June 19th 2014 Lesson 44
God is the light in which I see.
Today we are continuing the idea for yesterday, adding another dimension to it. You cannot see in darkness, and you cannot make light. You can make darkness and then think you see in it, but light reflects life, and is therefore an aspect of creation. Creation and darkness cannot coexist, but light and life must go together, being but different aspects of creation.In order to see, you must recognize that light is within, not without. You do not see outside yourself, nor is the equipment for seeing outside you. An essential part of this equipment is the light that makes seeing possible. It is with you always, making vision possible in every circumstance.
Today we are going to attempt to reach that light. For this purpose, we will use a form of exercise which has been suggested before, and which we will utilize increasingly. It is a particularly difficult form for the undisciplined mind, and represents a major goal of mind training. It requires precisely what the untrained mind lacks. Yet this training must be accomplished if you are to see. The form of practice we will use today is the most natural and easy one in the world for the trained mind, just as it seems to be the most unnatural and difficult for the untrained mind.
Your mind is no longer wholly untrained. You are quite ready to learn the form of exercise we will use today, but you may find that you will encounter strong resistance. The reason is very simple. While you practice in this way, you leave behind everything that you now believe, and all the thoughts that you have made up. Properly speaking, this is the release from hell. Yet perceived through the ego's eyes, it is loss of identity and a descent into hell.
If you can stand aside from the ego by ever so little, you will have no difficulty in recognizing that its opposition and its fears are meaningless. You might find it helpful to remind yourself, from time to time, that to reach light is to escape from darkness, whatever you may believe to the contrary. God is the light in which you see. You are attempting to reach Him.
- Intention: Have at least three practice
periods today, each lasting three to five minutes. A longer time is
highly recommended, but only if you find the time slipping by with
little or no sense of strain.
- Practice: Begin the practice period by
repeating today's idea with your eyes open, and close them slowly,
repeating the idea several times more. Then try to sink into your mind,
letting go every kind of interference and intrusion by quietly sinking
past them. Your mind cannot be stopped in this unless you choose to
stop it. It is merely taking its natural course. Try to observe your
passing thoughts without involvement, and slip quietly by them.
While no particular approach is advocated for this form of exercise, what is needful is a sense of the importance of what you are doing; its inestimable value to you, and an awareness that you are attempting something very holy. Salvation is your happiest accomplishment. It is also the only one that has any meaning, because it is the only one that has any real use to you at all.
If resistance rises in any form, pause long enough to repeat today's idea, keeping your eyes closed unless you are aware of fear. In that case, you will probably find it more reassuring to open your eyes briefly. Try, however, to return to the exercises with eyes closed as soon as possible. - Application: If you are doing the exercises correctly, you should
experience some sense of relaxation, and even a feeling that you are
approaching, if not actually entering into light. Try to think of light,
formless and without limit, as you pass by the thoughts of this world.
And do not forget that they cannot hold you to the world unless you give
them the power to do so.
Throughout the day repeat the idea often, with eyes open or closed as seems better to you at the time. But do not forget. Above all, be determined not to forget today....
Insights/comments:
- The light that we need to see is within us, as opposed to outside us. God is within us and God is that Light! All that we need to see is within rather than without. This is a startling revelation, for we were all thought that the opposite is true, that some outer source of light, the Sun, a lamp, a candle, etc., is necessary for sight. But now we learn that we are self-effulgent; that the Source of Light (God) is within us. We can easily extrapolate this revelation to include any and all characteristics of God, viz: The Source of strength is within us; the Source of Love is within us; the Source of Joy is within us; the source of Peace is within us; etc. Furthermore, we can verify the truth of this revelation whenever we dream, for there we “see” and “experience” just as fully, all that we experience “outside” of ourselves when we are “awake”.
- It is becoming more and more clear that God is everything and that we cannot exist apart from Him, regardless of what we believe about it. Only two conclusions are possible from this premise: one, that we and everything we perceive, being a part of God, is real and sinless. The other conclusion is that we are real, but our experience of the world is but a dream; a perception rather than a reality. If our perceptions are real, then, in the immortal words of Desi Arnaz*, God's “got some splainin to do,” because this would be a sad world indeed, if it were real. But consider the other conclusion. Is it not more plausible and believable, that the world we see is only a dream, a fantasy, an illusion, a matrix (simulated reality) environment in which we get to live out all possible scenarios? Specific scenarios for instance that allow us to experience being either: human, animal or plant, and for each of these male or female, and more specifically, which race, which time and place and circumstance, etc., on and on and on! And when such a dream ends, as all dreams do, we awake to the remembrance that all is well, that we are and always were in the loving arms of God, in Heaven, without sin, judgment, condemnation, or punishment of any kind. We awake to the realization that our dream world was a well orchestrated drama, that offers a particular experience, a sliver of our true infinite nature. How else can we know and remember that we are everything, except in an environment that allows us the choice of experiencing ourselves not as everything, but as something in particular.
- Every experience we have, without exception, teaches us something about ourselves, our beliefs and understanding about Life. We tend to judge experiences as good or bad, but every single one offers something for our own edification. Some experiences we may appreciate immediately, while others we can only appreciate in hindsight. This is by Divine design. God is our only Source and the Light in which we see. Our worldly experiences are similar to the old TV series called Fantasy Island, starring Ricardo Montalban (Mr. Roarke) and Hervé Villechaize (Tattoo), which ran from 1977-1984. In this series, visitors come to Fantasy Island to experience a particular fantasy. Each visitor comes with a certain understanding about life, and through their experience leave with a much larger, deeper, more comprehensive understanding. Each visitor along with a standard cast of characters usually plays some supporting role in the fantasy of other visitors, with all of it seamlessly orchestrated by Mr. Roarke to the complete fulfillment of each visitor. This is all Life is offering to us, the opportunity through specific experiences, to better understand who we truly are as children of God, all in an environment where:
Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.
* "Lucy, you got a lot of splainin to do!" A popular cat-phrase from the I Love Lucy TV show, 1951 - 1957.
I and my Creator are One. 
No comments:
Post a Comment