Month: April 2020

Sawadee Khrap

Here is a couple of excerpts from today’s lesson 121 ACIM.

“Here is the answer to your search for peace. Here is the key to meaning in a world which seems to make no sense. Here is the way to safety in apparent dangers which appear to threaten you at every turn, and bring uncertainty to all your hopes of ever finding quietness and peace. Here are all questions answered; here the end of all uncertainty ensured at last

The unforgiving mind is full of fear, and offers love no room to be itself; no place where it can spread its wings in peace, and soar above the turmoil of the world. The unforgiving mind is sad, without the hope of respite and release from pain. It suffers and abides in misery, peering about in darkness, seeing not, yet certain of the danger lurking there.

The unforgiving mind is torn with doubt, confused about itself and all it sees, afraid and angry, weak and blustering, afraid to  go ahead, afraid to stay, afraid to waken or to go to sleep, afraid of every sound, yet more afraid of stillness; terrified of darkness, yet more terrified at the approach of light. What can the unforgiving  mind perceive but its damnation? What can it behold except the proof that all its sins are real?

The unforgiving mind sees no mistakes, but only sins. It looks upon the world with sightless eyes, and shrieks as it beholds  its own projections rising to attack its miserable parody of life. It wants to live, yet wishes it were dead. It wants forgiveness, yet it sees no hope. It wants escape, yet can conceive of none because it  sees the sinful everywhere.

(……………………..)  

Forgiveness is acquired. It is not inherent in a mind which cannot sin. As sin was an idea you taught yourself, forgiveness must be learned by you as well, but from a Teacher other than yourself, who represents the other Self in you. Through Him you learn how to forgive the self you think you made, and let it disappear. Thus you return your mind as one to Him Who is your Self,and Who can never sin. “

Quite a lesson, but the Peace it brings is amazing.  Look, Listen and do not judge.  Leave all judgement to Christ, all we are asked for is the willingness to not block it from blessing the world.

God Bless       Ciao

Sawadee Khrap

Yesterday’s lesson was great to think about:   What was it really telling or asking me ? –

(99) Salvation is my only function here.
My function here is to forgive the world for all the errors I have made. For thus am I released from them with all the world.
My part is essential to God’s plan for salvation.

In order for ONENESS to be achieved – it would be essential that I be included just as everyone else needs to be.  So lets start with my part.    “My function here is to forgive the world for all the errors I have made.”  What are error but bad judgments? – any judgment that I have made without having ALL the facts. 

Using that definition it would encompasses every judgment I have made or will make in this world.  It would be impossible for me to have all the facts involving everyone involved since I see ONLY from MY perspective.  My judgments are all generated from specialness or separation and DO NOT consider the whole.   Plus I, Frank, am not the dreamer of the dream of separation,  Christ is.  And yet as we will see, I am also a part of Christ or LOVE Itself.

Note what’s being said:  “forgive the world for all the errors I have made”.  How have I bound or loosened the dream with my errors of judgment?  I am being asked to give up my judgments of the world of separation and illusion and let LOVE make them for me. 

The TRUTH is , “I am still as God Created me”.  To think otherwise is to think outside of God’s Mind – to MAKE a world or ILLUSION opposite of God’s Creation. A nightmare of lack or loss.    But all LIFE is in God so any thought not within God’s Mind is ILLUSIONS.    I am LOVE, being Created ONE in LOVE by LOVE Itself.  I can MAKE a dream of separation and populate it with bodies and assume that one of them is me but this is NOT CREATION or my True identity.   There are two aspects – separation is possible and this world IS separation – but neither is true OR  I am still as God Created me.

Father, please continue to help me understand my true relationship with You.  Amend.

God Bless          Ciao

Sawadee Khrap

Although I follow a different theology – the message is the same – find the similarities NOT the differences.  “In my Fathers Mansion is MANY rooms, I go to make a place for you.”  Check this out.

Sawadee Khrap

Today’s reflection:

I, Frank, am a character in the dream of separation. First I will just examine this fact. If I am a part of the separated world then it is impossible for me , Frank, to change the dream since I am not the Dreamer.  However, It is possible that I can bind the dream and cause it to continue with each judgment I make. And since judgment is a two-edged sword, unless I choose NOT to judge, any judgment will cause it to continue and not be resolved. The only way to change the dream to a happy one is by using the Atonement Principle, and this is under the control of Christ, the Dreamer, NOT the characters of the dream.

Illusions cannot be brought to Truth, but Truth can be brought to illusion and allow change.   Look, Listen, and do not judge is the Truth that will allow the Dreamer to change the dream to a happy one when the character steps out of the way in the dream of separation or specialness. All the character is asked for is the willingness to consider the Truth and not judge leaving judgment to the Dreamer.

But here is the diabolical part, I am also the Dreamer. The trick of the ego’s thought system is that the dreamer has forgotten who He actually is and believes he is the characters of the dream subject to its control. Forgiveness is of Christ, the Dreamer, not in the character’s hands. ONLY willingness is required of the character to alter the direction of the dream. And this is done by withholding judgments.

Jesus said this to his disciples “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven: Whatever you loose on earth will be loose in heaven.” Otherwise this statement makes no sense in this world. His Kingdom was NOT of this world but that of Spirit. Only a judgment that anything in this world is real, by judging for or against it, could bind or loosen the thought that produces the dream. Only a judgment would be proof that the character was real and controlled the dream, a diabolical twist of the TRUTH. As Jesus said “Your father was a liar from the beginning, My Father is the Father of Truth.”

God Bless    Ciao

Sawadee Khrap

In this time of need it is important to understand what todays ACIM, lesson  108  lesson really means.

“And what is light except the resolution, born of peace, of all your conflicts and mistaken thoughts into one concept which is wholly true? Even that one will disappear, because the Thought behind it will appear instead to take its place. And now you are at peace forever, for the dream is over then.

True light that makes true vision possible is not the light the body’s eyes behold. It is a state of mind that has become so unified that darkness cannot be perceived at all. And thus what is the same is seen as one, while what is not the same remains unnoticed, for it is not there.

This is the light that shows no opposites, and vision, being healed, has power to heal. This is the light that brings your peace of mind to other minds, to share it and be glad that they are one with you and with themselves. This is the light that heals because it brings single perception, based upon one frame of reference, from which one meaning comes.

Here are both giving and receiving seen as different aspects of one Thought whose truth does not depend on which is seen as first, nor which appears to be in second place. Here it is understood that both occur together, that the Thought remain complete. And in this understanding is the base on which all opposites are reconciled, because they are perceived from the same frame of reference which unifies this Thought.

One thought, completely unified, will serve to unify all thought. This is the same as saying one correction will suffice for all correction, or that to forgive one brother wholly is enough to bring salvation to all minds. For these are but some special cases of one law which holds for every kind of learning, if it be directed by the One Who knows the truth.

To learn that giving and receiving are the same has special usefulness, because it can be tried so easily and seen as true. And when this special case has proved it always works, in every circumstance where it is tried, the thought behind it can be generalized to other areas of doubt and double vision. And from there it will extend, and finally arrive at the one Thought which underlies them all. ” (ACIM Lesson 108)

Wow,  This is the same thing that is in the prayer attributed to   St. Francis Assisi

O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Be safe and healthy during this virus crisis

God Bless

vnb

Sawadee Khrap

This morning  I was really bored and not very joyous or happy.  God is Love and Joy and if I don’t see this in my life then I am not enjoying the relationship I’ve searched for.  Do I see them?    What obstacles and/or judgements do I have that block my seeing them?   

As I think back on my alcoholic recovery I see that it was also the beginning of my spiritual recovery.  Being a drunk was the only problem that I openly admitted I had – everything else I insisted that I was in control.  That attitude had to change.   I was the only one responsible for my conditions, not society, the church, parents, fate, or God – just my attitudes, habits and thoughts.

One great help in the Alcoholics Anonymous path was the writing of a gratitude list.  Love flows from gratitude and joy from love.  Just starting the list raised my spirits this morning as I began to see the blessings I had already received.  I can honestly say today that I did not plan on how I got here – I had no plan at all, every one of MY plans had failed me.  Turning my life over to a Higher Power, Christ in my case, and learning how to look, listen and do not judge was my salvation.   MY LIST IS EXTENSVE.

The second most valuable exercise is sharing with another our experiences, strengths and hopes.  As I have said before this blog is my way to share and it’s amazing it’s available in this virus lockdown.  Gratitude one – thank God for the Internet.  I trust and pray that all readers of the blog have outlets for sharing and motivation to prepare a gratitude list. It works for me and hopefully it may work for you.

It is also by this sharing that I realize that we are all ONE, each looking at the same problems through different perspective lenses.   What I couldn’t see others could and did.   Listening to their experience, strength and hopes contains the answer to mine.

God Bless   Ciao.

Sawadee Khrap

“Get out of my country”: Facebook page encourages violence against foreigners in Thailand not wearing facemasks..    is an article in ThaiVisa   

Reading the comments by the expats is alarming – We, I included, are visitors here and should respect the land and culture instead of assuming a belligerent attitude that my rights are being compromised.

How can I look at this situation with discernment BUT without judgment?

First, I need to realize this is a world built on FEAR and the best thing I can do is to make sure I don’t increase that fear. Although I may believe that a mask is not necessary, it is a request or even a law, and I as a visitor need to honor it.   Making people feel uncomfortable, so I can prove my point, is NOT the way to show them that their fear is valueless.   Increasing the fear is not a cure. But by wearing the mask , if only for their benefit, while reinforcing in my mind that I am really God’s Son – Spirit – and not a body to get sick and die, is to allow spiritual healing to take place for both myself and them. This way will allow the Dreamer to change the dream to a happy one not being blocked by the characters judgments. The Dreamer sets the dream, the characters can only bind it. As Jesus said “Father, forgive them they know not what they do”. He was IN the world but NOT part of it, so must I be.

If I see fear in another, it is because I saw it first in myself and then projected it out. Everything I see is a projection of my inner thoughts, I am the ONLY one who determines my world – do I see fear or love? If I see fear then my only response is to answer the seeming lack of love by offering love. This response is spiritual healing for it IS the realization that I AM LOVE itself. If God is Love and I am ONE with God/Christ then I am LOVE and that’s ALL I am and all I can give….

Just my thoughts – love to hear yours.

God Bless     Ciao

Sawadee Khrap

Watching TV and listening to any news outlets it’s very easy to start blaming others for this mess we are in.  But then I am making the same mistake that got us here. Not taking personal responsibility and realizing that it CAN ONLY start by changing my  habits.

Expecting Jesus, or whatever religious figure you look to,  to save our sorry asses is not the way to go.   By beginning  self-examination and praying for guidance on how to change my perspective on the present situation is the only way to realize permanent change.  It has to start with me BECAUSE I am the one seeing this condemned world, it’s my condemnation that I see.

Father forgive us for our fucked up world,  we know not what we do.  I have been asking what to do in my prayers and found the following passage in the Course. I need to consider MY part in this:

“The Holy Spirit in you forgives all things in you, AND your brother. HIS errors are forgiven WITH yours. Atonement is no more separate than love. It CANNOT be separate, because it COMES from Love. ANY attempt you make to correct a brother, means that you believe correction by YOU is possible, and this can ONLY be the arrogance of the ego. Correction is of God, Who does not know of arrogance. The Holy Spirit forgives everything, BECAUSE GOD CREATED EVERYTHING. Do not undertake HIS function, or you will forget YOURS.

Accept ONLY the function of healing in time, because that is what time is FOR. GOD gave you the function to create in eternity. You do not need to learn this. But you DO need to learn to WANT this, and for THIS all learning was made. This is the Holy Spirit’s good use of an ability which you do not need, but which you HAVE made. Give it to Him; you do NOT know how to use it. He will teach you how to see YOURSELF without condemnation, by learning how to look on EVERYTHING without it. Condemnation will then not be real to you, and all YOUR errors WILL be forgiven. “  (ACIM UrText T9.B5)

Change my thoughts about the world and watch the world change.   Forgive my condemnation or judgements of others in order to see a forgiven world. If I BIND the world or dream then it cannot change, I have to release my judgments and allow the dreamer to dream a happy dream.

God Bless, I Bless,     Ciao

Sawadee Khrap

Today’s lesson #92  Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one.

Reflecting on this this morning I realized that I had been giving the answer  before – Yesterday on the news I saw that one of the prospective cures or medications that they are testing is Losartan.   Losartan is a BP medicine and they think will offers protection for elderly people – well I have been taking Omersartan for several months now to help control my BP.  Same family of drugs and right on time.  There is light at the end of the tunnel of this pandemic.  We, the human race and God’s children, will survive again this ego threat of death and dream a happy dream where Love triumphs over darkness.   Look for the miracles or answers and not the problem.

God Bless     Ciao