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.
