January 17, 2017

Do we really know ourselves?  Do we really understand ourselves?  We have learned much about who we really are.  But, do we believe what we have learned about who we are?  We have learned that we are both teachers and students.  Just as giving and receiving are the same, so are teaching and learning the same.  We have learned that Spirit uses everything for good, that each perception we have can be looked at differently when our perception is reinterpreted for us by Spirit.  We have learned that all things, all experiences, may be repurposed as learning experiences when we allow Spirit’s guidance into our minds.

We all teach, and teach all the time.  We may have taught well, and yet we may not have learned how to accept the comfort of what we taught.  If we will consider what we have taught, and how alien it is to what we thought we knew, we will be compelled to realize that our Teacher came from beyond our own egoic thought system.  Therefore, our Teacher could look upon what we taught fairly, and perceive it was untrue.  Our Teacher must have done so from the basis of a very different thought system from ours, and one with nothing in common with ours.  For what our Teacher has taught, and what we have taught through our Teacher, have nothing in common with what we thought we taught before.  And the results have been to bring peace where there was pain, and suffering has disappeared to be replaced by joy.  We have, within us, the truth of who we are even when we deny it or don’t recognize it.  The fact that we have not learned what we have taught shows us that we do not perceive all of Creation as one.  It also shows us that we do not regard ourselves as one.

The Course explains it this way:

This is a course in how to know yourself.  You have taught what you are, but have not let what you are teach you.  You have been very careful to avoid the obvious, and not to see the real cause and effect relationship that is perfectly apparent.  Yet within you is everything you taught.  What can it be that has not learned it?  It must be this part that is really outside yourself, not by your own projection, but in truth.  And it is this part that you have taken in that is not you.  What you accept into your mind does not really change it.  Illusions are but beliefs in what is not there.  And the seeming conflict between truth and illusion can only be resolved by separating yourself from the illusion and not from truth.   T-16.III.4:1-10

We have taught what we are, but have refused to see and believe the obvious about what we are.  We have denied our own higher teaching.  How insane is that?  We choose to deny the one thing about us that is true – our Holiness in Oneness.

Your teaching has already done this [separating yourself from the illusion and not from truth], for the Holy Spirit is part of you.  Created by the One, Spirit left neither the One nor the One’s creation.  The Holy Spirit is both the One and you, as you are the One and the Holy Spirit together.  For the One’s Answer to the separation added more to you than you tried to take away.  The One’s Answer – Spirit – protected both your creations and you together, keeping one with you what you would exclude.  And they will take the place of what you took in to replace them.  They are quite real, as part of the Self you do not know.  They communicate to you through the Holy Spirit, and their power and gratitude to you for their creation they offer gladly to your teaching of yourself, who is their home.  You who are host to the One are also host to them.  For nothing real has ever left the mind of its creator.  And what is not real was never there.   T-16.III.5:1-11

It is time for us to accept our own real Teaching, that which we have been teaching all along.  We have hidden the peace, love and joy of that teaching from our consciousness for so long.  Accept your own teaching and rest in the reward of that teaching.

January 10, 2017

We have built the world we see on our own interpretation of our own past.  We have chosen to accept much of what we have been taught as truth, often without question, and often in fear.  Even with our best intentions, we still do not feel at peace with it.  We feel we are lacking something.  We feel we are missing something.  We don’t feel happy or even content.  We feel conflicted and want something better.  Yet, without realizing it, we have what we are seeking within us.  It is embedded in the beingness we are that we have denied by seeking outside ourselves for what we want.  Spirit is gently calling to us 24/7, reminding us of who we really are and directing us where to find the answers we are seeking.  We have glimpsed the reality of our divine Self, for we have all experienced the holy instant many times. We may not have recognized it as such, but we have experienced it.

Our denial of our true nature, our Oneness, is the barrier that keeps us from recognizing our divine nature.  And we need not prove to ourselves the realty of our divine nature, for this would be nearly impossible on our own.  The Course asks us, not to understand this, but to accept Spirit’s understanding of our divine nature.  The reality of this acceptance is that Spirit is within us and One with us.  As long as we remain attached to our belief that we are separate and achieve understanding alone, we will fail to recognize the Oneness of our divine nature and remain in darkness unaware of who we really are.

No evidence will convince you of the truth of what you do not want.  Yet your relationship with Christ Spirit is real.  Regard this not with fear, but with rejoicing.  The One you called upon is with you.  Bid the One welcome, and honor the witnesses who bring you the glad tidings the One has come.  It is true, just as you fear, that to acknowledge this One is to deny all that you think you know.  But what you think you know was never true.  What gain is there to you in clinging to it, and denying the evidence for truth?  For you have come too near to truth to renounce it now, and you will yield to its compelling attraction.  You can delay this now, but only a little while.  The Host of God has called to you, and you have heard.  Never again will you be wholly willing not to listen.   T-16.II.6:1-12

Listen for the Voice for the One gently calling you to the awareness of the divine being you really are.  You need not understand it, but simply accept that the divine within you understands.  Put your faith and trust in the divine within you. Let its awareness rise in your mind and reveal to you the truth about your inherent holiness.  Allow the joy and peace within you to rise.

This is a year of joy, in which your listening will increase and peace will grow with its increase.  The power of holiness and the weakness of attack are both being brought into your awareness.  And this has been accomplished in a mind firmly convinced that holiness is weakness and attack is power.  Should not this be a sufficient miracle to teach you that your Teacher is not of you?  But remember also that whenever you listened to your Teacher’s interpretation the results have brought you joy.  Would you prefer the results of your interpretation, considering honestly what they have been?  The One wills you better.  Could you not look with greater charity on whom the One loves with perfect Love?   T-16.II.7:1-8

Listen for the One’s Voice that speaks to you from within.  Recognize Its understanding of who and what you are and accept Its understanding for yourself.  Release yourself from the limitations of the limited understanding you made for yourself.  What is real will remain and what is mistaken will fade into nothingness.  Step into the awareness of your divine nature as Spirit guides you and feel divine peace and joy rise within you.  Once your eyes are opened, you will return again and again to the awareness of your divine nature shared completely with the One and all Creation.  Be the peace and joy you truly are.  In this awareness will you find the power of Holiness within you.

January 3, 2017

We do not understand holiness or even miracles, for that matter.  Our minds are still focused on the egoic thought system we’ve been developing all our lives.  It is impossible for us to hang onto what we think we know and understand the Holiness of all at the same time.  Our true power lies in our Holiness, yet we have denied that power by believing we are separate.  Even as we begin to change our minds about what we believe we are, we struggle to apply holiness to all.  The Course explains it this way:

You may still think that holiness is impossible to understand, because you cannot see how it can be extended to include everyone.  And you have been told that it must include everyone to be holy.  Concern yourself not with the extension of holiness, for the nature of miracles you do not understand.  Nor do you do them.  It is their extension, far beyond the limits you perceive, that demonstrates you do not do them.  Why should you worry how the miracle extends to All of Us when you do not understand the miracle itself?  One attribute is no more difficult to understand than is the whole.  If miracles are at all, their attributes would have to be miraculous, being part of them.   T-16.II.1:1-8

We are just beginning to accept the idea that we are all One in Oneness and do not fully understand this concept.  Yet, Oneness is our true nature and our holiness and the giving of miracles happens on a level that transcends the current level of our awareness.  We are beginning to catch glimpses of who we really are as we allow our minds to follow the higher guidance within us.

Invested in our egoic thought system, we tend to fragment our thoughts, and then to be concerned about the truth of just a little part of the whole.  This is a way of avoiding, or looking away from the whole, to what we think we might be better able to understand.  For this is another way in which we would still try to keep understanding to ourselves.  A better and far more helpful way to think of miracles is this: We do not understand them, either in part or in whole.  Yet miracles have been done through us.  Therefore, our understanding cannot be necessary.  Yet it is still impossible to accomplish what we do not understand.  And so there must be Something in us that does understand.  This is the natural essence of who we are that cannot be changed, that cannot be corrupted, that cannot be lost.  We can deny it all we want, but it remains within us, hidden from our awareness only by our denial of its being.  We have extended miracles from the power of our holiness in Oneness even as we have denied our own holiness.

You have done miracles, but it is quite apparent that you have not done them alone.  You have succeeded whenever you have reached another mind and joined with it.  When two minds join as one and share one idea equally, the first link in the awareness of the All of Us as One has been made.  When you have made this joining as the Holy Spirit bids you, and have offered it to Spirit to use as Spirit sees fit, Spirit’s natural perception of your gift enables Spirit to understand it, and you to use Spirit’s understanding on your behalf.  It is impossible to convince you of the reality of what has clearly been accomplished through your willingness while you believe that you must understand it or else it is not real.  T-16.II.4:1-5

Releasing ourselves and each other from the limiting thoughts of our egoic thought system is key to opening our minds to the limitless possibilities of our natural being.  It is opened only in the joining of our minds as we allow the awareness of our Oneness to rise in our minds.  This has nothing to do with making it happen in physical form first.  That is impossible, for physical form is born of fragmentation.  Unity and Oneness are natural.  In the acceptance of this truth is the awareness of who we really are.  Let go of division and step into the power of holiness that lies within us.  It is waiting for nothing more than our willingness to let it rise in our minds.

December 27, 2016

Empathy is a concept we often misunderstand and thus misuse.  What is your understanding of empathy?  Is it truly helpful?  Does it help another to rise to their strength in Oneness?  Or does it keep them in a pattern of suffering?  A teacher of mine once described the difference between empathy and sympathy as follows.  Suppose I come across one who has fallen into a deep pit and cannot climb out.  They perhaps have lost hope of finding a way out and are in despair.  How do I best help them?  One alternative is to show sympathy for them and jump in the pit to comfort them.  Then we are both trapped in the pit unable to get out.  The alternative is to stay out of the pit and find a way to help them climb out or go and find help and return to stay near them and guide the help to them so they can be released from the pit.  We don’t join this one in their suffering, yet find a truly helpful solution.  The Course teaches this about our understanding of empathy.

To empathize does not mean to join in suffering, for that is what you must refuse to understand.  That is the ego’s interpretation of empathy, and is always used to form a special relationship in which the suffering is shared.  The capacity to empathize is very useful to the Holy Spirit, provided you let Spirit use it in Its way.  Spirit’s way is very different.  Spirt does not understand suffering, and would have you teach it is not understandable.  When Spirit relates through you, Spirit does not relate through your ego to another ego.  Spirit does not join in pain, understanding that healing pain is not accomplished by delusional attempts to enter into it, and lighten it by sharing the delusion.   T-16.I.1:1-7

We do nothing truly helpful by sharing with another in the delusion of suffering. This sister or brother who has believed they are suffering is calling out for help.  How can we be truly helpful?  The Course has taught us to be vigilant for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  First, we must stop and listen with our spirit ears and hear a true cry for help and realize there is a more helpful way to respond if we seek Spirit’s guidance.  Our egoic thought system rooted in our beliefs about our past would have us jump in the pit with the one suffering and find ourselves just as trapped as they are.  Is that truly helpful?  This makes our relationship with this one a “special relationship.”  We’ve joined in the illusion of suffering.  There is a better way.  It is rooted in the power of love.

The meaning of love is lost in any relationship that looks to weakness, and hopes to find love there.  The power of love, which is its meaning, lies in the strength of the One that hovers over it and blesses it silently by enveloping it in healing wings.  Let this be, and do not try to substitute your egoic “miracle” for this.   T-16.I.6:1-3

Strength and true helpfulness always comes from love as guided by Spirit which is always within us.  No exceptions.  We tap into this strength as we are willing to allow our minds to be guided by Spirit.  How do we begin practicing this?  Focus your mind only on this:

• I am not alone, and I would not intrude the past upon my Guest.
• I have invited My Guest, and My Guest is here.
• I need do nothing except not to interfere.

 True empathy is of the One Who knows what it is.  You will learn Spirit’s interpretation of it if you let Spirit use your capacity for strength, and not for weakness.  Spirit will not desert you, but be sure that you desert not Spirit.  Humility is strength in this sense only; that to recognize and accept the fact that you do not know is to recognize and accept the fact that Spirit does know.  You are not sure that Spirit will do Its part, because you have never yet done yours completely.  You cannot know how to respond to what you do not understand.  Be tempted not in this, and yield not to the ego’s triumphant use of empathy for its glory.   T-16.I.4:1-7

Place your trust in the Higher Holy Spirit Self within you who will guide you in everything as you allow.  No real harm can come to you or anyone else when we rely on the strength of the love within us that rises from the awareness of Spirit within us and the remembrance of who and what we really are.  Step into that awareness and be truly helpful through the practice of true empathy.