September 27, 2016

We have been looking at and discussing the holy instant recently.  The holy instant is Spirit’s most effective learning device.  For when we step into the holy instant all judgement ceases because we step into the awareness of love.  We may not understand that we have stepped into the holy instant as such, but we are aware that for an instant or a short time we experience peace and love.  We are free from the constant judgement we tend to wallow in.  Everything is good in the holy instant.  Nothing worries us in the holy instant.  We rest in our Source, the One, in the holy instant.  We extend and receive love, whether we realize it or not, in the holy instant.  And all is well.

Do we really know love’s true meaning?  Can we say that we know what love is without relating to our past?  Our whole life story is based on our past experiences.  It’s the only way the egoic thought system can make a separate identity that supports the idea of separation.  So it makes up the meaning of love that supports the idea of separation.  Relating everything to the past is also called judgment.  We compare everything new to something in our past and form ideas about it in duality – the idea of opposites.  We decide if it is love or not love, good or bad, and judge accordingly.  Yet all of creation is good.  The creation story repeats again and again that God saw it was good.  It all is good because God creates by extending love.  When we release our attachment to the past, we have just the present.  The only real meaning of love is unconditional.  There is no degree or “how much” to love.  Love is shared completely.  Love in it’s pure or true sense is Oneness.  We step into this incredible love when we let go of the past and our unreasonable expectations of all that the past tells us.  The holy instant is the time when we let go of all the thoughts that keep us from being aware of the One love within us that is already ours and is really who we are.

Our relationships are the learning devices in which we learn about love.  There appears to be many different kinds of love in this world.  However, many forms of “love” are rooted in our egoic ideas about our past.  Yes, love can appear to carry hurt, guilt and fear from the past.  Remaining attached to those aspects of past “love” will keep us distracted from the holy instant to which Spirit is calling us.  Is the love we cling to “special” or is it unconditional?

You cannot love parts of reality and understand what love means.  If you would love unlike to the One, Who knows no special love, how can you understand it?  To believe that special relationships, with special love, can offer you salvation is the belief that separation is salvation.  For it is the complete equality of the At-One-ment in which salvation lies.  How can you decide that special aspects of the One Child of the One can give you more than others?  The past has taught you this.  Yet the holy instant teaches you it is not so.   T-15.V.3.1-7

Our egoic way of making our relationships “special” supports our idea of separation.  We believe that this relationship will make us complete.  Or that relationship will make us happy.  Perhaps another relationship will permanently damage us.  “Special relationships” may not be so “special” after all.  Our special relationships become holy relationships in the holy instant.  Let go of your attachment to the past and step into the holy instant.  In that instant we are healed, we are forgiven, and we forgive.  We truly are holy.

September 20, 2016

In our spiritual practice and our daily living, are we willing to try to be vigilant for any deception we may be holding. Any thoughts we consider private are therefore hidden and thus we deceive ourselves that we are willing. Our natural state of mind is in complete communication with everyone and our Source. The continuance of the holy instant is dependent on an open mind, a mind that holds no thoughts hidden. Spirit calls to us to make the holy instant ours at once, for the release from littleness in the mind of the host of the One depends on willingness, and not on time. Ask yourself, “Do I want the holy instant now?” Once we decide we want to be in communication, Spirit can then guide us to that transformation. It will come as quickly or as slowly as we are willing to release our hidden thoughts.

We could live forever in the holy instant, beginning right now and reaching to eternity, but for a very simple reason. We must not obscure the simplicity of this reason, for if we do, it will be only because we prefer not to recognize it and not to let it go. The simple reason, simply stated, is this: The holy instant is a time in which we receive and give perfect communication. This means, however, that it is a time in which our mind is open, both to receive and give. It is the recognition that all minds are in communication. It therefore seeks to change nothing, but merely to accept everything. What do we really want? We can release our need to change the world as we see it and look beyond its appearance to Oneness in eternity. Thus do we release our littleness, accept our magnitude and step into the holy instant.

The Course instructs us thus:

The necessary condition for the holy instant does not require that you have no thoughts that are not pure. But it does require that you have none that you would keep. Innocence is not of your making. It is given you the instant you would have it. At-One-ment would not be if there were no need for it. You will not be able to accept perfect communication as long as you would hide it from yourself. For what you would hide is hidden from you. In your practice, then, try only to be vigilant against deception, and seek not to protect the thoughts you would keep to yourself. Let the Holy Spirit’s purity shine them away, and bring all your awareness to the readiness for purity Spirit offers you. Thus will Spirit make you ready to acknowledge that you are host to the One, and hostage to no one and to nothing.   T-15.IV.9.1-10

Relax a moment. Allow yourself to stop trying so hard. Awakening to the awareness of who we really are is truly simple. Release the thoughts you think you need to keep hidden. Open your mind to the direct communication you share with Source and all creation. We do not need to change anything but simply accept everything as it is. Spirit will guide us in what is holy and real. All that is false will fade into nothingness. No thought can harm what is eternal. And what is not eternal is not real and cannot harm anything. Stop a moment, ask yourself what you really want and then be willing to release any littleness you still harbor and step into your magnitude in Oneness. In this do we rejoin and recognize our Oneness.

September 13, 2016

The holy instant stands in shimmering readiness waiting for our acceptance. The holy instant stands within our mind in the present moment. It is not in the past or the future where we seem to be searching for it, but the present now. Are we ready for that transformation? Are we ready to look upon truth and release our belief in our littleness? It is our choice. We can choose to step into the holy instant now or delay it until we change our mind. To accept the holy instant into our awareness is to step into freedom from the “little” world we have made for ourselves and believed is real. We move from the belief we are limited, incomplete, broken and unloved into the awareness that we are limitless, complete, whole and completely loved. We couldn’t be more free than we truly are.

Our practice of the holy instant rests in our willingness to release our belief in our littleness. This doesn’t say we must release our belief, it says we must be willing to release our belief in littleness. We must be willing to accept a change in our thinking. All that is asked is for us to want to delay the holy instant no longer. Once we decide we are willing to see differently, are willing to accept something greater, Spirit can guide us in that acceptance and that transformation. For we cannot accept the transformation alone – in separation – as it involves joining. Our egoic thought system resists joining at all costs for joining releases us from the limitations we have placed upon ourselves through our egoic belief system. The Course asks us why we delay our awareness of our freedom. The answer is fear, the fear of being something greater than we believe we are. Are we ready yet to practice the holy instant? Are we ready yet to want it?

So, how do we practice the holy instant? The Course gives us this direction:

Would you learn how perfect and immaculate is the holy altar on which your Creator has placed Itself? This you will recognize in the holy instant, in which you willingly and gladly give over every plan but the One’s. For there lies peace, perfectly clear because you have been willing to meet its conditions. You can claim the holy instant anytime and anywhere you want it. In your practice, try to give over every plan you have accepted for finding magnitude in littleness. It is not there. Use the holy instant only to recognize that you alone cannot know where it is, and can only deceive yourself.  T-15.IV.4.1-7

Look within to the holiness within you and let Spirit guide your mind to the awareness of your holiness. All Spirit asks is a little willingness, a desire to be all you really are. Throw off the chains of littleness and allow Spirit to guide you to the awareness of your magnitude as you join with your brothers and sisters in Oneness with Spirit and the One. This is the plan for salvation the One has given us – to release our littleness and rest in our magnitude. The holy instant is where this is recognized. Release, let go, and let it be so.

September 6, 2016

Holiness abides within us in perfect peace. Do we recognize this about ourselves? Do we recognize this in each other? Our journey in this world is to reawaken to this perfect existence within us. We have spent a lifetime learning to believe in an identity in littleness. It’s what we have been taught and it’s what we have chosen to believe over the magnitude of our true Self. There is no blame or guilt. Our parents, our teachers, our priests and pastors, our friends and our brothers and sisters did the best they knew at the time. We even did the best we could at the time with the information and guidance we had. There was no damage or injury. We just made incorrect decisions in how we perceived the world we thought we saw. Holiness and perfect peace have always been within each and every one of us. Our grandeur has always been within us waiting to be recognized. The truth in us has been waiting for us simply to join together in Spirit and allow Spirit to guide us to the recognition of who we really are.

Accept now who and what you truly are. Allow Spirit to guide you in the discovery of the truth about who you are. Allow yourself to see that truth in all you encounter and see. We have accepted the idea of littleness about ourselves. Can we not accept something better? Spirit is waiting and, yes, calling to us to look with Spirit eyes on our wholeness, our completeness, our grandeur and magnitude. Can we not listen with our Spirit ears to this call and accept this truth about ourselves? It is really that simple if we are willing to let go of our attachment to what we think we see and believe and open our minds to the possibility of the idea of our greatness? We are One with the One, our Source. What could be greater than that?

We are on a journey to Love. Everything, everyone, every experience we encounter is a step on our spiritual journey. We choose how we see each element on that journey. We can choose to see an experience with difficulty in separation alone or we can choose to allow Spirit to guide us to the Love and Joy and Perfect Peace welling up beneath every thought. If we are wholly willing to leave salvation to the plan of the One and unwilling to attempt to grasp for peace ourselves, salvation will be given us in an instant.

Here is what the Course calls us to do:

Call forth in everyone only the remembrance of the One, and of the Heaven that is in each of us. For where you would have another be, there will you think you are. Hear not another’s appeal to hell and littleness, but only their call for Heaven and greatness. Forget not that their call is yours, and answer them with me. The One’s power is forever on the side of the One’s host, us, for it protects only the peace in which the One dwells. Lay not littleness before the One’s holy altar, which rises above the stars and reaches even to Heaven, because of what is given it.        T-15.III.12.1-6

We do not do this alone. To call only to ourselves is futile. We call to each other to join and enter the awareness that we are all One. To join in Oneness is to remember who we really are and recognize the magnitude and grandeur of our Oneness. Now is the time. Let it be now and enter into this holy instant together.

August 30, 2016

Every decision we make is reflective of what we think about ourselves. Every decision we make brings either joy or sorrow. Every decision we make is for Heaven or hell and brings us the awareness of what we decided for. Every decision we make is for separation or Oneness. The decision takes many different forms yet the essence of our decision is to live in the awareness of who we really are or to deny who we really are. Would we rather be hostage to our egoic thought system or host to the One, our Source? It is always our choice, whether we recognize it or not. Our true wish is to be in the awareness of the Oneness we truly are. This is Heaven. This is the One’s Will for us. This is Spirit’s purpose for us; to guide our decisions whenever we choose. It doesn’t matter how trivial the decision may seem. Spirit will guide us to the best choice for us in any given time or place or situation.

Spirit holds our Magnitude in perfect safety in our mind for us even as we decide mistakenly. No littleness can affect our magnitude no matter how dedicated we are to our belief in our littleness. We are created One with the One and thus are host to the One in this world. Nothing can change this. We can choose to deny this and thus separate ourselves from the awareness of our peace within us, but we cannot change it. Our holiness continues under the surface of our mind waiting for us to choose to recognize it again. Spirit calls gently to us to awaken to our true nature. There is no price to pay, no punishment to endure other than the loss of hell and misery. The choice is there in every decision and choice that comes our way.

We are the bringers of holiness into our world. It’s not a difficult task and we do not do it alone. Holiness is found in joining, not in separation. Holiness is in seeing that we are all One and that we are One with our Source, the One. The awareness of our holiness is remembered in the release from attachment and separation in our choices. Here is true happiness found. Here we recognize the peace and love that are at the core of our being. Here we remember who we really are. Believe and know there is no sacrifice in this decision.

The Course tells us this:

Is it a sacrifice to leave littleness behind, and wander not in vain? It is not sacrifice to wake to glory. But it is sacrifice to accept anything less than glory. Learn that you must be worthy of the Prince of Peace, born in you in honor of the One Whose host you are. You know not what love means because you have sought to purchase it with little gifts, thus valuing it too little to understand its magnitude. Love is not little and love dwells in you, for you are host to the One. Before the greatness that lives in you, your poor appreciation of yourself and all the little offerings you give slip into nothingness.  T-15.III.8.1-7

Choose now to step into the awareness of your greatness. Be content no longer with littleness and the little world it shows you. Step into reality. Step into the awareness of eternity. Step into Oneness and be aware of the true magnitude of who you truly are. Choose now and choose for eternity.

August 23, 2016

Are you happy with what you believe you are in this world? Are you content with what separation gives you? We may resign ourselves to littleness and lack, but it is not characteristic of our true nature. We are One with God, our Source. Would we call Source or God “little”? The Course asks us to be not content with littleness. When we strive for anything in this world in the belief that it will bring us peace, we are belittling ourselves and blinding ourselves to glory. That would be the glory within our Oneness. Each time we choose to believe ourselves little, lacking, less than whole, we deny who we really are. We deny our wholeness, our limitlessness and our holiness. We deny who we really are and block our awareness of peace and love which dwell within us. Every time we choose to deny who we really are we make an evaluation of ourselves. And so if we evaluate ourselves lacking and little, we see ourselves lacking and little. The world around us thus reflects the choice we have made.

It is essential that we accept the fact gladly, that there is no form of littleness that can ever content us. We are free to try as many forms of littleness as we wish, but all we will be doing is to delay our homecoming. For we will be content only in magnitude, which is our home. And peace and love are in that home. The choice is our responsibility. We cannot be forced to be aware of who we really are, for we are created with free will, even to deny the awareness of who we really are.

There is a deep responsibility you owe yourself, and one you must learn to remember all the time. The lesson may seem hard at first, but you will learn to love it when you realize that it is true and is but a tribute to your power. You who have sought and found littleness, remember this: Every decision you make stems from what you think you are, and represents the value that you put upon yourself. Believe the little can content you, and by limiting yourself you will not be satisfied. For your function is not little, and it is only by finding your function and fulfilling it that you can escape from littleness.   T-15.III.3.1-5

There is no doubt about what our function is for Spirit within us knows. And there is no doubt about the magnitude of our function for it reaches us through Spirit from Magnitude itself. There is no question of who we really are if we will look within ad allow Spirit to bring it to our awareness. We need not strive for it for we already have it. We already are who we really are. But we need to be vigilant for the thoughts of littleness that creep into our minds. To hold our magnitude in perfect awareness in a world of littleness is a task the little cannot undertake. Yet it is asked of us, in tribute to our magnitude and not our littleness. Nor is it asked of us alone. The power of the One will support every effort we make on behalf of our true Self in Oneness.

Be vigilant for the thoughts of littleness that creep unbidden into your mind. Reach to the Spirit within for guidance to the awareness of the magnitude of who you really are in Oneness. This is where we realize the peace, love and joy that are already ours. Let go all your doubts and move into the awareness of who you really are and always have been. Be who you really are.

August 16, 2016

Our freedom is found in the awareness of our Oneness. It is an all-encompassing Oneness. At any moment we can choose freedom for the one we are with and thus free ourselves in that moment. It wells up within us as we release another from our misperceptions about them. We are filled with doubt thoughts about ourselves but more so about each other. Doubting our holiness, whether our own or another’s, is a way our egoic thought system keeps us distracted from the awareness of who we really are and the peace of the holy instant. Our home is in the holy instant. Our true Self is in the holy instant. Can we release our iron will of separation for just an instant and allow Spirit, God’s Teacher, to lift us into the freedom of that instant? That’s all it takes, just one moment to fly free of the bonds of separation if we are willing.

The Course gives us this instruction:

Start now to practice your little part in separating out the holy instant. You will receive very specific instructions as you go along. To learn to separate out this single second, and to experience it as timeless, is to begin to experience yourself as not separate. Fear not that you will not be given help in this. God’s Teacher and the lesson will support your strength. It is only your weakness that will depart from you in this practice, for it is the practice of the power of God in you. Use it but for one instant, and you will never deny it again. Who can deny the Presence of what the universe bows to, in appreciation and gladness? Before the recognition of the universe that witnesses to It, your doubts must disappear.   T-15.II.6.1-9

Take a moment and try it. Rest your mind for just an instant and allow Spirit to guide you. You will see your brother or sister as they truly are, whole, complete, and holy, and thus recognize your holy Self in them. Take this moment and rest an instant. There is nothing to lose but your doubt and thus your uncertainty. Release all to Spirit and let yourself soar on the wings of love and peace.

August 9, 2016

Transformation in the form of the holy instant is the experience of Heaven, yet it cannot be forced on our mind. We must learn to be willing to allow our mind to be open. Time is used by Spirit to help us learn to be willing to allow Spirit to guide us. Spirit gives us the holy instant as we release ourselves and each other from the limits we have placed on ourselves and each other. In reality we are One, so we must be willing to allow our minds to accept that we are One or at least to open to the idea that we may be One. There are times we have each experienced connection with others that go beyond the physical. We have each experienced times when all seems aligned and in perfect order where all feels right and good for that moment. We are not strangers to these instants but have not recognized them as holy. They occur naturally as the result of miracles that occur naturally.

You will never give this holy instant to the Holy Spirit on behalf of your release while you are unwilling to give it to all others on behalf of theirs. For the instant of holiness is shared, and cannot be yours alone. Remember, then, when you are tempted to attack another, that their instant of release is yours. Miracles are the instants of release you offer, and will receive. They attest to your willingness to be released, and to offer time to the Holy Spirit for Spirit’s use of it.   T-15.I.12.1-5

Release is the lesson we need learn. Letting go of our attachment to our beliefs is where we start. Trust Spirit to guide you in this release. Spirit is within us. Spirit has our awareness of our peace as Its goal. There is nothing to be afraid of except losing our fear and misery.

How long does this take? Don’t worry about that. Practice giving this blessed instant of freedom to all who are enslaved by time, and thus make time their friend. Spirit gives their blessed instant to you through your giving it to them. As you give it, Spirit offers it to you. Be willing to give what you would receive, for you join with Spirit in giving. Your instantaneous freedom is in the crystal cleanness of the release you give. You are holy as you offer holiness.

How long is an instant? As long as it takes to re-establish perfect sanity, perfect peace and perfect love for everyone, for Source and for yourself. As long as it takes to remember immortality, and your immortal creations who share it with you. As long as it takes to exchange hell for Heaven. Long enough to transcend all of the ego’s making, and ascend unto your Creator.  T-15.I.14.1-5

The correct use of time is our friend as we allow Spirit to use it for us. Spirit Who transcends time for us understands what time is for. Holiness lies in eternity, not in time. There never was an instant in which we could lose our purity. Our changeless state is beyond time, for our purity remains forever beyond attack and without variability. Give the eternal instant, that eternity may be remembered for you, in that shining instant of perfect release. Offer the miracle of the holy instant through Spirit, and leave the giving it to you to Spirit. Allow the correct use of time and receive the holy instant for eternity.

August 2, 2016

Spirit – God’s Teacher – uses time for one prose, to teach us happiness and peace. What more could we want? Happiness and peace are at their purest in the present moment. The egoic thought system uses time for teaching, but for a much different teaching. Peace is inconsistent with the ego’s existence. So it teaches anything but peace. Fear is one of its primary lessons. There are also guilt, attack, lack and a myriad of other lessons it wants us to buy into. Hell is the idea the ego teaches us to believe to reinforce fear in our minds. The egoic thought system teaches us to perceive the world through the lens of fear, teaching us the world is a precursor of hell. It teaches us we are destined to relive our miserable past over and over again into the future until we finally die and end up in hell for eternity. The only way in which the ego allows the fear of hell to be experienced is to bring hell here, into the present, but always as a foretaste of the future. Where is happiness and peace in this scenario?

However, God has something else in mind for us.

The Holy Spirit teaches thus: There is no hell. Hell is only what the ego has made of the present. The belief in hell is what prevents you from understanding the present, because you are afraid of it. The Holy Spirit leads as steadily to Heaven as the ego drives to hell. For the Holy Spirit, Who knows only the present, uses it to undo the fear by which the ego would make the present useless. There is no escape from fear in the ego’s use of time. For time, according to its teaching, is nothing but a teaching device for compounding guilt until it becomes all-encompassing, demanding vengeance forever.   T-15.I.7.1-7

Fear seems compelling. Nothing appears to threaten happiness and peace like fear, and particularly the fear of hell. Yet Spirit assures us that all that is not happiness and peace is illusion – not real. It is our belief in the lessons of the egoic thought system that keep us attached to the idea that we have anything to fear. Alone – in separation – it is very difficult to unlearn this fear, for we have given up the awareness of our divine nature to learn fear. But when we allow Spirit to guide us in joining in Oneness, we realize our true divine identity and fear fades away into nothing. It seems difficult, yet in unity with the divine it is effortless.

 The Holy Spirit would undo all of this now. Fear is not of the present, but only of the past and future, which do not exist. There is no fear in the present when each instant stands clear and separated from the past, without its shadow reaching out into the future. Each instant is a clean, untarnished birth, in which the One Child of God emerges from the past into the present. And the present extends forever. It is so beautiful and so clean and free of guilt that nothing but happiness is there. No darkness is remembered, and immortality and joy are now.   T-15.I.8.1-7

Right now, just in this present moment, as we look within to our divine identity, all is well. We have all we need in this moment. We can sense the calm within us. We can be content. We can feel love within us. The past has no place in this instant and so has no effect on our wellbeing. Be in this moment. Feel the holiness that wells up from within you. Feel the connection to all creation and to the Source of your being in this moment. This is the Oneness we are. This is the recognition of who we really are that is unchangeable. This is Heaven on earth. Rest in this holy instant. Let it be just for now. In this instant time has collapsed. There is no past or future to fear in this instant. In this instant we are complete, whole, limitless, loved, loving and at peace. From this holy instant wherein holiness was born again you will go forth in time without fear, and with no sense of change with time. Be the peace you are.

July 26, 2016

Can you imagine what it is like to be in perfect peace? What would perfect bliss be like? Can we imagine being without a care in the world? Imagine no urgency, no anxiety, no angst. This Chapter begins with this thought:

Can you imagine what it means to have no cares, no worries, no anxieties, but merely to be perfectly calm and quiet all the time? Yet that is what time is for; to learn just that and nothing more. God’s Teacher cannot be satisfied with their teaching until it constitutes all your learning. God’s Teacher has not fulfilled their teaching function until you have become such a consistent learner that you learn only of your Teacher. When this has happened, you will no longer need a teacher or time in which to learn.   T-15.I.1.1-5

Time, though an illusion in eternity, has purpose in this world. Time is not real, for reality has no time, but it has purpose. That purpose is learning. Time can be used to learn separation, or it can be used to learn unity and joining.

Learning is our function in time. Time provides the framework that enables us to learn. We can use it to learn correctly or incorrectly. We have used time thus far to learn separation. We have used it in partnership with our egoic thought system to learn and reinforce the idea that we are separate from God and each other. We have used this method to convince ourselves that we have an identity that is completely independent from all the universe and all creation. We have learned this so well that we believe we are autonomous and control our own destiny, yet also believe we are victims in this world.

There is an alternative to this destiny. We can also learn to recognize who we really are. We can learn to recognize that we are One with God and all creation. We can learn that God’s Teacher can guide us to an awareness of a different reality – a reality that is real – that is peace and calm, that is free of cares, worries and anxieties. This is the reality we seek but do not know that It is already within us but hidden by our belief that we are separate – not as we really are. We expend great effort maintaining our egoic learning, for we are attached to that learning by our commitment to it. Yet I know each of us has had moments of bliss, of complete peace and calm where there seemed not to be a care in the world. Essentially our egoic thought system keeps us attached to the past and its outcomes. They are predictable. They are familiar even though they are not happy. Wouldn’t you rather have those moments of bliss and peace? Wouldn’t you rather have peace and calm and bliss be the constant state of your experience in this life?

Turn toward the Teacher God has placed within you. This Teacher is an integral part of you. It will guide you in unlearning the lessons you need to unlearn and will teach you the perfect lessons you need to learn in the form that you will learn best from. And if we don’t learn from the first lesson, another will be offered and even another until we learn the lesson we need to learn. Open your inner eyes. Allow this Teacher to guide you in your learning. What is holy and good will remain while what is not real or true will fade from your mind as you allow. Come, join with us in the holy instant. Peace and love are always with all of us. Allow the holy instant to arise in your mind. This is what you’ve been seeking.