Reflections 1 to 14
1/ Death and Dying
29th January 2021
One thing is certain. We are all going to die and that is a fact. Yet it rarely gets talked about. It doesn't get taught in school. Parents, if ever, mention it. It's usually a scary subject that sits in the back of our minds, and happens to other people and not to ourselves.
Most people have fixed views about it, and these are: something happens after death; nothing happens after death. But what happens if we bring up the topic of death into our everyday lives? The spiritual text, A Course in Miracles, puts it this way. We have two voices in our mind. One comes from the ego and the other comes from the Holy Spirit. The ego relates to fear of death and dying; the Holy Spirit relates to living and life, which continues after the body dies. It just depends which one we listen to.
Of these two voices, one is loud voice and one is quiet. The loud voice will always override the quiet voice. But the quiet voice is very persistent. It comes through to us when we know intuitively that something is right. It keeps talking to us. We just have to learn to be quiet and then we will hear it.
The point is, it is necessary to live. No one knows when the final day will come, how it will come, but it is better if it comes having committed ourselves to some kindness in our life. After all, what happens when we die? No one really knows. By the time it happens it will be too late for reflection. So maybe the time to start thinking about it is now?
There is a concept that is worth talking about because it can guide us as to how we approach our life, how we interact with people, and whether we help or hinder. It is a theme that comes up in the groundbreaking book Life after Life by Dr. Raymond A. Moody. It is also mentioned by any number of people who have undergone the near-death experience. This is the life review.
It is said that the life review happens sometime after the death of the physical body, and occurs as an aid to help us reflect on the life that has just been lived. It is said that we will be shown what every word, every thought and every action felt like for us and others involved. It is done without judgement and is merely there for our spirit to reflect on how well, or how badly, we approached our life.
All this means is that it is important to follow our hearts, and to try and do the best we can for ourselves, and for those around us. It is clear to see that the concept of a life review establishes that it will be uncomfortable to have harsh acts reflected back to us. Likewise, a simple act of kindness will be experienced for what it is. With this in mind, whatever we do in this life, it is worth doing with some reflection on the consequences of our actions.
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2/ Living Life Fully
30th January2021
“The mind is everything. What you think you become.” Buddha.
***
Many spiritual traditions say that, when we die, we take the vibration of this life with us and continue accordingly. The body is simply a vehicle for expression in this life. We can use it positively or negatively.
A Course in Miracles will add that we dream a dream. Our goal is to wake up from that dream. It teaches us that there is only love. There is only life. Life is to be embraced and not to be feared.
There are not different kinds of life, for life is like the truth. It does not have degrees. It is the one condition in which all that God created share. Like all His Thoughts, it has no opposite. There is no death because what God created shares His life. There is no death because an opposite to God does not exist. There is no death because the Father and the Son are One (ACIM, W-167.1:1-7).
We might be curious about what it is to live life fully? We might define living life fully by our ability to seek new challenges, and to go in the opposite direction when everyone else is going another way. A Course in Miracles tells us that, to live life fully, we have to confront our fear of death.
...It (death) does not come because of hurtful thoughts and raging anger at the universe. It merely signifies the end has come for usefulness of body functioning. And so it is discarded as a choice, as one lays by a garment now outworn. (ACIM, S-3.II.1:9-11)
A Course in Miracles explains that death is just a gentle release. It says that it is liberty. After the death of the body, nothing remains to block the knowledge that we are whole and complete.
The body doesn’t have to die to experience our complete release. Jesus, Buddha, and many others have all proved this. It all comes down to choice. What do we want? Do we want to seek the external, or do we want to seek the internal?
A Course in Miracles is about exploring our internal world. It says that everything is within us. To live life fully, we have to look within.
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3/ The Use of the Body
31st January 2021
When you equate yourself with a body you will always experience depression. (ACIM, T-8.VII.1:6)
So much importance is placed on our bodies. We are so scared of getting ill that we do all we can to stop it. For some it is exercise, for others it is through pills, many just use alcohol or food to numb the worry. There is an endless array of combinations. The fact is our bodies need to perform, and to not do so is seen as some form of failure.
A Course in Miracles states that we need to pay attention to our minds, for the body only responds to the thoughts that come from our minds. For example, if we are happy, the body feels light and relaxed; we can breathe easier. If we are angry, it tightens and becomes rigid. If we are scared, it trembles. However, a key teaching of ACIM is that we should never feel limited by the body.
There are two voices in the mind, that of the ego and that of the Holy Spirit. The ego's voice is the loudest one. It rules the body. It tells it to do this or do that. It can be critical and cruel. Acts of violence are broadcast on the news every day and we take them for granted. The ego pretends to be our friend, but in fact it is our enemy.
It is the ego that loves to be in charge, but it doesn't have to be. No one says it is easy to stop the loud and critical voice, but we can always try to censor it. Beyond it is the quiet Voice. This one doesn't condone violence and attack. It will find a way to mediate, to find another way that is peaceful, harmonious and fair.
Our job is to censor our intake of news and violence. We could be aware of the loud critical voice and question it. We could do things that are harmonious and caring. Over time the louder voice becomes less and less dominant, and the quieter Voice can direct. This is the whole purpose of studying A Course in Miracles. The body becomes used as a means of communication.
You are not limited by the body, and thought cannot be made flesh. Yet mind can be manifested through the body if it goes beyond it and does not interpret it as limitation. Whenever you see another as limited to or by the body, you are imposing this limit on yourself. Are you willing to accept this, when your whole purpose for learning should be to escape from limitations? (ACIM, T-8.VII.14:1-4)
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4/ Parts of the Whole
1st February 2021
“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Aristotle.
***
We all appear to live individual lives. We go about our business, do our thing, and think that what we do can have no effect. Yet when we think about this, everything we do does have an effect.
Little ripples of peace spread away from us when an action is kind and thoughtful. It doesn't even have to involve a person or thing. Likewise, when we do something negative, the same principle applies. Little ripples of negativity spread away from us.
If we consider how many billions of people exist on this planet, then it's clear to see that we all have a responsibility for our actions as we are all part of the whole. This is an important principle to apply, though not in a harsh or critical way. We just need to apply it in a quiet and commonsense way.
Few people live to be iconic and renowned in the eyes of the world. Most people live quiet, ordinary lives. But everyone has the ability to create good or bad, whether they know it or not. It's the little things that count, like a kindness here or a smile there. And as the little things change, so does the bigger picture.
This doesn't mean that we change what we love to do as we fill our day. We just need to be kinder to ourselves and others, and learn to censor our negativity and criticism. We are all part of a bigger picture and, as such, each individual has a certain responsibility.
A Course in Miracles tells us it is all about the mind and our perception. We all have to start from where we are and play our part in the healing of our perception of the world. When we heal our perception, we all begin to understand we are part of the whole. And this is when real healing happens.
You are the Kingdom of Heaven, but you have let the belief in darkness enter your mind and so you need a new light. The Holy Spirit is the radiance that you must let banish the idea of darkness. His is the glory before which dissociation falls away, and the Kingdom of Heaven breaks through into its own. (ACIM, T-5.II.4:1-3)
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5/ Looking Within
2nd February 2021
“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” Carl Jung.
***
Looking within might seem unnatural.
A Course in Miracles simply says this: Seek not outside yourself. For it will fail, and you will weep each time an idol falls. (ACIM, T-29.VII.1:1-2)
We always seem to look to the external to bring us relief. It might be reaching for a cup of coffee, turning on the television, or checking the mobile phone. Our lives also seem be an endless stream of accumulation and desire - something to add to the need to protect ourselves. Very rarely do we look within for the answers we need.
This is because it is not always pleasant viewing. Past pain looms to greet us. Faceless voices from distant times still surface to criticise us. We can have happy memories, neutral memories, sad memories. Our thoughts are always in a flux and are always changing. Then, when our thoughts become too overwhelming, we usually look for something external to take away the pain of what lies within us.
Everyone and everything is searching for happiness, but have we ever considered the possibility it might be closer than we realize? The musk deer, for example, spends all its life searching for the smell of musk, not realizing it is on the end of its nose. So we simply need to spend some time sitting with our inner world. Profound realizations come from deep with us. A Course in Miracles says that we just have to go to the Holy Spirit for help, but we need to find that out for ourselves. Intuition, higher guidance - it all comes from within.
When you look within and see me, it will be because you have decided to manifest truth. And as you manifest it you will see it both without and within. You will see it without because you saw it first within. Everything you behold without is a judgment of what you beheld within. (ACIM, T-12.VII.12:1-3)
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6/ An Internal Search
3rd February 2021
"The highest form of human intelligence is to observe yourself without judgement." Krishnamurti.
***
We judge each other according to our beliefs. We probably make judgements on just about everyone who crosses our path, even if we don't think we do. It's never ending. Rarely do we see anyone exactly as they are.
A Course in Miracles is about censoring these opinions because they make us suffer. ACIM is about learning to go a little deeper to find another Voice which does not judge. ACIM is about learning to distinguish which voice we are thinking with.
One voice only has fear as its motivation, the other Voice only has peace. A Course in Miracles tells us that what we decide for, we will find. If we decide for the Voice of the Holy Spirit, the effect is beyond anything we could have hoped for.
If you but knew the meaning of His Love, hope and despair would be impossible. (ACIM, W-168.2:1)
We have to be quiet to find the Voice of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit always talks to us but is drowned out by the ego. The Holy Spirit offers support and expects nothing. We have surely all heard this Voice at various times in our life. It needn't have been auditory. It could have been in situations, circumstances or events.
The Holy Spirit loves us unconditionally. A Course in Miracles teaches us to tune into the Holy Spirit's frequency. This takes the minimum of a year, simply because the Workbook takes a minimum of a year. More likely, it will take a lifetime, or even many lifetimes.
A Course in Miracles wants us to be natural. This means recognising our reality is in everyone we meet. It means recognising what is in each one of us is just the same.
This is impossible when the ego dominates the mind. But A Course in Miracles is about training the mind. It is about finding our freedom, and our freedom starts with an internal search.
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7/ Light and Darkness
4th February 2021
“In the midst of darkness, light persists.” Mahatma Gandhi.
***
Most people who have undergone a near-death experience talk about the light. The light is magnetic. They feel drawn toward it. Then, when they enter the light, they say it is full of such unconditional love that is beyond words. The International Association of Near-Death Studies (IANDS) is a good place to start accessing information on this if we so wish.
In our lives, light and darkness might only reflect the process of waking and sleeping. Night leads into day, day leads into night. In the night-time we sleep, in the daytime we are awake. This is the pattern of our lives.
However, light and darkness can be also be symbolic of living and dying. In life we sleep and on death we awaken. Most near-death experiencers have reported that, on leaving the body, they have never felt so completely alive.
Then there are those who realise the light within them in their lifetime. They awaken to it. They do their thing, and are scattered around the globe. Some are well known and some are not, but all have trod their path to get where they are now.
Regardless of our attitudes, our perspectives, or where we are, it is clear that everyone wants to be happy.
In A Course in Miracles it is written: The children of light cannot abide in darkness, for darkness is not in them (ACIM, T-11.III.6:1). This light is the same light that near-death experiencers see. It's a light they describe as having never seen in the darkness of the world.
It is the same light that is within each one of us.
We just have to learn to see the light in everyone we meet. It is the light and not the darkness that can only be our source of true and everlasting happiness.
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8/ Sickness and Healing
5th February 2021
Very simply, then, you may believe you are afraid of nothingness, but you are afraid of nothing. And in that awareness you are healed. (ACIM, T-10.III.9:1-2)
***
Everyone searches for good health. No one wants to get sick. Yet we do get sick and this is often a painful disruption. It’s only when something goes wrong that we value what is right.
But what is healing? There are a multitude of different healing modalities in the world. Everyone has an angle on it. A Course in Miracles has an angle on it. ACIM says that all healing arises within the mind. Heal the mind and we heal the sickness.
Sickness is isolation. For it seems to keep one self apart from all the rest, to suffer what the others do not feel. (ACIM, W-137.2:1-2)
Healing is freedom. For it demonstrates that dreams will not prevail against the truth. (ACIM, W-137.8:1-3)
When the ego rules the mind, sickness arises. When the Holy Spirit rules the mind, peace arises. One makes sickness, the other makes health. A Course in Miracles teaches us to only listen to the Holy Spirit. We do this by taking our time and learning to be quiet.
This is a frightening prospect to the ego, because the ego is all about control and dominance. It gets noisy when it feels threatened. It gets fearful when it perceives a threat
Healing, then, means looking past the ego. It means only seeing with the Holy Spirit. Until we do that, we are sick.
Healing means trusting in the formless. Healing means trusting in what lies beyond the body. Healing is about knowing what is real.
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9/ A Day at the Movies
6th February 2021
When we go to the movies, we usually go to a movie we think we will like. It all depends on how we want to be entertained. Do we want to laugh or cry, be scared or not scared? We pay our money and take our choice.
We sit there and are convinced that what is being projected is real, otherwise we would get up and leave. Then, when the movie is over we want to feel it has been a blast. We know that it was actors playing the roles. One day, we might go and see another movie with the same actors, it's just that they will be playing different parts.
This is a metaphor that might be applied to life. We are all here just playing roles and the real 'us' is just the observer. Life continues outside of the movie theatre.
A Course in Miracles says we dream the world, and tells us how the body is the 'hero' of the dream. It could be a happy dream or a bad dream, but a dream nevertheless.
The body is the central figure in the dreaming of the world. There is no dream without it, nor does it exist without the dream in which it acts as if it were a person to be seen and be believed. (ACIM, T-27.VIII.1:1-2)
A Course in Miracles tells us that, outside of the dream, there is just God and His one Son. We are collectively the Son, and God is Infinite Love. The near-death experience puts the dream into a more understandable context. We awake from the dream, are still in the dream, and the dream pulls us back.
This idea of life being a movie allows us to take responsibility for our lives. When we wake up from the dream, or walk out of the movie theatre, we want to give ourselves a pat on the back. We did our best, and hopefully it was action packed and exciting. And while we are here, we want to do everything we can to enjoy it.
This understanding offers us more freedom to take risks and expand our horizons. We need to follow our hearts. It's a wonderful thing to live a life with no regrets.
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10/ Miracles are Natural
7th February 2021
What you think you are is a belief to be undone. (ACIM, W-91.6:7)
***
Everyone probably agrees that what is natural is good for us. When nature provides us food, we hope it will keep us healthy.
Our bodies need water. We are probably agreed natural spring water is best. Thankfully, nature provides the rain.
When we find an activity or pastime, it may not seem natural at first but hopefully it feels exciting and stimulating. If we get used to it, it might become natural to teach it to others.
And being outside in nature helps us to stay healthy. It's good to know that flowers and trees don't have to be educated in how to grow, they just need to be watered and fed.
Likewise with spiritual paths. Instinctively we choose what feels natural and organic for us as an individual human being.
A Course in Miracles is a spiritual path which won't seem natural to the ego's point of view. The ego is always busy thinking. The ego couldn’t possibly know what a miracle is. It’s impossible. We have to look past the ego to our quiet mind. It is only here that the miracle makes sense.
The miracle comes quietly into the mind that stops an instant and is still. It reaches gently from that quiet time, and from the mind it healed in quiet then, to other minds to share its quietness. And they will join in doing nothing to prevent its radiant extension back into the Mind which caused all minds to be. (ACIM, T-28.I.11:1-3)
Miracles are natural. This wouldn't be the ego's viewpoint but then A Course in Miracles doesn't look at life from the ego's viewpoint. We just have to trust in the spiritual path that guides us.
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11/ A Decision to Be Made
8th February 2021
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” Leo Tolstoy.
***
Decisions have to be made daily. Some are inconsequential, some are not. No doubt the decision between heaven and hell has not even occurred to us. A Course in Miracles definitely has its own opinion on that.
When we wake up in the dark, life doesn't always feel pleasant. Negative thoughts can spring up and spiral into a story. The approaching day can appear gloomy and hostile; there just doesn't appear to be a choice.
This is the narrative of the ego but, if we reflect, it is likely that the day never pans out the way we imagine at the time.
A Course in Miracles has a section in the Text that says the ego is mistrustful of everything, concluding with this: The ego is therefore capable of suspiciousness at best and viciousness at worst. That is its range (ACIM, T-9.VII.3:7-8). In fact, ACIM's whole message is that there is no reason to be frightened because the ego is just an illusion. The ego doesn't exist.
When we are in that heavy, anxious way of thinking, we probably have our techniques for dealing with it. Concentrating on the breath; offering gratitude for all that we have in life; going back to sleep; or trying to stem the tide and to think of something positive.
It can be a hellish time but, as A Course in Miracles tells us, Heaven is the decision I must make (ACIM, W-138).
We all know it is not easy to swap the tide of loud, angry thoughts for peaceful, loving thoughts. A Course in Miracles is all about finding what we have never left. If what is written below describes Heaven, then hell has to be anything that is its opposite.
Heaven is not a place or a condition. It is merely an awareness of perfect Oneness and the knowledge that there is nothing else; nothing outside that Oneness, and nothing else within (ACIM, T-18.VI.1:5-6).
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9th February 2021
Our views on God are so emotive; denial, devotion, inertia, and a whole lot more that has led to savage acts of violence. Everyone has an opinion on the existence or non-existence of God, and some aren't afraid to express it.
Today, it is snowing and our views on snow might be equally diverse. For example, it appears that no two snowflakes look the same. If we look at a snowflake closely, it is staggering, just so beautiful, like a six-winged star. How each snowflake can be so unique is one of the mysteries of the universe.
There are around eight billion people on this planet and each one of us might be seen as a snowflake. It is a nice comparison. We are all unique and amazing. Each of us has something that makes us completely original. No two people are the same. Like snowflakes, we are amazing.
A Course in Miracles says that we all exist within the Mind of God. There is the grandeur of God. Then, when we see ourselves as independent of each other, and alone in the world, there is the grandiosity of the ego (ACIM, T-9.VIII).
Anita Moorjani witnessed the grandeur of God. She fought cancer for four years and had a body that was riddled with tumours. In February 2006, her organs shut down and she went to the Light. However, she returned to her body and became cancer free. In her book Dying To Be Me, she says that words just can't describe the experience of that state of being.
She uses the analogy of a huge, dark warehouse and having a small flashlight to see by. This is physical life. Then, one day, someone turns on a switch. The entire warehouse becomes illuminated with colour, sight and sound. It is a magnificent array of all manner of beautiful things. It is a world away from the world that we know as humans under the veil of separation from our true nature.
We can also listen to Anita's account of her near-death experience on YouTube where there are a number of videos posted. The link below is an interview with Rick Archer who hosts Buddha at the Gas Pump. Anita expands on her views on cancer, God and other related topics, all of which have dramatically changed as a result of her NDE. It sums up the grandeur of God and the grandiosity of the ego.
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10th February 2021
All aspects of fear are untrue because they do not exist at the creative level, and therefore do not exist at all. To whatever extent you are willing to submit your beliefs to this test, to that extent are your perceptions corrected. (ACIM, T-1.VI.5:1-2)
***
It must be wonderful to have no fear, to doubt nothing. Even when we find a spiritual teacher or teaching, doubt can enter the mind and make us fearful.
Some people seem to go through all their lives not doubting anything, and the concept of a Higher Power never enters their minds. For others, it does. They might find a spiritual path and live it to the best of their ability. Some just move from spiritual teaching to spiritual teaching and cannot settle, or they waver on the edge of spirituality. Some just stick to the religion of their childhood. They are not prepared to question it.
Advertising makes us more fearful. A well known bank has put forward the slogan: "We are not an island. We are part of something far, far bigger." A well known charity also has the slogan: "You may feel alone, but you are not alone." The underlying message seems to be that there is hope out there, but we probably just haven't found it yet.
Most spiritual teachers will teach about presence and being aware of a greater reality. A Course in Miracles is no different. It teaches you to listen to the Holy Spirit which is in your mind.
A Course in Miracles says this: Nothing beyond yourself can make you fearful or loving, because nothing is beyond you. Time and eternity are both in your mind, and will conflict until you perceive time solely as a means to regain eternity. (ACIM, T-10.in.1:1-2)
When we find a path or a teacher we have to have trust. And yet fear and doubt will always enter the equation.
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11th February 2021
"Our intention creates our reality." Wayne Dyer.
"When you argue with realty, you'll lose." Byron Katie.
***
It often feels impossible to quieten our minds. We might get instructed to pay attention, told to sit quietly for just five minutes, but our minds are in turmoil.
There is just a constant stream of thought. We are thinking, thinking, thinking. It reinforces the belief that we are doing something wrong.
Then we come across someone who just radiates a sense of calm. It touches us deeply and we feel the need to be like that.
Or someone smiles at us and says hello. We get a sense of recognition, a knowledge that we are worthy, wonderful human beings.
What is real and what is not real? A Course in Miracles states that anyone we meet acts like a mirror, reflecting back to us who we think we are. We see in them our own goodness or badness, the real and the unreal. They see theirs in us. We all just project our own inner worlds onto each other.
He is the mirror of yourself, wherein you see the judgement you have laid on both of you. The Christ in you beholds his holiness. Your specialness looks on his body and beholds him not. (ACIM, T-24.VI.8:6-8).
Which is why we must persist in going beyond the irrational thoughts of our mind. We need to be persistent in the search for truth.
Consciously selected miracles can be misguided. (ACIM, T-1.I.5:1-3)
I choose the feelings I experience, and I decide upon the goal I would achieve.
And everything that seems to happen to me I ask for, and receive as I have asked.
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