Oneness is all that is true now.
The belief in separation has always been false,
so anything that is seen through the lens of that belief
must be false also.
There is not one exception to this statement.
~From the Holy Spirit’s interpretation of Revelation, Chapter 7, www.forholyspirit.org/newtestament.htm
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The person that I think of as my spiritual mentor, although I never met her, is Peace Pilgrim. I was very happy when I discovered the book Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Her Work in Her Own Words. I read the book several times. I trusted Peace, & I was deeply inspired by her stories. However, there was one thought that Peace shared that I couldn’t quite understand. She said that we are all one.
The idea that we are all one was a concept that I did not understand at all then. My experience had never hinted at such a thought before. However, because I trusted Peace, I did not close my mind to the idea. Instead, I seemed to ask myself, “How is it possible that we are all one?”
Then one day, as I was walking into work from the parking lot, a vision appeared in my mind’s eye. This was my first “mystical experience,” although I didn’t know enough to call it that then. I just saw it as the answer to my question.
I saw a bright light. The light extended in all directions without end, but on one portion of the light there were millions or billions of black polka dots. Most of the polka dots were dark black, but some of the polka dots seemed to be fading into the light. There were also places where there was only light, but I intuitively understood that there had once been a polka dot there.
I understood that the polka dots represented us . . . people, all believing we are separate individuals . . . but we are fully connected by the light which is our foundation.
I saw that as “a person” lets go of the belief in individuality, the polka dot fades until it disappears into the light. At the point of disappearing into the light, it realizes that it always was light! It had only believed it was a polka dot.
This is also why, years later when I started studying A Course in Miracles, I was able to easily understand the thought that my only responsibility is to accept the atonement for myself. My only responsibility is to let my polka dot fade into the light.
I was listening to a discussion among friends last night. The question seemed to be this:
Should we focus on forgiveness or should we focus on listening to the Holy Spirit?
I don’t really see a difference within this question to choose from. Here’s why:
We have two thought systems in our one mind. Using the language of A Course in Miracles, we call these the ego’s thought system and the Holy Spirit’s thought system. Every thought that comes into our mind, the way we see every image we seem to see, the way we hear every sound we seem to hear and every feeling that we feel stems from one of these two thought systems. They are the only interpreters we have for every experience that we seem to experience.
A Course in Miracles teaches that we have a choice, and that choice is simply this: Which thought system (or which interpreter) will I listen to?
A Course in Miracles teaches that the Holy Spirit’s thought system is a reflection of truth or oneness. The ego’s thought system is the reflection of separation or falseness. Forgiveness is recognizing the ego thought system, in whatever form it seems to be in, as false. We forgive it, because it isn’t true. In doing this, we choose the Holy Spirit as the interpreter that we will listen to.
It seems to me that practicing forgiveness and learning to listen to the Holy Spirit are the same thing. They are two sides of the same coin.
According to A Course in Miracles, my only choice is, “Which interpreter will I listen to?” I choose to listen to the Holy Spirit and
forgive the ego. It seems to be an “and” statement instead of an “or” question to me.
When we feel guilt, we seem to believe that we have done something wrong. Guilt tells us that we are terrible for what we have done. But, the Holy Spirit teaches that we have done nothing and we are innocent.
There are two evaluations of me within my mind. Which one will I trust?
I trust the Holy Spirit’s evaluation more than my evaluation, which means I couldn’t have done anything wrong. Yet, I feel guilt.
If the feeling of guilt is not an emotional signal that I have done something wrong, what is the feeling of guilt?
Guilt is an emotional signal that I have misperceived.
It is such a blessing to realize that guilt is the emotional signal within the mind telling me that I have misperceived. When I realize this, I no longer fear guilt. Instead of my accusing enemy, guilt becomes a partner in my healing. For when I feel guilt, I know there is a thought/belief/perception in my mind that needs to be forgiven. I can let go of the accusations of sin within the mind, seek out the misperception through willingness, spot it and let it go.
We are the innocent Son of God. In trusting this thought, we find the willingness to be vigilant for the Kingdom through the consistent practice of forgiveness. Through trust in our innocence, fear of our guilt is let go.
With this in mind, I ask myself:
“What choice am I making with the thought I am accepting now?”
As we continue to look at the ego thought system, we find more and more to see and forgive.
Right now, I am looking at the desire to be small. This desire has been showing up in my mind for the last couple of days. The desire to be small or to be victim is a type of denial or resistance against Truth.
I remember when I started studying A Course in Miracles . . . a teacher told me that we could only be sick if we chose to be sick. I thought that was ridiculous. I hate being sick. I also couldn’t quite accept it when I read in A Course in Miracles that sickness is a defense against the truth (workbook lesson 136). I just wasn’t ready to see it in me.
But, as we keep forgiving and giving our willingness, more and more is brought to our attention for us to see.
In the last couple of days, it seems that my body is trying to catch a cold. It started about two nights ago with a scratchy throat and coughing, then I noticed very sore back and shoulders and a headache. My first thought was that my daughter had a cold earlier this week, and now I am catching her cold. But then, I saw that to accept that thought is to accept that I am small and vulnerable. I saw that it is the opposite of what the Holy Spirit teaches.
When I went to bed on that first night, I gave my willingness to see differently, and then I had an incredible experience. It only lasted 3 – 5 seconds. In time, it was very brief. But during those 3 – 5 seconds, it was a complete understanding. I saw that it is impossible for my body to get sick. I saw that there is nothing in the world that can cause the body to get sick. I saw that the body, literally, only responds to the mind. The mind tells the body how to feel, and the body responds in exactly that way. And, I also saw that the mind wants the body to be sick so that the mind can deny its Truth.
This experience flushed the denied desire to be sick (or to be small) out of my unconscious. And because the denied desire was flushed up, I saw it popping into my mind as a conscious desire all day yesterday. I kept seeing that incredible thought as a real desire . . . “I want to be sick and separate.” I felt it. And, I really wanted it. That is what is so funny. I seemed to want to be sick above everything else. That is, above everything except for one other desire, and that was the desire to heal the mind.
So, every time I noticed myself wanting to be sick, I let myself realize once again that this desire is just a desire to be small. I gave my willingness to learn that I am not small. I kept this up all day long. Every time I saw the desire, I gave my willingness to see differently.
Well, this morning I am waking up for the second time after the feeling of sickness began to come to the body. This cold has not taken hold. I am not getting sick. I believe this is because I am giving my willingness to have this desire healed within the mind. The body is only a reflection of the mind; if the mind is healed, so is the body.
Now, I don’t think for a moment that I am done with forgiving the desire to see myself as small. But, I am grateful that it has been flushed out of the unconscious so that I can look directly at it and give my willingness that it be healed each time I see it. It’s really hard to forgive something you can’t see, and until now, I was denying this one.
There was once a master teacher who was renowned for helping people to rid themselves of the final traces of ego. Once, a young girl was brought to this master teacher. The master teacher was told that in spite of her young and tender age, the little girl was nearly enlightened. Her parents brought her to the master teacher so he could help her to rid herself of the last traces of ego.
With permission from the parents to try any method that he thought would be successful, the master teacher walked up to the young girl and struck her on the face. He then turned and started to walk away. But the little girl said, “Please, master teacher. I did not feel a thing. Will you please come back and strike me again?”
The master teacher turned and hit the girl again, this time harder.
“Nothing, master teacher. I feel nothing but love and joy.”
The parents asked the master teacher to try something else. So the master teacher began talking to the girl. He told her that she was worthless. He criticized her for having the audacity to think that she was nearly enlightened. He pointed out every flaw that one could see on her body. But, the girl only smiled.
“I love you, master teacher, and I am grateful for everything you are giving to me. But still, I sense the ego has not been seen here.”
The master teacher began to feel frustrated. Never had anyone come this far without seeing the ego rise up and attack them. He noticed a hatred rising within his mind. He wanted to kill this little girl and devour her.
“I will say one more thing,†the master teacher warned. “And then, I will be done with you!”
“Yes, master teacher,†the little girl smiled. “Say anything!”
But then, the master teacher stopped. He realized in that instant that he was not teaching the little girl. The little girl was teaching him.
The master teacher fell at the little girl’s feet and thanked her through tears of joy. This little girl had helped him to see the ego where he had not seen it before, buried deep within the mind of the master teacher.
The little girl smiled at the man crying at her feet. “Thank you, master teacher,†she whispered gently. “Now, I feel the release of our ego.”download Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 dvd
I would love to share an experience that I am having right now. My mind seems unusually active, especially for the early morning. It is what I would call “a rapid fire of thoughts.” It is very important to observe these thoughts without identifying with them, because if I identify with them, I believe them, and I am not letting them go.
The thoughts are coming in about a variety of interactions with a variety of people, but most of the thoughts seem to be centered around the topic, “What do others think of me?” I am seeing thoughts on all sides of this central topic. I am seeing thoughts where “I” am judged well and where “I†am not. There are feelings of pride and the desire to defend. There are also thoughts of what “I” think of others. It is very interesting as I step back and look at these thoughts, not as different thoughts about different circumstances, but as one consistent theme . . . What do others think of me?
Wow! As I step back from what seems to be different thoughts and see that they are all the same, they take on a completely different perspective. Instead of seeming to be thoughts about real people and real situations, it is suddenly seen that they are one thought of metaphysical content. I am looking at the opportunity to judge and make mySelf guilty.
If I follow these thoughts and believe them, in one situation after another, I can judge you or me or him or her as right or wrong. I will alternate between pride and guilt and unworthiness and a desire to defend or correct. You will become my friend or my enemy and may alternate between the two depending on the scene within the mind. But all of this is a part of the mask. Telstar download
When I step back and see that it is all the same, taking any side in any of these circumstances is choosing guilt. For if I am right and you are wrong, there is the judgment of guilt. If she is right and he is wrong, there is the judgment of guilt. If I allow my mind to follow any of these scenarios and accept the temptation to judge, I am choosing again to judge the Son of God (the dreamer of the dream) as guilty. I am not practicing forgiveness. I am holding on to the illusion of the world.
So, I am simply watching this rapid fire of thoughts . . . a myriad of scenarios which present the opportunity to judge, and I am choosing not to judge. I am letting them go as they come. As I let one thought go, another seems to rapidly take its place. But I let that one go too. I make no decision with any of them. They are all false, and there is nothing to do but let them go. Fighting
Previously, I would have thought that a call for love required some action on my part. Now I realize that a call for love has nothing to do with action. It is, of course, all about mind.
Let’s imagine our oneness as a machine. This machine receives inputs, filters the information, and then provides outputs. Each body is a receiver within the machine. Each receiver receives the content of messages that have been previously output by the machine. In other words, it receives the messages that are output by the one mind. Since the one mind seems split and is outputting two types of messages . . . “ego” and “Holy Spirit” or “fear” and “love”. . . the receiver receives both types of messages. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Receiving messages is automatic. It is just what the receiver does. It receives whatever has been output. So, the next step in the process is important. It is the process of filtering the messages that are received.
Each receiver has a filter mechanism that can be on auto-pilot or it can be on manual discernment mode. In discernment mode, the receiver takes a more active part in the filtering process.
Many receivers are on auto-pilot, which means they believe and accept any message that seems to come into the receiver without discernment. If this receiver receives the thought, “That person has just disrespected me,” it accepts that thought and seemingly responds by outputting another thought in reaction. This is how auto-pilot mode works. It is not a malfunction within the receiver; that is just how auto-pilot mode operates. And so the receiver that is on auto-pilot mode is not guilty for the way in which it operates.
This reminds me of a brief story about Judas from the retelling of the book of Mark, Chapter 14 at www.forholyspirit.org. Here’s how that story goes:
Judas was afraid. He feared that he had been fooled into giving up his life and livelihood for a false promise, but he was not sure. Judas thought that giving Jesus over for trial would enable the truth to come out. If all that Jesus promised was true, it would be seen by all through a trial, and that would be a good thing. But if Jesus was a liar and false prophet, it would be better to find that out now.
So in self-assurance that he was doing what was best for everyone, Judas went to the chief priests and agreed to give Jesus over to them. Judas did not realize that he was listening to the voice of falsehood, because he seemed to be listening to his own reason.
Notice that Judas was on auto-pilot, and he just did what his thoughts seemed to tell him to do. He was perfectly innocent.
Some of the receivers within the machine have been taken off of auto-pilot. The receivers that are not on auto-pilot take each thought that is received, discern which source the thought is from, and then filter the thought based on its source. If the source of the thought is ego, the receiver discards the thought. It is not Monster video recycled back into our oneness. If the source is Holy Spirit or love, the receiver accepts the thought and it is transmitted back into our oneness to be picked up by other receivers.
(Of course, some receivers seem to switch back and forth between auto-pilot and discernment mode, but each of these receivers are learning to stay permanently in discernment mode through the contrast of the two modes.)
So, what is a call for love? A call for love is made when a receiver in auto-pilot mode is receiving ego thoughts and believing them without a discernment process. This receiver is innocent, because it is only doing what its current mode instructs it to do, but it is not happy with the results of its operation. So, it unconsciously asks the receivers that are not in auto-pilot mode to please discern carefully for it download Joes Apartment dvd , transmitting only the thoughts of Love into the oneness. This is a call for love, and it is our honor, as receivers who operate within discernment, to answer this call in our filtering process.