Daily Inspiration for Living A Course in Miracles

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Projection Makes Perception

Mary and Robert:  Yesterday Rick Herranz asked for help with understanding, “projection makes perception.” On the “Text Made Simple” section of the Pathways of Light web site, you will find the following explanation. It refers to the “What It Says” section of the ACIM Preface found on pages x through xiii. The following is that explanation.

What does projection makes perception mean and how does forgiveness help?

Paragraph 6 introduces the idea that projection makes perception. This idea is central to understanding how forgiveness frees us from the world of perception. Because our perception is a projection that is coming from our own mind, we have complete control over what we perceive. We change what we perceive by changing our minds (forgiveness).

The process of projection is concisely described in three sentences in Workbook Lesson 325.1:1-3.  “What I see reflects a process in my mind, which starts with my idea of what I want. From there, the mind makes up an image of the thing the mind desires, judges valuable, and therefore seeks to find. These images are then projected outward, looked upon, esteemed as real and guarded as one’s own.”
 
Back in the preface it goes on to describe what happens to our perception when we change our minds from the insane wishes of the ego to forgiveness, which sees a gentle world of mercy and kindness.

In paragraph 6 we also get a very clear description of how the Course defines forgiveness. The following two sentences provide an important foundation for what the Course is all about and how we can free ourselves from the chains of false perception: “As we learn to recognize our perceptual errors, we also learn to look past them or ‘forgive.’ At the same time we are forgiving ourselves, looking past our distorted self-concept to the Self That God created in us and as us.” It is with the help of our inner Teacher, the Holy Spirit, that we learn to recognize our perceptual errors. ACIM is one teaching aid the Holy Spirit has made for us to use in this learning process.

In other places in the Course Jesus describes forgiveness as seeing that what we made is not real, overlooking what never happened, and being willing to see past separation to oneness. An especially helpful definition of forgiveness is found in the Workbook, Lesson 122. In paragraph 3 it states, “Forgiveness lets the veil be lifted up that hides the face of Christ from those who look with unforgiving eyes upon the world. It lets you recognize the Son of God, and clears your memory of all dead thoughts so that remembrance of your Father can arise across the threshold of your mind.” It is also helpful to refer to, “What is forgiveness?” on page 401 of the Workbook (W-pII.1.)

Holy Spirit through Sharyn:  All is well in your perfect world when you choose to see perfection. It is your choice. Whatever you choose to see is what you have to offer the world. If you are looking at angry thoughts or resentments or judgments of others, that is exactly what you think of yourself and that is exactly what you are offering the world.

When your thoughts are of love, kindness and, “what can I do to serve?” your world reflects back to you the beauty, the Love of God and forgiveness. When you look at everyone and everything with forgiveness in your heart and mind, you will see nothing but Love. For when you are forgiving someone for their mistaken actions or their mistaken projections that you think are directed at you, you are looking at them as Jesus would.

With forgiveness in your heart you know perfectly well that you cannot forgive and hold grudges or judge at the same time. It is impossible. Therefore you are always making the choice. You are asking yourself always, “Am I going to look at this situation with loving eyes and forgiveness in my heart? Or am I going to judge this person and fall farther away from God?” Who in their right minded thinking would want to walk farther away from God? Amen.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Letting Go of False Ideas

Robert:  Today we did a quick review of the first 50 lessons. What stood out to me is that these lessons are offering us the means to recognize and let go of our false ideas about what we are. And they show us that we remain safe in God’s Love, unchanged and unchangeable.

It is very clear to me that I can only experience lack of peace because I am believing I am not as I was created to be. I am believing in a false image of myself. That’s the only problem. The solution is always to open my heart and mind to the gift of peace that is eternally present and by its acceptance I will know the strength and Love of God as my own.

Thank you God for not giving up on me, for not believing in the stories I made up. Thank You for being the changeless Love You are, and therefore, I am.

Mary:  Today I start the day with mentally putting out the “welcome mat” to the Holy Spirit. I start today by inviting the Holy Spirit into my mind. I start the day by receiving Holy Spirit’s gifts of peace and Christ’s vision. I sit a while in quiet with the Holy Spirit.

If any thoughts or concerns or worries come to mind, I hand them over to the Holy Spirit’s willing Hands. The Holy Spirit gladly takes these thoughts from my mind and in return, shows me the difference between the real and the unreal.

The Holy Spirit brings me true perception, which is the greatest gift I can receive. With true perception I am able to see that everyone is in the Mind of God. I am able to see that everyone is the same. I am able to see that there are no differences, even though it appears that there are differences in the dream.

I ask the Holy Spirit to hold my hand throughout the day as I encounter different circumstances. I am reminded that because I want a change in perception throughout the day, I will receive it. I am comforted by remembering that the Holy Spirit does not leave me while I go through my day.

My job is to step back frequently today and open my mind to Holy Spirit’s correction in my perception throughout the day. As I receive these corrections, I am filled with a sense of peace and quiet inner joy. I am reminded that I am safe in the Mind of God. I have not left, even though it appears to have happened in the dream.

Through my willingness to be open, I am reminded of the truth. I am reminded that in truth, nothing has happened to change God’s one Son. What appears as many is really just one undivided Son, one undivided extension of God’s Love. We have not left Love, but have merely forgotten our true Identity. With Holy Spirit, today is a day of remembering, remembering that we still are joined, we still share the one Mind of God and that nothing else is real. Love is. God is. And then we cease to speak.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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I Am Love and Nothing Else

Holy Spirit through Robert:  Remember your Source. That is how you remember What you are. Acknowledge and accept that you are Love and nothing else. See the Love that your brother is. If it appears that his Love is obscured in any way, bring that thought or perception to the Holy Spirit. He knows how to wash it clean so that once again you see with the eyes of Love. Let this be your practice today.

When you see with the eyes of Love, your heart overflows with joy and gratitude. You are perfectly calm because you know you are safe in the certainty of Love. This is your natural state. If you do not experience this it is simply because you have accepted a false image of yourself. It is this that must be let go. The practice of being mindful of your state of mind and bringing each disturbed thought to the Holy Spirit for His gentle correction is the way you return to your natural state. Practice and be free.

Mary: It is the Holy Spirit That shows us the difference between the real and the unreal. We can choose to see separate bodies with separate minds, but we cannot make them real. They remain illusions and nothing we wish can make separation real.

Our Source is One. Because we come from our Source, we are one with our Source. We can never change that. Herein lies our peace and eternal safety.

We are at a time now when we are coming to realize that our dreams of separation are merely dreams and not the truth at all. We are coming to the realization that everyone in our dream, like us, is one with the Father, our Source. We are coming to the awareness of innocence and that guilt could never be real. We remain within our Source, forever pure and innocent, just as our Source. We are coming to the realization that our dreams have changed nothing.

As we allow our minds to be healed of all the false ideas that could never be true, We are an instrument of healing for the Sonship, for the Son is One. This is our job today, to step back and allow our minds to be healed by the Holy Spirit. This is what brings us true and everlasting happiness.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Allowing Holy Spirit’s Peace

Mary:  I have believed that I was a separate “identity” and now I am learning to let that “identity” go. I have bought into the idea of separation and now I am learning to return to the truth that only oneness is real. I am learning daily that the way to return to the truth is through choosing peace. As I open my mind to peace, I am led by the Holy Spirit to a changed perception of myself and the world that I have been believing in.

I am learning that the Holy Spirit is my constant Companion and I am learning to accept Its help more consistently. I place the welcome mat out for the Holy Spirit by being willing to open my mind to the Holy Spirit’s gift of peace. As I allow Holy Spirit’s peace to enter my mind, understanding comes with it. Peace dissolves all fearful thoughts. Peace clears out the cobwebs and brings with it the feeling of gentleness and safety. As peace is accepted, Christ vision replaces ego’s perceptions. What is eternal replaces the temporal. Love is. God is. There is nothing else.

I now know that being willing to accept peace and extend peace is how I awaken to the truth. Accepting peace is how I accept the Holy Spirit’s help. I must be willing to accept peace first. Everything else that the Holy Spirit brings comes from this one choice.

In Lesson 305 of A Course in Miracles we are told, “Who uses but Christ’s vision finds a peace so deep and quiet, undisturbable and wholly changeless, that the world contains no counterpart. Comparisons are still before this peace. And all the world departs in silence as this peace envelops it, and gently carries it to truth, no more to be the home of fear. For love has come, and healed the world by giving it Christ’s peace.

“Father, the peace of Christ is given us, because it is Your Will that we be saved. Help us today but to accept Your gift, and judge it not. For it has come to us to save us from our judgment on ourselves.”

Robert:  One of the gifts that has come from following the guidance to move has been a lot of letting go of forms. We delivered many loads of ‘stuff’ to St. Vincent de Paul, gave many things to friends and loaded a trash bin with 3 1/2 tons of stuff that was no longer useful. It was amazing how much stuff we had hung onto, thinking it had value. This letting go of outer forms simultaneously symbolized letting go of mental attachments to ideas and beliefs that no longer serve. I am finding that I much more quickly recover from periods of disturbance because I have learned through this process to quickly let go of attachments.

When it became apparent that the property here in Wisconsin would not sell on the auction day, Mary and I went through a process of letting go of our disappointment. Clearly we had made an “appointment” in our minds that we expected to be kept. But that was a plan of our own making. So we went through a process of looking at possible scenarios that might develop. Each scenario was still an image in the illusion, but as we allowed ourselves to accept all the possible outcomes we could think of, our disturbance softened. We reached a point where we knew we could accept any outcome fully and in peace. Once again we remembered our safety is in God, not in any appearance in the world.

Now I find each day that I remain more consistently in peace and happiness. I feel more free and safe than I have ever felt. I know this is because I am more willing than ever to follow Holy Spirit’s lead. It is my own self-made plans that make me feel vulnerable and uncertain. So now I recognize uncertainty as just one more thought to hand over to Holy Spirit and open my mind to His vision. My heart is filled with gratitude that I walk in peace with a Mighty Companion Whose strength is mine.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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I See With the Eyes of Christ Today

Holy Spirit through Mary: Ask yourself frequently today, “What is it that I want to see? Do I want to see through the eyes of the ego or the eyes of Christ?” The eyes of the ego show you that the separation is real. The eyes of Christ see past separate bodies and separate things to the one Love that is always there. Seeing through the eyes of Christ brings happiness and the release from all fear. Christ’s vision reminds you that only Love is real.

Mary: Today my job is to open my mind so that I see through the eyes of Christ and there I will see that I am in a sea of Love and that this Love can never change. I will see that I have everything that I need and that I am everything I could ever need or want.

It is only the Holy Spirit that brings me Christ’s vision. It is His single gift. Let me relax and open my mind to receive the abundant gifts of peace, Love and joy. That is what this day is for. That is what every day is for.

Robert:  At the level of form, this seems to be a time of great uncertainty. The house is not yet sold. Tomorrow there could be an offer to purchase or it may not come until next year. We may move to the property we found in Florida or it may be somewhere else. If I put my attention at the level of form, the uncertainty becomes disturbing. It doesn’t feel safe because it doesn’t feel stable.

But in my heart there is great joy. There is a sense of safety and peace. There is confidence that all my needs are met in great abundance. There is no limitation. This is my rock, my firm foundation upon which all meaning is built. Form and appearances do not matter. All that matters is that I hold in my awareness my firm foundation.

When I stand on this foundation, I see with the eyes of Christ. All meaning comes from this foundation and it is perfectly stable because it is changeless Love. If I lapse into concern about form, I need only remember my firm foundation. And I instantly return to the certainty of Love with gratitude and joy. Thank you Father for your gifts of Love.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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It Is Not for Us to Decide On Our Own

Mary & Robert: Today we read in the section, “The Two Uses of Time,” in the ACIM Text. It led to a discussion about the importance of keeping our attention on the Holy Spirit’s guidance rather than the ego’s. We shared with each other about the thoughts and expectations we’ve had about selling the property and moving to Florida. We saw that we had our own ideas about what the guidance to Florida meant and the form it would take.

We saw the importance of letting these ideas go and opening our minds to possibilities we have not dreamed of. It is not for us to decide on our own what or when anything should happen. It is only our job to keep our attention on the Holy Spirit. It is our job to be mindful of when we are giving our attention to the ego and redirect it to the Holy Spirit. That is the only meaningful use of time. When our attention is on the Holy Spirit, time serves the awakening. That is all we really want. Nothing else has meaning. Nothing else will bring us peace. It is when we follow Holy Spirit that we experience having no cares, no worries, no anxiety but instead are perfectly calm all the time. We are in deep gratitude.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Letting Go of Expectations

Mary and Robert:  In regards to our move to Florida, we are continuing to go with the flow daily and give each day to the Holy Spirit. We are using this time to practice remembering that we know nothing on our own and letting go of any expectations of when this property is sold.

We would also like to share with you about some of the projects we are working on that are quite exciting for us. Rev. Myron Jones, a Pathways of Light minister, has written a very helpful and enlightening book titled, “Healing Family Relationships,” which we are in the process of producing as an audio book on CD’s. This book will come in three parts and it will first be offered as a gift of gratitude for people who become Pathways of Light members. We have been working with preparing the audio files for the CD’s. The content is truly a healing blessing for us all. It has helped us remember the truth as we walk through our process of selling the property and moving to Florida.

Myron has a beautiful and very inspiring way of bring important concepts from ACIM to practical application in daily life experience. She has a way of giving us insightful and sometimes humorous examples that help us see how to apply Course principles in our lives. Through this remarkable book, we will all be blessed and helped in our awakening. We are so glad to be part of helping make this important CD audio book available to the world.

We are also working on a multiple CD album of Regina Dawn Akers’ and Laurent Levy’s three day workshop that they gave here at Pathways last July. Because it was recorded with audience participation on multiple tracks, the preparation of the audio for the CD’s takes a lot of time. This album will also come in three parts and will also be one of our gifts of gratitude for Pathways of Light contributors. Members will receive the CD sets as each of the workshops is completed.

In addition to these two projects, we also intend to have the first part of the Nouk Sanchez and Tomas Vieira four day workshop, “Undoing the Ego II,” completed on DVD as soon as possible. This also will be offered as a gift of gratitude to Pathways of Light members.

Because these projects are so time consuming, we are finding that it is a blessing to have this lull in our activity before we move. We are able to commit much of our time to this work right now. Once again, we see that Holy Spirit’s plan is in perfect order. It is possible that we may not move until spring, giving us the whole winter to complete these projects. We don’t know.

We are just taking it a day at a time, knowing that the Holy Spirit is guiding everything. Our job is to listen in every now moment and not decide anything on our own. As we do this work, we are getting deep reinforcement through the inspiring materials in Myron’s book and these two important mind healing workshops.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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