Making Peace Your One Goal

There is a way of living in the world that is not here, although it seems to be. You do not change appearance, though you smile more frequently. Your forehead is serene; your eyes are quiet. - A Course in Miracles, WB 155

One of the most profound and elusive insights of spiritual mastery is that there is no time or place better than here and now. This is a tough pill to swallow because our object-oriented nature compels us to look out in space, and forward in time, to a place and time superior to life in this moment. We come by this honestly. The whole goal-setting approach encourages us to specify the circumstances and date certain to ensure we get what we want when we want. Our seeking in the world is always about when and then. Right now I bet you and I could easily call forth a wish list of things we wish were different; situations that appear to be barriers to our happiness. So let's get clear on how we navigate the human and spiritual journey; that allows us to work in the world and yet not be imprisoned by its ways and means of offering fulfillment.

There's nothing evil or sinful about wanting life changes or going after worthy goals. Clearly, in this world of form, there are certain conditions that support our needs and comforts better than others do. When we pursue those changes, it is only important that we realize the limitations to what they can give us. If I seek after a newer car, or more spacious house, or finer garments, I will experience greater ease and comfort and adornment on the plane of the purely physical. Nothing wrong with that as long as I understand what they cannot give me as well as what they can.

None of those externals can give me an abiding sense of peace, or love or joy, though I am frequently seduced to believe otherwise. These qualities arise out of my essence so when I equate peace, or any spiritual quality, with outer conditions I ensure that will seek but not find. When our goal is for peace of mind, or lasting joy, or abiding love, we must abandon the ways of the world lest we be frustrated by such a futile approach.

Spiritual mastery also teaches that it is just as frustrating and fruitless to seek after these spiritual qualities directly as if they were precious pearls hidden in the depth of our being. Once more, the spiritual way parts company with the world's way as non-doing trumps striving, and non-attachment trumps desire, and non-resistance trumps the good fight.

When we realize that effort and striving only build a case against the omnipresence of good and resistance only strengthens our lonely egoic self, we can embrace an attitude of letting go and letting God. The way to peace begins with allowing (internally) whatever form this moment takes, to be as it is. To internally align with the "isness" of life in this moment, releases us from the suffering of resisting life on its presenting terms.

I invite you to look at those situations in your life that seem to be limiting you right now with a fresh perspective. What if instead of being blocks to your good they are actually concealed portals into your deeper essence, your unconditioned nature? What if you made peace your one goal in this situation? See what happens when you let go of the resistance, stop fighting the form, align yourself with it, and say to yourself, "This is as it is." You may still take action in the outer, but internally you let go, and "be with it" without resistance. See if you do not notice a significant cathartic release of your stuck feeling and a return to greater peace.

Bringing Darkness to the Light

A couple weeks ago, I shared with our congregation my recent inner struggle with the "blahs". In fact, it was the day before the sharing that I experienced a breakthrough from several days of moderate despair. I mentioned being stymied in not being able to identify the source of those feelings; just an abiding sense of gloom, with no palpable thread of causation.

Much of the feedback I received about that Sunday talk centered on the significance of the honest candor in which I shared my struggle. Many of you apparently are not accustomed to hearing about the human struggle from spiritual leaders. These struggles are legion, and the dearth of disclosures does not represent their scarce occurrence as much as it testifies to our reluctance to be forthcoming. In this article, I hope to offer some light on this topic that is too often avoided in positive spiritual discussion circles.

It happens, as the expression goes, to the best of us. Despite our spiritual foundation, our commitment to spiritual practice, self-awareness, familiarity with the terrain of our personal mind field, we can be tripped up, and fall from a state grace, joy, or peace. When this happens, our response can make all the difference in the world as to how we climb back to our natural God given state of joy and peace.

For many of us, our first response to such negative emotions is denial and/or guilt. Usually carried by the thought, I am spiritual; I can't be, or I shouldn't be feeling sad or depressed! That's simply not true. We all have egos; we are in this world to work out our feelings of separation from God. Whatever feelings arise, they are feedback to what we believe is true in any given moment. For that reason, we must acknowledge them. To deny or repress those feelings would ensure that we remain in darkness, painfully ignorant of what is going on in us. Until we can recognize that these feelings exist in us, we can't begin the spiritual correction process. Of course, our egos would deny these feelings or blame them on the world or other people. However when we deny or project, we ensure that the problem remains beyond our reach, and therefore unsolvable.

It is the good news-bad news of authentic spiritual understanding. On the surface, we confront what appears as the bad news; that the problem lies within us. The good news of course is that we have control over our inner experience, and that means there is a way out of our suffering. By admitting, I am feeling sad, I firmly establish this situation as my experience, with nobody or nothing to blame. When I take responsibility for my experience, I have correctly located the problem, where I can deal with it and find my way out.

So how do we get free when we're mired in
negative emotions? The answer is a reversal of the problem. A Course In Miracles says, "A sense of separation from God is the only lack you really need to correct." My ego does not want to hear this but it just happens to be the truth: My sadness (fear, anger, etc) is a result of a decision that I made. That decision was to see another person or myself or a situation without love. Some form of judgment on my part is blocking my heart and preventing God's love from flowing through me. This is spiritual angina, and it hurts like hell. My only way out is to see through God's eyes, which removes the scales of my faulty perception, and brings darkness into the light of truth. If we are willing to listen to Spirit's voice, we will be shown the truth in any situation, and be blessed by the reversal that turns our darkness into light.

Here is the systematic process offered by ACIM:

I must have decided wrongly, because I am not at peace.
I made the decision myself, but I can also decide otherwise.
I want to decide otherwise, because I want to be at peace.
I do not feel guilty, because the Holy Spirit will undo all the
consequences of my wrong decision if I will let Him.
I choose to let Him, by allowing Him to decide for God for me.

A Love Only A Mother Could Love

“Your task is not to seek for love but merely to seek and find all of the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. “

These words come from A Course in Miracles, a spiritual philosophy that has been called a modern day translation of the teachings of Jesus. The very origin of ACIM grew out of a conflicted relationship between two colleagues at Columbia University, and their willingness to find a better way to work together. Their expressed agreement to find that better way was the apparent catalyst for the transmission (through inner dictation) of the three volumes of A Course in Miracles.

The main theme of ACIM is a radical forgiveness message. From the Course perspective, forgiveness is offered not because one is being good and charitable but because what we perceive in others, which lead to our judgments and resentments, is simply not true. Within us are two voices, the voice of the ego (our false self, which believes it is separate from God and others) and the voice of the Holy Spirit (our true self based upon our eternal connection with God who created us in its likeness). When we listen to the ego's voice, we will see our brother and ourselves through the lens of separation. Such perception attributes fault and guilt, and justifies blaming, attacking, and all judgments. This faulty perception is what Jesus referred to as the "log in our eye" that blinds us to seeing our brother as he truly is. If we choose, (and willingness is the key to forgiveness) we can ask for and hear the voice of Truth. Attuned to this voice and its holy perception we are shown our brother as God sees him; one who has simply forgotten who he truly is. In his dream of separation, oblivious to love's presence, his behavior is actually a call for love. This perception permits us to see him as guiltless and innocent, and we forgive by looking past his errors. At the same time, we are forgiving ourselves, looking past our distorted self-concepts to the Self That God created us to be.

Jesus demonstrated this kind of "seeing" masterfully. It was his Christ vision that could look upon those who betrayed and destroyed his body; and extend his forgiveness by looking past their errors and beholding their essential innocence. Because he did not see them as victimizers, neither could he be a victim.

When we accept responsibility for our reactions to the slings and arrows of life, we are no longer victims. Ultimately, forgiveness can bring us peace of mind, happiness, a quiet mind, a certainty of purpose, and a sense of worth and beauty. All of heaven is behind us in that quest. It is not withheld from us. It may come at a desperate time when we ache from the inner conflict of resentment, and are finally willing to seek a better way. This tiny willingness is all that Spirit needs to help us find a way to forgive.

This is such a high teaching and we tend to think a love so pure is only possible through an enlightened master such as Jesus or a Mother Theresa or a Dali Lama, but many of us have known such love from our own mothers. Of course, my mother was not perfect; she had her human flaws and hang-ups like the rest of humanity. The perfect love that indwelled her, sometimes expressed imperfectly. Yet, I witnessed on many occasions a depth of unconditional love so pure and unflinching that left me knowing with certainty that nothing could block her love for me. While disapproving of my behavior, she nonetheless was able to look past my mistakes, and see the innocence and perfection of my being. This is divine love, expressed perfectly through a human being. It’s a model for love and forgiveness. And it’s not just reserved for Moms, though they are our greatest teachers of this potential in all of us. Thanks Mom. I miss your presence, yet your lesson on love is very much alive in me this day.