May 28, 2013

We are created in the Creator’s image.  We are created as extensions of the Creator.  We are created One with the Creator and nothing can change or take away any of this.  When the Course tells us that the Realm of Heaven is within us, it means we are inseparable from the Realm of Heaven.  The Realm of Heaven is an essential part of us.  It’s within, around, under, above, and throughout our being.  The Realm of Heaven just is!  And we are there, always.  But we can block ourselves from the awareness of that reality.  One might ask why anyone would do that or even want to do that, but we do it anyway.  In our effort to make a separate “identity” for ourselves we have made up ideas and beliefs that form these blocks to the awareness of who we really are.

Rather than uniting with the whole of Creation, we have misperceived ourselves as independent and separate from the Whole, the One.  We have convinced ourselves that we are each independent beings defined by and identified with a physical body.  We think our thoughts are unique and independent and that they do not necessarily have any impact on others.  The belief in this separate identity has made a split mind that we think is us.  Thus the thoughts we think and believe about ourselves have perceived a “reality” that is anything but real even though it seems and feels very real.  This split mind, this collection of misperceived ideas and thoughts makes up our ego.  Our ego is a self-centered illusion about who we think we really are.

This thought system – which is properly identified as “wrong-mindedness” – is all about preserving its perceived existence.  It uses whatever it can to perpetuate this illusion of separation from the awareness of who we really are.  It uses fear, judgment, conflict, guilt, and many other feelings to reinforce the idea of how alone and separate we appear to be.  If we become aware of our true created nature, there is nothing to fear, attack, defend, or feel guilty about.  The awareness of our wholeness, our Oneness with Source and all Creation, and our Divinity exposes the illusion of the split mind and wrong-mindedness.  We have also blocked the awareness of our Guidance from our mind.

Our true state of being is One-mindedness.  But since we are so attached to our separateness and our split-mindedness, Spirit is given us to guide us in shifting our thought system from wrong-mindedness to right-mindedness.  This places our state of mind in correct perception where we can see the world we live in with new eyes and new understanding.  We see each other as the Holy Child of God we really are.  We find peace, love, and joy within and around us.  Light and love radiate from within us and to each and every one we encounter.  The Bliss of Holiness and the Divine essence of who we really are wells up and directs us in our lives.  Let go of all the thoughts that limit and be who you really are.

May 21, 2013

The world we seem to see around us and that we seem to live in is a world of perception.  As we see it there is nothing neutral about it.  It is full of judgments; good, bad, evil, pleasure, pain, blame, guilt, attack, defense, right and wrong. The world we perceive is seen through the lens of our perception or our mind.  How we see and perceive the world is determined by our thought system or our state of mind.  The world itself is neutral.  There is nothing good or bad about the world – it just is.  Our thought system brings about all the thoughts we have about the world.  Is it any wonder that no two people see any event exactly the same?

As long as we aspire to identify as the body we live in and believe that some part of that body identifies who we are, we are perceiving the world in whatever way we are perceiving it.  When we begin our journey by beginning to remove the blocks to our awareness of who we really are, we must first accept the idea that we are using a thought system that is “wrong-minded.”  It is based on perception that reinforces the idea that we are separate from God and are independent from the rest of the world.  Once we begin to allow Spirit to guide our perception we move toward right-mindedness.  It a state of “right-mindedness” we perceive more uniformly and correctly.  We begin to perceive the Divine order of the world and the Divine order of our being.  From a state of “right-mindedness”, it is a simple step to One-mindedness, our true state of being.  From here we begin to see and understand that all is as it should be and that all we see, experience, and encounter is useful in right perceiving the world.  We begin to see our wholeness.  We begin to see our Divinity and our Oneness with God and Creation.  We begin to understand the natural order of our Spirit and realize that we are not the separate body we appear to inhabit that seems to limit us, but that we are limitless, holy, and perfect just as we are; as God created us.

The Course suggests that we let go of our attachment to our “wrong-mindedness” or misperception and allow Spirit to guide our mind into “right-mindedness.”  Our whole experience will shift.  Our thinking will shift.  The world will shift.  As all this shifts, we become aware that the world we think we see is more about our thoughts about it than the world itself.  As we allow our mind to shift into “right-mindedness” we reawaken to the awareness of our true Self.  We return to the awareness of our Oneness with God and all Creation.  We again are aware of God’s peace, love, and joy that well up within us and radiate to all those around us and beyond.  All the ideas of separation or “wrong-mindedness”; conflict, blame, fear, and lack fade away and we rest in the reality of our Divine nature.  Love without conflict wells up within us and extends from us, connecting with the abundant Love that flows from every One in this world.  Let your mind shift to its natural state and be the One you really are.

May 14, 2013

We are spiritual beings having a human experience, not human beings having a spiritual experience.  This is a clear statement with which to evaluate the condition of our thinking.  The first is right side up thinking and the second is upside down thinking according to the Course.  The belief that we are a human being is the belief that separates us from the awareness of our true nature.  The Course explains that our belief that we are human, that we are separate beings in a physical body, blocks our awareness of who we really are.  How could we possibly believe we are limitless, abundant, and powerful when we believe we are limited by our bodies, by being human, and therefore separate?    As long as we believe we are a body, that we are separate from God and all Creation, we will continue to perceive ourselves and the world we see as limited, lacking, unfair, cruel, and hateful.  We will see a world divided and in conflict.  This is not a real world we are seeing.

The real world is a world of peace, joy, love, harmony, and understanding.  It is a world where we find we are happy ad experience the love and light of God in everything on which we rest our eyes.  This change is not a change wrought by amazing works, perseverance, or continuous sacrifice.  This change is brought about by a simple change in our belief of who we are and a resulting change in our thought system.  By beginning to believe we are as God created us – One with God, each other, and all Creation – our thinking begins to be guided by Spirit who understands our separated thinking, but will guide that thinking to a more correct way of thinking.  We see ourselves and the world through a system of perception made up by our separated or split mind called the ego.  Since there is no such reality as separation, the perceptions we see are really misperceptions or wrong-mindedness.  This is not our natural thought system.  This is not who we really are.  This is not the reality God sees.

We have another choice.  Though we are free to choose to experience and pursue separation and block our minds from the awareness of our Divinity and our Holiness, we are also free to choose to be who we really are.  From a separation perception this nay appear daunting, if not impossible, but the Holy Spirit is already with us waiting for our willingness to be guided into correct perception.  Spirit guides us in shifting our perception, shifting our thought system to one grounded in the awareness that we are as God created us – that we are the divine, holy, and pure creations we always have been. It is based in the realization that we simply thought wrongly because we had blocked our awareness of who we really are.  Spirit guides us to correct perception and right-mindedness.  This is still perception, but it is the perception that places us in a state of being where we are in communication with God and see the love of God extending from God to us and all we see.  We see and understand ourselves, each other, and the world differently.  From this awareness all we encounter and experience are opportunities to extend and receive love.  Each is a perfect lesson for us to learn to extend and receive love and light.  Let it be so.

May 7, 2013

We use our God given creative power to make up – miscreate – our separate identity using the split mind we made up.  This idea is our ego.  It is not real, because it is separate from and not created by God.  But because we believe it is real it blocks us from the awareness of who we really are, One with and an inseparable part of God – Spirit.  Because we are One with God and created in God’s image – an extension of God – we have all God is, yet we have blocked our awareness of who we really are and all we have by believing in this ego or separate identity we have miscreated.  This identity we have made up sometimes seems askew, or inadequate, lacking in many ways, but we have given it – a mistaken idea – autonomy to guide us.  And so it tries to explain any situation or experience it doesn’t know what to do with.  It looks at past experiences and tries to apply them to the situation, and tries to make decisions without the full benefit of the whole picture.  Is it any wonder we struggle with all this confusion?

We also make up egos for all those we encounter in this would.  Yes, we each make up our own identity and ego, but we also make up identities and egos for each of our friends, family members, teachers, students, coworkers, and eve the person we see walking down the other side of the street.  Guess what?!  The identities we make up of others doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the identities those others have made up for themselves.  Nor does the identity they made up for us resemble the one we made up for ourselves.  Sound confusing?  Confusing barely touches the surface of the thought chaos all this separated thinking makes.  It’s probably a blessing none of it is really real.  It’s all in our thoughts.  It all stems from a world of illusion we have made up in our individually separate minds.  My perception of who you are is very different from your perception of who you are, and yours of mine.  And each of our perceptions of another are very different even when we seem to agree.

How do we resolve all this differing perception?  It comes down to our willingness to allow Spirit to show us a “new” thought system, a different way to see everything, one perception at a time.  We have never left the Mind of God and have never actually separated from God.  We have just built up barriers to our awareness of our Unity and Oneness with God, each other, and all of Creation.  We lost the awareness of our completeness, peacefulness, abundance, and power that are within us at all times and places waiting for us to realize they are there.  Spirit will guide us in the proper use of all of this.  Spirit will guide us in each and every one of our relationships and teach us through them if we will simply allow Sprit to do so.  Each encounter is a relationship to be learned from.  Each encounter is an opportunity to allow ourselves to see each other and ourselves differently and return to the awareness of who we really are.  We can begin right now, this very moment by thinking “I can see this differently.”  It is never too late or too soon.  Right now is the perfect time to decide to decide with Spirit’s guidance.  Take a moment to take that small step of willingness to change your thinking and let it be guided by Source.  What a difference it will make.