Reflections 324 to 337

324/ The Dawn of Light

18th December 2021

"You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot keep spring from coming. Pablo Neruda.

***

A Course in Miracles tells us there is no distinction between within and without. The Self is indivisible and only the ego makes division. These two lines are central to its message.

Never forget that the Sonship is your salvation, for the Sonship is your Self. (ACIM, T-11.IV.1:1)

Your peace lies in its limitless. Limit the peace you share, and your Self must be unknown to you. (ACIM, T-11.IV.3:1-2)

When we start A Course in Miracles our minds can make it very personal. The ego loves to do this because it sees its own self-glorification. The Holy Spirit is ever pragmatic. It gives each one of us what we need, but knows it is all about the One.

A Course in Miracles talks about the dawn of light (ACIM, T-11.IV.4:2). The dawn of light is when we begin to get some clarity. In other words, we begin to understand what ACIM is talking about.

The dawn of light is therefore the understanding that misunderstanding takes many forms.

The dawn of light is the knowing that there are no exceptions.

The dawn of light is the awareness that our minds hold the key.

We all have to begin somewhere. A Course in Miracles tells us to start with ourselves. And, when we begin with ourselves, this is where the search ends.

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325/ A Case for Sanity

19th December 2021

“Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it.” Confucius.

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A Course in Miracles has no time for the ego. It says that the ego does not exist because our separation from God does not exist. It says the ego is simply our fear of separation from God.  Confront the ego and we confront the deepest fear we hold.

The ego thinks it is powerful within the confines of the body. But, at different times, A Course in Miracles has compared the ego to a tiny mouse, a tiny snowflake, and a tiny feather.  The context is that all are insignificant in comparison to the obstacles in front of them. ACIM tells us the ego is just a puff of wind against the vastness of the universe. It tells us that the ego is not what we are. If the ego is blaming the universe for all the injustices we suffer, we should instead thank the universe for being what we are. This is because we are the universe.

A Course in Miracles tells us that the ego is insane. It tells us the way we think proves this. We are insane because we have no idea how powerful our thoughts are. War, hunger, violence and torture all arise out of the egoic thought system. This thought system seems independent to each one of us, and yet A Course in Miracles tells us it is not. It is just one, singular, insane way of thinking.

The ego believes that power, understanding and truth lie in separation, and to establish this belief it must attack. Unaware that the belief cannot be established, and obsessed with the conviction that separation is salvation, the ego attacks everything it perceives by breaking it into small, disconnected parts, without meaningful relationships and therefore without meaning. (ACIM, T-11.V.13:4-5)

Breaking free of this way of thinking is simply to change our minds. A Course in Miracles teaches us that everything we need is right here with us now. It's all in the mind, and it's called the Holy Spirit. It's the opposite thought system to the ego, and it's a case for sanity to make the change.

The real conflict you experience, then, is between the ego's idle wishes and the Will of God, which you share. Can this be a real conflict? (ACIM, T-11.V.5:5-6)

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326/ Belief Determines Perception

20th December 2021

“We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are.” The Talmud.

***

No one can sit on the fence when it comes to A Course in Miracles.  For example, many believe it has come to us through the Voice of the historic Jesus. This is contentious. Christians might find this hard to accept. However, the point is really irrelevant. ACIM is around. It is our choice whether we study it or not. 

Below is an example that might be considered contentious. We could never read these words without some sort of visceral response. Its whole tone can be seen as positive or negative.

 

The dream of crucifixion still lies heavy on your eyes, but what you see in dreams is not reality. While you perceive the Son of God as crucified, you are asleep. (ACIM, T-11.VI.8:4-5)

A Course in Miracles is summing up our predicament. It is telling us we are collectively the Son of God but we are lost in a dream. The nature of the dream can vary from day to day. Everything that happens in the dream relates to the mind of the dreamer. Staying in the dream, or awakening from the dream, therefore depends on our fear of death, or our love of life. 

Our fear of death only relates to a mind asleep. Our love of life relates to a mind awake. The ego does not know the difference, and this is where we might wonder if it’s worth the effort. A Course in Miracles is definitely not a quick fix.

The message of A Course in Miracles is relentless. We can crucify ourselves or we can wake up. It tells us we should not underestimate the power of our minds. We can either believe in the ego, or we can triumph over the ego.

A Course in Miracles gives us the means to awaken. It gives us the means to know who we are and what we are. It asks us not to underestimate the power of our thoughts. Where we place our belief determines our perception.

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327/ The Recognition of Reality

21st December 2021

A Course in Miracles asks us to change our perception. It asks us to see only the loving, and never the unloving. Taking this into account, the line below gives us one simple reason why we might like to consider our thinking. This sentence might appear benign but we just have to look at the state of the world to realize its true implication.

The ego may see some good, but never only good. (ACIM, T-11.VII.3:1)

The near-death experience is also a change of perception. Tricia Barker tells us she knew immediately what had happened to her as she witnessed her body being operated on. She didn't feel scared or confused. She still felt like herself, and the experience that followed changed the whole course of her life.

When asked what our purpose is as human beings, Tricia gives this reply: "To remember that we are more than this physical form. To remember that there is inspiration from that other realm, and to remember that this life is very short and that love is all that matters."

The recognition of reality is therefore to recognise that love is all that matters. As we live our lives, we could ask ourselves how we can add a little more love to the world. Tricia's near-death experience taught her that this is all that matters. 

Tricia has a number of accounts on YouTube. The quote above is from the interview with Anthony Chene. The link is below.

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328/ Overcomplicating the Obvious

22nd December 2021

A Course in Miracles poses this question:  Do I want the problem or do I want the answer? (ACIM, T-11.VIII.4:6). It also asks us this: Perhaps you do not feel you need a course which, in the end, teaches that only reality is true. But do you believe it?  (ACIM, T-11.VIII.1:2-3)

Later, this is said: This is not a course in the play of ideas, but in their practical application. Nothing could be more specific than to be told that if you ask you will receive. (ACIM, T-11.VIII.5:3-4)

A Course in Miracles teaches us to ask the Holy Spirit for help, and to wait for guidance. We never know the way that guidance will appear because we are so conditioned to thinking with the ego. 

The ego is never going to understand the endless pages that make up the Text, the Workbook and the Manual for Teachers. It’s impossible. We have to lay our judgments aside and just do it.  If the ego reads this is a very simple course (ACIM, T-11.VIII.1:1), it will question it. If it reads this course is perfectly clear (ACIM, T-11.VI.3:1), it will probably laugh hysterically.

The ego loves to overcomplicate things. A Course in Miracles might appear daunting when we are so used to thinking with the ego, but its message never varies. We have to change the way we think. 

A Course in Miracles keeps reminding us never to give in to negativity and doubt.  It tells us that it is not negative to ask the Holy Spirit for anything. We should never doubt this. In fact we need to ask the Holy Spirit for everything.

Whatever our feelings, whatever our beliefs, all of us want to be happy. This is not overcomplicating the obvious. A Course in Miracles simply asks us not to doubt God. It tells us that God demands nothing of us. God just wants us to be happy. This is because God only gives. 

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329/ A Call for Help

23rd December 2021

A Course in Miracles tells us that forgiveness is the only appropriate response in any situation. No matter what anyone says or does, we need to see them for who they are. We need to see the essence of who we are in everyone. 

A Course in Miracles tells us this: Every loving thought is true. Everything else is an appeal for healing and help, regardless of the form it takes. (ACIM, T-12.I.3:3-4)

This sounds simple, but if we find ourselves in a challenging situation then it probably makes no sense at all. Panic sets in. It’s fight or flight. Everything we’ve read or done is instantly forgotten.

This is a major reason we come to A Course in Miracles. We know what fear is. We know what it feels like, and what it tastes like. And we don’t want it anymore.

A Course in Miracles wants us to see everything with love because it wants us to see everything with the Holy Spirit. It tells us only the ego interprets with fear. It tells us that whatever comes at us, whatever we interpret as fearful, it is all just one thing. It is a call for help.

A Course in Miracles doesn’t want us to suffer. It tells us our suffering is in our minds. The following lines put this in perspective.

Understand that you do not respond to anything directly, but to your interpretation of it. (ACIM, T-12.I.1:4)

If only attack produces fear, and if you see attack as the call for help that it is, the unreality of fear must dawn on you. For fear is a call for love, in unconscious recognition of what has been denied. (ACIM, T-12.I.8:12-13)

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330/ To Love Is to Heal

24th December 2021

“When a deep injury is done to us, we never heal until we forgive.” Nelson Mandela.

***

A Course is Miracles says that we all have the key to our happiness within us. Equally, the light of one mind can shine into another. Love and light are interchangeable. This means that how we see each other is crucial in our healing.

We are all in this together. We all have fear within us. This is what keeps us asleep. If we want to awaken, we have to change our level of perception. 

A change of perception means seeing things differently. It is to trust that what we once thought was real, is not real at all. A Course in Miracles gives us all the tools we need. We are asked to change our minds. We are asked to recognise how important we are to each other. 

To perceive the healing of your brother as the healing of yourself is thus the way to remember God. (ACIM, T-12.II.2:9)

We all see in each other what we want in ourselves. This is how it goes. The goal is to escape from the suffering we inflict on ourselves. This means that we need to trust in the message that A Course in Miracles gives us. Each word has meaning. No words are wasted. 

The words are asking us to look deeply within ourselves. They are asking us to look at everything we fear. Where, or who, they come from doesn’t matter. The message is telling us that to love is to heal. The message repeatedly says that, with fear still inside of us, this is impossible.

You cannot lay aside the obstacles to real vision without looking upon them, for to lay aside means to judge against. If you will look, the Holy Spirit will judge, and He will judge truly. Yet He cannot shine away what you keep hidden, for you have not offered it to Him and He cannot take it from you. (ACIM, T-12.II.9:6-8)

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331/ Today is Christmas

25th December 2021

The sign of Christmas is a star, a light in darkness. See it not outside yourself, but shining in the Heaven within, and accept it as the sign the time of Christ has come.  (ACIM, T-15.XI.2:1-2)

***

A Course in Miracles wants us to know that Christ is within us. It wants us to know the timeless is within us. It wants us to know that nothing happens outside of us. The birth of Christ is therefore the birth of knowing who we really are. 

Today is Christmas. Everyone has an opinion on Christmas. Love it or hate it, the day is impossible to ignore. Whether we celebrate it or whether we don’t, whether we love it or whether we feel overwhelmed by it, A Course in Miracles teaches us that there is nothing out there. What appears to be the world are simply images that are happening in our minds.

Do not believe it (the world) is outside of yourself, for only by recognizing where it is will you gain control over it. (ACIM, T-12.III.9:9)

A Course in Miracles teaches us that every day, every hour, every minute, and every second are just more opportunities to celebrate Christmas. They are just more opportunities to wake up to the Christ within us. Attach the ego to Christmas, and awakening to the Christ within is impossible. Attach the Holy Spirit to Christmas, and all things change.

A Course in Miracles defines thinking with the ego as suffering. It defines thinking with the Holy Spirit as salvation. It tells us that there is no in between. Each moment becomes the difference between imprisonment and freedom. Each moment either keeps us bound or brings us joy.

Today is Christmas. Let’s keep it happy. And true happiness means finding the Christ within.

This Christmas give the Holy Spirit everything that would hurt you. Let yourself be healed completely that you may join with Him in healing, and let us celebrate our release together by releasing everyone with us. (ACIM, T-15.XI.3:1-2)

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332/ Mission Impossible

26th December 2021

A Course in Miracles tells us that our wholeness has been kept for us. We have never lost it, it has never gone anywhere. The only way to find it is by investing in spirit.

The Holy Spirit guides you into life eternal, but you must relinquish your investment in death, or you will not see life though it is all around you. (ACIM, T-12.IV.7:6)

A Course in Miracles warns us about investing in our fear of separation, which is the ego.  The ego thinks that love will heal us, but believes that love is dangerous. The ego thinks that it can save us, but it can only hurt us. The ego endeavours to be our friend, but it can also be our enemy. The ego thinks its home is the world, but the ego merely projects the world.

A Course in Miracles tells us that the ego is continually searching for the security of home, whether we know it or not. This might manifest itself just by moving house, or perhaps in travelling the world. ACIM warns us that if we think that we can find security outside of ourselves, our search will be futile. We have forgotten to look within because that is where our true security lies. 

A Course in Miracles is not about changing our lifestyle or becoming a different person. But it is about finding our Self. This requires stillness.  It requires managing time. It requires us to look into the mind. And it requires discernment.

Search for the Self with the ego, and we will not get anywhere. It’s a mission impossible. Search for the Self with the Holy Spirit, and everything changes. It’s a mission made possible. Whether we are always on the move, or whether we stay in one place, A Course in Miracles wants us to know this.

Behold the Guide your Father gave you, that you might learn you have eternal life. (ACIM, T-12.IV.6:1)

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333/ Love is Undivided

27th December 2021

A Course in Miracles tells us that the Holy Spirit’s love is undivided. It is strong, complete and whole. The only reason we can’t appreciate complete love is because our minds are split. 

The fact is, undivided love is here in our minds. It is not going anywhere. It will always be here.

A Course in Miracles also tells us that the Holy Spirit’s love is perfectly shared among each one of us. There are no exceptions, every mind has it. This means the divided mind has a huge potential to become the one mind. Or, to put it another way, if there are eight billion people in the world, then eight billion minds are in fact that one mind. This means the words that are written below are being addressed to all eight billion of us. 

God's Oneness and ours are not separate, because His Oneness encompasses ours. To join with me is to restore His power to you because we are sharing it. (ACIM, T-8.V.3:1-2)

The ego's way is not mine, but it is also not yours. The Holy Spirit has one direction for all minds, and the one He taught me is yours.  (ACIM, T-8.V.6:1-2)

A Course in Miracles tells us that the ego always confuses love with attack. The expression “this hurts me more that it hurts you” might sum this up. There are always terms and conditions attached to the ego’s love.

Undivided love can only be learnt under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Its potential is limitless. To learn undivided love means the split mind becomes a whole mind. It is the end of separation because it leads to God

The Holy Spirit's Love is your strength, for yours is divided and therefore not real. (ACIM, T-12.V.4:1)

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334/ Learning Self-Worth

28th December 2021

It’s cold and windy outside. There has been plenty of rain over the last few days. The days are short and it’s deep mid-winter. Any one of these descriptions could be a metaphor for the dark night of the soul.

A Course in Miracles rarely mentions the term soul, but it does in this context.

The ego is trying to teach you how to gain the whole world and lose your own soul. The Holy Spirit teaches that you cannot lose your soul and there is no gain in the world, for of itself it profits nothing. (ACIM, T-12.VI.1:1-2)

A Course in Miracles is here to bring us sunshine instead of wind and rain. It is here to soothe our soul instead of dampening our spirit.  That is why its message is simple. God gave us the Holy Spirit so we could undo our suffering. The Holy Spirit’s job is to remind us of our inheritance.

A Course in Miracles tells us that the Holy Spirit abides in the part of our mind that it labels the Christ Mind (ACIM, C-6.4:1). The Holy Spirit represents our Self and our Creator. This means that God is always in our minds because the Holy Spirit is always in our minds. It is our choice whether to remember or to forget. It is always a decision.

If we are to take just one thing from A Course in Miracles, it might be this: Heaven is your home, and being in God it must also be in you (ACIM, T-12.VI.7:7). If we are to take just one thing from the near-death experience, it has to be the knowledge that there is a greater reality which supports and cherishes us. We are a part of it, and it is a part of us. 

Sharon Milliman has had four near-death experiences. During her second NDE, in 2005, she encountered God. God wanted her to know how much she was loved – how much each one of us is loved – and that we should never judge ourselves harshly. In other words, we should never question our self-worth. We have to learn to love ourselves as God loves us.

Sharon’s account can be seen on YouTube, and a recent interview is with Silvia Isachsen. Sharon’s book is entitled A Song in the Wind. The link for the interview is below.

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335/ Perceiving the Invisible

29th December 2021

 

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.” Helen Keller

***

A Course in Miracles tells us that perceiving the invisible requires discernment.  If we need help, we don’t always know from whom we are asking. Below are some selected lines that might explain this.

You cannot see the invisible. Yet if you see its effects you know it must be there. (ACIM, T-12.VII.2:2-3)

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)

You see what you expect, and you expect what you invite. Your perception is the result of your invitation, coming to you as you sent for it. (ACIM, T-12.VII.5:1-2)

 Remember always that you see what you seek, for what you seek you will find. (ACIM, T-12.VII.6:3)

A Course in Miracles is an education into the power of the mind. It tells us that we have the power to choose our guide for manifesting. We have the power to manifest the good and the bad. We have the power to manifest illusion or truth.

To be aware of the effect it has on our minds is a good starting point. Are we peaceful or not?

 

To perceive the invisible is not something we are taught. In fact, perceiving the invisible is likely to be suppressed. A Course in Miracles tells us that what we perceive is up to us. Both the ego and the Holy Spirit are invisible. Which one do we really want to ask?

The power of decision is your one remaining freedom as a prisoner of this world. (ACIM, T-12.VII.9:1)

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336/ Our Destructive Thoughts

30th December 2021

 

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” Aesop.

***

You attack the real world every day and every hour and every minute, and yet you are surprised that you cannot see it. If you seek love in order to attack it, you will never find it.  (ACIM, T-12.VIII.1:3-4)

A Course in Miracles is telling us that the real world – everything that is peaceful, perfect and constantly harmonious – can never be found with the ego. The ego loves to attack, and it is this that keeps the real world hidden.

We can only find the real world through love itself. If we offer love, it will be reflected back to us. But if we offer anything else, love will remain hidden, for it can live only in peace (ACIM, T-12.VIII.1:7).

This is the dichotomy we find ourselves in. The ego disguises attack thoughts in many different ways. An attack thought is any thought that is not peaceful and loving. If we follow our thinking patterns, we will probably find that we have many thoughts that are not peaceful and loving. By definition, then, these become classified as our attack thoughts.

The purpose of A Course in Miracles is to undo the ego and find our peace of mind. Jesus, as the Voice of ACIM, thought only with the Holy Spirit. This is why he tells us that all attack thoughts are destructive thoughts. They disguise what we really are.

Jesus tells us we are one Self. Collectively, we are the Son of the Father. Our destructive thoughts divide us. They keep us separate. Destructive thoughts lead to destructive patterns. Change our thinking and we change our mind; change our mind and we change the world. By becoming aware of this, and through implementing it, the essence of what is written below slowly begins to make sense.

God's Son is as safe as his Father, for the Son knows his Father's protection and cannot fear. (ACIM, T-12.VIII.2:1)

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337/ The Beginning and the End

31st December 2021

 

“Meditation is painful in the beginning but it bestows immortal bliss and supreme joy in the end.” Swami Sivananda.

***

A Course in Miracles is a course in forgiveness. It is a course in forgiving what never happened. It is a course in undoing guilt.

It is a course in training the mind to see the world we want to see. The world we see fluctuates. One day it is good and one day it is bad. We try to control our world, but it is only controllable in the mind.

A Course in Miracles merely points out the stark nature of duality – which ultimately boils down to our fear of separation from God, and the associated guilt that this entails. Our choice is to stay with it, or to seek the alternative, which is non-duality. Non-duality is complete oneness. This means we are part of God, and will forever be a part of God.

Undoing the ego allows us to step out of duality. This is the process that A Course in Miracles takes us through. ACIM tells us that the acceptance of guilt into the one mind was the beginning of the separation, while the Atonement - the complete undoing of that guilt - is the end. 

The beginning and the end is therefore a time where the mind is one with its Creator. The bit in between is where the mind is not. This is where the separate mind of the ego exerts its power. A Course in Miracles sums up how painful this is by telling us the following.

The death penalty is the ego’s ultimate goal, for it fully believes that you are a criminal, as deserving of death as God knows you are deserving of life. (ACIM, T-12.VII.13:2)

The ego is not a traitor to God, to Whom treachery is impossible. But it is a traitor to you who believe that you have been treacherous to your Father. (ACIM, T-12.VII.14:1-2)