Reflections 29 to 42

29/ A Look at Life

26th February 2021

“The time is always right to do what is right.” Martin Luther King Jr.

***

We might be familiar with the concept of the awakened mind. We probably aren't familiar with the concept that what seems to die is but the sign of a mind asleep. (ACIM, W-167.6:7)

This is a central teaching in A Course in Miracles. We think we die and yet it is just an illusion. Nothing ever dies. There is just a continuation of life, and we are asleep to this fact.

 A Course in Miracles also informs us that the Second Coming is the awareness of reality, not its return (ACIM, T-9.IV.11:10). This means that we needn't wait for anyone, or anything, external to us to heal us. We just need to pause and look within.

Life is within us. Awareness is within us. Reality is within us. A Course in Miracles wants us to change our minds about ourselves. It teaches us that fearful thoughts merely mask the  face of reality. ACIM says that the wakened mind is one that knows its Source, its Self, its Holiness. (ACIM, W-167.12:7)

That is why there is the Workbook with 365 exercises. Each exercise allows us to look within and see the truth. A Course in Miracles says this: All sorrow, loss, anxiety and suffering and pain, even a little sigh of weariness, a slight discomfort or the merest frown, acknowledge death. And thus you deny you live. (ACIM, W-167.2:6-7)

We are taught that the source of our minds is God. This is love. Everything that is in opposition to this is a form of death. This is both the reality and the unreality of our lives.

Our lives are as we imagine them. The choice is ours. If we want to, we can gently awaken.

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30/ Where Our Investment Lies

27th February 2021

"A jug fills drop by drop." Buddha.

***

The times we live in are dark, and probably everyone has an opinion on the ways of the world. Very often, we hear those opinions, maybe even if we haven't asked for them.

We all sense whether something is right or wrong. We can agree or disagree. As the world get more and more restricted, we probably get more and more vocal, or more and more muted. Everyone has an opinion on how to get out of a messy situation.

A Course in Miracles teaches us that our minds are split. When someone raises an opinion, what part of us responds to that opinion? If we agree or disagree, it will be our ego that does the talking. We are reinforcing the belief in the ego.

A Course in Miracles talks about salvation.  It says that to identify with the ego is to attack yourself and make yourself poor (ACIM, T-12.III.6:1-2). Salvation, meanwhile is the Thought of Peace that was given to God's Son the instant that his mind had thought of war. (ACIM, W-pII.2.2:1)

This sounds very biblical, and it is.  It is, however, food for thought when considering what is real and what is not real. Where do our priorities lie? A Course in Miracles says there is no world outside of us, that it all comes from within. The mind projects the split, not the reality (ACIM, T-12.III.7:4). Therefore, what do we give our power to?

It is important to step back and learn to be quiet. Almost everyone has an opinion. Almost everyone has an ego. It is important to learn to listen to the Voice of Peace. That much is obvious.

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31/ A Moment of Timelessness

28th February 2021

The timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness. And knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is 

We get taught at a young age that we need to be a success in life. It gets drummed into us, and not always in a pleasant way.

As we grow, the question keeps arising: Why am I here? What is my purpose? It lurks at the back of our mind. Some of us find the answer early and some don't. Perhaps we never find it. When we compare ourselves to others we either feel superior or inadequate.

We are human beings not human doings. However, learning to just be is not acceptable. It doesn't seem natural. We get taught we have to do something to fill our time.

Timelessness, therefore, is a paradox. The timeless is not dinner party conversation. But it is now. We might step into it when we witness something that takes our breath away. Timelessness is the present moment, and this moment is the only time there is.

A Course in Miracles states this: In time we exist for and with each other. In timelessness we coexist with God. (ACIM, T-2.V-A.17:6-7)

A near-death experience that highlights the nature of timelessness belongs to Scott Taylor. It happened in 1981, and was a shared near-death experience. This means that he bi-located and was in two places at one time. He was fully present in the room and he was fully present in the Light.

Toward the end of the interview, he says this: "Imagine how we could evolve as a human race is we understood the implications of near-death experiences." He is also fully aware of the limiting nature of words in order to describe the indescribable.

The interview is with Mel Van Dusen and can be seen on YouTube. Enter 'Present! - Scott Taylor: A shared near-death experience'. The link to see it is below.

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32/ Home Is Where the Heart Is

1st March 2021

Remember that where you heart is, there is your treasure also. (ACIM, T-2.II.1:5)

***

We are always looking for happiness. It is a fact of life. Every sentient animal on the planet wants to feel safe. From the cradle to the grave, the search continues unabated.

As we grow, we might seek security in four walls. We probably need a car. Sometimes we need two. We probably do what society expects of us.

A Course in Miracles says that the maxim of the ego is always: "Seek and do not find". The Holy Spirit will always say: "Seek and you will find". (ACIM, T-12.IV). Since both the ego and the Holy Spirit are in the mind, it's our choice which one we give priority to.

The ego will always tell us to look outside of ourselves for our happiness. The Holy Spirit says that we should look within. It's clear what society teaches us. Sometimes, though, we just have that nagging feeling that things aren't quite right, even when life might appear to be perfect.

There is no doubt that everyone's fundamental right is to have shelter, food and safety. We need that to survive. 

But where we look for real security is another matter. Our true home is within us. A Course in Miracles tells us to always look to the Holy Spirit first. Then, if we feel it's appropriate, we can always say the following.

I am only here to be truly helpful.

I am here to represent Him Who sent me.

I do not have to worry about what to say or what to do, because He Who sent me will direct me.

I am content to be wherever He wishes, knowing He goes there with me.

I will be healed as I let Him teach me to heal. (ACIM, T-2.V-A.18:2-6)

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33/ Words Can Be Clumsy

2nd March 2021

"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless." Mother Teresa.

***

We all have our views on how to get out of a messy situation. Some of us aren't shy about telling other people. Some might be more reticent. The fact is our views are usually aired with words.

A Course in Miracles advises us to be wary of the voice we listen to and, consequently, the voice we speak with. What we strive for is peace of mind. ACIM teaches us that, with the voice of the ego, we will never have peace of mind.

Words can definitely be clumsy, even when they are said with the best intentions. We are advised to listen for the quiet voice. From the quiet that is within us, answers will come. How we express it is up to us. It doesn't have to be with words.

The present moment has been talked about a lot in our popular culture. A Course in Miracles calls it the holy instant. Searching for this single moment is our practice. It requires effort and yet, by definition, is effortless.

A Course in Miracles defines the holy instant as follows.

The holy instant is a time in which you receive and give perfect communication. This means, however, that it is a time in which your mind is open, both to receive and give. It is the recognition that all minds are in communication. It therefore seeks to change nothing, but merely to accept everything. (ACIM, T-15.IV.6:5-8)

The irony is that the holy instant is with us all the time. We have never left it, and never will.

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34/ What Is One Cannot Be Separate

3rd March 2021

"No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." Nelson Mandela.

***

A Course in Miracles teaches us that the only thing of value in the world is whatever part of it we look upon with love (ACIM, T-12.VI.3:2-3). This makes sense. When we die and leave the world, we don't take any part of it with us. It would be good if we had learnt what love is.

Learning about Oneness is also necessary, although it is obscure. We see duality in everything. However, being 'at one with nature' is a common expression. It has meaning. We can lose ourselves in something we love.

In meditation we might seek Oneness. A Course in Miracles teaches us that we are One. It tells us that there is a cost in sleeping and that we should refuse to pay it. Only then will we decide to awaken. 

But what do we awaken to? The world seems solid and dense. It is very real. We might sense there is something better but it is always out there.

A Course in Miracles teaches us that everything is within us. It says this: Enlightenment is but a recognition, not a change at all. (ACIM, W-188.1:4)

When we awaken, we recognise who we are and what we are. All barriers to love's presence have crumbled.

We know our true birthright.

A Course in Miracles tells us that this is the endless peace of God.

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35/ We Cannot See the Invisible

4th March 2021

The Holy Spirit is invisible, but you can see the results of His Presence, and through them you will learn that He is there. (ACIM, T-12.VII.3:1-2)

***

A Course in Miracles is, by definition, A Course in the Invisible. We cannot see miracles. We cannot see the Holy Spirit. Yet, if we see their effects, we can learn to trust that the invisible is there.

A Course in Miracles teaches us that we have two ways of looking at the world. They are both in the mind. How we perceive the world will reflect the guidance we have chosen. The two choices are to look though the Eyes of the Holy Spirit or to look through the eyes of the ego.

A Course in Miracles asks us to look in before we look out. This means that, with every second that passes, we can choose our guide for seeing. It is one or the other, never a little bit of one and a little bit of the other. 

These two guides are diametrically opposed. One is concerned with death, the other with life. One manifests fear, the other extends love. One seems real, the other is real. A Course in Miracles teaches what the world believes is unteachable: that we cannot really give anything but love to anyone or anything, nor can we really receive anything but love from them. 

If you think you have received anything else, it is because you have looked within and thought you saw the power to give something else within yourself. (ACIM, T-12.VII.9:5)

How we view the world is always a projection of how we view ourselves. We need to be kind to ourselves, and understand that we always have choice. It is not tangible. We can't see it. But we can learn it. 

The power of decision is our own.

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36/ The Memory of God

5th March 2021

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” Mark Twain.

***

Somewhere deep within us is the memory of God.

Yet the memory of God cannot shine in a mind that has obliterated it and wants to keep it so. (ACIM, T-12.VIII.5:2)

From the day we are born, we suffer pain. It is inevitable. We won't thank God for that. As we grow, we have our successes and our failures. We might thank God for them, or we might not. Inevitably, though, life and commitments take over. We feel separate and alone.

They say that pain can be our greatest teacher. It is a hard concept to keep in mind.

A Course in Miracles says that the Atonement is the way back to what was never lost, which is the memory of God. The Atonement is the correction, or the undoing of our errors. Atonement means correction, or the undoing of errors.  

 For the memory of God can dawn only in a mind that chooses to remember, and that has relinquished the insane desire to control reality. (ACIM, T-12.VIII.5:3)

The Atonement gives us the certainty of who we are. We have the recognition that this separation from God never occurred.

A Course in Miracles teaches us how to access this memory. It is a pragmatic, sensible and kind approach. It adapts to each person as they undertake it. We learn there is nothing to fear.

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37/ Guilt and Judgement

6th March 2021

A Course in Miracles tells us the following.

The ego cannot survive without judgement. (ACIM, T-4.II.10:3)

If you did not feel guilty you could not attack. (ACIM, T-13.in.1:1)

If this were the real world, God would be cruel. (ACIM, T-13.in.3:1)

A Course in Miracles teaches us that, without the relinquishment of guilt and judgement, there is no inner peace.

A Course in Miracles tells us that it is only through the undoing of what is illusory that we begin to find the true happiness that it ours.

A Course in Miracles has one message. The ego is an illusion. The Holy Spirit isn't.

The Holy Spirit is waiting patiently in our minds to give us the peace that is ours. All we have to do is to extend that peace.

As we extend peace, we give peace to ourselves. Likewise, if we extend attack, we attack ourselves.

The Holy Spirit only knows one Mind. The Holy Spirit only has one Voice. The Holy Spirit doesn't know exclusion.

It's guilt and judgement that keeps us excluded. There is no guilt and judgment in the Mind of God.

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38/ The Great Escape

7th March 2021

“The world is an illusion, but it is an illusion that we must take seriously, because it is as real as it goes, and in those aspects of reality which we are capable of apprehending. Our business is to wake up." Aldous Huxley.

***

A Course in Miracles says: Seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world. (ACIM, T-21.in.1:7-8)

For some of us the world is a brutal place. It's like a prison. We feel trapped and alone. For some it is beautiful. No worries. Things fall it to place. It's one party after another. For most, it probably swings between the two. Sometimes good and sometimes bad. 

Our inner world is the same. We can tell this through our dreams. Sometimes good  and sometimes bad, occasionally a nightmare. 

To cope, we might find a compromise in drugs, alcohol, or some form of addiction; perhaps we use benevolent service, kindness, hard work, or just plain common sense as our motivator. We just do the best with the cards we have been dealt. But, inevitably, there will be a time where life gets so bad, we ask or pray for help.

A Course in Miracles provides this help. It shines a light on our concepts and disproves them. We are told that projection makes perception. It says that the world we see is the witness to our state of mind, the outside picture of an inward condition. (ACIM, T-21.in.1:5)

This is not helpful if we look at it theoretically. We need a teacher. We need to understand how and why this is so. A Course in Miracles gives us the theory and the practice. We use the Holy Spirit as our teacher. The Holy Spirit will teach us why the world is an illusion, and what our reality is.

But we have to be patient and persistent. We have to practice and we have to trust. The Holy Spirit does the rest.

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39/ The Reflection In the Mirror

8th March 2021

In this world you can become a spotless mirror, in which the Holiness of your Creator shines forth from you to all around you. (ACIM, T-14.IX.5:1)

***

We can be harsh with ourselves when we look in the mirror. We tend to look for flaws, but rarely see the beauty that we really are.

The same applies when we look at other people. We probably don't realise that meeting a friend or a stranger is very much like looking in a mirror. A Course in Miracles tells us that how we feel about each other is always a result of what is happening in our internal world.

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, T-8.III.4:1-5)

The world also acts like a mirror. When life becomes challenging, we might not realise that the challenges are happening within. A Course in Miracles tells us that there is nothing outside of us. This means the world will never give us what we want.

A Course in Miracles wants us to start listening to our inner world. It tells us to challenge the fear and guilt that is there, and discover that it is only our Self that we attack. 

This Self is who we really are. It is our true nature. Its essence is love. It connects us to our Source, which is love. It connects us to the Oneness which we all are.

How much we want it will reflect our determination to overcome the hurdles that inevitably get placed in our way.  These hurdles are just reflections in the mirror. A Course in Miracles tells us we can meet them with the ego or with the Holy Spirit.

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40/  Our Fear Is Not of Fear Itself

9th March 2021

Being self-sufficient is considered an important attribute for many. We need to establish ourselves before we help others. We want to find our place in the world and feel secure.

But underlying this is a fear of failure. We are afraid of poverty. We are afraid of sickness. We are afraid of death. We might not consciously acknowledge this but it will be there. It is part of our mindset.

A Course in Miracles tells us this: Under the ego's dark foundation is the memory of God, and it is of this that you are really afraid. (ACIM, T-13.III.2:1-2)

If this is true, then we do everything we can to cover over this memory. We get the house, we get the car, we get the job. Or maybe we just spend all our life aspiring to get these things. Whatever happens, somehow the superficial trappings are just never enough. 

For still deeper than the ego’s foundation, and much stronger than it will ever be, is your intense and burning love of God, and His for you. This is what you really want to hide. (ACIM, T-13.III.2:8-9)

Maybe this is just what we don't want to hear. Maybe it makes no sense at all. That is fine. A Course in Miracles is not for everyone, and everyone has their own way of finding their truth.

If it does ring a bell of truth, then we have to undo our mistakes. One of the first things we need to understand is this. 

The ego teaches that your strength is in you alone. The Holy Spirit teaches that all strength is in God and therefore in you. (ACIM, T-8.III.7:3-4)

Maybe an important distinction to make is that the ego teaches self-sufficiency and the Holy Spirit teaches Self-sufficiency. Both the ego and the Holy Spirit are in our mind. We can decide which one we want.

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41/ What We Resist Persists

10th March 2021

Most of us have a litany of hurts and grievances that are buried in the past. We are lucky if we do not. Life must have been kind to us.

It is also clear that many of us try to escape our past. We might do this by subtle things. We eat too much chocolate or drink too much coffee. Maybe we try to process it through psychotherapy. This probably comes at a time where the past seems to be catching up with us.

We want healing and don't know where to turn for it.

A Course in Miracles teaches us that healing cannot be accomplished in the past. It must be accomplished in the present to release the future. (ACIM, T-13.IV.9:3-4)

We might know this as a concept. We probably understand we need to be in the "now". We may even have read of The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.

Yet being in the "now" is challenging. Trying to sit still for five minutes may be easy on an external level but not on an internal level. Our minds bounce backwards and forwards with no sense of present moment awareness. 

A Course in Miracles states this: It is in the reality of “now,” without past or future, that the beginning of the appreciation of eternity lies. (ACIM, T-13.IV.7:6-7)

We might recoil at the thought of being in eternity. It might terrify us. Whatever our thoughts, it is true. What we resist persists.

We have to face the shadowy figures from the past, and accept them for what they are. Just shadows.

Nothing but clarity exists in the present moment. This is where eternity lies.

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42/ Private Worlds Differ

11th March 2021

Psychologists probably agree that the internal world of each one of us is different. We are all a reflection of how we think and what we think. Our thoughts make us who we are.

Sometimes our thoughts connect though synchronicity. We might think of someone and the phone rings. Two people might say exactly the same thing at the same time. Ultimately though, we are separate identities. We have a narrative of thought running through our minds that is unique to each one of us.

The essence of this narrative is survival. So we seek similar groups of people with similar mindsets to make us feel safe. We seek a partner with whom we will be compatible. We seek a place in the world where we feel safe. 

But there might come a time where we don't feel safe. Our worlds get turned upside down. We ask silently for a solution. We pray. We plead for help. 

Help is what A Course in Miracles provides. It won't be what we expect to hear. It challenges everything we have ever thought or felt. It challenges what we think is real. 

 A Course in Miracles tells us this: You see what is not there and hear what makes no sound (ACIM, T-13.V.6:2). We are told we make up the world in our minds. If we find ourselves agreeing with this, then it is clear a solution is not out in the world. If we don't agree with this, we look elsewhere.

A Course in Miracles directs us to a light within. This is a light that the physical eyes cannot see. It is a light that connects us to a greater reality. 

The greater reality has one purpose. This does not differ from person to person. The greater reality wants us to be happy.

Arriving at this happiness is the purpose of A Course in Miracles. It provides the help we need to find it. But we have to want it. We have to do the work.