Reflections 169 to 182
169/ The Peace of Power
16th July 2021
'Friendly fire' and 'humane slaughter' are interesting oxymorons. They sum up the paradox of the world. We see a lot of violence, and yet we need to make the violence acceptable.
Then there's 'unconscious awareness' and 'deafening silence'. Both awareness and silence exist with our minds, and yet we can't accept their reality. We need to nullify them.
There seems to be a seed within each one of us that has the ability to grow into something positive or something negative. It just depends where we put our attention. We get lost in the whole confusion of it all. Good becomes bad, and what is awful becomes appealing.
A Course in Miracles teaches us to look at the cause of what see. It teaches us that everything comes from within the mind, and is projected outwards. The effect is what we see. It teaches us not to take it seriously, simply because it is not real. Reality is not what think it is.
The picture of your brother that you see means nothing. (ACIM, T-27.III.3:1)
As nothingness cannot be pictured, so there is no symbol for reality. Reality is ultimately known without a form, unpictured and unseen. (ACIM, T-27.III.5:1-2)
The truth is, there is nothing out there, and everything we see we just make up. We can colour it any way we want, but none of it is true. Beyond it is a power that is incomparable. It is the opposite of everything we know. It is always there, just waiting to fill the gap that we created to block its peace.
You do not know the peace of power that opposes nothing. Yet no other kind can be at all. Give welcome to the power beyond forgiveness, and beyond the world of symbols and of limitations. He would merely be, and so He merely is. (ACIM, T-27.III.7:6-9)
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170/ The Two States of Mind
17th July 2021
A Course in Miracles tells us this: In quietness are all things answered, and is every problem quietly resolved. In conflict there can be no answer and no resolution, for its purpose is to make no resolution possible, and to ensure no answer will be plain. (ACIM, T-27.IV.1:1-2)
The whole purpose of A Course in Miracles is to answer our questions. It is to lead us out of conflict and into quietness. We have so many questions, and so many sources from which to get the answers. ACIM narrows this down. It tells us where to go.
We have two states of mind. There's the one that thinks with the ego, and the other that thinks with the Holy Spirit. One is the conflicted mind, and the other is the peaceful mind. One projects the world, the other manifests peace.
We therefore have two options. If we look to the world for answers, more questions arise. If we can get our minds quiet enough, we can tune into the holy instant with our questions. In the holy instant, answers arise which may surprise us. It is up to us where we go, and what we listen to.
Our state of mind is therefore paramount in resolving conflict. The ego looks to the world, although A Course in Miracles tells us that nothing in the world can ever resolve conflict.
The Holy Spirit looks to the holy instant. The holy instant is the interval in which the mind is still enough to hear an answer that is not entailed within the question asked (ACIM, T-27.IV.6:9). In other words, it offers us something new and different. It offers us a completely different state of mind.
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171/ The Miracle of Healing
18th July 2021
"When things change inside you, things change around you." Unknown.
***
Who wouldn't want to be healed, given the option? It could be from anything - fear, pain, addiction, anger - the list is endless.
A Course in Miracles has a line from a lesson in the Workbook which is interesting: Perception is a mirror, not a fact. And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward. (ACIM, W-304.1:3-4)
In the Text, it says this: The only thing that is required for a healing is a lack of fear (ACIM, T-27.V.2:8). It doesn't claim that conflict has to be gone forever in order for someone to heal. It merely says that only an instant is required to heal. This means that, for that instant, we love without attack.
In these two examples, we have everything we need to know. Everything that we see outside of ourselves is actually caused by the conflict in our minds. To heal this conflict, we have to still ourselves into the holy instant. There we find the only option we have. This is love instead of attack.
The holy instant is the miracle's abiding place. From there, each one is born into this world as witness to a state of mind that has transcended conflict, and has reached to peace. It carries comfort from the place of peace into the battleground, and demonstrates that war has no effects. (ACIM, T-27.V.3:1-3)
War and peace. This is the difference between the ego and the Holy Spirit, the difference between suffering and freedom. These are our options. The war is projected outwards, the peace is found within.
The miracle of healing can only happen in the holy instant. This is the now, the present moment. This is what we have to find.
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172/ The Body Is not Real
19th July 2021
“There are hundreds of paths up the mountain, all leading to the same place, so it doesn’t matter which one you take. The only person wasting time is the one who runs around the mountain, telling everyone that his or her path is wrong.” Hindu Proverb.
***
A Course in Miracles can't be clearer than this. The body is not real.
Our experience can't be more real. Of course the body is real. To think otherwise, is insanity.
When we are in pain, when pain is the focus of our whole attention, nothing in the whole world could ever persuade us that the body is not real.
Pain demonstrates the body must be real. It is a loud, obscuring voice whose shrieks would silence what the Holy Spirit says, and keep His words from your awareness. Pain compels attention, drawing it away from Him and focusing upon itself. (ACIM, T-27.VI.1:1-4)
Likewise, when we distract the body with pleasure. The ego gets assuaged. The body gets some respite. Pleasure and pain. Both arise to make the body seem very real indeed.
This is why A Course in Miracles is called A Course in Miracles. It is the undoing of everything we think is real, so that what is really real becomes apparent.
A Course in Miracles is a course in the undoing of the ego, and the cessation of suffering. To the Holy Spirit, there is no one problem that is bigger than another. All our problems are the same, no matter how huge we think they are. A Course in Miracles makes this point again and again. The solution is in the mind, not the body.
The One Who brings the miracle perceives them all as one, and called by name of fear. As fear is witness unto death, so is the miracle the witness unto life. (ACIM, T-27.VI.5:6-7)
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20th July 2021
The Dreamer of the Dream (ACIM, T-27.VII) is one of the titles from the myriad of sections that make up the Text of A Course in Miracles. It says this:
The "reasoning" by which the world is made, on which it rests, by which it is maintained, is simply this: "You are the cause of what I do. Your presence justifies my wrath, and you exist and think apart from me. While you attack I must be innocent. And what I suffer from is your attack." (ACIM, T-27.VII.3:1-4)
This seems to be the essence of the dream. We live in fear of what others will do to us. We hold memories of what has been done to us. We live in a state of anxiety of what will happen.
The ego seems to be dreaming lots of separate dreams. They seem to be happy dreams and sad dreams. Each one seems to be distinguishable from the others. A Course in Miracles teaches us that there is just one ego. This means that there is just one dream.
A Course in Miracles teaches us that there is just one of us. We are sleeping collectively. Each one of us has to do our part to waken from the dream.
To gently waken from this dream, our dreaming self is asked to trust in the Holy Spirit. We are told this.
Accept the dream He gave instead of yours. It is not difficult to change a dream when once the dreamer has been recognised. (ACIM, T-27.VII.14:1-2)
The Holy Spirit can give us happy dreams. We can dream forgiving dreams.
We might not completely waken from the dream in this lifetime. But the whole context of the dream can change for the better.
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174/ Look at the Cause, Not the Effects
21st July 2021
A Course in Miracles is very clear. We dream a dream. Reality is not what we think it is. The opening lines, from a section entitled The "Hero" of the Dream (ACIM, T-27.VIII), highlights this.
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 to be believed. (ACIM, T-27.VIII.1:1-2)
The dream centres around how the body was born, what it did, and how much it achieved.
Lots of things happen to the body in the dream. Above all, the body's safety and comfort is its main concern.
A Course in Miracles tells us the following.
If we only looked at the cause of the above, then we would laugh.
The world we see depicts exactly what we think we have done to ourselves.
The Holy Spirit sees just one problem. This problem is the cause, not the effects.
Taking all this into account, it is wise to consider the following.
But who reacts to figures in a dream unless he sees them as if they were real? The instant that he sees them as they are they have no more effects on him, because he understands he gave them their effects by causing them and making them seem real. (ACIM, T-27.VIII.4:4-5)
It's all a mystery, and this is why A Course in Miracles simply teaches us to look at the cause. The true effects then follow.
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175/ The Use of Memory
22nd July 2021
A Course in Miracles says this: The miracle does nothing. All it does is to undo. And thus it cancels out the interference to what has been done. It does not add, but merely takes away. (ACIM, T-28.I.1:1-4)
What it takes away is a momentary blip. It is the terror within all of us that we are somehow separate and alone. It is the fear that there is some higher power that will punish us if we do wrong. It is a distant memory that is simply there, and we have to block it out.
The use of memory seems selective. We hold our past with pride or shame depending on who we are. We compare ourselves to others. When life goes well, we won't want to change anything. When life isn't going well, we do.
Everyone also has a spiritual memory, whether we like to admit it or not. If A Course in Miracles falls into our lap, it is not a coincidence. It provides a path to this distant memory, and shows us how to access it.
That is why listening to near-death experiences is so interesting. The accounts allow us to access what we have forgotten. This might be the catalyst for our voyage of discovery. It might be the start of the undoing of everything that we thought was real, and the discovery of what is really real.
Annie Isaacson-Palmer had her NDE in 1981 after a car accident. She had a unique experience where she found herself in Heaven, and at a school she terms The University of Nirvana. Heaven and Nirvana are the same. This is the memory that we hold within us. We don't need to die to get there.
Annie's account is on YouTube, and is with the Jeff Mara Podcast. The link is below.
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23rd July 2021
“I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness, the Astonishing Light of your own Being.” Hafez.
***
By definition, the circle of creation has no end. And yet somehow we feel stuck in it. We are all separate individuals going about our business with a finite ending. Death seems to be our abrupt halt.
A Course in Miracles says the starting and the ending are the same. The Father creates like the Son, and the Son creates like the Father. It is cause and effect: Without a cause there can be no effects, and yet without effects there is no cause. (ACIM, T-28.II.1:1)
What is our role in this? It is to realise that God is unconditional love, and we are all his one Son. There is no break or limit anywhere. Love is extended back and forth in a circle of creation. The alternative is our dream of separation, and this is where the fear arises.
A Course in Miracles wants to break the circle of fear. It is there to give us the knowledge that the ego is not real, and neither is the fear with which we see in the world. It all comes from within us.
We all might pray for a miracle at some stage in our lives. The suffering we have to go through can seem very real indeed, and that is why we need some context. A Course in Miracles tells us that we made it, and can just as easily un-make it. We are told it's all a dream. The miracle is just the start of discovering this for ourselves.
The miracle does not awaken you, but merely shows you who the dreamer is. It teaches you there is a choice of dreams while you are still asleep, depending on the purpose of your dreaming. (ACIM, T-28.II.4:2-3)
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24th July 2021
Late in the Workbook of A Course in Miracles, there's a single page with the heading: What Is the Last Judgment? (ACIM, W-pII.10). It says this.
You, who believed that God's Last Judgement would condemn the world to hell along with you, accept this holy truth: God's Judgement is the gift of the Correction He bestowed on all your errors, freeing you from them, and all effects they ever seemed to have. (ACIM, W-pII.10.3:1)
We all judge consistently, and this is where our suffering lies. A Course in Miracles tells us that God does not judge. God loves unconditionally. As we undo all our judgements, the Last Judgement belongs to God and simply means there is a release from all fear. The tiny gap that we created is no more. The gap is closed, and all is one.
A Course in Miracles therefore tells us that God’s Last judgement is all about seeing a world that is totally forgiven.
A Course in Miracles says that there is no judgement on what we have done. The Last Judgement is simply a gift of Correction that is bestowed on all our errors.
A Course in Miracles tells us that to fear this Last Judgement is to fear the compete release from suffering.
We have to play our part. We stop judging by undoing our unconscious guilt through forgiveness. The Holy Spirit helps us with this practice, even though we are not aware of it. When there is no unconscious guilt left, how can we judge? We then learn that all our pain is caused by our separation from God. There is no judgement here, it is just a fact. A Course in Miracles sums it up like this.
Yet separation is but empty space, enclosing nothing, doing nothing, and as unsubstantial as the empty place between the ripples that a ship has made in passing by. (ACIM, T-28.III.5:2)
When minds join, there is no separation. God’s Last Judgement is that we are free.
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178/ The Pieces of the Puzzle
25th July 20211
If we look at every one of us as pieces of a puzzle, then we might understand the possibility of wholeness. When we all join together, a complete picture emerges.
A Course in Miracles tells us that each of us has a dream of sickness, a dream of pain, a dream of death. And yet it is all an illusion. It tells us we are like images in a dream. Our shared identity can either be the complete picture, or a series of separate dreams.
There is a way of finding certainty right here and now. Refuse to be a part of fearful dreams whatever form they take, for you will lose identity in them. (ACIM, T-28.IV.2:1-2)
A Course in Miracles tells us we find ourselves by not accepting these dreams as causing us, and giving us the sense of who we are. All dreams are just illusions in the mind, and we want to unite the mind, but never the dreams.
We need to learn in is the dreams we fear, but not the mind.
To distinguish between what is real, and what is illusory, allows us to gently waken from the dream. We learn to work with the Holy Spirit, and to recognise the truth in each other. We don't get involved in the drama of the ego, and we don't judge each other for the dreams that we are having.
A Course in Miracles tells us that judgement was made to be a weapon used against the truth (ACIM, W-311.1:1). It tells us that judgement basically judges what it can’t understand. The ego can’t see totality and therefore always judges falsely.
We clearly can't see totality with our limited perspective. We can't see the complete picture. But we can play our part. By becoming aware of each and every person's essential wholeness, the pieces intertwine with each other. What was separate then becomes one.
The forms the broken pieces seem to take mean nothing. For the whole is in each one. And every aspect of the Son of God is just the same as every other part. (ACIM, T-28.IV.9:5-7)
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179/ Share and Share Alike
26th July 2021
“Poverty is not created by God. It is created by you and me when we don’t share what we have.” Mother Teresa.
***
There are always two choices. Love and fear. A Course in Miracles tells us that if we withdraw our mind from sharing fear, then there is only one alternative. This is the sharing of love.
This might seem impossible. There are days when our thoughts turn to despair. They are negative and dark. However, it is like comparing our little self to our big Self. One is full of doubt and uncertainty. The other is just full of certainty.
It is like comparing a dream to the truth, an illusion to reality, the ego to the Holy Spirit, the false world to the real world - these are all just other ways of looking at it. There are always two choices, two ways of looking at things.
There is no compromise. You are your Self or an illusion. What can be between illusion and the truth? A middle ground, where you can be a thing that is not you, must be a dream and cannot be the truth. (ACIM, T-28.V.3:8-11)
Forgiveness is our gentle practice. This is our gentle work to undo the pain that never happened. It undoes the gap that isn't there.
It's always a question of two choices. We get rid of one, and the other flows into its place. It's always up to us which one we want. It's also true that we share what we want. We share and share alike.
Where fear has gone there love must come, because there are but these alternatives. Where one appears, the other disappears. And which you share becomes the only one you have. You have the one that you accept, because it is the only one you wish to have. (ACIM, T-28.V.2:4-7)
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180/ The Fullness of Thought
27th July 2021
Our minds are cluttered with thought. We are thinking constantly. Many of us don't know this but, when we become aware of it, it can seem pretty overwhelming.
Perhaps it is this constant thinking that steers us towards a spiritual practice? It might be the pain that arises through our thought? Current situations trigger old memories. We start thinking about them. And then life begins to become a little overwhelming.
A Course in Miracles tells us about the light. Near-death experiencers will tell us about the light. We might hear about the light in a number of different ways. When we hear about the light, and it resonates, we search for it. It seems like a memory. What is this light? How do we get to it, and where do we go?
The fact is, we can't join with something we haven't left. It is always there. Our thoughts are also always there. It simply means we have to put our priority into the one thing or the other. We can believe our thoughts, and where they take us; or we believe in the light, and where it will lead us.
Jayne Smith had her near-death experience in 1952, but she passed away on April 9th of this year, aged 91. An earlier account of her NDE was included in the reflection of the 23rd February. Another account was recently posted onto YouTube as a tribute to her life. It was filmed in 2016.
It's always profoundly moving to hear how she merges with the light. In the account, she also mentions this about our lives on earth.
"The only thing that matters here is what you think."
The account can be found on YouTube. Put in 'Jayne Smith's profound NDE' into the search engine. The link is below.
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181/ A Solid Foundation
28th July 2021
It's confusing to be told we are not a body. It seems crazy, ludicrous and insane. The body is what we identify with. It is a reference point, a form of security.
A Course in Miracles simply changes our whole perspective. We learn to change our mind about the body. We do this slowly, gently and at our own pace, so that doubt does not impede our progress.
Ultimately, though, we have to make a choice. It is between duality and non-duality. It is about looking at the mind and finding how we can connect with the Holy Spirit. It is about closing all the gaps so there is just one mind.
Whoever says, "There is no gap between my mind and yours" has kept God's promise, not his tiny oath to be forever faithful unto death. And by his healing is his brother healed. (ACIM, T-28.VI.5:4-5)
A Course in Miracles tells us there is no middle ground in any aspect of creation. We either accept it fully, or we don’t accept it at all. It tells us that what we see as different people and different identities is just an illusion, but we have to find this out for ourselves.
Either there is a gap between you and your brother, or you are as one. There is no in between, no other choice, and no allegiance to be split between the two. (ACIM, T-28.VII.3:1-2)
Basically, we need to make a choice between what is familiar and unfamiliar.
We need to make a choice between body and spirit.
A Course in Miracles takes us on a journey to a place where we understand what a solid foundation really is. We learn to distinguish between what is strong and weak, what is real and unreal. It takes a leap of faith because the solidity isn't tangible.
Time might run out before we can trust completely. But that is okay. We just do our best. Our efforts will always take us in the right direction.
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182/ The Fear of God
29th July 2021
It is not surprising we fear God. Many are killed and punished in God's name. Conversely, it can be surprising when someone says they love God. How can they love a God who allows that to happen to His Son?
There is no one reason why someone comes across A Course in Miracles, but a fear of God is just implied. ACIM is about un-doing that fear, and re-establishing our connection to God. This is done in a clear and systematic approach.
A Course in Miracles mentions this: For hate to be maintained, love must be feared; and only sometimes present, sometimes gone (ACIM, T-29.I.7:3). This seems to be the confusion of human life. We just don't know what love is, and we definitely don't know what God is.
Below are a few lines which sum up our journey to the understanding that there is nothing to fear. All fear is made up within our minds. Peace is always here, and the fear of God is the major obstacle to that peace.
There is no time, no place, no state where God is absent. There is nothing to be feared. There is no way in which a gap could be conceived of in the Wholeness that is His. The compromise the least and littlest gap would represent in His eternal love is quite impossible. (ACIM, T-29.I.1:1-4)
The little gap is what we perceive between ourselves. It is the space that the ego uses to create division and harbour grudges.
A Course in Miracles tells us that the little gap is where the fear of God is most plainly seen.
Our goal is to close the gap. The fear of God is then replaced by the Love of God, and nothing remains except His Peace.
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