Here are some answers to questions that we all may have at one time or another...Help is available from within, but perhaps a word or two of inspired thought from the Course can bring us to a state of readiness to HEAR.
What is a helpful piece of advice for every single person on the planet, no matter where he finds himself, or who he thinks he is?
“I am responsible for what I see. I choose the feelings I experience, and I decide upon the goal I would achieve. And everything that seems to happen to me I ask for, and receive as I have asked.”T-21.II.2
What is a helpful piece of advice for every single person in emotional turmoil?
“Step gently aside, and let healing be done for you. Keep but one thought in mind and do not lose sight of it, however tempted you may be to judge any situation, and to determine your response by judging it. Focus your mind only on this:
I am not alone, and I would not intrude the past upon my Guest.
I have invited Him, and He is here.
I need do nothing except not to interfere.”T-16.I.3
What is a helpful piece of advice for every single person who has seen the Light and wants to show the world?
“To teach is to demonstrate. There are only two thought systems, and you demonstrate that you believe one or the other is true all the time.”M-in.2
What is a helpful piece of advice in choosing our thought systems?
“There can be no conflict between sanity and insanity.Only one is true, and therefore only one is real. The ego tries to persuade you that it is up to you to decide which voice is true, but the Holy Spirit teaches you that truth was created by God, and your decision cannot change it.”T-6.B.V.6
What is a helpful piece of advice for the angry and the ones who attack?
“You are the Will of God. Do not accept anything else as your will, or you are denying what you are. Deny this and you will attack, believing you have been attacked.” T-7.VII.10
“Remember that those who attack are poor.”T-12.III.3:3
“To identify with the ego is to attack your self and make yourself poor.”T-12.III.6
What is a helpful piece of advice for the desolate or poverty stricken?
“By giving you receive. But to receive is to accept, not to get. It is impossible not to have, but it is possible not to know you have.” T-9.II.11
And what is helpful for the ones who lack faith, despite all the Answers available to him?
“Give faith to your brother, for faith and hope and mercy are yours to give. Into the hands that give, the gift is given.” T-19.IV.D.17
“It will never happen that you must make decisions for yourself. You are not bereft of help, and Help that knows the answer.” T-14.III.11
You are Not at Home Here
What happens in this world is not hard to see; death, destruction, deception, hatred, hunger, anger, loneliness, sadness, and terror are a part of this world.We cannot deny this is true, and yet we continue each day to believe that some how this is the world that God has made and by our ability to get through it without ‘sinning’ we shall be saved.
The ego, who is as powerful a thought as Spirit, can keep your awareness of this empty and sinning world in the forefront, if you don’t choose to question everything you see, hear and think.You have a Mind, above it all, that knows this world is the ego’s world, and you are not at Home here.
The sun is but a painted ball in the sky compared to the Son that you are.The moon is but a whisper in the night, of your true Brightness. The world, a flattened cardboard box, on which we draw the figures of heroes and demons, and believe ourselves always to be the hero of the dream.
But the hero is Spirit, and he cannot be known in darkness.
If you think the ego does not apply conscious effort to draw upon this cardboard box of a world, and to subvert the Son of God’s faithfulness from only Goodness and Light to darkness and shadows, think again. When you begin to honestly question every aspect of society, from politics, to entertainment, religion, to the media to our government and its many faces, you will quickly see the common thread of the ego’s subversive nature, to keep us in the dark without the Light of the Son.
Your choice is simple; will you follow the ego’s thought for another lifetime, choosing again to see a world based on fear? Or will you choose this time, to awaken to your Real Nature and see the Real World, and be the Real Thought that you are?
I will be adding to this website soon, examples of the darkness for you to look at. I will choose either a current movie, a news story, a governmental policy, or perhaps a politicians words, and point out the ego’s thought system to see it is clearly subversive and dark.
This is not to judge, condemn or punish the Son of God, who is invulnerable to these attacks of ego, but to light the way of Spirit, by looking straight at the ego and its many tricks!It is one ego we share after all, with many faces.
But Spirit is One Spirit, and only one face; Love. All else we see, or feel, or hear, is a trick in the darkened glass of the ego’s world, to keep your awareness far from Love.
Let’s look at it, and watch it disappear into the nothingness from which it came.
Dialogue on Conflict (All words quoted are from A Course in Miracles)
I have heard it said by all wise ones that the way to peace of mind and peace for all the world, is by turning the other cheek to the one who attacks. Why does this work? It seems that to remain strong, we must fight to keep our peace.
“Only love is strong because it is undivided.The strong do not attack because they see no need to do so.”T-12.V:1
But is not there a need, when we have been attacked, to defend? What if someone purposefully shouts insults at me, or hurts my friend’s feelings?I am stronger if I show them that they cannot attack me, and so I must defend or attack back.
“Before the idea of attack can enter your mind, you must have perceived yourself as weak.Because you attacked yourself and believed the attack was effective you behold yourself as weakened.” T-12.V.1:3
So I believed myself to be weak, and by this, I attack myself!I never thought of that. I do see how my attack on anyone could only make me feel weakened since by attacking another, I am believing that attack can weaken me.Well, it can, can’t it?
“This is why the recognition of your own invulnerability is so important to the restoration of your sanity.For if you accept your invulnerability, you are recognizing that attack has no effect. Although you attacked yourself, you will be demonstrating that nothing really happened.” T-12.V.2
So what does this teach me?
“Once you realize this, you will no longer see any sense in attack, for it manifestly does not work and cannot protect you.Yet the recognition of your invulnerability has more than negative value.If your attacks on yourself have failed to weaken you, you are still strong.You therefore have no need to equalize the situation to establish your strength.” T-12.V.2:5
Equalizing the situation is only necessary if I feel weaker than my brother when he attacks me,and if I am aware that love is strong, then I won’t feel weaker no matter what he does? But how do I remain truly aware of Love and thereby not feel weak? It seems I love people, and myself.Is this not enough?
“The Holy Spirit’s Love is your strength, for yours is divided and therefore not real.” T-12.V.4
Why is my Love divided?
“You do not know the meaning of love and that is your handicap.Do not attempt to teach yourself what you do not understand and do not try to set up curriculum goals where yours have clearly failed.Your learning goal has been not to learn and this cannot lead to successful learning.”T-12.V.6
I thought I did want to learn and that is why I am asking you.
“I have said the ego’s rule is, “Seek and do not find.” Translated into curricular terms this means “Try to learn, but do not succeed.”T-12.V.7
So I am failing the course in finding Peace by not knowing how to learn or perhaps I do not know what it is I am seeking.Which is it?
“…perhaps you do not realize, even yet, that there is something you want to learn, and that you can learn it because it is your choice to do so.”T-12.V.7:11“You who have tried to learn what you do not want should take heart, for although the curriculum you set yourself is depressing indeed, it is merely ridiculous if you look at it. T-12.V.8
So, I am trying to learn to have peace but you are saying I do not really want it.And because I don’t want it, I won’t find it.Makes sense, if I were nuts!But I am not! Am I?
“The learning situation in which you placed yourself is impossible, and in this situation you clearly require a special Teacher and a special curriculum.” T-12.V.5:4
So what shall I do?
“Resign now as your own teacher.This resignation will not lead to depression.”T-12.V.8:3
If I resign, how do I live in this world, full of egos with ego goals and ego rules?
“The ego is trying to teach you how to gain the whole world and lose your own soul.The Holy Spirit teaches you that you cannot lose your soul and there is no gain in the world, for of itself, it profits nothing.To invest without profit is surely to impoverish yourself and the overhead is high.” T-12.VI.1
I see how it does impoverish.Sometimes, it feels like such an uphill battle. People being angry, wars being fought, murders, threats of disease, loneliness, sleeplessness, the list is endless in the world of ego’s goals.They do seem a silly reason to lose my soul.
“You cannot sell your soul, but you can sell your awareness of it.” T-12.VI.1:6
You mean it can never be lost?It seems forever lost in this crazy, meaningless world of attack and defense.
”You cannot perceive your soul, but you will not know it while you perceive something else as more valuable.” T-12.VI.1:7
I must learn to stop valuing the valueless and be strong in Spirit, not needing to fight, or argue, or search for anything.
“The Holy Spirit is your strength because He knows nothing but the spirit as you.He is perfectly aware that you do not know yourself and perfectly aware of how to teach you to remember what you are.Because He loves you, He will gladly teach you what He loves, for He wills to share it. Remembering you always, He cannot let you forget your worth.”
T-12.VI.2
That is wonderful! Why do I not listen to Him, and instead feel that I must defend against the world, or attack the world if it attacks me?
”You do not want the world.The only part of value in it is whatever part of it you look upon with love.This gives it the only reality it will ever have.” T-12.VI.3
If I don’t want the world, why do I live here still?I want to see the Real world of which you often speak.
“Correction is for all who cannot see. To open the eyes of the blind is the Holy Spirit’s mission, for He knows that they have not lost their vision but merely sleep.”T-12.VI.4
How can He do this?
”Christ’s eyes are open and He will look upon whatever you see with Love if you accept His vision as yours.The Holy Spirit keeps the Vision of Christ for every Son of God who sleeps.” T-12.VI.4:4
I have seen through His eyes….Your eyes…. And it is indeed a different world.Such Joy I feel when I recall it now, I long to re-live it, every moment.I understood in that glimpse what you always say about our Unity.I Knew it. Can I remain in this Real World, some day?
“When you have seen this real world, as you will surely do, you will remember Us.Yet you must learn the cost of sleeping, and refuse to pay it. Only then will you decide to awaken.” T-12.VI.5
I must have decided before that understanding I had, to awaken, and fell back to sleep.Where did you go?
”..Christ has never slept.He is waiting to be seen, for He has never lost sight of you.He looks quietly on the real world, which he would share with you because He knows of the Father’s Love for him. And knowing this, He would give you what is yours.” T-12.VI.5:3
I must not know that I am worthy to be given Christ’s vision, or I would remain in this Love.
“Every child of God is one in Christ, for his being is in Christ as Christ’s is in God.Christ’s Love for you is His Love for His Father, which He knows because He knows His Father’s Love for Him.” T-12.VI.6
How can I remain aware of this, as I did once glimpse the real world.I felt such love and joy, none compares to this.
”Love transfers to love without any interference for the two are one.As you perceive more and more common elements in all situations, the transfer of training under the Holy Spirit’s Guidance increases and becomes generalized.Gradually, you learn to apply it to everyone and everything, for its applicability is universal.”T-12.VI.6:4-7
Generalized?I think I know what you mean.As I begin to apply the lessons of the Holy Spirit’s Laws, toward all of mankind, I begin to see the unity in all things, in all Beings, since God’s Laws would never divide.
“What is one cannot be perceived as separate, and the denial of the separation is the reinstatement of knowledge.”T-12.VI.7
So, I must begin to ‘see’ that everything… the universe, man, the animals, everything I have perceived as part of our world, even the seeming ‘evil’ ones, must be seen as one, for me to be able to experience this wonder again, of the real world and have the kind of perception that would be holy enough to transfer from love, to love, as you say it does. All that is not unity in my mind, is but an illusion I put there, to keep myself separate from God.
“At the altar of God, the holy perception of God’s Son becomes so enlightened that light streams into it, and the spirit of God’s Son shines in the Mind of the Father and becomes one with it.Very gently does God shine upon Himself, loving the extension of Himself that is His Son.”T-12.VI.7:2
So am I still in the world when this occurs?
“The world has no purpose as it blends into the purpose of God.For the real world has slipped quietly into Heaven, where everything in it has always been.” T-12.VI.7:4
So, after my perception of the world becomes ‘holy’ by being unified, then I let go of the world I see, and enter the world of God…which is Heaven?
“There the Redeemer and the redeemed join in perfect love of God and of each other.Heaven is your Home, and being in God, it must be in you.”T-12.VI.7:6
Indeed, it must!Thank you Spirit, for holding my hand and walking me through the thoughts I had about the need for attack, the desire to teach myself through perception, instead of Listen to you who has Knowledge, and finally, for showing me the process by which I let go of perception and enter into Knowing, with God.
Blessed are we, as God’s Son!
Move Beyond Belief
“Whenever you are not wholly joyous, it is because you have reacted with a lack of love to one of God’s creations. Perceiving this as ‘sin’ you become defensive because you expect attack. The decision to react in this way is yours, and can therefore be undone. It cannot be undone by repentance in the usual sense because this implies guilt. If you allow yourself to feel guilty, you will reinforce the error rather than allow it to be undone for you.” T.5.VII.5
The quote above is a spot in A Course in Miracles where I imagine many Christians might be apt to turn away. It seems to imply on the surface that we can do what ever we want and never regret or repent because it will just be undone, mysteriously! In principle, that is true.But getting there is not quite so simple.That is because, as the Course also says:
“You cannot go beyond belief until you believe fully.” T-6.V.7:7
For many, religion lacks much in the way of teaching how to really, truly ‘believe fully.’ We can’t believe that our errors are meaningless, if we don’t fully believe that there actually IS a Holy Spirit Who can undo things such as the consequences of our errors.In fact nothing has meaning in the Course at all, if one has not sufficient faith that there is a Christ Spirit, alive and well, within, and there is reason to trust it far beyond any human ability. To do just that is to go beyond believing and allowing Spirit to carry our burden of pain and suffering until we one day stop giving it to Him, not because we don’t need Him, but because it is no longer there!As the quote says “The decision to react this way is yours, and can therefore be undone.” It is no longer there because you saw no purpose in feeling this way any longer, having realized you were choosing the reaction.
Through the centuries, the Christian thought system morphed into a belief in sin and condemnation rather than holiness and faith in redemption.The Course directly challenges this and does it through the symbol of Jesus himself.As those of us know, for whom the study of the Course has evolved and is evolving, Jesus, the historical figure and Jesus within, must necessarily meet and morph as well.
Many who left the organized Christian faith, have built-in defenses with the historical Jesus due to the more traditional teachings of Christianity that somehow didn’t mesh with the Voice they heard inside, and would do well to let go of the idea when they let the Course into their life, that somehow Jesus, the human, has returned and is speaking to us all through a book.
To move beyond belief, it would be wise to lay down that thought and open the heart and mind to what the words represent. The Spirit which we must have complete faith in, to move beyond belief, is the same Spirit in all of us, and is Christ Itself; the Son of God; the Loving Thought of God, which moves, and directs and extends outward in to all living things, and through all living things, like YOU.
For the scribe of the Course, Helen, she heard these words of Spirit within and filtered them through her understanding of who Jesus was, and therefore, has called him Jesus.
Spirit IS Jesus, but He is also every other living thing on the planet and the universe, to which God poured forth His Spirit. This is where Christians object, having been taught that Jesus is Christ, and none other of God’s children deserve that title.
What the Course does is attempt to take us beyond that ‘belief’ in a Savior and begin to Know the Savior, within. It is about relationship, and it is this relationship which moves us beyond belief. Our defenses to do this, and trusting in Spirit to move us to the place of being wholly joyous are the ideas we are taught as Christians about being sinners with a great deal of guilt and shame, in need of salvation.These teachings place Jesus far above us rather than within us, and we then view him as one with unattainable goodness, in our guilty mind.With these ideas firmly planted in our mind we learn to compare behavior of one person to the next and our own to others, finding sin everywhere and in everyone.Comparison is of the ego, and does nothing but divide.Spirit always unifies. To the ‘good Catholic’ as many of us were brought up to use as a standard of behavior, guilt and shame are necessary signs of a devout Christian and one who is going to Heaven wearing repentance on his forehead like a battle scar.When those same people are guided to the Course, the necessary battle begins within.
The battle is with letting go of guilt and just accepting responsibility for being the one who chooses guilt, sadness and depression. “Whenever you are not wholly joyous, it is because you have reacted with a lack of love to one of God’s creations.”
Before the Course, we would have said, “I’m sad and not wholly joyous because she or he offends me or never shows me any respect and so we had an argument, and I got fired from work. It’s not my fault others cannot behave.”Now, we say “I am choosing to react to this brother the way I am.Nothing he does or does not do, affects my state of mind.I can choose to be wholly joyous by showing only love to him since love begets a state of Joy." The key in feeling this love for an erring brother is not to seek repentance, feel guilt, shame or place blame but in acceptance and forgiveness of him and of oneself. Accept what is, and let Spirit take it from there. Follow the Savior within, and you will find no need for a savior without.
Going beyond belief in Jesus, as a Christian, means to believe He lives in you and CAN take it from there.He did not die ~ and so he moves from an historical martyr to worship, to the Voice within who realizes no need for sacrifice, but only for abundant faith.
Call him Jesus or Buddha, or the Higher Self, or the Sacred Self; he is alive in you and me, and we can join Him at any time we choose, by simply choosing to believe we can.
Namaste ~ Diane
Are you Be-ing Human?
When my son was a child, he took grave offense when his older sis called him a human bean! It was great for a laugh (after the fact, of course!) In retrospect, I now see, it’s no more or less meaningful than to be called a human being.
In fact, 'bean' describes the ego a bit more realistically ~ full of ‘hot air’ inducing qualities in the body, and dense as can be!
But, seriously, have you ever wondered why we call ourselves human ‘beings?’To say we are ‘human’ would do fine.But that added word, ’being’ suggests that something else…..is ‘being’ human.
What does the word ‘being’ mean? It could be defined as ‘the act of be-ing.’ The familiar phrase from Shakespeare, “To be, or not to be?” expresses our choice in the matter of our state of awareness.We, as apparent ‘humans’ have answered the question, and we are, evidently, ‘be’ ing.
But can we ‘Be’ human?
Just to say we are a human being, points to the idea that we chose the awareness of being human from another form of ‘being.’ Otherwise, why bother with the word, being? We need only say we are ‘human’ if that is all we ever were, or could be or hope to be.
The word ‘being’ in this common phrase implies that we, as Spirit, chose to take our ‘being’ness into what we call the ‘human’ body, and so we call ourselves, a ‘human being.’
Again, if you think on this, (as you can see I like to do) to say something is ‘be-ing’ implies an intelligence behind the act of doing something; in this case, choosing to be.
For instance, we don’t call a chair, a ‘chair being!’That is because it is not ‘be’ing a chair.We made a chair, which we are perceiving as we look upon it as a chair, but it is not ‘being’ anything.We are doing the being, then perceiving it as a chair.
So, it can be said, that to ‘be’ ....is life itself.... and to merely perceive is not life or ‘being’ but a reflection or a projection of it, by the Be-er.(No, I did not say we are beers!)
So, to limit ourselves to the phrase, ‘a human being,’ are we not attempting to place the act of ‘being’ on an inanimate object, like a chair? It is in the acknowledgment of the awareness of its own being which causes us to say something is be-ing.
From the point of view of ACIM, it is our shared Mind from which we are aware of being something else, called the ego.After all, one cannot be aware of one’s being anything, unless one is something else, being aware of that which we have named ourselves. (You may want to read that line again!)
Therefore, only the thing that is ‘being’ (awareness from Christ Mind) can ever really ‘Be.’It is true to say that this Being, Christ Mind…is Life Itself.
So, Life is in this Awareness and no where else!
Therefore if we be-come (come into ‘Be’ing) AWARE of Love, we are no longer a human being, but are now a ‘Love Being.’
It is time for us to stop defining ourselves as a human being and REALize our unlimited Being!
Are you Reacting or Receiving of your Brother and Sister?
Accept and Recieve
We react every moment of every day; we think of this as our responses to life.Someone says something and we respond.But to ‘react’ is to ‘act again’ the same as we have acted before.The prefix ‘re’ is indicative of this.This is judgment and yet we overlook it each day, every second of every day.
Judgment must use past experience to ‘judge’ the present moment.To ‘re’ act, we are using our past way of acting/responding, to come to a quick conclusion of how we should act this time, in a way we consider ‘acceptable.’ We RE-act.
But the ‘acceptable’ way is only made acceptable because we have made the decision to trust the past and not allow the present to unfold, without judgment. Often times, more often than we like to recall, in the past we have responded inappropriately to another and then fall into the trap of doing it again and again by re-acting.This breeds guilt and fear which serves always to cover up our connection to Spirit within us.
We do not need to re-act to anything or anyone, ever.All we need do to be set free from this form of self imposed imprisonment, is to learn to ‘do nothing.’ Learn to accept, receive and extend what it is you have received. The Mystery of all Mysteries is that we can only really ‘receive’ Love.For when hatred or fear comes at us, we contract and defend.
And so, when we accept and receive only love, we can extend only Love.This is what Jesus did, and other Masters teach us how to do as well.
If you doubt you can do this, you are not alone.It seems insurmountable after all, what if the guy in front of me in the traffic line suddenly becomes stalled at the green light where I have been waiting to go for 3 lights now? Or how about someone starts nailing my hands to a piece of wood?To not react, almost seems inhuman. In fact, we made Jesus inhuman because he did not react the way humans would.It IS inhuman, if we consider the ego to be ‘human.’The ego will re-act, and will react poorly in most situations for it does not and cannot receive Love!This is because the ego is the idea of self preservation which cannot thrive on unity. This, of course, is counterproductive to receiving or extending only love.
So, let’s not give in to the idea that we are ‘only human.’
PEOPLE WATCHING ~ THE PARK AND THE MALL
We have the divine ability to be in the flow of life and to en-JOY it, rather than to ‘re ACT’ to it.I think we share a common bond of desiring to experience non judgment, non-reaction, as brothers and sisters.Go to the park, and watch the people, then go to the mall and watch the people.See how different they are responding?
At the park, people may stroll, slowly, looking about as they do, without reaction, without even the slightest change in their animation.Many sit and absorb the sounds and sights, with barely a movement in their body, content with just sitting.They are ‘receiving’ rather than ‘reacting.’They are accepting what is coming into their awareness at the moment.Perhaps a Hawk takes off from its perch, or an Osprey dives in to catch a small fish; all is seen and appreciated without judgment or the need to react to it. After all, what does the Hawk want with your reaction? There is no need to have the reaction be acknowledged by the Hawk.This is how we must view others in our life as well.
Go deeper into nature, perhaps in the forest on a hike and you will find that people barely speak nor attempt to manipulate the situation they are enjoying. They walk quietly, speak softly, and seem to be intoxicated by the peace that nature has allowed them to experience.But we can experience this, anywhere when we become aware of our ability to stop ‘reacting.’
Now, find a seat at the mall and watch as people pass by.There is a mixture of reactive people walking about; some are hurried, some are methodical, but you will notice that almost all of them are purposefully walking to attain something, to manipulate or add to their world.They are not receiving life as it comes, they are reacting to it; to each cashier, to each article of clothing they try on, to each restaurant they enter, to the food they eat;there is no sense of contentment, no feeling that we all need ‘do nothing.’
They search in their purses, they grasp for their phones, they go from store to store searching for something else, at a better price, constantly filling their mind with judgments they have no idea they are making. It is a driven crowd, reacting to all experiences and all others, wanting, needing, searching, moving, and yet oblivious to the natural movement of Spirit, whispering the idea that we have everything we need, within.They look outward and move onward, to no where.
The differences I point out are for the purpose of understanding how reacting is the same as judging and how we all consider it relaxing and enjoyable to stop doing that.Although we go to the park or the forest to find this release from constant judgment and reaction, we can be free anywhere, anytime, if we choose to be.We can go to the mall and not re-act but receive all strangers into our heart as they pass by, looking into their eyes, and sending thoughts of love. We can receive and accept all things, anywhere we choose to by consciously becoming aware of our need to re-act and to judge all things by our past experience.
Notice how when someone walks by us at the mall, we assess their clothing, or perhaps their stride or the way they wear their hair, or their choice of shoes!Is this bad?No, but it does not free us from this need to judge and to react which we are trying to free ourselves from so we can live in Joy by receiving and extending only Love!
Notice now at the park; do you assess their clothing? Probably not. Or do you notice, without need to judge, that they are fishing or talking to their kids, or playing ball and some place deep inside your Self….you enjoy this tremendously?
Why is it at the mall or in any group of people in ordinary circumstances, we don’t do this, but instead focus on our re-action to them, to what they say, to what they do?
“Judge not, lest you be judged yourself’ is the axiom which brings us peace.We must focus on not re-acting to our brother; but receive and accept him like we receive the Hawk that majestically takes flight from his perch.
Good Sunday morning,
In Peace,
Diane
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Poverty of the Mind
“I once asked you to sell all you have and give to the poor and follow me.This is what I meant:If you have no investment in anything in this world, you can teach the poor where their treasure is.The poor are merely those who have invested wrongly, and they are poor indeed.” T.12.III.1-3
When I first read those words, my heart leapt!Here I was reading words of Jesus telling me what he meant 2000 years ago. My dearest teacher, my constant comforter, has at last come to me, in words.Many, or more likely most people, would scoff at the idea.But those of us for whom the idea of Oneness has become a welcome one and not so far fetched at all, his words ring clear and true, and delightful.Jesus is one with us, and he is one who has heard the Call and Answered.And now, he answers us. It is that simple and that incredible.
What is it to abandon investment in the world?And how do we teach the poverty stricken that their treasure is available for the asking when we seem to seek still?If we are here, we are seeking. It is not the fact that we are still seeking which makes us unable to teach others to seek.It is what we are seeking that enables us to help others.
The poor are poor because they have invested poorly….says Jesus.He does not say the poor are poor because it is their lot in life and it is ours to fix it.He says there IS no life but the spiritual life and this is where the error lies; in identifying the problem and no where else. The problem is which part of our mind we seek; ego or spirit.
“To identify with the ego is to attack yourself and make yourself poor.This is why everyone who identifies with the ego feels deprived.What he experiences then is depression or anger because what he did was to exchange self love for self hate, making him afraid of himself. He does not realize this.Even if he is fully aware of anxiety, he does not perceive its source as his own ego identification and he always tries to handle it by making some insane arrangement with the world.” T.12.III.6:1-5
The insane arrangements we make are the ones our mind attempts to make with the physical world.But Jesus is telling us, plainly, we can’t obtain peace in our mind, from anything physical because mind, which is an aspect of Spirit, cannot be reconciled with the physical world.But we continue on with this insane plan!A better job, a nicer home, praise from a friend, the admiration of a new partner, the list is literally endless.
He says we teach others to invest in Spirit by withdrawing our investment in anything other than this spiritual ‘life’ that lives within our mind.Nothing spiritual can be physical.Nothing physical translates to spiritual.Spiritual awareness can only ever be in our mind.
“Salvation is of the mind, and it is attained through peace.This is the only thing that can be saved and the only way to save it.” T.12.III.5:1-2
Poverty is of the mind.Anything ‘of the world’ which Jesus tells us we must lose attachment to, can be translated to mean, ‘of the body.’The body includes our mental brain processes, including emotions.
To withdraw investment in the world simply means to withdraw attachment in any way to the outcome of our actions in the body. It means we do not feel offended by others because we did not have any expectation of them adding or taking from our Peace.It means we turn the other cheek in all circumstances.It means we do not depend upon the affections or the admiration of our brothers and sisters, and walk the path of Love alone, focusing only on the giving of it, not the taking of it.To be poverty stricken is to believe we CAN take it.To be poor in Spirit, is to believe we need to take it.
Jesus is telling us, if our brother or sister believes they need to take love or attention from us or they believe that their peace can be found in anything in the world, it is ours to help them see otherwise.
“Because they are in need, it is given you to help them, since you are among them.”T.12.III.1:4
His quote above seems a direct instruction to go out and evangelize his Course. However, take note that the title of this part of the Course is “The Investment in Reality.”He is asking us to help them see reality, and quit investing in illusion.We cannot preach and evangelize reality!We cannot expose illusions!We can only teach by demonstrating that their errors are not real. We can only teach by his original instruction to us, 2000 years ago, and that is, by turning the other cheek.We can only teach through forgiveness.
And so, it is given us to help them, by investing in reality ourselves.Reality is God’s Love, and nothing else.Invest only in the ability to receive this love, by removing the blocks to our own awareness of it through forgiving all that comes our way, and we shall see the real treasure of the world, is peace within us. Invest wisely in Spirit, and leave theworld to fix its own problems.
Namaste~
Diane
King of the Hill
As a child, most of us can recall a game called ‘King of the Hill.”One kid would stand there at the top of a hill and everyone else would try to run up, pulling as many other kids down in the process to get to knock the ‘King of the Hill’ off and become the new King! It’s a perfect example of the ego’s game in life.All grown up now, we play it in secret.This game is a game the ego lives to play, literally.Without it, it would not exist.
If you are a student of A Course in Miracles, or of eastern philosophy, you’ve come to know a lot about the ego’s antics, no doubt. More in line with the Course’s thinking, we have come to see that behind the wish to succeed in anything, or the wish to see wrong in another, is a wish to be the better of the two and ultimately kill him off so we can win God’s favor. According to what the Course tells us, we project this wish and ‘make’ a world filled with people and places in which to play this game.This game is a result of our need to see ourselves as having done no wrong to God, for if we prove ourselves worthy of being at the top of the Hill, we need not worry of His wrath.As innocent as it may seem, we are attempting to usurp the power of God in every ego game we play. A simple line from A Course in Miracles which stuck out to me just the other day, speaks to our denial of the ego’s game:“Disassociation is not a solution, it is a delusion.”
If you believe you are not attempting to climb the hill and push someone else off, you are deluded. One might say, ‘insane’ and actually! Jesus tells this to Helen more than once while she was scribing his words in the Course.He explains that we are insane because we are disassociating ourselves from the truth about the ego in an attempt to be innocent and laying the guilt on someone else. If you give it some thought, this can only be an attempt to be ‘more’ innocent than something or someone else, since innocence or evil, of themselves, are nothing if not held up to a standard by which to measure.It is not too hard to imagine the highest standard would be God.
And so, in essence we are attempting, in seeming increments, to be more innocent and good than God Himself. The first time we think about this, it seems absurd.And if you don’t immediately see the reasoning behind this, follow me through this line of thinking.
We may tell our selves, “we are trying to be good, so we can please God, not kill Him off!”So, let’s say we admit to wanting to be ‘better’ in some way but cannot believe that we want to kill off God.The clever ego will undoubtedly say; “That is not a bad thing; to want to be innocent, or stronger, or kinder, or smarter, is it?” This question of the ego, like all ego questions, has a faulty foundation which makes it impossible to come to a right-minded answer concerning our real intentions.It has as its foundation, the belief that there are levels of 'goodness' which can be attained, and that we need to compete to BE good. It does not speak to the real question: the desire for us to prove goodness and what that means.
The ego loves to twist the truth and then ask a question based on the deception.
OUR BATTLE WITH GOD
What is in question here, in the ego game on the Hill of life, is not whether or not it is good to be strong or kind, as though there are levels of goodness, but WHY and HOW do we go about judging ourselves as such? From where does this judgment come and how is it made?
The answer is… by the defeat of another. One must lose for one to win in the world of the ego. For what is it to be the most innocent, or the most winning, or even the most losing, if they are not a plea of comparison that must be asked of one who is the Absolute of each of these? And what Absolute is there to judge our goodness against?The one and the only Absolute Goodness: God.
Therefore, the only battle we are fighting, though it appears to be with our brothers and our sisters, and even nature, is with God Himself. We have disassociated the inner battle and laid it out upon a world of people and disasters and all things which seem to attack us.
The world of duality is a world built upon the need for and the effects of, comparison, which can only lead to competition. Competing for a sense of false morality, based on the ego’s projected thoughts that there are levels of Love, we have believed in a ‘kill or be killed’ world and that is what we see.But in love there is no competition for anything, including morality or goodness. In God, there is no morality, for morality implies behavior and God does not behave!
We are playing King of the Hill with Someone Who sees no need for us to play and therefore, sees no game at all.For what God would not need, could not exist.The laws of Cause and Effect are universal laws and what has no basis in reality, cannot be a Cause, and therefore would make no Effect.Following the law of Cause and Effect, we (our mind) see what we want to see (effect) and believe it because we want it.This is true of all perception, right or wrong minded, for projection and perception are both under the law of Cause and Effect. As it says in the Course; "What you project or extend is real for you. This is an immutable law of the mind in this world and in the Kingdom. However the content is different in this world because the thoughts it governs are very different from the Thoughts in the Kingdom." T.7.II.2:4-6
Because we are the Thought of God, deep down we know we built this mountain on which we are playing, to prove our selves stronger than God by being stronger than our brother and we are afraid of facing Him.Little do we remember, we can move that mountain, if we want to see Love and nothing else! With Love leading our Mind’s perception we won’t need to push anyone down because we will see we are one with each other, and there is no one else to push down, but ourselves.
In our fearful perception or what the Course calls, “wrong minded” perception, we still feel we must prove our innocence, and we must shove our brothers off the hill to assure us we will retain this kingdom we have made.We are disassociating this desire to build our own kingdom and hide from God and convincing ourselves it is a perfectly innocent game of life in which we are forced to ‘kill or be killed.’ |
If you don’t think you live by the rules of ‘kill or be killed’ just think on it for a moment.
Ok, that’s enough time.
Amazing huh?
Yes, we live our lives defending fiercely, the ego’s ‘needs’ and this can only cause a sense of separation from our brother since the ego is the idea of being separate. We build big houses, to give us the illusion of safety, which offer us the temporal comforts that only material success can bring.We fear the loss of life and even the loss of objects more than we ‘love our brothers as ourselves.’We protect our things, and put away money for the future, all in an attempt to safe guard ourselves from recalling that our trust should be in the present moment and no ‘time’ else.
We should feel safe and loved, shouldn’t we?If there is a God, we should.And according to the Course, we are safe and loved and have only made this unsafe world in our dreaming mind. Our reality is not here.Here, we are living in a past moment where we thought we could leave our Father but past moments don’t exist. And our Father, knowing this would be impossible, IS the correction for this thought and so, as the Course explains far better than I, the second it was thought, was the second it was corrected.
We are at peace in the Present Moment of God, but are living in a moment long since gone, playing King of the Hill, over and over and over again. To accept the Atonement is to accept the correction from the Holy Spirit, for our error in thought.
We do not need to play anymore! In reality, there is no competition between the Son of God and His Father, and so there is none between us, Who are, in our totality, His Son.The Son of God is one and there is no one else to push off the hill.Realizing this is to forgive our brother, by seeing him sinless.
“The sinless must perceive that they are one, for nothing stands between to push the other off.’T.26. IV.2:5
Any one who is serious in the pursuit of Peace, would ask ’HOW do you propose I should be able to perceive that [we] are one and my brother, sinless?’
STOP THE GAME by FORIVING
Unlike so many philosophies out there, the Course answers that question very practically and unequivocally.The answer is forgiveness.Forgive all and anything that comes to your awareness that is not a Present Moment.
That means all that you see with your eyes, have no judgment upon it; no thoughts of the past about it, nor projections of the future, of it.
That means all you do and most of the time, all you think of…forgive, forget, ask to ‘see’ with His Vision instead and do it as quickly as you can.
You will be shown, with persistent effort on your part, that you live in the past moment, and you do this only to hold onto sin for that is the sole purpose of doing so.And the guilt that sin holds out, for you and for your brother, is the sole purpose of the ego’s world….the world of King of the Hill.
As a Course student, it’s so important to drop your old idea of what it is to forgive for the ego’s version of forgiveness will lead only to further separation.
To forgive is not to pardon a wrong-doing in the past.It is instead, to not want to see the past at all.It is to want to see equality with our brother, and to join with him in Purpose, now.That Purpose being, to extend Love.It is to see no one’s needs as less than yours; to want only to enjoy him in the moment where he is before you; he has no past, he has no future; he is what he is; the Son of God.
This is how you and I see each person as sinless as ourselves and stop wanting to push them off the side of the hill.Forgiveness is a practical and perfect path.
This is how you wish for the Kingdom of God, rather than your own Kingdom.
This is how Heaven is glimpsed, and the ‘world’ we experience will change into a benevolent existence, shared by God’s Loving Children.
And we can at last laugh at the idea of a bunch of little ego brats pushing each other off the hill!
Love is a Better Way and the Only Way
Be the Son that you are
“No one considers it bizarre to love and hate together, and even those who believe that hate is sin merely feel guilty, but do not correct it.This is the “natural” condition of the separation, and those who learn that it is not natural at all seem to be the unnatural ones. For this world is the opposite of Heaven, being made to be its opposite, and everything here takes a direction exactly opposite of what is true.” A Course in Miracles, T.16.3:4-6 ____________________________________________________________________ The Happy One
Those who know this world and its 'laws', are unnatural, are happy. We have found a better way to live; one in which we do not love and hate together, not because we are 'holier' than anyone else, but because we found that love is all there is. All of us know this, but dare not remember, for we think it asks too much.
But, abundant cheerfulness and Joy can be the only result of uncovering the falsity of small self and its little world, opposite of Heaven . This Joy spreads out from our Self....comforting us, and others.
"Cheerfulness is a spontaneous expression of a purified heart and a steady mind. A clear mind is naturally blessed with cheerfulness, and a cheerful person spontaneously loves all and hates none. A cheerful person is filled within, and this cheerfulness overflows, affecting everyone who comes near." Pandit Rajmani Tigunait _____________________________________________________________________________________ The Normalcy of Hell
Before we are ready to look to the truth, we look in the opposite direction..... to the world of man made laws, made to serve an ego, and not Spirit. How can we find truth when we are looking in the opposite direction?
To look in the opposite direction, for instance, is to say;
“But that person murdered someone. He is deserving of death.”
He is not...and niether are we. Again, not because he is holier nor less holy. We are the same Holy Self, with varying layers of 'falsity' atop, believing we are many bodies, many faults, all far from God. We have covered this perfect Self, wiith gunk so unlike our nature, and are matching his self hatred with ours, comdemning ourselves as we condemn him.
We have fallen prey to our fear twice; first by not seeing his fear for what it was; a cry for help, a hope for Love, and proof of a God that will save us from ourselves.
And secondly, by believing a Son of God can die.And now, hate and death have entered our mind, and we have fallen prey to the idea that this is ‘normal.’
Yes, it is normal…..in Hell.
We say, “But he treated me unfairly.I have every reason to and should treat him the same, to make sure he does not do it again.”
Is this how we teach fairness.... by shaming? Is this how we show our brother the way toward Inner Peace and Love?
We may admit, ‘No, it’s not”, and then, as Jesus says in the Course quote above, “…even those who believe that hate is sin merely feel guilty, but do not correct it.”
To prove Jesus’ point in the Course, we need only go a bit deeper now and ask ourselves:
‘Do I want to show the murderer, peace or anger? Which one?”
Be assured, in the world of ego, the answer will never be Peace.
And the guilt we will feel when we face this truth about our ego, however buried it may be, will cause us, once more, to lash out in even more anger and justified judgment.Our reaction of behaving in a like manner to his manner (anger, fear, hatred), is a way to keep us both out of Heaven and accept the normalcy of Hell for we have validated both his hate and our own. __________________________________________________________________________
THE BETTER WAY
We can see why the whispered words ‘There has to be a better way” were the impetus that began an inner dictation which we now call A Course in Miracles. The Answer is within us all. But as a gift to the world who need understand the better way, the Course was given to Helen and Bill, in Answer to their earnest desire to find it.
In this lovely Answer, we hear the Voice for God, not the ranting of but another ego on this planet, believing it’s normal to act out of fear and even, in some cases, such as war, to justify killing.
The next time someone spews hatred from their lips, or suggests that war or judgment is necessary at times, we need only to remind ourselves and our brother...
‘No, it’s not normal, and there IS a better way.’ All we need to do, is seek it.
We have a Wise Teacher inside who Knows this better Way and is waiting patiently for our willingness to learn it.
