June 2nd, 2014  Lesson 77  

I am entitled to miracles.

• Intention:  To remember my identity as a Child of God, and the happy implications that follow this fact.
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• Practice: Two 15-minute sessions with eyes closed.  In addition, frequent shorter (2-minute) applications of today's idea.
• Application: Long sessions -- With eyes closed, begin each session by telling yourself quite confidently:
  
  I am entitled to miracles.
  
  I am asking only for what is rightfully mine.
  
  Miracles are never taken from one and given to another.
  
  Asking for my rights, upholds the rights of everyone.
  
  Miracles do not obey the laws of this world.
  
  Miracles merely follow from the laws of God.
  
  After this brief introductory phase, wait quietly for the assurance that your request is granted.  You have asked for the salvation of the world, and for your own.  You have request that you be given the means by which this is accomplished.  You cannot fail to be assured in this.  You are but asking that the Will of God be done.
  
   
  
• Application: Short session -- Repeat today's idea with confidence and assurance.  Reminding yourself frequently:
  
  I am entitled to miracles.
  
  Ask for them whenever a situation arises in which they are called for.  You will recognize these situations.  And since you are the holy Child of God, to whom He grants the right of miracles, you are entitled to receive them whenever you ask.
  
  

• Application:  If tempted -- Remember to be satisfied only with the perfect answer.  Tell yourself
  
  I will not trade miracles for grievances.
  I want only what belongs to me.
  God has established miracles as my right.
  
  

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Insights/comments:

• God, Who is perfect created me as Himself--what else could perfection create but perfection; and created me one with Himself, for there cannot be multiple separate perfections; if "A" is perfect and "B" is perfect, then "A" and "B" must be one and the same thing.  What this means simply is that we are gods.   Think about it a bit.
  
  

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Love created us.  Be love and save the world.  

June 1st, 2014  Lesson 76  

I am under no laws but God's.

• Intention:  To remember the truth about who we really are, and about who God really is.
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• Practice: Two 15-minute sessions with eyes closed.  In addition, shorter (2-minute) applications of today's idea four or five times every hour, and in response to any temptation to experience ourselves as subject to other laws throughout the day.
  
• Application: Long sessions -- Begin each session by reviewing the different kinds of "laws" we have believed we must obey.  These would include, for example, the "laws" of nutrition, of immunization, of medication, and of the body's protection in innumerable ways.  Think further; you believe in the "laws" of friendship, of "good" relationships and reciprocity.  Perhaps you even think that there are laws which set forth what is "God's and what is yours.  Many "religions" have bee based on this.  They would not save but damn in Heaven's name.  Yet they are no more strange than other "laws" you hold must be obeyed to make you safe.
  
  Today's idea dismisses all foolish magical beliefs and hold your mind in silent readiness to hear the Voice that speaks the truth to you.  You will be listening to One Who says there is no loss under the laws of God. ... God's laws forever give and never take.  Here Him Who tells you this and realize how foolish are the "laws" you thought upheld the world you thought you saw.  Then listen further.  He will tell you more.  About the Love your Father has for you.  About the endless joy He offers you.  ... .
  
  Let us today open ourselves to God's Voice and let His will extend through us, thus increasing creation. His Voice will speak of this to us , as well as of the joys of Heaven which His laws keep limitless forever.  We will repeat today's idea until we have listened and understood there are no laws but God's.  Then we will tell ourselves, as a dedication with which the practice period concludes:
  
  
  I am under no laws but God's.
  

  
  
• Application: Short session -- Repeat today's idea with dedication, for the duration of the short practice session.  

• Application:  If tempted to believe laws other than God's -- silently repeat today's idea in response to such temptation. It is our statement of freedom from all danger and all tyranny.  It is our acknowledgment that God is our Father and that His Son is saved.
   

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Insights/comments:

• Today's lesson strikes directly at the heart of what keeps us bound to this world--our belief that it is real, and that we must obey its laws or we will be damned, either here or in the hereafter.  Even though we realize that these made-up laws change, are biased, blind and in many instances unjust, we still believe in them, because this is what we were taught, and because this is what we see others among us, to a large extent, believing in, and because we do not know, or more correctly, remember anything better.  How can these laws be God's laws if they are susceptible to time and space, to change and favoritism, to preferences and errors on the part of those who create, uphold and administer these "laws."  For these reasons alone, we should be willing to question the validity of our entire system of "laws."
  
  
• On the other side of the equation, we have God's infallible laws:  All is one.  Love is all there is.  God created us perfect, Spirit, and free.  We are the light of the world and it is only when we challenge the validity of the laws we currently believe in that we can finally move in the direction of the love and happiness that God's laws affords us. 

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Love created us.  Be the light of love and save the world.  

May 31th, 2014  Lesson 75  

The light has come.

• Intention:  To celebrate the coming of the light into our awareness.
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• Practice: Two 15-minute sessions with eyes closed.  In addition, shorter (2-minute) applications of today's idea every fifteen minutes with eyes closed if possible.
    
• Application: Long sessions -- Begin each session by repeating today's idea in the following form several times, slowly and with complete patience:
    
  
  The light has come.  I have forgiven the world.
   
  

  Then wait and watch for a new world with a completely open mind, washed of all past ideas and clean of every concept you have made.  And while you wait, repeat today's idea several times slowly.  Wait to see the world your forgiveness created.  Realize that your forgiveness entitles you to vision.  You have forgiven the world and the Holy Spirit will be with you and will show you what true vision sees.  You will see differently from this time forth.  You will see the world that has been promised you since time began, and in which the end of time ensured.  Wait for it with patience and complete confidence in Him.

  
  

  
  
• Application: Short session -- Begin each session by repeating today's idea in the following form, then spend a minute or two every fifteen minutes, with eyes closed if possible, rejoicing in the power of forgiveness, and giving thanks for mercy and the Love of God:
  
  
  The light has come.  I have forgiven the world.

• Application:  If temptation arises -- say (silently) to anyone who seems to pull you back into darkness:

 The light has come.  I have forgiven you.

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Insights/comments:

• Forgiveness offers everything I want, and I want to see a happy world, a world full of peace, and joy, and beauty.  Forgiveness offers this because forgiveness allows us to let go of our grievances, our limited perceptions and understandings, and go past them to the light God placed within us.  The light is there and we will see it shining brighter and brighter as we forgive the world.  Forgive and celebrate the light.
  
  
• Forgive the Sun for rising in the east, traveling through the sky and setting in the west.  This is our perception, but once we know that the Sun does not rise in the east, neither travel through the sky, nor set in the west, but is simply the star that anchors our solar system, and what we see is only due to our Earth spinning on it's axis.  When we realize this, we can easily forgive our perception of the Sun, because we know it is only an illusion.  Just so, the more we realize that all we now see is nothing but an illusion, an effect created by our grievances in the form of our judgments, condemnations, and punishments, then the more we are able to forgive, and thus the more will we grow in appreciation of the light of truth.
• This is easier said than done, but it is in the effort that we will succeed.  Remember that anytime anyone or anything "upsets" you, that you are really upset because that person or thing is reflecting something within you that you have judged to be "bad," inferior, or in some way not OK.  Respond by acknowledging its presence; acknowledging how you feel about it; acknowledging that it is a reflection of something within you that you are not OK with, and therefore an ego-illusion.  Then forgive yourself for forgetting that you are the perfect child of a perfect God.  Forgive yourself for forgetting that you are standing in a hall of carefully disguised mirrors, and remember to laugh at your forgetfulness.

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Love created us.  Be the light of love and save the world.  

May 30th, 2014  Lesson 74   

There is no will but God's.

• Intention:  To recognize that our will and God's will are one.
• Practice: Two 15-minute sessions with eyes closed.  In addition, shorter (2-minute) applications of today's idea every half hour with eyes closed if possible.
• Application: Long sessions -- Begin each session by repeating today's idea in the following form several times, slowly and with firm determination to understand what they mean, and to hold them in mind:
    
  There is no will but God's.  I cannot be in conflict.
   
  

  Then spend several minutes in adding some related thoughts, such as.
    

   I am at peace.

  Nothing can disturb me.  My will is God's

  My will and God's are one.

  God wills peace for His Son.

  
  
• Application: Short session -- Begin each session by repeating today's idea in the following form, then spend a minute or two every half an hour, with eyes closed if possible, finding what you seek:
     
  
   There is no will but God's.  I seek His peace today.

• Application:  If conflicting thoughts arise -- Tell yourself immediately:

 There is no will but God's.  These conflict thoughts are meaningless

• Application:  If a conflicting thought is persistent -- Single it out for special consideration.  Think about it briefly but very specifically, identifying the particular person or persons and the situation or situations involved, and tell yourself:

There is no will but God's.  I share it with Him.

My conflicts about _______ cannot be real.

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Insights/comments:

• These are the implications of oneness:  everything is intimately connected to everything else, and despite appearances everything is essentially the same one thing, and furthermore, there can be no room for conflict because there are no differences.  The obvious conclusion is that oneness means peace.  Peace abides in the presence of oneness.
    
• Remembering that God is one and that there is no other, is a technique for looking past illusions, because it reminds us that illusions cannot be real in the presence of oneness.  We can thus be less affected by the apparent presence of illusions, knowing that they are not real.

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Love created us.  Be the light of love and save the world.  

Quote for September 1st 2013

If you were one with God and recognized this oneness, you would know His power is yours.  But you will not remember this while you believe attack of any kind means anything.  It is unjustified in any form, because it has no meaning.  The only way it could be justified is if you and your brother were separate from the other, and all were separate from your Creator.  For only then would it be possible to attack a part of the creation without the whole, the Son without the Father; and to attack another without yourself, or hurt yourself without the other feeling pain.  And this belief you want.  Yet wherein lies its value, except in the desire to attack in safety?  Attack is neither safe nor dangerous.  It is impossible.  And this is so because the universe is one.  You would not choose attack on its reality if it were not essential to attack to see it separated from its maker.  And thus it seems as if love could attack and become fearful.

A Course In Miracles (ACIM) 22,VI,12

Here again the uncompromising logic of ACIM asserts itself.  It is impossible that our empirical experience of separateness and all its implications is true. Granted we experience ourselves as separate, which makes attack seem somehow justifiable and logical.  But is it really so?  Can we truly attack and hurt another without feeling some measure of pain ourselves, or witness the pain or suffering of anyone and not feel it within ourselves?  Is not this pain of empathy also part of our empirical experience?  And so our experiences seem to lead to different and diametrically opposed conclusions:  either we are all one, or we are not all one.  And each conclusion leads to logically justifiable speech and actions.  

If we believe in oneness, then the motive for our actions is to realize (make real) this truth in all that we say and do.  If however we believe in separateness, then of course, attack in all its forms become logically justifiable.  Is there a solution to this seeming irreconcilable contradiction:  oneness vs. separation?   

We have already hinted at the solution in our brief analysis.  Clearly, if the logical extension of either premise leads to a contradiction, then that premise must be false.  And as we have acknowledged, the pain of empathy we always feel at the suffering of another, completely contradicts the premise that we are separate, therefore oneness must be true.  The word 'always' is emphasized because while it is true that we feel a strong sense of empathy for the suffering of those close to us, we obviously feel some measure of empathy for anyone who suffers.  Verifying again the truth of our oneness.  Finally, if oneness is true for any part of creation, then it must be true for the whole, so the Creator and His creation are one.  Oneness is all that there is.  This perennial truth is echoed in the ancient Vedic scripture, the Chandogya Upanishad 3.14.1

Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma

All this is Brahma (oneness)

Quote for August 11th, 2013

As the teacher of God advances in his training, he learns one lesson with increasing thoroughness.  He does not make his own decisions; he asks his Teacher for His answer, and it is this he follows as his guide for action.  This becomes easier and easier, as the teacher of God learns to give up his own judgment.  The giving up of judgment, the obvious prerequisite for hearing God’s Voice, is usually a fairly slow process, not because it is difficult, but because it is apt to be perceived as personally insulting.  The World’s training is directed toward achieving a goal in direct opposition to that of our curriculum. The world trains for reliance on one’s judgment as the criterion for maturity and strength.  Our curriculum trains for the relinquishment of judgment as the necessary condition of salvation.

ACIM Manual for Teachers, 9,2

Certainly we can all agree that the wisdom and power of God, and only that, can completely solve any and all problems and bring complete fulfillment to everyone and everything in creation for all time past, present, and future.  And if this wisdom and power is available to guide us in our choices and decisions, it would be unwise to not make use of it.  But to make use of such guidance, two things are necessary.  First we must acknowledge humbly that we, in our current state of awareness, do not possess the omnipotence and omniscience of God, and therefore our choices and decisions can at best be incomplete.  This is obvious but by no means easily implemented, not because it is difficult, but because it requires we admit that we don't know what on earth we are doing; we're doing our best, but that really means our best guess.  Second, we must have a little willingness to listen, heed and completely trust God’s guidance, knowing that He has our best interests, as well as the best interests of everyone else at heart.  Ok, but how do we do that; how do we hear God's voice?  This quote tells us that “...the obvious prerequisite for hearing God’s Voice,” is “the giving up of judgment... ,” so let us look more closely at this prerequisite
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To give up judgment is to relinquish the certainty we have about our perceptions and the conclusions they lead us to.  Fore anyone who has lived a few years, the belief that our perceptions are infallible is fairly quickly realized as completely false, or at least inaccurate in many cases.  In this observation alone, we have the obvious logic and motivation for relinquishing our judgments--they do not work.  Yet we persist in judging, claiming there is no other apparent means for navigating our human life.  This quote suggest we give up judging, i.e. relinquish the certainty we have about our perceptions and our ideas about the world and about God, thereby allowing a deeper knowledge to come to us.  

We depend on our perceptions and judgments out of habit, simply because that is what we have been taught by our parents, elders, teachers, etc., and because that is what everyone else in our environment seems to depend on.  But all it takes is a brief review of our lives and the history of our civilizations to clearly show that our judgments leave much to be desired.  It is for this reason that more and more of us are increasingly motivated to leave judging to the only One who can judge, and listen to His guidance instead.  This is the way to understand who we really are and what our function and purpose is.  This is the way to live a more peaceful, happy, and fulfilled life, and it is only this knowledge that offers the hope of lasting salvation for the world.  

Our quote says that giving up judgment is “...usually a fairly slow process, not because it is difficult, but because it is apt to be perceived as personally insulting.”  This is because we hold highest on the list of desired skills, the “ability” to make “good” judgments as opposed to “bad” ones.  Presidents, leaders, company executives, etc., are paid enormous sums of money for having this ability, or at least for appearing to have it, and this is, perhaps, the primarily ability we hope to engender in our offspring through the education system.   But our history has shown us time and time again that success in this endeavor is fleeting at best.  The conclusions and decisions of our best minds, even with the best intentions, have repeatedly proven to be incomplete, myopic, and at most to serve the best interests of only a few, and even for them, only for a little while.  How long need we repeat this painful scenario before we realize that it is hopeless, senseless, and meaningless.  How long before we acknowledge that no decision we make however well thought-out, well intentioned, well planned and executed  can ever bring complete fulfillment to all for all time.  How long before we decide to stop the sacrifice of our collective happiness at the altar to our individual, group, national or international righteousness.  How long before we choose to be happy instead of right.  How long before we turn to the path that leads to real, meaningful, and lasting solutions.  How long before we turn to God and away from our perceptions and judgments; perhaps today? 

We are here offered another way to navigate the world, through the relinquishment of our judgments.  This is the path that leads to truth, because it is not based on our perceptions and the inevitable, and incomplete conclusions these lead to.  It is based instead on the One who knows all means and ends--our Creator.  Only the One who created us can know who we really are, our function and purpose, what is real and what illusion, and only that One can lead us to salvation.  If we which to know these things, it would be folly to search elsewhere.  Where else can such truth exist if not with the Source of all-that-is?  Giving up judgment is:

• The willingness to trust not in what we perceive (the world), but in what we can know (God). 
• The willingness to lean not upon our own limited understanding of things, but to rely on the infinite wisdom and understanding of our omniscient Creator.
• The willingness to disregard logic, which often leads to insane conclusions, and instead faithfully value God’s communications to us.
• The willingness to choose the joy of God instead of the pain of the world.

This willingness to release the interpretations we hold about our perceptions and listen instead to the Voice for God in all things, opens our awareness to solutions that, unlike our half-baked solutions, are inspired, true, lasting, provide for the well-being of all in creation, and therefore serve the cosmic purpose.

Giving up judgments is not difficult once we realize that there is one close at hand who has greater knowledge and wisdom about all subjects.  In fact it is quite normal for us to do just this; we naturally depend on the opinions and judgments of “professionals” in every phase of our lives, simply because we recognize that our limited knowledge could engender potential problems that we can easily avoid by trusting in the wisdom of the professional.  If it is easy, natural and normal for us to do this with our “things” and with various aspects of our lives, can it be difficult to do it with our very lives?  Certainly not!  And with respect to our lives, undoubtedly our Creator is the ultimate and only “professional” and His infinite wisdom is close at hand, indeed as close to us as our very breath.  Again, it would be folly to trust in any other “wisdom.”  Who else could we trust with our life, if not our Creator. 

The wise among us has taught us that God’s wisdom is always available and easily accessible to us, all we need do is “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.*”  What can be simpler than this?  Ask, Seek, and Knock are the means to fulfillment.  Ask and remember you ask of One for whom all things are possible.  Seek and remember the One who is the source if all that is.  Knock and remember the One who always answers.  We call these prayers or propitiations for the fulfillment of our desires, and these are well and fine, but let us always remember the One who provides for our fulfillment and look to that One only, for in that One is the fulfillment and the end of all desiring.

Giving up judgments automatically brings us to a space of openness to all possibilities.  Without judgments we have no opinion, no investment and no expectation regarding the outcome of a situation.  We are free because we have given up all responsibility regarding the outcome to the One who is fully capable of handling any situation so that the best possible outcome is realized with the least amount of effort, stress. or pain.  Do as He suggests, following His guidance, letting Him lead, and we will be happily surprised to see things work out even better than we could have ever imagined.  We need only have this happen once to recognize it as a superior way of navigating the world, or recognize the obvious benefit of making it a habit, a tool in our problem-solving repertoire, indeed our magic elixir.

Our quote reminds us that:  “The world trains for reliance on one’s judgment as the criterion for maturity and strength.  Our curriculum trains for the relinquishment of judgment as the necessary condition of salvation."  By giving up judgment, we avail ourselves of the wisdom of the One who knows, and thereby guarantee fulfillment and salvation for ourselves and the world.

* Matthew 7:7

A Universal Solution to All Problems

One thing we all experience in common is problems!  They don't all appear to be the same, but they are all problems and we want to find a way to resolve them so that we may have a better life experience.  We can also agree that while there are a lot of "solutions" available on the market, none of them resolve problems completely, and permanently; some help a little, some for a while, others not at all, and some even make things worse. So clearly, our understanding about who we really are and how the world works is seriously inadequate.

         
I admit that I do not know my true Self, nor why my life is the way it is, nor how to "fix" it, but there is someone we know--God, who knows all things and how to correct our understanding of things.  A Course in Miracles (ACIM) teaches that the basis of all problems is a lack of understanding about who we really are, i.e. children of God, and that by acknowledging our divinity and taking 100% responsibility for whatever we are experiencing is the first step in completely and permanently resolving any issue. 

Taking 100% responsibility is not meant to blame anyone for what they are experiencing, but only to acknowledge that because we have so many unconscious motives, intentions, desires, resentments, wishes, etc., running around in us, no one really knows how or why we are experiencing what we are experiencing, far less how to go about "fixing" it.  We are all simply doing the best we can, but we do know that our attitude about an experience i.e., what we think about it, interpret, or conclude about it, can affect us much more than the actual experience, so we can easily improve the effect of any experience simply by changing our minds, (i.e. our attitude) about that experience.  This is a small but effective part of taking 100% responsibility for what we are experiencing, and sets the stage for creating real and lasting change. 

Now the second step is the step of petitioning Divinity for forgiveness for what we knowingly or unknowingly created, not realizing that it would later cause us problems.  We petition God to do the "fixing" because no one else can do it completely and permanently, restoring harmony and peace to all involved.  I recently came across a simple and effective technique for doing just this, which recommends that we petition God, using the following four phrases, to resolve whatever negative situation we are experiencing.   

• I Love you
• I'm sorry (for the situation I created for myself)
• Please forgive me
• Thank you

But we also have an important part to play in this step, which is to release all expectations for having the problem resolved in a particular way.  This is important, again, because we do not know what is best for us, what is in our overall best interest.  So we simply say the words and relax, letting whatever happens happen, knowing that God has our best interests at heart and wills what is best for us and everyone involved.  This second step immediately brings us great relief because we have placed the problem in the most capable Hands, which effectively releases us of its burden.

Note that it is not necessary to say the phrases out loud or in any particular order, for they simply serve as a means for us to acknowledge that we are, as God's Children, creators, not "fixers" and should step aside and leave the job of fixing to one is fully capable of that function.
 
This technique is call Ho'oponopono (ho-o-pono-pono) and you can click the following links to see:

  a quick summary of Ho'oponopono 

or
  a video interview with Dr. Hew Len to learn more.  There is also a book written about this practice called Zero Limits by Joe Vitali and Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len. 

Hope you find this helpful.... and please let me know if you have questions or comments.