November 12, 2013

The Holy Spirit is within us.  No matter what we think or how we feel at any given moment, Spirit is with us, within us, and inseparable from us.  Sprit is our connection to the Mind of God, even when we have lost sight of it.  Spirit is our higher Holy Spirit Self.  When we have lost our awareness of who we really are, Spirit holds that knowledge for us.  Spirit carries our wholeness with us when we have chosen to perceive ourselves and each other incorrectly.  We may perceive that we have left the Mind of God, Oneness, but Spirit holds reality for us.  As Spirit holds that reality of Oneness for us, It quietly calls us back to the awareness of who we really are.  It systematically uses all we encounter and experience to teach us correct perception and return us to the Oneness, the Mind of God, we never left.

We have a choice.  We can make it easy or difficult to return to the awareness of who we really are.  We may, in wrong-mindedness, realize we are separated from the Mind of God.  The split mind can accept that idea.  But, the split mind finds it very difficult to accept the idea that returning to the awareness of our One-mindedness is simple.  It prefers to believe it is very difficult if not impossible.  Spirit walks with us continually reminding us of the truth about ourselves, and calling us to simply shift our perception to that which Spirit holds for us in our minds.  We simply shift our focus from our lower mind to Spirit who will guide us to the awareness of the Mind of God within us.  This is who we really are, One with God, each other, and all creation.  We see ourselves and each other through the eyes of Spirit causing us to see and perceive correctly.  Our perception of the world will shift.  Rather than seeing a world of division and separation, we see the Realm of Heaven.  We have a new understanding and a new way of thinking.  We will find peace, love and joy at the center of our being and see all through that lens.

We are the light of the world.  And where light abides, no darkness can enter.  It is impossible for darkness to exist wherever light is present.  We are whole, no matter what miss-thought we have believed.  Once we let go of our attachment to the ideas that block our light from shining outward, we extend that light to all so that they may also see there is no darkness.  Our awareness of our light within shines away another’s blocks to the light we all share.  As light shines forth from us, it also shines forth from another.  We share that light with all of creation.  Only what is real can be shared.  As we share the light and love of God with each other, we extend it to all of creation.  As this light and love extends, it expands.  There is no lack of light and love, for it is real and therefore limitless.  We have and are all we need.  Allow Spirit to show us that.  We are already where we are seeking to go.  We simply need to realize we are already in the Realm of God, Heaven on Earth.  Spirit is the gift given us to guide us to the awareness that the separation never occurred.  Let that awareness be so.

November 5, 2013

Our natural state of mind is whole-mindedness.  This is the One Mind, the Mind of God.  Our attempt to see ourselves as separate is split-mindedness.  Our belief in our idea of separation causes us to reject at least a part of our whole mind.  What we really do is shut out our true mind and the awareness of our wholeness for we cannot split that which is whole.  We turn our back on the wholeness we really are and place our trust in an illusory mind that is not real at all.  Wholeness cannot be divided or parceled out piece by piece.  Wholeness remains whole, so our attempt to be separate blocks our awareness of our wholeness.  Wholeness can be shared and extended, but it cannot be split up.  When we separate ourselves from the awareness of who we really are, we dissociate ourselves from ourselves.  We’ve made up a false identity to take the place of our true identity.

Projection is our way of rationalizing and maintaining our separation.  We don’t really like the state of mind separation we have made up, so we project our dissatisfaction and on others.  It can’t be our fault we are miserable, so we project the blame on others.  And so we heap more and more obscuring thoughts and ideas on each other.  Is it any wonder we are dissatisfied?  The pattern of blame and guilt just keeps building up within us.  And we have no idea how to fix the problem.  By fixating on our perceived differences we obscure the fullness of our equality with each other.  We obscure the awareness of the abundant love and power within us that was placed there by the Creator.

The answer to our separation problem is extension.  To extend is to share wholly.    We are all created with all the love, peace, and joy of God within us and all of it is shared by all of us.  Unless we have all of it, we have none of it.  If we reject part of it we reject all of it.  It is time for us to recognize the light within us.  It’s time to recognize the light that never goes out, the light that shines in the darkness showing us the way to our true reality.  Spirit is placed within each of us to guide us.  Spirit is the plan within us that leads us back to the awareness of who we really are and always have been.  We are all the light of the world.  We all have a choice no matter where we are at or what thought system we are attached to at the moment.

The shift is as simple as making a different choice.  It’s as simple as making a choice to follow Spirit’s guidance.  Rather than projecting attack or blame on another, we have the opportunity to see peace in any situation.  We have the choice to go to Spirit and ask for guidance in any situation.  No situation is too large or too small for Spirit to give guidance.  Spirit is patiently waiting for us to wake up.  It’s waiting for us to choose to see peace instead of whatever we are seeing at the moment.  The Realm of Heaven is waiting for us in that choice.  No matter what road we have travelled down, we still have the simple choice to choose the path of Spirit as we are guided.  Take a step back for a moment.  Take a deep breath and look at what is going on in your mind.  Is this where you really want to be?  Again, ease up on yourself.  Don’t take yourself so seriously and make a choice to see with the eyes of Spirit, think with the Mind of Spirit, and listen to the Voice of Spirit.  The Realm of Heaven is right here within each and every one of us waiting to be recognized.  Let the awareness of who you really are rise in your mind as it extends to you and then from you.  The Realm of Heaven is here now within you.  Say yes to it now and find the ‘you’ you’ve been looking for all along right there within you.  Let it be so.

October 29, 2013

The experiences we encounter in this world have only one purpose.  Their one and only purpose is that we learn from those experiences.  We each have the experiences that will teach us exactly what we need to learn.  Our correct perception of these lessons is the key to our learning the correct lesson.  Perception guided by the separated or split mind, the lower mind, will teach us the incorrect lesson and reinforce the blocks to the awareness of who we really are and our Divinity.  Perception guided by Spirit, our higher Spirit Self, removes the blocks to our own awareness of our true Divine Self, One with all Creation.  Whether we believe our experiences are placed in our lives by Spirit or that we encounter them by chance, each experience has a lesson to teach us as we allow our perception to be guided by Spirit.  All experience is neutral, neither good nor bad.  All experience has a lesson for us to learn.  It is our choice where we look for guidance in learning from our experience; lower mind or higher mind.

Spirit also teachers us through the experiences and lessons or others.  Jesus experienced the crucifixion to teach us we need not suffer, attack, or be attacked.  The crucifixion teaches us we cannot be attacked because we are an extension of and One with our Source.  When we believe we are a body, we believe we can be hurt because the body can be hurt.  But reawakening to the reality of who we really are reconnects us to the knowledge that we are not this imperfect body, but holy and complete, just as we were created.  The ones we encounter in our life journey all have lessons to teach us as we have lessons to teach them.  As we see another as whole and complete, we also see ourselves as whole and complete.  As we encounter another, Spirit interprets their experiences for us so we can also learn from them.  There is always a holy lesson to be learned as we allow Spirit to reinterpret our perceptions for us.

Approach each experience from a place of gratitude.  Allow spirit to guide our perception and understanding of any situation or experience.  We may not know why we should be grateful for an encounter or experience at the moment, but if we allow Spirit to guide our thinking we will receive a new understanding and healed perception.  Spirit will lead us in the healing of our mind; the miracle we are really seeking.  Our mind is already whole.  We were created whole and Source placed the Mind of God within us.  This right and holy thought system is already ours and has always been ours.  We simply looked somewhere else for guidance and made up our own little thought system.  It is time to unlearn that little thought system and reawaken to all that is truly ours.  There is no need for us to crucify ourselves in the name of learning something incorrect.  Learn as Spirit guides us through our experiences and the experiences of each other.  Spirit will teach us the perfect lesson form our experiences.  Let us all be guided in our learning experiences and return to the joy of our awareness of who we really are.  And so it is.

October 22, 2013

What Source creates is indestructible because what is real cannot be threatened or destroyed.  Since the body is destructible it cannot be real.  Therefore we are not a body because we are a creation of the Creator and indestructible.  Remember the lessons that centered around the statement “I am not a body, I am free, for I am as God created me?”  For us to understand the message of the crucifixion we must understand that we are real and that we cannot be threatened or destroyed.  We may still believe we are vulnerable, but the Course is asking us to be open to the idea that we are not our body.  We are really an extension of the Creator.  And, what we believe about ourselves we also teach each other.

The message the crucifixion was intended to teach was that it is not necessary to perceive any form of assault in persecution because we cannot be persecuted.  If we react to anything with anger, we have chosen to see ourselves as destructible and therefor regard ourselves insanely.  We have believed we are something we are not and have opened our mind to the idea that we are separate rather than One.  The crucifixion is an extreme example of the body’s vulnerability to destruction.  But it results in the resurrection, which demonstrates that even though the body may be destructible, we are not.  The belief we are our body and thus fragile or destructible, is a mistaken belief, a belief of the lower thought system or split mind.  Allowing our thought system to shift to the belief that we are whole, unchangeable, and indestructible, is the miracle of healing of the mind that we really seek.  It is not a new thought system.  It’s the thought system the Creator placed within us at our creation.  We have simply forgotten who we really are.  We have simply blocked our awareness of who we really are.

We are free to choose the thought system with which we perceive ourselves.  Once we make that choice we believe it.  We are invested in it.  We continually reinforce that belief and strengthen our resolve to maintain that belief in that thought system.  Sprit has patiently held our True thought system within us, waiting for us to be ready to allow a corrective shift in our thought system.  Whatever we believe, we teach.  And we teach by example.  If we believe we are our body we teach others that they are their bodies.  If we believe we are the One Child of God, we teach others we are the One Child of God.  No matter what the world throws our way, the lesson we are to learn is to return to the awareness of who we really are.  Once we reawaken to that Truth, we know who our brothers and sisters really are and we reawaken to the knowledge that we are all One.  We begin to see the world with corrected perception.  And we find ourselves in the awareness of the Heaven around us.  What more could we possibly want?  We are the Divine presence of Divinity itself.  Love, Peace, and Joy are ours for the awakening.  Let it be so.

October 15, 2013

This chapter begins by teaching us about attack, anger, and insanity.  Anger cannot occur unless we believe we have been attacked, that our retaliatory attack is justified, and that we are in no way responsible for any part of it.  Given that we believe these three wholly irrational premises, the equally irrational conclusion that another is deserving of our attack rather than love must follow.  When the thought system we believe is based on insane ideas, the conclusions are inevitably insane.  None of this is based in reality.  Nothing real can be threatened.  Nothing unreal exists.  The only way to change insane conclusions is to change the insane premises.  And, the only way to change the insane premises is to change the insane thought system to a sane thought system. Sound reasonable?  We cannot be attacked, so we have no justification for attack, and we are responsible for the thought system we believe.  Life presents us with all the situations, encounters and experiences we require to make this shift in our thought systems.  Spirit, if we will allow, guides us through all these lessons correctly.  The result is the miracle of the healing of the mind.  We return to our natural state of being and the awareness of who we really are.

We are free to choose the thought system we hold allegiance to.  Because we have that choice we always have the freedom to choose another thought system.  The crucifixion is nothing more than an extreme example for us to learn from.  It is a learning device.  We may have many fearful thoughts about the crucifixion, but it is not a fearful idea if we allow Spirit to reinterpret it for us.  The value of the crucifixion is solely in its use as a learning device, as is any other situation or experience.  If we allow Spirit to interpret for us we gain the benefit of the lesson and the change in our thought system it produces as a result.  Of course if we misinterpret the lesson from a separated thought system, we learn a mistaken lesson based on the thought system we believe and have faith in.  The message of the crucifixion must be approached without fear, for there is nothing to be afraid of.  Nothing real can be threatened.  Nothing unreal exists.  If destruction itself is impossible, anything that is destructible cannot be real.  Since attack can only be made on the body, the body must not be real.  In other words we are not our body, for we are real.  Source created us, so we must be real.  It is insanity to see ourselves as destructible, but it is sanity to know we are indestructible.  We must understand this premise so we can understand the meaning of the crucifixion.

At the core of our true real thought system is the knowing of who we really are.  We are of God, of our Source, and not the body we have made.  It is also important to remember that the body is neither right nor wrong, good or bad, even though it is not who and what we are.  The body is a learning device.  It is useful to us for that purpose and that purpose only.  We choose what we learn through the use of the body, right or mistaken.  It may get battered and fixed along the way, but its use is to learn the lessons we need to learn through the use of it.  If the body is destructible it is not real and we cannot be our body.  We are so accustomed to identifying who we are by our body we may find this a difficult idea to accept.  Ask Spirit for guidance.  As we accept the idea we are not a body, if follows that another is not a body and none of our sisters and brothers are bodies either.  Knowing this frees us from the fear of attack and being hurt.  The thought system raises a level or two and becomes joined with the Mind and thought system of God, our Source.  Allow this shift to occur and let it be so.