YIR p 64 (Gary)
People think it’s the beliefs that they have in their conscious mind that runs them, and that they can control their mind by changing their thoughts from negative to positive ones. That’s not true when it comes to the big picture. It will only have a temporarily helpful impact. What really runs us are the beliefs we have that are unconscious to us, the things we can’t see. A Course in Miracles presents a way to actually heal and remove the things that are hidden in the deep canyons of the unconscious mind. Very few spiritual teachings do anything on that level.
DU p 159 (Pursah & Arten)
Your real life is in Heaven, but you can also achieve peace and joy during your temporary life here. Those are your motivations for quitting grievances. Sometimes those motivations won't seem like enough. What's going to happen is that when you try to forgive, sometimes you'll be able to. Yet if you're really trying to do the Course, then just as often you're going to come up against a lot of things that you don't want to forgive and you don't want to give up. That's how your resistance and your hidden, unconscious hatred shows up. Those are the things you're going to have to look at that you don't want to look at.
My Note: Two very potent Course quotes associated with this:
No one can escape from illusions unless he looks at them, for not looking is the
way they are protected. T p 202 (11:V:1:1)
To learn this course requires willingness to question every value that you hold. T p 499 (24:Intro:2:1)
Then, a DU quote to add to this as a follow up:
DU p 225 (Pursah)
The Holy Spirit knows your afraid of your unconscious. The purpose of the Course is peace, not to scare the hell out of you. The more prepared you are, and the better you do your forgiveness work, the less scary your journey with the Course will ultimately be.
God Is
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
A Course in Miracles and Forgiveness
ACIM T p 138
Knowledge is not the motivation for learning this course. Peace is. This is the prerequisite for knowledge only because those who are in conflict are not peaceful, and peace is the condition of knowledge because it is the condition of the Kingdom. Knowledge can be restored only when you meet its conditions.
DU p 109
The peace of God is the goal of the Course because it must be attained in order to regain the awareness of your reality in the Kingdom.
YIR p 139
It’s through your own choice for the Holy Spirit and His thought system instead of the ego’s that your mind is returned to peace. That has to happen first in order for you to go home. You can’t skip your forgiveness homework. Everybody wants to skip to the end and be enlightened now, but it doesn’t work that way. If peace is the condition of the Kingdom, then the mind must be at peace in order to fit in. And in order for the mind to be at peace, you have to forgive. It’s as simple as that.
DU p 147
Without its practical method of forgiveness, the Course would be nothing but a beautiful and useless book - fuel for debate and the games of the ego. Fortunately, as J says in the Introduction to the Clarification of Terms, p 77: This is not a course in philosophical speculation, nor is it concerned with precise terminology. It is concerned only with Atonement, or the correction of perception. The means of the Atonement is forgiveness.
What is Forgiveness? ACIM W p 401
Forgiveness recognizes what you thought your brother did to you has not occurred. It does not pardon sins and make them real. It sees there was no sin. And in that view are all your sins forgiven.
Forgiveness is the key to happiness. ACIM Lesson 121 W p 214
Here is the answer to your search for peace. Here is the key to meaning in a world that seems to make no sense. Here is the way to safety in apparent dangers that appear to threaten you at every turn, and bring uncertainty to all your hopes of ever finding quietness and peace. Here are all questions answered; here the end of all uncertainty ensured at last.
Forgiveness offers everything I want. ACIM Lesson 122 W p 217
What could you want forgiveness cannot give? Do you want peace? Forgiveness offers it. Do you want happiness, a quiet mind, a certainty of purpose, and a sense of worth and beauty that transcends the world? Do you want care and safety, and the warmth of sure protection always? Do you want a quietness that cannot be disturbed, a gentleness that never can be hurt, a deep abiding comfort, and a rest so perfect it can never be upset?
All this forgiveness offers and more. It sparkles on your eyes as you awake, and gives you joy with which to meet the day. It soothes your forehead while you sleep, and rest upon your eyelids so you see no dreams of fear and evil, malice and attack. And when you wake again, it offers you another day of happiness and peace. All this forgiveness offers you, and more.
DU p 343
We came here to give people a spiritual message, a message that not everyone is ready for yet, and this is it: When you are ready to accept that the only thing that really matters in your illusory lifetime is the successful completion of your lessons of true forgiveness, then you will be truly wise indeed.
DU p 221
True forgiveness is the real purpose of life, but you've got to choose it in order to make it yours. Remember, practicing real forgiveness can't help but lead you home.
YIR p 128
You can't wake up from a dream as long as you're stuck in it. Awareness of dreaming breaks the hold. And the more you forgive, the more you become aware that you're just dreaming.
Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world. ACIM Lesson 62 W p 104
It is your forgiveness that will bring the world of darkness to the light. It is your forgiveness that lets you recognize the light in which you see. Forgiveness is the demonstration that you are the light of the world. Through your forgiveness does the truth about yourself return to your memory. Therefore, in your forgiveness lies your salvation.
God is the Love in which I forgive. ACIM Lesson 46 W p 73
God does not forgive because He has never condemned. And there must be condemnation before forgiveness is necessary. Forgiveness is the great need of this world, but that is because it is a world of illusions. Those who forgive are thus releasing themselves from illusions, while those who withhold forgiveness are binding themselves to them. As you condemn only yourself, so do you forgive only yourself. Yet although God does not forgive, His Love is nevertheless the basis of forgiveness.
The words, Forgive(s), Forgiven, Forgiveness, Forgiving, and Forgivable show up in the Course a total of 842 times.
Forgive and let live.
Knowledge is not the motivation for learning this course. Peace is. This is the prerequisite for knowledge only because those who are in conflict are not peaceful, and peace is the condition of knowledge because it is the condition of the Kingdom. Knowledge can be restored only when you meet its conditions.
DU p 109
The peace of God is the goal of the Course because it must be attained in order to regain the awareness of your reality in the Kingdom.
YIR p 139
It’s through your own choice for the Holy Spirit and His thought system instead of the ego’s that your mind is returned to peace. That has to happen first in order for you to go home. You can’t skip your forgiveness homework. Everybody wants to skip to the end and be enlightened now, but it doesn’t work that way. If peace is the condition of the Kingdom, then the mind must be at peace in order to fit in. And in order for the mind to be at peace, you have to forgive. It’s as simple as that.
DU p 147
Without its practical method of forgiveness, the Course would be nothing but a beautiful and useless book - fuel for debate and the games of the ego. Fortunately, as J says in the Introduction to the Clarification of Terms, p 77: This is not a course in philosophical speculation, nor is it concerned with precise terminology. It is concerned only with Atonement, or the correction of perception. The means of the Atonement is forgiveness.
What is Forgiveness? ACIM W p 401
Forgiveness recognizes what you thought your brother did to you has not occurred. It does not pardon sins and make them real. It sees there was no sin. And in that view are all your sins forgiven.
Forgiveness is the key to happiness. ACIM Lesson 121 W p 214
Here is the answer to your search for peace. Here is the key to meaning in a world that seems to make no sense. Here is the way to safety in apparent dangers that appear to threaten you at every turn, and bring uncertainty to all your hopes of ever finding quietness and peace. Here are all questions answered; here the end of all uncertainty ensured at last.
Forgiveness offers everything I want. ACIM Lesson 122 W p 217
What could you want forgiveness cannot give? Do you want peace? Forgiveness offers it. Do you want happiness, a quiet mind, a certainty of purpose, and a sense of worth and beauty that transcends the world? Do you want care and safety, and the warmth of sure protection always? Do you want a quietness that cannot be disturbed, a gentleness that never can be hurt, a deep abiding comfort, and a rest so perfect it can never be upset?
All this forgiveness offers and more. It sparkles on your eyes as you awake, and gives you joy with which to meet the day. It soothes your forehead while you sleep, and rest upon your eyelids so you see no dreams of fear and evil, malice and attack. And when you wake again, it offers you another day of happiness and peace. All this forgiveness offers you, and more.
DU p 343
We came here to give people a spiritual message, a message that not everyone is ready for yet, and this is it: When you are ready to accept that the only thing that really matters in your illusory lifetime is the successful completion of your lessons of true forgiveness, then you will be truly wise indeed.
DU p 221
True forgiveness is the real purpose of life, but you've got to choose it in order to make it yours. Remember, practicing real forgiveness can't help but lead you home.
YIR p 128
You can't wake up from a dream as long as you're stuck in it. Awareness of dreaming breaks the hold. And the more you forgive, the more you become aware that you're just dreaming.
Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world. ACIM Lesson 62 W p 104
It is your forgiveness that will bring the world of darkness to the light. It is your forgiveness that lets you recognize the light in which you see. Forgiveness is the demonstration that you are the light of the world. Through your forgiveness does the truth about yourself return to your memory. Therefore, in your forgiveness lies your salvation.
God is the Love in which I forgive. ACIM Lesson 46 W p 73
God does not forgive because He has never condemned. And there must be condemnation before forgiveness is necessary. Forgiveness is the great need of this world, but that is because it is a world of illusions. Those who forgive are thus releasing themselves from illusions, while those who withhold forgiveness are binding themselves to them. As you condemn only yourself, so do you forgive only yourself. Yet although God does not forgive, His Love is nevertheless the basis of forgiveness.
The words, Forgive(s), Forgiven, Forgiveness, Forgiving, and Forgivable show up in the Course a total of 842 times.
Forgive and let live.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
True Perception
When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter. As you see him you will see yourself. As you treat him you will treat yourself. As you think of him you will think of yourself. Never forget this, for in him you will find yourself or lose yourself. ~ACIM Text p 142 (8:III:4:1-5)
The key to enlightenment lies in a secret that very few people have ever known, but which J knew well. The way you will experience and feel about yourself is not determined by how other people look at and think about you. The way that you will experience and feel about yourself is actually determined by how you look at and think about them. Ultimately, this determines your identity. You will identify yourself either as a body or as perfect spirit, as either divided or whole, depending on how you see others. And once you understand that, I would think you'd want to get pretty damn careful how you think about other people! ~YIR p 17
Always remember that your state of mind and the resulting goal you will achieve are in your own hands, because there are really only two things you can do - judge as an expression of fear, or forgive as an expression of love. One perception leads to the peace of God and the other perception leads to war. As the Course teaches, 'You see the flesh or recognize the spirit. There is no compromise between the two. If one is real the other must be false, for what is real denies its opposite. There is no choice in vision but this one.' ~DU p 397,398
God Is
The key to enlightenment lies in a secret that very few people have ever known, but which J knew well. The way you will experience and feel about yourself is not determined by how other people look at and think about you. The way that you will experience and feel about yourself is actually determined by how you look at and think about them. Ultimately, this determines your identity. You will identify yourself either as a body or as perfect spirit, as either divided or whole, depending on how you see others. And once you understand that, I would think you'd want to get pretty damn careful how you think about other people! ~YIR p 17
Always remember that your state of mind and the resulting goal you will achieve are in your own hands, because there are really only two things you can do - judge as an expression of fear, or forgive as an expression of love. One perception leads to the peace of God and the other perception leads to war. As the Course teaches, 'You see the flesh or recognize the spirit. There is no compromise between the two. If one is real the other must be false, for what is real denies its opposite. There is no choice in vision but this one.' ~DU p 397,398
God Is
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
True Humility
Last weekend at Gary's workshop in Truckee, CA, he said something - which of course I already knew - but got on a deeper level. No such thing as too much repetition in hearing right-minded ideas, since it goes against the conservative thinking of the world. Anyway, most would think it is arrogant to say you are one with God. But the truth is, it is arrogant to think you can have an individual existence separate from God. So we're a bunch of arrogant bastids here! True humility is accepting being nothing less than God, which we are in reality - this, of course, isn't reality, but passes for it. Of course, I'm not here to deny our experience, but as Gary would say, 'it's a false experience.' Here are some quotes from DU in support of this idea, and I substituted "He" with "It" since God is really an It, so I wanted to be technically correct rather than sticking to the metaphorical language of the Course:
DU p 40,41 - (context - Believing God has anything to do with the universe of time and space) You've got to be willing to surrender the idea of Authorship to God if you want to be able to share in your real power. Humility is the way - not a false humility that says you are inadequate, but a real humility that simply says God is your only Source. You will realize that except for Its Love you need nothing, and he who needs nothing can be trusted with everything.
DU p 188 - The only real freedom you have is to choose to return to God by listening to the voice for It, instead of continuing indefinitely within a fixed system that has nothing to do with God. Your brain isn't hard wired to know God. Your mind tells your brain what to do! Be glad the universe and your brain have nothing to do with God, and that there's a way to return to Its universe.
DU p 9 - God did not create duality and did not create the world. If It did, It would be the author of 'a tale told by an idiot.' But God is not an idiot. God can only be one of two things. God is either perfect Love, as the Bible says when it momentarily stumble upon the truth, or It's an idiot. You can't have it both ways. J was no idiot either, because he wasn't taken in by the false universe.
DU p 30 - God, Which is actually real, seems distant and illusory. The world, which is actually illusory, seems immediate and real.
DU p 84 - You have often thought you had to try harder to be a more loving person, so you could exemplify the love of J. That's not true. If you really want to be perfect Love like him and God, then what you need to do is learn how to remove, with the Holy Spirit's help, the barriers that you have placed in between yourself and God. Then you will naturally and inevitable become aware of what you really are.
DU p 37 - The myth of living a perfect life in terms of behavior is self-defeating and unnecessary. All that is necessary is to be willing to receive correction.
In regards to our buddy J aka J-Dog:
DU p 294J had the kind of humility that said, 'God, I just want you.'
DU p 28,29 - J was a savior all right, but not the kind who promoted vicarious salvation. He wanted to teach us how to play our part in saving ourselves. When he said that he was the way, the truth, and the life, he meant we should follow his example, not believe in him personally. You shouldn't glorify his body. He didn't believe in his own body, why should you?
DU p 13 - It was never J's intention to start a religion. Whether then or now, the world needs another religion like it needs a bigger hole in the ozone layer.
DU p 73 - Conservative is not exactly the word you would use to describe J, who was the radical of radicals - not in temperament but in his teachings.
DU p 18 - One of the fundamental differences between the teachings of J and the teachings of the world is this: The teachings of the world are the product of a split, unconscious mind. Once you have that, you have compromise, and once you have compromise, you no longer have the truth.
DU p 49 - J considered himself to be totally dependent on God, yet this dependence was not weakness, as the world usually views dependence. Rather, the result was a state of unbelievable psychological strength. Things that would scare the stuffing out of strong people meant nothing to him, because they were nothing to him. Fear was not a part of him. His attitude was the same as if you were having a dream last night asleep in your bed, except you were totally aware of the fact that you were dreaming. And because you knew you were dreaming, you also knew that absolutely nothing in the dream could possibly hurt you, because none of it was true.
DU p 41 - When J made statements like, 'Of myself I can do nothing,' and 'I and the Father are on,' he wasn't claiming any kind of specialness for himself. In fact, he was giving up any specialness, individuality, or authorship and accepting his true strength - the power of God.
DU p 47 - J had forgiven the world - his mind had been returned to the Holy Spirit where it belonged. That's where your mind belongs. You took it, and you have to give it back. And I've got a message for you: You'll never really be happy until you do. No matter what you imagine you have accomplished in any lifetime, there will always be a part of you that feels like something is missing - because in your illusions something is missing.
DU p 98 - The J of the Course is not the same as the version of J in Christianity, and the two thought systems are not compatible. For Christianity, their suffering image of J the body is extra special. He is different than you in the sense that he alone is God's only begotten Son. But the J of the Course informs you that because you and he are one, then you are equally God's only begotten Son or Christ - not any different than him - and furthermore, you can eventually experience this.
DU p 53 - We're not saying there isn't some good in Christianity or that Christian people are not sometimes the salt of the earth. But their religion is a mixed bag, because the world that is a projection of the mind that made it is such a mixed bag. If the mind is going to be healed, then it needs something that is not a mixed bag.
From A Course in Miracles (1:VI:2:1) A sense of separation from God is the only lack you really need correct.
So, the goal of all this to get in touch with the voice of your Higher Self, the Holy Spirit, and eventually get to the point where you and Its voice are one and the same.
Forget not to laugh, and have fun kids!
God Is
Mikey with Gary & Cindy, Truckee, CA 7-18-09
DU p 40,41 - (context - Believing God has anything to do with the universe of time and space) You've got to be willing to surrender the idea of Authorship to God if you want to be able to share in your real power. Humility is the way - not a false humility that says you are inadequate, but a real humility that simply says God is your only Source. You will realize that except for Its Love you need nothing, and he who needs nothing can be trusted with everything.
DU p 188 - The only real freedom you have is to choose to return to God by listening to the voice for It, instead of continuing indefinitely within a fixed system that has nothing to do with God. Your brain isn't hard wired to know God. Your mind tells your brain what to do! Be glad the universe and your brain have nothing to do with God, and that there's a way to return to Its universe.
DU p 9 - God did not create duality and did not create the world. If It did, It would be the author of 'a tale told by an idiot.' But God is not an idiot. God can only be one of two things. God is either perfect Love, as the Bible says when it momentarily stumble upon the truth, or It's an idiot. You can't have it both ways. J was no idiot either, because he wasn't taken in by the false universe.
DU p 30 - God, Which is actually real, seems distant and illusory. The world, which is actually illusory, seems immediate and real.
DU p 84 - You have often thought you had to try harder to be a more loving person, so you could exemplify the love of J. That's not true. If you really want to be perfect Love like him and God, then what you need to do is learn how to remove, with the Holy Spirit's help, the barriers that you have placed in between yourself and God. Then you will naturally and inevitable become aware of what you really are.
DU p 37 - The myth of living a perfect life in terms of behavior is self-defeating and unnecessary. All that is necessary is to be willing to receive correction.
In regards to our buddy J aka J-Dog:
DU p 294J had the kind of humility that said, 'God, I just want you.'
DU p 28,29 - J was a savior all right, but not the kind who promoted vicarious salvation. He wanted to teach us how to play our part in saving ourselves. When he said that he was the way, the truth, and the life, he meant we should follow his example, not believe in him personally. You shouldn't glorify his body. He didn't believe in his own body, why should you?
DU p 13 - It was never J's intention to start a religion. Whether then or now, the world needs another religion like it needs a bigger hole in the ozone layer.
DU p 73 - Conservative is not exactly the word you would use to describe J, who was the radical of radicals - not in temperament but in his teachings.
DU p 18 - One of the fundamental differences between the teachings of J and the teachings of the world is this: The teachings of the world are the product of a split, unconscious mind. Once you have that, you have compromise, and once you have compromise, you no longer have the truth.
DU p 49 - J considered himself to be totally dependent on God, yet this dependence was not weakness, as the world usually views dependence. Rather, the result was a state of unbelievable psychological strength. Things that would scare the stuffing out of strong people meant nothing to him, because they were nothing to him. Fear was not a part of him. His attitude was the same as if you were having a dream last night asleep in your bed, except you were totally aware of the fact that you were dreaming. And because you knew you were dreaming, you also knew that absolutely nothing in the dream could possibly hurt you, because none of it was true.
DU p 41 - When J made statements like, 'Of myself I can do nothing,' and 'I and the Father are on,' he wasn't claiming any kind of specialness for himself. In fact, he was giving up any specialness, individuality, or authorship and accepting his true strength - the power of God.
DU p 47 - J had forgiven the world - his mind had been returned to the Holy Spirit where it belonged. That's where your mind belongs. You took it, and you have to give it back. And I've got a message for you: You'll never really be happy until you do. No matter what you imagine you have accomplished in any lifetime, there will always be a part of you that feels like something is missing - because in your illusions something is missing.
DU p 98 - The J of the Course is not the same as the version of J in Christianity, and the two thought systems are not compatible. For Christianity, their suffering image of J the body is extra special. He is different than you in the sense that he alone is God's only begotten Son. But the J of the Course informs you that because you and he are one, then you are equally God's only begotten Son or Christ - not any different than him - and furthermore, you can eventually experience this.
DU p 53 - We're not saying there isn't some good in Christianity or that Christian people are not sometimes the salt of the earth. But their religion is a mixed bag, because the world that is a projection of the mind that made it is such a mixed bag. If the mind is going to be healed, then it needs something that is not a mixed bag.
From A Course in Miracles (1:VI:2:1) A sense of separation from God is the only lack you really need correct.
So, the goal of all this to get in touch with the voice of your Higher Self, the Holy Spirit, and eventually get to the point where you and Its voice are one and the same.
Forget not to laugh, and have fun kids!
God Is
Mikey with Gary & Cindy, Truckee, CA 7-18-09
Sunday, June 28, 2009
True Forgiveness
Quotes from Gary’s books on the topic of true forgiveness.
As Gary likes to say in his workshops, ‘Forgiveness isn’t easy, in fact, it sucks, because they don’t deserve it!’ Of course, we know he’s just being funny, and that we all have work to do – continuing to forgive the symbols of our own unconscious minds - the people, places, and things that piss us off and push our buttons, or just disturb our peace in the slightest, on any given day. So, here are some quotes from Gary’s two books on true forgiveness, to help us stay focused and motivated on that task at hand. Enjoy!
DU p 114
Remember, the kind of forgiveness J used and that His Course is teaching is not the same kind of forgiveness that Christianity and the world sometimes participate in. If it were, then it would be a waste of time. Christianity got J wrong.
DU p 245,246
The law of forgiveness is this: Fear binds the world, forgiveness sets it free. The world feels solid to you because fear binds it. It didn't feel solid to J because he had forgiven the world. That’s why the nails didn’t hurt J as they were being driven into his flesh. Being guiltless, his mind could not suffer - and someday you will attain the condition where you cannot suffer.
DU p 240
These are the components of forgiveness:
You remember that you're dreaming.
You forgive your projected images and yourself for dreaming them.
You trust the Holy Spirit and choose Its strength.
YIR 176
An additional component of forgiveness would be that after you forgive, if you feel some kind of action is required, then always ask the Holy Spirit if there's anything you should do. Remember, the Holy Spirit doesn't do anything in the world, ever. But It can inspire you as to what you should do.
YIR 43,44
The teachings of the Course are always applied at the level of the mind, and never at the level of form or the physical. That's why it's a course in cause and not effect. In your mind, you use right-minded ideas. Then sometimes after you forgive, you may feel you are being guided in some way by the Holy Spirit as to what you should do or not do. That's inspiration, which comes as an aftereffect of forgiveness.
DU p 218
Forgiveness isn't about being a do-gooder, not that there's anything wrong with doing good deeds if it turns you on. The Course is about being a right thinker. A lot of Christians ask nowadays, "What would Jesus do?" There's only one correct answer to that question, and it would always be the same. He'd forgive.
DU p 242
Forgiveness doesn't mean you have to give up anything on the level of form. Your psychological attachment to things is one of the ways your ego clings to the body and the world. That will need to be forgiven. It masks your unconscious resistance to the truth that there is no world. Like you, most people don't want to hear that their dreams and passions are really false idols - a substitute for God and Heaven. There's nothing wrong with your dream if you understand it and forgive it. Forgive - and then do what you and the Holy Spirit choose to. And have fun!
YIR p 26 (In response to Gary’ question about meditation)
Remember something: There is no substitute for practicing forgiveness, and that's the spiritual 'life in the fast lane' that our brother J was teaching by both word and example 2000 years ago.
DU p 343
We came here to give people a spiritual message, a message that not everyone is ready for yet, and this is it: When you are ready to accept that the only thing that really matters in your illusory lifetimes is the successful completion of your lessons of true forgiveness, then you will be truly wise indeed.
DU p 234
Forgiveness is where the rubber meets the road. Without forgiveness, metaphysics are useless. In the end, there are really only two things you can do. As the Course teaches: He who would not forgive must judge, for he must justify his failure to forgive.
DU p 218
It might help you to remember that you're the one whom forgiveness helps. You don't always have to care personally about the person you're forgiving. Your job is simply to correct your misperceptions, and it isn't against the rules to know that you can't help but benefit because of it.
YIR p 97,98
In regards to your special hate relationships, when you meet someone in this lifetime whom you've had dealings with before in other lifetimes, it's because you're orbiting each other, just as planets orbit the sun. In some lifetimes you'll be the victim, and in others, the victimizer. The question is, what are you going to use it for this time, freedom or bondage? Are you going to get that you are not a victim and take responsibility for dreaming, or are you going to make it real and stay stuck here?
YIR p 27
Repetition is important not just in learning right minded ideas, but in practicing forgiveness. Sometimes it may look like you're forgiving the same thing over and over again. You forgive the people you work with. Then you go back there the next day, and they're still there. But even if it looks like you're forgiving the same thing, that's an illusion too. What's really happening is that more unconscious guilt is coming to the surface of your mind, and it's a chance for you to release and be rid of it by continuing to forgive.
DU p 221, 222 & 232
The holy instant is simply that instant when you choose the Holy Spirit as your teacher instead of the ego. This happens anytime you choose forgiveness - thus acting in both you and your forgivee's best interest. Of course, the forgivee is really you; it just doesn't look that way. What you're really accomplishing is the forgiveness of the symbolic contents of your own mind. When you forgive others, it’s really you yourself who is being forgiven.
DU p 249,250
You’ve got to understand that if the Course is teaching there is no hierarchy of illusions, and if a miracle is a shift in perception where you switch over to the Holy Spirit’s script, then one miracle is no less important than another. So, it’s just as important to forgive a cold as it is to forgive a physical assault, and just as important to forgive a subtle insult as it is to forgive the death of a loved one. What is perceived as a tragedy can be forgiven just as quickly as you’re willing to recognize that the separation from God never occurred, so it’s only a dream and nobody’s guilty – including you.
DU p 215
The Holy Spirit knows that with the exception of forgiveness, it doesn’t matter what you do. The ego wants what you do to be important. As a way of intruding on your spirituality and delaying the truth, it tries to make what you do in the world important and special. Yet to the Holy Spirit, what you do for Him, or for Jesus or for God is not important. How can anything that occurs in an illusion be important if you actually understand it’s not real? Only forgiveness and your healing matter. True, that kind of a teaching may not be the basis for a popular religion that takes over the world and tells everybody else how they should be living their lives – but it is definitely the truth.
DU p 166, 167, & 193
The Atonement principle undoes denial and projection at the level of your mind by forgiving what you perceive, and the Holy Spirit undoes the denial and projection at the metaphysical level of your mind at the same time. You must practice forgiveness on the level where your experience is. Yes, you have to understand the metaphysics of the Course in order to understand what you’re doing. But your forgiveness is done here, which means you should be practical - and respectful of other people and their experience. In other words, when you're living your everyday life, be kind. Your job isn't to correct others. Just help the Holy Spirit clean up your wrong mind by switching to your right mind. When we say you should be kind to others, it doesn't mean you should be in denial about the ego thought system. But don't try to change others; change your own mind instead.
DU p 113, 114
The thought system of love and the thought system of fear are both forms of denial. One of them, the Holy Spirit's teaching, leads to Heaven by uncovering and reversing the ego's denial of the truth. As the Course says about the peace that results from the Holy Spirit's teaching: It denies the ability of anything not of God to affect you. This is the proper use of denial.
DU p 221
True forgiveness is the real purpose of life, but you’ve got to choose it in order to make it yours.
Mikey says:
When things aren't going well, or your peace of mind has been disturbed in any number of ways, remember what it's all for – it’s all for forgiveness. Eventually, you'll be able to laugh at anything that the world throws your way just as our buddy J-Dog could. Now, when things are going well, and you’re having a good time, then just enjoy it – celebrate - The Happy Dream! Have fun kids - Giddy up!
God Is
As Gary likes to say in his workshops, ‘Forgiveness isn’t easy, in fact, it sucks, because they don’t deserve it!’ Of course, we know he’s just being funny, and that we all have work to do – continuing to forgive the symbols of our own unconscious minds - the people, places, and things that piss us off and push our buttons, or just disturb our peace in the slightest, on any given day. So, here are some quotes from Gary’s two books on true forgiveness, to help us stay focused and motivated on that task at hand. Enjoy!
DU p 114
Remember, the kind of forgiveness J used and that His Course is teaching is not the same kind of forgiveness that Christianity and the world sometimes participate in. If it were, then it would be a waste of time. Christianity got J wrong.
DU p 245,246
The law of forgiveness is this: Fear binds the world, forgiveness sets it free. The world feels solid to you because fear binds it. It didn't feel solid to J because he had forgiven the world. That’s why the nails didn’t hurt J as they were being driven into his flesh. Being guiltless, his mind could not suffer - and someday you will attain the condition where you cannot suffer.
DU p 240
These are the components of forgiveness:
You remember that you're dreaming.
You forgive your projected images and yourself for dreaming them.
You trust the Holy Spirit and choose Its strength.
YIR 176
An additional component of forgiveness would be that after you forgive, if you feel some kind of action is required, then always ask the Holy Spirit if there's anything you should do. Remember, the Holy Spirit doesn't do anything in the world, ever. But It can inspire you as to what you should do.
YIR 43,44
The teachings of the Course are always applied at the level of the mind, and never at the level of form or the physical. That's why it's a course in cause and not effect. In your mind, you use right-minded ideas. Then sometimes after you forgive, you may feel you are being guided in some way by the Holy Spirit as to what you should do or not do. That's inspiration, which comes as an aftereffect of forgiveness.
DU p 218
Forgiveness isn't about being a do-gooder, not that there's anything wrong with doing good deeds if it turns you on. The Course is about being a right thinker. A lot of Christians ask nowadays, "What would Jesus do?" There's only one correct answer to that question, and it would always be the same. He'd forgive.
DU p 242
Forgiveness doesn't mean you have to give up anything on the level of form. Your psychological attachment to things is one of the ways your ego clings to the body and the world. That will need to be forgiven. It masks your unconscious resistance to the truth that there is no world. Like you, most people don't want to hear that their dreams and passions are really false idols - a substitute for God and Heaven. There's nothing wrong with your dream if you understand it and forgive it. Forgive - and then do what you and the Holy Spirit choose to. And have fun!
YIR p 26 (In response to Gary’ question about meditation)
Remember something: There is no substitute for practicing forgiveness, and that's the spiritual 'life in the fast lane' that our brother J was teaching by both word and example 2000 years ago.
DU p 343
We came here to give people a spiritual message, a message that not everyone is ready for yet, and this is it: When you are ready to accept that the only thing that really matters in your illusory lifetimes is the successful completion of your lessons of true forgiveness, then you will be truly wise indeed.
DU p 234
Forgiveness is where the rubber meets the road. Without forgiveness, metaphysics are useless. In the end, there are really only two things you can do. As the Course teaches: He who would not forgive must judge, for he must justify his failure to forgive.
DU p 218
It might help you to remember that you're the one whom forgiveness helps. You don't always have to care personally about the person you're forgiving. Your job is simply to correct your misperceptions, and it isn't against the rules to know that you can't help but benefit because of it.
YIR p 97,98
In regards to your special hate relationships, when you meet someone in this lifetime whom you've had dealings with before in other lifetimes, it's because you're orbiting each other, just as planets orbit the sun. In some lifetimes you'll be the victim, and in others, the victimizer. The question is, what are you going to use it for this time, freedom or bondage? Are you going to get that you are not a victim and take responsibility for dreaming, or are you going to make it real and stay stuck here?
YIR p 27
Repetition is important not just in learning right minded ideas, but in practicing forgiveness. Sometimes it may look like you're forgiving the same thing over and over again. You forgive the people you work with. Then you go back there the next day, and they're still there. But even if it looks like you're forgiving the same thing, that's an illusion too. What's really happening is that more unconscious guilt is coming to the surface of your mind, and it's a chance for you to release and be rid of it by continuing to forgive.
DU p 221, 222 & 232
The holy instant is simply that instant when you choose the Holy Spirit as your teacher instead of the ego. This happens anytime you choose forgiveness - thus acting in both you and your forgivee's best interest. Of course, the forgivee is really you; it just doesn't look that way. What you're really accomplishing is the forgiveness of the symbolic contents of your own mind. When you forgive others, it’s really you yourself who is being forgiven.
DU p 249,250
You’ve got to understand that if the Course is teaching there is no hierarchy of illusions, and if a miracle is a shift in perception where you switch over to the Holy Spirit’s script, then one miracle is no less important than another. So, it’s just as important to forgive a cold as it is to forgive a physical assault, and just as important to forgive a subtle insult as it is to forgive the death of a loved one. What is perceived as a tragedy can be forgiven just as quickly as you’re willing to recognize that the separation from God never occurred, so it’s only a dream and nobody’s guilty – including you.
DU p 215
The Holy Spirit knows that with the exception of forgiveness, it doesn’t matter what you do. The ego wants what you do to be important. As a way of intruding on your spirituality and delaying the truth, it tries to make what you do in the world important and special. Yet to the Holy Spirit, what you do for Him, or for Jesus or for God is not important. How can anything that occurs in an illusion be important if you actually understand it’s not real? Only forgiveness and your healing matter. True, that kind of a teaching may not be the basis for a popular religion that takes over the world and tells everybody else how they should be living their lives – but it is definitely the truth.
DU p 166, 167, & 193
The Atonement principle undoes denial and projection at the level of your mind by forgiving what you perceive, and the Holy Spirit undoes the denial and projection at the metaphysical level of your mind at the same time. You must practice forgiveness on the level where your experience is. Yes, you have to understand the metaphysics of the Course in order to understand what you’re doing. But your forgiveness is done here, which means you should be practical - and respectful of other people and their experience. In other words, when you're living your everyday life, be kind. Your job isn't to correct others. Just help the Holy Spirit clean up your wrong mind by switching to your right mind. When we say you should be kind to others, it doesn't mean you should be in denial about the ego thought system. But don't try to change others; change your own mind instead.
DU p 113, 114
The thought system of love and the thought system of fear are both forms of denial. One of them, the Holy Spirit's teaching, leads to Heaven by uncovering and reversing the ego's denial of the truth. As the Course says about the peace that results from the Holy Spirit's teaching: It denies the ability of anything not of God to affect you. This is the proper use of denial.
DU p 221
True forgiveness is the real purpose of life, but you’ve got to choose it in order to make it yours.
Mikey says:
When things aren't going well, or your peace of mind has been disturbed in any number of ways, remember what it's all for – it’s all for forgiveness. Eventually, you'll be able to laugh at anything that the world throws your way just as our buddy J-Dog could. Now, when things are going well, and you’re having a good time, then just enjoy it – celebrate - The Happy Dream! Have fun kids - Giddy up!
God Is
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Update from Gary Renard
Update about third book from Gary
Hi Friends, I want to update you on the status of my third book, Love Has Forgotten No one, LHFNO.) My buddy and fellow podcast host, Gene Bogart, joked that I should re-name it, Love Has Still Forgotten No One. I'm going through the manuscript for what I think is the 5th time plus working on the ending. It's almost done but I can't give you a release date until I turn it in to Hay House, which has the first right to publish it. They will decide the release date. The book will become available no matter what, and when it does I'll be there to support it one hundred per cent as usual. Rogier Van Vlissingen has already translated the first half of the book into Dutch, and we're both on the same page that this is a very exciting project.
I want to emphasize that although my Teachers, Arten and Pursah, Guided me to have the book out much sooner, it was not their Guidance but my own inability to deliver that caused the delays. I apologize for those delays. Traveling the extreme way that I do can beat you up. I'm not complaining, just stating what appears to happen in the illusion. Delays happen (although I admit this one has been too long.) This is a bigger forgiveness lesson for me than it is for you. Still, I can't help but think of the times when Ken Wapnick, known as the Course's greatest scholar, would announce a publication date for one of his books in his Newsletter, "The Lighthouse," (especially in the late 90s) and it wouldn't come out until a long time later. Such is life. But I want to explain to you a couple of the reasons it happened in this case. There's more, which is personal, but the time I spend traveling plus the things below are the major factors.
I've been Guided through many corrections of minor mistakes (fortunately not major ones) in the book during the last year by A & P. This book is the first time they didn't permit me to tape record their conversations (as you'll see in the book.) This, combined with my schedule, made the writing of this book more difficult for me. I can see now that they did this to help me in my own personal development in regards to hearing them, not so much during our "in person" conversations, but in between them, without recordings, when they were not present in their seemingly physical bodies. The conversations in the books are given to me, but I write my narration, notes, and organize the material. This is what makes the books the story of my life.
A & P's Voices are actually the One Voice of the Holy Spirit, (see the end of The Disappearance of the Universe) and their approach and editing for this book was in keeping with their method of always helping me along my path at the fastest rate possible. My ability to hear The Voice has been aided by this project beyond comprehension. This will make the writing of future books faster and easier. You'll see that in LHFNO we also discuss the difference between people hearing the Holy Spirit's Voice filtered by their own ego, as opposed to hearing it purely..
When the book does come out, I hope you'll think it was worth the wait.. I'm very excited about it for many reasons, which I trust you'll see.. Also, I'm adjusting my traveling schedule to permit me to fulfill Arten and Pursah's Guidance that I do a book every year. That may seem extreme, but it is possible. And that doesn't mean I won't be traveling and speaking a lot, but I sense there are just as many surprises coming up for all of us in that area as there are in the next book.
There were personal stories that needed to be told, and they all fit together like a hologram. The book tells all about my relationship with Karen, my former wife (with her permission and support) and the story of Cindy and I (BTW, thanks for all of your kind congratulations on our upcoming marriage) and how the lifetimes of Thomas and Thaddaeus, Cindy and I, and Arten and Pursah all fit together in what A Course in Miracles describes as, "An interlocking chain of forgiveness."
I hope you'll be a little more patient, enjoy other things in the meantime such as my CD, "Fearless Love", the movie I'm in, "Leap!" my DVDs, teleconferences, etc. I'll give you a final date for the book release, but only when I'm certain about what it is. Thanks for all of your support and friendship.
Love, Gary
Hi Friends, I want to update you on the status of my third book, Love Has Forgotten No one, LHFNO.) My buddy and fellow podcast host, Gene Bogart, joked that I should re-name it, Love Has Still Forgotten No One. I'm going through the manuscript for what I think is the 5th time plus working on the ending. It's almost done but I can't give you a release date until I turn it in to Hay House, which has the first right to publish it. They will decide the release date. The book will become available no matter what, and when it does I'll be there to support it one hundred per cent as usual. Rogier Van Vlissingen has already translated the first half of the book into Dutch, and we're both on the same page that this is a very exciting project.
I want to emphasize that although my Teachers, Arten and Pursah, Guided me to have the book out much sooner, it was not their Guidance but my own inability to deliver that caused the delays. I apologize for those delays. Traveling the extreme way that I do can beat you up. I'm not complaining, just stating what appears to happen in the illusion. Delays happen (although I admit this one has been too long.) This is a bigger forgiveness lesson for me than it is for you. Still, I can't help but think of the times when Ken Wapnick, known as the Course's greatest scholar, would announce a publication date for one of his books in his Newsletter, "The Lighthouse," (especially in the late 90s) and it wouldn't come out until a long time later. Such is life. But I want to explain to you a couple of the reasons it happened in this case. There's more, which is personal, but the time I spend traveling plus the things below are the major factors.
I've been Guided through many corrections of minor mistakes (fortunately not major ones) in the book during the last year by A & P. This book is the first time they didn't permit me to tape record their conversations (as you'll see in the book.) This, combined with my schedule, made the writing of this book more difficult for me. I can see now that they did this to help me in my own personal development in regards to hearing them, not so much during our "in person" conversations, but in between them, without recordings, when they were not present in their seemingly physical bodies. The conversations in the books are given to me, but I write my narration, notes, and organize the material. This is what makes the books the story of my life.
A & P's Voices are actually the One Voice of the Holy Spirit, (see the end of The Disappearance of the Universe) and their approach and editing for this book was in keeping with their method of always helping me along my path at the fastest rate possible. My ability to hear The Voice has been aided by this project beyond comprehension. This will make the writing of future books faster and easier. You'll see that in LHFNO we also discuss the difference between people hearing the Holy Spirit's Voice filtered by their own ego, as opposed to hearing it purely..
When the book does come out, I hope you'll think it was worth the wait.. I'm very excited about it for many reasons, which I trust you'll see.. Also, I'm adjusting my traveling schedule to permit me to fulfill Arten and Pursah's Guidance that I do a book every year. That may seem extreme, but it is possible. And that doesn't mean I won't be traveling and speaking a lot, but I sense there are just as many surprises coming up for all of us in that area as there are in the next book.
There were personal stories that needed to be told, and they all fit together like a hologram. The book tells all about my relationship with Karen, my former wife (with her permission and support) and the story of Cindy and I (BTW, thanks for all of your kind congratulations on our upcoming marriage) and how the lifetimes of Thomas and Thaddaeus, Cindy and I, and Arten and Pursah all fit together in what A Course in Miracles describes as, "An interlocking chain of forgiveness."
I hope you'll be a little more patient, enjoy other things in the meantime such as my CD, "Fearless Love", the movie I'm in, "Leap!" my DVDs, teleconferences, etc. I'll give you a final date for the book release, but only when I'm certain about what it is. Thanks for all of your support and friendship.
Love, Gary
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Be Passersby
From The Disappearance of the Universe p 79:
The saying in the Gospel of Thomas, 'Be passersby,' is about not being mentally attached to things. It has nothing to do with physically giving up anything. If you believe that you have to give something up, then you are making it just as real as if you covet it.
My Note: I would add that it's not only about not being attached to things, but as well as to people, places, events, outcomes, others' behavior and so forth. All these attachments and expectations are things we all need to forgive. Otherwise, we are giving our power away by allowing outside influences to rule our minds, which keeps ourselves psychologically vulnerable when things do not appear to go our way. Of course, there's nothing wrong with having these things and having them work out for us while we appear to be here, but if you need them in order to feel happy and at peace, then the happiness and peace that they will seemingly bring will be only transitory at best, as they are all just symbolic of our one and only lack, and just acting as an inferior substitute. As the Course says:
A sense of separation from God is the only lack you really need correct.
Of course, it's all so simple. But no one ever said it was easy. And Mikey must have his high speed internet, iPod, and organic dark chocolate with almonds, damn it!!! Giddy up!
God Is
The saying in the Gospel of Thomas, 'Be passersby,' is about not being mentally attached to things. It has nothing to do with physically giving up anything. If you believe that you have to give something up, then you are making it just as real as if you covet it.
My Note: I would add that it's not only about not being attached to things, but as well as to people, places, events, outcomes, others' behavior and so forth. All these attachments and expectations are things we all need to forgive. Otherwise, we are giving our power away by allowing outside influences to rule our minds, which keeps ourselves psychologically vulnerable when things do not appear to go our way. Of course, there's nothing wrong with having these things and having them work out for us while we appear to be here, but if you need them in order to feel happy and at peace, then the happiness and peace that they will seemingly bring will be only transitory at best, as they are all just symbolic of our one and only lack, and just acting as an inferior substitute. As the Course says:
A sense of separation from God is the only lack you really need correct.
Of course, it's all so simple. But no one ever said it was easy. And Mikey must have his high speed internet, iPod, and organic dark chocolate with almonds, damn it!!! Giddy up!
God Is
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