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
Showing posts with label Remembering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Remembering. Show all posts
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Saturday, December 25, 2010
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
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
Monday, December 20, 2010
The Victim of Myself
"Suffering is an emphasis upon all that the world has done to injure you... a dream of punishment in which the dreamer is unconscious... he sees himself attacked unjustly and by something not himself. And he cannot escape because its source is seen outside himself." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 27, Section VII, 1:1, 3, 7
"Now you are being shown you can escape. All that is needed is you look upon the problem as it is, and not the way that you have set it up." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 27, Section VII, 2:1-2
I've had a lot of opportunities lately to remember that there are no victims: "I am not the victim of the world I see." (ACIM Workbook 31). But I would make one addendum... we are ALL victims of ourselves. We are victims of our own distorted thoughts and emotions, which are projected over and over as a cast of thousands. I am only the victim of myself.
And who exactly is this self? It must be that this self is false, if it can project a story of a world that shifts and changes and suffers. If I can watch my thoughts, then my thoughts must be separate from me. If I can watch and be aware of emotions, then emotions are not me. If I can be aware of and notice feelings in a body, then that must not be me, either. Who is this Self who monitors and witnesses all these things? The Self that witnesses is beyond the ephemeral thought-forms of body, thought, or emotion. The Self that witnesses is eternal and perfect and innocent and whole... free of all limitation or judgement of any kind. It's only when I falsely identify thoughts, emotions, or physicality as my self that I become a victim... projecting a world that is as painful as it is occasionally beautiful... a world disturbingly like a grade B movie... a world that has a seeming beginning and end and that seems to happen TO me, when all along I am the dreamer of this dream.
"The body is the central figure in the dreaming of the world. There is no dream without it, nor does it exist without the dream in which it acts as if it were a separate person to be seen and be believed." (ACIM; Chapter 27, Section VIII, 1:1-2) As long as I identify with a particular body, with particular thoughts, emotions, and serial adventures with other bodies, then I am victimizing myself (and that self is thankfully false... not true). When the identification finally shifts to the larger Self, it is easily seen that none of it was ever true... and that I was only the victim of myself.
It's helpful to me to picture the true Self as the Ground of Being, like a White Board on which all the falsely identified thoughts, emotions, and stories seem to be written. The more stories and dreams we write on the White Board, the harder it is to see that it's even there. But as we practice forgiveness, forgiving and releasing every false identification and judgment and story (good or bad), we're erasing the White Board... and in seemingly miraculous ways we begin to remember Who We Are. The miracle is this return to sanity, as we begin to reflect a kinder, more loving world and become a source of healing for all.
This White Board of Self, the unconditioned and eternal Self, is always pristine and perfect, always innocent and free, always loving and giving without thought or limitation. It's natural and it's our true Home. What's un-natural is this playing at being the victim of myself.
"The secret of salvation is but this: that you are doing this unto yourself. No matter what the form of the attack, this still is true. Whoever takes the role of enemy or of attacker, still is this the truth. Whatever seems to be the cause of any pain and suffering you feel, this is still true. For you would not react at all to figures in a dream you knew that you were dreaming. This single lesson will set you free from suffering whatever form it takes. The Holy Spirit will repeat this one inclusive lesson of deliverance until it has been learned, regardless of the form of suffering that brings you pain. The form affects His answer not at all, for He would teach you but the single cause of all of them, no matter what their form. And you will understand that miracles reflect this simple statement: "I have done this thing, and this I would undo." Salvation is a secret you have kept but from yourself. How differently will you perceive the world when this is recognized! When you forgive the world your guilt, you will be free of it. This is the only secret yet to learn." -- ACIM Chapter 27, Section VIII, paragraphs 10-13.
"Now you are being shown you can escape. All that is needed is you look upon the problem as it is, and not the way that you have set it up." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 27, Section VII, 2:1-2
I've had a lot of opportunities lately to remember that there are no victims: "I am not the victim of the world I see." (ACIM Workbook 31). But I would make one addendum... we are ALL victims of ourselves. We are victims of our own distorted thoughts and emotions, which are projected over and over as a cast of thousands. I am only the victim of myself.
And who exactly is this self? It must be that this self is false, if it can project a story of a world that shifts and changes and suffers. If I can watch my thoughts, then my thoughts must be separate from me. If I can watch and be aware of emotions, then emotions are not me. If I can be aware of and notice feelings in a body, then that must not be me, either. Who is this Self who monitors and witnesses all these things? The Self that witnesses is beyond the ephemeral thought-forms of body, thought, or emotion. The Self that witnesses is eternal and perfect and innocent and whole... free of all limitation or judgement of any kind. It's only when I falsely identify thoughts, emotions, or physicality as my self that I become a victim... projecting a world that is as painful as it is occasionally beautiful... a world disturbingly like a grade B movie... a world that has a seeming beginning and end and that seems to happen TO me, when all along I am the dreamer of this dream.
"The body is the central figure in the dreaming of the world. There is no dream without it, nor does it exist without the dream in which it acts as if it were a separate person to be seen and be believed." (ACIM; Chapter 27, Section VIII, 1:1-2) As long as I identify with a particular body, with particular thoughts, emotions, and serial adventures with other bodies, then I am victimizing myself (and that self is thankfully false... not true). When the identification finally shifts to the larger Self, it is easily seen that none of it was ever true... and that I was only the victim of myself.
It's helpful to me to picture the true Self as the Ground of Being, like a White Board on which all the falsely identified thoughts, emotions, and stories seem to be written. The more stories and dreams we write on the White Board, the harder it is to see that it's even there. But as we practice forgiveness, forgiving and releasing every false identification and judgment and story (good or bad), we're erasing the White Board... and in seemingly miraculous ways we begin to remember Who We Are. The miracle is this return to sanity, as we begin to reflect a kinder, more loving world and become a source of healing for all.
This White Board of Self, the unconditioned and eternal Self, is always pristine and perfect, always innocent and free, always loving and giving without thought or limitation. It's natural and it's our true Home. What's un-natural is this playing at being the victim of myself.
"The secret of salvation is but this: that you are doing this unto yourself. No matter what the form of the attack, this still is true. Whoever takes the role of enemy or of attacker, still is this the truth. Whatever seems to be the cause of any pain and suffering you feel, this is still true. For you would not react at all to figures in a dream you knew that you were dreaming. This single lesson will set you free from suffering whatever form it takes. The Holy Spirit will repeat this one inclusive lesson of deliverance until it has been learned, regardless of the form of suffering that brings you pain. The form affects His answer not at all, for He would teach you but the single cause of all of them, no matter what their form. And you will understand that miracles reflect this simple statement: "I have done this thing, and this I would undo." Salvation is a secret you have kept but from yourself. How differently will you perceive the world when this is recognized! When you forgive the world your guilt, you will be free of it. This is the only secret yet to learn." -- ACIM Chapter 27, Section VIII, paragraphs 10-13.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Waiting for God
"I have no cause for anger or fear, for You surround me. And in every need that I perceive, Your Grace suffices me." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 348
We're conditioned from an early age to listen to our parents, our teachers, our friends, our church... in other words, we look to the outer world for information, direction, and validation. Learning to listen within and wait for God's appointments and direction seems counter intuitive, and even crazy. Interesting defense, isn't it? The ego (the fictional aggregate of mental constructs we call a self, imagining we're separate from God and each other) is the very definition of insanity... a delusional defense against the whole. So it calls what is true, false, and insists that the unreal has substance and validity. That's how projection works. It's also the justification for fear and anger and all the insanity the ego insists is real.
Only take a moment to consider rationally... God, the very Ground of Being, is everywhere... pure and eternal Life and Love without form or condition. We live and move and have our Being in God. So how could we look anywhere other than God for what is essential and true? How could we look anywhere other than God for Who We Are? There is nowhere else. There's nothing out there but projected ideas based on a mistake... the mistake that somehow walling ourselves off from the whole will give us what we want and keep us safe. And when has that ever been the truth? Safe from what? What else is there but God, the All in All?
Waiting for God doesn't involve the future... it involves a present willingness to be still, to listen each holy instant in unceasing mindfulness. This doesn't involve effort or struggle or even a technique or practice. Once the willingness is given by the mind, the beauty of our true Self takes over. Stillness, one-pointedness, awakened awareness, pure joy and unshakable peace... these are all attributes we find to be our own, as natural as breathing. More so.
Waiting for God means we're willing to release the false and embrace the True. And we at last remember the Grace that enfolds and surrounds us and suffices us in all things.
We're conditioned from an early age to listen to our parents, our teachers, our friends, our church... in other words, we look to the outer world for information, direction, and validation. Learning to listen within and wait for God's appointments and direction seems counter intuitive, and even crazy. Interesting defense, isn't it? The ego (the fictional aggregate of mental constructs we call a self, imagining we're separate from God and each other) is the very definition of insanity... a delusional defense against the whole. So it calls what is true, false, and insists that the unreal has substance and validity. That's how projection works. It's also the justification for fear and anger and all the insanity the ego insists is real.
Only take a moment to consider rationally... God, the very Ground of Being, is everywhere... pure and eternal Life and Love without form or condition. We live and move and have our Being in God. So how could we look anywhere other than God for what is essential and true? How could we look anywhere other than God for Who We Are? There is nowhere else. There's nothing out there but projected ideas based on a mistake... the mistake that somehow walling ourselves off from the whole will give us what we want and keep us safe. And when has that ever been the truth? Safe from what? What else is there but God, the All in All?
Waiting for God doesn't involve the future... it involves a present willingness to be still, to listen each holy instant in unceasing mindfulness. This doesn't involve effort or struggle or even a technique or practice. Once the willingness is given by the mind, the beauty of our true Self takes over. Stillness, one-pointedness, awakened awareness, pure joy and unshakable peace... these are all attributes we find to be our own, as natural as breathing. More so.
Waiting for God means we're willing to release the false and embrace the True. And we at last remember the Grace that enfolds and surrounds us and suffices us in all things.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Talking to Myself
"No two people have ever met." -- Byron Katie
"Conflict is sleep, and Peace awakening." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 331, 1:8
I have to remind myself frequently that I am always talking to myself. We all are. As we move through our day, we are observing and interacting with our own projections. "Perception is a mirror, not a fact." (ACIM) This is why the world we see seems so confrontational and full of differences and conflict. It's the continual out-picturing of our own divided mind, our own judgments and beliefs. I'm always and only talking to myself.
In all personal and professional relationships, it's especially important to see this. Two people are talking about the same topic, but neither one is hearing the other. Both come to the table with myriad assumptions... both think they are talking to someone else, but they are only talking to themselves. A Course in Miracles calls this phenomenon 'level confusion.'
The easiest way to understand this is to consider that at the level of conflict, there are always what seem to be real differences and problems. It's the nature of the dream of separation from God that we 'project' this illusory separation onto the screen of the mind and experience it as many and different. But as the mind is healed, as we experientially remember God and our true Self as One, we discover that it was all imagined. There were no real differences at the level of Reality... no real problems. Like a child who awakens from a nightmare, we discover that we have been safe at Home all along. We have all been safely One in God, and remain so eternally.
Einstein wisely said that you can never solve a problem at the level you're seeing it. If you're seeing it, you're projecting it. The practice of forgiveness, of giving up our judgments and assumptions and yielding to the ever-present Truth of Being, allows us to ascend to a level closer to Reality, where there are no differences or conflicts in sight. There's only One of us. So I am still always and only talking to myself... but in Reality, I am talking to my Self.
"Forgiveness is the light [that] shines away all conflict and all doubt. No light but this can end our evil dream. For this alone will never fail in anything." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 333, 2:1-2, 4
"Conflict is sleep, and Peace awakening." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 331, 1:8
I have to remind myself frequently that I am always talking to myself. We all are. As we move through our day, we are observing and interacting with our own projections. "Perception is a mirror, not a fact." (ACIM) This is why the world we see seems so confrontational and full of differences and conflict. It's the continual out-picturing of our own divided mind, our own judgments and beliefs. I'm always and only talking to myself.
In all personal and professional relationships, it's especially important to see this. Two people are talking about the same topic, but neither one is hearing the other. Both come to the table with myriad assumptions... both think they are talking to someone else, but they are only talking to themselves. A Course in Miracles calls this phenomenon 'level confusion.'
The easiest way to understand this is to consider that at the level of conflict, there are always what seem to be real differences and problems. It's the nature of the dream of separation from God that we 'project' this illusory separation onto the screen of the mind and experience it as many and different. But as the mind is healed, as we experientially remember God and our true Self as One, we discover that it was all imagined. There were no real differences at the level of Reality... no real problems. Like a child who awakens from a nightmare, we discover that we have been safe at Home all along. We have all been safely One in God, and remain so eternally.
Einstein wisely said that you can never solve a problem at the level you're seeing it. If you're seeing it, you're projecting it. The practice of forgiveness, of giving up our judgments and assumptions and yielding to the ever-present Truth of Being, allows us to ascend to a level closer to Reality, where there are no differences or conflicts in sight. There's only One of us. So I am still always and only talking to myself... but in Reality, I am talking to my Self.
"Forgiveness is the light [that] shines away all conflict and all doubt. No light but this can end our evil dream. For this alone will never fail in anything." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 333, 2:1-2, 4
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Awake in the Dark
"There is nothing you can hold against reality. All that must be forgiven are the illusions you have held against your brothers. Their reality has no past, and only illusions can be forgiven. God holds nothing against anyone, for He is incapable of illusions of any kind. Release your brothers from the slavery of their illusions by forgiving them for the illusions you perceive in them. Thus will you learn that you have been forgiven, for it is you who offered them illusions." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 16, Section VII, 9:1-6
I lay in bed in the dark, in the wee hours, unable to sleep. Thought upon thought weaves through my awareness, everything murky and uncomfortable. Nothing awful, mind you... simply the haziness of illusion, weaving itself in a downward spiral into stories and projections of judgment and separation. None of it true. How do I know that none of it is true? Because it is restless, murky, and unclear. There is no peace. When a thought arises that is in alignment with the Reality of God, there is an immediate lightening in consciousness. And that thought leads to another, and then another, on an upward spiral back to peace.
Remembering that all my judgments are nonsense helps a lot. "Forgive your brothers from the slavery of their illusions by forgiving them for the illusions you perceive in them." Yes, I'm the perceiver... whenever I see a problem, I'm always the one naming it and weaving a story about it in my mind. So I'm the only one who can forgive it. "Thus you will learn that you have been forgiven." Yes, all the judgments about me were in my mind, too. They are all my stories.
Everything is mind... mind asleep, or Mind Awake. Mind asleep is not really doing anything or creating anything... simply dreaming, even when it seems to be awake. Our One Mind Awake is the Source of All that is Real. It is the Mind of God, and it is my real mind. And yours. And everyone's. In Reality, there's only One of Us.
The One Awakened Mind, the Mind that created us and lives us, is joyous and free and at peace. It has always been. "The sleep of forgetfulness is only the unwillingness to remember." (ACIM; Chapter 16, Section VII, 12:4)
Why do we seem to prefer our dream stories and problems? Why do we worship them with our time and attention, when only a little sigh of release will return us to sanity and peaces? Forgiveness offers this and so much more. "Remember that you always choose between Truth and illusions." Minute by minute we get to choose. So every holy instant is a new beginning. Awake in the dark, I remember.
"Seek and find His message in the holy instant, where all illusions are forgiven. From here the miracle extends to bless everyone and to resolve all problems, be they perceived as great or small, possible or impossible. There is nothing that will not give place to Him and to His Majesty. The Truth lies here and nowhere else. You choose this or nothing." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 16, Section VII, 11:1-3, 6-7
I lay in bed in the dark, in the wee hours, unable to sleep. Thought upon thought weaves through my awareness, everything murky and uncomfortable. Nothing awful, mind you... simply the haziness of illusion, weaving itself in a downward spiral into stories and projections of judgment and separation. None of it true. How do I know that none of it is true? Because it is restless, murky, and unclear. There is no peace. When a thought arises that is in alignment with the Reality of God, there is an immediate lightening in consciousness. And that thought leads to another, and then another, on an upward spiral back to peace.
Remembering that all my judgments are nonsense helps a lot. "Forgive your brothers from the slavery of their illusions by forgiving them for the illusions you perceive in them." Yes, I'm the perceiver... whenever I see a problem, I'm always the one naming it and weaving a story about it in my mind. So I'm the only one who can forgive it. "Thus you will learn that you have been forgiven." Yes, all the judgments about me were in my mind, too. They are all my stories.
Everything is mind... mind asleep, or Mind Awake. Mind asleep is not really doing anything or creating anything... simply dreaming, even when it seems to be awake. Our One Mind Awake is the Source of All that is Real. It is the Mind of God, and it is my real mind. And yours. And everyone's. In Reality, there's only One of Us.
The One Awakened Mind, the Mind that created us and lives us, is joyous and free and at peace. It has always been. "The sleep of forgetfulness is only the unwillingness to remember." (ACIM; Chapter 16, Section VII, 12:4)
Why do we seem to prefer our dream stories and problems? Why do we worship them with our time and attention, when only a little sigh of release will return us to sanity and peaces? Forgiveness offers this and so much more. "Remember that you always choose between Truth and illusions." Minute by minute we get to choose. So every holy instant is a new beginning. Awake in the dark, I remember.
"Seek and find His message in the holy instant, where all illusions are forgiven. From here the miracle extends to bless everyone and to resolve all problems, be they perceived as great or small, possible or impossible. There is nothing that will not give place to Him and to His Majesty. The Truth lies here and nowhere else. You choose this or nothing." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 16, Section VII, 11:1-3, 6-7
Saturday, September 11, 2010
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
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
Friday, September 3, 2010
A Long Time Coming...
First, all links are working on the CD website, and I have also posted a new YouTube video. Enjoy! And don't forget to purchase mp3s or order the whole CD, and support the animals at The Claire Foundation Animal Sanctuary.
All quotes today are from the Manual for Teachers in A Course in Miracles. Where no reference is given, quotes are from section 10, "How is Judgment Relinquished?"
"And now must [you] attain a state that may remain impossible to reach for a long, long time. [You] must learn to lay all judgment aside, and ask only what [you] really want in every circumstance." -- A Course in Miracles; Manual for Teachers 4, I, A, 7:7-8
Of course, time is an illusion. What seems like a long time coming is just how it seems to us, as we cling to the remnants of personal judgment, guilt, and fear. We cling to our personal judgments and conditioned self-image (which is nothing but a collection of judgments) because we think it is who we are... and it seems that giving up judgment would be the death of our identity and individuality. In fact, the false identity keeps us blind to our true Self and individuality in God.
Every snowflake, every grain of sand is unique and individual... no two are ever the same. And yet their only identity is in the collective. A snowflake is nothing without the snowfall or the snowbank. A single grain of sand is useless, but the sand dunes create shelter and habitat. Each of us is unique, too, but not in the ways we imagine. We each reflect God and only God in this world, each in a unique way that only has meaning within the Whole. When we judge what we or anyone else should be, or what we should be doing or saying based on human perspectives (which are simply the memories we carry around as if they were true), we are projecting a false image over the face of Self... which is the face of Christ.
So how in the heck do we give up judgment? How in the heck do we let go of who we think we are, or should be, or will be? A Course in Miracles gives us clear direction: "It is necessary... to realize not that he should not judge, but that he cannot. In giving up judgment, he is merely giving up what he did not have. He gives up the illusion; or better, he has an illusion of giving up. He has actually become more honest. Recognizing that judgment was always impossible [which of us could ever know or be aware of the full spectrum of possibilities or circumstances, past, present or future?], he no longer attempts it. This is no sacrifice. On the contrary, he puts himself in a position where judgment through him rather than by him can occur. And this judgment [of the Holy Spirit] is neither 'good' nor 'bad'. It is the only judgment there is, and it is only One: "God's Son is guiltless, and sin does not exist."
Whenever we're confronted with decisions or problems, it may seem excruciatingly hard not to judge it 'practically'... but there is nothing practical about the world of suffering that arises from these false projections we call judgments. Each of us will "lay it down happily the instant he recognizes the cost. All of the ugliness he sees about him is its outcome. All of the pain he looks upon is its result. All of the loneliness and sense of loss; of passing time and growing hopelessness; of sickening despair and fear of death; all these have come of it [judgment]. And now he knows that these things need not be. Not one is true. For he has given up their cause, and they, which never were but the effects of his mistaken choice, have fallen from him. Therefore lay judgment down, not with regret but with a sigh of gratitude. Now are you free of a burden so great that you could merely stagger and fall down beneath it. And it was all illusion. Nothing more."
I am writing this blog today because giving up judgment has seemed to be a long time coming for me. I thought I was a very judgmental person, even very recently. I thought I had to struggle to somehow 'overcome' judgment. But Grace has a way of correcting our false perceptions of ourselves in the unlikeliest of circumstances. I am so grateful for every false judgment I ever thought I made... because I now know that it was all made up, including all self-judgment. Every circumstance has become a happy dream, another way to remember God, and my Self.
"His sense of care is gone, for he has none. He has given it away, along with judgment. Now he makes no mistakes. His Guide is sure. And where before he came to judge, he comes to bless. Where now he laughs, he used to come to weep." -- A Course in Miracles; Manual for Teachers 10, 5:7-13
All quotes today are from the Manual for Teachers in A Course in Miracles. Where no reference is given, quotes are from section 10, "How is Judgment Relinquished?"
"And now must [you] attain a state that may remain impossible to reach for a long, long time. [You] must learn to lay all judgment aside, and ask only what [you] really want in every circumstance." -- A Course in Miracles; Manual for Teachers 4, I, A, 7:7-8
Of course, time is an illusion. What seems like a long time coming is just how it seems to us, as we cling to the remnants of personal judgment, guilt, and fear. We cling to our personal judgments and conditioned self-image (which is nothing but a collection of judgments) because we think it is who we are... and it seems that giving up judgment would be the death of our identity and individuality. In fact, the false identity keeps us blind to our true Self and individuality in God.
Every snowflake, every grain of sand is unique and individual... no two are ever the same. And yet their only identity is in the collective. A snowflake is nothing without the snowfall or the snowbank. A single grain of sand is useless, but the sand dunes create shelter and habitat. Each of us is unique, too, but not in the ways we imagine. We each reflect God and only God in this world, each in a unique way that only has meaning within the Whole. When we judge what we or anyone else should be, or what we should be doing or saying based on human perspectives (which are simply the memories we carry around as if they were true), we are projecting a false image over the face of Self... which is the face of Christ.
So how in the heck do we give up judgment? How in the heck do we let go of who we think we are, or should be, or will be? A Course in Miracles gives us clear direction: "It is necessary... to realize not that he should not judge, but that he cannot. In giving up judgment, he is merely giving up what he did not have. He gives up the illusion; or better, he has an illusion of giving up. He has actually become more honest. Recognizing that judgment was always impossible [which of us could ever know or be aware of the full spectrum of possibilities or circumstances, past, present or future?], he no longer attempts it. This is no sacrifice. On the contrary, he puts himself in a position where judgment through him rather than by him can occur. And this judgment [of the Holy Spirit] is neither 'good' nor 'bad'. It is the only judgment there is, and it is only One: "God's Son is guiltless, and sin does not exist."
Whenever we're confronted with decisions or problems, it may seem excruciatingly hard not to judge it 'practically'... but there is nothing practical about the world of suffering that arises from these false projections we call judgments. Each of us will "lay it down happily the instant he recognizes the cost. All of the ugliness he sees about him is its outcome. All of the pain he looks upon is its result. All of the loneliness and sense of loss; of passing time and growing hopelessness; of sickening despair and fear of death; all these have come of it [judgment]. And now he knows that these things need not be. Not one is true. For he has given up their cause, and they, which never were but the effects of his mistaken choice, have fallen from him. Therefore lay judgment down, not with regret but with a sigh of gratitude. Now are you free of a burden so great that you could merely stagger and fall down beneath it. And it was all illusion. Nothing more."
I am writing this blog today because giving up judgment has seemed to be a long time coming for me. I thought I was a very judgmental person, even very recently. I thought I had to struggle to somehow 'overcome' judgment. But Grace has a way of correcting our false perceptions of ourselves in the unlikeliest of circumstances. I am so grateful for every false judgment I ever thought I made... because I now know that it was all made up, including all self-judgment. Every circumstance has become a happy dream, another way to remember God, and my Self.
"His sense of care is gone, for he has none. He has given it away, along with judgment. Now he makes no mistakes. His Guide is sure. And where before he came to judge, he comes to bless. Where now he laughs, he used to come to weep." -- A Course in Miracles; Manual for Teachers 10, 5:7-13
Friday, July 23, 2010
Our Name and Our Inheritance
"This is a Course in how to know your Self. You have taught what you are, but have not let what you are teach you." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 16, Section III, 4:1-2
"Repeat the Name of God and call upon your Self, Whose Name is His. Repeat His Name and all the tiny nameless things on earth slip into right perspective." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 183, 5:1-2
It is becoming clearer and clearer each day. The only thing that matters is remembering and remaining anchored in Who I Am. All problems, issues, and challenges point to one thing only: the false self. Only the false self, the conditioned persona, can be victim of illusions. The True Self remains changeless, all powerful and all loving, lacking nothing, confronted with nothing other than Self, in the heaven of endless Oneness and Completion. It is such a joy-filled ride, awakening. Such a kick to relax and realize I Am, and have always been, right here in God, God appearing as and through me, always new, always expanding, yet always complete and whole. There really aren't words in our vocabulary to describe this Beingness and this process of Awakening. Many have tried, simply because the joy of it can't contain ItSelf, and wants to be shared with Self. So forgive me the inadequate symbols, and listen instead to the Truth that shines unimpeded through these words.
The news that we are One and the same as God is not new. Even the Bible has it stated quite clearly: "I say,"You are gods, children of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless you shall die like mortals, and fall like any prince." (The Bible; Psalm 82:6-7) Because we insist on embracing the false identities of separateness and lack and limitation, we die as if we're NOT sons of God, NOT One and forever Whole. And why do we insist on hanging on to a fiction of self that seems to suffer and die? Because it seems safer in our insanity to pretend we're small and at the mercy of our own dream, than to take responsibility for our choice to live in endless illusion, in a shadowy world of projection and skewed perception. Because for as long as the dream has seemed to be, people have been threatened by the Truth of Who We Are.
Look at the following passage from The Bible: "Jesus replied, "I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?" The Jews answered, "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God." Jesus answered, "Is it not written in your own law, "I said, you are gods?" (The Bible; John 10:32-34)
We stone ourselves now, each time we let the inner voice that says, "Who do you think you are?" or "What are you, God?" throw us back into unworthiness and guilt. We are the Sons of God, and God has ONE SON. That is US... not separate little selves, but the Self we are collectively, with all of creation. This Self has a Voice that speaks so clearly in our hearts and minds that it can never be mistaken or forgotten, unless that is what we want and what we choose.
"Sooner or later must everyone bridge the gap he imagines exists between the selves. Each one builds this bridge, which carries him across the [imaginary] gap as soon as he is willing to expend some little effort on behalf of bridging it. You will go through this last [imaginary] undoing quite unharmed, and will at last emerge as your Self." (A Course in Miracles; Chapter 16, Section III, 8:2-3 & IV, 2:3)
There is no gap! How can there be any separation in what is eternally whole and One? If there is One God, and we are gods, then each of us must be a transparency for the One, and for nothing else. All that is required, as ACIM reminds us, is to expend a little effort to remember as we go about our lives. For nothing else is real, and we are not who we thought we were. The Christ, the Son of God, reflects only God. This is our name and our inheritance.
"The Name of God is my inheritance. God's Name reminds me that I am His Son, not slave to time, unbound by laws which rule the world of sick illusions, free in God, forever and forever One with Him." -- A Course in Miracles, Workbook Lesson 204, 1:1-2
"Repeat the Name of God and call upon your Self, Whose Name is His. Repeat His Name and all the tiny nameless things on earth slip into right perspective." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 183, 5:1-2
It is becoming clearer and clearer each day. The only thing that matters is remembering and remaining anchored in Who I Am. All problems, issues, and challenges point to one thing only: the false self. Only the false self, the conditioned persona, can be victim of illusions. The True Self remains changeless, all powerful and all loving, lacking nothing, confronted with nothing other than Self, in the heaven of endless Oneness and Completion. It is such a joy-filled ride, awakening. Such a kick to relax and realize I Am, and have always been, right here in God, God appearing as and through me, always new, always expanding, yet always complete and whole. There really aren't words in our vocabulary to describe this Beingness and this process of Awakening. Many have tried, simply because the joy of it can't contain ItSelf, and wants to be shared with Self. So forgive me the inadequate symbols, and listen instead to the Truth that shines unimpeded through these words.
The news that we are One and the same as God is not new. Even the Bible has it stated quite clearly: "I say,"You are gods, children of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless you shall die like mortals, and fall like any prince." (The Bible; Psalm 82:6-7) Because we insist on embracing the false identities of separateness and lack and limitation, we die as if we're NOT sons of God, NOT One and forever Whole. And why do we insist on hanging on to a fiction of self that seems to suffer and die? Because it seems safer in our insanity to pretend we're small and at the mercy of our own dream, than to take responsibility for our choice to live in endless illusion, in a shadowy world of projection and skewed perception. Because for as long as the dream has seemed to be, people have been threatened by the Truth of Who We Are.
Look at the following passage from The Bible: "Jesus replied, "I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?" The Jews answered, "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God." Jesus answered, "Is it not written in your own law, "I said, you are gods?" (The Bible; John 10:32-34)
We stone ourselves now, each time we let the inner voice that says, "Who do you think you are?" or "What are you, God?" throw us back into unworthiness and guilt. We are the Sons of God, and God has ONE SON. That is US... not separate little selves, but the Self we are collectively, with all of creation. This Self has a Voice that speaks so clearly in our hearts and minds that it can never be mistaken or forgotten, unless that is what we want and what we choose.
"Sooner or later must everyone bridge the gap he imagines exists between the selves. Each one builds this bridge, which carries him across the [imaginary] gap as soon as he is willing to expend some little effort on behalf of bridging it. You will go through this last [imaginary] undoing quite unharmed, and will at last emerge as your Self." (A Course in Miracles; Chapter 16, Section III, 8:2-3 & IV, 2:3)
There is no gap! How can there be any separation in what is eternally whole and One? If there is One God, and we are gods, then each of us must be a transparency for the One, and for nothing else. All that is required, as ACIM reminds us, is to expend a little effort to remember as we go about our lives. For nothing else is real, and we are not who we thought we were. The Christ, the Son of God, reflects only God. This is our name and our inheritance.
"The Name of God is my inheritance. God's Name reminds me that I am His Son, not slave to time, unbound by laws which rule the world of sick illusions, free in God, forever and forever One with Him." -- A Course in Miracles, Workbook Lesson 204, 1:1-2
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Everything and Nothing
"We thank our Father for one thing alone; that we are separate from no living thing, and therefore One with Him. And we rejoice that no exceptions ever can be made which would reduce our wholeness, nor impair or change our function to complete the One Who is HimSelf completion. We give thanks for every living thing, for otherwise we offer thanks for nothing, and we fail to recognize the gifts of God to us. We have been given everything. If we refuse to recognize it, we are not entitled therefore to our bitterness." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 195, 6:1-3 & 9:2-3
"Simply do this: Be still, and lay aside all thoughts of what you are and what God is; all concepts you have learned about the world; all images you hold about yourself. Empty your mind of everything it thinks is either true or false, or good or bad, or every thought it judges worthy, and all ideas of which it is ashamed. Hold onto nothing. Do not bring with you one thought the past has taught, nor one belief you ever learned before from anything. Forget this world, forget this Course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 189, 7:1-5
I highlighted passages from the above quotes to make a point. We have been given everything, literally... as Beings who live and move and have our Being in Oneness with the Infinite, everything is ours. But to return to an awareness of the Everything that IS, we have to let go of the nothing that ISN'T.
The easiest way to come to this awareness is to just be still. Here I am. I didn't create myself. I am. And so there is an 'I' that exists without effort, that is aware of what comes and goes, but never moves or changes in itSelf. This 'I' holds everything in its awareness. 'I' have been given everything. But as soon as the attention contracts to the specifics of thought, form, judgment, and analysis... as soon as the awareness zooms in and trys to grasp what it is aware of, the 'I' that is aware fades into the background, forgotten and seemingly obscured by the exclusiveness of individuated mind and its thoughts. Only the unconditioned awareness of 'I' is capable of the inclusiveness that returns the awareness to the All, the Everything.
Allness is beyond the grasp of the individuated mind... the me that I think I am. This me is preoccupied with survival and comfort, with being liked or loved, withdrawing into the safety of the familiar. But resting in the Silence of 'I' for only an instant, the Inclusive Self returns to awareness. Everything is Who I Am. As they say in Advaita Vedanta, "I Am That." And in the Bible it says, "I Am That I Am." We have simply to be quiet and allow, "I Am" to rest in unspecific and unconditioned awareness. And let the nothingness of daily thought and identity go. What remains is the simple Truth of Being.
"Nothing is so easy to recognize as Truth. This is the only recognition that is immediate, clear, and natural." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 7, Section XI, 5:7-8
"Simply do this: Be still, and lay aside all thoughts of what you are and what God is; all concepts you have learned about the world; all images you hold about yourself. Empty your mind of everything it thinks is either true or false, or good or bad, or every thought it judges worthy, and all ideas of which it is ashamed. Hold onto nothing. Do not bring with you one thought the past has taught, nor one belief you ever learned before from anything. Forget this world, forget this Course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 189, 7:1-5
I highlighted passages from the above quotes to make a point. We have been given everything, literally... as Beings who live and move and have our Being in Oneness with the Infinite, everything is ours. But to return to an awareness of the Everything that IS, we have to let go of the nothing that ISN'T.
The easiest way to come to this awareness is to just be still. Here I am. I didn't create myself. I am. And so there is an 'I' that exists without effort, that is aware of what comes and goes, but never moves or changes in itSelf. This 'I' holds everything in its awareness. 'I' have been given everything. But as soon as the attention contracts to the specifics of thought, form, judgment, and analysis... as soon as the awareness zooms in and trys to grasp what it is aware of, the 'I' that is aware fades into the background, forgotten and seemingly obscured by the exclusiveness of individuated mind and its thoughts. Only the unconditioned awareness of 'I' is capable of the inclusiveness that returns the awareness to the All, the Everything.
Allness is beyond the grasp of the individuated mind... the me that I think I am. This me is preoccupied with survival and comfort, with being liked or loved, withdrawing into the safety of the familiar. But resting in the Silence of 'I' for only an instant, the Inclusive Self returns to awareness. Everything is Who I Am. As they say in Advaita Vedanta, "I Am That." And in the Bible it says, "I Am That I Am." We have simply to be quiet and allow, "I Am" to rest in unspecific and unconditioned awareness. And let the nothingness of daily thought and identity go. What remains is the simple Truth of Being.
"Nothing is so easy to recognize as Truth. This is the only recognition that is immediate, clear, and natural." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 7, Section XI, 5:7-8
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Grace without Cost
"His Grace the answer is to all despair, for in it lies remembrance of His Love. His gift of Grace is more than just an answer. It restores all memories the sleeping mind forgot; all certainty of what Love's meaning IS." - A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 168, 2:3, 3:5-6
I have seemingly had little work and few new clients for nearly 6 months now. Work is a topic I have been praying about regularly... not just to have it (and I've applied for countless 'jobs'), but to see what errors in my own mind and heart I am seeing reflected in the world. I pray to understand and forgive and heal this seeming lack for all of us, since I know we are One Mind and One Heart. And I know from my direct experience of God that this is not being done TO me (or anyone else). God has given us everything... but I can only receive what I accept. What do I accept as true about work? What do I accept as true about myself? What do I accept as true about God? Do I think these are different subjects, unrelated? Since God is All, they must be One.
In listening to my own thoughts and words on this topic, I realize that even when I talk about changing my perceptions, I say, "I'm working on... (fill in the blank)." Hmmm... Why is it that we associate the word 'work' with words like 'hard' or 'effort' or 'struggle' or 'a work in progress?' Where has all this efforting gotten us? What about the word Grace? What about the Joy of living and moving and having our being in God? What about Grace without cost?
We are created in the image of God. In God we live and move and have our being. This is beyond question, since it is a direct experience NOW. If it's not your direct experience, I urge you to spend time in silence and allow yourself to remember Who You Are, as a reflection of God, as a transparency for God. Never take anyone else's word for this. That's like reading the menu but never actually eating the feast. And Grace, the expression of remembering Who We Are, is the effortless flow of Awareness that pours from this fountain of Joy at the core of our Being. As the quote above reminds us, it's the catalyst for remembering the Love that We Are. Grace has no price and no cost. It's always pouring from within our Being, and requires no effort, no 'work' on ourselves. It is the effortless remembrance of what has always been. We have only to accept it.
As I remember minute-by-minute and day-by-day that Grace has no cost, I soften and open and allow Love to move in my life. I continue to receive unexpected donations for the Sanctuary and for my Spiritual Direction and ACIM Classes. New clients call out of the blue. My books sell more copies and my CD project takes wing as more and more people pre-order. I am loved and nurtured and supported in my work, without efforting. Grace has no cost... we don't have to earn it or be good enough or do it right. We just have to return to our right Mind.
However and wherever we find ourselves, we are in the midst of God. Right where we are is holy ground. That's Grace for you. Grace without cost.
I have seemingly had little work and few new clients for nearly 6 months now. Work is a topic I have been praying about regularly... not just to have it (and I've applied for countless 'jobs'), but to see what errors in my own mind and heart I am seeing reflected in the world. I pray to understand and forgive and heal this seeming lack for all of us, since I know we are One Mind and One Heart. And I know from my direct experience of God that this is not being done TO me (or anyone else). God has given us everything... but I can only receive what I accept. What do I accept as true about work? What do I accept as true about myself? What do I accept as true about God? Do I think these are different subjects, unrelated? Since God is All, they must be One.
In listening to my own thoughts and words on this topic, I realize that even when I talk about changing my perceptions, I say, "I'm working on... (fill in the blank)." Hmmm... Why is it that we associate the word 'work' with words like 'hard' or 'effort' or 'struggle' or 'a work in progress?' Where has all this efforting gotten us? What about the word Grace? What about the Joy of living and moving and having our being in God? What about Grace without cost?
We are created in the image of God. In God we live and move and have our being. This is beyond question, since it is a direct experience NOW. If it's not your direct experience, I urge you to spend time in silence and allow yourself to remember Who You Are, as a reflection of God, as a transparency for God. Never take anyone else's word for this. That's like reading the menu but never actually eating the feast. And Grace, the expression of remembering Who We Are, is the effortless flow of Awareness that pours from this fountain of Joy at the core of our Being. As the quote above reminds us, it's the catalyst for remembering the Love that We Are. Grace has no price and no cost. It's always pouring from within our Being, and requires no effort, no 'work' on ourselves. It is the effortless remembrance of what has always been. We have only to accept it.
As I remember minute-by-minute and day-by-day that Grace has no cost, I soften and open and allow Love to move in my life. I continue to receive unexpected donations for the Sanctuary and for my Spiritual Direction and ACIM Classes. New clients call out of the blue. My books sell more copies and my CD project takes wing as more and more people pre-order. I am loved and nurtured and supported in my work, without efforting. Grace has no cost... we don't have to earn it or be good enough or do it right. We just have to return to our right Mind.
However and wherever we find ourselves, we are in the midst of God. Right where we are is holy ground. That's Grace for you. Grace without cost.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Real Freedom
"Think of the freedom in the recognition that you are not bound by all the strange and twisted laws you have set up to save you. There are no laws except the laws of God. This needs repeating, over and over, until you realize it applies to everything. 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. Hear Him Who tells you this, and realize how foolish are the 'laws' you thought upheld the world you thought you saw." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 76, 3:1, 6:1-2, 9:3-6, 10:1
How did your day begin today? Is your mind clear and clean of all thoughts of what has been or what will be? Is your mind free? The realization that none of our man made laws or rules has any real effect or hold on us is the beginning of real freedom.
Jesus walked the earth with this liberated awareness. He didn't always wash his hands before he ate. He healed on the Sabbath, to the horror of the other rabbis. He hung out with people who were social and political outcasts. He precipitated food and coin and wine out of thin air when needed, seemingly from out of nowhere. He didn't work for a living, and told his disciples that to follow him meant "the son of man has nowhere to lay his head." He didn't need to own anything, because he knew that the Allness of God is omnipresent. He knew that God's laws forever give, and never take. He knew that in the awareness of Allness, whatever is needed is already present.
Questions arise for us: "How can I be expected to live like this? I have to be practical, don't I? It's not freedom to live in fear of what tomorrow will bring, is it?" The Voice of Christ speaks quietly but firmly in answer to our fears: "Peace, be still. Beloved, I am with you always, and all that I have is thine. Not some, but ALL that I have, infinitely and forever, unchanging and always."
Each of us must face these conditioned fears of lack and loss in our own lives, in our individual circumstances. Some might look bigger or scarier than others... some might seem inconsequential in the scheme of things. But don't be fooled. There is no hierarchy of illusions, and there are no projected beliefs that are more or less important than any others, or any more or less true or real. They are all made up, learned, conditioned... all mental constructs without any substance. We may live and move in the world as if they were true, but when we remember God and our true life in God, we remember the infinite freedom in which we live and move and have our being. We are always safe, always fulfilled, and always home. Where else would we be, since God is All?
Every day my prayer is to return to the Truth of Being... that there is only God, and God is All and only Good. That God is Love, and only Love. My prayer is for a deeper awareness of what the omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence of Spirit IS... and for a deeper knowing of the nothingness of all our projected fears and lacks and limitations that make up the so-called laws of the projected world... an illusory world of thought-forms, dreams and imagination without substance. In Reality there is nothing but God, and we live and move and have our Being in God's Oneness. What does that make us?
"Here is the perfect statement of my freedom. 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 Love and Freedom." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 88, 3:2-8
How did your day begin today? Is your mind clear and clean of all thoughts of what has been or what will be? Is your mind free? The realization that none of our man made laws or rules has any real effect or hold on us is the beginning of real freedom.
Jesus walked the earth with this liberated awareness. He didn't always wash his hands before he ate. He healed on the Sabbath, to the horror of the other rabbis. He hung out with people who were social and political outcasts. He precipitated food and coin and wine out of thin air when needed, seemingly from out of nowhere. He didn't work for a living, and told his disciples that to follow him meant "the son of man has nowhere to lay his head." He didn't need to own anything, because he knew that the Allness of God is omnipresent. He knew that God's laws forever give, and never take. He knew that in the awareness of Allness, whatever is needed is already present.
Questions arise for us: "How can I be expected to live like this? I have to be practical, don't I? It's not freedom to live in fear of what tomorrow will bring, is it?" The Voice of Christ speaks quietly but firmly in answer to our fears: "Peace, be still. Beloved, I am with you always, and all that I have is thine. Not some, but ALL that I have, infinitely and forever, unchanging and always."
Each of us must face these conditioned fears of lack and loss in our own lives, in our individual circumstances. Some might look bigger or scarier than others... some might seem inconsequential in the scheme of things. But don't be fooled. There is no hierarchy of illusions, and there are no projected beliefs that are more or less important than any others, or any more or less true or real. They are all made up, learned, conditioned... all mental constructs without any substance. We may live and move in the world as if they were true, but when we remember God and our true life in God, we remember the infinite freedom in which we live and move and have our being. We are always safe, always fulfilled, and always home. Where else would we be, since God is All?
Every day my prayer is to return to the Truth of Being... that there is only God, and God is All and only Good. That God is Love, and only Love. My prayer is for a deeper awareness of what the omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence of Spirit IS... and for a deeper knowing of the nothingness of all our projected fears and lacks and limitations that make up the so-called laws of the projected world... an illusory world of thought-forms, dreams and imagination without substance. In Reality there is nothing but God, and we live and move and have our Being in God's Oneness. What does that make us?
"Here is the perfect statement of my freedom. 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 Love and Freedom." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 88, 3:2-8
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Sailing on Light
"Light carries not just energy but also momentum -- a story told by every comet tail, which consists of dust blown by sunlight from a comet's core." -- Setting Sail into Space, Propelled by Sunshine; by Dennis Overbye for the NY Times, November 10, 2009
"Being must be extended. The Kingdom is forever extending because it is in the Mind of God. Your Self-fulness is as boundless as God's. Like His, It extends forever and in perfect peace. Its radiance is so intense that It creates in perfect joy, and only the whole can be born of Its Wholeness." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 7, Section IX, 2:6, 4:1, & 6:7-9
Sometimes I read a phrase or even a word, and I'm transported or returned. Sometimes it will be a passage of music or the eyes of a friend. Whatever the symbol, whatever the reminder, it returns me momentarily to my Self. It can be anyone, anywhere. It IS everyone, everywhere. And the awareness of expansion, of inclusive vision, IS our natural state. So when I read the above quote in the NY Times this morning, it worked in consciousness like yeast in a loaf of bread...
We are such expansive Beings, living and moving and having our Being in the Mind of God. We are emanations of that Light, in relationship with It like the sunbeam is to the sun. The notion that light has not just energy but momentum is pregnant with meaning for us. It means that just by being what it is, light creates. It means that the simplicity of Being is our vital and essential function, and that function has energy and momentum. We are. We radiate. We extend. Just like our Source.
Unlike our material experience with its limited life spans, ideas expand and extend without limit when they're shared. We're spiritual creations, ideas in the Mind of God, and are blessed with each other to allow the Love and Light that is the core of our Being to extend and emanate forever. As it says in Christian liturgy, "Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen." We're still always and only talking about the Oneness and Allness of God. The Son emanates from the Source, and Spirit extends, expands, communicates and expresses. To paraphrase the quote from the NY Times, the Allness of Being (God) extends ItSelf through energy and momentum that are forever One with their Source.
What does this mean for us? Or is this just a beautiful abstraction? Oh, it's so much more than that. It's an affirmation of the simplicitiy of Being, a reminder that all our human machinations are beside the point. That whatever we do, wherever we find ourselves in our human drama, Who we are is untouched and eternal and forever emanating the Light of God. It's not ours to decide. It's not ours to do. It's simply ours to BE.
Let there be Light. I Am as God created me. I Am Being, sailing on Light, extending as the Light and Love of God. No other prayer is needed.
"God is All in all in a very literal sense. All being is in Him Who IS all Being." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 7, Section IV, 7:4-5
"Being must be extended. The Kingdom is forever extending because it is in the Mind of God. Your Self-fulness is as boundless as God's. Like His, It extends forever and in perfect peace. Its radiance is so intense that It creates in perfect joy, and only the whole can be born of Its Wholeness." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 7, Section IX, 2:6, 4:1, & 6:7-9
Sometimes I read a phrase or even a word, and I'm transported or returned. Sometimes it will be a passage of music or the eyes of a friend. Whatever the symbol, whatever the reminder, it returns me momentarily to my Self. It can be anyone, anywhere. It IS everyone, everywhere. And the awareness of expansion, of inclusive vision, IS our natural state. So when I read the above quote in the NY Times this morning, it worked in consciousness like yeast in a loaf of bread...
We are such expansive Beings, living and moving and having our Being in the Mind of God. We are emanations of that Light, in relationship with It like the sunbeam is to the sun. The notion that light has not just energy but momentum is pregnant with meaning for us. It means that just by being what it is, light creates. It means that the simplicity of Being is our vital and essential function, and that function has energy and momentum. We are. We radiate. We extend. Just like our Source.
Unlike our material experience with its limited life spans, ideas expand and extend without limit when they're shared. We're spiritual creations, ideas in the Mind of God, and are blessed with each other to allow the Love and Light that is the core of our Being to extend and emanate forever. As it says in Christian liturgy, "Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen." We're still always and only talking about the Oneness and Allness of God. The Son emanates from the Source, and Spirit extends, expands, communicates and expresses. To paraphrase the quote from the NY Times, the Allness of Being (God) extends ItSelf through energy and momentum that are forever One with their Source.
What does this mean for us? Or is this just a beautiful abstraction? Oh, it's so much more than that. It's an affirmation of the simplicitiy of Being, a reminder that all our human machinations are beside the point. That whatever we do, wherever we find ourselves in our human drama, Who we are is untouched and eternal and forever emanating the Light of God. It's not ours to decide. It's not ours to do. It's simply ours to BE.
Let there be Light. I Am as God created me. I Am Being, sailing on Light, extending as the Light and Love of God. No other prayer is needed.
"God is All in all in a very literal sense. All being is in Him Who IS all Being." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 7, Section IV, 7:4-5
Friday, July 17, 2009
Breaking the Shell
"If you want the kernel you must break the shell." -- Meister Eckhardt
We don't much like to talk about what's uncomfortable in our lives. Or if we do like to complain about it, it's to project it outward and blame it on others. It usually never occurs to us that these uncomfortable places are the shells that hide the Truth in us. And we certainly don't want to admit that these shells are our own creations, or that our greatest fear is the loss of them.
Sometimes we call these shells identities. Sometimes we call them stories. Sometimes we call them viewpoints, or perspectives. Usually we call it all ego. But we never, ever take full responsibility for it. We'll grasp for other opinions and viewpoints, look for other ways to talk about it and escape our discomfort... but we don't really want to break the shells. We don't really want to change. We don't really want to know the Truth.
Accepting our own attachment to the shell we call self is one of the final steps in Awakening. To really see the depth of our own compulsion to identify with a fiction and cling to it... this is the cracking of the shell. Often a dark night of the soul can follow this, which is simply a last-ditch effort to remain identified with what isn't real, to continue to pretend to be finite and lacking, or lost and misunderstood. It's all made up. There is no self that has ever been separate or lost. There is no sinner, no victim. Ever. And the ocean of infinite Awareness that is revealed as the shell breaks open is the Allness of God, Truth ItSelf. What is revealed is our very own Self... eternal, perfect, and forever free.
So if you find yourself telling the same stories with different trappings, engaging the same types of people with different names or faces, having the same experiences with different surroundings, it's simply because it's your fiction, your creation... it's the projection and reflection of your ego identity, your shell. Who you think you are is reflected in your projected experiences. This may be experienced as good, or it may be painful. There isn't any difference. Because if you think you are anything less than One with God, if you are identifying yourself as needing to be or become anything other than Self, then you are simply fantasizing and building a harder shell and defending against the Truth of Being. And that is always, and will always be, uncomfortable.
So the uncomfortable places, the things and people we avoid, the fears of loss or lack or abandonment we run from, the changes we refuse to make, the relationships we cling to, the truth we avoid telling... these are our own ego-tools for self-enhancement, the illusory substance of our fictional shell-selves. They are the defenses we use to keep spinning, spinning, spinning in the shell without becoming aware of it. Because once we become aware of the depth of our own self-deception, the imaginary shell simply vanishes.
"The choice you fear to lose you never had." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 27, Section III, 7:4
We don't much like to talk about what's uncomfortable in our lives. Or if we do like to complain about it, it's to project it outward and blame it on others. It usually never occurs to us that these uncomfortable places are the shells that hide the Truth in us. And we certainly don't want to admit that these shells are our own creations, or that our greatest fear is the loss of them.
Sometimes we call these shells identities. Sometimes we call them stories. Sometimes we call them viewpoints, or perspectives. Usually we call it all ego. But we never, ever take full responsibility for it. We'll grasp for other opinions and viewpoints, look for other ways to talk about it and escape our discomfort... but we don't really want to break the shells. We don't really want to change. We don't really want to know the Truth.
Accepting our own attachment to the shell we call self is one of the final steps in Awakening. To really see the depth of our own compulsion to identify with a fiction and cling to it... this is the cracking of the shell. Often a dark night of the soul can follow this, which is simply a last-ditch effort to remain identified with what isn't real, to continue to pretend to be finite and lacking, or lost and misunderstood. It's all made up. There is no self that has ever been separate or lost. There is no sinner, no victim. Ever. And the ocean of infinite Awareness that is revealed as the shell breaks open is the Allness of God, Truth ItSelf. What is revealed is our very own Self... eternal, perfect, and forever free.
So if you find yourself telling the same stories with different trappings, engaging the same types of people with different names or faces, having the same experiences with different surroundings, it's simply because it's your fiction, your creation... it's the projection and reflection of your ego identity, your shell. Who you think you are is reflected in your projected experiences. This may be experienced as good, or it may be painful. There isn't any difference. Because if you think you are anything less than One with God, if you are identifying yourself as needing to be or become anything other than Self, then you are simply fantasizing and building a harder shell and defending against the Truth of Being. And that is always, and will always be, uncomfortable.
So the uncomfortable places, the things and people we avoid, the fears of loss or lack or abandonment we run from, the changes we refuse to make, the relationships we cling to, the truth we avoid telling... these are our own ego-tools for self-enhancement, the illusory substance of our fictional shell-selves. They are the defenses we use to keep spinning, spinning, spinning in the shell without becoming aware of it. Because once we become aware of the depth of our own self-deception, the imaginary shell simply vanishes.
"The choice you fear to lose you never had." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 27, Section III, 7:4
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Love Without End
"With each one, each day, be born again." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 13, Section X, 5:2
A forehead resting on mine. A touch that speaks volumes. I'm so accustomed to communicating with my body, to processing information through my body, that I sometimes forget Who is really here. Yet these moments of presence with another human being are the portal to remembering.
Here, now, Love is. And we can love only as God loves, be loved only as God loves. "Love is not special. If you single out part of the Sonship for your love, you are imposing guilt on your relationships and making them unreal. Until you recognize that this is true, you will have no idea what love is like." (ACIM; Chapter 13, Section X, 11:2-3, 6)
Here now, Love is. Experienced within all relationships, it's the reflection of the Allness and Oneness of God's Love. There are no exceptions, no limits, no exclusions, nothing to grasp or hold onto. Simply Love without beginning or end.
"Together we shine with brightness so intense that none of us alone can even think of it." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 13, Section X, 14:2
A forehead resting on mine. A touch that speaks volumes. I'm so accustomed to communicating with my body, to processing information through my body, that I sometimes forget Who is really here. Yet these moments of presence with another human being are the portal to remembering.
Here, now, Love is. And we can love only as God loves, be loved only as God loves. "Love is not special. If you single out part of the Sonship for your love, you are imposing guilt on your relationships and making them unreal. Until you recognize that this is true, you will have no idea what love is like." (ACIM; Chapter 13, Section X, 11:2-3, 6)
Here now, Love is. Experienced within all relationships, it's the reflection of the Allness and Oneness of God's Love. There are no exceptions, no limits, no exclusions, nothing to grasp or hold onto. Simply Love without beginning or end.
"Together we shine with brightness so intense that none of us alone can even think of it." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 13, Section X, 14:2
Monday, July 6, 2009
Deeper and Deeper
"I choose the joy of God instead of pain." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 190
This morning while showering I had an image of a spring of water bubbling up out of the earth. Wherever springs bubble up, watercress will grow. It will only grow in the purest of spring water. The joy of God is like that... it bubbles up from deep within us, but we're only aware of it when we let go of all our stories and judgements about ourselves and the world. Happiness and fulfillment can only be known in this purest of springs. Joy bubbles up in us continually and permanently... but we become aware of it when we allow it, from deeper and deeper within our True Self.
This joyful awareness of our Oneness with All appears to deepen over time. I say appears, because the eternal is the same yesterday, today, and always... it's only our perception that's expanding and deepening, to remember what has always been. But this experience of deeper and deeper, immersed in the oceanic feeling of Spirit, filled with the bubbling bliss of joy, timeless and eternal... it feels new every day. God has been described by many as 'ever-new joy.'
What possible phenomena could attract my attention when I'm filled with such divine contentment? What possible need could there be in the midst of such divine completeness? What is there to do? Where is there to go? What is there to say? Who else is there to be? All that remains is the bliss of deeper and deeper awareness of effortless, endless, ever-new, bubbling joy. Deeper and deeper into Self. Effortless and free.
"Your Self is radiant in this holy joy; unchanged, unchanging, and unchangeable, forever and forever." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 190, 6:5
This morning while showering I had an image of a spring of water bubbling up out of the earth. Wherever springs bubble up, watercress will grow. It will only grow in the purest of spring water. The joy of God is like that... it bubbles up from deep within us, but we're only aware of it when we let go of all our stories and judgements about ourselves and the world. Happiness and fulfillment can only be known in this purest of springs. Joy bubbles up in us continually and permanently... but we become aware of it when we allow it, from deeper and deeper within our True Self.
This joyful awareness of our Oneness with All appears to deepen over time. I say appears, because the eternal is the same yesterday, today, and always... it's only our perception that's expanding and deepening, to remember what has always been. But this experience of deeper and deeper, immersed in the oceanic feeling of Spirit, filled with the bubbling bliss of joy, timeless and eternal... it feels new every day. God has been described by many as 'ever-new joy.'
What possible phenomena could attract my attention when I'm filled with such divine contentment? What possible need could there be in the midst of such divine completeness? What is there to do? Where is there to go? What is there to say? Who else is there to be? All that remains is the bliss of deeper and deeper awareness of effortless, endless, ever-new, bubbling joy. Deeper and deeper into Self. Effortless and free.
"Your Self is radiant in this holy joy; unchanged, unchanging, and unchangeable, forever and forever." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 190, 6:5
Friday, June 5, 2009
Just Like Him
"Whenever you question your value, say: God HimSelf is incomplete without me." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 9, Section VII, 8:1-2
When we meet someone's children, it's very common for us to comment on how much like the parents the children are. "Oh, he's just like his father," we like to say. We find no cause for surprise in this... it's expected. And yet we base our religions on how unlike God we are... we're expected to focus on the litany of our shortcomings and sins, and to accept that we'll always fall short of the glory of God. We're expected to bow and recite and genuflect to this parent that we are nothing like... it's like being the ultimate foster child with a very stern, dysfunctional parent. It makes no sense at all.
The Reality of God isn't father or mother... God is Infinite Mind, Infinite Awareness, the Ocean of Consciousness in which we live and move and have our being. We speak of God as He only because we don't have a gender neutral pronoun in our language. I often use Self, because it describes most accurately our very Real relationship with this Infinite Awareness that we are. All our self-created individual identities veil this relationship, but do not and cannot sever it.
Our individuality was never meant to be separate... simply a current in the larger Awareness of Self, like a current in the ocean. The current is still ocean, and is completely dependent on the ocean to be at all. The current has all the qualities of ocean. Through the act of clinging to separate identities as autonomous and finite, we seem to lose our memory of the infinite nature of Self. But thank God our memory remains, unnoticed, like something so familiar and obvious that we no longer pay attention to it. And when our attention returns, when we forgive and release our stories of a separate self even temporarily, in that sacred stillness we discover our very own Self... closer than breathing, nearer than hands or feet.
So the gist of all this is that we can have no real qualities or attributes that we don't share with God. We share the Wholeness, the Wisdom, the Peace, the Joy, the all-encompassing Love. God is All-Inclusive. And we (every living thing) are currents in the Mind of God, reflections of the Infinite nature of our True Self. We are chips off the proverbial block, the spitting image of our Source. We are just like Him.
"No attribute of His remains unshared by everything that lives." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 156, 3:2
When we meet someone's children, it's very common for us to comment on how much like the parents the children are. "Oh, he's just like his father," we like to say. We find no cause for surprise in this... it's expected. And yet we base our religions on how unlike God we are... we're expected to focus on the litany of our shortcomings and sins, and to accept that we'll always fall short of the glory of God. We're expected to bow and recite and genuflect to this parent that we are nothing like... it's like being the ultimate foster child with a very stern, dysfunctional parent. It makes no sense at all.
The Reality of God isn't father or mother... God is Infinite Mind, Infinite Awareness, the Ocean of Consciousness in which we live and move and have our being. We speak of God as He only because we don't have a gender neutral pronoun in our language. I often use Self, because it describes most accurately our very Real relationship with this Infinite Awareness that we are. All our self-created individual identities veil this relationship, but do not and cannot sever it.
Our individuality was never meant to be separate... simply a current in the larger Awareness of Self, like a current in the ocean. The current is still ocean, and is completely dependent on the ocean to be at all. The current has all the qualities of ocean. Through the act of clinging to separate identities as autonomous and finite, we seem to lose our memory of the infinite nature of Self. But thank God our memory remains, unnoticed, like something so familiar and obvious that we no longer pay attention to it. And when our attention returns, when we forgive and release our stories of a separate self even temporarily, in that sacred stillness we discover our very own Self... closer than breathing, nearer than hands or feet.
So the gist of all this is that we can have no real qualities or attributes that we don't share with God. We share the Wholeness, the Wisdom, the Peace, the Joy, the all-encompassing Love. God is All-Inclusive. And we (every living thing) are currents in the Mind of God, reflections of the Infinite nature of our True Self. We are chips off the proverbial block, the spitting image of our Source. We are just like Him.
"No attribute of His remains unshared by everything that lives." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 156, 3:2
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Constant Comfort
"The miracle establishes you dream a dream, and that its content is not true. This is a crucial step in dealing with illusions. No one is afraid of them when he perceives he made them up." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 28, Section II, 7:1-3
"The world is full of miracles. They stand in shining silence next to every dream of pain and suffering, of sin and guilt. They are the dream's alternative, the choice to be the dreamer, rather than deny the active role in making up the dream. Beginning here, salvation will proceed to change the course of every step in the descent to separation, until all the steps have been retraced, the ladder gone, and all the dreaming of the world undone." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 28, Section II, 12:1-3, 7
When I was very small, comfort was hanging out under the trees, or in the barn with the animals. There was no pressure to be or do anything there... just the constant comfort of natural rhythms and living in the moment. Now I realize that the comfort I experienced was the miracle of the holy instant... a glimpse of reality that is always available to us. Miracles show us the constant comfort of reality behind every appearance.
What we consider our normal, everyday perceptions and activities are the dreams we choose to immerse ourselves in, to absorb our attention so completely that we aren't aware of our true Self. It's like immersing yourself in a good book, a good story (or a scary one); you become so involved you're no longer conscious or aware of who or where you really are. It's interesting, isn't it, that we live in a world that so values the ability to lose oneself in a book or a movie? Dreams beget dreams... worlds within worlds...
There is constant comfort in knowing that none of it is true. There is constant comfort in resting in what IS. There is constant comfort in knowing Who We Are: "You are One Self, united and secure in light and joy and peace. You are God's Son, One Self, with One Creator and one goal; to bring awareness of this Oneness to all minds." (ACIM; Workbook Lesson 95, 12:1-2) To remember this, and to make it primary in our lives... this IS the miracle. And it extends beyond our imagining.
"You are One Self, and it is given you to feel this Self within you, and to cast all your illusions out of the One Mind that is this Self, the holy Truth in you." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 95, 13:3
"The world is full of miracles. They stand in shining silence next to every dream of pain and suffering, of sin and guilt. They are the dream's alternative, the choice to be the dreamer, rather than deny the active role in making up the dream. Beginning here, salvation will proceed to change the course of every step in the descent to separation, until all the steps have been retraced, the ladder gone, and all the dreaming of the world undone." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 28, Section II, 12:1-3, 7
When I was very small, comfort was hanging out under the trees, or in the barn with the animals. There was no pressure to be or do anything there... just the constant comfort of natural rhythms and living in the moment. Now I realize that the comfort I experienced was the miracle of the holy instant... a glimpse of reality that is always available to us. Miracles show us the constant comfort of reality behind every appearance.
What we consider our normal, everyday perceptions and activities are the dreams we choose to immerse ourselves in, to absorb our attention so completely that we aren't aware of our true Self. It's like immersing yourself in a good book, a good story (or a scary one); you become so involved you're no longer conscious or aware of who or where you really are. It's interesting, isn't it, that we live in a world that so values the ability to lose oneself in a book or a movie? Dreams beget dreams... worlds within worlds...
There is constant comfort in knowing that none of it is true. There is constant comfort in resting in what IS. There is constant comfort in knowing Who We Are: "You are One Self, united and secure in light and joy and peace. You are God's Son, One Self, with One Creator and one goal; to bring awareness of this Oneness to all minds." (ACIM; Workbook Lesson 95, 12:1-2) To remember this, and to make it primary in our lives... this IS the miracle. And it extends beyond our imagining.
"You are One Self, and it is given you to feel this Self within you, and to cast all your illusions out of the One Mind that is this Self, the holy Truth in you." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 95, 13:3
Monday, April 27, 2009
The Script is Written
"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them." -- The Bible; Genesis 2:1
"Christ's vision has one law. It does not look upon a body, and mistake it for the Son whom God created. It beholds a light beyond the body; an idea beyond what can be touched, a purity undimmed by errors, pitiful mistakes, and fearful thoughts of guilt from dreams of sin. It sees no separation. And it looks on everyone, on every circumstance, all happenings and all events, without the slightest fading of the light it sees. This can be taught; and must be taught by all who would achieve it." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 158, 7:1-5 & 8:1
Creation is finished. The script is written. We are complete. Our reality is a perfect Idea, a Light that can't be touched or changed or screwed up. Whew.
Alright, so most days it really doesn't feel like it. Most days we're caught up in the serial adventures of seeming... we seem to be limited by our body, by our circumstances, by life itself. None of this seeming is true at all, and is our own projection, cleverly designed by our longing for autonomy to distract and defend against the Truth. We want to be separate and special, and we want to stay that way, to defend our little scrap of nothing... even at the cost of Everything.
A Course in Miracles asks us this pertinent question: "How long can it take to be where God would have you be? For you are where you have forever been and will forever be. All that you have, you have forever." (ACIM; Chapter 15, Section II, 3:1-3) To relax and remember and BE takes no time and no effort at all. We remain, eternally, as God created us. Creation is finished. The script is already written!
We spend our days giving time and attention and resources to valueless habits and relationships. Through forgiveness, we sort the wheat from the chaff. And each of us begins to realize that "many, if not most of the things he valued before will merely hinder his ability to transfer what he has learned to new situations as they arise. Because he has valued the valueless, he will not generalize the lesson for fear of loss and sacrifice." (ACIM; Manual for Teachers 4.I.A. 4:3-4) We don't allow ourselves to remember what we already know, what we already are, because we don't want to 'lose' any of our cherished illusions. We fear the loss of nothing. So we exclude huge chunks of our life and relationships from Truth. We try to keep them separate.
The decision to use time only for Awakening is a monumental one. Are we willing to walk our talk? Are we willing to give our time and attention, our abilities and our relationships, and yes, even our money to the Holy Spirit to use solely for Truth? Everything has to be translated, since this is a world of illusion, a world of distorted perception of what we really are. Dissolving all illusion to reveal what has always been remains the only purpose of everything in this dream we call life. Because there really is nothing else. We remain perfect, as God created us, an idea beyond what can be touched. Creation is finished. The script is already written!
"Time is a trick, a sleight of hand, a vast illusion in which figures come and go as if by magic. Yet there is a plan behind appearances that does not change. The script is written." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 158, 4:1-3
"Christ's vision has one law. It does not look upon a body, and mistake it for the Son whom God created. It beholds a light beyond the body; an idea beyond what can be touched, a purity undimmed by errors, pitiful mistakes, and fearful thoughts of guilt from dreams of sin. It sees no separation. And it looks on everyone, on every circumstance, all happenings and all events, without the slightest fading of the light it sees. This can be taught; and must be taught by all who would achieve it." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 158, 7:1-5 & 8:1
Creation is finished. The script is written. We are complete. Our reality is a perfect Idea, a Light that can't be touched or changed or screwed up. Whew.
Alright, so most days it really doesn't feel like it. Most days we're caught up in the serial adventures of seeming... we seem to be limited by our body, by our circumstances, by life itself. None of this seeming is true at all, and is our own projection, cleverly designed by our longing for autonomy to distract and defend against the Truth. We want to be separate and special, and we want to stay that way, to defend our little scrap of nothing... even at the cost of Everything.
A Course in Miracles asks us this pertinent question: "How long can it take to be where God would have you be? For you are where you have forever been and will forever be. All that you have, you have forever." (ACIM; Chapter 15, Section II, 3:1-3) To relax and remember and BE takes no time and no effort at all. We remain, eternally, as God created us. Creation is finished. The script is already written!
We spend our days giving time and attention and resources to valueless habits and relationships. Through forgiveness, we sort the wheat from the chaff. And each of us begins to realize that "many, if not most of the things he valued before will merely hinder his ability to transfer what he has learned to new situations as they arise. Because he has valued the valueless, he will not generalize the lesson for fear of loss and sacrifice." (ACIM; Manual for Teachers 4.I.A. 4:3-4) We don't allow ourselves to remember what we already know, what we already are, because we don't want to 'lose' any of our cherished illusions. We fear the loss of nothing. So we exclude huge chunks of our life and relationships from Truth. We try to keep them separate.
The decision to use time only for Awakening is a monumental one. Are we willing to walk our talk? Are we willing to give our time and attention, our abilities and our relationships, and yes, even our money to the Holy Spirit to use solely for Truth? Everything has to be translated, since this is a world of illusion, a world of distorted perception of what we really are. Dissolving all illusion to reveal what has always been remains the only purpose of everything in this dream we call life. Because there really is nothing else. We remain perfect, as God created us, an idea beyond what can be touched. Creation is finished. The script is already written!
"Time is a trick, a sleight of hand, a vast illusion in which figures come and go as if by magic. Yet there is a plan behind appearances that does not change. The script is written." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 158, 4:1-3
Friday, April 17, 2009
Being True to what is True
"Everyone stumbles over the truth from time to time, but most people pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened." -- Winston Churchill
"What can correct illusions but Truth? And what are errors but illusions that remain unrecognized for what they are? Where Truth has entered errors disappear. They merely vanish, leaving not a trace by which to be remembered. They are gone because, without belief, they have no life." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 107, 1:1-5
How often in this world have you stumbled onto the truth about something or someone, and yet continued on as if it weren't true, in complete denial? How often have we ignored what we know to be true in order to fit in, or to please someone else? How dearly we have paid for our unwillingness to face the truth in the dream. Yet the real Truth is the real issue. Our sacrifice of self in the dream is nothing. The seeming sacrifice of Our True Self is why we all seem to suffer.
Our serial dreams and stories, our serial relationships, and all that seems to occur... these are simply the smokescreen, the projection to cover our real denial. We have denied Who We Are and Where We Are. We have all had moments of remembering God. And yet we pick ourselves up and promptly forget about it, and act like nothing happened. We remain true to our stories and our addictions. We have not been true to what is True. Our attention and our time return to what is false, again and again. And so we suffer. We suffer until we WILL to remember. We suffer until we return our time and attention to what is True. We suffer until we cease to value the false.
We will continue to walk in dreams and their stories for a while. But when our love and attention remain on what is True, the stories have a different meaning. And our projections are returned to Oneness, to Truth. Now the Awakening of the Son of God is what all dreams are for. We go where Self leads us, and listen to the Voice of Truth within us. We value our Awareness of God, of Good, of Oneness... and the stories of the dream are simply many ways to forgive and return to this Awareness.
There's nothing difficult or complex about it. Being true to what is True is the only simple, natural thing in all this seemingly complex dream.
"Complexity is not of God. How could it be, when all He knows is One? He knows of One Creation, One Reality, One Truth, and but One Son. Nothing conflicts with Oneness. How, then, could there be complexity in Him? What is there to decide? For it is conflict that makes choice possible. The Truth is simple; it is One, without an opposite. The Truth makes no decisions because there is nothing to decide between. What is Everything leaves room for nothing else." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 26, Section III, 1:1-8, 10, 12
"What can correct illusions but Truth? And what are errors but illusions that remain unrecognized for what they are? Where Truth has entered errors disappear. They merely vanish, leaving not a trace by which to be remembered. They are gone because, without belief, they have no life." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook Lesson 107, 1:1-5
How often in this world have you stumbled onto the truth about something or someone, and yet continued on as if it weren't true, in complete denial? How often have we ignored what we know to be true in order to fit in, or to please someone else? How dearly we have paid for our unwillingness to face the truth in the dream. Yet the real Truth is the real issue. Our sacrifice of self in the dream is nothing. The seeming sacrifice of Our True Self is why we all seem to suffer.
Our serial dreams and stories, our serial relationships, and all that seems to occur... these are simply the smokescreen, the projection to cover our real denial. We have denied Who We Are and Where We Are. We have all had moments of remembering God. And yet we pick ourselves up and promptly forget about it, and act like nothing happened. We remain true to our stories and our addictions. We have not been true to what is True. Our attention and our time return to what is false, again and again. And so we suffer. We suffer until we WILL to remember. We suffer until we return our time and attention to what is True. We suffer until we cease to value the false.
We will continue to walk in dreams and their stories for a while. But when our love and attention remain on what is True, the stories have a different meaning. And our projections are returned to Oneness, to Truth. Now the Awakening of the Son of God is what all dreams are for. We go where Self leads us, and listen to the Voice of Truth within us. We value our Awareness of God, of Good, of Oneness... and the stories of the dream are simply many ways to forgive and return to this Awareness.
There's nothing difficult or complex about it. Being true to what is True is the only simple, natural thing in all this seemingly complex dream.
"Complexity is not of God. How could it be, when all He knows is One? He knows of One Creation, One Reality, One Truth, and but One Son. Nothing conflicts with Oneness. How, then, could there be complexity in Him? What is there to decide? For it is conflict that makes choice possible. The Truth is simple; it is One, without an opposite. The Truth makes no decisions because there is nothing to decide between. What is Everything leaves room for nothing else." -- A Course in Miracles; Chapter 26, Section III, 1:1-8, 10, 12
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