Each morning, my wife and I pray and do affirmations. The prayers we use are a mix of traditional Hebrew and New Thought. The following are three of the traditional prayers, transformed into New Thought:
Blessed art thou, oh Lord our god, king of the universe. Heneni, rebono shell olam.
Blessed are we, oh wondrous Spirit, one with everything and everyone; fully present in and around us, right now. We feel Your guidance, love, grace, compassion and peace and joyously allow it to use us. Thank You.
And I love the Lord my God with all my heart, all my soul and all my might.
And I feel the peace, joy and compassion of my oneness with Spirit constantly, all the time, and in all that transpires, and allow it to flow through me into the world.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Forgiveness and Sameness
“God’s sons [and daughters, the Course’s name for our un-separated Selves] are equal to each other, for they share not only the same mind but the same goal: a unity of self and purpose,” Ken Wapnick says. “Recognizing this shared purpose undoes the belief in differences that was the foundation of sin [the idea that we separated from God and by so doing, destroyed Him, thus sinning]. The vision of sameness becomes the radiant means of salvation, leading us out of the darkness of sin into the light of Heaven’s love.”
“You and your brother are the same,” the Course says, “as God Himself in One and not divided in His Will. And you must have one purpose, since He gave the same to both of you [without favor, be you Muslim or Buddhist, Jew or Christian]. To you and your brother is given the power of salvation [not only to Jesus]; that escape from darkness into light be yours to share; that you may see as one what has never been separate, nor apart from all God’s Love as given equally.”
Thus, “kindness is inevitable, and is the only joyful response to the world, regardless of what seems to happen.” Since we are all the same to forgive one, to awake and realize what seemed to happen didn’t really happen because it is part of the ego’s nightmare, is to forgive all. “Our only task,” Ken says, “is to forgive the person in front of us – mentally [if only in our thoughts, the person could be dead] or physically. The extension of our forgiveness to the entire world [and thus, salvation] happens automatically.
“Leave then, the transfer of your learning to the One Who really understands its laws, and Who will guarantee that they remain unviolated and unlimited.” I will work with the person before me now [especially myself, but know that] thousands stand behind him, and beyond each one of them are a thousand more.” My only task is to forgive the person in front of me.
“You and your brother are the same,” the Course says, “as God Himself in One and not divided in His Will. And you must have one purpose, since He gave the same to both of you [without favor, be you Muslim or Buddhist, Jew or Christian]. To you and your brother is given the power of salvation [not only to Jesus]; that escape from darkness into light be yours to share; that you may see as one what has never been separate, nor apart from all God’s Love as given equally.”
Thus, “kindness is inevitable, and is the only joyful response to the world, regardless of what seems to happen.” Since we are all the same to forgive one, to awake and realize what seemed to happen didn’t really happen because it is part of the ego’s nightmare, is to forgive all. “Our only task,” Ken says, “is to forgive the person in front of us – mentally [if only in our thoughts, the person could be dead] or physically. The extension of our forgiveness to the entire world [and thus, salvation] happens automatically.
“Leave then, the transfer of your learning to the One Who really understands its laws, and Who will guarantee that they remain unviolated and unlimited.” I will work with the person before me now [especially myself, but know that] thousands stand behind him, and beyond each one of them are a thousand more.” My only task is to forgive the person in front of me.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
We are all the same
Everyone - Democrats and Republicans, terrorists and victims, male and female – is wrestling with the same basic problem/opportunity – release of the ego nightmare and awakening to spirit – and therefore we are all the same. How would it be if we acted as if this was true – that we share the same basic problem/opportunity? Would we be more peaceful, compassionate, kinder? Probably.
There is not one of us who deep within does not experience the pain of existence, a yearning for an end to the suffering that seems endless and without purpose. In desperation we silently cry out for help, but hear only the ego’s call to analyze, judge, blame, then attack and punish; all maladaptive attempts to find relief from the guilt of our original sin - the ego idea that we have separated from God and destroyed Him. This actually reinforces the very guilt we are attempting to defend against (defenses do what they would defend), leaving all of us – victim and victimizer, guilty and innocent – locked in the ego’s vicious circle and prison of sin.
To see everyone the same and wrestling with the same basic problem/opportunity is to understand that all the forms of attack – blame, judgment, doubt and fear – are never justified; that judgment is impossible, and peace our only true emotion. The Course says, “I will be still an instant [cease struggling, analyzing, judging, blaming, attacking and punishing] and go [be] home [awake and aware of my spiritual reality].”
To see everyone the same and wrestling with the same basic problem/opportunity is to understand that no one and no thing can truly harm us. For sure we can be battered and bruised here in the illusion, but what could stand against the truth of our reality as spirit? That’s what the famous bible story of the fiery furnace and Meeshack, Shadrack and Abednego was trying to show us.
Peace, joy and salvation are available right now, regardless of what seems to be happening here; because in truth, nothing is happening here. It’s all in our minds, not our brains, and once we return to the awareness that mind is the only player in the ego’s game of separation, that in fact the separation never happened, we will know that the mind is a decision making tool we can use right this second, and that we always have the ability to choose peace and joy over imprisonment and pain.
There is not one of us who deep within does not experience the pain of existence, a yearning for an end to the suffering that seems endless and without purpose. In desperation we silently cry out for help, but hear only the ego’s call to analyze, judge, blame, then attack and punish; all maladaptive attempts to find relief from the guilt of our original sin - the ego idea that we have separated from God and destroyed Him. This actually reinforces the very guilt we are attempting to defend against (defenses do what they would defend), leaving all of us – victim and victimizer, guilty and innocent – locked in the ego’s vicious circle and prison of sin.
To see everyone the same and wrestling with the same basic problem/opportunity is to understand that all the forms of attack – blame, judgment, doubt and fear – are never justified; that judgment is impossible, and peace our only true emotion. The Course says, “I will be still an instant [cease struggling, analyzing, judging, blaming, attacking and punishing] and go [be] home [awake and aware of my spiritual reality].”
To see everyone the same and wrestling with the same basic problem/opportunity is to understand that no one and no thing can truly harm us. For sure we can be battered and bruised here in the illusion, but what could stand against the truth of our reality as spirit? That’s what the famous bible story of the fiery furnace and Meeshack, Shadrack and Abednego was trying to show us.
Peace, joy and salvation are available right now, regardless of what seems to be happening here; because in truth, nothing is happening here. It’s all in our minds, not our brains, and once we return to the awareness that mind is the only player in the ego’s game of separation, that in fact the separation never happened, we will know that the mind is a decision making tool we can use right this second, and that we always have the ability to choose peace and joy over imprisonment and pain.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Judgment and Regret
Lately, I notice a feeling of regret and guilt when I blame, criticize or judge another person, or even myself. The feeling of regret doesn’t always come immediately after I do the deed, tho it does more and more, but usually a little later when I’ve had a chance to reflect and be centered. My thoughts go something like: There I go again! Or, what did that accomplish? Or, feel better now? Or, gee, I could have had a V8 (juice) – made things better, instead of worse. The more I’m able to catch myself doing what I don’t want to do, being with the ego instead of spirit, the more I’m able to be with spirit instead of the ego.
The decision for the right-minded teacher, spirit, is the choice for vision over judgment. It is the moment to moment release of the ego’s nightmare that is held in place by my belief that my judgments of myself and others are justified and deserved. As soon as I become aware of thinking that my judgments of myself and others are justified and deserved, it’s time to pause and say: There I go again! Or, what did that accomplish? Or, feel better now? Or, gee, I could have had a V8.
Judgment, a form of attack, is impossible when I appreciate that everyone: Democrats and Republicans, terrorists and victims, male and female, are all wrestling with the same basic problem/opportunity – release of the ego nightmare and awakening to spirit – and therefore we are all the same.
Attack and judgment are merely mental/emotional tricks, defenses set up by the ego, to keep us busy here in the world, instead of being with spirit. In truth, we are alike in sharing the shared interest in awakening from this hellish dream of separation and death. And a simple thing like being aware I’m judging and blaming then pausing to say: There I go again! Or, what did that accomplish? Or, feel better now? Or, gee, I could have had a V8, can move us towards awakening.
The decision for the right-minded teacher, spirit, is the choice for vision over judgment. It is the moment to moment release of the ego’s nightmare that is held in place by my belief that my judgments of myself and others are justified and deserved. As soon as I become aware of thinking that my judgments of myself and others are justified and deserved, it’s time to pause and say: There I go again! Or, what did that accomplish? Or, feel better now? Or, gee, I could have had a V8.
Judgment, a form of attack, is impossible when I appreciate that everyone: Democrats and Republicans, terrorists and victims, male and female, are all wrestling with the same basic problem/opportunity – release of the ego nightmare and awakening to spirit – and therefore we are all the same.
Attack and judgment are merely mental/emotional tricks, defenses set up by the ego, to keep us busy here in the world, instead of being with spirit. In truth, we are alike in sharing the shared interest in awakening from this hellish dream of separation and death. And a simple thing like being aware I’m judging and blaming then pausing to say: There I go again! Or, what did that accomplish? Or, feel better now? Or, gee, I could have had a V8, can move us towards awakening.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Victory for the Terrorists Denied, 4
Does this – this pain, joy, news report, this experience – impede or contribute to my goal of awakening from the ego’s dream of separation? That’s all I need do, just ask this question. No analysis of the news, or source of the pain or joy, for all that is illusion, tho God help me, I believe it’s real; and so do you. That’s what we have in common – two things: the belief that the illusion is real and the need to wake from it.
Asking this question each time we find ourselves taking things seriously, which is all the time, will undo the ego and is part of the process of awakening from its illusion. This question shifts our focus from the nearly all consuming world of the ego to the source of our ego experience, the decision maker in my mind.
In truth, you and I are not held captive by what the Course calls the body’s “engine of destruction” nor its “rotting prison”, but only by the mind’s having chosen the wrong teacher, the voice for differences and specialness, rather than the voice for sameness and oneness. And that being the case, we can choose again.
Asking this question each time we find ourselves taking things seriously, which is all the time, will undo the ego and is part of the process of awakening from its illusion. This question shifts our focus from the nearly all consuming world of the ego to the source of our ego experience, the decision maker in my mind.
In truth, you and I are not held captive by what the Course calls the body’s “engine of destruction” nor its “rotting prison”, but only by the mind’s having chosen the wrong teacher, the voice for differences and specialness, rather than the voice for sameness and oneness. And that being the case, we can choose again.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Victory for the Terrorists Denied, 3
The Course in Miracles reinforces the need for us to take responsibility for the way we think about things, such as the ‘threats’ in the defense authorization legislation, and work from the inside out to deal with them. Doing that instead of blaming and fearing what’s outside our minds, is the change of thinking Einstein mentioned when he said you can’t solve the problem at the level of thinking that created it in the first place. The level of thinking we’ve been using is outside-in. It’s that level of thinking that holds the problems in place and perpetuates them.
“You would not react at all to figures in a dream you knew you were dreaming,” the Course says. “Let them be as hateful [or happy,] as vicious [or kind] as they may, they could have no effect you unless you failed to recognize you’re dreaming.”
In other words, all dream figures are the same because they all have no effect on our [waking] lives, unless we give them that power” and believe them to be real. This means that the ‘miracle’ - the awakening from the dream and experiencing the very same phenomena differently, as reflections of spirit’s love, compassion, goodness, joy and creativity, is the same no matter what we’re dreaming. So the Course says, “there is no order of difficulty in miracles. One is not ‘harder’ or ‘bigger’ than another. They are all the same. All expressions of love are maximal.”
The dreams of others affect me only when I choose to make myself part of their dreams of separation, suffering, and attack. Understanding this makes me responsible, not for the egos of others, but only for my reactions to their egos. In this sense, others – those I label terrorists, friends, lovers or enemies, are irrelevant to my reactions and feelings.
Thinking I’m in the world - the ego’s nightmare, and knowing that the ego always speaks first, I will react to others. But then I can catch myself, pause, and ask ‘do my reactions impede or contribute to my goal of awakening from the ego’s dream of separation’ and contributing to a world that works for everyone and everything, and if it impedes, as 99.5% of every experience does, then I can invite the decision maker in my mind to choose again.
“You would not react at all to figures in a dream you knew you were dreaming,” the Course says. “Let them be as hateful [or happy,] as vicious [or kind] as they may, they could have no effect you unless you failed to recognize you’re dreaming.”
In other words, all dream figures are the same because they all have no effect on our [waking] lives, unless we give them that power” and believe them to be real. This means that the ‘miracle’ - the awakening from the dream and experiencing the very same phenomena differently, as reflections of spirit’s love, compassion, goodness, joy and creativity, is the same no matter what we’re dreaming. So the Course says, “there is no order of difficulty in miracles. One is not ‘harder’ or ‘bigger’ than another. They are all the same. All expressions of love are maximal.”
The dreams of others affect me only when I choose to make myself part of their dreams of separation, suffering, and attack. Understanding this makes me responsible, not for the egos of others, but only for my reactions to their egos. In this sense, others – those I label terrorists, friends, lovers or enemies, are irrelevant to my reactions and feelings.
Thinking I’m in the world - the ego’s nightmare, and knowing that the ego always speaks first, I will react to others. But then I can catch myself, pause, and ask ‘do my reactions impede or contribute to my goal of awakening from the ego’s dream of separation’ and contributing to a world that works for everyone and everything, and if it impedes, as 99.5% of every experience does, then I can invite the decision maker in my mind to choose again.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Victory for the Terrorists Denied, 2
Addressing problems by asking everyone and everything I encounter: ‘Does this impede or contribute to my goal of awakening from the ego’s dream of separation,’ enables me to return to the source of my experience (my mind) and if necessary, choose again. Asking continues the process of undoing my investment in the ego’s projections of responsibility onto others instead of myself, thus doing what Einstein recommended - solving the problem at a level of thinking different from the level that created it in the first place, and agrees with Pogo that we have met the ‘enemy’ and they is us.
Imagine how meaningful our lives would become if this question were uppermost in our minds as we went through each day. The seemingly separate events, relationships, situations and our responses to them would be unified in a new way, giving us a sense of purpose we lacked. Asking the question puts the goal of awakening from the ego’s nightmare and experiencing the reflection of spirit’s love here, at the center of our lives.
And really, what else is there? Isn’t that all we really want?
Imagine how meaningful our lives would become if this question were uppermost in our minds as we went through each day. The seemingly separate events, relationships, situations and our responses to them would be unified in a new way, giving us a sense of purpose we lacked. Asking the question puts the goal of awakening from the ego’s nightmare and experiencing the reflection of spirit’s love here, at the center of our lives.
And really, what else is there? Isn’t that all we really want?
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