Saturday, February 3, 2007

~Ah, Luscious PEACE~

Lesson 34:

“I could see peace instead of this…” …and exhale… breathing PEACE…. dispelling conflict…

“While truth is simple, it must still be taught to those who have already lost their way in endless mazes of complexity. This is the great illusion… (P-2.V.1:1-2)

Peace is ultimately the only experience I have sought in every decision I have ever made in this ‘so-called life of Danét’, regardless of the story I was telling at the time. If I have thought I wanted or needed something ~ I thought having it would give me peace. If I have decided to do something or not do something, I thought that decision would bring me a peaceful outcome. Even the emotions that at times, have ‘seemed to just happen’ to me, including those of love, rage, worry, excitement, defeat and fear, have been made due to a sense that they would leave me more peaceful than not giving myself to them. I am thinking about a marvelous practice given in the Course that is so simple. And, it has been my experience that it always works to restore peace:

“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.

Decision cannot be difficult. This is obvious, if you realize that you must already have decided not to be wholly joyous if that is how you feel. Therefore, the first step in the undoing is to recognize that you actively decided wrongly, but can as actively decide otherwise. Be very firm with yourself in this, and keep yourself fully aware that the undoing process, which does not come from you, is nevertheless within you because God placed it there. Your part is merely to return your thinking to the point at which the error was made, and give it over to the Atonement in peace. Say this to yourself as sincerely as you can, remembering that the Holy Spirit will respond fully to your slightest invitation:

I must have decided wrongly, because I am not at peace.

I made the decision myself, but I can also decide otherwise.

I want to decide otherwise, because I want to be at peace.

I do not feel guilty, because the Holy Spirit will undo all the consequences of my wrong decision if I will let Him.

I choose to let Him, by allowing Him to decide for God for me. (T-5.VII.5-6)

Conflict is the result of a mind asleep; dreaming of exile; not knowing it is at home immutable, in the mind of its Creator, from which no thought can leave its source. Peace is the condition for the remembrance of Him, the gift, the way and the inevitable result.

Forgiveness is the pathway of peace in this seeming world. It is a decision for peace, as well as for the circumstances for the bringing about of re-cognition of peace. Peace is the content within the countless seeming lesson/roads forgiveness offers.

The Holy Spirit is the mastermind within the mind that knows the ‘big picture’ and the Why we can trust~ always~ now. It is this answer (Holy Spirit), given by God the instant the ‘tint mad idea of separation seemed to enter the mind of God’s Son, which directs the form of any seemingly particular avenue in the journey of re-member-ing our Self ~ guiding us through each and every seeming person, situation or circumstance... Even when we offer zero willingness to see another way … He waits… (“only infinite patience produces immediate effects”), maneuvering around all seeming obstacles to the most direct course we’ll allow, at any given time, back to God ~ back to a place we never left… Each encounter is holy. Every one offers peace. They are all brothers, all of inestimable value. My immeasurable debt to them is paid though my for-give-ness, which brings instantaneous peace ~out of time and place, to the peace of NOW… “The ark of peace is entered two by two…

We enter together, you and I. The peace of God is our inheritance, the goal we seek and the condition by which we accept and the means for its accomplishment: together, we re-cover the Truth of Who and What we are ~ the Love that is Christ ~where no conflict is or could be possible~ where all is One …

~All glory to God ~

Friday, February 2, 2007

~Forgiveness: the another way of looking at the world ~

Lesson 33:

“There is another way of looking at the world”…

Let me know this brother as I know myself…”

The Holy Spirit within our mind IS that way…

The term; “There has got to be a better way!” became, for me, the key that unlocked(s) the door to the new premise… a premise that heals the mind dis-eased by the plague of separation… the premise of the healed perspective… the One perspective…

I'm thinking about chapter 5 of the text in the section called The Invitation to the Holy Spirit, where it says:

“Healing is a thought by which two minds perceive their oneness and become glad. This gladness calls to every part of the Sonship to rejoice with them, and lets God go out into them and through them…
“Let us start our process of reawakening with just a few simple concepts:

Thoughts increase by being given away.

The more who believe in them the stronger they become.

Everything is an idea.

How, then, can giving and losing be associated?

This is the invitation to the Holy Spirit…I can reach up and bring the Holy Spirit down to you, but I can bring Him to you only at your own invitation. The Holy Spirit is in your right mind… The Holy Spirit, the shared Inspiration of all the Sonship, induces a kind of perception in which many elements are like those in the Kingdom of Heaven itself:

First, its universality is perfectly clear, and no one who attains it could believe for one instant that sharing it involves anything but gain.

Second, it is incapable of attack and is therefore truly open. This means that although it does not engender knowledge, it does not obstruct it in any way.

Finally, it points the way beyond the healing that it brings, and leads the mind beyond its own integration toward the paths of creation. It is at this point that sufficient quantitative change occurs to produce a real qualitative shift.” (T-5.I.1-7)

All things work together for good…how this can be, and how it works are not my concern, mine is only the readiness of my own mind, through my willingness, to see and be shown; another way of looking at the world… “What is this for? What is the purpose…?” These are the only questions I need, and must, ask... And the premise from which I choose produces the rest. This whole section of chapter 5 in the text is just so gorgeous in expressing this… please enjoy it with me now…

… “The Holy Spirit has the task of undoing what the ego has made. He undoes it at the same level on which the ego operates, or the mind would be unable to understand the change.
I have repeatedly emphasized that one level of the mind is not understandable to another. So it is with the ego and the Holy Spirit; with time and eternity. Eternity is an idea of God, so the Holy Spirit understands it perfectly. Time is a belief of the ego, so the lower mind, which is the ego's domain, accepts it without question. The only aspect of time that is eternal is
The Holy Spirit is the Mediator between the interpretations of the ego and the knowledge of the spirit. His ability to deal with symbols enables Him to work with the ego's beliefs in its own language. His ability to look beyond symbols into eternity enables Him to understand the laws of God, for which He speaks. He can therefore perform the function of reinterpreting what the ego makes, not by destruction but by understanding. Understanding is light, and light leads to knowledge. The Holy Spirit is in light because He is in you who are light, but you yourself do not know this. It is therefore the task of the Holy Spirit to reinterpret you on behalf of God.
You cannot understand yourself alone. This is because you have no meaning apart from your rightful place in the Sonship, and the rightful place of the Sonship is God. This is your life, your eternity and your Self. It is of this that the Holy Spirit reminds you. It is this that the Holy Spirit sees.
The ego made the world as it perceives it, but the Holy Spirit, the reinterpreter of what the ego made, sees the world as a teaching device for bringing you home.
Every loving thought held in any part of the Sonship belongs to every part. It is shared it is loving. Sharing is God's way of creating, and also yours.
The joint will of the Sonship is the only creator that can create like the Father, because only the complete can think completely, and the thinking of God lacks nothing. Everything you think that is not through the Holy Spirit lacking.
The ego cannot oppose the laws of God any more than you can, but it can interpret them according to what it wants, just as you can. That is why the question, "What do you want?" must be answered. You are answering it every minute and every second, and each moment of decision is a judgment that is anything but ineffectual. 4 Its effects will follow automatically until the decision is changed. Remember, though, that the alternatives themselves are unalterable. The Holy Spirit, like the ego, is a decision. Together they constitute all the alternatives the mind can accept and obey. The Holy Spirit and the ego are the only choices open to you. God created one, and so you cannot eradicate it. You made the other, and so you can. Only what God creates is irreversible and unchangeable. What you made can always be changed because, when you do not think like God, you are not really thinking at all. Delusional ideas are not real thoughts, although you can believe in them. But you are wrong. The function of thought comes from God and is in God. As part of His Thought, you think apart from Him.
Irrational thought is disordered thought. God Himself orders your thought because your thought was created by Him. Guilt feelings are always a sign that you do not know this. They also show that you believe you can think apart from God, and want to. Every disordered thought is attended by guilt at its inception, and maintained by guilt in its continuance. Guilt is inescapable by those who believe they order their own thoughts, and must therefore obey their dictates. This makes them feel responsible for their errors without recognizing that, by accepting this responsibility, they are reacting irresponsibly. If the sole responsibility of the miracle worker is to accept the Atonement for himself, and I assure you that it is, then the responsibility for is atoned for cannot be yours. The dilemma cannot be resolved except by accepting the solution of undoing. You be responsible for the effects of all your wrong thinking if it could not be undone. The purpose of the Atonement is to save the past in purified form only. If you accept the remedy for disordered thought, a remedy whose efficacy is beyond doubt, how can its symptoms remain? (T-5.III.5,T-5.V.7)

I am so grateful to for this new, this True perspective where everything is the same and from which I give my self to life, to you and to all… what a beautiful release. I accept the atonement for myself… and ~ Forgiveness offers everything I want. Who could possibly ask for more than peace, and certainty and quiet understanding…for more than everything?
Everything is perfect… and so is everything else…It turns out that the release of the attempt to change circumstances is easy as the mind sees the sameness of illusions. Forgiveness is the procedure for this coming into recognition ~and forgiveness reveals illusions as one. Forgiveness reveals the impossibility of the belief in ordering thought forms or a hierarchy of illusions. And joyously we can allow the Holy Spirit to answer…
“What is the purpose of what I see?” ... Forgiveness, the other way of looking at the world ~ Love ~ is the answer…
~I am bursting with gratitude and joy~

Thursday, February 1, 2007

~Premise: is it invention or is it creation?~

Lesson 32:

“I have invented the world I see…”

Today’s lesson brings reference in my mind of doing a science fair projects with the children. Whith these ‘projects, the premise is based on what’s called the “Scientific Method”; the premise for scientific study. ~ Now, I Think~ invent ~ think science ~ think scientific method ~ think Chapter 2 in the text of A course in Miracles, The Separation And The Atonement~
~The scientific method is the best way yet discovered for discerning the truth from lies and delusion. The simple version looks something like this:
1. Observe some aspect of the universe.
2. Invent a tentative description, called a hypothesis that is consistent with what you have observed.
3. Use the hypothesis to make predictions.
4. Test those predictions by experiments or further observations and modify the hypothesis in the light of your results.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until there are no discrepancies between theory and experiment and/or observation.
When consistency is obtained the hypothesis becomes a theory and provides a coherent set of propositions, which explain a class of phenomena. A theory is then a framework within which observations are explained and predictions are made.
So goes the physical world…. The very fabric of the program rests on the premise from which it is based…. What if the premise is a lie? Wouldn’t everything directed from that premise, although, substantiating that premise, be incorrect?
What if the very premise is incorrect? (I.e. the world is flat) … ~ examine… the premise…
Here’s what Chapter 2 the section called “The Origins of Separation”, says:

“To extend is a fundamental aspect of God which He gave to His Son. In the creation, God extended Himself to His creations and imbued them with the same loving Will to create. You have not only been fully created, but have also been created perfect. There is no emptiness in you. Because of your likeness to your Creator you are creative. No child of God can lose this ability because it is inherent in what he is, but he can use it inappropriately by projecting. The inappropriate use of extension, or projection, occurs when you believe that some emptiness or lack exists in you, and that you can fill it with your own ideas instead of truth. This process involves the following steps:

First, you believe that what God created can be changed by your own mind.
Second, you believe that what is perfect can be rendered imperfect or lacking.
Third, you believe that you can distort the creations of God, including yourself.
Fourth, you believe that you can create yourself, and that the direction of your own creation is up to you.
These related distortions represent a picture of what actually occurred in the separation, or the "detour into fear." None of this existed before the separation, nor does it actually exist now. Everything God created is like Him. Extension, as undertaken by God, is similar to the inner radiance that the children of the Father inherit from Him. Its real source is internal. This is as true of the Son as of the Father. In this sense the creation includes both the creation of the Son by God, and the Son's creations when his mind is healed. This requires God's endowment of the Son with free will, because all loving creation is freely given in one continuous line, in which all aspects are of the same order.” (T-2.I.1-2)

~What if we stepped outside of this “flat world of separation” for just a second and observed it from another perspective, like it suggests in workbook lesson 69~
"Think of your mind as a vast circle, surrounded by a layer of heavy, dark clouds. You can see only the clouds because you seem to be standing outside the circle and quite apart from it. From where you stand, you can see no reason to believe there is a brilliant light hidden by the clouds. The clouds seem to be the only reality. They
seem to be all there is to see. Therefore, you do not attempt to go through them and past them, which is the only way in which you would be really convinced of their lack of substance." (W-69.4.2)
Everything I think I think and think I see IS the layer of heavy, dark clouds. The people, the places, the things, and the situations and circumstances of the world are the dark clouds of false belief and distorted perception. What if I am not truly IN these clouds, but only believe I have a "life" and "existence" in them. What if there is a Way of looking upon them from a whole new premise ~ from within the circle ~ with the Holy Spirit's light Perspective. This “if” is the possibility each of us comes to when, faced with the world we invented and unsatisfied with its state, we say, “There has got to be another way”... so we become willing to take the necessary steps of ‘open-mindedness’ to go through the clouds to reach this new Perspective within.
In chapter two, same section, further down, it goes on to say:

“The Atonement was built into the space-time belief to set a limit on the need for the belief itself, and ultimately to make learning complete. The Atonement is the final lesson. Learning itself, like the classrooms in which it occurs, is temporary. The ability to learn has no value when change is no longer necessary. The eternally creative have nothing to learn. You can learn to improve your perceptions, and can become a better and better learner. This will bring you into closer and closer accord with the Sonship; but the Sonship itself is a perfect creation and perfection is not a matter of degree. Only while there is a belief in differences is learning meaningful.
Evolution is a process in which you seem to proceed from one degree to the next. You correct your previous missteps by stepping forward. This process is actually incomprehensible in temporal terms, because you return as you go forward. The Atonement is the device by which you can free yourself from the past as you go ahead. It undoes your past errors, thus making it unnecessary for you to keep retracing your steps without advancing to your return. In this sense the Atonement saves time, but like the miracle it serves, does not abolish it. As long as there is need for Atonement, there is need for time. But the Atonement as a completed plan has a unique relationship to time. Until the Atonement is complete, its various phases will proceed in time, but the whole Atonement stands at time's end. At that point the bridge of return has been built.
The Atonement is a total commitment. You may still think this is associated with loss, a mistake all the separated Sons of God make in one way or another. It is hard to believe a defense that cannot attack is the best defense. This is what is meant by "the meek shall inherit the earth." They will literally take it over because of their strength. A two-way defense is inherently weak precisely because it has two edges, and can be turned against you very unexpectedly. This possibility cannot be controlled except by miracles. The miracle turns the defense of Atonement to your real protection, and as you become more and more secure you assume your natural talent of protecting others, knowing yourself as both a brother and a Son”. (T-2.II.5-7)

~So, in this experience, we discover that it is impossible to be in the clouds but not of them. The world cannot get any "better" or "worse," because unreal effects (images) from and unreal cause (ego) are unreal. There are no such "conditions" as "good unreality" or "bad unreality" or "better unreality" or "worse unreality." Time-space-matter is unreal. Spirit is real. The Holy Spirit is the Answer that discerns for us until there is no further need of discernment. It turns out, that peace and happiness are as simple as the release from the belief in compromise. For one cannot be Light and also be IN darkness. Truth and illusion, love and fear, light and darkness have no meeting point and cannot be reconciled. As I have accepted this simple fact, faith in love, in my brother, my Self, and God, have become a natural result and the seeming frustrations and doubts easily dissipate into the ether from which they came.
“Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.” (T-1.2)

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

~no victims forever~lesson 31:

Lesson 31

“I am not the victim of the world I see…“

Talk about an idea that flip one immediately right-side-up, giving one freedom to view from a more honest, straightforward perspective. This one is it. It is a today’s lesson says; “a declaration of release, a declaration of independence in the name of one’s own freedom. And in one freedom lies the freedom of the world. Today, this moment~ this NOW, I am free. And free is as far as my vision extends. Thank your, Father, for your gifts to me… I am not a victim of the word I see. There are no victims, I see none at all. There are only saviors and the life we share in forgiveness …

This ‘no victim’ imperative is a crucial concept throughout the Course. And one that literally saved my little soul. Lord, how I had victimized myself. .. and oh my god, the guilt I felt for, well, pretty much everything in my life~ coulda, shoulda, woulda~ I’m sorry… (nauseating, really~ the guilty mind).

But freedom , now, that makes for beautiful majestic viewing… Ah, the sight given by the guiltless mind…

The world I see… is out-pictured by me~ how then can I be a victim of it?

I am not even a victim of my perceptions... I can always choose to see things differently. In chapter 4 of the Course, Jesus talks about this choice using the metaphor of the crucifixion, resurrection, and ‘last useless journey’; a journey I know well… let this be ours…

“You can speak from the spirit or from the ego, as you choose. If you speak from spirit you have chosen to "Be still and know that I am God." 3These words are inspired because they reflect knowledge. If you speak from the ego you are disclaiming knowledge instead of affirming it, and are thus dis-spiriting yourself. Do not embark on useless journeys, because they are indeed in vain. The ego may desire them, but spirit cannot embark on them because it is forever unwilling to depart from its Foundation.
The journey to the cross should be the last "useless journey." Do not dwell upon it, but dismiss it as accomplished. If you can accept it as your own last useless journey, you are also free to join my resurrection. Until you do so your life is indeed wasted. It merely re-enacts the separation, the loss of power, the futile attempts of the ego at reparation, and finally the crucifixion of the body, or death. Such repetitions are endless until they are voluntarily given up
. Do not make the pathetic error of "clinging to the old rugged cross." The only message of the crucifixion is that you can overcome the cross. Until then you are free to crucify yourself as often as you choose. This is not the gospel I intended to offer you. We have another journey to undertake, and if you will read these lessons carefully they will help prepare you to undertake it.” (T-4.2-3)

It is impossible to really experience myself as victimized any more in any situation (no matter how good the story is). There is always something in the back of my mind going,” ha, ha, ha…what a racket…give it a rest…you know it’s not true… nobody did nothin’ to you…including yourself…give up ~ give in to peace…” ~and right back to where I started.

Another section of the Course that I love around this subject is the introduction part of Chapter 10. “The Idols of sickness” Here’s what it says:

Nothing beyond yourself can make you fearful or loving, because nothing beyond you. Time and eternity are both in your mind, and will conflict until you perceive time solely as a means to regain eternity. You cannot do this as long as you believe that anything happening to you is caused by factors outside yourself. You must learn that time is solely at your disposal, and that nothing in the world can take this responsibility from you. You can violate God's laws in your imagination, but you cannot escape from them. They were established for your protection and are as inviolate as your safety.
God created nothing beside you and nothing beside you exists, for you are part of Him. What except Him can exist? Nothing beyond Him can happen, because nothing except Him is real. Your creations add to Him as you do, but nothing is added that is different because everything has always been. What can upset you except the ephemeral, and how can the ephemeral be real if you are God's only creation and He created you eternal?
Your holy mind establishes everything that happens to you. Every response you make to everything you perceive is up to you, because your mind determines your perception of it.
God does not change His Mind about you, for He is not uncertain of Himself. And what He knows can be known, because He does not know it only for Himself. He created you for Himself, but He gave you the power to create for yourself so you would be like Him. That is why your mind is holy. Can anything exceed the Love of God? Can anything, then, exceed your will? Nothing can reach you from beyond it because, being in God, you encompass everything. Believe this, and you will realize how much is up to you. When anything threatens your peace of mind, ask yourself, "Has God changed His Mind about me?" Then accept His decision, for it is indeed changeless, and refuse to change your mind about yourself. 11 God will never decide against you, or He would be deciding against Himself. )T-10.in.1-3).

Unified in purpose, we are the ONE… Let this day, be our declaration of freedom ~ of independence from the world we made ~ the declaration of our total dependence on God; this hour, this moment, this Holy Instant of release… appreciation and miracles~ All glory to God!

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

~minding sight ~vision~

Lesson 30:

“God is in everything I see because God is in my mind…”

God is…

God is indeed in my mind, and the only thing worth out-picturing… the only thing I want to see… This being the case, there is only one direction to turn to see the truth~ back in to my mind, back to the abstract stillness from which creation springs; from here projection has its natural purpose ~LOVE EXTENDING~ How glorious is this vision which lights and exposes the dark corners of my mind…

The now, proceeding forth what seeming appears as the process of out picturing my forgiveness curriculum ~ all the debris I appear to see/experience, that isn’t love; ~that which is ‘my’ so-called life, ~my part in the Atonement. God is in everything I see because God is in my mind. I will but to see only Christ and forgiveness everywhere…

Practicing the Course’s principles and utilizing (when willing) the exercises outlined in the workbook, throughout the years, it has become quite automatic to turn my mind around, and look once again…

A Course in Miracles is a course in mind training for which I could not over-evaluate the value, or the importance, or the power, in my life, of these simple lessons. Yes, simple; simple and pure and direct and poignant… Easy, however? The ego never does easy…

My ego mind has used every defense at its disposal derail me from my purpose; forgetfulness, busy-ness, worry, denial, glorification, pleasure/pain, ‘special’-ness, deflection, projection, anger, guilt, fear… (name it)

And, at the end of the day, it has all boiled down to merely nothing… ~all just delay tactics… always in competition with God… all a battle of “my tiny will” to control my mind's witness and maintain the illusion of authorship/authority over my so called life… It has failed…

One of the ego’s favorite devices is to twist things just enough that something about whatever is going down feels ‘right’, (hook) but the interpretation and application are up side-down. A great example of this is all the “New Age” manifest your reality, blah, blah, blah… where you visualize what you want to ‘create’ in this world, in your life.{Been there, done that, got the T-shirt} by accepting the Atonement for myself, my seeing shifted…

See, now: there is no world; only an idea of separation, out pictured.

So, the loftiest of fantasies, the most successful, important and significant figure in the world, successfully manifest, is still all of this of NOTHING. It’s a seductive gig ~ believe me I know… but it too, is just a delay tactic… The miracle is inevitable!

The temptation to try to see with the body’s eyes, interpreted by the brain’s definitions is strong~ we could say compulsive… And perhaps it is…

It’s still just a bad habit developed by the ego for the ego, to maintain the database it designed at the ‘beginning of time’, to out-picture separation.

This first thought spun out an entire false universe. And only my belief in it gives it life/reality. My choice lies in choosing the Holy Spirit corrective program for my seeing. And in doing so I choose to withdraw my belief…

A Course in Miracles as a mind training curriculum, and the application of forgiveness; all ways, all situations, at all times, have allowed for the Holy Spirit, the means for it accomplishment, to project love everywhere. And in a life `once hardwired for fear.

W-30.2. “Today we are trying to use a new kind of "projection." 2 We are not attempting to get rid of what we do not like by seeing it outside. 3 Instead, we are trying to see in the world what is in our minds, and what we want to recognize is there. 4 Thus, we are trying to join with what we see, rather than keeping it apart from us. 5 That is the fundamental difference between vision and the way you see.”

This is not an exercise in manifestation; it is an exercise in recognition.

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)

We are Christ…and God is in everything we see because God is in our mind…

Monday, January 29, 2007

Seeing what we see with~

Lesson 29:

“God is in everything I see…”

God is everything I see with…

Nothing the body’s eyes, nor the brain’s definition has any meaning or purpose at all…Now, my self-concept has never included being able to bare even the possibility of lack of meaning, or lack of purpose. This has rendered me extremely vulnerable to ‘writing my own meaning’ onto nothingness, then substantiating my case with proofs and then believing those hollow substantiations as fact, while simultaneously forgetting the origin of the ‘meaningful’ idea/concept (denial), and feeling guilty when I didn’t live up to the expectations I perceived the concept required… So I was repeatedly trying over and over to ‘get it right’ (insanity). All the while, not questioning the validity of this thinking; the assumption that it was all real…and worse, critical to my survival. …How ridiculous is insanity, eh?

(The seemingly perpetual re-living of the tiny tick of time)

In Chapter 19 of the text, under the section “Healing and Faith”, it says:

‘Truth and illusion have no connection. This will remain forever true, however much you seek to connect them. But illusions are always connected, as is truth. Each is united, a complete thought system, but totally disconnected to each other. And to perceive this is to recognize where separation is, and where it must be healed. The result of an idea is never separate from its source’. (T-19.I.7)

Thoughts leave not their source…

The course is consistently reminding us that we have but one choice to guide our sight~ We look with the ego or the Holy Spirit (and this is really, no choice at all, it turns out). Further down in chapter 19, when speaking about the Holy Spirit’s touch within, revealing our choice, it says:

“The gratitude you owe to Him He asks but that you receive for Him. And when you look with gentle graciousness upon your brother, you are beholding Him. For you are looking where He and not apart from Him. You cannot see the Holy Spirit, but you can see your brothers truly. And the light in them will show you all that you need to see. When the peace in you has been extended to encompass everyone, the Holy Spirit's function here will be accomplished. What need is there for seeing, then?” (T-19.IV.3)

…God is in everything I see…and therefore I must see with God, through the Holy Spirit within my mind… I want only to see…that is ~to see all purpose in everything… nothing separate, by itself or in itself… the whole basis for vision… unquestionably God is not in a form seen. Yet every thing shares the purpose of the universe. And what shares the purpose of the universe shares the purpose of its Creator. “

Just as the lesson says today:

"We begin to learn how to look on all things with love, appreciation and open-mindedness. You do not see them now. Would you know what is in them? Nothing is as it appears to you. Its holy purpose stands beyond your little range. When vision has shown you the holiness that lights up the world, you will understand today's idea perfectly. And you will not understand how you could ever have found it difficult."

I joyously rejoice in seeing that we are, and we share this holy purpose together~

Sunday, January 28, 2007

~universal purpose/purpose of universe~

Lesson 28:

“Above all else I want to see things differently…”

Simply as a natural consequence of my commitment to “Above all else…want to see things differently,” I have realized such a ‘loosening of my mind’s grip’. And through the practice of it over many years now, I find myself asking, “Where is this my/personal mind now?”… It has dissolved itself into the sight itself…

Ah, sight…. I feel so blessed by this very miracle which is expressing my life~ an experience of such significance, I’m not sure I can put into words the dept of gratitude to my brother for being the light which reflects myself/ Self and allows vision. One simple idea, given over to willingness, that has offered so much; everything is different than it was before …because it is the some….As the lesson says…

Each seemingly separate thing, “…in itself is not important at all…yet what is by itself? And what “in itself” mean? You see a lot of separate things about you, which really means you are not seeing at all. You either see or not. When you have seen one thing differently, you will see all things differently. The light you will see in any one of them is the same light you will see in them all”… Seeing has become a very intimate experience with the light of Christ… Sure, the body’s eyes apparently see all the same things/friends, situations, etc. in all the same places and the brain defines, gives meaning and assigns purpose. But somehow deep within my mind, I quit taking it seriously. Somewhere along the line, I quit looking at things with defining eyes but rather beyond…noticing the light illuming the perceived things, events, people… the question of the reality of their separateness took hold in my mind … noticing more and more, the light of unity. And naturally leaning back, allowing for that light to give definition and purpose. Things and situations and the entire seeming meaningful world around me began to take on a feeling of unreality ~with only the light being significant… a little like overlays on overhead projector, se comprendre l’un l’autre?

… I can feel the power and fullness of the actuality of what the lesson is saying; ” You are making a commitment to withdraw your preconceived ideas…and open our mind to what it is and what it is for. You are not defining it in past terms. You are asking what it is, rather than telling it what it is… nor are you limiting its purpose to our little personal thoughts.”

Developing the habit of engaging the Holy Spirit within my mind, asking, “what is the meaning of this? What is it for?” has become more natural than figuring it out or thinking I already know. (Don’t get me wrong, that habit is definitely still levying for position in my mind, it just feels more natural now to let go ~ to wait in stillness…then move from there)…

“…You will not question what you have already defined. The purpose of these exercises is to ask questions and receive the answers….you are committing yourself to seeing.…You could, if fact, gain vision from just …, if you would withdraw all your own ideas from it, and look upon it with a completely open mind…hidden under all your ideas about it is its real purpose ~the purpose it shares with the universe…

You are therefore, really asking to see the purpose of the universe. ~And you are making a commitment … to let its purpose be revealed to you.” That, is an unequivocal YES!

~I am joined with you in seeing the purpose of the universe…One Mind…~