Sunday, August 31, 2014

The Role Of My Higher Mind

I have received quite a few messages from subscribers and those that are reading me through the blog-sphere about my recent posts and what is happening in Iraq/Syria from ISIS or ISIL. How does this horror seem to fit? Isn’t ISIS/ISIL the epitome of evil? Shouldn’t we kill them all? Questions/Comments like that.
There are two worlds we live in: A horizontal one and a vertical one. The horizontal world contains a linear past, present, and future. If I imagine this world on my lap, on my left is the past, the middle of my lap contains the present, and on my right lies the future. There also exists the vertical world. It moves straight upward from the middle of my lap. It is the eternal NOW.
A Course in Miracles (ACIM) states that this vertical world is the only real world.  There have been others that have proclaimed this reality, as well. For a couple of examples, Eckert Tolle and his book, The Power of Now or Alcoholics Anonymous and its emphasis on the current 24-hours or One Day At A Time, or Jesus’ teachings, as recorded in the Gospels, that Eternal Life is inside you now if you would but notice it.
The horizontal world is the world we generally think of as “the real world.” It is the world of my perception – and your perception, as well. Our perceived worlds have a lot in common – a lot of shared, taught, and believed images / presuppositions / predispositions. But there are also some significant differences in our perceptions. My wife and I refer to our basic, lower egoic minds as Hortense and Felix, respectively. When we have arguments – and we do – they are always about the perceptions of Hortense versus the perceptions of Felix. They are generally arguments trying to establish who is right, or more right, or mostly right?
So what’s going on? Let me furnish an analogy.
In a dream I am trying to win the lottery in order to become a super-duper benefactor of Progressive causes. I awake in the morning angry at God because, in the dream, He refused to “give” me the current six winning numbers. He appeared not to listen to my entreaties, my pleas, or my wonderfully altruistic intentions. In my dream I was frustrated, resentful, angry, and irritated at God for not “helping” me attain “my” goal. As I awake I am still angry and short-tempered. That’s how I begin my day. It’s probably not going to be a calm, peaceful, joyous one.
That dream is analogous to this horizontal world – this world we all perceive but which exists only with the meanings each of us attributes to it. Hortense has meanings she attributes that are different than those of Felix. That can cause us “problems.” Some perceptions Hortense and Felix share and that produces “harmony.” On some attributes Hortense and Felix have simply agreed to disagree. Nevertheless, this horizontal world is as unreal to God as my dream is to me. It is only a dream.
Our horizontal world is full of pain, anger, resentments, and unfulfilled expectations – all based on fear. It’s a fear that stems from my fundamental belief, assumption, or supposition that I am fully separate – I am me and you are not. What is “mine” is not “yours.” I will protect “mine” from being taken away by “you.” I know you are trying to get “mine” because I am trying to get “yours.” Consequently, my life in my perceived horizontal world is based on this fundamental fear that I will not get what I want or that I will lose what I believe I have.
ISIS/ISIL believes just like this. They want their image of Islam to prevail. You must either agree with them or die. There is no compromise. We do exactly the same thing – only with a little more subtlety. ISIS/ISIL fears that we will take from them and we fear they will take from us. Because ISIS/ISIL believes they are right, they are justified in killing those that disagree. Because we believe we are right, we are justified in bombing the hell out of them.
I know this sounds harsh, but….  There is no degree of evil-ness. There is no degree in love-ness. It’s one or the other. The Old Testament word for sin is “to miss the mark.” If you have one arrow and a lion is charging you and you miss – it doesn’t matter if you miss by a lot or a little. You’re supper that night – which is pretty harsh.
However, ACIM teaches us there is no “sin.” Operating in this dream-world – the horizontal – there is only error, which can be corrected by choosing again and again until we finally experience the true reality of the eternal NOW – the vertical.
In addition to Felix, my lower egoic mind, I have a higher mind. My higher mind will see through some of this conflict. In fact he has composed much of this message. He is able to focus on more “moral” thoughts. But he is still residing on this horizontal plane of existence. However, he is aware of a vertical channel to the “real” world of spirit. He is open and willing to listen for the whispers of the Holy Spirit. I can allow him to become more and more trained to be more and more aware of clues or red flags that indicate Felix is in charge. However, when he consistently begins to say to Felix “Thanks for sharing, but that’s enough,” and asks for help to see the situation differently, the Holy Spirit has the opportunity to work a miracle. My higher mind has the ability to choose whether to relinquish control to the horizontal world or to be open and willing to explore the vertical, real world.
Although these messages are mostly for me, thanks for listening. As always – feel free to forward this message to your friends, family, and those accompanying you on your spiritual journey.
Don
#5 August 2014

Copyright, 2014

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