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Study of the Text 2-1-13

2-1-13
7 Corrective learning always begins with the awakening of spirit, and the turning away from the belief in physical sight. This often entails fear, because you are afraid of what your spiritual sight will show you. I said before that the Holy Spirit cannot see error, and is capable only of looking beyond it to the defense of Atonement. There is no doubt that this may produce discomfort, yet the discomfort is not the final outcome of the perception. When the Holy Spirit is permitted to look upon the defilement of the altar, He also looks immediately toward the Atonement. Nothing He perceives can induce fear. Everything that results from spiritual awareness is merely channelized toward correction. Discomfort is aroused only to bring the need for correction into awareness.

I understand this. I have been studying the Course for over 30 years now, and for the first 20 years this was slow going and often so uncomfortable for me that I would have to stop for awhile. I was drowning in guilt and shame and fear. I knew, intellectually, that I could not actually hide anything from Spirit, but I could not bring myself to look at my guilt, much less invite Holy Spirit to look with me.

So I took it slow, and did the best I could. I would look at something from my past and I would feel even guiltier and more afraid, but I did it anyway, and then I would see that I survived it and even felt better afterward. I was encouraged to do it again. This went on for quite some time, and slowly my trust grew and the whole process sped up. I was no longer so afraid, and the peace that grew out of the process was a tremendous motivation to do more.

The last twelve years, I have been vigilant in this work, and now I look without flinching. I look with an eagerness borne of certainty that whatever discomfort I feel will pass quickly as the mind is healed. Looking at the errors in my mind is not the fearful work I used to think it was, but is my way out of pain and suffering. I have mostly stopped judging what I find there. Spirit has taught me that none of it is personal, and that doing this work is my purpose.

Here is something else that changed. In the past I would remember something I did that brought me shame or caused me to feel guilty when the memory rose in my mind. It was the act or the words that I thought of and that I felt bad about. I wanted to be forgiven for doing or saying this thing. Now I see the action or the words as symbols only. They represent a belief in my mind that needs to be looked at and then healed.

Seeing it from that perspective is very helpful. It makes it easier to do the work, but more importantly, I am learning that the world is not real and that this story is just a story and is not me. I am forgiven because nothing has happened. I am not here, living in this body, doing cruel or thoughtless things to other bodies. I am watching the thoughts that have taken form from the beliefs in the mind. I am watching them and learning that they are not true and that I don’t want them anymore. That is all that is happening.

I go back and forth on this still, sometimes watching the story with detachment, and sometimes watching myself fall into the story, and sometimes just lost in the story, completely involved and for awhile, unable to step back from it. But I know it is just a matter of time and practice before I will be able to remain the observer. The more often I do this, the harder it becomes to believe in the story.

In the meantime, I notice a wrong-minded thought and I look at it with the Holy Spirit. I give Him my willingness to let that belief go and He heals my mind. I am at peace. This is my process and it is the same one I have used consistently for the last twelve years or so. It works so I keep doing it.

© 2013, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of the Text 1-31-13

1-31-13
6 It should be emphasized again that the body does not learn any more than it creates. As a learning device it merely follows the learner, but if it is falsely endowed with self-initiative, it becomes a serious obstruction to the very learning it should facilitate. Only the mind is capable of illumination. Spirit is already illuminated and the body in itself is too dense. The mind, however, can bring its illumination to the body by recognizing that it is not the learner, and is therefore unamenable to learning. The body is, however, easily brought into alignment with a mind that has learned to look beyond it toward the light.

Jesus is going to a lot of trouble to help me understand the position and purpose of the body in our experience. He wants me to know that the body does not create. Accepting that this is true helps me to realize that if I experience sickness in the body then I must be projecting it there because the body cannot create sickness.

He is telling me that the body does not learn. It is a learning device, but is not the learner. Here is how I understand this. I project a body. This body is not real, but is just a thought form. I use this body to experience the world. Whatever beliefs I hold in my mind are projected onto the world and onto the body, which is part of the world, and it is there that I experience these beliefs as if they were actually real.

Obviously, expecting the body to learn would be like expecting my hammer to learn. The hammer is an excellent device for driving nails or removing them, but I cannot teach it to be something else. The body is an excellent device for experiencing my thoughts, but it cannot be taught to be something else. It can never be anything but a thought form that reflects my beliefs.

If my body is sick and I take it to the doctor and give it medicine, and then the body gets well, here is what I think happened. I think that “I” was victimized by sickness from something outside myself, or by the body itself. Then I think that something else outside of me caused the body to heal. I then try to protect this fragile home of mine by shielding it from all attacks. I spend my life in service to the body.

Here is what really happened. This body is a mirror to my mind. Just as a mirror faithfully reflects the image of the one standing before it, my body reflects the thoughts standing before it. When the mind is filled with guilty thoughts, those thoughts become reflected in the body and the world. When the mind is filled with fear thoughts, fear becomes reflected in the body and the world.

When we are afraid and guilty, we expect punishment and feel we deserve punishment. We project (or reflect) that expectation onto the world and the body and it appears on the body as disease or, we have an accident and suffer from that. Reflected on the world, we find ourselves in situations that are difficult, or relationships that are painful. All of these very real looking experiences are simply reflections of the belief in guilt and fear held in the mind.

Would it make any sense at all to try to get rid of the mirrored reflection? When I put my make up on this morning, if I smear my lipstick, I am not going to try to repair it by wiping the mirror clean. The problem isn’t in the mirror even though that is where I see it. The same idea works for sickness in the body, or any problem in the world. The body is just a mirror image. You can’t fix the disease or a painful situation by wiping at the mirror (the body).

The solution is to recognize the body for the learning device it is. The body shows us a clear picture of the thoughts we hold in our minds and the effects they have on our happiness. If the body is sick, this shows me that I believe I am guilty and I am afraid that I will be punished for that guilt. The source of my guilt is the belief that I have separated myself from God. This holds true for any form the guilt takes; relationship problems, money problems, any problem I think I have in the world is just a reflection of my belief that I am guilty.

The Atonement is the solution. The Atonement undoes the belief we are guilty. It restores the mind to its original sinless state. All that I need to do is accept the Atonement. I must take my eyes off the mirror images. This means I stop believing the body and the world I see is real. This means I stop trying to fix the problem where it is reflected, rather than where it is. The problem is not in the world or in my body. It is in my mind and this is what needs to be healed. A healed mind will reflect a healed body and a healed world. A mirror can only reflect what is standing before it.

Here is the prayer I am using so often now. It was adapted from what the angel told Eban Alexander in his near death experience, and from a prayer I learned from Barbara Griffin. It helps me let go of the idea that I am guilty and need to suffer for that guilt. It helps me to remember that while that thought is in my mind, I do not have to believe it or keep it. This prayer is equally effective when I am praying for others.

God loves me deeply and forever.
There is nothing to fear.
I can never do anything wrong. I am innocent now and forever.
This fearful situation in which I find myself (or someone else) was done by me, but now I would choose again. Holy Spirit, please come into my mind and undo what I have done.

© 2013, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of the Text 1-30-13

1-30-13
5 The sole responsibility of the miracle worker is to accept the Atonement for himself. This means you recognize that mind is the only creative level, and that its errors are healed by the Atonement. Once you accept this, your mind can only heal. By denying your mind any destructive potential and reinstating its purely constructive powers, you place yourself in a position to undo the level confusion of others. The message you then give to them is the truth that their minds are similarly constructive, and their miscreations cannot hurt them. By affirming this you release the mind from over-evaluating its own learning device, and restore the mind to its true position as the learner.

That first sentence is maybe the most important sentence in the Course for me at this time. Whatever is happening in my life at the moment, this is the thought that brings me back to my purpose. My sole responsibility is to accept the Atonement for myself. Then Jesus, this Master Teacher, sums it all up in one sentence as he tells me that all I have to do is recognize that only the mind is creative and that all its errors are healed by the Atonement.

I have been shown in this section that in the past I have given the body credit for being creative. Sometimes I have acted like the body has a mind of its own and that I have little control over it. Here are examples of how this occurs for me. I pretend it gets sick without my permission or active participation, and then convince myself this is true. I give into a craving or in some way feed its appetites, act like I can’t help it, and then feel anxious because I feel like the situation is out of control. 

The truth is the body is not creative and trying to heal it at that level is just another strategy the ego employs to keep me focused on the illusion and thereby protect me from God. Giving the body magic potions like medicine and vaccinations, or controlling the appetites through outward means like hypnosis to stop the craving for cigarettes or food, would be examples. (Not that I am suggesting we stop doing these things before the mind is healed enough to do so without fear.)

We may as well go to a witch doctor or sorcerer and let them chant over us and mix us up a potion from eye of toad for all the good it is actually doing. It is not at this level that healing takes place. There is only one creative force and that is mind, and so it is mind alone that needs healing. And how is the mind healed? Only through accepting the Atonement.

I see that Jesus says that the mind is healed as I accept the Atonement. I only need to accept it, and there is nothing for me to do other than accept it. The ego always feels resistance to the idea that my part is so small, but this is the truth. Everything else in the Course is devoted to showing me that I have need of healing, that I want that healing, and preparing my mind for the healing. In this part there is much for me to do, but for the healing itself, all that is needed from me is a simple, unequivocal “yes.”

I now accept that I need healing, that I really prefer peace, that only peace makes me happy, and that it is possible for me to have peace. I am learning that only the mind is creative. I say learning rather than knowing, because I see that I still have to remind myself that this is true. It is new enough for me to still sometimes automatically go to wrong-minded thinking and then have to ask for healing of the mind.

By accepting the Atonement my mind can only heal. This is a done deal and doesn’t need anything from me to make it true. I don’t have to try to heal or “do” anything to heal. A healed mind simply heals. Right now, I am still in the phase of accepting the Atonement, then returning to wrong-minded thinking, and accepting the Atonement again.

I am denying my mind any destructive potential and reinstating its purely constructive powers, but it is new for me and so I must protect my decision with my vigilance. I still watch my mind for wrong-minded thoughts and ask that I be healed. I still find areas that I seem to exclude from the Atonement and I am being gently led to look at those and decide again.

While in my right mind, I am a healer, and I am learning that I want to stay in my right mind. I am being shown what I need to do to make this so. As I become more consistent in my decision, I am more effective as a miracle-worker. The message I give others is more consistently the truth. This message is that there is only one level that needs healing and that healing brings peace and happiness. The message is that as they, too, are healed, they become healers, and that their minds are creative, and that their miscreations cannot hurt them.

This message is conveyed through my words, my actions and my thoughts. You can see how powerful the message will be when it is perfectly consistent. Look at the people who do this, people like Mooji and Byron Katie, for example. You see how others are drawn to them. We are drawn to these people (or people like them) because there is the same truth in our minds and that truth wants to embrace Itself, and to express through us all. Whoever is ready to accept the truth will hear the truth and long for more of it.

This is our job, our only job here. We are to accept the Atonement and become the miracle worker, the healer, the master teacher, so that others will be healed with us. This is the way healing will spread through the mind and the sleeping mind will finally awaken. Each and every time we become aware of a wrong-minded thought and choose differently, this is what we are doing. We are saving the world.

© 2013, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of the Text 1-29-13

1-29-13
4 The healer who relies on his own readiness is endangering his understanding. You are perfectly safe as long as you are completely unconcerned about your readiness, but maintain a consistent trust in mine. If your miracle working inclinations are not functioning properly, it is always because fear has intruded on your right-mindedness and has turned it upside down. All forms of not-right-mindedness are the result of refusal to accept the Atonement for yourself. If you do accept it, you are in a position to recognize that those who need healing are simply those who have not realized that right-mindedness is healing.

What a relief it is to know that I am not relying on my own readiness. Yesterday, during this quiet time with Spirit, I had an extraordinary healing experience. Later during the day the ego part of my mind wanted very much to deny what happened. To the ego’s way of seeing things, nothing really happened. There was no fanfare and, most disturbing to the ego, there was no sense of “doing,” nor of understanding.  The ego places great store in both doing and understanding.

The most persistent thought from the ego is that “I” am not ready for this. Jesus evidently expected that reaction from ego because he answered it right here in the next paragraph. I am not to rely on my own readiness, and not to be the least concerned about it, but to maintain a consistent trust in his. Thank you, Jesus. My gratitude to my elder brother increases daily.

The interesting thing about yesterday is not that ego attacked the idea that I accepted my role as miracle-worker, but that I felt mostly unconcerned about the voice in my head. I heard it but didn’t believe it. When I was in the process of allowing the miracle to take place, the ego voice was saying that nothing was happening and used the lack of a physical experience to prove it was not happening.

At that moment, a thought was placed in my mind gently reminding me of all the times I have received healing in my mind that happened so simply, and with so little display, that the only way I knew anything happened at all was the peace that followed. The ego wants constant and showy proof because of its lack of faith in self. But that it is the thing, I am not depending on ego-self.

I am still in awe that I did not accept the fear that ego offered, not during the healing nor later. I am most in awe that later, when I was not sitting in silence with that sense of purpose so strong and undisturbed in my mind, when I was fully in the world, I still was not interested in the ego’s fear thoughts.

My mind was right. For that time, I accepted the Atonement for myself and so my vision was clear. There were a number of times during the day that I noticed the draw to wrong-minded thinking about one thing or another, but the thing about these perfect, clear moments is that they bleed over into every other moment and lessen the impact, or at least shorten the effect of, wrong-minded thinking.

It seems that if I accept the Atonement for myself often, the permeation of that healing will enlighten the mind fully. Just as the ego ranting was just a background noise and without effect when it tried to convince me that nothing happened yesterday, I think this could be the way we can live in, but not be of, the world.

One more thought occurred to me. I read this sentence:

All forms of not-right-mindedness are the result of refusal to accept the Atonement for yourself.

I noticed that it said not-right-mindedness is the result of a refusal to accept the Atonement. It does not say that I cannot, or that I may not be ready to, but that I refuse to accept. That seems significant to me. When I do not accept the Atonement for myself, I am simply refusing to do so. But how could that be? How can my lack of readiness, however I feel that lack, really affect my ability to accept the Atonement?

Jesus says that I don’t need to feel ready if I will consistently trust his readiness. In fact, he says I can be unconcerned about my level of readiness. I can accept the Atonement for myself, and I believe that it is helpful for me to remember that not accepting the Atonement for myself is a choice I made. This opens me to choose again, whereas believing that I can’t yet make that choice closes me off to the possibility.

© 2013, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of the Text 1-28-13

1-28-13
3 I have already said that miracles are expressions of miracle-mindedness, and miracle-mindedness means right-mindedness. The right-minded neither exalt nor depreciate the mind of the miracle worker or the miracle receiver. However, as a correction, the miracle need not await the right-mindedness of the receiver. In fact, its purpose is to restore him to his right mind. It is essential, however, that the miracle worker be in his right mind, however briefly, or he will be unable to re-establish right-mindedness in someone else.

I like that first paragraph because it helps the thinking mind put some order to these ideas. The thinking mind wants to understand, and to be useful to me here in the world I do need some understanding of these things. But I know that my understanding is not complete and never will be as long as I am here. It is just a bundle of concepts that are temporarily helpful.

I used to think I studied the Course so that I could understand. Now I laugh at myself for that thought. I study the Course because I must. What seems to be happening is that as I study it, cracks appear in the solid wall of ignorance that is my belief that I know anything. This bit of an opening then allows something greater to find a way in and it shines a light into all this darkness.

This paragraph seems to be about attitude. When someone needs a miracle and I think it may be for me to perform that miracle, what is my attitude? Do I see myself as exalted because I am the one who is being called to do this thing? Or do I feel gratitude because I am the one who is asked to do this thing? Do I feel true humility, knowing that it is not the ego self that is doing this, but the Spirit within, God moving through me, that does all things.

When I look on the one in need of the miracle do I see this one as less than? Or do I see this one as God’s child, temporarily confused, but never less than His holy child, one with me and one with our Father. Can I, at least temporarily, forget our roles and our stories, and just be the love that I am?

Can I let go of the need to decide and to control? Can I just be empty? Can I just allow love to flow from me to my brother and to flow back to me, all unimpeded by my feeble efforts to understand it and to govern it? If I can be in my right mind just for a brief moment, mountains will move at my will, and healing will restore the world.

There is a little light in my mind that I have been tending so that it is brighter now. I allow that light to brighten and to flow from my mind to the brother whose face I see before me. This light gently coaxes the light in his mind to flame into brilliance, and together our light shines away the darkness that has hidden our truth and left us bereft.

This is not “my” light or “his” light. It is the Light that Is and needs only my acceptance to be Itself through us and in us. Just for a moment I know what I am meant to be. I have been given my assignment and I have accepted it. It is ok that my brother does not share my certainty. It is ok that he isn’t even conscious of our joining. My Heart’s desire has joined with his Heart’s desire and the Heart doesn’t need the mind’s help to be Itself. There. It is done.

© 2013, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice is included.

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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

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