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MERRY CHRISTMAS

Sawadee Khrap

Although the 25th was not the real birthdate of Jesus, it would have been sometime in the spring or early summer, yesterday served a great purpose for remembrance.  I used to demand that the story be accurate while overlooking the message.   Theology instead seeking a EXPEIENCE of LOVE.  My Oracle chosen Lesson #269 ACIM workbook sums it up:

My sight goes forth to look upon Christ’s face.

I ask Your blessing on my sight today. It is the means which You have chosen to become the way to show me my mistakes, and look beyond them. It is given me to find a new perception through the Guide You gave to me, and through His lessons to surpass perception and return to truth. I ask for the illusion which transcends all those I made. Today I choose to see a world forgiven, in which everyone shows me the face of Christ, and teaches me that what I look upon belongs to me; that nothing is, except Your holy Son.

Today our sight is blessed indeed. We share one vision, as we look upon the face of Him Whose Self is ours. We are one because of Him Who is the Son of God; of Him Who is our own Identity.

And the final five lessons of the Course

This holy instant would I give to You. Be You in charge. For I would follow You, Certain that Your direction gives me peace.

And if I need a word to help me, He will give it to me. If I need a thought, that will He also give. And if I need but stillness and a tranquil, open mind, these are the gifts I will receive of Him. He is in charge by my request. And He will hear and answer me, because He speaks for God my Father and His holy Son.

GOD BLESSES     CHRIST BLESSES       I BLESS

Ciao.

We stand together !

Sawadee Khrap

Today,  December 19th,  Lesson ACIM Workbook  #354

We stand together, Christ and I, in peace And certainty of purpose. And in Him Is His Creator, as He is in me.

My oneness with the Christ establishes me as Your Son, beyond the reach of time, and wholly free of every law but Yours. I have no self except the Christ in me. I have no purpose but His Own. And He is like His Father. Thus must I be one with You as well as Him. For who is Christ except Your Son as You created Him? And what am I except the Christ in me?

and we say  “AMEN”

God Blesses        Christ Blesses     I Bless

Ciao

The SECOND Coming

Sawadee Khrap

When will Christ return ????      Today’s lesson ACIM workbook # 353:

My eyes, my tongue, my hands, my feet today Have but one purpose; to be given Christ To use to bless the world with miracles.

Father, I give all that is mine today to Christ, to use in any way that best will serve the purpose that I share with Him. Nothing is mine alone, for He and I have joined in purpose. Thus has learning come almost to its appointed end. A while I work with Him to serve His purpose. Then I lose myself in my Identity, and recognize that Christ is but my Self.

And what did Jesus say in the Bible?

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21)

“As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?  And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray….. (24:23)  Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man…… (24:37)   For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”   (Matthew 24:3)

“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”   (Mark 13:32)

“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”   (Luke 21:25)

“Because YOUR redemption is drawing near. !!!!    Look, Listen and DO NOT JUDGE – leave judgement to the HOLY SPIRIT.     See Christ everywhere – a REDEEMED WORLD.

God Blesses         Christ Blesses         I Bless

Ciao

Steady our feet, our Father

Sawadee Khrap

This morning,  this prayer from the “Course” was brought to mind.  I used it to start the workbook group last year.   My favorite !

“Steady our feet, our Father; let our doubts be quiet and our holy minds be still, and speak to us. We have no words to give to You. We would but listen to Your Word and make it ours. Lead our practicing as does a father lead a little child along a way he does not understand. Yet does he follow, sure that he is safe because his father leads the way for him.


So do we bring our practicing to You. And if we stumble,   You will raise us up. If we forget the way, we count upon Your sure remembering. We wander off, but You will not forget to call us back. Quicken our footsteps now, that we may walk more certainly and quickly unto You. And we accept the Word You offer us to unify our practicing, as we review the thoughts that You have given us.”    (ACMI Workbook Review V, Intro pg 329)

God Blesses    Christ Blesses    I Bless

Ciao,

Who is “Friend”?

Sawadee Khrap

Who is friend indeed, ONLY Christ or the Holy Spirit asks nothing and gives all.  A TRUE FRIEND!

“Anything in this world that you believe is good and valuable and worth striving for can hurt you, and will do so.  Not because it has the power to hurt, but just because you have denied it is but an illusion, and made it real.  And it is real to you.  It is not nothing.  And through its perceived reality has entered all the world of sick illusions.  All belief in sin, in power of attack, in hurt and harm, in sacrifice and death, has come to you. For no one can make one illusion real, and still escape the rest. For who can choose to keep the ones that he prefers, and find the safety that the truth alone can give?  Who can believe illusions are the same, and still maintain that even one is best?

Lead not your little life in solitude, with one illusion as your only friend.  This is no friendship worthy of God’s Son, nor one with which he could remain content.  Yet God has given him a better Friend, in Whom all power in earth and Heaven rests.  The one illusion that you think is friend obscures His grace and majesty from you, and keeps His friendship and forgiveness from your welcoming embrace.  Without Him you are friendless.  Seek not another friend to take His place.  There is no other friend.  What God appointed has no substitute, for what illusion can replace the truth?

Who dwells with shadows is alone indeed, and loneliness is not the Will of God.  Would you allow one shadow to usurp the throne that God appointed for your Friend, if you but realized its emptiness has left yours empty and unoccupied?  Make no illusion friend, for if you do, it can but take the place of Him Whom God has called your Friend. And it is He Who is your only Friend in truth. He brings you gifts that are not of this world, and only He to Whom they have been given can make sure that you receive them.  He will place them on your throne, when you make room for Him on His.”    ACIM Chapter 26 – VI. The Appointed Friend

Be wary of false idols, worship them not – what is NOT ETERNAL has NO VALUE.  Illusions of wellness are still illusion, past lives are still illusions, astral travel in this universe or dimension is still illusion, levels of holiness or enlightenment is still illusion.  

God Blesses           Christ Blesses          I Bless

Ciao

What am I “NOT” asked to do for salvation ???

Sawadee Khrap

Unlike a Religion requiring things I must do  – ACIM states:

You are merely asked to apply the ideas as you are directed to do. You are not asked to judge them at all. You are asked only to use them.   Preface

That the miracle may have effects on your brothers that you may not recognize is not your concern. The miracle will always bless you.  Miracles you are not asked to perform have not lost their value.  Chapter 1 – III. Atonement and Miracles

You are not asked to let it go for yourself alone. Christ asks it of you for Himself. He would bring peace to everyone, and how can He do this except through you?    Chapter 19 – IV. The Obstacles to Peace

You are not asked to be crucified, which was part of my own teaching contribution. You are merely asked to follow my example in the face of much less extreme temptations to misperceive, and not to accept them as false justifications for anger.   Chapter 6 – I. The Message of the Crucifixion

You are not asked to make insane decisions, although you can think you are. It must, however, be insane to believe that it is up to you to decide what God’s creations are.   Chapter 6 – V. The Lessons of the Holy Spirit

you are not asked to dispel your hallucinations alone.  You are merely asked to evaluate them in terms of their results to you.  If you do not want them on the basis of loss of peace, they will be removed from your mind for you    Chapter 8: The Journey Back – I. The Direction of the Curriculum

You are not asked to do mighty tasks yourself. You are merely asked to do the little He suggests you do, trusting Him only to the small extent of believing that, if He asks it, you can do it.    Chapter 14 – VII. Sharing Perception with the Holy Spirit 

There is one thing that you have never done; you have not utterly forgotten the body.  It has perhaps faded at times from your sight, but it has not yet completely disappeared.  You are not asked to let this happen for more than an instant, yet it is in this instant that the miracle of Atonement happens. 4 Afterwards you will see the body again, but never quite the same    Chapter 18 – VII. I Need Do Nothing

You are not asked to let it go for yourself alone.  Christ asks it of you for Himself.  He would bring peace to everyone, and how can He do this except through you?    Chapter 19 – IV. The Obstacles to Peace

You are not asked to make or do what lies beyond your understanding. All you are asked to do is let it in; only to stop your interference with what will happen of itself; simply to recognize again the presence of what you thought you gave.   Chapter 21 – II. The Responsibility for Sight

You are not asked to fight against your wish to murder.  But you are asked to realize the form it takes conceals the same intent.    Chapter 23 – IV. Above the Battleground      

Could He, in justice and in love, believe in your confusion you have much to give?  You are not asked to trust Him far. No more than what you see He offers you, and what you recognize you could not give yourself.    Chapter 25 – VIII. Justice Returned to Love      

You are not asked to offer pardon where attack is due, and would be justified. For that would mean that you forgive a sin by overlooking what is really there.  This is not pardon.  For it would assume that, by responding in a way which is not justified, your pardon will become the answer to attack that has been made.  And thus is pardon inappropriate, by being granted where it is not due.   Chapter 30 – VI. The Justification for Forgiveness     

You are not asked to judge them at all.  You are asked only to use them.  It is their use that will give them meaning to you, and will show you that they are true.    Workbook Part I – Introduction

You are not asked for total dedication all the time as yet.  But you are asked to practice now in order to attain the sense of peace such unified commitment will bestow, if only intermittently.  It is experiencing this that makes it sure that you will give your total willingness to following the way the course sets forth.    Workbook Introduction to Lessons 181–200

He holds your past and present. 2 They are one to Him, and so they should be one to you.  Yet in this world, the temporal progression still seems real.  And so you are not asked to understand the lack of sequence really found in time    Workbook Lesson 194

I am not asked to take salvation on the basis of an unsupported faith.  For God has promised He will hear my call, and answer me Himself.  Let me but learn from my experience that this is true   Workbook Lesson 327

I am not asked to make a sacrifice To find the mercy and the peace of God. The end of suffering can not be loss.  The gift of everything can be but gain.  You only give.  You never take away     Workbook Lesson 343

And what I “AM” asked to do  I do not have to do alone but strengthened with the power of God and the Holy Spirit.  I actually “NEED DO NOTHING” but I do need to STOP INTERFERING and JUDGING.

Ciao

My new Oracle

Sawadee Khrap

OracleA great way to randomly study the “Course” is presented in the ORACLE page of ACIM NOW’s website.   

I also put the link on my phone so I can use it every day.     Today’s selection, for me, was the same as todays daily lesson – Coincidence ! ,  I think not.   

Workbook Lesson #325:

All things I think I see reflect ideas.

“This is salvation’s keynote: What I see reflects a process in my mind, which starts with my idea of what I want.  From there, the mind makes up an image of the thing the mind desires, judges valuable, and therefore seeks to find. These images are then projected outward, looked upon, esteemed as real and guarded as one’s own.  From insane wishes comes an insane world.  From judgment comes a world condemned.  And from forgiving thoughts a gentle world comes forth, with mercy for the holy Son of God, to offer him a kindly home where he can rest a while before he journeys on, and help his brothers walk ahead with him, and find the way to Heaven and to God.

Our Father, Your ideas reflect the truth, and mine apart from Yours but make up dreams. Let me behold what only Yours reflect, for Yours and Yours alone establish truth.”

So true, So true…….  May I seek ONLY   to see a FORGIVEN world, bathed in the light of Christ’s Vision.

To use the new oracle – Click on the swill image or the link above and then after the webpage loads scroll down and click the spiral again.       For new beginners, I highly recommend doing at least. the first 30  lessons exactly as instructed,  to establish a firm foundation – naturally 60 lessons or beyond is always better. .

God Blesses         Christ Blesses          I Bless

Ciao

AGAIN – “Dualist or Non-Dualist”

Sawadee Khrap

The prayer, said to be spoken by Jesus,  before he was taken for trial was stated in John 17:1 KJV as:

[Jesus Prays for Himself]
Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

[Jesus Prays for His Disciples]
“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.

“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

[Jesus Prays for All Believers]
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

This is strictly NON-DUALISM.   That there is ONLY “ONE” and the ONE contains the “ALL”   

The same truth is in the basic teachings of BUDDHA.    Enlightenment is the  letting go of all attachments, even to the last and most important –The “self” – the egotistic limited concept of oneself.      And the realization that the un-limited remaining “SELF” is all there is.  Ultimate PEACE because there is NOTHING in conflict nor lacking. “ONENESS”.

The “religions”,  which formed after these “TEACHERS” or Masters were gone,  took up the worldly “Dualistic” or “Egotistic” interpretation of their teachings.   Isn’t it so !

Suffering and Sin are the concepts of Dualism – the realm where opposites exist.   Separation, specialness, limitation, attack and defend,  or lack of LOVE called HATE, bodies and time.  THE PHYSICAL WORLD !

God Blesses      Christ Blesses        I Bless

Ciao

The Presidency

Sawadee Khrap

Choosing Democrat or Republican makes no difference in salvation.  BOTH are in the world of Illusion or separation from God’s REALITY.  BOTH are Ego based outcomes.  FORGIVENESS is the key to salvation and RightMindfullness.    Praying for “God’s Will be done” is NOT praying for a political outcome, BUT is the realization that we are God’s Son and forever loved, not trapped in a world of ciaos and suffering.  

When Jesus was in the world,  they were looking for a political savior to conquer the Roman oppressors.    He came to show or demonstrate that political outcomes and even DEATH were illusions.    Salvation was not changing this world but accepting the TURE REALITY of God’s WORLD.

PRAY that the world accepts GOD’S REALITY and relinquish the ego’s thought system.   Remember the Prodigal Son parable.   It definitely applies here.    Be that Son !!!!!

God Blesses      Christ Blesses        I Bless

Ciao

Most Powerful Lesson in ACIM

Sawadee Khrap

Today’s lesson #311 is extremely powerful at restoring our sanity.

I judge all things as I would have them be.

1. Judgment was made to be a weapon used against the truth. It separates what it is being used against, and sets it off as if it were a thing apart. And then it makes of it what you would have it be. It judges what it cannot understand, because it cannot see totality and therefore judges falsely. Let us not use it today, but make a gift of it to Him Who has a different use for it. He will relieve us of the agony of all the judgments we have made against ourselves, and re-establish peace of mind by giving us God’s Judgment of His Son.

2. Father, we wait with open mind today, to hear Your Judgment of the Son You love. We do not know him, and we cannot judge. And so we let Your Love decide what he whom You created as Your Son must be.

Father,  may I learn this lesson with all my heart for it is the path to YOU and MYSELF.

God Blesses    Christ Blesses         I Bless

Ciao

Faith and Justice

Sawadee Khrap

Today I asked “What would You have me do?, Where would You have me go?, What would You have me say?, and to whom? …..  and waited and my first thought was to refer to my “oracle” selection from ACIM and that was:  Chapter 25 The justice of God – Section 8. Justice Returned to Love.

“The Holy Spirit can use all that you give to Him for your salvation.  But He cannot use what you withhold, for He cannot take it from you without your willingness.  For if He did, you would believe He wrested it from you against your will.  And so you would not learn it is your will to be without it.  You need not give it to Him wholly willingly, for if you could you had no need of Him.  But this He needs; that you prefer He take it than that you keep it for yourself alone, and recognize that what brings loss to no one you would not know.  This much is necessary to add to the idea no one can lose for you to gain.  And nothing more.

Here is the only principle salvation needs.  Nor is it necessary that your faith in it be strong, unswerving, and without attack from all beliefs opposed to it.  You have no fixed allegiance.  But remember salvation is not needed by the saved.  You are not called upon to do what one divided still against himself would find impossible.  Have little faith that wisdom could be found in such a state of mind.  But be you thankful that only little faith is asked of you. What but a little faith remains to those who still believe in sin?  What could they know of Heaven and the justice of the saved?”

Knowing this I can go out and walk around the world today and expect the lessons I need to learn  presented for me to see.   The little faith needed to see them is all I need and I am assured that I will have the strength and courage to learn from them.  Salvation is given me but for the asking and my secret judgements will be reveled to me so I can let them go.

God Blesses    Christ Blesses    I Bless

Ciao

Let not my world obscure the sight of Christ.

Sawadee Khrap

ACIM LESSON 304.

“ I can obscure my holy sight, if I intrude my world upon it. Nor can I behold the holy sights Christ looks upon, unless it is His vision that I use. Perception is a mirror, not a fact. And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward. I would bless the world by looking on it through the eyes of Christ. And I will look upon the certain signs that all my sins have been forgiven me.

You lead me from the darkness to the light; from sin to holiness. Let me forgive, and thus receive salvation for the world. It is Your gift, my Father, given me to offer to Your holy Son, that he may find again the memory of You, and of Your Son as You created him.”

God Blesses         Christ  Blesses            I Bless

Ciao

Equanimity, attraction and aversion

Sawadee Khrap

Here’s a great talk “Is Homosexuality FORBIDDEN in Hinduism? A Scriptural Perspective” by  Swami Tadatmananda  a traditionally-trained teacher of Advaita Vedanta, meditation, and Sanskrit at the  Arsha Bodha Center.

Note where he discusses proper judgment.

“To understand why, consider how the Bhagavad Gita and other scriptures place great emphasis on spiritual values like tolerances, equanimity, and on graceful acceptance of things that cannot be changed.   The Gita famously says. “samatvam yoga ucyate”, yoga is equanimity. Properly understood, equanimity is to refrain from judging all the people, things, and events in life because what’s good for you may be bad for someone else, and visa versa. Good simply means what you like, and bad means what you don’t like.  In Sanskrit, these two notions are called raga and dvesha, attraction and aversion, or more simply, likes and dislikes. Raga and dvesha compel you to chase after whatever you think is good.  These two urges keep your attention firmly fixed on worldly matters, and prevent you from gaining a higher spiritual perspective. Raga and dvesha are huge obstacles to spiritual growth.  To overcome them you have to drop your habitual judgments of good and bad.  You have to develop equanimity.   You need an impartial, unbiased, and completely objective view of life.”

Recall  Genesis 3:4,    KJV   Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Be “LIKE” God – have the power of judgement.   To be able to change reality to our liking instead of accepting it as it was created.   The result of Sin, missing the mark or understanding,  is Death.   Non-equanimity or Spiritual DEATH.

Spiritual death is the birth place of illusions,  separation, and specialism.   The birth place of DUALISM.   The thought that there is existence  other than ONENESS, a tiny mad idea of separation, a dream – actually a nightmare, we call the Physical/Material World,  where pain, sacrifice and death rule over Love, Truth, Spirit, and Eternity.

The ancient Hindus knew it, Jesus taught it and made it personal, and it is repeated again in ACIM.

Thank you Father of providing me a way Home to You.

God Blesses      Christ Blesses      I Bless

Ciao