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Gentle Healing Journal Lesson 85 1-22-19

Lesson 85
(69) My grievances hide the light of the world in me.
(70) My salvation comes from me.

Obviously, if it is my grievances that hide the light of the world in me, then it is from me that my salvation comes. This lesson is meant to remind me that there is nothing outside my mind that can save me. How could it? Anything I perceive as outside me is just an image of what is in my mind. Images cannot save me. Images are idols and idols are without power.

This is the paragraph that interested me this morning.

“Today I will recognize where my salvation is. It is in me because its Source is there. It has not left its Source, and so it cannot have left my mind. I will not look for it outside myself. It is not found outside and then brought in. But from within me it will reach beyond, and everything I see will but reflect the light that shines in me and in itself.”

We are told that our salvation has not left its Source. What is its Source? It is our Creator and is in the form of His Voice or the Holy Spirit. If I said this in non-religious terms, I would call it Love or Truth. Whatever we decide to call it, it is in me because God is in me or to say it another way, I am in God. We are not separable, God and I. The point is, my salvation is always available to me because it is in me.

I know this is true and yet, it is a habit of many life times to look outward for salvation and so I find myself doing it in many little ways. When I am worried about my son, I call him to reassure myself that he’s ok. When I am sick, I take medicine to mask the symptoms. When I am short on money, I look for ways to get more money or ways to spend less. Because I am also aware that these efforts to manipulate my projections are not the answer, I also turn to the Holy Spirit to show me another way. This is looking in the right direction and will purify my mind.

Jesus says that “from within me it will reach beyond, and everything I see will but reflect the light that shines in me and in itself.” I gather from that statement that as my mind is purified, my projections will reflect this purity. It will do so in either in the quality of the projections or in my perception of the projections, probably both at different times and different ways. This has been my experience.

Regina’s Tips

What we need to notice about this is that the body-mind learns to crave what we give it, so we have to GIVE IT in order for the body-mind to begin to crave it.

That could mean that in the beginning there isn’t much motivation to practice. However, in order to create the motivation to practice, we need to practice anyway. It reminds me of an Awakening Together Daily Quote from last week:

“Each step may seem to take forever, but no matter how uninspired you feel, continue to follow your practice schedule precisely and consistently. This is how we can use our greatest enemy, habit, against itself.”
~ Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

My Thoughts
I have seen that this is true. I had to get over the hump of old habit to form a new one, but now my spiritual practice is something I crave like a smoker craves a cigarette. Regina says that this could be called the positive use of craving. All I know is that it brings me such peace to begin my day with God, and I look forward to using my spiritual practice throughout the day. I think it started as a way to escape the torment of living outside grace, but now it is motivated by the pure joy of it.

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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Gentle Healing Journal Lesson 84 1-21-19

Lesson 84
(67) Love created me like itself.
(68) Love holds no grievances.

Just the titles to these two lessons tells the whole story. I am like God and God holds no grievances, so, if I am holding a grievance I am acting unlike myself and therefore I will not recognize myself. My grievances obscure my true nature from me. God is eternal and if I believe anything that is not eternally true, I am in error and need to correct that error.

Yesterday, I realized that I have a cold. My first thought was that my granddaughter was at my house and she has a cold and I wiped her nose. As I did so, I had the thought that I could get this cold from her. This is a thought that is not true unless I believe it is true. It is not eternally true because it is a body thing and bodies are not eternal.

My Creator did not create this as I see it.

Regina’s Tips
We are practicing true compassion when we dedicate our lives to the pursuit of truth realization. This is because the ego thought system is the cause of all forms of suffering.

My Thoughts
I fully accept that no matter how strong my compassion is for the world, I can do little to help if I work from within the world. However, if I dedicate myself to awakening, I will help end all suffering. This is why Jesus tells us that our only function is to accept the Atonement for ourselves. When I see the effect of believing untrue thoughts and I remind myself that my Creator did not create this as I see it, I am helping to und the ego and to end all forms of suffering. Another thing I tell myself: “Nothing can replace God. I am willing to accept only the eternal.”

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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Gentle Healing Journal Lesson 83 1-20-19

Lesson 83
(65) My only function is the one God gave me.
(66) My happiness and my function are one.

“With one purpose only, I am always certain what to do, what to say and what to think.”

“And I must learn to recognize what makes me happy, if I would find happiness.”

For the most part, I remember my function. I know my purpose. And as long as that is firmly in my mind, I live my purpose and I am happy. I first began to realize how true this is when I started working with students. I was still moving in and out of my function at that time, sometimes living from my purpose and then other times being conflicted as some other goal caught my attention. So sometimes I was happy and sometimes I was confused and unhappy.

There were times when a student would call and I would wonder how I could do this today because I didn’t feel right. I might be anxious or worried or uncertain. But as soon as we started talking, everything cleared like the sun coming out from behind the clouds. By the time the call was done, I was back into my happy.

After a while, I began to see the pattern and realized that I have a true self that knows what to say and what to think and that I access this self when I accept my function. So, is teaching my function? It is part of my function within the larger function, which is to accept the Atonement. In putting aside my ego thoughts and feelings, I accepted the Atonement in that moment, and I was happy.

Regina’s Tips
I heard a Christian song on the radio. The song said that a saint is someone who, “falls down and gets up, falls down and gets up, falls down and gets up.”

So, that’s what we need to do. When we notice we have slipped or forgotten our purpose (fallen down), we just begin again (get up). In this way, we awaken ourselves and the world.

My Thoughts
Lord, I must be close to sainthood if that’s all it takes. I fall down over and over as I forget my purpose, but I get up again and start over. What else can I do? I can’t pretend that I don’t know my purpose. I can’t go back to ignorance, nor do I want to. Here is the good news. I forget my purpose less and less often. When I stumble, I pop back up, brush myself off and move on without guilt making it harder. Sometimes I even laugh at the absurdity of it.

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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Gentle Healing Journal Lesson 82 1-18-19

LESSON 82
1 (63) The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness.
3 (64) Let me not forget my function.

I feel enormously blessed to know my function and discover how very simple it is. I simply allow the light of the world to bring peace through my forgiveness. And I don’t forget this. A couple of days ago, I mentioned a problem with getting my furniture moved. I was focusing my attention on the problem and in doing so, I lost my peace.

That’s a funny way to say this - I lost my peace, as if it was a key I misplaced. I didn’t lose it, I knew exactly where it was. It was where it always is, right there in my mind. It was only obscured by the chatter about how much this job needed to get done. I used this situation as practice. It took a day or so to release the idea that the placement of my furniture was the problem, but once I did, the mind chatter about it abated and so I was again, peaceful until another “problem” popped up.

Anyway, my daughter invited me to meet her and my granddaughter at the park. It was an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours, chatting with my daughter and playing with Eleanor. When it was clear that my granddaughter was tired, I suggested they come home with me and maybe Susan and I could move my couch. It turns out that even with the two of us, it was too heavy to move. I told her that I could just leave everything as it is, that moving it wasn’t essential and I went back to playing with Eleanor.

Susan, in the meantime, called her husband and asked him to come help, and then called my other son in law and told him what was going on, and both of them came over and got everything done in just a few minutes. We spent another hour visiting and enjoying each other’s company. I am glad to have that job done but a lot more important to me was the process of forgiving the belief that moving my furniture was the problem, and experiencing the peace that came flooding back into me as a result. It was nice for me, but it was also my little bit toward bringing peace to every mind though my forgiveness.

Regina’s Tips
Buddha’s motivation for letting go of ego was the desire to find the end to suffering. His own suffering didn’t motivate him. Personally, he didn’t know suffering. He was motivated by compassion for others.

Jesus said his life was a ransom for many. Could he have had the same motivation as Buddha?

Can we look at the suffering and terror that is caused by the ego thought system, and like them, choose to let go of it?
And thanks for any effort that you put into letting go of the ego thought system in your mind. It is a gift to all of us.

My Thoughts
I have heard people say that it does not matter if we do this work, that we will wake up anyway. I know why I do it. I want to be happy right now, not some far off time when I awaken. I want everyone else to be as happy as I am. I want suffering to end for all of us.

© 2019, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Gentle Healing Journal Lesson 81 1-17-19

LESSON 81
I am the light of the world.
Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world.

“Let the light of the world shine through this appearance.”

This is what I will remember today if situations arise that tempt me to dark thoughts. I am the light of the world and so I can bring light to any darkness. This is just a fact. When I choose to stand in darkness it is because I have decided I prefer darkness. This is insane and I am recovery from insanity. Being a visual person, I relate to something I can see. As I look for a visual to help me remember my purpose today, I see myself holding out my hands and bright incandescent light streams forward and shadows disappear in its radiance.

“And in this light will my function stand clear and perfectly unambiguous before my sight.”

Regina’s Tips
Notice these sentences in the introduction to the review:

~ Do not allow your intent to waver in the face of distracting thoughts. … Replace them with your determination to succeed.

~ Regard these practice periods as dedications to the way, the truth, and the life.

~ You are dedicated to salvation. Be determined each day not to leave your function unfulfilled.

Repeatedly we are told, “Be determined and dedicated.” So this is the primary objective of lessons 81 – 90. We are here to gather our motivation and strength so we may continue on with increased determination and dedication.

My Thoughts
I am determined and I am dedicated. I have reached the place on my path where I am in love with what I do. I do have distracting thoughts but I don’t waver from my determination to undo those thoughts.

© 2019, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Gentle Healing Journal Lesson 80 1-16-19

LESSON 80
Let me recognize my problems have been solved.

Oh, yes, please. It’s about time to recognize what has already been done. I have one problem and that problem is in my mind. I have one solution to the one problem, and that solution is right next to the problem. All that is required of me to be free is to accept the answer. I must have faith that the answer is here and that it will be the solution I need.

Here is what confuses the issue. Our problems take many forms and so we think there must be many answers. But all problems if followed to their root cause will inevitably take us to the tiny mad idea that we could and did separate from God. That is the only error that needs to be corrected.

Here is an example. I have to move my living room furniture. It is too heavy and awkward for me to do alone and so I need help. I asked my daughter to come help me and she says she will but when is in question. I really want to get this done. I notice that I feel anxious and looking with the Holy Spirit I am shown that I am afraid of being alone. What if I need something and there is no one to help?

Following this further, I see that I don’t feel safe. Further examination shows me that I have not felt safe since the tiny mad idea. I cut myself off from the awareness of perfect safety when I said I wanted to be on my own. So now I see that I don’t have a furniture moving problem. When I get help as I probably will, my furniture will be sitting in a different place but my problem remains.

I will still have the belief that I am alone and helpless and there is nothing I can do about it because I tore myself away from Safety. This is too frightening to contemplate so I go about my day waiting for the next problem to come up so that I can solve it and prove to myself that I am ok. But beneath my self-assurance there lingers the uncomfortable feeling that something is very wrong.

Today, things will be different. I am not running away from the problem. I am sitting with it and asking for the solution. I am not fooled by the form the one problem is taking. I don’t care if my furniture ever gets moved. I care about one thing only; I care about recognizing my problems, all my problems, have been solved.

Regina’s Tips for this lesson
[The only ‘problem’ is believing your mind. Remember not to believe it today.] One problem, one solution. Accept the peace this simple statement brings.”
We bring the problem to the answer when we remain aware that the mind’s chatter is the problem. The answer is our awareness.

My Thoughts
I see how my thoughts turned a simple problem into an impossible situation in which I saw myself as alone and helpless. Nothing actually happened. Eventually the furniture problem will be taken care of as someone will help me move it or everything will stay as it is. Either way, the problem will end. How I handle the issue is not the real problem, how I think about it is the problem.

© 2019, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Gentle Healing Journal Lesson 79 1-15-19

LESSON 79
Let me recognize the problem so it can be solved.

“A problem cannot be solved if you do not know what it is. Even if it is really solved already you will still have the problem, because you will not recognize that it has been solved. This is the situation of the world. The problem of separation, which is really the only problem, has already been solved. Yet the solution is not recognized because the problem is not recognized.”

“The temptation to regard problems as many is the temptation to keep the problem of separation unsolved. The world seems to present you with a vast number of problems, each requiring a different answer. This perception places you in a position in which your problem-solving must be inadequate, and failure is inevitable.”

I know this is true. I fully accept it. I forget sometimes, and if I forget that there is only one problem and one solution, I can get sidetracked. Just the other day, I started worrying about my son because of a situation he was in that could possibly cause him a problem. If I had immediately realized that this is just another form of the one problem of separation, it would have been a thought here and then gone. But I cast my attention on it too long and the worry expanded.

Before I knew it, I was worried about him for many reasons and then I was worried about a financial situation that I am in, and I began to worry about a physical problem. Well, you see what I mean. It is like fear is a filter that every thought went through. All along, I had only one problem. I believed that because I see myself in a body in a world unlike reality, that I am separated from God. But that’s not true.

We have been told that we can be in the world but not of it. Even here in this illusory state in which we find ourselves, we can embody our divine self within this human form. To believe that we cannot be in God and part of God because we are in human form is to believe that to have made the choice to have this experience is a sin and it is not possible the Son of God can sin. To think I can sin is to think God can sin. It’s absurd.

Lately, I have found The Code to be helpful in shifting my thinking quickly, or in dragging my mind out of the confusion of believing in problems. When I saw what I done letting the idea of fear take over temporarily, I began to meet each thought with a certainty of purpose. I would remind myself that the thought was just bad code. I am the programmer of my mind and no programmer would want to keep bad code if it was recognized as such. This made it easy to drop the thought.

I am happy for today’s lesson because it helped me to remember that I have only one problem regardless of how many different forms it takes. I know from practicing the Rules for Decision that if I decide what the situation means and then ask for help, I will probably not recognize the solution when it is given me, and because I don’t recognize its relevance, I will feel like I am not being answered. This feels like an attack. This is really the same thing I am being told in this lesson. Today, I will not forget that my only problem is separation.

Regina’s Tips on this lesson
Thinking’ (mental chatter) is the problem. ‘Thinking’ is the cause of all wars. Based on what we learned from NTI Ephesians and The Code, ‘thinking’ is even the cause of disease, weather patterns, etc.

If we look carefully at our thinking, we can see that it IS separation. After all, each of us thinks about ‘me’ and ‘mine.’ Each of us holds to a ‘personal’ point of view. We don’t find universal unity in the mind’s chatter.

My Thoughts
This adds another dimension to today’s lesson. It is the chatter in my mind that keeps my attention away from the actual problem. I am learning to quiet the chatter as much as possible and I am giving myself some time away from the chatter altogether through meditation.

© 2019, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice is included.