Day 142: Review - Lessons 123 & 124

Below are the links to my original posts for the lessons we are reviewing today:

Day 123: I thank my Father for His gifts to me.

Day 124: Let me remember I am one with God.

We begin our meditation with the following:

My mind holds only what I think with God.

Close your eyes, and breathe deeply in and out.  While you inhale, envision the air flowing into your lungs as the Breath of God Himself.  Let it fill your body with Peace, as your muscles relax, and your mind becomes open.  As you exhale, release any tension you may be carrying.  Let it go, and Trust that God will dispose of it.  Each breath you take is a gift, allowing your mind to be opened ever-wider.  Imagine your mind as an upside-down pyramid connected to the top of your head.  While you breathe in, the angle of its triangular shape widens, allowing crystals of Truth to nestle inside.  The passageway is open.  You are connected to your Source, to All Living Things, to the deepest awareness of True Knowledge.

As you rest in the Mind of God, let the following thoughts come to you:

I thank my Father for His gifts to me.

Indeed, your very consciousness is a gift.  You are alive!  And by the simple fact that it would be impossible for you to imagine not existing, you must exist eternally.  What a miraculous Gift God has given to you and to the world by your very creation!  You are an extension of God Himself, and all His Love is yours because God is Love.  With True Love comes everlasting Joy and Peace.  These Holy Gifts are yours, to give freely to your Brothers and Sisters, who are also part of You.  Let us give gratitude to God today that this is so.

Let me remember I am one with God.

We are ideas in the Mind of God, and ideas never leave their source.  No matter how much we may delude ourselves, we are always connected to God, and through Him, connected to All There Is.  Even on a subatomic physical level this is true.  We are Beings of Energy, joined to one another by Energy and operating within a Great Energy Field.  We are All One.  God exists within each individual, combined to comprise of the Whole.  Our Love is His Love.  His Love is Ours.  Anything outside of that is our own misguided belief, a falsehood we have made up to cover the Truth of our own Divinity and Oneness with All.

As we open our eyes again to walk about this physical world, let us bring with us what we learned in our meditation today.  Give gratitude where gratitude is due.  Every step you take, every blink of your eye is a miracle.  Give thanks to God, and your rewards shall multiply.  And as the distractions of this world try to lure you into forgetfulness, remember the Truth of your Being:  You are a part of God and All of His Creations.  At the root of your Oneness is Love.

Until tomorrow,
Journeyman

Day 141: Review - Lessons 121 & 122

Today marks the beginning of the fourth review section in the workbook of A Course in Miracles.  Below are my original posts for the lessons we are revisiting today:

Day 121: Forgiveness is the key to happiness.

Day 122: Forgiveness offers everything I want.

Before we begin each review over the next several days, we are asked to meditate for five minutes upon the following:

My mind holds only what I think with God.

After these five minutes, during which we align ourselves with the Central Mind of our Creator, we spend whatever time is necessary for us to reflect upon the lessons in review that day.

So, as you begin today's meditation, sit still and breathe deeply.  Let the distracting thoughts of your mind flow through you and flutter away, out of your mind's grasp.  Take notice, and concentrate on the central shimmer of light in the middle of your mind.  Watch as it expands slowly to fill the inside of your inner vision.  This bright Light, which now encompasses the entirety of your mind, engulfs you with its warmth and comfort.  Allow the calm to wash over you.  Sit in stillness as the awareness dawns on you that in this Light, you are connected to every other mind, for they are all there with you.  Here is the Mind of God, with which you now are thinking.  Here is the Light of Truth, awaiting to provide you with the answers to your deepest questions.

Forgiveness is the key to happiness.

Through Forgiveness, we are made Whole.  Forgiveness is Unconditional Love.  Forgiveness is Pure Joy.  Forgiveness is the recognition that we can not be harmed, for we are Holy Children of God.  Forgiveness is the awareness that We are All One.  Those who forget need but a gentle reminder.  Those who forget are asking for your Love, for they have forgotten what True Love is.  Show them, and Happiness shall be both your reward and theirs.

Forgiveness offers everything I want.

What more could any of us want than everlasting Joy?  This is what Forgiveness guarantees.  Forgiveness is not a pardon, for in Reality there is nothing we need pardon from.  All forms of attack are but illusions.  Forgiveness grants us our freedom from the snares illusions slip around us.  Releasing our anger, our hurt, our guilt and our shame eliminates the toxicity fear induces.  Forgiveness offers this release, and thus ensures our freedom.  What remains is Who We Truly Are: Divine and Joyous Beings of God.  What more could any of us want?

Consider today's meditation lessons as you go about your day.  In the evening, before you drift to sleep and slip into unconsciousness, take five minutes to align yourself with the Mind of God again.  With the Thoughts of Truth to guide you, reflect upon our lessons for today.  You will hear their ring of Truth before you lie down to rest, calmly and safely, in preparation for the day to come.

Until tomorrow,
Journeyman

Day 140: Only salvation can be said to cure.

The explanation for today's meditation in A Course in Miracles begins with this:

"Cure" is a word that cannot be applied to any remedy the world accepts as beneficial.  What the world perceives as therapeutic is but what will make the body "better."  When it tries to heal the mind, it sees no separation from the body, where it thinks the mind exists.  Its forms of healing thus must substitute illusion for illusion.  One belief in sickness takes another form, and so the patient now perceives himself as well.

He is not healed.  He merely had a dream that he was sick, and in the dream he found a magic formula to make him well.  Yet he has not awakened from the dream, and so his mind remains exactly as it was before.  He has not seen the light that would awaken him and end the dream.  What difference does the content of a dream make in reality?  One either sleeps or wakens.  There is nothing in between.

My understanding from this passage is that the multitude of so-called "remedies" for the various forms of sickness in this world are just as illusive as the illnesses themselves.  To "awake" to the Real world is the only True cure for disease.  So how do we do this?

We must first re-program our consciousness by reversing the world's brainwashing we have undergone.  The central idea to this false belief system is that we are separate from one another.  In Truth, We are All One.  This is the central idea of the world beyond, the world we Really inhabit, together with God.  This is the root of Love, the root of Joy and the root of Peace.  We are All One.  Once we replace our current foundation with this, we have taken the first step of our Atonement, our Salvation, our Awakening from the dream in which we have been living.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, once we have taken the first step, God will guide us the rest of the way, if we let Him.  In today's meditation lesson, we pray for this Divine Guidance:

Only salvation can be said to cure.
Speak to us, Father, that we may be healed.

As we meditate upon the words above, clearing our minds of all empty thoughts which do not serve our well-being, let us envision the healing light of Salvation burning brightly within our souls.  Focus your mind upon that pearl of light as it wells up within you.  Let it shine away any discomfort you may feel within your body.  Let the light radiate outward and join with the light of those around you.  That One Light of our souls combined shall extend even further, filling the inner-vision of your mind as you remember the fundamental Truth that We are All One.  All there is is Light.  From within the midst of that Light, listen closely for the faintest echo of a voice.  This is the Voice of God.  Tune your inner-ear and let His Voice cascade into the core of your being.  Let it instruct you how to proceed in this topsy-turvy world so that you may reach, along with all your Brothers and Sisters, your Salvation.  Here is where your Healing awaits.  Here is where the Gifts of Heaven are held in trust for you.  Here is where your True Home lies, with all those who ever loved you and who will love you forevermore.

If you ever fall prey to illness, gently remind yourself, "I am only dreaming I am sick.  Let me awake to the Light of Truth that I can not be harmed."

Until tomorrow,
Journeyman

Day 139: I will accept Atonement for myself.

The word “atonement” is usually used in reference to “atoning for one’s sins.”  A Course in Miracles, however, tells us that there is no sin.  It cannot exist.  So where does atonement come into play?  As the Course defines it, atonement, simply put, is a chain reaction of forgiveness, which leads to our ultimate salvation and freedom from the world of illusions in which we live.  What we perceive as “sin” is an illusion based in fear, which we must look past to the Truth beyond.  We do this through our forgiveness.  By shedding the Light of Love onto every shadow of darkness, by blessing those who attack us and perceiving the world through the Mind of God with the Truth of our Oneness, we align ourselves along the path of Atonement.  Sin does not exist, and in our recognition of this we are able to truly forgive, rather than continue to hold onto grievances.

The workbook in A Course in Miracles adds upon today's idea:

We have a mission here.  We did not come to reinforce the madness that we once believed in.  Let us not forget the goal that we accepted.  It is more than just our happiness alone we came to gain.  What we accept as what we are proclaims what everyone must be, along with us.  Fail not your brothers, or you fail yourself.  Look lovingly on them, that they may know that they are part of you, and you of them.

With that in mind, here is today's meditation: 

I will accept Atonement for myself,
For I remain as God created me.

You are a beautiful soul, brought into this troubled planet with the sole mission of restoring it to sanity.  Each child born is an angel sent here for this very task.  We may live in this world presently, but we are never of this world.  Let us not forget this.  Let us remember our Brilliant Light within, and remind others as we reflect their own to them.  Do not engulf yourself in the shadows of this lonely planet, but look beyond the dark figures and See the Truth glittering behind the veil.  Heaven exists within you.  Bring it out, and share it with your Holy Brothers and Sisters who have come, with you, to draw the illusive curtains of this world, revealing the Grandeur and Beauty of God's Love.  That is our Atonement.  That is the path which has been laid before us.  All that is asked is that we take the first step.  God will be your Guide along the rest.

Until tomorrow,
Journeyman

Day 138: Heaven is the decision I must make.

We often think of Heaven and hell as places, destinations to which we travel when we depart our bodies here on earth.  Yet Heaven and hell are no more locations than the are the thoughts we think.

The world we live in is a world of opposites: Good and bad, rich and poor, smart and stupid.  Our perception of Heaven and hell is no different.  Yet the Real world, A Course in Miracles emphasizes in today's lesson, has no opposition.  There is only Love, there is only Peace, there is only Goodness and Generosity - in all their infinite forms.

As we live in a world of opposites, we must make the conscious decision to reside in Heaven, rather than choose that which brings us hell.  From this idea comes today's meditation:

Heaven is the decision I must make.  I make it now, and will not change my mind, because it is the only thing I want.

This whole notion of Heaven and hell as conscious choices reminded me of a poem I wrote a couple years back.  Here is a short excerpt:

Heaven and Hell are but states of mind.

I choose to live in Heaven now.
    Why wait for Death?

Indeed, we can have Heaven on earth if we so choose.  To do so, we need to be diligent about deciphering that which is Real from that which is an illusion.  Everything we see with our physical eyes is an illusion, but remember that they are representations of something deeper.  We must See past the illusions of this world to the thoughts and feelings which they reflect.  That which is Real is Love, Joy and Peace.  That which is unreal is anything rooted in fear.  The power of choice comes at this fundamental level.  Where we choose Love - which is to say where we choose Heaven - we will see Love reflected and made manifest in this world.  So choose Love today, and for the remainder of your days here on earth.  Always Love.  The opposition may remain a possibility as long as we are on this planet, but is it one you'd really favor over the gifts Heaven bears?

Heaven is the decision I must make.  I make it now, and will not change my mind, because it is the only thing I want.

Until tomorrow,
Journeyman

Day 137: When I am healed I am not healed alone.

We touched upon today's idea during yesterday's lesson.  The full meditation for today is as follows:

When I am healed I am not healed alone.  And I would share my healing with the world, that sickness may be banished from the mind of God's one Son, Who is my only Self.

Again, the core belief that We are All One plays a fundamental role in today's teaching.  Holding true that We are All One, it would naturally follow that if one of us is healed, then are we all.  Sickness opposes this idea.  When we are ill, we withdraw.  We become cut-off from one another and shift identification away from the Whole and onto our separate selves.  Of sickness, here is what A Course in Miracles tells us today:

Sickness is isolation.  For it seems to keep one self apart from all the rest, to suffer what the others do not feel.  It gives the body final power to make the separation real, and keep the mind in solitary prison, split apart and held in pieces by a solid wall of sickened flesh, which it can not surmount.

In contrast to the separation which sickness exemplifies, here is the Course's perspective on healing:

As you let yourself be healed, you see all those around you, or who cross your mind, or whom you touch or those who seem to have no contact with you, healed along with you.  Perhaps you will not recognize them all, nor realize how great your offering to all the world, when you let healing come to you.  But you are never healed alone.  And legions upon legions will receive the gift that you receive when you are healed.

Those who are healed become the instruments of healing.  Nor does time elapse between the instant they are healed, and all the grace of healing it is given them to give.  What is opposed to God does not exist, and who accepts it not within his mind becomes a haven where the weary remain to rest.  For here is truth bestowed, and here are all illusions brought to truth.

Remember that healing begins in the mind.  We learned this yesterday.  When our mind is healed from all thoughts of separation, we evolve and inhabit a higher spiritual plane.  Sickness cannot survive in this state, for to reside within a higher plane there comes a true awareness and understanding that illness is not Real.  As we are all connected, it is inevitable that when one reaches this state of higher consciousness, others follow in suit.

Imagine All of Life as a handkerchief floating in a puddle of murky water.  The puddle represents a world of disease, the world where we currently call home.  If you pinch the handkerchief at any given point and begin to lift it up and out of the water, the area surrounding the point you pinched will be lifted along with it.  Soon, as you continue to lift, the entire handkerchief will be above the water.

This metaphor is not too far from our current experience on this planet.  As a collective whole, we are drowning in disease.  It may take the form of physical illness, but much of our world's sickness is perceived in the violence and greed so prevalent today.  There are those of us who have managed to lift ourselves out of the murk.  These fortunate few have become greater and greater in number.  Our consciousness is beginning to shift.  We are all being pulled upward to a higher spiritual plane.  It may not seem evident yet, but that is the direction we are heading.  In time, we will no longer find ourselves submerged in sickness.  Our minds will be healed, and disease will no longer be a threat to our way of life.  It's simply a matter of waking up to the Truth.  Are you willing?  Are you ready to pull yourself out of the water and take your first breath of relief?  Let's do it... together.

Until tomorrow,
Journeyman

Day 136: Sickness is a defense against the truth.

Today's lesson in A Course in Miracles was tough for me to accept.  Here is an excerpt from the workbook further explaining today's idea:

Sickness is a decision.  It is not a thing that happens to you, quite unsought, which makes you weak and brings you suffering.  It is a choice you make, a plan you lay, when for an instant truth arises in your own deluded mind, and all your world appears to totter and prepare to fall.  Now are you sick, that truth may go away and threaten your establishments no more.

How do you think that sickness can succeed in shielding you from the truth?  Because it proves the body is not separate from you, and so you must be separate from the truth.  You suffer pain because the body does, and in this pain you made one with it.

So sickness is a decision?  (This is what spun my head around.)  So that means my grandmother's stroke was a decision?  My uncle's fatal heart-attack was a decision?  My cousin's breast cancer was a decision?  Disease of any kind certainly does not appear to be a choice to me.  Why would anyone choose illness over health?

"But let's try to understand what the Course is saying," I thought.  Perhaps we unconsciously choose to be sick, as the excerpt above suggests, in order to protect what we know - our bodies - by identifying with them and the pain we feel when we are ill.  It's ironic that in trying to protect ourselves we would shield ourselves from the Real Truth (which is so different from the world we live in that it frightens us) by deciding to invite disease into our bodies.  What a backwards way of thinking.  And that's precisely what the Course is trying to tell us.

At the same time I questioned the validity of today's lesson, it had an eerie ring of truth for me.  The first paragraph from the excerpt above says, "[Sickness] is a choice you make, a plan you lay, when for an instant truth arises in your own deluded mind, and all your world appears to totter and prepare to fall."  This statement in particular was very timely, for over the last week I've commented on how the world was beginning to feel shaky for me.  Then on Day 130 I had the realization that I needed to relinquish all control in order for the Truth to come through.  Yet I have not quite learned how to do this.  So what happens a few days ago?  I catch a cold, of course.  For an instant, Truth arose in my mind, and when I closed up to hold onto my false sense of control, I became sick a few days later.  Perhaps the Course is right, after all.  Perhaps sickness, whether we are aware of it or not, is a choice.

If this is so, then healing really does begin in the mind.  Now this concept I have no trouble believing, and it's one the Course emphasizes often.  Yet when put into the context of a real life situation (whether its catching a cold or suffering a heart attack), it's a tough one to fully understand.  The meditation for today's lesson follows this idea:

Sickness is a defense against the truth.  I will accept the truth of what I am, and let my mind be wholly healed today.

The Course goes on to explain the state of our bodies once the mind has been healed in whole:

The body should not feel at all.  If you have been successful, there will be no sense of feeling ill or feeling well, of pain or pleasure.  No response at all is in the mind to what the body does.  Its usefulness remains and nothing more.

Perhaps you do not realize that this removes the limits you had placed upon the body by the purposes you gave to it.  As these are laid aside, the strength the body has will always be enough to serve all truly useful purposes.  The body's health is fully guaranteed, because it is not limited by time, by weather or fatigue, by food and drink, or any laws you made it serve before.  You need do nothing now to make it well, for sickness has become impossible.

This is another one that threw me for a loop.  Does this mean we can survive without food or drink or sleep?  After all, those are the laws which we prescribe to the body.  And perhaps what the Course says here is so, but only a fully enlightened soul could have such power over their mind that their body would not need these things to survive.  Biology tells us that our bodies will decay, that we need nourishment and rest to keep them healthy.  It seems here that A Course in Miracles is saying the opposite, that a True Awareness of Who We Really Are is all the nourishment we need.  Indeed, we have heard that Jesus and Gandhi and many spiritual leaders in our history went long periods of time without food or water or sleep, so perhaps there is truth in this.  Maybe I just have a difficult time grappling it because I love food and sleep so much :-)

In all seriousness, I do not doubt the power of mind over matter.  That is what today's lesson is ultimately about.  It all comes back to the basic principle that We are All One.  All minds are joined, and it is their connection to one another and to our Source which heals them all.  In healing the mind, we heal the body, for we recognize that sickness cannot be.  It has no Real existence.  If we can learn to fully accept Truth into our lives instead of holding onto our false sense of control, the lines we've drawn between one another will begin to dissipate, and we will no longer believe that we are separate.  This takes courage, no doubt, for it involves accepting what is unfamiliar to us in this world.  But in exchange we will inherit so much more.  We will be reunited with our Remembrance of what we always knew and what in the Core of our Being is more familiar than this world could ever be.  Perhaps then we will see all illness - no matter how severe it may seem - vanish under the Light of Truth.

I pray that Blessed Day comes for us all very soon.

Until tomorrow,
Journeyman