Lesson 124, Let me remember I am one with God.

For years my family and I had Course in Miracles meetings. We would invite others with like interest to join us, but often it was just me and a sister or two and Dad and probably Mom. I remember gathering around the conference table at the family business and closing the doors so we could really get into it. At one of these meetings it came to us, quite clearly, that we should let everything be about our spiritual unfoldment. A few years later when Jacquelyn and I were together, we came to the realization that not only should we let everything be about our unfoldment, but that everything IS about our spiritual unfoldment. All we really have to do is notice the miracles.

Today’s lesson says, “No meaningless anxieties can come between our faith and our awareness of His Presence. We are one with Him today in recognition and remembrance. We feel Him in our hearts. Our minds contain His Thoughts, our eyes behold His Loveliness in all we look upon. Today we see only the loving and the lovable.”

Jacquelyn quoted NTI Luke 9 yesterday. It says, “See all things as an opportunity to learn and to practice, and to be grateful for all things. There is nothing that will be placed in your path that is not a gift from Me. See it as your gift and you are blessed indeed.”

At some point on our spiritual journey we saw the movie “The Secret”. For me the most memorable part of the movie was when they showed a tablet or maybe it was a book laid open. On one page it had all the positive feelings we might have like love and joy and peace. On the other side it listed negative feelings like hate and sadness and fear. The message was: rejoice when you feel the positive feelings because that is who you are, but rejoice also when you notice that you are feeling the negative feelings because they are your barometer. They show you that you have temporarily forgotten who you are. If you are feeling the negative feelings you have forgotten the truth about you. The truth about you is you are one with God.

Today’s lesson says, “We see [the loving and the lovable] in the appearance of pain, and pain gives way to peace. We see it in the frantic, in the sad and the distressed, the lonely and afraid, who are restored to the tranquility and peace of mind in which they were created. And we see it in the dying and the dead as well, restoring them to life. All this we see because we saw it first within ourselves.”

Our lesson today asked us to “devote a half an hour to the thought that [we] are one with God.” It goes on to say, “Perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow, you will see your own transfiguration in the glass his holy half an hour will hold out to you, to look upon yourself. When you are ready you will find it there, within your mind and waiting to be found.”

I would caution you, do not try to measure your spiritual progress because it isn’t possible for us to know how much progress we have made. But notice your feelings. Are they loving and expansive like our identity in God or are they on the other side of the page lighting the way even in their negativity back to our sanity where we remember we are one with God? Notice that everything is about your spiritual unfoldment and you will also notice as our lesson tells us, “And everything we see reflects the holiness within the mind at one with God and with itself.”

Lesson 123, I thank my Father for His gifts to me.

As I sat in meditation this morning after reading the lesson, I once again returned to that familiar space beyond thought and realized/remembered that what comes unbidden as I enter here is gratitude. I got the sense then that gratitude is my natural state of being. Upon rereading the lesson as I write this tip, I feel joy well up within me as I contemplate these words:

“A day devoted now to gratitude will add the benefit of some insight into the real extent of all the gains which you have made; the gifts you have received. … Give thanks as well that you are changeless … Thanks be to you who heard, for you become the messenger who brings His Voice with you, and lets It echo round and round the world. Receive His thanks, and you will understand how lovingly He holds you in His Mind, how deep and limitless His care for you, how perfect is His gratitude to you.”

What a love story in this perfect exchange of self with Self—if only momentarily recognized. I am grateful for my willingness and the gifts it brings. I am thankful for my spiritual aspiration and the guidance of Inner Wisdom. I am grateful that the Truth is true and for the felt sense of knowing that nothing else is true.

Last week, when reading Chapter 4 from the Direct Means to Eternal Bliss, we learned how important the intense desire for freedom is. We were told that it will bring us everything that is needed for success in the “quest for Freedom including the answer to all your questions, the Direct Path teachings, the solution to all obstacles, the motivation to practice, etc.” We were told that the intense desire for freedom will guide us to our inner Teacher. “Of all the factors that determine if you will or will not be free, the intensity or lack of intensity of your desire for Freedom is the most essential factor. Whatever you can do to most effectively increase your desire for Freedom should be done.”

And so, today we take a day of gratitude in order to increase our desire for freedom.

What should we be grateful for? Here are some things that NTI recommends we be grateful for:

~ “Be grateful for all that is true. All that is true is this: Life, Love, sharing, extension and joy.” ~ NTI Luke 24

~ “It is true that peace is cause for rejoicing and gratitude. It is through gratitude that peace is extended.” So be grateful for peace. ~ NTI 1 Thessalonians 3

~ “Be grateful for the process that is God” That is, be grateful that giving and receiving are one. “In this way, you come to know within awareness that which is God, and you come to accept and love thy Self.” ~ NTI 1 Timothy 4

~ “Teach the mind to be subject to the Heart by being grateful for the desire of the Heart. Through gratitude, desire is stretched within the mind. Let the desire for Love expand within the mind that is conscious, and the conscious mind will give more willingness to rest at the feet of the Heart.” ~ NTI Titus 2

~ “One may rejoice over progress as he notices his perception is being healed. … The transition to true perception is glory. Have gratitude for your Self and this miracle, which is the symbol of your own true desire.” ~ NTI 1 Peter 1

~ “Be grateful for reminders to rest [the thinking mind].” ~ NTI Revelation 19

~ “See all things as an opportunity to learn and to practice, and be grateful for all things. There is nothing that will be placed in your path that is not a gift from Me. See it as your gift and you are blessed indeed.” ~ NTI Luke 9

So today, let’s take time to be grateful as we increase our desire for Freedom.

Lesson 122, Forgiveness offers everything I want.

Forgiveness happens when we do not perceive differences. This might be better said like this, forgiveness is seeing sameness or oneness. Corinthians, Chapter 2 says it even better. “To forgive is to look at a circumstance or event as a whole, without separate parts.” We make a judgement because we perceive an inequality between us and our brother. Typically this inequality looks like unfairness or selfishness. Appearances would say something unfair or unjust has occurred.

But there are times when we simply do not perceive these differences or at least we perceive them as having no real consequence. We all perceive this way, for example, when it comes to our kids. I was asking a man that I know what he did for Father’s Day. He and two of his grown children went out for dinner. Now the guy I know had to pay for the dinner. He bought his own Father’s Day dinner for himself and his two grown children and was just happy that they were there. We can overlook circumstances when it is our own children. When it is our own children we don’t see any unfairness or selfishness. It is okay because we love them. There isn’t a judgement that things should be different than they are. We are grateful for the love that is shared. We aren’t lamenting that we had to buy dinner. In our children, we see the face of Christ. We see the value of acceptance.

Today’s lesson says, “Forgiveness lets the veil be lifted up which hides the Face of Christ. It lets you recognize the Son of God, and clears your memory of all dead thoughts so that the remembrance of your Father can arise across the threshold of your mind.”

With our children we don’t conjure up a list of reasons why our grown sons should have bought dinner, but didn’t. ACIM calls such thoughts, dead thoughts. Those are contracting thoughts. NTI Luke, Chapter 17 identifies them as thoughts to which you have applied meaning within your mind and says, “Without this meaning, you could not be hurt. [Therefore] you acknowledge that the meaning that hurt you is within [YOUR OWN] mind.

With our children we want that happy circumstance to be and, therefore, that is the way appearances play out in the mind. The fact that we make this choice with our children demonstrates our ability to make a similar choice in all times and in all circumstances.

We can do a simple exercise that will drive this point home. Write down everything you want, and then ask ‘why’ you want that. Look deeply at your wants until you discover what you truly want, beneath the surface wants. After you’ve done that, read today’s lesson again and consider if its true that ‘forgiveness offers everything you want,’ but consider what you truly want.

Lesson 121. Forgiveness is the key to happiness.

Forgiveness can be seen merely as seeing the false without accepting it as true.

Today’s workbook lesson describes the ego mind, calling it the unforgiving mind:

“The unforgiving mind is full of fear, … is sad, without the hope of respite and release from pain. It suffers and abides in misery, peering about in darkness, seeing not, yet certain of the danger lurking there. It is torn with doubt, confused about itself and all it sees; afraid and angry, weak and blustering, afraid to go ahead, afraid to stay, afraid to waken or to go to sleep, afraid of every sound, yet more afraid of stillness; terrified of darkness, yet more terrified at the approach of light.”

When this mind is believed, the experience is hell. Freedom comes from the death of this mind–the end of this way of thinking.

Today’s workbook lesson says of the ego mind, “It does not ask, because it thinks it knows. It does not question, certain it is right.” The lesson also says that we learn forgiveness “from a Teacher other than yourself, Who represents the other Self in you.”

It is time for us to begin asking within for understanding and guidance. If we are to find freedom, we need to let the teacher who knows the way take the lead.

The ego mind does not ask, because it thinks it knows. Therefore, we will ask. We will not come from ego. We will accept that we do not know, and we will ask. I encourage you to take time at least 1-3 times a week to sit quietly and ask within for whatever you need to see or realize now. Leave the question open, and let the genuine answer come.

As I sat down this morning with Inner Wisdom with the intent to hear what I needed to hear, I heard the word “focus.” Thus, my openness to seeing suggested the question I should ask and made room for the answer. Here is my question and Inner Wisdom’s response:

Where would you have me focus today?

Focus is indeed the issue. Your focus determines where you believe yourself to reside. Is this an inner or an outer focus? Are you focused on accomplishing; on finishing; on keeping your commitments? Are you able to focus on the perfection of being? Are you able to focus on your heart? This focus is a soft one, with no goal or direction. This focus is, in itself, pure openness, without expectation. In order to maintain this focus, you must ask, what would you have me do, see, hear, now? Mind you, this is not a doing, not a question that is asked as a mantra, but rather an attentiveness to what is naturally unfolding. It entails a willingness to allow anything or nothing to unfold. Rest within the assuredness that your willingness to give up your thoughts of knowing or practices or processes is the emptiness that allows for true understanding. The thinking mind cannot anticipate our next steps. Our steps are really just a stroll rather than the big, bounding, leaping steps of ego focused on a goal. Our steps will meander through the garden as we contemplate spaciousness, acceptance and trust that we need not manipulate anything. In this lack of desire to manipulate (to go, to accomplish), we rest in stillness that needs nothing added unto it for the experience of peace and aliveness. This stillness is peace and aliveness. You are that. Focus here and notice the contrast between this mode of being and the experience you have when you are trying to get somewhere or achieve something. These are the first steps in letting such notions go and in experiencing the truth of being that which you are.

Lesson 120. Review of Lessons 109 – 110.

How to Contemplate, conclusion:

In summary, here are the keys to contemplation.

Lesson 119. Review of Lessons 107 – 108.

How to Contemplate, continued:

As with all things spiritual, the best way to learn contemplation is to learn from yourself. Therefore, for today’s tip I’d like to share some of my favorite quotes on contemplation. As you contemplate these quotes, you learn how to contemplate through contemplation:

Lesson 118. Review of Lessons 105 – 106.

How to Contemplate, continued:

In my (Regina’s) experience, the ego will almost always (& maybe I should say ‘always’ instead of ‘almost always’) try to block contemplation, and it will do it in any way that it can.

Peace Pilgrim said that the ego knows the weakest spot in your armor. That means the ego will say whatever YOU will listen to. Just as the spiritual path is highly individualized, the ego’s attempts at blocking us can also be highly individualized.

Michael Langford has a teaching that can be very helpful here. He says, “Hundreds of times every day ask yourself ‘How is what I am thinking now helping to feed the ego illusion?'”

This question can be very helpful when ego tries to block contemplation. You could edit it to be more specific by asking, “How is what I am thinking now helping to block contemplation and serve the ego illusion?”

For example, let’s imagine thinking says, “This sucks. I’m just making this up, and it’s not any good. It’s not at all poetic.” And then you ask, “How is what I am thinking now helping to block contemplation and serve the ego illusion?” That will help you see that if you listen to the previous thought you might give up on contemplation, which serves the ego quite well.

If thinking says, “This isn’t deep. It isn’t profound enough,” you ask, “How is what I am thinking now helping to block contemplation and serve the ego illusion?” Then you can see that if you listen to the previous thought you might give up on contemplation, which serves the ego quite well.

Here are a few tricks the ego has tried to play on me over the years:

~ When nothing was coming right away, the thought would be, “I’m not going to get anything out of this quote. It’s too straightforward. There’s nothing more to be had here.” Or maybe the thought would be, “I don’t understand this quote at all. How am I supposed to get something out of this?” (How is what I am thinking now helping to block contemplation and serve the ego illusion?)

~ When something came very quickly, the thought would be, “That came too fast. That’s just me, not wisdom.” (How is what I am thinking now helping to block contemplation and serve the ego illusion?)

~ When flowery poetic language came, the thought would be, “I’m just writing this to impress others. It’s not genuine.” (How is what I am thinking now helping to block contemplation and serve the ego illusion?)

~ When plain and simple language came, the thought would be, “This isn’t anything. I’m just not good enough to receive something real.” (How is what I am thinking now helping to block contemplation and serve the ego illusion?)

~ When something came through feeling or a silent knowing, and I came up with the words to describe it, the thought would be, “I should hear words.” (How is what I am thinking now helping to block contemplation and serve the ego illusion?)

Etc.

You get the point. In order to allow contemplation, you need to be able to ignore the ego’s attempts to block contemplation, regardless of what those attempts look like.

Connie’s personal contemplation:

Review 105, God’s peace and joy are mine.

My Father, my earthly Father, a long time student and teacher of A Course In Miracles, used to teach this lesson which says, “I will accept God’s peace and joy In glad exchange for all the substitutes Which I have made for happiness and peace.” Dad said when we choose this seeming worldly experience, we choose to have less than we had before choosing this experience. We were (and still are, because this seeming existence isn’t the real one) one with perfection. So any existence outside of that would be less than perfection. Those of us that seem to experience the lesser state naturally seek for substitutes for the perfect peace and joy that are only of God and His Kingdom. Now as students of Consistent Gentle Healing, we know we have made substitutes, but are now ready, open and available via our practices to relinquish the substitutes and have a direct experience.

Review 106, Let me be still and listen to the truth.

I was heartened when I heard Regina speak about attempting to meditate and moments later finding her thoughts had taken over and this happened numerous times. The reason we meditate is to stop the voice in our head and this provides a space where we can hear the “mighty Voice of truth Itself.” I was heartened not because Regina said her thoughts kept taking over, but because Regina is a demonstration of one who has heard the truth. If Regina can rewrite the New Testament through hearing with the Voice for God, most assuredly that Opportunity is available to me. Because God is inclusiveness, then I can rest in the fact that I too can expect a direct experience with Divine Wisdom.

Lesson 117. Review of Lessons 103 – 104.

How to Contemplate, continued:

Contemplation is a process of discovery, a process of going deeper into something or going beyond what was already known or consciously realized.

I ‘d like to share an article by Adyashanti. In this article he talks about “meditative self-inquiry.” His meditative self-inquiry is contemplation. He does an excellent job of describing how contemplation feels.

“How I Discovered Meditative Self-Inquiry” by Adyashanti
An excerpt taken from Adyashanti’s book, True Meditation

I’d like to tell the story of how I came across meditative self-inquiry. In many ways, it was very spontaneous, almost a mistake. Nobody ever taught me about meditative self-inquiry directly, and nobody even suggested that I do it. It came naturally out of years of spiritual practice and meditating.

At one point, I realized that I had these questions … questions I think lots of people have about their practice, about their spirituality, about life. My questions were actually fairly basic.

For example, what is surrender? I had heard a lot about surrender, and I thought, what is surrender, really? And what is meditation? What is it really? I had been meditating for years, but what was it really? This line of questioning ultimately led me to ask, who am I really? I noticed that these questions were running around in my mind, and I was looking for a way in which I could actually engage with them directly, and that’s how I discovered meditative self-inquiry.

I found myself going to coffee shops in the evenings after work, and I would start with a question. I would take a piece of paper and a pen in hand and I would start to write about the question as if I was talking to somebody else. We are always the best in transmitting what we know when we are teaching it to somebody else, so I would sit down and write as if I were teaching the answer to someone. The agreement I made with myself was that I was not going to write a single word unless I knew in my experience that it was accurate and true. So I would take a topic like “what is surrender?” And I would start to write on it. As I said, I would not complete a sentence until I felt that the sentence was true, that I wasn’t in any way speaking outside of my own experience. In this way, I would write the next sentence, and the next sentence, and the next sentence.

What I found was that I would write myself right up to the end of my knowledge about the subject I was investigating in a relatively short period of time. I found that usually within two handwritten pages, three at the very most, I would write myself right up to the edge of what I knew. And so I would come to this inner wall, and I would feel it … not only in my mind, but in my body too. I would know: this is it; this is as far as my own experience goes.

I could sense that I had not gotten to the bottom of what my question was, so I would literally sit there with my pen in one hand, and a cup of coffee in the other hand, and I would refuse to write a word unless I knew that it was true. Sometimes I would sit right at that place for many minutes, sometimes half an hour, sometimes two hours … but I would not write the next word until I knew that it was true and it was accurate. What I found was that the only way to move was to hold still, right there at the edge of my knowledge, and feel into my mind and my body at that threshold. Not to think about the question. Not to go into a lot of philosophizing in mind. But literally to kinesthetically hold at that boundary between what I knew and what was beyond what I knew. And what I found was that by holding at that boundary … by feeling it, by sensing it, by knowing that I wanted to move beyond it … that eventually the next word or sentence would come. When it did, I would write it down. Sometimes I would write no more than half a sentence before I would know, right in the middle, that I had hit the boundary again. I would stop again and I would wait. I’d hold at the boundary.

Eventually I found that I could go through this mysterious limitation, this mysterious wall of what I knew, and I could move beyond it. And I knew when I had moved beyond it, because all of a sudden everything would start to flow again. I would start to write things that I never knew that I knew. All of a sudden this deeper wisdom would come out, and I would be writing it down, and eventually I would reach a conclusion.

Now these writings were not very long. I think the longest I ever wrote was probably seven or eight handwritten pages. So they weren’t long dissertations; I was trying to make them the shortest, most succinct expressions of what I knew. And when I was finished writing, what I found, number one and most important, was that the question had disappeared.

Jacquelyn’s Personal Contemplation of Lesson 117:

 (103) God, being Love, is also happiness.

 (104) I seek but what belongs to me in truth.

God (the Absolute), love and happiness are one. Because I am one with all that Is, I am love and happiness. These qualities cannot be found because they have never been lost to me. To search for them is to pretend I am something other. My focus on my absolute nature is God’s will for me, is perfect happiness, is love. I have felt in my heart the raw hunger for unconditional love, for unbound experience. I have reveled in it. I need not look outside myself. This love is inseparable from me. This gusto for life and the desire to suck the marrow out of it – that impulse is me, that energy is me. I rejoice in the discovery of myself once again.

Lesson 116. Review of Lessons 101 & 102.

Lesson 115. Review of Lessons 99 & 100.