One of the passages in the Disappearance of the Universe that stands out for me comes in Chapter 2 before Arten describes the four major attitudes of learning that we all go through (dualism, semi-dualism, non-dualism, and pure non-dualism). Arten explains that we will interpret the exact same scripture differently depending upon in which attitude of learning we are currently engaged.
I had that same experience earlier today sitting in church. The minister at Perimeter referenced this scripture from chapter 15 of the Gospel of John: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
I had read this scripture many times. I understood the traditional Christian meaning as Jesus laying down his life as savior to all people. For most of my adult life, however, I had thought of this scripture in terms of Jesus’ decision to use the crucifixion as an opportunity to show us that we are spirit and that there is no death.
This morning was different. The words transformed for me… There is no greater love than this, that a person would lay down his ego – the life he thought he was leading - for his friends. There is no greater love than to let go of your ego in every situation, to let go of any need to control any situation, to have a certain result, or to judge in any way. There is no greater love than to let go and to live in such a way that reminds all people that they are as God created them.
As I think about my coming week, I see myself walking with this thought on the front burner of my mind…to show my brother love by letting go of the self I thought I was and to instead express the love of God in every situation. To remember when I feel that telltale sign of frustration or anger to instead be still and release what I am thinking I am so that the me that I really am can come forth.
It’s going to be a fun week!
I invite your comments below. In particular, are there scriptures that you know interpret differently as you continue on your chosen path?
In Joy,
Michael
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
J's Transformation
I have been highly blessed in my life by a continuing five-year study of The Disappearance of the Universe. For those who are not familiar, the book’s premise is quite startling – it is allegedly an account of 17 visits to the author by two ascended masters who provoke a self-admitted slacker to practice the kind of forgiveness principles that transformed Jesus to his full awareness of his oneness with God.
The in-your-face, direct teaching style is both abrupt for some and quite effective for others. The 100% alignment by the ascended masters with A Course In Miracles makes it a powerful affirmation of the ACIM principles and an excellent first read for those unfamiliar with ACIM.
For me, one of the most powerful passages is the description the ascended masters give of the transformation of Jesus, or J as they call him. The description provides a road map for the “journey without distance” back to God. Each time I read it, I found myself inspired and renewed in my desire and commitment to learn to walk this earth as J did.
The Transformation of Jesus (From The Disappearance of the Universe, pages 39-40)
J was neither judgmental or a reactionary…If nothing is outside of your mind, then to judge it is to grant it power over you; and to not judge it is to withdraw its power over you. This certainly contributes to the end of your suffering. But our brother J didn’t stop there.
…If God is perfect and eternal, then by definition anything He creates would also have to be perfect and eternal…Since there is obviously nothing in this world that is perfect and eternal, J was able to see the world for what it was – nothing…J made a complete and uncompromising distinction between God and everything else – everything else being totally insignificant except for the opportunity it provided to listen to the Holy Spirit’s interpretation of it, instead of the world’s…
J learned to overlook perception and choose with the perfect Love of spirit on a consistent basis. The vital distinction between perfect spirit and the world of change allowed him to hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit more and more, which in turn allowed a process to unfold where he could forgive more and more.
The Voice for truth got louder and stronger until J got to the point where he could listen to just this one Voice and see right through everything else. Finally, J became, or better, he re-became what this Voice represents – his and your true reality as spirit and oneness with the Kingdom of Heaven.
The in-your-face, direct teaching style is both abrupt for some and quite effective for others. The 100% alignment by the ascended masters with A Course In Miracles makes it a powerful affirmation of the ACIM principles and an excellent first read for those unfamiliar with ACIM.
For me, one of the most powerful passages is the description the ascended masters give of the transformation of Jesus, or J as they call him. The description provides a road map for the “journey without distance” back to God. Each time I read it, I found myself inspired and renewed in my desire and commitment to learn to walk this earth as J did.
The Transformation of Jesus (From The Disappearance of the Universe, pages 39-40)
J was neither judgmental or a reactionary…If nothing is outside of your mind, then to judge it is to grant it power over you; and to not judge it is to withdraw its power over you. This certainly contributes to the end of your suffering. But our brother J didn’t stop there.
…If God is perfect and eternal, then by definition anything He creates would also have to be perfect and eternal…Since there is obviously nothing in this world that is perfect and eternal, J was able to see the world for what it was – nothing…J made a complete and uncompromising distinction between God and everything else – everything else being totally insignificant except for the opportunity it provided to listen to the Holy Spirit’s interpretation of it, instead of the world’s…
J learned to overlook perception and choose with the perfect Love of spirit on a consistent basis. The vital distinction between perfect spirit and the world of change allowed him to hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit more and more, which in turn allowed a process to unfold where he could forgive more and more.
The Voice for truth got louder and stronger until J got to the point where he could listen to just this one Voice and see right through everything else. Finally, J became, or better, he re-became what this Voice represents – his and your true reality as spirit and oneness with the Kingdom of Heaven.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Walking in the Spirit
A Course in Miracles teaches us that deep inside we all know that we are strangers here; that deep inside, we all know that this world we call our life is not our home at all; and that, even in this strange land, we do not walk alone; that the Holy Spirit – the voice for God – walks with us and reminds us of our true home with God.
With the start of the new year I have been more intent than ever to walk with the Holy Spirit, to “listen” for that voice, and to follow the guidance that I have felt. I think of this idea of walking with Spirit as a kind of Holy Communion, a joining in which, as the song says, I release and I let go of anything I think I want and let the Holy Spirit guide me to my real life. There is a sense of inner joy as my heart opens wide to the experience of being only here for God.
And of course there is that “ping pong” effect that Pursah talks about in The Disappearance of the Universe in which I bounce back and forth from those moments in which I am walking in the Spirit, and the other 95% of the time when I am caught up in the concerns of the world! And at the same time, I have avoided behaviors in my life which I don’t feel good about because my naturally tendency is, at those times, to cut-off the Holy Communion to avoid experiencing guilt. Does that sound like a reenactment of the Separation or what? In my head I recognize that I can’t change what God has made and that these behaviors, like everything else, need to be, and will be, forgiven.
And despite the ping-ponging, these first few days of 2010 have felt like a different year and a different experience. The sense of peace and joy is wonderful, as well as the knowledge that, as I follow, I am being blessed and others are being blessed as well. And, of course, the lessons continue.
Last week I flew out to Los Angeles for a speaking engagement on my latest book (Buying Styles – Selling the Way Your Customer Buys). When I arrived at the hotel around 10 pm, I realized I had forgotten to pack a tie with my suit. Now I was going to be speaking before 100 sales execs from a financial software company – I felt it was important to dress the part. So my first thought was disappointment with my Guidance. “Spirit, I have been walking with you this entire week. Why didn’t the thought come to not forget the tie?” And though the tie was a little thing, the disappointment was not. All through the week I had been receiving guidance on what to do, what to say, and so I felt somewhat abandoned on this.
The talk went very well and I was inspired to take a few additional risks with the audience that proved highly impactful for them. During the debrief that followed with the client contact, she said she liked the content, loved the way I kept the group engaged, and appreciated the way I was dressed! The implication was that I was wearing a suit, yet without a tie it was just the right touch of informality.
Leaving the presentation hall, I could only smile and think, "O ye of little faith.” Rather than questioning why I hadn’t received guidance to remember the tie, a different thought would have been, “I guess this is not something I will need,” or “No worries. Everything I need will be provided.”
May this day be a day of Holy Communion for you as you walk this day in the spirit!
In Joy,
Michael
With the start of the new year I have been more intent than ever to walk with the Holy Spirit, to “listen” for that voice, and to follow the guidance that I have felt. I think of this idea of walking with Spirit as a kind of Holy Communion, a joining in which, as the song says, I release and I let go of anything I think I want and let the Holy Spirit guide me to my real life. There is a sense of inner joy as my heart opens wide to the experience of being only here for God.
And of course there is that “ping pong” effect that Pursah talks about in The Disappearance of the Universe in which I bounce back and forth from those moments in which I am walking in the Spirit, and the other 95% of the time when I am caught up in the concerns of the world! And at the same time, I have avoided behaviors in my life which I don’t feel good about because my naturally tendency is, at those times, to cut-off the Holy Communion to avoid experiencing guilt. Does that sound like a reenactment of the Separation or what? In my head I recognize that I can’t change what God has made and that these behaviors, like everything else, need to be, and will be, forgiven.
And despite the ping-ponging, these first few days of 2010 have felt like a different year and a different experience. The sense of peace and joy is wonderful, as well as the knowledge that, as I follow, I am being blessed and others are being blessed as well. And, of course, the lessons continue.
Last week I flew out to Los Angeles for a speaking engagement on my latest book (Buying Styles – Selling the Way Your Customer Buys). When I arrived at the hotel around 10 pm, I realized I had forgotten to pack a tie with my suit. Now I was going to be speaking before 100 sales execs from a financial software company – I felt it was important to dress the part. So my first thought was disappointment with my Guidance. “Spirit, I have been walking with you this entire week. Why didn’t the thought come to not forget the tie?” And though the tie was a little thing, the disappointment was not. All through the week I had been receiving guidance on what to do, what to say, and so I felt somewhat abandoned on this.
The talk went very well and I was inspired to take a few additional risks with the audience that proved highly impactful for them. During the debrief that followed with the client contact, she said she liked the content, loved the way I kept the group engaged, and appreciated the way I was dressed! The implication was that I was wearing a suit, yet without a tie it was just the right touch of informality.
Leaving the presentation hall, I could only smile and think, "O ye of little faith.” Rather than questioning why I hadn’t received guidance to remember the tie, a different thought would have been, “I guess this is not something I will need,” or “No worries. Everything I need will be provided.”
May this day be a day of Holy Communion for you as you walk this day in the spirit!
In Joy,
Michael
Sunday, January 3, 2010
MP3 - Getting Ready For Heaven
Michael's Talk - Getting Ready for Heaven; Unity Christ Center, June 2006 - MP3
Part 1 (11 minutes)
Part 2 (11 minutes)
Part 3 (11 minutes)
Part 4 (13 minutes)
ALL PARTS - Getting Ready for Heaven(46 minutes)
Handout for Getting Ready for Heaven
Part 1 (11 minutes)
Part 2 (11 minutes)
Part 3 (11 minutes)
Part 4 (13 minutes)
ALL PARTS - Getting Ready for Heaven(46 minutes)
Handout for Getting Ready for Heaven
Friday, January 1, 2010
A New Year, New Forgiveness Opportunities!
Welcome to 2010! My prayer for you and for me is that this year is the year we choose more often to join with the Holy Spirit and with our brothers and sisters. I believe my biggest forgiveness lesson this past year is recognizing more than ever the importance of joining.
When I am living at my highest levels of awareness, it is fun to watch how my reactions to people lead me to join or not join with them. At work, when someone I trust makes a mistake, I join with them. I see the mistake as just an error to be corrected. Yet when someone I don't trust makes a mistake, my instinctive response, "Here we go again. Another mistake." Instead of joining with them, my thoughts are of separation -- I'm over here and the other person, the person who made the mistake, is over there.
As The Course in Miracles makes it clear, believing is seeing. We see what we believe. Not the other way around.
So this year, my desire is to remember to join with everyone I meet. To join with them, and act from a sense of joining and not act from a sense of separation. And as the Disappearance of the Universe repeats over and over, we are only joining with ourselves because, as in a dream, these are images we have made.
May 2010 bring you much love, joy and forgiveness!
Michael
When I am living at my highest levels of awareness, it is fun to watch how my reactions to people lead me to join or not join with them. At work, when someone I trust makes a mistake, I join with them. I see the mistake as just an error to be corrected. Yet when someone I don't trust makes a mistake, my instinctive response, "Here we go again. Another mistake." Instead of joining with them, my thoughts are of separation -- I'm over here and the other person, the person who made the mistake, is over there.
As The Course in Miracles makes it clear, believing is seeing. We see what we believe. Not the other way around.
So this year, my desire is to remember to join with everyone I meet. To join with them, and act from a sense of joining and not act from a sense of separation. And as the Disappearance of the Universe repeats over and over, we are only joining with ourselves because, as in a dream, these are images we have made.
May 2010 bring you much love, joy and forgiveness!
Michael
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