Quote of the Week: March 3rd, 2013
I Feel The Love Of God Within Me Now: Simply do this: Be still, and lay aside all thoughts of what you are and what God is; all concepts you have learned about the world; all images you hold about yourself. Empty your mind of everything it thinks is either true or false, or good or bad, of every thought it judges worthy, and all the ideas of which it is ashamed. Hold onto nothing. Do not bring with you one thought the past has thought, nor one belief you ever learned before from anything. Forget this world, forget this course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God.
ACIM Lesson 189,7
Let us examine this instruction in detail: The first word expresses the full teaching in seed form, simply: “Be”! This is all that is needed to become aware of God, just be. Nothing more, nothing less or other than this, just be. This is all the instruction asks that we ‘do’, just be.
But how can one ‘do’ being? To be is not something one can do, it can only be something that one is; we either are or we are not. Being or existing is primordial it is the basis for all our doing, because we must first exist before we can do anything. The instruction therefore hints that doing is unnecessary; there is nothing we need do to accomplish our goal, because our being-ness is first cause, and we already are. The goal of the instruction is therefore automatically accomplished in the first word. To become aware of God, just be, and in order to be, no doing is necessary because we already exist. The goal is found at the point where we begin, indicating that the path to God does not require any action or movement on our part, for wherever we are it is found to be there already, which furthermore indicates God’s omnipresence. What we seek is right here wherever we are right now; we are not separate from the goal, which would require action and movement, but instead, we find that no doing is necessary to accomplish our goal because we are not separate from it, we are already one with our goal. But the instructions explicitly says “Simply do this:” which implies that some doing is necessary to accomplish the goal. So what is this ‘doing’ that instruction refers to?!
The goal is just to “be” and we realize that the state of being and the path to it requires no doing, but our instruction is telling us to “do this” in order to accomplish the goal, so it must mean that we are not currently experiencing that state of being, and what we are asked to do must be something that would allow us to experience that state. The only action that can possibly accomplish this requirement to "do", is an action to reduce, to lessen, to subtract, and finally to stop all doing, i.e. do less and less until we end all doing. The less we do, the more aware we become of our being-ness. So implicit in the first word of the instruction: “be,” we find both the goal and the means to accomplish it, which is simply to reduce our doing; do less as opposed to more or other, and the awareness of our being-ness grows automatically. The first two words of the instruction state this simply and clearly: “Be still*” These two words, like the first word of the instruction, express the full teaching but with greater detail, simply: “Be still” for the state of stillness is the state of your being-ness, and to experience your being-ness, bring your awareness to stillness! The remaining words of the instruction similarly provide still further details on how to accomplish our goal:
“Be still, and lay aside all thoughts...all concepts...all images... .
Empty your mind of everything... .
Hold on to nothing... Forget this world, forget this course,
and come with wholly empty hands unto your God.”
OK, but does this then mean that we should become like statues, completely without any activity whenever we want to experience God and our essential nature? Certainly not! But just as one wishing to see his reflection clearly in a pool of water would first allow the surface of the water to be still, without ripples. Once one’s image is clearly seen, one can continue with normal activity or with whatever activity is appropriate, depending on the knowledge one gained from a clear reflection of one’s self. Similarly, after having clearly experienced our essential nature or beingness through the process of increasing stillness, we return to activity, but now all our actions are influenced by the knowledge we gained through the experience of our Higher Self. No longer will we be acting from a false sense of self, but from a deeper knowledge and understanding about who we really are.
Now this experience needs to be repeated as often as needed until, in time, it becomes so grounded in our awareness that it is permanently superimposed on all our perceptions, allowing us to be aware of God and our essential beingness in everything we perceive. Just as all the perceptions of someone wearing rose-colored glasses are colored by roses; they see everything, but everything is tinted with the superimposed color of roses. Only when this perception becomes permanent can we truly say that we are Self-aware. God consciousness is the permanent conscious awareness of God in everything we think, and feel, and say, and do. It is the persistent present moment awareness of the light of divinity in every breath we take, and in every move we make. It is the constant reminder of the reality of God in our awareness, and so we need not practice stillness to be reminded of who we are and who God is, for this awareness is now permanent and never leaves our awareness.
* This instruction is also given in the Bible as: “Be still and know that I am God” -- Psalm 46:10
**The Limbs of Yoga listed in their classical sequence: Yama, Nyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi, indicate the progressive reduction of activity, and the increase of stillness and harmony. Yamas are the five rules for harmonizing our external relationships and environment. Nyamas are the five rules for harmonizing our physiology and psychology. Asanas are techniques for harmonizing our limbs. Pranayamas are techniques for harmonizing our breathing. Pratyaharas are techniques for harmonizing and directing our senses inward. Dharanas are techniques for harmonizing or focusing the mind. Dhyana is the art of transcending the mind, and Samadhi is the experience of our divinity.
