Lesson 114. Review of Lessons 97 & 98.

How to contemplate, continued:

Whenever we contemplate anything, we receive the most if we are willing to be completely open, trusting and non-judgmental. If I think wisdom should look or sound a special way, I may block wisdom. It’s good to look and see if we have special expectations or have put special limits on wisdom.

Lesson 113. Review of Lessons 95 & 96.

How to Contemplate, continued:

Sometimes when contemplating, the flow of wisdom begins on its own spontaneously. Sometimes the flow of wisdom begins as I focus on an inquiry. For example, let’s look at this quote:

“Who cares if you’re enlightened forever? Can you just get it in this moment, now?” ~ Byron Katie

If I am contemplating that quote, I might ask myself, “Am I over concerned with enlightenment? Has that become an obstacle for me? In what way is that an obstacle?” And then I look at myself to find the answers to the questions.

Or I might ask myself, “What is ‘it’ when she says, ‘Can you just get it in this moment, now?’” And then I remain open. I don’t use thinking to try to figure it out. I just stay with the question, open, feeling for a sense of the answer. Something may come for me to write or I may simply continue to reflect on the question throughout the day.

Here is my contemplation of today’s lesson.

Today, as I looked at the words of the lessons, I questioned whether I really knew what the words of the lesson meant. I was guided to look them up. As I reviewed the multiple definitions for each word (from the multiple sources provided by Google), I picked the definitions that resonated with me. What came upon studying the list of words defined provided insight and inspiration that, I feel, would not have come had I assumed I knew what those words meant.

I am One Self, united with my Creator. Salvation comes from my One Self.

One: being or amounting to a single unit or individual or entire thing, item, or object rather than two or more.

Self: having a single character or quality throughout.

United: combined into a single entity.

Creator: God: the supreme or ultimate reality.

Salvation: liberation from ignorance or illusion

Well there it is. The essence of ACIM is that same message taught by all the non-dual traditions. I am not separate from the supreme or ultimate reality. Realization of my non-dual nature is salvation or liberation from the illusion of myself as separate from any other thing in existence.

While it seems trite or cliché to phrase it in such terms, I am indeed, all of existence (consciousness) imagining a human experience. I am that which animates, looks through the eyes of this human body. I have always been and will always be. Ultimately, it matters not what occurs to this human body or to the bodies of those around me or to the world in which they live, no more so than a burning movie screen harms the actors in the film.*  And yet, this lived life, this one lived life is so precious that to miss a single blade of grass is a travesty. Where are we trying to get to? What is our aim? Experience! Live, laugh, love and die! Experience. Breathe it in. For whom does the bell toll? It tolls for thee. Don’t blink! Don’t be fooled by the clothing that you wear. Live, laugh, love and die! This is freedom. This is life! This is the singular experience of Beingness experienced through the multitude. All is well. All is well. All is well. Amen.

*The screen metaphor is a curious one. Normally, Consciousness itself is depicted as the screen and the fire is within the film—it is traditionally noted that the fire does not burn the screen. Here it is reversed. Consciousness itself is subsumed within the single flame of being. Isness ultimately brings all things into perfect unity. Experience itself must give way to its essence. All is One.

Lesson 112. Review of Lessons 93 and 94.

Today’s contemplation tip: First, let go of anything you think you understand about what you read. Start with a clean slate–an “I don’t know what this means” attitude–and let understanding be given. For example, when you contemplate today’s workbook lesson, do not assume you know what “light,” “joy” and “peace” are, even if you have received clarity about those terms before. Let today’s inspiration be free to interpret those symbols in a new enlightening way. Second, in order to receive wisdom, we have to be willing not to judge what we receive. Open to receive understanding and write it as it comes without judgment.

Connie’s contemplation of Lesson 112:

Light and joy and peace abide in me.

I have a few problems in my life, but mostly the life I live is “good”.  I”ve got family and friends who love me, a successful business and a pretty good golf game, but even with all of this I feel the purposelessness of this life.  I’m not saving lives by finding a cure for cancer nor do I know how to prevent global climate change.  My purpose is my spiritualty.  If Awareness being aware of Itself is the portal to seeing that light and joy and peace abide in me then I want to be about it.  Light and joy and peace is my nature.  I cannot be separate from these.

I am as God created me.

The second part of today’s review say’s “I am as God created me.”  Awareness watching awareness seems to be the avenue for me to experience the changelessness.  It resonates.  God is here and I am one with all that is.

Lesson 111. Review of Lessons 91 and 92.

Wow! Here we are, Lesson 111 and our third review! Read the instructions for the review carefully. Notice that we are given this review as an opportunity to re-devote ourselves to our own Awakening. Notice that we are asked to be gentle but firm in our resolve. Notice that we are asked to recognize any resistance we find and to meet it with the discipline of our true desire.

We will use this period of review to enhance our contemplation skills. The tips each day during the review will help you learn the art of contemplation.

Contemplation brings clarity to the mind, so that the mind can operate with wisdom instead of through ignorance. Contemplation provides the opportunity to learn from within yourself, to be guided from within yourself and to receive vision from within yourself.

Regina wrote the following in her contemplation of the art of contemplation: “Contemplation is not thinking or trying to understand. Contemplation is silent diving into the restful, devotional, open heart of the words, and there being; just being in the state of contemplation without seeking to understand or get answers.”

When you contemplate, write down what comes and review it several times throughout the day. It may come in words, as a picture, as a vision or as a feeling. If it comes as one of the latter three, consider making a few notes that will remind you of the experience later.

Here is my personal contemplation of Lesson 111.

Miracles are seen in light.

Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one.

Miracles are that which is seen through the heart. This is where the light resides. Every single thing is a miracle. It all has such depth and beauty. This is what is missed when thoughts intrude. The heaviness–the burden of the world–is its darkness. It is this I am ready to release. And how is it released? By listening to the heart. What does the heart say? Rejoice! Be glad in each thing and in all things. My strength is who I am. My weakness is believing that other than this could be so. This is what is held at arms length by definition, distinction and distortion. Hold life lightly. It is no coincidence that those words, light and light(ly), are the same.

Strength and light and truth and joy are one. These blessings can only be found within my heart because this is what I am. In my weakness I return to that upon which I have always relied—the thinking mind. Weakness is not evil, but confusion—or lack of sight.

As I reach for the light that is my own true nature, I will feel its strength within me and I will see with vision. This seeing is the miracle.

Lesson 110. I am as God created me.

If I am as God created me and the illusions of fear and evil and misery and death do not exist, then I must be something other than what my perceptions have led me to believe. Either the illusory world in which health turns to sickness and death consumes life and fear replaces love isn’t real (my truth) and/or I am not this body-mind-personality that seems to experience what this lesson says has not occurred.

This lesson goes on to say, “If you are as God created you, then there has been no separation of your mind from His, no split between your mind and other minds, and only unity within your own.”  Doesn’t this speak to Awareness? If Awareness is what we are, we must be omnipresent, present everywhere at the same time. The lesson supports this by saying, “The healing power of  today’s idea is limitless. It is the birthplace of all miracles, the great restorer of truth to the awareness of the world.”

Today we are asked to give five minutes an hour to realize our truth; to let go of our worship of false idols and false images like the concepts and roles and ideas we believe about ourselves. Everything is a concept until it is a direct experience. A direct experience can be brought about through Self-Inquiry.  Self-Inquiry is simply LOOKING to see what you are. “Then, with [the statement I am as God created me] firmly in your mind, [we will] try to discover the Self Who is the holy Son of God Himself” (Awareness).  In addition, pay attention to those thoughts that tell you who you are. Those thoughts make the “graven image” that replace/hide the Son of God.

Below are some Self-Inquiry tips provided by Regina, as well as, a link to a reading that Regina shared of “The Untethered Soul,” which focused on Self-Inquiry. The Self-Inquiry part begins about 1 hour and 20 minutes into the teaching.

~ Listen to a sound in your environment & then ask, “Who hears this?” Turn attention to become aware of you, the awareness that hears.

~ If you find you were lost in thought, ask, “Who sees this thought?” Turn attention to become aware of you, the one who is aware of thought.

~ Notice the constant change that occurs in the mind, in emotions and/or in the sensations in the body, and then ask, “What is constant? What is not changing?” Turn attention to become aware of you, that which is constant and unchanging while everything else is changing.

~ Allow yourself to remember a much earlier time in your life, and then ask “What is the ‘I’ that was present then that is also present and completely unchanged now?” In this inquiry, the key is that the ‘I’ you seek is completely unchanged. Your body changed; your mind changed (opinions, education, etc). What is the same and is you?

I recommend practicing Self-inquiry during your 5-minute meditation breaks today. You could practice with different questions during different breaks. Which questions work best for you? Feel free to use other methods of Self-inquiry that you may have heard of. For example Mooji asks, “Can the seer be seen?”

Here is the link to the audio.

LESSON 109. I rest in God.

The universe conspired to teach me this lesson today. I sent a barrage of emails with incorrect dates to a potential guest speaker. I missed correcting emails from Regina. I missed responding emails from the speaker. When everything was said and done, it looks like the speaker may decline the invitation.

What my thoughts said was that I really messed things up; that I was too distracted; that I was foolish for mixing up Eastern Time and Mountain Time; that next time I write these types of emails I should do this and not do that. What I heard was, “I am bad”—maybe not at first, but as the situation devolved, that was what I was left with.

If you asked me about the scenario that was a setup for this lesson, I might say, “I was given an ‘important’ task. I carried it out ‘poorly’ and we did not achieve the results we had hoped for.” That’s not really what happened. Those are all judgments, habits of thinking of the conditioned mind. Within those thoughts there is an “I” who could have succeeded or failed; a task that was more important than others; and a mission or desired outcome.

In my conditioned way of thinking, I judge events by the way in which they affect me or could affect me. If I perceive good effects, I believe that I am “good.” If things don’t work to my benefit, I am bad. In my poorly executed task yielding less than desirable results, the I am bad thought flourished.

This has not been my experience of late. The I am bad thought has become much quieter. I have seen the thought “I am bad because …” many times and rejected it as ridiculous. That was not my experience today.

NTI Luke says, “Sickness must rest and be quiet. This is the way to health. Let your sickness rest.”

This is why we want to rest. When our attention is caught up in our mind’s conditioned thought habits, the neural pathways that are related to those habits are well worn and as slippery as water slides. When we rest from our habitual way of thinking, those same neural pathways begin to dry up. Later, we will experience this as the ability to pause and discern before going into a habitual way of reacting. Or a neural pathway may be completely healed through our rest, and we will notice that our happiness is unaffected by a situation that would have upset us before.

When you rest the mind, realize you are allowing time for healing. Rest during meditation, rest when you happen to notice that thought is all wound up and also rest when you feel an upset.

For myself, today, tomorrow and as often as I am blessed to remember, “I [will] rest in God.”

Lesson 108. To give and to receive are one in truth.

Today’s lesson says, “To learn that giving and receiving are the same has special usefulness, because it can be tried so easily and seen as true.  And when this special case has proved it always works in every circumstance where it is tried, the thought behind it can be generalized to other areas of doubt and double vision.  And from there it will extend, and finally arrive at the one Thought Which underlies them all.”

After reading this part of the lesson and prior to reading the whole lesson I contemplated, “What can I give (away) so that “it can be tried so easily and seen as true”?  When I went on to read the entire lesson it gave some examples:

“To everyone I offer quietness.”

“To everyone I offer peace of mind.”

“To everyone I offer gentleness.”

Then it occurred to me the examples are meant to point out that the attributes that I want are what has to be offered so that they can be received.  If I didn’t think to offer it, could it be received?  It reminds me of the movie What The Bleep Do We Know.  No one could see the ships in the harbor because they didn’t know what a ship was.  And while we aren’t concerned with the physical, the point is if I felt gentleness, for example, was very, very important to me, wouldn’t I naturally be offering it to others?

Lets look at generalizing it to other areas of doubt.  So what is something I really want?  Happiness?  Yes, I would say being happy would be at the top of my list, but I realize I don’t offer happiness to everyone, all the time, consistently, even though that is exactly what I would like to have.

Earlier tonight Jacquelyn was talking about the end and the means being the same.  The Loving All Method is the means, as well as the end (thing we want).  So, the means of practicing The Loving All Method, which is loving everything we perceive exactly as it is, is also the end, to love everthing exactly as it is.  It is its own reward. This lesson points out the value of making The Loving All Method a way of life.  The Loving All Method unifies everything so that there are no opposites.  It brings about a “state of mind that has become so unified that darkness cannot be perceived at all.” If you haven’t become deeply familiar with The Loving All Method, consider reading it over 2 to 3 times this week.  Soon we’ll be able say, To everyone I offer unconditional Love. I can only imagine what that experience will look like as I begin to receive what I have offered.

Here is the link to the Loving All Method for your review: https://albigen.com/uarelove/most_rapid/chapter12.htm

LESSON 107. Truth will correct all errors in my mind.

This lesson is about resting in truth. In this resting, we let go of listening to the stories of the mind and simply rest in Awareness. The lesson says we should say to ourselves, “Truth will correct all errors in my mind, And I will rest in Him Who is my Self.” The Him referred to here is not separate from us, it is the Awareness we are coming to know as our selves. When we rest in Awareness, we remove our attention from the belief in the world and our thoughts about it. Having done so, “They are gone because, without belief, they have no life.”

Yesterday’s tip pointed out that true spirituality is based on trusting the teachings enough to engage in spiritual practice. The benefits of spiritual practice are highlighted in today’s workbook lesson.

Yes, the words of the lesson are beautiful. However, their true beauty and meaning is realized as we have a direct experience of letting go of error thinking (or outward focus) and rest within Awareness.

Today, I experienced a felt sense of the meaning of these words. Last week, I went back home to Kentucky to visit friends and family. I have four sisters, my mother, my son, nieces and nephews, and friends there–lots of activity to fit into a week’s vacation. I did the lessons each day, although not first thing in the morning and not consistently for the first five minutes of each hour. Longer meditations were few and far between. Today was my first full day back in Colorado and it was a busy day indeed. I meditated for half an hour this morning and “mostly” did the lessons for the first five minutes of each hour. After our board meeting tonight I decided I had missed my own cooking and made a meatloaf. The time was running short to get this tip posted in time for it to go out with the Daily Update. I heard very clearly that I was to sit down and meditate before writing the lesson. With the cat on my lap and the meatloaf in the oven, I did just that. I sorted through various thoughts in the mind, let them go and came back to awareness watching awareness several times. What unmistakably greeted me in that meditation, was a felt sense of peace, a spaciousness and a true sense of resting beyond the thinking mind. I have no question that the peace in which I rested was the truth of my being.

As you practice your five minutes with the lesson each hour today, rest with the felt sense of these words—of the experience to which the lesson points. As the lesson tells us, “Truth does not come and go nor shift nor change, in this appearance now and then in that, evading capture and escaping grasp. It does not hide. It stands in open light, in obvious accessibility. It is impossible that anyone could seek it truly, and would not succeed.”

Though the truth is “obviously accessible,” for me, it is important to take a bit more time to have the direct experience of the truth to which the lesson points. It takes me some time to get “settled in” beyond the thoughts and outer focus which hold my attention for most of the day. This is why it is so important for me to practice an extended period of awareness watching awareness meditation as the homework directs us to do. When I do so, I make room for the experience of the truth. In that space, I am aware only of being aware. In that space I experience the constancy of truth, where “nothing comes to interrupt [my] peace; [where I am] certain [I am] loved and safe.” Longer periods of time spent in the direct experience of Awareness seem to make it easier to find in my five minute practice periods.

This lesson is so straight-forward. It sets forth a simple truth. “Give truth its due, and it will give you yours.” The direct experience of truth is always readily available. We need merely turn our attention away from thought and rest in the awareness of its presence to prove this to ourselves. Truth (awareness) corrects all errors in my mind as I willingly pull attention out of thought and rest with awareness to the best of my ability. As we practice, we see the miraculous results, if only briefly. As I practice I see that even my small, poorly skilled effort is allowing something remarkable to take place.

Lesson 106. Let me be still and listen to the truth.

I’ve done these lessons before, so when today’s lesson said don’t listen to the ego, it was, “Okay, okay.” But then I realized there was something different for me here today.  Just today, Jacquelyn and I were talking about how the ego makes you miserable by using what seems like your own beliefs against you.  It will tell you if you are to be in integrity you must do this or think about it like this.  Surely you want to be in integrity, the ego asked about a scenario you just played out in your mind.  How about, if you were really honest, like you proclaim to be, then you should…. The ego will use all your beliefs you hold about yourself to let you know you aren’t that caliber of a person.

I thought I had overcome the unworthy ego suck you in principal, but when I shared my thoughts with Jacquelyn she reminded me I had followed that ego rabbit down its hole.  Today’s lesson says, “If you lay aside the ego’s voice however loudly it may seem to call; if you will not accept its petty gifts which give you nothing that you really want, if you will listen with a open mind, which has not told you what salvation is; then you will hear the mighty Voice of truth (awareness), quiet in power, strong in stillness, and completely certain in Its messages.”

The ego’s voice pops up from nowhere, with all of your insecurities dangling from the carrot stick, enticing you to follow it one more time down the rabbit hole of unconscious thoughts.  Beware, this lesson says.  It has nothing of value.  It cannot save you.  How could the ego save awareness?  To hear the mighty Voice of Truth we have to give up our beliefs.  They are not truly our beliefs. They are a big bundle of beliefs that we have repeatedly followed down the rabbit hole of unconsciousness.  We learned this already.  A thought comes in and instead of giving it any attention we can dismiss it. But instead of telling it, “You ain’t me”, I follow it. Lets see, where will this lead?  It leads to the same place it always leads.  It leads to feeling like crap.  It makes me suffer every time it pops in and I follow it.

Sometimes this disparaging voice seems to come from someone else, but surely I’m not fooled by my own projection.  Somewhere in the Course it says that all the Course really promises is peace of mind.  Please of mind will never be revealed by listening to these impostors.

Today’s lesson says, “Be not afraid today to circumvent the voice of the world, walk lightly past their meaningless persuasion.”  Walk past them.  Keep your faith.  True faith isn’t belief.  Faith is trusting the teachings we have been receiving–trusting them enough to practice our Workbook lessons.  Trusting enough to practice meditating with awareness watching awareness; practice the Loving All Method; practice our True Spiritual Aspiration along with our visualization plan.  I need these practices.  I need to believe in them by putting them into practice.  I need these practices because I’m still spiritually immature enough to follow the wrong guide, the wrong path, the thinking mind.  These practices help prepare me for miracles.  They will prepare me for my own direct experience of the Truth.  They help me “be still and listen to the truth (awareness).”