“Apart from the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit has no function. He is not separate from either, being in the Mind of Both, and knowing that Mind is one. He is a Thought of God, and God has given Him to you because He has no Thoughts He does not share. His message speaks of timelessness in time, and that is why Christ’s vision looks on everything with love. Yet even Christ’s vision is not His reality. The golden aspects of reality that spring to light under His loving gaze are partial glimpses of the Heaven that lies beyond them.
“This is the miracle of creation; that it is one forever. Every miracle you offer to the Son of God is but the true perception of one aspect of the whole. Though every aspect is the whole [like a holograph], you cannot know this until you see that every aspect is the same, perceived in the light and therefore one. Everyone seen without the past thus brings you nearer to the end of time by bringing healed and healing sight into the darkness, and enabling the world to see. For light must come into the darkened world to make Christ’s vision possible even here. Help Him to give His gift of light to all who think they wander in the darkness, and let Him gather them into His quiet sight that makes them one.
“They are all the same; all beautiful and equal in their holiness. And He will offer them unto His Father as they were offered unto Him. There is one miracle, as there is one reality. And every miracle you do contains them all, as every aspect of reality you see blends quietly into the one Reality of God. The only miracle that ever was is God’s most holy Son, created in the one Reality that is his Father. Christ’s vision is His gift to you. His Being is His Father’s gift to Him.
“Be you content with healing, for Christ’s gift you can bestow, and your Father’s gift you cannot lose. Offer Christ’s gift to everyone and everywhere, for miracles, offered the Son of God through the Holy Spirit, attune you to reality. The Holy Spirit knows you part in the redemption, and who are seeking you and where to find them. Knowledge is far beyond your individual concern. You who are part of it and all of it need only realize that is is of the Father, not of you. Your role in the redemption leads you to it by re-establishing its oneness in your mind.”
Friday, June 11, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Aspects of Reality
From Perception to Knowledge
“All healing is release from the past. That is why the Holy Spirit is the only Healer. He teaches that the past does not exist, a fact which belongs to the sphere of knowledge, and which, therefore, no one in the world can know. It would indeed be impossible to be in the world with this knowledge. For the mind that knows this unequivocally, knows also it dwells in eternity, and utilizes no perception at all. It therefore, does no consider where it is, because the concept ‘where’ does not mean anything to it. It knows that it is everywhere, just as it has everything, and forever.
“The very real difference between perception and knowledge become quite apparent if you consider this: There is nothing partial about knowledge. Every aspect is whole, and therefore, no aspect is separate. You are an aspect of knowledge, being in the Mind of God, Who knows you. All knowledge must be yours, for in you is all knowledge. Perception, at ist loftiest, in never complete. Even the perception of the Holy Spirit, as perfect as perception can be, is without meaning in Heaven. Perception can reach everywhere under His guidance, for the vision of Christ beholds everything in light. Yet no perception, however holy, will last forever.
“Perfect perception, then, has many elements in common with knowledge, making transfer to it possible. Yet the last step must be taken by God, because the last step in your redemption, which seems to be in the future, was accomplished by God in your creation. The separation has not interrupted it. Creation cannot be interrupted. The separation is merely a faulty formulation of reality, with no effect at all. The miracle, without a function in Heaven, is here. Aspects of reality can still be seen, and they will replace aspects of unreality. Aspect of reality can be seen in everything and everywhere. Yet only God can gather them together, by crowning them as one with the final gift of eternity.”
“All healing is release from the past. That is why the Holy Spirit is the only Healer. He teaches that the past does not exist, a fact which belongs to the sphere of knowledge, and which, therefore, no one in the world can know. It would indeed be impossible to be in the world with this knowledge. For the mind that knows this unequivocally, knows also it dwells in eternity, and utilizes no perception at all. It therefore, does no consider where it is, because the concept ‘where’ does not mean anything to it. It knows that it is everywhere, just as it has everything, and forever.
“The very real difference between perception and knowledge become quite apparent if you consider this: There is nothing partial about knowledge. Every aspect is whole, and therefore, no aspect is separate. You are an aspect of knowledge, being in the Mind of God, Who knows you. All knowledge must be yours, for in you is all knowledge. Perception, at ist loftiest, in never complete. Even the perception of the Holy Spirit, as perfect as perception can be, is without meaning in Heaven. Perception can reach everywhere under His guidance, for the vision of Christ beholds everything in light. Yet no perception, however holy, will last forever.
“Perfect perception, then, has many elements in common with knowledge, making transfer to it possible. Yet the last step must be taken by God, because the last step in your redemption, which seems to be in the future, was accomplished by God in your creation. The separation has not interrupted it. Creation cannot be interrupted. The separation is merely a faulty formulation of reality, with no effect at all. The miracle, without a function in Heaven, is here. Aspects of reality can still be seen, and they will replace aspects of unreality. Aspect of reality can be seen in everything and everywhere. Yet only God can gather them together, by crowning them as one with the final gift of eternity.”
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Journeying
“Leave, then, your needs to Him. He will supply them with no emphasis at all upon them. What comes to you of Him comes safely, for He will ensure it never can become a dark spot, hidden in your mind and kept to hurt you. Under His guidance you will travel light and journey lightly, for His sight is ever on the journey’s end [our awakening to our reality and oneness as spirit], which is His goal. God’s Son is not a traveler through outer worlds. However holy his perception may become, no world outside himself holds his inheritance. Within himself he has no needs, for light needs nothing but to shine in peace, and form itself to let the rays extend in quiet to infinity.
“Whenever you are tempted to undertake a useless journey that would lead away from light, remember what you really want, and say,
The Holy Spirit leads me unto Christ [unity and oneness with God and all humanity]
And where else would I go?
What need have I but to awake in Him?
“Then follow Him [be still and know] in joy, with faith that He will lead you safely through all dangers to your peace of mind this world may set before you. Kneel not before the altars to sacrifice, and seek not what you will surely lose. Content yourself with what you will as surely keep and be not restless, for you undertake a quiet journey to the peace of God, where He would have you be in quietness.
“In me [here, Jesus, who is said to be the author of the Course, is speaking of himself] you have already overcome every temptation that would hold you back. We walk together on the way to quietness that is the gift of God. Hold me dear, for what except your brothers [all of humanity] can you need? We will restore to you the peace of mind that we must find together [it can not be found alone or for oneself alone]. The Holy Spirit will teach you to awaken unto us and to yourself. This is the only real need to be fulfilled in time. Salvation from the world lies only here. My peace I give you. Take it of me in glad exchange for all the world has offered but to take away. And we will spread it like a veil of light across the world’s sad face, in which we hide our brothers from the world, and it from them.
“We cannot sing redemption’s hymn alone. My task is not completed until I have lifted every voice with mine. And yet it is none mine, for as it is my gift to you, so was it the Father’s gift to me, given me through His Spirit. The sound of it will banish sorrow from the mind of God’s most holy Son, where it cannot abide. Healing in time is needed, for you cannot establish its eternal reign where sorrow dwells. You dwell not here, but in eternity. You travel but in dreams, while safe at home. Give thanks to every part of you that you have taught how to remember you. Thus does the Son of God give thanks unto his Father for his purity.”
“Whenever you are tempted to undertake a useless journey that would lead away from light, remember what you really want, and say,
The Holy Spirit leads me unto Christ [unity and oneness with God and all humanity]
And where else would I go?
What need have I but to awake in Him?
“Then follow Him [be still and know] in joy, with faith that He will lead you safely through all dangers to your peace of mind this world may set before you. Kneel not before the altars to sacrifice, and seek not what you will surely lose. Content yourself with what you will as surely keep and be not restless, for you undertake a quiet journey to the peace of God, where He would have you be in quietness.
“In me [here, Jesus, who is said to be the author of the Course, is speaking of himself] you have already overcome every temptation that would hold you back. We walk together on the way to quietness that is the gift of God. Hold me dear, for what except your brothers [all of humanity] can you need? We will restore to you the peace of mind that we must find together [it can not be found alone or for oneself alone]. The Holy Spirit will teach you to awaken unto us and to yourself. This is the only real need to be fulfilled in time. Salvation from the world lies only here. My peace I give you. Take it of me in glad exchange for all the world has offered but to take away. And we will spread it like a veil of light across the world’s sad face, in which we hide our brothers from the world, and it from them.
“We cannot sing redemption’s hymn alone. My task is not completed until I have lifted every voice with mine. And yet it is none mine, for as it is my gift to you, so was it the Father’s gift to me, given me through His Spirit. The sound of it will banish sorrow from the mind of God’s most holy Son, where it cannot abide. Healing in time is needed, for you cannot establish its eternal reign where sorrow dwells. You dwell not here, but in eternity. You travel but in dreams, while safe at home. Give thanks to every part of you that you have taught how to remember you. Thus does the Son of God give thanks unto his Father for his purity.”
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Is that all there is?
“Everything the ego tells you that you need, will hurt you. For although the ego urges you again and again to get, it leaves you nothing, for what you get, it will demand of you. And even from the very hands that grasped it, it will be wrenched and hurled into dust.” This is about, noticing how often things seem hollow after you get them, and after you get what you want, you don’t want it, and is that all there is? “For where the ego sees salvation it sees separation, and so you lose whatever you have gotten in its name.
“Therefore, ask not of yourself what you need, for you do not know, and your advice to yourself will hurt you. [Resign as your own teacher.] For what you think you need will merely serve to tighten up your world against the light, and render you unwilling to question the value that this world can really hold for you.
“Only the Holy Spirit knows what you need. For He [this pronoun could be gender neutral. I prefer, ‘It’.] will give you all things that do not block the way to light. And what else could you need? [Sounds like my grandma, there] In time, [this does not mean ‘after awhile,’ it means in this world, time-bound and illusory] He gives you all the things that you need have, and will renew them as long as you have need of them. He will take nothing from you as long as you have any need of it. [We need not sacrifice anything] And yet He knows that everything you need is temporary, and will but last until you step aside [get your bloated nothingness out of the way of the divine circuits] from all your needs and realize that all of them have been fulfilled. Therefore, He has no investment in the things that He supplies, except to make certain that you will not use them on behalf of lingering in time. He knows that you are not at home, and He wills no delay to wait upon your joyous homecoming.
“Leave, then, your needs to Him. He will supply them with no emphasis at all upon them.” Consider then, the lilies of the field, they neither toil nor strive and yet they are fed.
“Therefore, ask not of yourself what you need, for you do not know, and your advice to yourself will hurt you. [Resign as your own teacher.] For what you think you need will merely serve to tighten up your world against the light, and render you unwilling to question the value that this world can really hold for you.
“Only the Holy Spirit knows what you need. For He [this pronoun could be gender neutral. I prefer, ‘It’.] will give you all things that do not block the way to light. And what else could you need? [Sounds like my grandma, there] In time, [this does not mean ‘after awhile,’ it means in this world, time-bound and illusory] He gives you all the things that you need have, and will renew them as long as you have need of them. He will take nothing from you as long as you have any need of it. [We need not sacrifice anything] And yet He knows that everything you need is temporary, and will but last until you step aside [get your bloated nothingness out of the way of the divine circuits] from all your needs and realize that all of them have been fulfilled. Therefore, He has no investment in the things that He supplies, except to make certain that you will not use them on behalf of lingering in time. He knows that you are not at home, and He wills no delay to wait upon your joyous homecoming.
“Leave, then, your needs to Him. He will supply them with no emphasis at all upon them.” Consider then, the lilies of the field, they neither toil nor strive and yet they are fed.
Monday, June 7, 2010
More Real world
“You will first dream of peace, and then awaken to it. Your first exchange of what you [the ego] made for what you want is the exchange of nightmares for the happy dreams of love. In these lie your true perceptions, for the Holy Spirit corrects the world of dreams, where all perception is. Knowledge [which is different and ‘realer’ than perception and comes from the truth of who we are, the experience of our oneness with God] needs no corrections. Yet the dreams of love lead unto knowledge. In them you see nothing fearful, because of this they are the welcome that you offer knowledge. [Love in this world is also a dream, but one that can lead to knowledge of reality.] Love waits on welcome, not on time….” That is sooo important! Love comes when we welcome it, not when enough time has past – when we’re older and wiser; and we can welcome it, anytime. It is our choice.
“The real world is but your welcome of what always was. Therefore the call of joy is in it, and your glad response is your awakening to what you have not lost.
“Praise, then, the Father for the perfect sanity of His most holy Son [you and all humanity]. Your Father knoweth that you have need of nothing [that you are in perfect peace, asleep with him in Heaven, dreaming you are here]. In Heaven this is so, for what could you need in eternity? In your world you do need things. It is a world of scarcity in which you find yourself because you are lacking. Yet can you find yourself in such a world? [without the Holy Spirit, yes; but we are never without the Holy Spirit; like love, It merely waits upon our welcome]
“As mediator between the two worlds, He knows what you have need of and what will not hurt you. Ownership is a dangerous concept if it is left to you [and the ego]. The ego wants to have things for salvation, for possession is its law. Possession for its own sake is the ego’s fundamental creed, a basic cornerstone in the churches it builds to itself. And at its altar it demands you lay all of the things it bids you get, leaving you no joy in them.
“Everything the ego tells you that you need, will hurt you.”
“The real world is but your welcome of what always was. Therefore the call of joy is in it, and your glad response is your awakening to what you have not lost.
“Praise, then, the Father for the perfect sanity of His most holy Son [you and all humanity]. Your Father knoweth that you have need of nothing [that you are in perfect peace, asleep with him in Heaven, dreaming you are here]. In Heaven this is so, for what could you need in eternity? In your world you do need things. It is a world of scarcity in which you find yourself because you are lacking. Yet can you find yourself in such a world? [without the Holy Spirit, yes; but we are never without the Holy Spirit; like love, It merely waits upon our welcome]
“As mediator between the two worlds, He knows what you have need of and what will not hurt you. Ownership is a dangerous concept if it is left to you [and the ego]. The ego wants to have things for salvation, for possession is its law. Possession for its own sake is the ego’s fundamental creed, a basic cornerstone in the churches it builds to itself. And at its altar it demands you lay all of the things it bids you get, leaving you no joy in them.
“Everything the ego tells you that you need, will hurt you.”
Friday, June 4, 2010
Real world
From the “Attainment of the Real World” in the Course.
“No one is this distracted world but has seen some glimpses of the other world about him. Yet while he still lays value on his own, he will deny the vision of the other, maintaining that he loves what he loves not, and following not the road that love points out. Love leads so gladly! You wait but for yourself. To give this sad world over and exchange your errors for the peace of God is but your will.
“It is God’s Will that nothing touch His Son [all of humanity] except Himself, and nothing else comes nigh unto him. He is as safe from pain as God Himself, Who watches over him [us, all of humanity] in everything. The world about him shines with love because God placed him in Himself where pain is not, and love surrounds him without end or flaw. Disturbance of his peace can never be. In perfect sanity he looks on love, for it is all about him and within him. He must deny the world of pain the instant he perceives the arms of love around him. And from this point of safety he looks quietly about him and recognizes that the world is one with him.” We’ve all experienced instants like this; this is the ‘holy instant,’ and the miracle in the title of the Course.
“The peace of God passeth your understanding only in the past. Yet here it is, and you can understand it now. God loves His Son forever, and His Son [us – all of humanity] returns his Father’s Love forever. The real world is the way that leads you to remembrance of the one thing that is wholly true and wholly yours. For all else you have let yourself in time, and it fade. But this one thing is always yours, being the gift of God unto His Son. Your one reality was given you, and by it God created you as one with Him.
“You will first dream of peace, and then awaken to it. Your first exchange of what you made for what you want is the exchange of nightmares for the happy dreams of love.”
How deeply comforting.
“No one is this distracted world but has seen some glimpses of the other world about him. Yet while he still lays value on his own, he will deny the vision of the other, maintaining that he loves what he loves not, and following not the road that love points out. Love leads so gladly! You wait but for yourself. To give this sad world over and exchange your errors for the peace of God is but your will.
“It is God’s Will that nothing touch His Son [all of humanity] except Himself, and nothing else comes nigh unto him. He is as safe from pain as God Himself, Who watches over him [us, all of humanity] in everything. The world about him shines with love because God placed him in Himself where pain is not, and love surrounds him without end or flaw. Disturbance of his peace can never be. In perfect sanity he looks on love, for it is all about him and within him. He must deny the world of pain the instant he perceives the arms of love around him. And from this point of safety he looks quietly about him and recognizes that the world is one with him.” We’ve all experienced instants like this; this is the ‘holy instant,’ and the miracle in the title of the Course.
“The peace of God passeth your understanding only in the past. Yet here it is, and you can understand it now. God loves His Son forever, and His Son [us – all of humanity] returns his Father’s Love forever. The real world is the way that leads you to remembrance of the one thing that is wholly true and wholly yours. For all else you have let yourself in time, and it fade. But this one thing is always yours, being the gift of God unto His Son. Your one reality was given you, and by it God created you as one with Him.
“You will first dream of peace, and then awaken to it. Your first exchange of what you made for what you want is the exchange of nightmares for the happy dreams of love.”
How deeply comforting.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
News
News got ya down? It does me. But at a personal level, I’m well and grateful. That kind of takes the edge off the news, takes the sting out. The news is still ‘bad’ but, it doesn’t hurt as much and seems less personal. I can get some perspective on it. That reminds me of what Don Miguel Ruiz said: “Even when a situation seems so personal, even if others insult you directly, it has nothing to do with you.” Wow! That has meaning on so many levels.
First, don’t take it personally – even if it is – ‘cause when we do, we lose perspective and with it, our ability to respond and make things better. Second, its really not about you, it’s about them. Sure you and I are complicit in the oil disaster in the Gulf in that we rely on inefficient, non-renewable, polluting forms of energy. But we weren’t cutting corners, avoiding safety rules and taking unnecessary risks running a deep sea oil rig. I also feel complicit at a life style level and on a community level because I could do more to get Congress to regulate properly. But my real failure, and perhaps yours as well, is the failure to stay centered and connected to spirit; my real failure is that I feel guilty about what I’m not doing, get angry to cover my guilt and project it out and seek to blame.
Not that blame isn’t warranted: eleven people are dead along with countless innocent animals and plants and an entire eco system is likely to be destroyed, perhaps for our life times. No, blame and punishment have a place, but I need to deal with them from a centered connected place. I need to manage my guilt on my own and with spirit’s help, not make the error real, not take it personally and realize that on the everyday level, it has, as Don Miguel Ruiz said, nothing to do with me.
I can also understand that at this point in time in American and Western culture, the so-called news in all its forms: web, print, radio, TV, seeks to do just the opposite. The point of the news now seems to be to inflame and provoke. Gathering facts and sharing information, encouraging rationality and dialogue instead of inflaming prejudices takes second place. There are organizations and people who just love to talk trash.
They want to be first to bring the doom and gloom, to describe in great detail what went wrong and whose to blame. They always point out the negative side of everything. They are like garbage trucks. They load up with negativity and when they’re full, need to dump it somewhere, usually on us. But we can refuse to take their garbage personally. We can know that pure spirit is at the center of all form, always responding to our thoughts. Either we dwell on the garbage and create more garbage, or we dwell on goodness and create more goodness.
This is not about denial or wishful thinking, garbage is garbage. Its about being responsible and centered and learning from our mistakes. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Shame on us for trusting corporations to care more for the environment than they do for profits. Shame on us for not seeing that we have the best government money can buy. Shame on us for not taking responsibility and making our democracy stand up for our environment and not honestly building a world that works for everyone. Shame on us! Enough garbage; As Paddy Chayevsky said, I’ve had enough; I’m sick and tired of it and I’m not going to take anymore.
First, don’t take it personally – even if it is – ‘cause when we do, we lose perspective and with it, our ability to respond and make things better. Second, its really not about you, it’s about them. Sure you and I are complicit in the oil disaster in the Gulf in that we rely on inefficient, non-renewable, polluting forms of energy. But we weren’t cutting corners, avoiding safety rules and taking unnecessary risks running a deep sea oil rig. I also feel complicit at a life style level and on a community level because I could do more to get Congress to regulate properly. But my real failure, and perhaps yours as well, is the failure to stay centered and connected to spirit; my real failure is that I feel guilty about what I’m not doing, get angry to cover my guilt and project it out and seek to blame.
Not that blame isn’t warranted: eleven people are dead along with countless innocent animals and plants and an entire eco system is likely to be destroyed, perhaps for our life times. No, blame and punishment have a place, but I need to deal with them from a centered connected place. I need to manage my guilt on my own and with spirit’s help, not make the error real, not take it personally and realize that on the everyday level, it has, as Don Miguel Ruiz said, nothing to do with me.
I can also understand that at this point in time in American and Western culture, the so-called news in all its forms: web, print, radio, TV, seeks to do just the opposite. The point of the news now seems to be to inflame and provoke. Gathering facts and sharing information, encouraging rationality and dialogue instead of inflaming prejudices takes second place. There are organizations and people who just love to talk trash.
They want to be first to bring the doom and gloom, to describe in great detail what went wrong and whose to blame. They always point out the negative side of everything. They are like garbage trucks. They load up with negativity and when they’re full, need to dump it somewhere, usually on us. But we can refuse to take their garbage personally. We can know that pure spirit is at the center of all form, always responding to our thoughts. Either we dwell on the garbage and create more garbage, or we dwell on goodness and create more goodness.
This is not about denial or wishful thinking, garbage is garbage. Its about being responsible and centered and learning from our mistakes. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Shame on us for trusting corporations to care more for the environment than they do for profits. Shame on us for not seeing that we have the best government money can buy. Shame on us for not taking responsibility and making our democracy stand up for our environment and not honestly building a world that works for everyone. Shame on us! Enough garbage; As Paddy Chayevsky said, I’ve had enough; I’m sick and tired of it and I’m not going to take anymore.
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