Lady Gaga’s JUDAS and ACIM by Corinne Zupko

Lady Gaga’s JUDAS and A Course in Miracles by Corinne Zupko* *~*~*~*~*~*~*~ [As it appears in the April 2012 Newsletter] *~*~*~*~*~*~*~ http://www.innerbalanceliving.com “Judas was my brother and a Son of God, as much a part of the Sonship as myself. Was it likely that I would condemn him when I was ready to demonstrate that condemnation is impossible?” ~ A COURSE IN MIRACLES, ACIM OrEd.TX.6.20         I am a fan of Lady Gaga. I love her for her messages of choosing love, acceptance, and non-judgment, over hate, exclusion, and judgment. And I believe she often listens to her Inner Guidance System, which is what “A Course in Miracles” (ACIM) is teaching us to do. Being that my operating system is A Course in Miracles “one-point-0,” I tend to look at everything through the lens of ACIM. When I first watched Lady Gaga’s video, “Judas”, I didn’t get it. But as I watched it over and over through my ACIM lens, I ended up being moved to tears. If you haven’t seen it check it out on YouTube. To me, the lyrics of “Judas” speak to the state we find ourselves in this world. The song is about the split we feel in deciding between truth versus illusion, or love versus fear. We know that it is love that is good for us, and yet, we persist in choosing fear. In the song, Jesus represents love, truth, and Oneness. Judas represents the ego, which, according to the Course, is the part of our mind that WANTS to be separate from Oneness. Another way to describe the ego is fear. ♫ “I wanna love you, but something’s pulling me away from you, Jesus is my virtue, but Judas is the demon I cling to” – Lady Gaga’s “Judas” Our true state is one of Love. We are eternal, and we are One. And yet, according to “A Course in Miracles” we had the “tiny mad idea” that we wanted to experience ourselves as separate from our Source. And so we chose to enter earth school – this state of seeming separation that we believe is really happening. We chose to listen to the ego rather than to Love. And so the ego coaxes us to follow it, but all it offers us is dissatisfaction, loneliness, and pain. We know that Love is our virtue and will make us happy, and yet we cling to the ego to hide from Love. We really believe the ego has something to offer us. ♫ “I’m just a holy fool, and baby it’s so cruel but I’m still in love with Judas, baby.” – Lady Gaga’s “Judas” We are holy fools! The Course constantly likens us to spiritual children. We think we know everything. We think we know what is best for us. We think we know what makes us happy. And we think a love affair with the ego brings joy. Yet, we’re mistaken. Nothing here in this world really satisfies us or lasts forever. The ego’s motto is, “Seek but do not find” (~ACIM). How many times have we said, “when I get that better relationship, then I will be happy” or “when I get that new job, or those new clothes, then I will be happy.” When we achieve that which we were after, maybe we’re satisfied for a minute. Then we’re off searching for the next thing. The only true place to find happiness is within. Nothing outside of us can make us happy. The only thing that will really satisfy us is our connection to Spirit. With that comes a knowing of WHO we really are – that we are love, we are never alone, we are whole, and eternal. Being a channel for Love is what will make us happy. CONTINUED READING FROM NEWSLETTER And then the ego sings: ♫ “I’ll bring him down, bring him down, down. A king with no crown, king with no crown.” – Lady Gaga’s “Judas” When I intently watched the video and listened to the lyrics, seeing the forceful swoop of the dancers hands as they motioned bringing Jesus “down” I couldn’t help but feel emotional. In Jesus’ example, his persecutors (those who were identified with their ego) wanted to bring him (Love) down. Yet, we still do this over and over every day when we choose to listen to our egos and block out the Voice of Love. Judging one another and attacking one another are all various forms of wanting to bring love down. They are not acts of love, they are calls for love. According to ACIM, our egos are not our friends. The ego actively wants to keep love out. It doesn’t want you looking within, because if we really find what we are, which is love, we would stop believing in the ego. So the ego wants to take down Love. It wants to kill it.“The ego is therefore capable of suspiciousness at best, and viciousness at worst”(~ACIM). And yet, the Course also teaches that the ego is really nothing, and it is certainly nothing to be afraid of! It is just a dream with no power to change love at all. “Where there was darkness now we see the light. What is the ego? What the darkness was. Where is the ego? Where the darkness was. What is it now and where can it be found? Nothing and nowhere. Now the light has come…” – A Course in Miracles Where love is, the ego is not. And when we choose to identify with Love, the ego has no power over us. This makes me think of this “Judas” lyric: ♫ “Forgive him when his tongue lies through his brain Even after 3 times, he betrays me” – Lady Gaga’s “Judas” Jesus forgave everyone. Even his crucifiers. The ego’s actions had no power over him. I watched a documentary on the Gospel of Judas recently, and was struck to learn that according to that gospel, Jesus instructed Judas on what his part would be. According to this gospel, Jesus actually told Judas that he should turn him in. Judas had a key role to play, so Jesus could demonstrate with an extreme example that love, which is what we are, cannot be destroyed. In the Course, Jesus states: “I elected, for your sake and mine, to demonstrate that the most outrageous assault, as judged by the ego, does not matter.” No matter what awful picture the body seems to go through, Jesus’ resurrection showed us that we cannot kill love. We are not asked to be crucified. We are simply asked, in much less extreme situations, to be willing to see with the vision of Love, rather than with fear. We cannot choose to see with love on our own, we need to call upon our Inner Guide that is within each and every one of us, for help. For this Inner Guide knows the way to love. We don’t. Learning to remove the blocks that we’ve put up to love and discover the beauty that is already within each of us what “A Course in Miracles” is all about. ~*~ *Corinne Zupko, Ed.S., M.A., C.P.C., is a speaker, adjunct professor, coach, writer, and meditation teacher. Corinne began her work with the Course in 1996 after struggling with debilitating anxiety and panic attacks. By practicing the Course principles, “what appeared as terrifying and  unresolvable, ended up being one of the most growth-enhancing experiences in my life.” Her growth and healing journey led her into a career in the helping professions where she is passionate about helping others find and connect with their inner truth. For more information, Corinne is a regular contributor at  www.twitter.com/CorinneZupko www.facebook.com/innerbalancecoach www.linkedin.com/in/CorinneZupko Website: www.innerbalanceliving.com www.fromanxietytolove.com

Forgiveness 1-2-3 by Gene Skaggs

Forgiveness 1-2-3 by Gene Skaggs* *~*~*~*~* [As it appears in the March 2012 Newsletter] *~*~*~*~*~*~*~ www.geneskaggs.com        Forgiveness, the main doctrine of A COURSE IN MIRACLES is described by personally invoking the taking of two steps followed by the Holy Spirit taking the final one. Sounds simple, 1 – 2 – 3. Let’s look at each step individually because each one is independent of the other but naturally leads one to the unfoldment of the next. “This change requires, first, that the cause be identified and then let go, so that it can be replaced.” Workbook Lesson 23 The first step is the identification of the cause of the discomfort. I have found this to be, for students, not only the most misunderstood, but the most difficult to implement. Look at the first step and what it says, “that the cause be identified.” The identification process is observing the emotional response that the event/person has brought to your awareness. Example: Someone did or didn’t do what you have deemed appropriate and the action or lack of action has caused an emotional response to the event might take the form of anger. The first step in the forgiveness process is now complete. You have identified the emotion that you have chosen to keep you from your Source – anger. The identification process is NOT what the other person did, but your emotion to what took place on your perceptual viewing screen/world. “Unless you give it back, it is inevitable that your perspective on reality be warped and uncorrected.” – - – A COURSE IN MIRACLES Technically your part in the forgiveness process is complete. The next step is taken by the Holy Spirit and that is the removal of the unwanted emotion of anger. The Course doesn’t give you a step four but it explains another step. After the guilt (anger) in your mind has been removed you will have to do something. You might be guided to do nothing, but in the refraining from taking action motivation is done consciously. The Holy Spirit will speak to you and tell you what to do in any particular situation that you have allow the mighty Voice for Truth to be in charge. It will always be a win/win situation for both parties. “The Holy Spirit will not delay in answering your every question what to do. He knows. And He will tell you, and then do it for you.” – - – A COURSE IN MIRACLES http://www.geneskaggs.com Gene Skaggs has been a student of A COURSE IN MIRACLES since 1979, a teacher since 1988, has written four books on A COURSE IN MIRACLES entitled: A BEGINNER’S GLOSSARY TO A COURSE IN MIRACLES, THE RELATIONSHIP GAME CHANGING THE RULES, 101 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON THE COURSE, and BIBLICAL QUOTES FROM A COURSE IN MIRACLES  REINTERPRETED. Gene has a private counseling practice, and is a certified psych-k facilitator. He also has written a book about his son who laid his body down at the age of 22 in 2009. The book contains messages after he laid his body down, as well as, who he was as a person while he walked this planet.

Shekinah by Amy Torres

Shekinah, Divine Feminine and the Holy Spirit by Amy Torres* [As it appears in the February 2012 Newsletter] *~*~*~*~*~*~*~ http://www.amytorresacim.com/ Last night we had a guest from Israel in our Course in Miracles class. About an hour into class, I referred to the Holy Spirit as “He” and our guest, Hila, bolted upright with surprise! “He?” Hila said, making sure she heard me right. “Yes,” I answered, “The Course is written with Christian terminology. It’s a genderless “He” but the masculine is used.” “Not in the Hebrew edition,” she said. “What does the Hebrew edition say?” we asked. “She,” was the answer. And then a lightbulb went off in my mind: Shekinah–the Divine Feminine. I suddenly remembered my interfaith seminary education where the concept of “Shekinah” was introduced to me by an African-American classmate. I am no scholar when it comes to Shekinah, but this is what I’ve gathered from a bit of research: Shekinah is the spark of the Divine within us, what A Course in Miracles calls the memory of God within us, aka, the Holy Spirit. Shekinah and the Holy Spirit each seem to be a bridge to help us Home–both are often presented visually with the symbol of a dove. Shakti is also an aspect of Divine Feminine, found in Hinduism, but it is more concrete as an activating force within the world of form–Shakti is the life force within humans, animals, minerals, etc. I’m sure the Divine Feminine goes by many other names offered by countless cultures (Kwan Yin, Yemaya, Green Tara, on and on). The point is, as the Course teaches me, I don’t know anything. But I can use everything I think I know in service of God’s Will with the Holy Spirit/Shekinah as my Guide. I have ascribed meaning and interpretation to everything in the world, because I am the dreamer of the world. When I allow my source of knowing to be from Beyond this world then Love becomes the only pronoun. Women, and sometimes men, often ask for inclusion of the feminine in A Course in Miracles language. It is interesting to find out that “She” is used in the Hebrew translation of the Course to represent the Holy Spirit. Remember, what is most important is that both “He” and “She” in A Course in Miracles are all-inclusive, therefore genderless. A pronoun is necessary to communicate with us, but whether it is male or female is ultimately unimportant. A Course in Miracles is not political–it is spiritual. Spirituality, by definition, must be both female and male because the truth is we all are One. Spirit is the ultimate equalizer. Spirit is what truly empowers us. Miracle principle #1: “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.” Because Love is maximal. No matter what the representation of Love–Jesus, Mary, Holy Spirit, Shekinah–Love is maximal. Love is the content which is constant, eternal. Everything else is symbolized in form, which is ephemeral, ever-changing. My background is in psychology, not the bible nor the torah. And my resonance with A Course  in Miracles has a lot to do with my desire to understand human nature non-judgmentally, with an  open heart and an open mind. The Course tells us that anything that upsets us is of our own  making–we have chosen pain and victimhood. CONTINUED READING FROM NEWSLETTER So when women (or men) feel left out or  devalued by the omission of the female pronoun in A Course in Miracles, it is an opportunity to  examine how we are separating and devaluing ourselves. Eleanor Roosevelt told us, “No one can  make you feel inferior without your consent.” The scribe of A Course in Miracles was Helen Schucman, a very accomplished professional  woman. Her partner, without whom she could not have fulfilled her task, was a man, Bill  Thetford (who happened to be gay). Ken Wapnick was instrumental in helping to organize the  raw ACIM material, but Judy Skutch was the one who got it published. Ken started the first  ACIM teaching institute, with his wife, Gloria Wapnick. And Marianne Williamson is the one  who really popularized the Course–on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Everyone is included in  God’s plan. If we are excluding ourselves, and we are true Course students, it is incumbent  upon us to take responsibility for self-exclusion and give that fear-based belief to our Higher  Self: Shekinah/Holy Spirit.   Sometimes students ask me, “Where is Mary in A Course in Miracles?” I don’t know. I don’t  see Mother Mary or Mary Magdalene in A Course in Miracles, but it doesn’t matter to me.  Because I know that if I want to commune with Mother Mary or Mary Magdalene, or Kwan Yin  for that matter (the Buddhist Madonna, or Mother of All Buddhas) They are Right Here, Right Now.  All I have to do is tune in to Her and ask for Her Grace, Her Compassion, and Her Guidance. Any spiritual  teacher you desire is available to you–take the time to pray and meditate and you will find that  out for yourself. When the Course in translated into other languages, it is translated back into English again before  being published, to make sure the Course teaching is accurately retained. Isn’t it beautiful and  true that whether we say “She” or “He” the Holy Spirit remains the same Loving Memory of God  in our mind? We can count on the constancy of Love Itself. There are no semantics, there is no  discrimination within God’s Mind. God is empowering, God is empowerment. God is Love  Power. Know God and you will know Thyself, masculine, feminine and everything in-between. P.S. I received an email from Hila, the student who told us about “Shekinah” on her arrival home  in Israel. Hila said: “Just one more thing: my teacher, Efrat, was involved in the translation  process. She told us that there was a “debate” as to whether the Holy Spirit should be translated  to the Christian term “Ruach ha-kodesh” or to the Jewish term “Shekinah.” Eventually it was the Jewish Shekinah that was used. However, in Hebrew, even the Christian  term for Holy Spirit –Ruach Ha-kodesh – is feminine. The decision was between the Jewish or  Christian term, but both alternatives in Hebrew were feminine.”   What a beautiful reminder that we are all the Same. © 2011 Amy Torres ~*~ *Amy Torres is a Gestalt psychotherapist, interfaith minister, and yoga teacher, who teaches A Course in Miracles, which is the foundation of her work. She has developed the Language of Love, Harmony & Beauty© which is a form of emotionally responsible communication, conflict negotiation, and a way of “undoing” our identification with the ego. Reverend Torres is affiliated with One Spirit Interfaith Seminary in NYC. She loves dance, qi gong, the Sufi turn, latihan, and all forms of percussion. Her practice is based in Naples, Florida.

It Was A Very Good Year by July Wolfe [Karmic Eraser]

It Was A Very Good Year by July Wolfe* [As it appears in the January 2012 Newsletter] *~*~*~*~*~*~*~ http://thesanecurriculum.com/ I have a tradition of using the collective optimism and creative energy of New Year’s Eve and New Year’s resolutions to review all the wonderful things that happened—in the year to come.  On December 31stof 2011, I will make a cup of cocoa, crawl under the quilts with my journal, and thank God on paper for a list of Ten Things That Happened in 2012.  A year-end review, of sorts, of the year about-to-be.  The entire world is in a mood of joyous expectation and manifestation, wishing everyone prosperity, health, safety and love.  It’s a perfect time to reach into that magical merriment and create my year.  All of us are thinking about new beginnings and starting over.  But why step off onto a blank slate? There’s a fine line between waiting for guidance and drifting aimlessly.  I’ve proven more than once in my life that I’m willing to change my entire world at a moment’s Divine Notice, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to make a plan.  Since all thoughts manifest—always—I give mine a little electromagnetic, neural-net guidance by mapping out where I want them to take me.  Sales directors and financial planners will tell you that eighty percent of what you put on a goal poster comes to fruition.  Since we are more visual than verbal, some years I also make that poster, assembling a collage of pictures that represent my wishes for the coming year and hanging it in a frame in my room.  Each day when I sit down to meditate, I look forward at all of the things that already happened in the coming year.  After all, time is relative. Whether the world is aware of it or not, forgiveness also plays a part in its New Year’s rebirth.  It’s almost impossible to be swept up in optimistic well-wishing and hold a grudge, against either a neighbor or the fates that still haven’t given you the promotion you deserve or a spouse who gets your lifestyle.  As a child I used to love the months between Christmas and Valentine’s Day, because my parents would dress to the nines, complete with perfume and sparkly high-heels, and go out dancing on the three holidays during that period.  There was a softening and a flush of acceptance and solidarity between the holidays, no arguments, no hard feelings, just love and anticipation.  And even as a child I wondered, if we can do this at Christmas, why can’t we maintain it all year long?  Why aren’t forgiveness and smoothing the surface habits of every day? That was my childlike way of creating my future, an everyday where forgiveness is given even before the infraction is committed and the surface is smoothed by the love of that same Oneness and acceptance, magnified and multiplied.  It was many New Year’s Eves down the road before I found the Source behind the celebration.  “This is the time in which a new year will soon be born from the time of Christ,” says A Course in Miracles. Jesus, the Voice of the Course, says “I have perfect faith in you, to do all that you would accomplish. Nothing will be lacking, and you will make complete and not destroy.” So simply, so beautifully, Jesus guides our focus from the celebration of his birth to the exact peace I cherished as a child, and he tells us precisely how to acquire it, how to give it away, and how to maintain it in ourselves.  “Say then, to your brother, I give you to the Holy Spirit as part of myself.  I know that you will be released, unless I want to use you to imprison myself.  In the name of my freedom I choose your release, because I recognize that we will be released together.”  Jesus goes on to promise that because of our forgiveness, “So will the year begin in joy and freedom.” ~*~ CONTINUED FROM NEWSLETTER    It has taken many New Years of practice and communion with the Source and the Course, but the breathlessness of a new beginning comes every day for me now:  What does Holy Spirit have to reveal today?  I have kept my year-end review lists from several years back.  There’s an enlightening pattern of what items got listed again and again without manifesting, as revealing as what attitude must have been behind the things that manifested very quickly.  Some items are material, some are self-improvement, most are spiritual.  Things as diverse as “I got to pet a tiger!” and “I met a wonderful mirror,” to “I found someone to share next Christmas with,” and “I healed my back.”  (I’m still waiting on the tiger thing.)  This year my communion has been so close and so sweet, I don’t feel compelled to make the list or create a poster.  I just want more of the same.  2012 is to be a year of dedication for me: more time, more attention, more surrender.              “There is much to do,” ends the paragraph in chapter 15, “and we have been long delayed.  Accept the holy instant as this year is born, and take your place, so long left unfulfilled, in the Great Awakening.  Make this year different by making it all the same.  And let your relationships be made holy for you.  This is our will. Amen.” ~*~ *July Wolfe writes as “Karmic Eraser” in a daily blog about A Course in Miracles’ Workbook lessons.  She has been a Course student for seven years, and studied with Ramtha The Enlightened One for twelve years before that.  Her blog postings at TheSaneCurriculm.wordpress.com will be published on Kindle in January, as The Sane Curriculum, A Year of Forgiveness and Miracles.

Judgment Our Own Personal Prison ~ George Wallace

Judgment ~ Our Own Personal Prison by George Wallace* [As it appears in the December 2011 Newsletter] *~*~*~*~*~*~*~ http://welcomingpeace.com/ George Wallace is the President and CEO of The Discovery Communications Group, an award winning, fully integrated website design, marketing and advertising agency. He is also author of the book “How To Enjoy Peace In Your Life Everyday“ If you chain a newborn elephant to a stake in the ground, that elephant will grow into adulthood believing that his entire world is dictated by the length of the chain. The unfortunate elephant may seem perfectly content to remain within the limited confines of an artificial space and illusory world that was created for him. He does not know that, even as an infant, he had the power to pull the onerous stake from the ground as though it didn’t even exist, and walk away from that artificial prison at any moment of his choosing, to become truly happy, joyous and free. He does not know that his power and might are immeasurably greater than the life limiting stake to which he is attached, and he doesn’t know that he does not know. But the essence of this animal is buried deep inside, distant yet immediately accessible, constantly calling him to express his perfect reality, completely connected to his inner core, allowing him to run joyfully with his brothers and sisters, forever. Every human being on the planet (as well as anyone who happens to be orbiting the earth on a space station) shares an element of the elephant’s pathetic existence. Metaphorically speaking, the stake represents our propensity to pass judgment on others, no matter how trivial it may seem, and the chain is our inextricable attachment to those judgments, ever burdening us with feelings of separation, isolation, loneliness and fear – whether we know it is there or not. In many ways, judging other people places and things is extraordinarily easy to do, does not require much in the way of creative energy, and we very often engage in the practice without even knowing. Judgments are the result of the unique mental, spiritual and emotional conditioning we have undergone from the day we took our first breath. They are the combination of a lifetime of experiences, thoughts, feelings, relationships, emotions, automatic reactions, and learning that we accumulate by following the path of those who came before us. We are not to be blamed. We are to be forgiven and set free. Judgments can be quite comforting because they provide us a mechanism of defining ourselves to ourselves, however erroneous the definition happens to be. By labeling and defining others, whether positively or negatively, we are by default staking out a position (remember the elephant) of our very own in relation to the world around us. Bear in mind that the entire world outside the boundaries of our own skins is a projected illusion. Everything we see and experience emanates from the inside. As Deepak Chopra says: “You are not in the world, the world is in you”. But the good is very often the enemy of the best. So, while we get a temporary lift from the false feeling of superiority that judgment seems to provide, we are really allowing our own inbred fear to construct the jail cells of separation from other human beings that reinforces the original erroneous notion that we can be separate from God. Every judgment we make, good or bad, reinforces that lie. ~*~ Defining others negatively is a cheap method of inflating or own sense of superiority. If we can point an accusing finger at another person and relegate them to a status that is decidedly less than our own, we are simultaneously elevating our own perception of ourselves, however falsely, in our own eyes. Hitler had his master race, political parties have their platforms, the military has its “elite” units, religions have the one true God (which, by rigid and often unquestioned dogma, is better than the one true God of the other religions), and there always seems to be at least one country somewhere in the world that has the “moral authority” to exert its will on another country. Often lost in the deafening roar of the bombs and bullets is the complete irony that this “moral authority” is being expressed by the attempted extinguishing of entire civilizations, or the killing and maiming of thousands upon thousands of innocent people. A Course in Miracles tells us that there is no degree of difficulty in the miracle, which also means that there is no degree of difficulty in the error. Therefore, if I judge another human being as being anything less than the perfect expression of the Love of God, it is the same thing as the government of the United States annihilating the “savage” Native Americans, British slave traders stealing African negroes and placing them into lives of enslavement and suffering, and people in positions of power advocating hatred of other groups from the imaginary authority of a Sunday morning pulpit. Judgment is also a way of seeking balance. We have all arrived at the present moment as the result of having experienced a life that is entirely unique. No two people ever have the exact same (yes, the phrase “exact same” is redundant. I know. And it makes me crazy whenever I read it, and I have no idea why I used it. But I will keep it there because I can) combination of life experiences, interactions, relationships, thoughts, feelings and actions. The different paths we have all traveled define our lives today and inform every decision we make, thought we have, and feeling we experience as a result of those thoughts. Our histories are the tools we utilize to stake out (a deliberate reference to the elephant at the beginning of the story) our own place in the world that is a little like living on our own separate islands without Gilligan and the Skipper to make everything alright. So, the balance we seek is a total agreement between the conditions of the outer world and the disparate functions (dysfunctions?) of our own inner worlds. And we go about achieving this balance in a purely backwards manner, attempting to shape the outer world to fit the mold of the inner world, with our judgments playing a major role in this drama. So, the question is: “How do we extricate ourselves from living this self defeating cycle of the illusion of separation.” A Course in Miracles provides us the solution. The Course teaches us that we can no more be separate from our creator than a drop of water can find the place where it ends and the ocean begins. Through the Course, we learn that all we have to do is remove the blocks we have created in our own lives that keep us from connecting to, and experiencing, the Love of God that is in fact our own true reality. The Course is brilliant in the way it allows us to use our own understanding of the world to propel us forward to a place where the ego’s grip on our lives is significantly diminished. We hear phrases like: “I can see peace instead of this”, “In my defenselessness, my freedom lies”, “Teach love, for that is what you are”, or “An idea leaves not its source”. We learn that we are not pin balls, propelled into the dizzying array of lights and sounds, bouncing from bumper to flipper, without the ability to select the path upon which we will tread. We get to make a choice, every minute of every day. We get to choose the thoughts we pay attention to and the ones we ignore. We get to decide what we will think about a certain person or situation in our lives, and refuse to settle for the default thinking that our past would dictate. And if you ever feel scared, lost, alone, in turmoil, or indecisive, all you need to do is stop a moment, look inside, and ask God for the help that He will most assuredly provide. Ultimately, A Course in Miracles gently brings us to a place where we understand that genuine forgiveness is the only antidote to a lifelong habit of collecting prejudices, judgments, biases, errors and lies. The forgiveness of which I speak has nothing to do with letting go of our resentments toward another person because that does not correct our erroneous perception. In this scenario, we assume that the other person is, in fact, an accurate reflection of our negative thoughts and we are being magnanimous in our decision to overlook their indiscretion, thereby driving the stake to which we are chained ever deeper into the ground. Genuine forgiveness assumes that we have made a mistake in our limited human perception, born of an understanding that whenever we judge another, we are simply re-living an unhealed past. Our judgments are a result of the past being brought into the present moment, thus ensuring a future that looks remarkably similar. It is like the movie “Groundhog Day” where Bill Murray re-lives the exact same (there I go again. I just can’t help myself) 24-hour sequence over and over again. The big difference is that Bill Murray is very funny, and our constant replay of the past is somewhat sad. So, what will it be? The stake in the ground to which you will be forever chained, or the freedom that comes with choosing the Voice for God? Prison bars that keep you isolated from your brothers and sisters, or the light and love you experience when you decide to see only God in another person. Will it be love or will it be fear – door number one, or door number two? The choice belongs exclusively to you. Sometimes it helps to simply stick your toe in the water to test the temperature. Allow yourself to notice one single judgment, call it for what it is, and decide to see the person or situation differently. Then, your whole life will change. And you will be glad it did. ~*~  *George writes: ”My ultimate goal is to become the person that God originally intended for me to be. I believe that the only way to accomplish this is to engage the passion for learning I have been given, and to be as true to myself as is humanly possible.”. George is the author of the book: “How To Enjoy Peace in Your Life Everyday.”

The Commuted Sentence ~ Letters from Prison

The Commuted Sentence
A Letter From a Prisoner
reprinted with permission from Richard Laughrin*
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[as it appeared in the October 2011 Newsletter]

Unknown Prisoner Reflecting And if the Holy Spirit can commute each sentence that you laid upon yourself into a blessing, then it cannot be a sin.OrEd.Tx.25.50

Thank you for the materials you sent me. I enjoyed the articles very much. Thank you for the information about the study groups and thank you for your time and effort in getting the materials to me. I really appreciate it. I just wanted you to know that I’ve been a seeker for many years, always searching for that secret, hidden knowledge. That one thing that would make my life more meaningful. I’ve always felt that I was missing something; I just didn’t know what. Books have been the main source for my quest. I thought that if I accumulated enough books about philosophy, psychology and various wisdom traditions I would eventually find what I was looking for. I figured that if I surrounded myself with the wisdom of the ages somehow that knowledge would come to me. I’ve read hundreds of these books and while many seemed to be pointing to the right path, nothing ever stuck. After years of searching and collecting, I forgot the reason why I started in the first place. I found myself just accumulating obscure books, my quest being forgotten. I’m not sure if I would have ever even started looking again if it wasn’t for this unlikely set of events. Early one morning in March 2009 I received a phone call from my son that would change my life. He asked me to drive one of his friends home who had passed out at this house. I reluctantly agreed to help him just as I had done so many times before. I should have known better. I should have called 911. I didn’t realize that something was seriously wrong. I had a monumental lapse in judgment. I made a mistake that I felt could never be forgiven. As far as I was concerned my life was over. On December 17, 2009 I was sentenced to four years in the Wisconsin Correctional System. I was extremely depressed. I just didn’t care anymore; I wanted it all to end. I entered the prison system a sixty year old first time felon. I was a completely humiliated and dejected man. This was the lowest point of my life…Little did I know then, that in a few weeks my life long search would take an amazing twist. Instead of me doing the searching – my “search” would seek me out. - [All new inmates are sent to a Maximum Security Prison to be processed.] After a few miserable weeks of being locked in a cell for 23 hours a day I was feeling extremely hopeless. One of the ways to get out of the cell was to attend one of the religious programs. I signed up for all of them. A couple of weeks later I was assigned to one called, “Miracles Recovery”. the next day I was given a pass to go to the group. I walked down the hall to the room that was written on the pass. When I entered the room I was greeted by a large sign that read: Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God. I had just walked into a Course in Miracles Study Group hosted by A Course in Miracles International based in Wisconsin Dells, WI  I couldn’t understand what it was, but I felt like I was being welcomed home. It was a wonderful 45 minutes that changed everything. When it was time to leave I was handed a booklet entitled “A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 1-50″. On the first page of the pamphlet was written “The purpose of these workbook lessons is to train your mind in a systematic way to a different perception of everyone and everything in the world”. I immediately realized that this was exactly what I needed. I walked back to my cell with tears in my eyes and a feeling of hopefulness for the first time in almost a year. After seven weeks and four Course meetings I was transferred to a Medium Security Prison. I was equipped with my workbook lessons and the knowledge that things were not always as they seemed…. ~*~

Now I had a great desire to live. This new Medium Security Prison was quite a bit different than the last one. I had a lot more freedom but there were no Course meetings. They did have a Buddhist group so I signed up for that. I started studying Buddhism but I also kept reading my workbook lessons. I noticed quite a lot of similarities between these two schools of thought. Seven months later I was transferred once again. This time to a Minimum Security Prison with no Course or Buddhist groups. Six months later I was moved again to the prison I’m at now. The day I arrived here I noticed another inmate picking up a large blue book from the mail room. Upon closer inspection I read: A Course in Miracles Original Edition Course in Miracles Society My eyes nearly popped out of my head! I asked where the book was from and my fellow inmate told me to stop by his room after I was moved in. Later that day he handed me the name and address of Spirit Light Outreach. I asked my daughter to go online and see if Joe Wolfe would send me a copy of the Course. A few days later my copy of A Course in Miracles arrived. I now feel that my search is over. The Course is all I need. I can’t wait to be reunited with my children and grandchildren. I can’t wait to start the next chapter of my life. Thank you so very much. Richard ~*~ *Richard continues to write and to share his experiences while studying A Course in Miracles in prison. Our CIMS Blog will be providing a “BLOG within a BLOG” for Richard and his future letters will be posted there. If you would like to write to Richard this is the address: Richard Laughrin #27967 WCC P.O. Box 219 Winnebago, WI 54985 Learn more about SPIRIT LIGHT OUTREACH here:  Spirit Light Outreach

Letting Go of Fear by George Wallace

LETTING GO OF FEAR
by George Wallace*

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[As it appears in the September 2011 Newsletter]

http://welcomingpeace.com/

George Wallace is the President and CEO of The Discovery Communications Group, an award-winning, fully integrated website design, marketing and advertising agency. He is also author of the book “How To Enjoy Peace In Your Life Everyday“ The following is an excerpt from full Article: “Letting Go of Fear” PDF

The bullet or the bridge, which is it going to be? I sat alone in the kitchen of my home in Stow, MA, contemplating which would be the most agreeable way to end my miserable excuse for a life. I could make an instantaneous transition to somewhere else by eating a bullet, but I did not own a gun, and I didn’t know how to use one. The other choice was to begin drinking again, a choice that would most assuredly end in a very ugly death behind the wheel of my car. One way was relatively quick, easy and painless, while the other could take time, requiring some level of suffering and awareness, but at least I would be drinking again. Each choice was perfectly agreeable to me. The only thing left was to make a decision as to which method I would employ. This is where fear brought me. Fortunately, a third option in the form of God’s Voice was able to cut through the tsunami of noise that was shattering my interior, and send me off on a different path. How grateful I am. Since then (about 20 years ago at the time of this writing) I have learned that there are only two emotions, love and fear. A Course In Miracles has taught me that everything is either an expression of love or a call for love. It took me a long time to wrap my brain around that one, and I looked at it from as many angles as humanly possible. If there is a loophole in something, I will find it. But today I know it as the absolute truth. The Basic Problem Every single misunderstanding, conflict, argument or war; every feeling of isolation, desperation, anger and frustration; and every single act of violence, hatred, vengeance or despotism has emanated from the exact same source. They are all aspects of the same vast misperception, the erroneous and unquestioned belief that we are separate from God. It is this mistaken assumption and belief that is the source of every “negative” aspect of human existence. It is the root of fear. I know this may sound a good deal far fetched to you. . But, if you read on, it may end up making sense, thereby adding something very special to your life. The fact is that we are as much a part of God as a drop of water is of the ocean. There is no place where one begins and one ends. There are no boundaries and there is no separation. We are magnificent creations of a loving God. The only problem we have, individually and collectively, is that we have forgotten this to be true. Therefore, the only real job we have is to remember our forever unbroken connection to our Loving Creator. A creation is first and foremost an idea, and an idea leaves not its source. Each and every person on the face of the planet is as much a part of God as God is a part of God. This also means that we are also part of each other, inextricably connected, whether we know it or not, and whether we like it or not. There isn’t anything any one of us can do to change this one incontrovertible fact. Therefore, the only thing we can do is accept it and live immeasurably better lives as a result. The assumption that we are somehow separate from God lies at almost every level of our conscious existence. It is everywhere in our thought, language and culture. We pray to a God that is somewhere “out there”. God is above us somewhere. Heaven is above us somewhere. Hell is below us, down there somewhere. And didn’t God ban Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden? This was probably the first mythological manifestation of the concept of a punishing God. I believe it was Voltaire who said: “God made man in His image and likeness, then man returned the favor.” I went to a Catholic school from grade one to eight and was taught my catechism by the Sisters of Charity of Halifax. I do not recall once being taught that God is inside me and everyone else, that every human being on the planet is totally connected to everyone else, and that, therefore, everybody is entirely equal and innocent in the eyes of God. The assumption of separation from God is something that we usually do not get around to questioning because there is no need to do so. We go through our lives, from one event to another, continuously adjusting our sails to take advantage of a favorable wind or to negate the impact of an inadvertent hurricane. We seek to maintain some semblance of normalcy, whatever that is, and to keep things inside a relatively small zone of comfort, because to venture outside this zone is just too stressful and full of danger. We could get hurt, or we could die. Think about it. What if you knew, with every fiber of your being, that your entire reality is that of being a loving extension of God Himself, with all the implications such an extension engenders. What if you knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you were as indestructible as is God? What if you knew that you could never be harmed, touched, insulted, angered, or hurt, without your permission? The result is that you would have nothing to fear. Wouldn’t that be a much better, more efficient and fun way to experience life? Even if this was an illusion, it would be a better illusion than the illusions we are mostly occupied with. The Ego is The Culprit The ego is our small self. It came into existence at the very moment we accepted the tiny mad idea that we could be separate from God, from our source, from our creator, from love, and therefore from each other. The ego thrives on the notion of separation and will work to perpetuate this lie at any cost. The language of the ego is fear. Because of the ego, we see ourselves (even though we never give this any conscious consideration) as isolated, alone, unconnected and vulnerable. We see everyone else as “other”, and we generally categorize them according to some sort of physical attribute. That person is fat or ugly – pretty, hot or dumb. That one is sexy, black or Asian – infidel, Arab, Muslim, or Jew. This one is uneducated, manipulative or controlling. Labeling of other people helps us to maintain the illusion of unquestioned separation. We unwittingly become slaves to our labels. The idea of separation gives rise to fear and it is the fear that blocks the connection of your heart and soul with the hearts and souls of all other human beings, which is the connection we all have to the eternal Spirit of God. What we have created is essentially a saddle bag full of judgments that we carry around with us all day, every day. This saddlebag did not exist the day we crawled out of the womb and took our first breath. We have been unwittingly adding to this backlog of judgments and expectations of other people ever since. It is these judgments, opinions, perceptions, projections, expectations and “disciplines” that we are chained to, that keep our vision limited and small, that keep us prisoners, and literally seeing only what we project. If there are those that we can define as “other” it helps us to more clearly define who we are, and it is this definition that we have been looking for ever since the tiny mad idea of separation came to be. Seek but never find is the mantra of the ego. Remember, the basic reason fear exists is because of the erroneous notion and belief that we can somehow be separate from God, and therefore from each other. Fear isolates, immobilizes, dominates and colors every thought, word and action we have, whether we know it or not. The only time that fear is not present is when we are acting, thinking, speaking and relating out of love. Fear becomes such a part of life that it is like wallpaper, it is always there, but you are so accustomed to its presence that you do not even see it. The greatest fear, of course, is the Big Kahuna, the one that all of the smaller fears bow down to. The Big Kahuna is the fear of death. This is because, without really knowing it, we see ourselves as alone and isolated. As such, underneath everything is the all-encompassing fear that if we die, everything ends. We are no more. We cease to exist forever. This is understandable in terms of an ego that sees the body as the essence of life itself, rather than merely a vehicle for communication and the extension of the love of our spiritual Selves. In terms of the ego, we are our bodies. We define ourselves and others accordingly, without even knowing it. Bodies are vulnerable, can be injured, get sick and die. Our bodies are the ultimate expression of separation. They are the boundaries between us and others. As soon as we begin to see our bodies as instruments to create connections with other people, the ego will begin to fade, but not without a fight. The Ego is an Illusion However, the ego is, and always has been, an illusion. It is not real, although we certainly ascribe reality to it, and its insane notions, without really knowing it. The ego can die to us because it never really existed. But we cannot die because God cannot die, and we are as eternal as God. When we begin the process of living a life of peace, of connecting to the eternal reality of who we really are, the ego’s demise is inevitable and the life you always wanted will become manifest. Because the ego dictates that we are separate from each other and from God, we need to protect ourselves. We build walls around ourselves much like the castles of medieval Europe, complete with moats and catapults. We do not let other people in and we do not let our real selves out. But, the interesting part is that we are really only projecting our small, ego-centric selves and thoughts onto the world outside. Everything we see is really a reflection of that which is occurring on the inside. We saw this phenomenon in the examples of the car accident, the game of “telephone”, and the viewing of the Mona Lisa that are discussed on the Change Your Perception Page of this website. In that we are only projecting our own thoughts and feelings onto others, we really need to protect ourselves from ourselves. We are truly our own worst enemies. We begin protecting ourselves by going beyond our fear and allowing ourselves to let God lead the way. We find the courage to make a decision for inner peace and do whatever it takes to go there. We connect ourselves more and more to the never ending love of our Creator and actively look for the God in other people, rather than seeking to remain imprisoned in our illusion of separation and judgment. So, how do we go about eliminating this weight of fear if we don’t even know it is there? Fear isn’t always all that obvious. It is not likely that you walk around in a panic all the time. Clearly, you need to be able to identify it in order to eliminate it. So, how do you do it? Identifying Fear The first thing you need to do is open your mind to the possibility that it is always there in one form or another. If you can begin to identify the thoughts that run through your head, the thoughts that tend to keep you isolated and separated from other people, this would be a good place to start. Everyone has had the experience of going to meet with someone and having a fight in your head with the person long before you get there. Everybody has grievances and resentments they hold with other people, which is one of the ego’s tactics for maintaining separation. Notice these thoughts and you can follow them to the fear that created them. You will then be able to forgive yourself and everyone else, and move on with your life, unencumbered by the weight of fear. Sometimes we need to find our fears in our reactions to others and ourselves – reactions such as anger, suspicion, hatred, and frustration. Any emotion that is not love is driven by fear. It is never anger, because fear is the monster that lives below the surface and drives the anger. If you will be completely honest with yourself and seriously examine yourself whenever you become angry, if you sincerely ask yourself what is driving the anger, if you are willing to dig deep and find the roots of the anger, you will always come face to face with fear. Fear is the culprit, not the anger. If you focus on eliminating the anger, it is like trying to get rid of a fever with Tylenol and Motrin. You will mask the symptoms but you will not get to the root cause of the problem with that remedy. You may feel better in the short term, but nothing has really changed and you will be doomed to repeat the process until you find the fear and call it for what it is. Fear also manifests itself in controlling behavior. The people that try harder to control the circumstances of their lives, and the lives of the people around them, are the people who are the most afraid. (For a more in depth explanation of this phenomenon, you may want to pick up a copy of How to Enjoy Peace In Your Life Everyday) They are striving to make everything and everyone they encounter line up with their own internal sense of how things are supposed to be. They are afraid of anything that is not in accord with their own internal script. More often than not they do not know they are doing this, and they don’t know that they don’t know. It is not just the “control freaks” that have an internal script as to exactly how the world should run. The script is the combination of everything that has happened in our lives up to the present moment. It is our interpretation of reality, although “interpretation” is somewhat inaccurate because there is often no conscious thought attached to the internal script. The more out of control things are internally, the harder we try to control things externally in order to maintain some ort of equilibrium. Controlling outside circumstances is, however, doomed to failure, which is why most “control freaks” are very unhappy people. I know this because I have been there, done that. By deciding to live a life of peace and confront the demons that I created inside myself that kept me from realizing that goal, I have been able to release the world from my grasp. And the world is a much better place for it. Thank God! Intolerance is another manifestation of fear. Intolerance is based on judgment, which is just a manifestation of the wish to be separate from our brothers and sisters. It is simply seeking to place our own template, our own stamp of approval, on someone else’s reality. It gives us ample opportunity to withdraw our magnanimity whenever things do not measure up to exactly what we think are the proper standards. There is also an element of arrogance in intolerance. Arrogance is also a manifestation of fear, and a projection of our own erroneous and totally unfounded feelings of “less than.” So there is either love or there is fear. These are the only two options. According to A Course In Miracles, we are either acting out of love or a call for love, which is fear. Fear is the illusion that blocks us from the experience of love in our lives. Love is the experience of our connection to God and our understanding and acceptance of that connection. So how do you know you are afraid, or acting out of fear? A good rule of thumb could be that unless it is love, it is fear, they are the only possibilities. We are either acting out of love or acting from our ego, which is the same as acting out of fear. We are either thinking from our higher selves or thinking from the prison of the ego. If you are thinking from your higher self, everything fits, everything feels good. Even if your brain does not think it is the right thing, and your emotional system does, go with the heart – the brain will generally come along. Another good habit to get into is to simply ask God for help. Ask Him where to go, what to do, what to say, and to whom. Maintain openness and a willingness to hear the answer, because the answers will come. Download the Article: “Letting Go of Fear” PDF [Right-click and choose 'save target as'] ~*~ *George Wallace is the President and CEO of The Discovery Communications Group, an award winning, fully integrated website design, marketing and advertising agency. He is also author of the book “How To Enjoy Peace In Your Life Everyday“

The Real Secret ~ Ahyh and Libby Maxey

The Real Secret
by Ahyh & Libby Maxey*

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[As it appears in the August 2011 Newsletter] 

http://www.yhwh.com

Lesson 183 is “I call upon God’s Name and on my own,” yet God’s actual Name is never mentioned in the lesson! Lesson 184 is equally as significant, and cryptic: “The Name of God is my inheritance.” Here again, God’s Name is not mentioned. Dr. Helen Schucman, the scribe of A Course in Miracles may not have known God’s Name, but Jesus the Christ, the voice who spoke to Helen, certainly did! Indeed, for the entire Judeo-Christian tradition there is one and only one Personal Name for Divinity found in the Bible. Still, the purpose for A Course in Miracles required that it be as non-sectarian and widely-appealing as possible. As you can well imagine, there is a lot that could be said about this essential topic. A lot. Cutting straight to the chase, we will give you what you absolutely must know. When all is revealed, the great secret of the ages is this: YOU ARE GOD’S REAL NAME. For beings like us, “Sue” or “Libby” or “Frank” will suffice as names. Our names re-present us, embodying all that we are in letters, word and sound. For God, simple letters and words would never do – God’s Name needs to be a quantum leap above and beyond human language and our simple ideas about names. Amazingly, the Bible has held this secret for thousands of years! –\– The Bible reveals that there is only one Personal Name for Divinity. Known as the Tetragrammaton, (meaning “the four-letter Name”) this Name appears in the Bible over 6,000 times. In Hebrew, this Name (spelled right-to-left) is Transliterated into English, these four letters are (left-to-right) YHWH As a student of spirituality, you have probably seen this Name shown many ways: YHVH, JHWH, JHVH, Yahweh, Yahveh and others. Even “Jehovah” is based on the original Hebrew Tetragrammaton. Here is the wonder and the mystery. God’s Personal Name, the Tetragrammaton, indicates God’s REAL Name. God did not spell His/Her REAL Name left-right, nor right-left, but top-bottom. Simply take the four Hebrew letters of the Tetragrammaton, and spell it vertically: That’s you! God’s personal Name, , spelled vertically is a pictogram of a human being: head, arms, torso and legs, indicating God’s REAL Name: YOU ARE GOD’S REAL NAME. –\– Now we can see the depths of revelation “hidden” in the Course’s Lessons 183 & 184: “To call upon His Name is but to call upon your own.” That’s because you ARE God’s Name.  You re-present God to the world. All of Divinity’s glory is embodied in you! “Your Father’s Name reminds you who you are, even within a world that does not know; even though you have not remembered it.” YHWH reminds us of our true nature, made in God’s image, the perfect reflection of Divinity. And you, as an ascended being, reflect God to everyone around you. “In this eternal, still relationship, in which communication far transcends all words and yet exceeds in depth and height whatever words could possibly convey, is peace eternal. In our Father’s Name, we would experience this peace today. And in His Name it shall be given us.” It is so! It always has been, and could never be otherwise. The Name waits patiently for you to discover the truth of your own identity. We highly recommend that you return to Lessons 183 & 184 with this new understanding of God’s Name. Knowing God’s Name (and your own!) will unlock greater and deeper insight and revelation. –\– Maybe this is a review for you, or perhaps your head is spinning. Please relax, and know these three essential things: 1) We are NOT making this up. We neither invented nor discovered this “secret” knowledge. Amazingly, this has been on nearly every page of the Old Testament since well before Jesus came to the Earth. 2) There is a lot of material that is meant to help you really get your mind and heart around this Name. We host http://www.yhwh.com, and have written a new book that explains all essential aspects of spirituality from the perspective of God’s Holy Name. The book is called The Future Testament. You can explore it at http://www.TheFutureTestament.com. 3) We are real people. This ministry is our full-time job. We are here to help you, if we can. Please feel free to email us at Libby@Yhwh.com. May love and peace continue to grow, as you recognize God’s Name as your essential self. Love, Ahyh andLibby Maxey. ~*~ *The leadership of The Church of Yahweh (“TCOY”) consists of a small group of people in Tennessee and Southern California. We all have day jobs, families, hobbies, and affiliations with other Churches; one sometimes plays the organ at a Lutheran Church, one teaches Bible Studies at a Methodist Church, and so on.We have come together for One Primary Purpose: To remove the obscurity & ignorance surrounding God’s Divine, Holy Name, and see how that Name can be used as a precious gift to help transform our lives. The Church of Yahweh is a non-denominational (which, in today’s world, means that TCOY is its own denomination) outreach. Occasionally we have local meetings, but our primary tool is the World Wide Web. http://www.yhwh.com

Miracle of Forgiveness ~ George Wallace

Miracle of Forgiveness
by George Wallace*

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[As it appears in the July 2011 Newsletter]

http://welcomingpeace.com/

George Wallace is the President and CEO of The Discovery Communications Group, an award-winning, fully integrated website design, marketing and advertising agency. He is also author of the book “How To Enjoy Peace In Your Life Everyday“ The following is an excerpt from full Article: “The Miracle of Forgiveness” PDF

At the time of this writing (June of 2011), I have not had a drink in over 28 years. For the first few years of my recovery, which began the day I walked into my first 12 step meeting, I had a real hard time understanding how I could have been so cruel to myself for so long. I looked at all of the life threatening situations I put myself into (there were many) and judged myself unmercifully. Today, I have a very different perspective. I see all of the ways that I could very easily have ended up dead, and I thank God for saving me from my own ignorance and fear. Clearly, He has work for me to do and I am more than willing to do it. But back then, I beat myself with a massive baseball bat of judgment and carried an unnecessary burden of implacable guilt about the things I did, the people I hurt, and the damage I caused while I was under the influence of alcohol. I had a lot to learn until I was finally able to forgive myself. I had to learn that becoming an alcoholic and a dry drunk were not my goals. It was not something I set out to accomplish. And it was not a life long dream of mine to end up a slave to a bottle of booze. I didn’t plan to become a dry drunk, slipping further and further into insanity every day and fighting with all my might to keep from going over the edge. I did not know that I had an addictive personality. I did not know that my abuse of alcohol was abnormal because I hung around with people who did the same thing. I did not know that growing up in a crazy alcoholic household would have a deep and profound impact on me mentally and spiritually. And I did not know that I did not know. In order to forgive myself I had to recognize that I was not in my right mind when I was an active alcoholic, that I was under the power of something I didn’t remotely understand, and that I ended up becoming someone that I really am not. I had to realize that I could not possibly have known the things I needed to know in order to intervene in my own life. I had to admit that, as intelligent, sophisticated and accomplished as I like to think I am, I knew nothing of the dark cloud that descended upon me, including the fact that it was even there. I had to finally understand that I made a lot of mistakes, all the while thinking I was doing the right things. I did not know what I was dealing with and I didn’t know that I did not know. On this basis I was finally able to forgive myself and experience the relief that only genuine forgiveness can provide. My forgiveness did not change the fact that I still have a life threatening disease, fully earned, one drink at a time. But it did cause a shift in my perspective and remove the guilt I felt toward myself that I always re-directed onto any available target, particularly my family and anyone else who made the mistake of trying to get close to me. My forgiveness also allowed me to understand that, although I became an alcoholic, an alcoholic is not who I am. I learned that real forgiveness, freely applied, will remove all the emotional turmoil I can bring into my life. I also learned that genuine forgiveness is a universal truth, and if I can learn it and apply it to my life, anyone can. There is nothing special about me. But there is a lot that is very special about genuine forgiveness. Forgiveness is very often misunderstood. That which passes as the popularly practiced form of forgiveness is largely a waste of time, and a cruel joke perpetrated by an ego that has no desire to give up one small speck of control without a fight. In order for forgiveness to be real it has to create an immediate, noticeable and permanent shift in the long-term feelings of the one doing the forgiving. It doesn’t matter whether or not there is an immediate effect on the person being forgiven, because that is neither the intent nor the point. When we forgive someone, very much like me forgiving myself for becoming an alcoholic, we release ourselves of the immense burden judgment and guilt place on our hearts and souls. My forgiveness has nothing to do with anyone but me. By forgiving my family, especially my father, I was able to have an actual relationship with him because he did not have to change anything. I made the shift for both of us. Have you ever had the experience of being engaged in a serious disagreement with another individual? You were absolutely certain that you were right. You argued your point, did not give one sliver of ground, and made it perfectly clear that there was something remarkably defective about the other person for not laying down and giving in to your superior intellect and obviously correct position. Then you learned that you were wrong. For whatever reason, you discovered that your perception of the situation was flawed and you had made a mistake. This understanding was probably followed by a period of feeling badly about the mistake you made. The operative dynamic here is the understanding that you were mistaken. You felt some measure of relief and may even have apologized to the other person. You became free of the burden of having to be right. And you were able to repair a connection to another person that had been temporarily broken. The connection is repaired whether or not you are able to speak to the other person because it is the connection to yourself that had really been broken, and it is this connection that forgiveness repairs. Genuine forgiveness always heals us and it always brings us closer to our real Selves, to the person God originally intended for us to be. I talk about genuine forgiveness because there is a fundamental difference between genuine forgiveness and that which has been traditionally understood. Forgiveness, as it is more commonly practiced, goes along the lines of telling yourself that you are going to “let this go”. You are going to take the high road and overlook that little indiscretion. Or, you have decided that what the other person did or said isn’t important enough to warrant a major fuss, that you are big enough to rise above it, and on this basis you can let it go. There are a number of things, besides the fact that this strategy simply does not and cannot work, that are completely wrong with this approach. First it comes from a place of superiority, which is ego, and is therefore based on fear and guilt. It is not healing, and it provides neither relief nor a correction of erroneous perception. This type of “forgiveness” does not change anything. You still believe the other person has wronged or attacked you in some way, and that very belief lives between the both of you forever. The only thing that is really wrong is your thinking, which is the good news because you can change your mind any time you want. The ability to decide what you think, and thereby feel, is one of the only things you do have control over in your life. I am not telling you that this is easy. The lure of the familiar (the way you have always thought and felt, often without being aware of it) is very often irresistible. However, I am telling you that it is possible to be free, because if I can do it, anyone can. The erroneous belief that you can just “let this go” necessarily emanates from a position of imagined superiority. Arrogance is just another name for the fear that drives the feelings of inadequacy and vulnerability that plague our lives every day, often without our conscious awareness. This type of thinking, no matter how good we are telling ourselves we are being, only serves to maintain a state of isolation and separation. It perpetuates the illusion of “us” and “them”, it does not heal, and it ensures that you live in a constant state of guilt and fear, whether you know it or not. A Course in Miracles asks the question; “Would you rather be right or happy?” This is a very good question, if you stop long enough to give it some thought. A Course in Miracles also teaches us that a miracle is simply a change in perception. So, in order to understand and apply the dynamics of true forgiveness in our lives, let’s take a look at the 5 building blocks of forgiveness: 1. That you do not, nor did you ever, have the big picture. All you know is that which you have learned or experienced. This gives you such a miniscule perception of all that exists, that something so small could not even be measured. 2. That nobody else has the big picture, either. Everyone else is acting out of their experience. Just like you, they are taking past experiences and allowing them to color everything they think and feel today. This dynamic also guarantees that the future will look exactly like the past, unless you decide to make a change in the present. Remember, insanity has been defined as doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result. 3. That anything you do, say, or think, has nothing to do with anyone else. It has only to do with you. It is all your stuff. Conversely, anything anyone else says, does, or thinks, has nothing to do with you. It only has to do with them and their perception, which is the product of their past. So, what we have is a situation where everyone’s past keeps bumping into and reacting to one another, and nothing changes, because nothing changes. Remember, every time you point a finger at someone else, there are three pointing back at you. 4. That we are all walking, talking, judgment machines, often without being aware of the extent to which we judge everything. However, until we make a conscious decision to refrain from judgment, we have no idea how much it permeates our lives. Think about it: You see it between the red states and the blue states, political parties, religions, nationalities, races, (the Native Americans were branded as “savages” which made it easier to justify our savagery toward them, the Black Africans were labeled sub-human which made the economic justification of enslaving hundreds of thousands of human beings acceptable, the Nazis were the “master race”, infidels are not clean and Muslims are terrorists. 5. Following and accepting the logic of steps one to four, the probability exists that you misperceive, to a greater or lesser extent, every situation you find yourself involved in. Accept this as a fact of life and become willing to notice your own propensity to judge. It is the judgments which are always entirely ego based and have the intent of keeping us separate from other people (and separate from God, which is the subject of another white paper) that you need to summon the courage to face. Remember, willingness to do creates the ability to do. Your willingness to begin noticing and eliminating your judgments gives you the saw with which you can begin to cut through the bars of the jail you have erected for yourself. Understanding and allowing the principles of the building blocks of forgiveness into your life will always lead you to the unmistakable and counter intuitive miracle of forgiveness. GENUINE FORGIVENESS OCCURS WHEN WE FORGIVE OTHERS FOR THE MISTAKES WE HAVE MADE. Genuine forgiveness has nothing to do with the other person. It has only to do with ourselves. It has to do with the willingness, discipline and ability to recognize that we have probably looked at something in the wrong way. A good rule of thumb is to remember, at those times you have negative feelings about anything, the probability exists that you have perceived something incorrectly. Give yourself the benefit of this doubt and it will make a magnificent difference in your life. All you need is a little bit of willingness. If you cannot find the willingness, that is OK. Just try being willing to be willing. Real forgiveness does not lead to happiness because happiness is not a destination. Real forgiveness produces a sense of peace that is beyond happiness. True forgiveness releases us from our own misperceptions, unfounded judgments, feelings of inadequacy and burdens of guilt. It can be learned by anyone, will always change your life for the better, and it can last forever. True forgiveness is the only thing that can permanently release us from the shackles we have bound ourselves with through judgment, prejudice, and ego. Forgiveness is the mechanism that we have been generously provided to rescue ourselves from ourselves. It is the only adequate answer we have for an ego that would imprison us in minutiae while convincing us of our grandness. It is the only answer we have for an ego that would keep us feeling separate from our brothers and sisters by using fear, suspicion and criticism, while telling us that we have so many friends and how popular we are. Forgiveness is the only tool we have that can totally release us from the pervasive feeling of being “less than.” Genuine forgiveness is the quickest way to become the person God originally intended you to be. It is a guaranteed mechanism that will allow you to experience the peace, serenity, joy, and love that you came here with, that you have sought for so long, and that is your birthright. Download the “The Miracle of Forgiveness” PDF [Right-click and choose 'save target as'] ~*~ *George writes: “My ultimate goal is to become the person that God originally intended for me to be. I believe that the only way to accomplish this is to engage the passion for learning I have been given, and to be as true to myself as is humanly possible.“

Nothing to Forgive ~ J. Michaels

 

Nothing to Forgive

By J. Michaels*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

http://www.jmichaelsbooks.biz

[As it appears in the June 2011 Newsletter]

The goal of forgiveness is to realize that there is nothing to forgive. That goal is stated quite eloquently in one of the most articulate and persuasive books ever produced in the English language, the revolutionary spiritual teaching of A Course in Miracles.  I have studied this divine curriculum on a daily basis ever since the first time I picked it up, almost twenty years ago. That teaching, studied so diligently and absorbedly, changed my life in unimaginable ways and led me away from an egocentric, self-absorbed existence to a life now filled with blessings. That long and inspired journey taught me forgiveness, which opened my mind to the infinite possibility of a life existing alongside the delusional and ego-ruled existence that we know as “the world”. I came to see that divine possibility as an ever-existing reality which lives just outside our perceptual boundaries, yet knows no peer or even comparative examples in an inherently-limited, perceptual world. If I may, I will borrow a few minutes from your day to tell you of my adventure and the treasures found in its pursuit. I received a copy of A Course in Miracles from my wife shortly after the death of my mother. At that time, I had no idea of what it was about (neither did she) and certainly no forewarning of how much it would eventually impact my life. I have always had an inquiring mind, especially when it comes to matters of mind and spirit and that inquisitiveness, accompanied by a deep inner connection, compelled me to study this strange new book. Within a few minutes of my initial reading, I knew I held something very special in my hands. Having always possessed a preference for anything out of the ordinary, the book quickly grabbed my attention and I proceeded to delve into it with an open mind. Despite my proclivity for the unusual, I am also a very pragmatic, results-oriented person and surprisingly the Course appealed to those leanings as well. What I discovered was an articulate (even poetic) curriculum for seeing the world as we know it in an entirely new light, one that left me both hopeful and spiritually enlivened. It is an intelligent and insightful view of both the frailties of this world and the reality of the divine realm. Better yet, it gives very precise instruction for dealing effectively with the former and for discovering the truth of the latter. Unlike many spiritual practices, it deals not only with spiritual concerns but also with the part of the mind which drives our ego-centric lives as well as the part capable of unveiling and living in the unified Mind of the Divine. An essential component of the practice of Course precepts is forgiveness, as mentioned previously. The big difference however is the way the Course defines the term. Unlike the traditional perception of forgiveness as pardoning someone for wronging us, the Course prescribes forgiveness as a means for eliminating the barriers created by the guilt and fear driven ego mind and thereby revealing to us our true spiritual nature. It does so by providing compelling arguments that we should forgive not because someone has wronged us but rather because, in truth, the “wronging” only occurred in an illusory state of mind, or dream. As radical as it may seem, this revolutionary worldview has been proposed and endorsed by such great historical minds such as Plato, William James, Albert Einstein, and Carl Jung, as well as contemporary luminaries such as Eckhart Tolle, Marianne Williamson, and Dr. Wayne Dyer. The Buddha himself taught that most of us live our lives in a dream state and that our main goal in life ought to be to awaken from it to the reality of our divine nature. Jesus of Nazareth spoke of his “Father’s House” and the many wonders of the divine world as his truth. The good news is that we can awaken from the illusory dream of a perceptual-based world created by an ego-ruled mind and live our lives in a more enlightened way. That way is the path of forgiveness and of A Course in Miracles. In order to provide an example of how forgiveness works in the material world, I offer a story from my own life. Many years ago, shortly after my wife and I married, she began to experience dreams in which I was unfaithful to our marriage vows. Although she readily admitted there was no basis for suspicion or the dreams, she continued to have them. Having studied dreams for many years, I understood that they were simply revealing to her aspects of her subconscious that had nothing to do with reality.  Yet the dreams seemed so real to her that upon awakening, she was actually angry at me for some time until it completely dawned on her that she had been dreaming. This is much like what we all experience in dreaming at times and points out how “real” our lives can appear to us, even in a dream state. It is only upon “awakening” that we realize that we have been dreaming and have finally returned to the real world. I remember similar experiences during the sixties as I experimented with hallucinogenics. The state of mind induced by those drugs convinced me, while under their influence, that my altered state of mind was, in fact, my reality. I was so convinced of it that I did some pretty stupid things. Unlike some others, I did not go as far as to believe I could fly and leap from an upper level balcony, but I suspect that was due more to good providence than good sense. All of these experiences, including my wife’s dreams, convinced me that our sense of reality is very much conditioned by our state of mind and, that in a perception-based existence, our reality is not only limited but distorted as well. Once we accept that premise, it is but a very short leap to consider the world as we perceive it as misrepresented at best and illusory at worst. My years of study of the Course and subsequent experiences in the world have only served to confirm that belief and to further convince me of the unsatisfying and false view of reality the material world presents. Though it may seem that we have traveled a tangent here in search of an answer, we have not. For the basis of forgiveness as I have described it here is predicated on the fact that we judge, condemn, and even crucify ourselves and others based on behavior and performance in a world built on illusion. Having said that, should we not forgive ourselves for something we never, in truth, did? Should we not reconsider our allegiance to a world built on such a fragile foundation? And would not a good starting point for that reevaluation be letting go of any judgments or resentment based on what may or may not have actually happened? Any reaction to an event is based on the assumption that what we perceive is true or else would we not simply ignore it? If that premise of truth does not persist under the microscope of reason, do we not do ourselves and others a grave injustice by continuing as if it does? Is it not possible, as the Course states, there is nothing to forgive. What we discover, once we accept the absurdity of a life based on an illusory foundation, is a reality much more satisfying and certain than any found in the limited, contradictory, and uncertain world we have accepted for so long. Despite a long history of disease, violence, death, wars, and nightmarish epochs such as the Inquisition, we continue to accept our “reality” as our due; while at the same time expounding that it was created by a benevolent, loving Creator. I don’t blame this mess on God. I believe the world as we perceive it is a result of our own misguided perception and willingness to accept illusion as our reality. No perfect, loving God would deign to create divine offspring only to then let them live in such a world. I submit that God did create the world; only not the one we perceive and “validate” with our frail and unreliable senses. I believe He created a world so superior to what we normally experience we would be filled with joy at the mere sight of it. That world, my friends, exists. It has always existed and it will exist forever, whether we are aware of it or not. Yet once we do awaken and become aware of its truth, we will know beyond any doubt whatsoever, that it is the real world and that we have spent our lives dreaming a nightmare of our own construction. But rather than regret, we will know only of the all-encompassing Love our Beloved Creator has used to create the real world. I know this from A Course in Miracles. I know this from practicing forgiveness for twenty years, including the forgiveness of my son’s murderer. And I know this from having seen and touched that world. Nothing I can put into words can adequately describe of what I speak but know it is a promise made by God to His lost and errant children as they leave the dream of hate and come home to Him in Paradise. Is it not worth some small effort to consider the possibility of a divine life that exists now, and not just some abstract and distant promise of an artifact of mortal death? I look around at the material world and I see no reason to cling so fervently to it or the dismal existence that it offers. For me, I’ll bet my money on forgiveness, and God. Copyright 2011 J. Michaels J. Michaels Writer, Storyteller, Poet Spiritual Life Coach                 ~ j@jmichaelsbooks.biz www.jmichaelsbooks.biz