Arten compares A Course in Miracles with The Power of Now
YIR, p 27 (Gary asks Arten):
What about being in the now?
Where the practice of “be here now” will get you is here. Sure, it will relax you, but it won't get you home. One aspect of that kind of a system is to watch your judgments. But watching your judgments is not forgiving them. And the now that is experienced is not the eternal always of Heaven, which can only be consistently experienced when the ego has been completely undone by the Holy Spirit. That requires that you do your part to forgive, and the Holy Spirit takes care of the part of the job you can't see, deep within your unconscious mind.
YIR p 192 – 194 (Arten)
What we’re about to say isn’t meant to be anything but helpful. It’s said with the understanding that everyone is completely innocent, and that they’re doing their best to further whatever philosophy or method they sincerely believe in. That having been said, there are many spiritual teachers who are diluting the message of A Course in Miracles by teaching methods they claim are in agreement with the Course when they actually are not. This confuses the student by diverting attention from what the Course is teaching to something different, which the teachers of apparently don’t even understand are different, or else they wouldn’t be presenting them as though they’re the same by quoting the Course out of context to support their teachings.
One good example is the teaching that one should be in the now. Keep in mind that we’re not saying there’s anything wrong with the idea that there may be some good in focusing on the now rather than the past or the future. The quality of life would be improved. The problem is that doing so cannot remove the unconscious guilt over the original separation from God that is still hidden in the deep recesses of the mind. Because of that, it makes each experience of being in the now temporary by definition, because it fails to remove the blocks that prevent that experience from being permanent. All of which is to say that there's not just a minor difference between the approach of The Power of Now and the real power of A Course in Miracles. It's the difference between being temporarily in the now of an illusion, or being permanently in the presence of reality.
It's absolutely essential to remember that unless and until all unconscious guilt is removed from the mind, you cannot stay in the endless present on a permanent basis. It's impossible. Any attempt to remain in the now is doomed to failure without doing the work of true forgiveness. Until you've completely forgiven that which you made and projected outside of yourself, you are not forgiven in your own unconscious mind, and until you are, the cycle of birth and death cannot be broken. Being in the now does not heal your unconscious guilt and undo the ego. True forgiveness, on the other hand, removes the blocks to the awareness of love's presence that is your natural state of being, undoing the ego completely and making it possible to remain in the eternal "always" simply because that's all that's left.
Any attempt at eternity is a nonstarter as long as there’s any unconscious guilt in the mind, period. That guilt must be healed before you can permanently stay free of the past or future. And the way to undo it is not to ignore it, which is exactly what’s going on when you shut off and deny the past or future. It’s when you forgive the past and your concerns about the future that they are undone, and the endless present becomes truly available to you. That forgiveness always takes place now. Remember, we said that there’s no difference between forgiving the original separation at the time it appeared to happen, and forgiving it right now, for they are one and the same.
God Is
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
The Disappearance of the Universe vs Conversations with God
In this Note, Arten and Pursah compare what they are teaching in Gary Renard's books - The Disappearance of the Universe and Your Immortal Reality - and what J is teaching in A Course in Miracles, to the Conversation with God books by Neale Donald Walsch. Now, Arten and Pursah, as always, don't make such comparisons to put down other teachers and what they are teaching, and only make these type of comparisons merely for clarification purposes, in order to demonstrate that what they are teaching, and what J is teaching in his Course, is not the same thing in a different package, although it is saying some of the same things.
I read the Conversation with God series back in the 1990s and they were certainly helpful in some ways to me at the time. However, I found myself moving on to the next item in the 'spiritual buffet line' where as with Gary's books, I have found them to be my 'be-all and end-all' of spirituality as they have left me with no unanswered questions, and confirmed a lot of what I already believed to be true from experience. Of course, they're not for everyone, as Gary's teachers don't sugarcoat anything, and there is much unconscious resistance to what they are saying - but they definitely speak the truth! But of course, I needed the Neale Walsch's as well as the Wayne Dyer's and all the many others whose books I studied as stepping stones to prepare me for Gary's books and the Course.
DU p 126
Arten: In the 1990s, one of the most popular spiritual books ever written will have God Himself saying that He created fear! That is an inaccuracy so major we cannot stress too much how completely false it is. God does not create anything that is not the perfect oneness of Heaven. As J puts it very early in his Course, when describing anything that doesn't reflect the thought system of the Holy Spirit, 'Everything else is your own nightmare, and does not exist.' And, 'You are at home in God, dreaming of exile but perfectly capable of awakening to reality.' ACIM T p 4 & ACIM T p 182
DU p 8 & 9
Pursah: The word correction is not used by us in the usual way, because to correct something usually means you fix it up and keep it. When the false universe is finished being corrected by the Holy Spirit, it will no longer appear to exist. I say it will no longer appear to exist because it does not exist in reality. The true Universe is God's Universe, or Heaven - and Heaven has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the false universe. However, there is a way of looking at your universe that will help you return to your true home with God.
Gary: You're talking about the universe like it's some kind of a mistake. But the Bible says that God created the world, and most everybody believes He did, not to mention all the world's religions. My friends and I think that God produced the world so He could know Himself experientially, which I guess is a pretty common New Age belief. Didn't God create polarity, duality, and all of the opposites in this world of subject and object?
Pursah: In a word, no. God did not create duality and He did not create the world. If He did, He would be the author of 'a tale told by an idiot,' to borrow Shakespeare's description of life. But God is not an idiot. We'll prove it to you. He can only be one of two things. He is either perfect Love, as the Bible says when it momentarily stumbles upon the truth, or He'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.
YIR p 82 & 83
Gary: Well, there are people who think that God couldn't experience Himself in Oneness, and the only way He could experience Himself was to make this world and live in it. A lot of them seem to listen to authors and teachers who say so, like the Conversations with God books.
Pursah: If they looked deeper, they'd realize that they're regarding God as insane. You've had the mystical experience of what it's like to be with God in Heaven, Right?
Gary: Yeah.
Pursah: And how does Heaven compare to this world?
Gary: There is no comparison. In Heaven, you are God.
Pursah: But it's an experience, like an awareness, isn't it?
Gary: It sure is! It's a far greater experience that anything this world has to offer.
Pursah: All right, then. The idea of thinking that God would have to make this world in order to experience duality so he could appreciate and enjoy Himself is the equivalent of the idea that in order to experience and enjoy sex, you would have to also experience getting shot in the gut. No. Pain is the result of the guilt that came from thinking you separated yourself from God, and you don't have to experience pain in order to experience the pleasure of reality. But you do have to forgive pain and suffering and give it up in order to return to reality. J couldn't be any more clear about that in his Course, and he is the one you should listen to:
From the ego came sin and guilt and death, in opposition to life and innocence, and to the Will of God Himself. Where can such opposition lie but in the sick minds of the insane, dedicated to madness and set against the peace of Heaven? One thing is sure; God, Who created nether sin nor death, wills not that you be bound by them. He knows of neither sin nor its results. The shrouded figures in the funeral procession march not in honor of their Creator, Whose Will it is they live. There not following His Will; they are opposing it.' ACIM T p 417
Gary: Boy, he's gonna have to stop holding back and say how he really feels. So here are people saying that God made opposites so He could experience Himself, and here's J saying that what's all-encompassing can have no opposite, and that only the insane would think either that it could or that it should. Is that a fair statement?
Pursah: Yes.
DU p 118 (Arten)
The Course is not a movement; there are more than enough of those. You don’t have to take over the world. It doesn’t matter whether the Course is popular or not. J knows what he’s doing! Those who are ready for the Course will find it. His Course is unique. It gives an individual a chance to learn that he or she is not an individual, and that they are never alone. It gives you the opportunity to commune with the Holy Spirit and ultimately, God. It accelerates your return to God by helping the Holy Spirit heal you. ('You' meaning your seemingly separated mind, which most people mistake as the soul.)
God Is
I read the Conversation with God series back in the 1990s and they were certainly helpful in some ways to me at the time. However, I found myself moving on to the next item in the 'spiritual buffet line' where as with Gary's books, I have found them to be my 'be-all and end-all' of spirituality as they have left me with no unanswered questions, and confirmed a lot of what I already believed to be true from experience. Of course, they're not for everyone, as Gary's teachers don't sugarcoat anything, and there is much unconscious resistance to what they are saying - but they definitely speak the truth! But of course, I needed the Neale Walsch's as well as the Wayne Dyer's and all the many others whose books I studied as stepping stones to prepare me for Gary's books and the Course.
DU p 126
Arten: In the 1990s, one of the most popular spiritual books ever written will have God Himself saying that He created fear! That is an inaccuracy so major we cannot stress too much how completely false it is. God does not create anything that is not the perfect oneness of Heaven. As J puts it very early in his Course, when describing anything that doesn't reflect the thought system of the Holy Spirit, 'Everything else is your own nightmare, and does not exist.' And, 'You are at home in God, dreaming of exile but perfectly capable of awakening to reality.' ACIM T p 4 & ACIM T p 182
DU p 8 & 9
Pursah: The word correction is not used by us in the usual way, because to correct something usually means you fix it up and keep it. When the false universe is finished being corrected by the Holy Spirit, it will no longer appear to exist. I say it will no longer appear to exist because it does not exist in reality. The true Universe is God's Universe, or Heaven - and Heaven has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the false universe. However, there is a way of looking at your universe that will help you return to your true home with God.
Gary: You're talking about the universe like it's some kind of a mistake. But the Bible says that God created the world, and most everybody believes He did, not to mention all the world's religions. My friends and I think that God produced the world so He could know Himself experientially, which I guess is a pretty common New Age belief. Didn't God create polarity, duality, and all of the opposites in this world of subject and object?
Pursah: In a word, no. God did not create duality and He did not create the world. If He did, He would be the author of 'a tale told by an idiot,' to borrow Shakespeare's description of life. But God is not an idiot. We'll prove it to you. He can only be one of two things. He is either perfect Love, as the Bible says when it momentarily stumbles upon the truth, or He'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.
YIR p 82 & 83
Gary: Well, there are people who think that God couldn't experience Himself in Oneness, and the only way He could experience Himself was to make this world and live in it. A lot of them seem to listen to authors and teachers who say so, like the Conversations with God books.
Pursah: If they looked deeper, they'd realize that they're regarding God as insane. You've had the mystical experience of what it's like to be with God in Heaven, Right?
Gary: Yeah.
Pursah: And how does Heaven compare to this world?
Gary: There is no comparison. In Heaven, you are God.
Pursah: But it's an experience, like an awareness, isn't it?
Gary: It sure is! It's a far greater experience that anything this world has to offer.
Pursah: All right, then. The idea of thinking that God would have to make this world in order to experience duality so he could appreciate and enjoy Himself is the equivalent of the idea that in order to experience and enjoy sex, you would have to also experience getting shot in the gut. No. Pain is the result of the guilt that came from thinking you separated yourself from God, and you don't have to experience pain in order to experience the pleasure of reality. But you do have to forgive pain and suffering and give it up in order to return to reality. J couldn't be any more clear about that in his Course, and he is the one you should listen to:
From the ego came sin and guilt and death, in opposition to life and innocence, and to the Will of God Himself. Where can such opposition lie but in the sick minds of the insane, dedicated to madness and set against the peace of Heaven? One thing is sure; God, Who created nether sin nor death, wills not that you be bound by them. He knows of neither sin nor its results. The shrouded figures in the funeral procession march not in honor of their Creator, Whose Will it is they live. There not following His Will; they are opposing it.' ACIM T p 417
Gary: Boy, he's gonna have to stop holding back and say how he really feels. So here are people saying that God made opposites so He could experience Himself, and here's J saying that what's all-encompassing can have no opposite, and that only the insane would think either that it could or that it should. Is that a fair statement?
Pursah: Yes.
DU p 118 (Arten)
The Course is not a movement; there are more than enough of those. You don’t have to take over the world. It doesn’t matter whether the Course is popular or not. J knows what he’s doing! Those who are ready for the Course will find it. His Course is unique. It gives an individual a chance to learn that he or she is not an individual, and that they are never alone. It gives you the opportunity to commune with the Holy Spirit and ultimately, God. It accelerates your return to God by helping the Holy Spirit heal you. ('You' meaning your seemingly separated mind, which most people mistake as the soul.)
God Is
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
The Unconscious Mind
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
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
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
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