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13/07/2008 4 Murders without corpses P.92.Arten: Hey, buddy. How was the game?
Note: I had been to a baseball game at Fenway Park the week before, on June 22. I had gone with a friend of mine from Naples, Maine, who treated me to the best seat I had ever sat in at a Red Sox game, just a few rows behind their dugout
Gary: It was great! I must have been to Fenway a hundred times, but those seats were awesome. Curt Schilling pitched, they won the game, and I even got to see Normar hit a greand slam.
Note: Red Sox shortshop Nomar Garciaparra was traded to the Chicago Cubs later in the reason, which at the time outraged what we New Englanders call " Red Sox Nation."
Gary:And you know, I can't recall the Sox ever having pitching this good. Am I drunk, or could they go all thw way this year?
Arten: Well, you're not drunk.
Gary: all right, I guess you wouldn't tell me something like that. But I have a feeling about it. I mean, if the Patriots can win these Super Bowls after coming up empty for 40 years, then anything can happen , right?
Arten: I can't argue with that. You've had developments outside the world of sports as well?
Gary: Oh, yeah! The book's doing really well. Evey month it does better than the month before. And I've been all over the place Aside from spreading for what you said: forgiveness... at least when I remember. California was amazing, aand that visit to Wisconsin was really good, except the ession was a little hairy with that teacher you gave me the heads-up about. I did my job, though. The A.R.E o really coming through, too. That's a breakthrough in many ways.
Note: At one time A Course in Miracles had been welcome at the Edgar Cayce group in Virginia Beach, the Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E). Hugh Lynn Cayce's friendship with 4 Murders without corpses P.91.While I was in Halifax I received the exciting news that Hay House, one of the most prominent self-help/spiritual publishers in the world, was interessted in talking over the publication of The Disappearance of the Universe. Although I knew I'd have to talk about it with my original publisher, D.Patrick Miller of Fearless Books, I sensed that I was meant to happen, and I couldn't wait to acknowledge Arten and Pursah for their plan for the book. It suddently dawned on me that they knew what they were doing all along, and that the path they had chosen was to have the book prove itself first through sales, which would enable it to find its way to a bigger publisher and a worldwide audience without the message in it ever being changed.
A couple of weeks later, Patrick and I were in Chicago to meet with Hay House at Book Expo America. It was an exciting event, and Bill Clinton gave the keynote speech. We came to an agreement with Hay House, and Patrick and I went out to dinner that night to celebrate. The next say I was due to fly to New Jersy for a workshop.
It was a beautiful, cloudless day as the plane took off and flew past the Sears Tower and out over Lack Michigan. The view was amazing. When we got to Newark, we flew down past the Statue of Liberty, and I could clearly see Manhattan, with the legendary Empire State Building dominating the skyline. Suddenly I thought, My God, I'm getting paid for this? It was then I realized , in a good way, that my life was never going to be the same. I was overwhelmed with hreatitude.
At the end of June, I had plenty to discuss with my ascended mentors. Arten and Pursah appeared and looked at me with their kind expressions and loving eyes. I expected them because I knew they were coming every two months, and when the time for their appearance drew near, I'd point my chair way from the television, which I found myself watching less and less the more I traveled and toward the couch where they were scheduled to show up. Arten spoke first. 4 Murders without corpses P.90.time at a different A Course in Miracles teaching facility called "Pathways of light." In the two days I spent there, I was struck by the similarity in approaches between the directors of the organization, Robert and Mary Stolting, and what I had heard about the Course's scribe, Helen Schucman.
When world had gooten out in the '70s that Helen was hearing the voice of Jesus, people would occasionally try to get her to ask him a question for them. Insteand of doing that, Helen would sit down with them and ask them to listen with her. As an alternative to haveing them rely on her to hear the Voice of God, Helen's idea was to empower them to hear the Voice for themselves. I found that this was also the approach at Pathways of Light. Instead of telling people what to do, they were into teaching people how to hear the Holy Spirit's Voice for themselves so they could be guilded by spirit without needing another human to mediate for them.
Of course, the best and fastest approach to making that happen in a permanent way is through the process of forgiveness, which undoes the blocks in people's minds to "hearing" that Voice. It's also wise to remember that the "Voice" can actually show up in many different forms, not just as a Voice.
I liked the Stoeltings very much, and I looked forward to returning to the Pathways of Light.
I was speaking someplace different in the country almost every week now, and a month later, in May of 2004, I made my first trip to Canada to do an appearance in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As a way of illustrating how little traveling I had done before the book came out, I had lived in New England all of my life and had never been to Canada! I loved the people in Halifax. After the workshop, they had a celebration with music, drinking, and dancing. I found it refreshing that they didn't think being spiritual and having a good time were mutually exclusive. 4 Murders without corpses P.89.that had nothing to do with the Course, some of the participants were acting as though they understood it, at the same time turning him into his their special teacher instead of listening to what the Voice of the Course was actually communicating. If you didn't understand what the Master Teacher was saying, and there was no reason why you should, then you'd be labeled as one of the "the dead ones." If you went along with him, you'd fit right in. It was a classic cult atmosphere. Who doesn't want to fit in?
This teacher also mixed in parts of the Bible tha weren't saying the same thing as the Course. He exhorted the virtue of " light bodies" and encouraged his followers to flip out on kundalini engery, appearntly oblivious to the fact that according to the Course, energy is nothing but illusion and is not to be valued. By definition, any thing that can change or be changed is not real. In any case, the goal of the Course is the peace of Gpd, not getting high on the ego's miscreations.
I stayed for an hour, listened, and forgave. Then the teacher put on a video of himself, and Linda and I left. I also visited the "Healing Center," which the cult has many bnranches of. In fact they present themselves to most of the world through their more sane-looking Healing Centers as a way of including people to join.
The next day I did my workshop at a large hotel down the road. Many former members of the cult came who still resided in the area, as well as some who lived quite a distance away and traveled to be there. ( Twenty current members also came over from the Academy, without permission.) Many of the former members of the cult, who are spread out all over the country, have a bond with each other and stay in touch. It was a pleasure to feel the love in the room and also share the message with them. One of my favorite parts of each workshop is the question-and-answer session, where I interact with the audience. But that's not the only time I interact with them. I like to meet people and talk with them all day, from the time I arrive until the time I leave, during my breaks, lunch, or whenever I have the chance. I also like to sign books. It makes me feel like an author.
They say after that, I found myself in the rural town of Kiel, Wisconsin, not far from Green Bay, to do another workshop, this 4 Murders without corpses P.88.There was a room on the side where someone was reading the Workbook less for that day. There were around 40 people listening, and they would laugh at inappropriate times. Yes, the Course encourages laughter, but these people were laughing at serious lines they should have been thinking about and getting on a deeper level. It was as if they knew some funny meaning to the words that their thought system alone was privy to. What they were actually doing was ignoring the real meaning of the lines as a way of denying the Course's message. Then the " Master Teacher" made his entrance down the stairway, and the crowd gathered around him. They followed him, as did I, into a larger room for what they called "Session."
The man spoke for about an hour. No one else was allowed to talk or ask questions. Because in the previous year the reading and sharing of my first book at the Academy had apparently contributed to a large number of people there finding out what the Course actually meant and then leaving, the man came up to me several times during the hour and confronted me, at one point bumping me and slapping me on the head. As he walked away from one of his confrontation. He called me a " dumb shit." I tried to look up this particular teaching style later in the Manual for Teachers of the Course, but I couldn't find it anywhere.
Through all of this, I didn't react to him, practicing the kind of forgiveness that's taught in the Course. My teachers had given me a heads-up that I would need to practice forgiveness in such situations. I thought of this man as being a projection I'd made up so that I could see what I secretly believed to be ture about myself outside of me instead of on the inside. This reminded me that he wasn't really there, and so there wasn't really anyone to react to. An element of this is the knowing that only God is and anything that is not of God cannot affect me. I then released him to the Holy Spirit in peace. At one point, the so-called Master Teacher appeared frustrated by my refusal to be rattled by himand exclaimed, " Look at him, he's smiling."
While I was there, I sw members of the group manipulated and pitted against each other. People were intimidated and verbally abused. Although this man was literally teaching a form of jibberish. 4 Murders without corpses P.87.attack in any form is equally destructive. Its purpose does not change. Its sole intent is murder, and what form of murder serves to cover the massive guilt and frantic fear of punishment the murderer must feel? He may deny he is a murderer and justify his savagery with smiles as he attacks. Yet he will suffer, and will look on his intent in nightmares where the smiles are gone, and where the purpose rises to meet his horrified awareness and pursue him still. For no one thinks of murder and escapes the guilt the thought entails. If the intent is death, what matter the form it takes?
On that same trip to the Midest, I went to Wisconsine, where my friend Linda had arranged a workshop for me in Wisconsin Dells. It was a couple of miles down the road from a cult that uses A Course in Miracles for its own purposes. In fact, the leader of the cult refers to himself, incredibly, as " The Master Teacher of A Course in Miracles." Hearing that I was doing a workshop near there, one of the teacher's cronies had invited me to visit. As Linda and I entered " Endeavor Academy," I had no doubt that it must be helpful to some of the people who were there. If they want to live or study somewhere, then there must be a reason that they believe serves them. Wha tI found was an atmosphere that was highly unusual, especially compared to what one would expect from followers of a self-study course. 3 Life of Gary P.86.side of the aircraft and saw what appeared to be f flash of fire go by the window.
The flight attendant went running down the aisle toward the flight deck. The people on the plane, about 60 of them, became very quiet, wondering if something dreadful had happened to the plan's ability to function. I was neverous. I thought, Damn it.Just when things were going so well.
Then I remembered what Pursah had siad just before she and Arten disappeared, and I repearted the words from the Course she'd told me to. I thought of the immortal nature of what I really am, and asked J to be with me and help me to see this situation differently. I felt better immediately, even thought I still didn't know what was going on.
It didn't take long to find out. After what was probably no more than a minute, the flight attendant came on the intercom and said, " It's all right, folks. The plane was struck by lightning, but everything checks out okay."
All I said was " Thank You," and then I took a short nap while the pilot made this final approach into Portland 3 Life of Gary P.85.About three weeks later, I was returning from a trip to the Midwest, flying into Porland, Maine. I heard a lould bang on the right 3 Life of Gary P.85.the fixed script, then you should consider that to be a fringe benefit. That's not what the Course is about , through. As for the collapsing of time, remember that only the Holy spirit knows what's best for everyone. Put Him in charge of time and space. If you're sick and your symptoms change through choosing forgiveness, then consider that to be a fringe benefit, also. The real goal is Heaven, but the short-term goal is peace, and the end of all pain and suffering. It's absolutely within your means to learn to end all pain and suffering, despite anything that appears to be happening in the world and regardless of what your symptoms appear to be. That's the Holy spirit's answer to the ego's script of guilt, pain, suffering, and death.
Gary: so that Nazi would have lived to be 90, anyway, but the quality of his life and hwo he experiences those 90 years is determinded by his thoughts, and that also goes for his spiritual progress and how many more lifetimes he has to come back for.
Arten: Exactly. Excellent. Now, it's just about time for us to take off. Be especially vigilant this next road trip, dear brother. You'll see why I said that. But have a good time, too!
Gary: Thanks! I'm doing my best.
Pursah: We know, and that's all anyone can ask, teacher of God. Remember the two forgiveness thought processes we gave you! And sometime, when you're on a long plan trip and you're trying to take a nap but can't fall asleep because of turbulence or some other reason, think of these words from the Course. Then as you take your respite from the ways of Earth, you'll be reminded of the awesome truth that is within you: " The Son of Life cannot be killed. He is immortal as his Father. What he is cannot be changed." 3 Life of Gary P.84.a lot more people than have studied it so far, and the better people get what it's saying, the more likely they are to stay interested in it. And you have to keep in mind that this is just the beginning. It's always the application that leads to the experience the Course is directed toward.
Gary: Herein lies the peace of God, right?
Pursah:You've got it, and that peace is an experience.
Gary: Beautiful. And I take it our review got finished somewhere along the way here?
Pursah: Yes, you can always use a review. In fact, in between bringing in new ideas, the Course itself is a constant review. That quote I used a couple of minutes ago echos the principle taught in the Course's Introduction tha you mentioned; the idea that what's all-encompassing can have no opposite. But it says it in a different way and on a deeper level. That's part of the method J uses to undo the ego.
Gary: Okay, I have a question. Every now and then I read about one of these Nazis who escaped to South America, and there will be a report that the duy died and he was like in his 80s or 90s or something. Now I've been told for 25 years that my thinking determined my health. So how come these jerks get to live to be a hundred? I mean, what kind of thoughts must they have been having most of their lives?
Arten: Get a grip, Gary. Your thoughts determine your experience of life, not what happens in your life. What happens on the level of form--how long you live, how rich or poor you are, whether or not you're faced with the challenge of heart disease, stroke, cancer, or what have you--was all determinded before you ever appeared to be born. The instant you chose the ego on that metaphysical level, everything else was a done deal. That's why life here isn't fair. And don't ask why you should even bother! I just said you do determine your experice with your thoughts, and your experience is what's important.
The only real power you have here is the power to choose between the ego and the Holy Spirit. In the process, if you happen to change dimensions of time through the Holy Spirit's collapsing of time and thus have a different scenario play itself out within
3 Life of Gary P.83.came from thinking you separated yourself from God, and you don't have to experience pain in order to experience the pleasure of reality. But you do have to forgive pain and suffering and give it up in order to return to reality. J couldn't be any more clear about that in his Course, and he is the one you should listen to:
"From the ego came sin and guilt and death, in opposition to life and innocence, and to the Will of God himself. Where can such opposition lie but in the sick minds of the insane, dedicated to madness and set against the peace of Heaven? One thing is sure; God, Who created neither sin nor death, wills not that you be bound by them. He knows of neither sin nor its results. The shrouded figures in the funeral procession march not in honor of their Creator, Whose Will it is they live. They are not following His Will; They are opposing it."
Gary: Boy, he's goona have to stop holding back and say how he really feels. So here are people saying that God made opposites so He could experience Himself, and here's J saying that what's all-encompassing can have no opposite, and that only the insance would think either that it could or that it should. Is that a fair statement?
Pursah: Yes
Gary: You know, sometimes people ask me why A Course in Miracles isn't more popular. Granted, the Course isn't obscure, and they are almost two million copies of it out there. But still, compared to some things, it's not that popular.
Pursah: Actually, you're starting to change that, with our help, of course. One of the reasons the Course wasn't as popular as other approaches was because no popular teacher ever really explained it to people, so they'd start studying the Course and then not being able to understand it, they'd give up in frustration.Now, when they read your books and then go read the Course to themselves, they can understand it.
Gary: Cool, but getting back to what I wasy saying, when people ask me why the Course isn't more popular, I say that given what it's saying, it's a miracle that it's as popular as it is!
Pursah: That's good point. Remember, we never said that the Course is for everyone; in fact, it's not for everyone. But it is for
12/07/2008 3 Life of Gary P.82.intellectual, biblical, and scholarly presentation so it would be impressive enough for them to want to listen to it.
Arten: There's some truth to that, but it's not that simple. That's because, as we've said, the ego isn't simple. so it still takes a lot of work to undo the ego, and another reason for the Course's length and style is that is helps facilitate that. What is simple is that there are always really only two things to choose between, and only one of them is the truth.
Gary: You know some people might say that it's not very loving for God to let us dream a dream like this that always turns into a nightmare eventually. What would you say to that?
Arten: It's always amusing that those same people then want to turn around and say that God created the world! Talk about God not being loving. In answer to your question, God is not letting you deam this. In order to let you, He'd have to acknowledge a separation idea in the first place. We've already said that He doesn't. It's only because He doesn't that there is still perfect Oneness for you to wake up to.
Gary: well, there are people who think that God couldn't experience Himself in Oneness, and the only way He could experience Himself was to make this world and live in it. A lot of them seem to listen to authors and teachers who say so, like the Conversations with God books.
Pursah: If they looked deeper, they'd realize that they're regarding God as insane. You've had the mystical experience of what it's like to be with God in Heaven, right?
Gary: Yeah.
Pursah: And how does Heaven compare to this world?
Gary: There is no comparison. In Heaven, You are God.
Pursah: But it's an experience, like an awareness, isn't?
Gary: It sure is! It's a far greater experience than anything this world has to offer.
Pursah: All right, then. The idea of thinking that God would have to make this world in order to experience duality so he could appreciate and enjoy Himself is the equivalent of the idea that in order to experience and enjoy sex, you would have to also experience getting shot in the gut. No. Pain is the result of the guit that
11/07/2008 3 Life of Gary P.81.to another is a way to have it be true about yourself in your own unconscious mind, and it allows the Holy Spirit to heal and release the unconscious guilt that binds you to the universe of form. The secret of reawakening to your immortality is in mastering not the thing of this world, but the way you look at this world.
Let me give you an example. There are some people who have been studying A Course in Miracles for a long time who consider themselves to be very intelligent. They think they know what the Course means. In some cases, maybe they do; and in other cases, maybe they don't. Yet what's immortant is that you take your understanding of the Course, whatever it is, and apply it. The intellectual who uses his understanding of the Course to prove himself to be intellectually superior to others isn't really doing the Course.
I would contend to you that a person whom the world would judge as being mentally challenged, someone who has very little intelligence, who is going through life seeing people with love and nonjudgement, is making more spiritual progress in this lifetime than the intellectual who goes through life making himself right and others wrong about what A Course in Miracles means.
To repeat, it's not about impressing the world, it's about how you look at it. Mother Teresa was an excellent example. She looked at everybody with love and forgiveness. Ultimatly, it didn't matter what her theology was. Most of the people she ministered to throughout her life weren't even members of her own religion. That didn't matter to her. She saw everyone as being completely worthy of God's love, without exception. Her love and forgiveness were not withheld from anyone. It was total and universal. She judged and condemned no one. So her mind was completely healed by the Holy Spirit. She became enlightened and broke the cycle of birth and death.
Gary: Excellent. So she doens't ahve to come back, huh?
Arten: That's correct.
Gary: That would confirm that it's not the theology, but what you do with it. And you know, there's a school of thought that says J had to put the Course they way he did or else the intellectuals wouldn't have taken it seriously. If you give them something simple, they don't respect it! So he spelled it out with this lengthy
3 Life of Gary P.80.takes away the guit that makes the sickness possible. And that is cure indeed."16
Gary: It seems that you hear about suicides, but then that's it. There's no more discussion about it.
Pursah: Yes. Given that the Course is the only teaching that not only addresses but completely explains the issue of unconscious guit, it shows you how vital it is to make this teaching more available to people. Right now most of the people who teach is don't even understand it. And the ones who quot from it without teaching it certainly don't understand it. They take lines from it out of context to support what they're teaching. But what the Course is teaching is that you can undo the ego that's in your mind, have the Holy Spirit heal all of your unconscious guilt, and be free.The fastest way to do that is to change the way you look at other people, events, and situation. It also teachs you how to do that. Be greatful that you're one of the people who is privileged to spread this message. But don't stop there. The most important part of the Course isn't what it means. The most important part of doing the Course is applying it to your life.
Arten: That brings up the second forgiveness thought process we want you to do, and of course also share with others. This is how you should always think of another peroson. Memorize it and say it in your mind to others when it's appropriate. Obviously there will be times when you're carrying on a conversation with someone. Don't stop and think of this and then say it to them in your mind. Carry on a normal conversation. Always be appropriate. Don't be weird. When you don't have to talk, and you have a chance to send these words in your mind to another mind, think of the following. Repeat after me:
You are Spirit Whole and innocent All is forgiven and released. Gary: You are spirit. Whole and innocent. All is forgiven and released. Cool.
Arten: Yes, very cool. I used to say something very similar to my patients in my final lifetime. Saying those words in your mind 3 Life of Gary P.79.Suicide is the biggest problem in the world that the world is in total denial of. It's the dirty little secret of the ego. Sure, people know about suicide, but they have no idea how widespread it is. More people die from suicide than are killed by all of the wars and all of the crime in the world conbined. As just one example, more firefighters die from suicide than are ever killed in fires. Nobody wants to talk about it. Nobody wants to examines it. If someone is depressed, the system will put them on drugs and never look at the reasons. That's because the ego doens't want to look at the issue of unconscious guilt, which is the real cause of suicide. The ego runs away from looking at it as fast as possible.
In Japan, there are groups of teenagers who meet on the Internet, go out in vans, and kill themselves together. That has also spread a little bit to Europe. I suppose you can imagine how parents in America would react to that kind of a situation.
Gary:Yeah, First they'd freak out, then they'd put more people on drugs. It's amazing how Americans don't have any problem with drugs as long as the right people are making money from them. The corporations and the goverment they run have everybody brainwashed. But I digress.
Pursah: Remember, some of these drugs are necessary as a temporary measure fore people. Not many can tolerate being healed al at once. That could be too threatening to their ego. Then feeling threatened, the ego could go ballistic and find another way to hurt them, perhaps a worse way. Don't forget that the nature of duality is that you have good and bad. Yes, the corporation have people brainwashed. People vote against themselves in your country. But at the same time there are a lot of new medicines that help people, especially older people, to not suffer the way they used to. Your parents could have used some of the medicines they have today. They lives would have been more comfortable and less painful. They weren't quite ready to accept that it's all done by the mind. Don't just look for the bad. You don't want to be cynical. You want to be love.
Gary: Okay, beautiful. I can take a hint.
Pursah: The long-term cure for all of this is forgiveness. As we've pointed out before, and this is very important, the Course says:" Atonement does not heal the sick, for that is not a cure. It 10/07/2008 3 Life of Gary P.78.that the Holy Spirit is projecting these bodies. It's the love of the Holy Spirit that is behind the appearance. Then it's the right part of the midn that gives form to that love. That's also true of the Holy Spirit's Voice. He may sound to you like some guy who speaks English. But the Holy Spirit is not some guy who speaks Englsih. The love behind the Voice is the Holy Spirit's, but the form of it comes from the right-minded part of the split mind.
Speaking of the right part of the mind, we're going togive you two forgiveness thought processes that we want you to practice. We want you to use one of them on yourself, and the other one should be used to practice on the bodies that you see as being outside of you. They're really all the same, but we're giving you this idea so that you'll have someone to practice on when there's nobody else around. When you're alone, you can think of yourself while you say this first one. Or maybe when you're looking in the mirror. That would be a great time for you to say those words. Repeat after me:
I am immortal Spirit
This body is just an image
It has nothing to do with what I am
Gary: I am immortal Spirit. This body is just an image. It has nothing to do with what I am. All right. I'll try it.
Arten: Good. You 're typical person in the sense that you have a tendency to project your unconscious guilt onto other people and make them wrong. But everybody has times when they blame themselves. This is for those times. When you're beating yourself up, remember this forgiveness thought process. Now, this will be especially useful for those who have a habit of blaming themselves. There are people who project their unconsciousness guilt onto their own body insteand of others. That brings up a disturbing subject. 3 Life of Gary P.77.Of course, the more you do your forgiveness homework, the more free your mind will becoem from the blocks to hearing spirit. And the more you practice joining with god in the silent form of true prayer we talked about, the more clear you'll be to listen to spirit. Then, finnally, there's the third method, which is the conscious act of joining with soirit whenever its' appropriate in oder to help yourself or others in a situation that calls for it.
Remember this, also: The Holy Spirit will not always show up to you as a Voice. The Holy Spirit can show up in the form of intuition, an idea, or a feeling and can speak through another person you're listening to, and suddenly you may realize that what you're hearing is a good idea. Spirit can teach you in your dream. There are numerous ways for the Holy Spirit to show you up for you. Always be open to that.
Gary: Ah, yeah. I think I'm kind of open to that. Am I wrong, or did you guys just pop up out of nowhere? Hey! Do you rmember the first time you ever appeared to me? I didn't know what the hell to think!
Pursah: Yes, but we know you were ready for it.
Gary: Both of you looked so peaceful, so ti was reassuring, and the way you talked, well, I just kind of fell into it. What 's strange is how normal is seemed. I'd get to talking to you and forget about the circumstances for a minute or two, and then all of a sudden I'd think. Jesus Christ, these people just materialized out of thin air! Then it would seem strange. Then you'd say something, and I'd start talking to you again, and it would seem normal. So we'd keep going for a while, and then all of a sudden I'd think, Jesus Chirst, these people just materialized out of thin air! I was wild.
Arten: Maybe so, but the fact that we're appearing to you now is no more strange than the fact that you think you're appearing here right now. The appearance of our bodies is not happening in the way you're used to, but it's still no stranger than the appearance of other people's bodies. The main different is that unlike other bodies, which are projected as a result of the thought of separation, our bodies are projected by th rigth part of the mind, where the Holy Spirit dwells. The purpose of them is to each, in a way you can understand, that all separation is unral. That doesn's mean 3 Life of Gary P.76.Gary: I've been using that Introduction before I go out to give my workshops. I join with J, and I say," I am what you are. Nothing real can be threatened. That's spirit, which is what I really am. Nothing unreal exists. That would include all those bodies out there that I think I'm going to speak to. And if it includes those bodies, then it includes my body, too. And if I'm not a body, then I don't have anything to defend and nothing to worry about." I do every time.
Pursah: Very good. I also like it when you use that section from early in the Course about being there to be truely helpful. That invites the Holy Spirit to be in charge of the whole day, and it works very well.
Gary: Hey, You've been watching!
Pursah: Why don't you recite it now? J gave it to Helen early in the scribing of the Course, but it was really meant for Bill at first. Of course, ultimately it was meant for everyone. But Bill had to get up and give this talk to a group psychiatrists at Princeton, and he wasn't the kind of person who would normally get up and speak. He was a lot like you; he was very introverted, which most mystical people are. They're used to going within, not being out there. So when Bill thought of J's words, it relaxed him, because he knew that the Holy Sprit was right there talking over.
Gary: Okay. It goes something like this. Actually it goes exactly like this:
I am here only to be truely helpful.
I am here to represent Him Who sent me.
I do not have to worry about what to say or what to do, because He Who sent me will direct me.
I am content to be wherever He wishes, knowing He goes there with me.
I will be healed as I let Him teach me to heal
Arten: So let's add the third way to be inspired, or in spirit. You join with the Holy Spirit. It;s as simple as that. By putting spirit in charge, you are absolved of any responsibility and any guilt. Now it's the Holy Spirit responsibility, which is also true of yoru books. 3 Life of Gary P.75.nothing's happening. In the meantime, the Holy Spirit is shining your forgiveness everywhere throughout the mind that is projecting the universe, and thus through the projection as well. It cuts through unconscious guilt and its projection of karma like a laser beam. It goes through all of your past lives, all of your future lives, all through the different dimensions of time, everywhere in the universe of energy and form, and through every parallel universe that appears to exist. Incredible things are happening! The Holy Spirit is actually collapsing time as you sit there.
Because of your practice of forgiveness, there are lessons that you no longer need to learn, and the Holy Spirit is actually erasing the tapes, taking dimensions of time that held lessons you would have needed to learn if you didn't practice forgiveness, and making those dimensions diappear. And because you can't see everything that the Holy Sprit can see, you're sitting there thinking, This is boring. Nothing 's happening. But something amazing is happening. More layers of the onion have been peeled away, and your ego is vanishing.
If you persevere and continue to practice forgiveness, then at some point you get down to the final layer of the onion. When you peel away that layer of the onion, then there's nothing left. The onion is gone. And that's the way it is with the ego. After your final forgiveness lesson, the ego is gone; it's been undone, and there's nothing left to unterfere with your experience of what you are. There's no reason for you to reincarnate. Practicing forgiveness the wway that we will continue to instruct you is how to break the cycle of birth and death.
Gary: Which ties in with that other part of the Introduction, where it talks about "removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence."
Pursah: You got it. That's exactly what happens when you choose the Holy spirit instead of the ego. Every act of forgiveness undoes the ego, and the Holy Spirit removies the blocks to the awareness of God, or spirit's presence. The blocks are those walls of guilt in the mind that keep you from your awareness of what you really are. 3 Life of Gary P.74.as a refresher. That prevents the ego from bouncing bach, which it will surely do without vigilance on your part.
Arten: Remember that what is immoral is permanent, and what is moral is impermanent. The reason we talk about the disappearance of the universe is because when you wake up from a dream, the dream disappears. That's only possible because it was never real in the first place. Some people will think that means they're giving something up.
Gary: Just the universe.
Arten: Not the real universe. It;s what you awaken to that matters. The universe of time and space was impermanet. what you awaken to is permanent. Your immortal reality is something that's constant. It never shifts or wavers. What people need to get is how much better their real life is than the one they thought was their life.
Gary: Well, according to what you've said, everytime I chooe to see people the way the Holy Spirit would have me see them instead of the way the ego wants me to see them is a step home.
Arten: Yes. Think of the Hindu analogy of undoing the ego. It's like peeling an onion. To adapt that analogy for our purposes, let's say you forgive someone, in the Course's sense of the word. It's like peeling away a layer of an onion, or in this case, a layer of the ego. Maybe it will look to you like nothing's happened. Why? When you peel away the layer of an onion, it still looks like an onion. It still looks the same. But it's not really the same, because a layerof it has been peeled away.
Now, Let's say you have perseverance. Maybe you occasionally have experiences of being very peaceful that encourage you. Or maybe something happens that would have made you feel bad in the past, and this time it doesn't make you feel bad. You realize that it's because you've been practicing forgiveness, and that the Holy Spirit is healing your mind at the level of the unconscious. So you keep going and you forgive again and again. What happens is another layer of the onion is peeled away, It may still look the same. So you go in the bathroom and you look in the mirror and you think it's the same old you, but it's not.
Maybe you're watching TV and you forgive a news story that you see. Another layer of the onion is peeled away, but you think |
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