. What is not real, never was and never will be. What is real, always was and cannot be destroyed."  A Course in Miracles says the same thing in the Introduction, where it says quite plainly: "This Course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way:  Nothing Real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists.  Herein lies the Peace of God." 

While we struggle with judgments about the appearance of things, with stories of villains and victims, of good and bad, we cannot see the Truth.  We are covering the face of Christ with masks and veils, and cannot remember Who We Are. We are valuing our conditioned beliefs over our commitment to knowing the Truth. The good news is that we can forgive literally everything we see, knowing that right where the evil seems to be, there is only our God-Self, only Goodness and Infinite Love.

"Brother, the war against yourself is almost over.  The journey's end is at the place of peace.  Would you not now accept the peace offered you here?  This 'enemy' you fought as an intruder on your peace is here transformed, before your sight, into the giver of your peace.  Your 'enemy' was God HimSelf, to Whom all conflict, triumph, and attack of any kind are all unknown." A Course in Miracles; Chapter 23, Section I, 4:1-5

The Kingdom of Joy

Pure joy.  Pure ecstasy.  Pure goodness.  Pure being without an object or an opposite.  This is Who We Are.  But we are so intent on change and changing that we ignore the bliss of what is always effortlessly present.  We are so intent on trying to get what we think we don't have that we ignore the Wholeness of Being that has never lacked anything.  The Holy Instant when we make this re-discovery is not in the future.  It's not something we experienced before and want to have again.  The Kingdom of Joy is now, and is only experienced NOW.

In India they call the constant seeking of the conditioned mind Samsara, which translates roughly to the wheel of suffering.  Although we know our seeking has never brought us happiness, we continue to seek, continue to 'believe' that we will find what we want.  When Jesus said to seek and ye shall find, he didn't say what you'd find.  He simply urged us to continue to seek until we discover the Kingdom of Joy that is always here, and is always our reality. Because we have raised beliefs to cover the face of what IS, we will continue to compulsively seek until we let go of all beliefs.  Beliefs are conceptual getting mechanisms, tools of the ego.  Not one of them is true.

It's funny how angry and puffed up our minds can get when we don't find what we think we want.  The smokescreen of anger is the hardest smokescreen to see through.  It's hard to accept that our compulsive anger is simply the fear of the Love and Joy that we really are.  Somehow the belief that personal limits and rules and beliefs define me and keep me safe has seemed to obscure the Joy of my limitless Reality.  Somehow my compulsive habits of thought and rituals of body and mind have become my gods, the idols I pretend will give me what I want.  How silly of me.

Thankfully the Kingdom of Joy remains ever-present, untouched by my imaginings.  Joy and Love surround and enfold the entirety of the Kingdom, and Its Being has no end.  Ever-new Joy, continually expanding Bliss and Love, and a Peace so profound and all-encompassing it cannot be conceived by the conditioned mind.  All conditioning has to be laid aside, like last years toys.  All beliefs, all concepts, all wanting can be simply and lovingly released and seen to be nothing. The thought of something can be released, so I can again remember the Everything that I Am.

This New Years Day my prayer is simply the complete release of all the 'somethings' that appear to lurk in consciousness, like the clutter in the kitchen that needs to be cleared before the feast is prepared.  The Feast is the fullness of the Kingdom of Joy.

This or That

"Peace is impossible to those who look on war.  Peace is inevitable to those who offer peace." -- A Course in Miracles; Manual for Teachers 11:4, 1-2

How then do we offer peace?  In our Wednesday night ACIM Tele-class we were talking about judgment.  We discovered that we even judge our spiritual experiences, those moments of Revelation that seem all too rare. This one was amazing, that one wasn't real, etc. Interestingly, it's the very judging and labeling of our experiences that makes peace seem fleeting and impossible.  To the mind asleep and dreaming, every person, place, thing, or phenomenon is either/or.  Everything is either this or that to the mind dreaming in duality.  The categories of this or that are irrelevant.  It's the categorization of every aspect of life that makes peace impossible... because where there is either/or, there is war.

Into this impossible situation comes the Teacher of God, the Voice that speaks in each and every seemingly separate mind.  The Voice is One, and has One judgment that is Its' function: "We are One, not many.  We are Whole, not parts.  We are Peace.  We are Joy.  We are Love Itself.  There is nothing else... There is no either/or..."  Over and over the Voice echoes in our minds, behind every image of incompleteness, every image of conflict, every competitive or ambitious urge, behind every call to struggle and war with the images or people and situations we project and then think we see: "Nothing Real can be threatened.  Nothing unreal exists.  Herein lies the Peace of God." -- A Course in Miracles; Introduction, 2:2-4

This Peace extends infinitely and eternally.  This means It isn't subject to our imagined concepts of time or space or circumstance.  This means that when we remember our only function is forgiveness, we can forgive and release every imaginary obstacle to the awareness of this eternal Peace, Whose other name is Love.  We are literally swimming, floating, flowing, Being as this Peace, this Love.  We have no other existence.

Thank God we are neither this nor that.  We are the All, the Everything... the All-Loving, All-Encompassing, Infinitely Joyous Peace that we mentally tried to distance ourselves from by calling it 'that'.  Such machinations have never, and will never succeed.  We offer Peace because we ARE the Peace of God, forever One and forever extending the Light of Love that shines from the heart of Peace. 

This Holy Christmas Season, please don't get caught up in judging the world and its inhabitants as this or that.  Let's forgive this madness, and see every Radiant aspect of Life as the Peace and Joy and Love that is its Reality.  Whether it appears as big or little, cheap or expensive, good or bad, old or young, cold or hot, enjoyable or miserable, even alive or dead... these are just illusory judgment-veils, instigators of war.  Peace remains untouched and radiant throughout Creation. 

"Like to the sun and ocean your Self continues, unmindful that this tiny part regards itself as you.  It is not missing; it could not exist if it were separate, nor would the Whole be whole without it.  It is not a separate kingdom, ruled by an idea of separation from the rest.  Nor does a fence surround it, preventing it from joining with the rest, and keeping it apart from its Creator.  This little aspect is no different from the Whole, being continuous with It and at One with It.  It leads no separate life, because its life IS the Oneness in which its being was created.  Do not accept a little, fenced-off aspect as yourself." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 18, Section VIII, 6:1-6

Only One Perceiver

"The Holy Spirit begin by perceiving you as perfect... The perfect equality of the Holy Spirit's perception is the reflection of the perfect equality of God's knowing." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 6, Section II, 5:1 and 7:1

"This Mind is unequivocal, because it hears only One Voice and answers only in One Way." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 5, Section II, 10:2

The concept of Oneness is impossible for the so-called separate mind to grasp.  It can think about Oneness, and conceptualize about Oneness.  But if you want cake, you can't eat a picture of a cake.  You can't eat the word cake.  You can't even eat the recipe!  What you can do is read about cake, and decide if you want the experience of eating it.  Similarly, there comes a time even in the most comfortable of lives, when an expansion takes place and leaves us wondering what lies beyond the known.  We want to know what Oneness is, not simply talk about it or read about it.  And we begin to realize that what we think we know is not the truth.

This begins the shedding process the Course calls forgiveness.  Over and over, we let go of everything we think we know, every judgment about how things are, every perception of differences and mistakes and flaws and lacks.  Every opinion about how things work or should work, every rule we think we have to follow or that we expect the so-called others to follow.  We give everything in our minds to the Holy Spirit, the One Mind that all perceived separate minds share.  We do it fitfully at first, but as we begin to glimpse the Peace it brings, we find that we are more and more willing to turn everything we think we know over.  Why would we want to keep what has only given us a world of seeming duality and struggle and suffering?

At this point we begin to have glimpses of Oneness.  There is One who is always aware of the shenanigans of the perceived separate mind.  This is the Holy Spirit, who sees only the Perfection that is All. One Mind, One Voice, One Perceiver Who sees only Love and radiates Only Love.  As we become anchored in this Presence, we begin to realize that there has always been only One Perceiver.  Our tunnel vision simply projected a split world, but it had no substance. When we begin to experience the miracle of the unified Presence everywhere, we become more and more willing to stop projecting.  We stop the projector by acknowledging that the projector has never known anything, while the One Perceiver has always Known EVERYTHING, and always will.

This unified Presence and Perception is the closest we can get to Reality while still walking in a world of seeming duality.  It is what the Course calls the Happy Dream... pure Joy, with the Awareness that there are no limits to this Love and Joy, this limitless Wholeness and Perfection, this Perfect Peace.  And It radiates pure appreciation of the Perfection everywhere.  This is the Kingdom of Heaven that Jeshua told us to seek first and always.  This is the unified Mind of the Miracle Worker. 

There's only One. One Perceiver of Perfection and Holiness on earth, as it is in the Pure, Unconditioned Awareness of Heaven.

"It is hard to understand what "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you" really means.  This is because it is not understandable to the ego, which interprets it as if something outside is inside, and this does not mean anything.  The word "within" is unnecessary.  The Kingdom of Heaven is You." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 4, Section III, 1:1-3

It Really Is That Simple

"The Law of Existence is Perfection.  Not moving toward or away from anything, not trying to add anything, but every whit Whole.  Everything else is perception, point of view, and is not the Wholeness and Perfection of Being.  Every point of view is the out-picturing of a belief in non-perfection.  If beliefs didn't get uncomfortable, I'd have no reason to give them up." -- Betty Albee

"Altars are beliefs, but God and His creations are beyond belief because they are, beyond question." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 6, Section V:C, 7:2

When I was first introduced to Betty Albee's statement a couple of years ago (that every perception is the projection of a belief in non-perfection) I glossed over it. It didn't resonate, and seemed too abstract for me at the time.  But I have come to realize it is a simple statement of Truth that I didn't want to hear.  As the Course reminds me: "You have made many ideas that you have placed between yourself and your Creator, and these beliefs are the world as you perceive it." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 11, Section VII, 4:4

The Laws of God. the Laws of Truth, are Perfection, Wholeness, Abundance, Innocence, Peace, Joy, Love and All ideas of Goodness and Perfection without an opposite and without limits or possibility of change.  These Laws are not imposed from without, but are actually our very Being.  We can put I Am in front of any one of them and be telling the Truth.  And the Course reminds us that these Laws of Oneness are the only Reality there is: "I am under no laws but God's.  I am constantly tempted to make up other laws and give them power over me.  I suffer only because of my belief in them.  They have no real effect on me at all.  I am perfectly free of the effects of all laws save God's.  And His are the Laws of Freedom." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 88

Now if your eyes haven't glazed over and you are actually contemplating the Truth presented here, you are beginning to feel the joy that only a glimpse of true Freedom can bring. I am perfectly free of the effects of ALL the beliefs and concepts, the rules and limitations... they are all made up!  In other words, "Concepts are learned.  They are not natural." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 31, Section V, 7:1-2 

So we find that we are only under the influence of our own belief in imperfection, which is the same as saying we believe God has been rendered imperfect, separated from creation, and our point of view (our perception) reflects this illusion.  It's crazy, but it's these false perceptions that make up the world as we know it. "Illusions are but beliefs in what is not there." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 16, Section III, 4:9

Please don't take my word for it.  There are so many teachers of non-duality that are more eloquent in explaining all this.  What you need is proof.  And the proof is in the pudding, as the saying goes.  If you start with "God IS" and "God is ALL"(ALL must include all) and work from there, you will always find that imperfection and all the world of projection is an impossibility. "How simple is salvation!  All it says is what was never true is not true now, and never will be.  The impossible has not occurred, and can have no effects.  And that is all." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 31, Section I, 1:1-4

There is only One Self.  God IS, and we are the Light of God... that's our Reality.  Miracles light the mind that begins to forgive and release all human concepts and beliefs and points of view. "You are a miracle, capable of creating in the likeness of your Creator.  Everything else is your own nightmare, and does not exist.  Only the creations of Light are real." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 1, Section I, 24:2-4 

Salvation really is that simple. 

"Let us be still an instant, and forget all things we ever learned, all thoughts we had, and every preconception that we hold of what things mean and what their purpose is.  Let us remember not our own ideas of what the world is for.  We do not know.  Let every image be loosened from our minds and swept away." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 31, Section I, 12:1-4

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 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

A Real Commitment

For those of you who really want to remember Self, the Christ... for those of you who really want to be a blessing and a healing presence... I urge you to make a very simple but real commitment this year.  A Course in Miracles is a tool that can help keep you sane, and can return you to sanity when you forget.  But like any tool, you have to pick it up and actually use it for it to be useful.

"The purpose of the workbook is to train your mind in a systematic way to a different perception of everyone and everything in the world." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Intro

"The workbook is divided into two main sections, the first dealing with the undoing of the way you see now, and the second with the acquisition of true perception." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Intro

Simple, logical... in order to put clean sheets on the bed, I first have to take off the dirty sheets.  I have to clear my mind first, before I can reveal the True Thoughts that are always available.  ACIM calls this process forgiveness, and in the early lessons of the Workbook it prepares us for what true forgiveness is.  It leads us always to begin taking 100% responsibility for our thoughts and perceptions and the meanings we ascribe to them.  It also leads us to remembering that we made all of it up (thank God!).  And so, we make the only change that leads to real change... we change our minds about Who We Are and Who our brothers are.

This year, I urge you to make a real commitment to doing the lessons in the Workbook and actually applying them to everyone and everything.  Why put off what will bring you real and lasting joy and peace?  And if you need support in this, you can always contact me. 

Sending all of you so much love, joy, peace, and abundance...  Happy New Year!

Mary Alberici

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. 

A Thought of Pure Joy

"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

"... When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." -- The Bible; Job 38:7

I don't really have a lot to say this morning.  I am simply inspired to write about joy.  I woke up with all the usual stuff in front of me... animals that need care, bills that need paying, people that need my time and attention, and the illusion of not enough time or resources.  But I turned my attention to God as soon as I awoke... I always begin the day remembering that there is One Mind, One Self, and that is God.  I am an expression of this One Mind, inseparable and with all the qualities of this One Self, as is every other son of God.  This little exercise in remembering puts the day in the service of this One Self.  The details and forms don't matter... Who I share the day with matters absolutely.

This morning, after my usual remembering, I was simply overcome with joy... and the verse from Job, one of my favorites, came into my mind.  Joy is so effortless and natural... joy that has no reference, no external reason for being.  It simply IS.  Regardless of what appears, we are literally living and moving and having our being IN and AS an ocean of joy. 

But don't take my word for it.  Try letting go of your fears and defenses for even a nano-second, and you will be instantly immersed in the Love and Joy that lives us.  This thought of pure joy is our birthright.

"Truth returns to us in wholeness and in joy.  We are deceived no longer.  Love has now returned to our awareness.  And we are at peace again, for fear has gone and only love remains." --A Course in Miracles; Workbook 323, 2:1-4

Decisions, Decisions

In this so-called life, decisions make up every minute of every day.  Even my youngest grandson is choosing his state of mind minute by minute, second by second.  I can see the impulses arise and cross his little three-month-old face like clouds.  I can see the second he decides to smile instead of cry.  I can see him struggle to give voice (and I mean voice) to his discomfort.  Little Kai Joseph is just like us... choosing to react to external forms, or to interact with the Love that is in him and all around him, always.

We're not talking about will-power here.  That's the mistaken belief that we can exert control over our bodies and other forms in the external world.  As Mary Baker Eddy put it, "Will power is a product of belief... and is not a faculty of Soul.  Hence it cannot govern man aright."  And A Course in Miracles says it very simply: "There is no Will but God's."

So what are all the decisions we make every day?  We have to first remember that all decisions are of the mind, and have nothing to do with form.  My grandson's decisions may reflect in his face, but it's all in his mind.  Similarly, our minute-by-minute decisions are mental processes.  The illusion of a world arises from these mental projections.  "Perception is a mirror, not a fact.  And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward." (A Course in Miracles; Workbook 304, 1:3-4)

Decisions, decisions... how can we make decisions, then, if we're not in our right mind... if we think we've made a will other than God's?  Again, A Course in Miracles gives us a way out: "Let us today be truly humble, and accept what we have made as what it is.  The power of decision is our own.  Decide but to accept your rightful place as co-creator of the universe, and all you think you made will disappear.  What rises to awareness then will be all that there ever was, eternally as it is now.  And it will take the place of self-deceptions made but to usurp the altar to the Father and the Son." (A Course in Miracles; Workbook 152, 8:1-5)

Decisions are continuous, and we are always looking at only two choices, two mental states.  Our True Self, the Son of God Who is Peace and Love and Life and Reality... or an illusion of a separate self, which projects as fear and lack and limitation and death.  We know which we're choosing by our state of mind. 

"You who perceive yourself as weak and frail, with futile hopes and devastated dreams, born but to die, to weep and suffer pain, hear this:  All power is given unto you in earth and Heaven.  There is nothing that you cannot do.  Then let the Son of God awaken from his sleep, and opening his holy eyes, return again to bless the world he made.  In error it began, but it will end in the reflection of His holiness." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 191, 9:1-2 & 10:1-2

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

God's Will

First I want to let my readers know that I have a CD for sale, with proceeds going to The Claire Foundation Animal Sanctuary.  All the hymns on it are Acappella, and recorded live at St. Vincent's-in-the-Vineyard.  You can hear cuts from it on my YouTube channel.  Thanks for supporting the animals!  And FYI, you can download individual mp3s for only $1.99 each.

Now for the quote that inspired today's blog:
"God's Will is One, not many.  It has no opposition, for there is none beside it." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 19, IV, 3:5-6

It's hard to find a phrase that instills such varied reactions as 'God's Will.'  For many of us, it conjures pious, judgmental comments made after natural disasters or sudden deaths.  For almost everyone it raises a sense of unease and fear... because hey, who the heck knows what God's Will for us is?  It could be bad, it could be something punitive so we can 'learn our lessons.'  Isn't that how most human parents operate?  Don't we unconsciously model our ideas of God after our human notions of authority?

So this quote can be hard to take in.  We may hear it, but gloss over it.  God's Will is ONE, not many.  IT HAS NO OPPOSITION, because there isn't anything else.  Only God.  We live and move and have our being IN THIS ONENESS.  So logically there isn't my will and then God's Will imposed on me from without.  There is only God, only God's Will, appearing AS me, and AS you.  That we have convinced ourselves and each other that we are separate bodies and lives is irrelevant, because it's not true. 

This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from the movie "The Matrix."  A little psychic boy is bending spoons with his mind, and offers Keanu Reeves' character the chance to try it.  He isn't having much luck, and the little boy simply says, "Don't try and bend the spoon.  Know that there is no spoon."  And then of course, the spoon bends.

Joel Goldsmith told a similar story.  He was traveling and arrived at his destination only to hear that his luggage had been lost.  He spent the next couple of days practicing scientific prayer, knowing that what belonged to him could never be lost, etc.  But his luggage did not show up.  Finally in meditation the answer came to him... there was no lost luggage!  There are no opposites or oppositions in all God's Kingdom, there is only God!  Of course, his luggage then 'showed up' unexpectedly.

Jesus taught us this Truth when he said, "Seek ye first the Kingdom (the Oneness of God) and all else will be added unto you."  We just have it upside down and backwards, thinking that cause and effect lie within the world, in our actions and reactions, or even in our thoughts.  If there is no Will but God's, it also holds that there are no real Thoughts but God's.  Everything else is the dreaming of the mind that imagines itself to be separate.  And no matter what we imagine in our dreaming, we remain safe in God, eternally.

There is great peace in this awareness.  "Peace has replaced the strange idea that you are torn by conflicting goals.  As an expression of the Will of God, you have no goal but His." (ACIM; Workbook 74, 1:5-6)  We don't have to struggle humanly to figure it all out.  God's Will is always Love, Goodness, Happiness, Peace, Abundance, Joy, and endless Life.  And as we trust God with each holy instant of our lives, we are led by Grace. 

"He leadeth me in paths of righteousness, for His Name's sake." -- Psalm 23

"Today I will recognize that all this has not occurred.  I am safe because there is no will but God's." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 87, 3:5-6

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

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

Beginning Again

"Behold, I make all things new." -- Revelation 21:5

Beginning again each day, each newborn day, we carry with us an entire world of past associations.  We know how to brush our teeth, how to shower, how to make our tea, from memories of our childhood, or from our dentist, or from our parents or grandparents.  Everything we do carries ghosts of the past.  We're not really beginning again.  We're repeating the past, with twists and turns, day after day.  We're reacting to our own conditioned beliefs and ideas, our own mental constructs about how the day should be, what we should be doing, and who we should be doing it with.  It's the wheel of endless action and reaction.  We may resolve something today, but tomorrow it will rise again in a slightly different form.  The grass will need cutting again.  The dishes always need washing.  And our teeth always need brushing. 

How do we find peace in a world that is an endless chain of reaction to form and belief and thought?  How do we begin again?

Over 2000 years ago Jeshua ben Joseph said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." (John 3:3) How are we born again?  How do we begin again?  Let's read more of this same passage: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; that which is born of the Spirit, is Spirit." (John:5-6) It's clear that we are talking about consciousness here... being born again in consciousness.  The spirit is invisible, and unattended to by the physical, material man.  Being born again, really beginning anew is an act forgiveness and release of the past, an act of consciousness.  It doesn't have anything to do with the forms that seem to populate our world, although the forms will reflect these shifts in awareness.

A Course in Miracles teaches that all such shifts in perception come through forgiveness, through letting go of all past referral.  The miracles that result are actually perceptual shifts that occur as our mind is changed.  ACIM puts it this way: "To be born again is to let the past go, and look without condemnation on the present.  If you would have it past and gone, you must not see it now."   How the heck do we do that???  ACIM goes on: "Time can release as well as imprison, depending on whose interpretation of it you use.  Past, present, and future are not continuous, unless you force continuity on them.  You can perceive them as continuous, and make them so for you.  But do not be deceived, and then believe that this is how it is.  You would anticipate the future on the basis of your past experience, and plan for it accordingly.  Yet by doing so you are aligning past and future, and not allowing the miracle, which could intervene between them, to free you to be born again.  The miracle enables you to see your brother [and thus yourself] without his past, and so perceive him [and yourself] as born again." - ACIM Chapter 13, Section VI, 3:5-6 and 4:1-7, 5:1

Beginning again is a conscious act of forgiveness... but the release and perceptual shifts that result from our conscious acts of forgiveness are effortless and free.

"Judgment and condemnation are behind you, and unless you bring them with you, you will see that you are free of them.  Look lovingly upon the present, for it holds the only things that are forever true." - ACIM Chapter 13, Section VI, 6:1