The Gospel of Transformation, discover the real story of the Bible: Oneness

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Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Describing of My Unforgiving Self

Several days ago I did Lesson 121 in A Course in Miracles (ACIM). In ACIM the act of forgiveness is understanding there is no “sin” against God. After all, I am truly an already-loved eternal spirit living in the mind of God, I am not a separate human being that houses, somewhere, an eternal soul. There is only error based on false egoic perceptions. AA old-timers state: “The easiest way to forgive is to not blame in the first place.” I think it’s the same essential message.

LESSON 121: Forgiveness is the key to happiness

1 Here is the answer to your search for peace. Here is the key to meaning in a world that seems to make no sense. Here is the way to safety [from] dangers that appear to threaten you at every turn, and bring uncertainty to all your hopes of ever finding quietness and peace….

2 The unforgiving [egoic] mind is full of fear, and offers love no room to be itself; no place where it can spread its wings in peace and soar above the turmoil of the world. The unforgiving mind is sad, without the hope of respite and release from pain. It suffers and abides in misery, peering about in darkness, seeing not, yet certain of the danger lurking there.

3 The unforgiving mind is torn with doubt, confused about itself and all it sees; afraid and angry, weak and blustering, afraid to go ahead, afraid to stay, afraid to waken or to go to sleep, afraid of every sound, yet more afraid of stillness; terrified of darkness, yet more terrified at the approach of light….

4 The unforgiving mind sees no mistakes, but only sins. It looks upon the world with sightless eyes, and shrieks as it beholds its own projections rising to attack its miserable parody of life. It wants to live, yet wishes it were dead. It wants forgiveness, yet it sees no hope. It wants escape, yet can conceive of none because it sees the sinful everywhere.

5 The unforgiving mind is in despair, without the prospect of a future, which can offer anything but more despair. Yet it regards its judgment of the world as irreversible, and does not see it has condemned itself to this despair. It thinks it cannot change, for what it sees bears witness that its judgment is correct. It does not ask, because it thinks it knows. It does not question, certain it is right.

6 Forgiveness is acquired. It is not inherent in the mind which cannot sin. As sin is an idea you taught yourself, forgiveness must be learned by you as well, but from a Teacher other than yourself, Who represents the other Self in you. Through Him you learn how to forgive the self you think you made, and let it disappear. Thus you return your mind as one to Him Who is your Self and Who can never sin.

Yet, I fight this concept at times. I just don’t want to do it. Why? What do I have to give up to get this kind of peace and serenity? Perhaps …

· The joy of blaming

· The fantasy of winning the lottery or achieving fame and glory

· The self-righteous superiority I feel when I believe I’m right

· The belief that my anger, fear and distrust are justified because I see anger, fear and distrust (not understanding that I’m just seeing what I’m projecting).

The Lesson goes on to instruct me to go inward and bathe in the light and peace I find there. While at that place, forgive someone I dislike and notice how the light of forgiveness “splashes” onto me as well. Then do the same with someone I like.

So, I went to my “holy” place within me and stood in front of the calmimg white light that I know is my True Self. I have done this before, but – for the first time – I sensed a connection with a Being – not just the Light and its Peacefulness. I also sensed He communicated with me: I sensed Him smile.

I said, “Hello,”

He said, “I wait for you.”

I said, “What do you do?”

He said, “I am.” Again, He smiled and said, “I wait for you.”

Then I smiled.

I noticed that in earlier lessons and visits to this holy place in me, I remained something/someone different than the bathed-in-Light-Self I encountered. But, for the first time I felt like I and He were both face-to -face and alive. I know I am not finding the correct words to use – but I wasn’t “alone” in front of Him. I was together “with” Him.

After this short meeting with my Self, I promptly dozed off.

I still get goose-bumps when I think of this. I found it very enjoyable. I was very relaxed.

I just wanted to share this experience with you.

As I’ve stated before, “I have to understand, on a visceral level, who the “Me” or “I” really is when I am speaking or thinking. The “I” that says to myself, “I really need a newer, more reliable car” is a different “I” than the one that says to Spirit, “I can’t do this anymore; help me perceive things the way You see them.”

Although these messages are mostly for me, thanks for listening to me and getting to know me – warts and all. As always, feel free to forward this message to your friends, family, and those accompanying you on your spiritual journey.

Don

#1 May 2017

Friday, April 21, 2017

Easter and Me – and You, Too

I hope each of you had a wonderful Easter, which was celebrated while I was away.

A Course In Miracles (ACIM)’s Lesson 106 in the Workbook for Students is titled: Let me be still and listen to the truth.

I believe this is the quiet whisper you’ve heard me write about if you’ve gotten my messages before. (If this is your first message, go to my website www.DonODell.com and subscribe. There are no advertisements and it is easy to unsubscribe.) Hearing these whispers is what it means to me to truly understand that I am an already-loved eternal spirit having a human experience rather than being a human body that has housed, somewhere, an eternal soul.

I believe this passage is related to the resurrection. In the vernacular the resurrection is about the rising of Jesus’ body, which proved to believers He was divine. In ACIM, however, Jesus says it is about the rising of the mind from the ego’s dream of frailty, pain, fear and death to the awareness of eternal life or from the insanity of the ego to a perfectly healed perception. In this healed state I will perceive everything as acts of love or calls for love. Jesus’ resurrection was the proof, not of his divinity, but of the indestructibility of true, spirit-filled Life. His bodily reappearance was a symbol of the fact that true resurrection is of the mind and, thus, it is about the disappearance of the body as a real thing – rather than a magical reappearance.

When I touch base in quietness with my true Self – that innermost part of me – I am in the presence of my already-loved spirit: the real me. From that place I understand there is that place in you, as well. In that place we are One. The separateness we think is so real has vanished into thin air! The peace and serenity I feel is palpable and quite overwhelming. In that instant, there is no time, nor space. That is the reality of the Love of God. That is who I really am. However, I sense it only briefly. It is not a once-and-done exercise. I have also had similar experiences in AA, feeling absolutely connected, on a spiritual level, to all in the room.

Wherever I experience it, it is wonderful!

Lesson 106 states: “1 If you will lay aside the ego's voice, however loudly it may seem to call; if you will not accept its petty gifts that give you nothing that you really want; if you will listen with an open mind, that has not told you what salvation is; then you will hear the mighty Voice of truth, quiet in power, strong in stillness, and completely certain in Its messages.

2 Listen, and hear your Father speak to you through His appointed Voice, which silences the thunder of the meaningless, and shows the way to peace to those who cannot see. Be still today and listen to the truth. Be not deceived by voices of the dead, which tell you they have found the source of life and offer it to you for your belief. Attend them not, but listen to the truth.

3 Be not afraid to circumvent the voices of the world. Walk lightly past their meaningless persuasion. Hear them not. Be still today and listen to the truth. Go past all things which do not speak of Him Who holds your happiness within His Hand, held out to you in welcome and in love. Hear only Him today, and do not wait to reach Him longer. Hear one Voice today.

4 … His miracles are true. They will not fade when dreaming ends. They end the dream instead; and last forever, for they come from God to His dear Son, whose other name is you….

From my book, How the Bible became the Bible, p. 82-3: The Prophet Elijah [circa 9th century b.c.e.]. “Known as Elijah, the Tishbite from the northern kingdom…. He lived during the time when Ahab, King of the northern kingdom (Israel) married Jezebel, a Phoenician and worshipper of Baal….

“Elijah was known throughout his life as a champion of the “little people.” In the narrative of Naboth’s vineyard (1 Kings 21) we can visualize Elijah standing strongly against Ahab and all the subtle (and not so subtle) messages of the king’s wife, Jezebel—shrewd and calculating as the emissary of the Phoenician god Baal. When Ahab comes to take the vineyard, Elijah confronts him with the terrible word of doom from Yahweh. Elijah is supporting this common peasant against a king. His passion for fearless support of the “little man” is deeply rooted in the religion of Yahweh—very similar to Nathan’s condemnation of King David over his theft of Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11–12).

“Secondly, of course, is Elijah’s challenge to the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Elijah, with Yahweh on his side, challenged Phoenician priests, with their god Baal on their side, to a “duel of the gods.” For Elijah this was a “fall on your sword” issue….

“However, an interesting and touching note: Following this highly dramatic pyrotechnic confrontation, Jezebel, the queen, threatened Elijah. He feared for his life and hid in the mountains looking for the Lord to protect him. He looked in an earthquake, in mighty winds, in fire. He finally heard the “… still, small voice …” of the Lord (1 Kings 19: 9–14).” This, of course, is also reminiscent of Psalm 46:10 – “Be still and know that I am God.”

All I need to de is be truly willing to see things differently and ask the Holy Spirit (the voice for God in ACIM) to help me develop a different perception, I just need to be willing and to be still and listen, not to the loud voices of my ego, but to the quiet whispers of the Lord. Just like Elijah. Just like the Psalmist.

Don

#2 Apr 2017

Friday, February 17, 2017

Being Politically Active and Spiritually Serene – Part 2

Several people responded to my message last week by indicating that it wasn’t really very helpful. It contained some nice thoughts, was well-written, but was almost Pollyanna-ish. Not very helpful in the practical sense.

Here’s Part Two.

Last week I wrote:

“It’s been very difficult for me to be (a) politically active since the election and (b) spiritually centered at the same time. The more active I want to become the more frustrated/angry/disappointed I also become. Something’s not right – and the problem is in me.…

“I need to be in balance with both sets of these activities. In short, I need to be as politically active as I can, but not out of anger, fear, frustration, or anxiety. I need to be politically active out of love and acceptance.

“But how can I do that?”

I tried to answer that question by providing some simple analogies. I closed with:

“I need to understand that my perception of things, people or events is not really real. I have to acknowledge that these things certainly appear to be very, very real. But they’re not. I need to ask for a different way of looking at the situation. I need to “see” not with physical sight, but with spiritual vision – to “see” the same way the Holy Spirit “sees:” Everything is either an act of Love or a call for Love. That ability to “see” like the Holy Spirit is given to me as a gift from God.

“So, I can protest, write my congressional representatives, send emails, sign petitions, or contribute money sensing that this movement of our new government is simply a call for Love. It is an attempt to assuage fear by accumulating and exercising power to provide them with security. I can try to accept (which is to be aware without fear or judgment) their insecurity and attempt to correct their “not knowing” rather than screaming out of my self-righteous anger and fear.”

Being a grateful member of Alcoholics Anonymous has helped me beyond what can be discussed here. I cannot speak for AA (no one can) but I can relate things taught me by old-timers in the Program. These ideas and practical suggestions lie behind all of what I wrote last week. [As an aside – I believe the principles of A Course in Miracles (ACIM) and the practical suggestions of AA are so much in sync that they become almost indivisible in my mind]

Basically, I want to suggest that you simply do the next right thing when faced with “political” issues that are coming out of Washington, DC. Pray, meditate, discuss, or whatever it is you normally do, and then do what you think is right/correct/possible for you to do. But, as I was taught, do these things without expectations.

It is similar to making a 9^th Step amend to someone I have harmed while still drinking. I am making the amend for myself – to help me clean the messes I have made. This is necessary for me to open up myself to positive change. If the other person cannot accept my amend, I cannot worry about that. I may be saddened, of course. But how someone responds to me is beyond my act of contrition and the amend I was offering them. I was cautioned to “do the work honestly and let the God of my understanding handle the outcome.”

When I find myself frustrated, worried, fearful, and – especially – angry at not getting the outcome I was hoping for (translation: expected), then I can be relatively assured that I was not focused on my part only. I was concerned with the outcome I preferred to occur, not on the solid genuineness of making an honest, heart-felt amend.

When I am focused on outcomes, then I fully understand that I am not trying to simply do God’s work as best I understand it. I am really trying to do God’s job. When I put it to myself that that’s exactly what I was up to, and that’s exactly why I’m feeling so frustrated and angry – I am always stunned at the error I made – again. And again. And again. I am still a work in progress.

So, continue writing, calling, emailing, attending Town Hall meetings, working in concert with other groups, marching, making signs, or whatever. But do so following your heart and allowing the God of your understanding to control the outcome. I can try to accept (which is to be aware without fear or judgment) the politicians’ insecurity and attempt to correct their “not knowing” rather than screaming out of my self-righteous anger and fear because I want my outcome to occur.

You are not expected to do God’s job. So, quit trying to.

Don

#3 Feb 2017

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Being Politically Active and Spiritually Serene

It’s been very difficult for me to be (a) politically active since the election and (b) spiritually centered at the same time. The more active I want to become the more frustrated/angry/disappointed I also become. Something’s not right – and the problem is in me. I am being faced with the concrete reality of the perennial conflict of being in this world without being of this world.

I need to be in balance with both sets of these activities. In short, I need to be as politically active as I can, but not out of anger, fear, frustration, or anxiety. I need to be politically active out of love and acceptance.

Is that possible? If so, how can I do that? That is the real question.

As far as I’m concerned, I must comprehend several spiritual axioms:

· All God understands about me is that everything I think and do can be put into one of only two categories: It is either an act of Love or it is a call for Love.

· Every thought, word, or action I do will either add to fear or to love. That being the case, to fight fear with fear only adds to fear. To protest in anger or fear will simply create more anger and fear and defensiveness.

· To approach these same issues with loving acceptance may provide me the opportunity to make my voice heard without adding to the enmity that is surrounding me. But how?

Let me explain with some examples.

A Course in Miracles (ACIM) teaches me that what I believe about this physical world I live in is determined by my perception. My perception has been “taught” from the perceptions of my parents, whose perceptions were “taught” by their parents, and so on. All of our perceptions are reinforced or modified by all the others we interact with. So, many of us share a lot of common perceptions. That doesn’t make these perceptions real or valid – just systemic. However we explain our perceptions, ACIM states that all of them – good, bad, righteous, evil – are illusionary.

I explain to myself ACIM’s teaching using the following two small analogies.

We’ve all been to birthday parties for one- or two-year old children. Cameras flash all over the place as the children try to eat the birthday cake. The children begin to see flash spots from the picture-taking and, not knowing what they are, begin to try to grab these floating spots. However, we adults know that what the children think is real isn’t. Nevertheless, it’s cute to watch. That may be exactly how God sees us – reacting to things we think are awful, frightening, hellish, hurtful or loving, righteous, graceful, serene. He knows we think they are real – but He also knows they aren’t. All He knows is Love. All He perceives in our thoughts and actions are either acts of Love or calls for Love.

Most of us were taught to discipline children or grandchildren out of love, not anger. To discipline a child out of anger will create more anger, guilt and fear. When a parent says, “I’m punishing you because you did something that made Mommy/Daddy angry/scared/frustrated” fills the child with guilt or fear because the punishment is all about the parent’s emotional reaction, which the child doesn’t understand.

To discipline a child out of love and acceptance is to acknowledge there is no personal “hurt” involved on the part of the parent nor is there any “blame” the parent is forcing on the child. It is simply a teaching moment – trying to explain how what the child did is incorrect/hurtful/dangerous/inappropriate. It is acknowledging the child’s “not knowing” and is trying to correct that.

Now, I know I cannot treat members of Congress or the Administration as two-year olds grabbing for unreal floating spots before their eyes. (Well, maybe a little!) But I can try to correct an issue on this 3-dimensional world I perceive with incorrect perception. I can try to treat these politicians with the same tolerance I treat drivers who cruise at 30 mph in a 45 mph zone because they do not pay attention to road signs. (I admit I’m still working on this.)

I need to understand that my perception of things, people or events is not really real. I have to acknowledge that these things certainly appear to be very, very real. But they’re not. I need to ask for a different way of looking at the situation. I need to “see” not with physical sight, but with spiritual vision – to “see” the same way the Holy Spirit “sees:” Everything is either an act of Love or a call for Love. That ability to “see” like the Holy Spirit is given to me as a gift from God.

So, I can protest, write my congressional representatives, send emails, sign petitions, or contribute money sensing that this movement of our new government is simply a call for Love. It is an attempt to assuage fear by accumulating and exercising power to provide themselves with security. I can try to accept (which is to be aware without fear or judgment) their insecurity and attempt to correct their “not knowing” rather than screaming out of my self-righteous anger and fear.

Don

#2 Feb 2017