Rev. Carrie Christiansen and our ACOL Study Group take turns reading and discussing the book.
Sept. 27 ~ Daily Contemplation ~ Lesson 250
Let me not see myself as limited.
Let me behold the Son of God today, and witness to his glory. Let me not try to obscure the holy light in him, and see his strength diminished and reduced to frailty; nor perceive the lacks in him with which I would attack his sovereignty.
He is Your Son, my Father. And today I would behold his gentleness instead of my illusions. He is what I am, and as I see him so I see myself. Today I would see truly, that this day I may at last identify with him.
Tips from Regina ~ Lesson 250
What is the World?
This is our last day with our special theme, “What is the World?” It is good to read it slowly and contemplatively today. Notice the main themes in this special theme, all of which we have covered in our daily tips.
Let me not see myself as limited.
In two of our recent recommended meditations, the instructions have asked us to keep an open mind.
Tip 11 with AWA Description O said, “Be open minded to the possibility that you can let go of whatever obstacle appears.”
Tip 12 with AWA Description P said, “Be open minded to the possibility that you can let go of all that is limited and finite.”
Today’s workbook lesson asks us to be open minded in the same way. Today is a day to let go of any doubt that we find in our thinking.
Remember, doubt is an ego preservation strategy. If we believe doubt, we are less likely to apply ourselves to the spiritual practice that ends the ego and leads to Self-realization. Therefore, taking time to let go of doubt is extremely useful.
If you have 30 minutes for meditation today, I recommend that you practice one of the following meditations:
If you have time, practice both meditations today. I recommend practicing one early in the day and the other later in day.
Audio & Homework – Week 38 Gentle Healing Group with Regina, 9/26/17
Regina Dawn Akers guides a group of committed students who would like to make consistent, gentle progress toward genuine peace, joy and love.
The reading tonight was In the World But Not of It by Gina Lake, pages 43-49. (Stop at the end of the chapter.)
Homework for the upcoming week:
Homework Assignment A: Workbook lessons 250-256. Practice daily awareness-watching-awareness, Loving Consciousness or Abandon Release Method meditation for 20-40 minutes each day. Practice the “Loving All” Method.
Homework Assignment B: Read A Course in Miracles, Chapter 31, Section 5, Self-Concept versus Self.
Growing with NTI ~ Acts, Chapters 7 – 8 (v.4-8) ~ 9/26/17
Facilitated by Tom Conway & Connie Poole
Listen to this recording
Sept. 26 ~ Daily Contemplation ~ Lesson 249
Forgiveness ends all suffering and loss.
Forgiveness paints a picture of a world where suffering is over, loss becomes impossible and anger makes no sense. Attack is gone, and madness has an end. What suffering is now conceivable? What loss can be sustained? The world becomes a place of joy, abundance, charity and endless giving. It is now so like to Heaven that it quickly is transformed into the light that it reflects. And so the journey which the Son of God began has ended in the light from which he came.
Father, we would return our minds to You. We have betrayed them, held them in a vise of bitterness, and frightened them with thoughts of violence and death. Now would we rest again in You, as You created us.
Tips from Regina ~ Lesson 249
What is the World?
Our special theme says, “Let us not be satisfied until forgiveness has been made complete. And let us not attempt to change our function. … what was made to die can be restored to everlasting life.”
With these words, our special theme encourages us to stay with our spiritual practice until the final end of the ego.
How do we know when the ego has reached its final end?
Our special theme says that in truth “all the world must disappear.”
Here are a few quotes to consider:
Only when the world-illusion goes does the blissful light of Self arrive. Life lived in this bright, blissful light is our true, natural life. Other ways of life are full of trouble and fear. ~ Ramana Maharshi
The Self, revealed as our true nature within the heart through the power of Self-inquiry, is none other than the peerless reality of the Supreme, which alone remains after this worldly illusion has faded into nothingness. ~ Muruganar
He who knows the state in which there is neither the world nor the thought of it, he is the Supreme Teacher. ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
When the mind abandons the movement of thought, the appearance of the world ceases. ~ Vasistha
The world no longer is, whether past, present or to come, after awakening to the supreme reality in the real Self, the Eternal, from all wavering free. ~ Adi Sankara
There are many, many more quotes that point to the disappearance of the world as the sign of true awakening. However, I will end with just one more quote:
There is no world! This is the central thought the course attempts to teach. Not everyone is ready to accept it, and each one must go as far as he can let himself be led along the road to truth. He will return and go still farther, or perhaps step back a while and then return again. ~ A Course in Miracles, Lesson 132
The end of ego and the disappearance of the world are both only concepts for me. I have not experienced either. However, it feels both gentle and right to commit myself to spiritual practice for as long as I look in the mirror (referring to yesterday’s analogy) and see a world.
Forgiveness ends all suffering and loss.
NTI 1 Corinthians speaks of a stage of enlightenment in which existence in the world is pure joy. It says:
The fourth phase is a glorious phase, upon which your feet shall barely touch the ground. As you walk the earth, you know where you walk, so that the earth is merely a symbol within the mind. You shall not know brothers, but you shall talk to them. You will not need food, but you will eat with joy. Music shall accompany you in your every moment, and yet, you will have no need for your ears. Your sight will be changed from earthly sight to sight that is provided from Heaven. All things shall be new, and you shall have no need for any of them. In this, your joy shall be complete.
From there, NTI 1 Corinthians goes on to say:
The purpose of your life in the fourth phase of living on earth shall not be different than the purpose at any other time. Only now, in the fourth phase, the distractions have been erased. In letting yourself become an empty shell, you freed yourself from the desire for distraction. Now, in the fourth stage, your focus is complete. Now you know what you want, and you want it wholly. …
The one that seems to be in the fourth stage is but a symbol of the truth that is. So this one must pass away also. But in its passing, you pass from a final illusion of beauty to Beauty that cannot be contained in illusion. You pass from form, which reflects Light, to Light, which shines into form.
You shall not know death in your passing from the fourth phase to Light, for this passing is recognition of Life. This passing is acceptance of all that is true and all that has always been true. This passing is the final release of illusion, so that no illusion may appear to you. And death is an illusion. So you shall not know death, because you have accepted that illusion does not exist.
Therefore, be willing to become an empty shell. And be willing for this completely. For it is through emptiness that illusion is released, and it is through releasing it, that illusion is taken away.
Letting go of I-thought thinking takes us from a dream of suffering to a dream of joy, but that is not yet the end of the I-thought. If we stop our spiritual practice upon reaching this threshold, we can experience a reemergence of the ego thought system.
It is in our best interest to welcome the happy dream as an opportunity to continue our spiritual practice without distraction until we find ourselves ushered across the threshold, through the experience of the ego’s final end, to “Beauty that cannot be contained in illusion.”
If you have 30 minutes for meditation today, I recommend this meditation:
9-25-17 ~ Regina & ‘I Am That’ – The Sense of ‘I am’
Regina Dawn Akers read and shared from her contemplation of Conversation #1, The Sense of ‘I am’ from I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.
Sept. 25 ~ Daily Contemplation ~ Lesson 248
Whatever suffers is not part of me.
I have disowned the truth. Now let me be as faithful in disowning falsity. Whatever suffers is not part of me. What grieves is not myself. What is in pain is but illusion in my mind. What dies was never living in reality, and did but mock the truth about myself. Now I disown self-concepts and deceits and lies about the holy Son of God. Now am I ready to accept him back as God created him, and as he is.
Father, my ancient love for You returns, and lets me love Your Son again as well. Father, I am as You created me. Now is Your Love remembered, and my own. Now do I understand that they are one.
Tips from Regina ~ Lesson 248
What is the World?
Our special theme says, “Let us not rest content until the world has joined our changed perception. Let us not be satisfied until forgiveness has been made complete.”
If you continue to read the last paragraph of our special theme, it appears to have an outward focus. It says, “We must save the world.” However, an outward focus that attempts to save others, possibly by converting them to the teachings that we study and practice, ignores the teaching itself.
Remember, “Inward problems cannot be solved by looking outward. Inward problems can only be solved by looking inward.”
Or, as A Course in Miracles puts it, “The sole responsibility of the miracle worker is to accept the atonement for himself.” (T-2.V. 5:1)
What is meant by, “Let us not rest content until the world has joined our changed perception … ”?
Most people are motivated to the spiritual path and spiritual practice by their own suffering. They are looking for a better way of existence. If one commits his/herself to spiritual practice, one will reach a point when individual suffering is no longer a problem. One has found a better way of existence. One is happy. In A Course in Miracles, this better way of existence is called “the happy dream.”
If one was motivated solely by the desire to end personal suffering, his/her motivation to continue spiritual practice may wane when s/he reaches the happy dream. However, the ego has not ended at this stage. It is merely dormant, waiting until attention has diffused its focus, so it can return undetected and regain command and control.
The desire to end suffering for one’s self can be highly motivating for a time. However, it is not enough motivation to keep one determined until the ego has ended. A motivation that continues beyond the desire to end one’s own suffering is the desire to end suffering for everyone. This was Buddha’s motivation. This was also Jesus’ motivation. This is what he meant when he said, “… whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-28)
Although my experience has reached the happy dream, I pay attention to the news everyday. I look at the suffering that occurs in the world, and I let compassion for others motivate me to continue spiritual practice earnestly until the ego’s final end.
In fact, I am motivated by two factors:
- Compassion for the world.
- Desire for the direct knowledge of truth.
Whatever suffers is not part of me.
Today’s lesson may appear to conflict with everything I just said, but it doesn’t.
Let me share an analogy. Let’s imagine that you have a rash on your face. The rash does not itch or hurt. The only way you know you have a rash is that you see it when you look in the mirror.
The doctor has given you a cream to apply to your face. Her instructions are to apply the cream twice a day until the rash disappears completely. As long as there is even the slightest appearance of a rash, you need to continue to apply the cream. If you stop before the rash is completely eliminated, it may return.
Since the rash does not cause you any personal discomfort, the only way to see if the rash has been eliminated is to look in the mirror. If you look in the mirror and see the rash, you continue to apply the cream. Of course, you don’t apply the cream to the mirror. You apply the cream to your face.
The world is our mirror.
Each morning, I get up and spend a few minutes looking at the news on my Yahoo homepage. Seeing suffering there is like seeing the rash on my face. But after looking at the rash, I turn to my own spiritual practice. I apply the cream to my face.
Denying suffering, when it is done properly, is a part of applying the cream to my own face. The proper way to deny suffering is to look at awareness, recognize it as my true Self and recognize that awareness is forever unaffected by perception. In other words, I reclaim my true Self and disown the false self.
As today’s lesson says, “What is in pain is but illusion in my mind. What dies was never living in reality, … Now I disown self-concepts and deceits and lies …”
Many people have been confused about the proper use of denial. Do not deny the suffering that others experience. Have compassion for their suffering. The suffering that you deny is your own. You deny your suffering by noticing that your true Self does not suffer. It never has.
If you have 30 minutes for meditation today, I recommend this one:
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