Chapter One: The meaning of Miracles V. Wholeness and Spirit VI. The illusion of Needs and VII the distortion of Miracle impusles.

Hello,

January 1, 2012. I realize my course in miracles journey seemed to be on a hiatus. Honestly, the course itself was on the back burner. My journey continued without the course. Its it only directionless way. I have without guidance been realizing the divine within and uncovering the obstacles preventing me from being my authentic self....from being love. I have been using various means: exploration in non linear dynamics, reading various religious texts, reading biographies of yogis and others that have wandered on the journey back to love, living with a guru(hes now 6), and experiencing love in its various forms. Im still studying me and learning about me. One of my brothers gave me a push back into the course in Miracles recently I am with gratitude towards this stranger for shifting my awareness back to The course.

So here we are again. I have read (and re-read) a large percentage of the text. The lessons from the course were causing me to shift my perspective on reality. This would in theory seem like a blessing considering that was the objectives. I wanted to change my prespective on the reality I had created, right?!?! Well the blessing had its drawbacks. my new perspectives on life were altering how I was seeing things around me and changing relationships with people irregardless of whether they were aware of my journey or not. I couldn't quite reconcile my new perspective with what society considers normal. I felt even further alienated rather than being part of the whole. It was odd considering an approach that was supposed to return me to universal consciousness actually resulted in feelings disconnectedness. I laught at how ironic this situation is. It was difficult to function and relate to others when my viewpoints were so obviously askew. I now no longer am concerned. its time to open my eyes and see through the illusion.
You are welcome on my journey back to love.

Every day that I read exerpts from A Course in Miracles I am either learning new concepts, solidifiying pre concieved ideas, shattering "old truths" or seeing life from a whole new perspective. I have re- read the first few sections over again just to discover that the words have changed their meaning. Truths and ideas in lines that I previously overlooked caused me to stop and take notice of the lines I "missed". This book is a gem. anything that causes you to question the world around you and to see yourself in a different light is a mustread.




Chapter 1. The meaning of Miracles
V. Wholeness and Spirit
The miracle, like the body is just a learning tool for facilitating a state of being. While on a journey to love the body can easily be used as a vessel for realization. Honouring the body as a temple and loving self are excellent ways to faciltiate change.

We were created perfect and whole. You can see this when looking at a new born baby. You can feel the divine perfection when holding a child. When do we start seeing ourselves as imperfect....as unwhole. These are learned behaviours....they are not what we are born with. We beleive that we are inadequate because of our human conditioning. we have created doubts and fears that seems to decrease our potential. Regardless of how long we have beleived that we are anything but perfect it has not in reality decreased our potential. like all energy the divine energy within us can lie dormant or change its form but our potential is always there. We are lucky because nothing that our ego does can destroy your potential. We did not create it. So I guess were are back to unravelling the false beleif systems so that we can become whole once again.

Realization that you have everything and that you are everything.
God is not partial. All his children have his total love and all his gifts are freely given to everyone alike.

If you beleive that you are deprived of something then your perception becomes distorted.
We are special not because of our exclusion but because of our inclusion.

Spirit is unalterable because it is already perfect. The mind though will elect to choose to serve learned behaviours and beleive systems which create doubt within us about our perfection.

Returning to a child like state is one way to unlearn our beleif systems and to return to who we are...perfect divine love. The fact that I am blessed with a divine soul that I care for allows me to see how I was as a child. Obinna allows me to re live the life I cant recall with clarity. Obinna is a self taught swimmer, tap dancer, singer and musician. He has taught african drumming and african dance lessons to others. He does various martial arts and his confidence in his abilities far out weighs his actual talent. He IS amazing because of his belief that he is amazing at all that he does. He also recognize that the gifts he possesses can also be possessed by others and that "they just need to try". He is also willing to extend himself to teach others but also acknowledges that "they already know they just need to remember". He claims that he knows how to do everything but that he just has to remember. I dont think that this is ego I honestly beleive that we all have unlimited potentional we just have to beleive. His path in life makes me realize that the atonement is already present for most of God's children and that the rest of us need to just be accepting of it. He also truly recognizes the gifts that other possess. He doesnt feel threatened by the gifts that others have because he recongnizes his own talents and gifts. He celebrates others realizing their potential withoutht it affecting his "shine". One day over the summer he wrote out a list of all his friends (mostly adults) and listed the talents that they had and then spoke to them about sharing their talent with the world. He amazes me. Apparently my only talents are love, healing and cooking. I'll take that....apparently in the dancing department I just need to practice more....alot more.

Obi has a amazing beleif in himself. There is nothing that he fears and nothing that he is not capable of. He is still only 6 years old so his thought processes and his ideas of who he is is still quite ingrained in the divine. He beleives that he has super human powers and is working diligently honing those skills and preparing for his life of saving the world. Its amazing to witness this. Not once have i told him that this isnt possible. I just keep feeding his beleive that he is amazing and will achieve what he sets out to achieve. He also loves so completely and without reservation. He doesnt see the world as a threat but an opportunity. He believes he can achieve. He believes that he is amazing. I am sure that we too believed we were amazing when we were younger that we were capable of manifesting anything that we dreamed about. I am sure we all believed that we were destined to achieve and failure was not even considered. Opportunities outweighted oppressive thinking. It wasn't until we obtained learned ideas and constructs from society and those influencing us that we "realized" that maybe we werent the smart, talented, pretty, kind, etc that we thought we were. At some point we deviated away from our birthright of unlimited potentional, or divine greatness and started believing that we werent really all that special. We saw flaws that others inadvertendly pointed out to us. (why cant your hair he straight like your sister). We all started believing the dream and stopped living. We forgot that we were perfect just as we are. We as adults can look into the mirror and see all the flaws that society has told us that we have without clearly seeing the perfection in all its glory.

These shallow roots cannot sustain us. They are not real. We need unlearn these lessons, unplay the tapes and go back to our state of perfection. God doesn't make mistakes.

VI The illusion of Needs
Only perfect love exists........nothing else is real.


The illusion of need is almost laughable considering the current social climate. Media, hollywood, advertisers pretty much have this chapter of the course cornered. We have whole industries that create the illusion of need. There is no way around it. We need to act a certain way, look a certain way, drive a certain car, vacation certain places. Media sources tell us how to spend our time and our money so that we can be normal. From the time we are little we are bombarded with images of material items we need to have, physical attributes that are desirable and ideals we need to achieve. None of this is our own. This illusion was fed to us throughout our lifetime and is serioulsy preventing us from truly living. Its the whole butt implant and bentley illusion of happiness.We cannot be be defined by the superficial items or suituations that are creating our our reality. None of that is real. ( Que india.arie "I'm not my hair" then fade out to some buddha inspired beats. )



Prior to us separating from God we lack for nothing. There was no need. The only lack that truly exists is our separation from God. Everything that we are seeking is inherent....its within us. Thnk about the garden of eden story. It have been retold this story from various religious and esoteric viewpoints and the situation is all the same. We were perfect, beleived that lies and fell away from the perfect state. Going back to the state of eden.....is returning along the path of love. The illusion of need exists to make us feel that someone the state that we are currently in is imperfect. We beleive that somehow a state other than the one that we are in is more desirable......there is perfection in your current state. Take time to sit and reflect on its perfection.

We all live in our own individual realities that is based on our beleif systems and life experiences. Our belief systems are difficult to correct because we created them and modelled out lives around this construct. Breaking through this illusion casts doubt on all that we inherently believe that we are and all the things that our lives are based upon. Its can get a bit messy and difficult to reconcile when you realize that nothing is at is seems and that I am not who I thought I was. the only real purpose of this human experience is to correct your beleif systems and get back to love. All other needs are false needs. Nothing that we truly desire can be found externally.






VII. Distortions of Miracle impulses
Denial of self results in illusions. When we deny who we are we create lies. We align ourselves with how others view us rather than who we are. We are all multi-faceted. we all judge ourselves based on unfair criteria. We compare, we contrast, we judge ourselves and try to change ourselves based on external influences. Why? Let the judgement go.....release yourself from its hold. The judgement is not fair....you are still the little superhero running around in your under roos.....you are amazing. Dont judge yourself for what society has told you is a failure or wrong. Honestly the times in my life that I "failed" were the times that I realized my potential. To deny any aspect of yourself.....whether "good" or "bad" is to add to the illusion. Accept yourself as whole....you are here to learn, love and laugh. Let go of the judgement.

Our distorted perceptions make it difficult for miracles to reach our awareness. How are you supposed to see divine intervention if you yourself deny your own divine nature. open your eyes to the miracles around you. The fact that you are here is a miracle itself.


If you offer miracles you will be equally strong in your belief of them. I feel truly blessed that I have a career that offers me to see miracles first hand on a regular basis. I work closely with poeple who are on a healing journey. My responsibility is to relate with their innate healing mechanisms and be present with the person while the body is returning to a state of ease. It is an amazing thing to be able to experience on a daily basis. The bodys ability to heal is an amazing thing. I am truly blessed. They call me a registered massage therapist but honeslty I am priveldged to witness miracles daily. Of course I beleive in them....I see them happen daily.


A miracle minded persons objectives are to restore the connection we all have. We are all connected and all the same. There are no differences between us. It is my hope that enough of us realize this so that the future generation can know this from the beginning. we need to unify rather than divide and categorize. Awe is inappropriate when connecting with our brothers and sisters because we should not feel awe in the presence of our equals.


Lesson 5.

I am never upset for the reason that I think.

This idea, can be used with any person, situation or event you think is causing you pain. Apply it specifically to the cause of your upset. Identify all the sources of upset in your life and do this exercise.

I am not angry at (insert person here) for the reason that I think.
I am not afraid of (insert sitatuion here) for the reason taht I think.

all of our emotional uspsets have the same influence on our neurological or endocrine system. Emotion arising from a minor disappointment and emotion resulting from a relationship break down will have the same physiological affect on the body. For the purposes of this exercise dont place any more importance on one item over another.

This lesson has been paramount for me for the past year. To be honest previously I felt that if I was upset or showed any emotion other than joy that someone in that moment created that. The lover who was selfish, the driver that cut me off, etc....I honestly felt that they were the source of my emotional state. I laugh at this now because I can clearly see that my emotions have nothing to do with the situation at present. It is due to past experiences that I feel the way that I do. I am now able to see that certain people or events can trigger an emotion and I can now on most occassions trace it back to when that emotional state arose initially. It is a powerful process to discover that the reason why i was upset with a lovers action was because i felt rejection at a certain point decades ago. I personally have felt inadequate which is why fears can invoke an emotional response in the present. Our belief systems create the sutaiton and the emotion. It is empowering to know that YOU are responsible to your emotions and how you view a situation.

I am still working through this. Its a tough one for me. In theory I get it but in practice it is difficult to see past the illusion and realize that our emotions are not for the reason that we think.

Atonement and Miracles

Chapter 1 The Meaning of Miracles
III Atonement and Miracles

Atonement is described as forgiving or pardoning a transgression. Basically God forgiving our sins. The reason that we come before God is that his part of the atonement is the cancelling out of all the errors that you could to otherwise correct.

"As you share my unwillingness to accept error in yourselves and others, you must join the great crusade to act to correct it. " I admit that I am not one that can be considered perfect. I admit with all sincerity that I am a work in progress. I like how this statement is not filled with fear or condemnation. It is simply a statement that you are expected to lose your way and make mistakes.....that is how life is but if you do you need to identify that and correct it. Simple. That is attainable where as I am a long shot from perfect.

"The power to work miracles belongs to you. I will provide the opportunities to do them, but you must be ready and willing. Miracles arise from a mind that is ready for them. " We are provided with many opportunities throughout the day to make positive change and to make a difference in our own lives and others. Look at these as everyday miracles. Seize the opportunity to truly listen to a brother or sister. Be present. Celebrate life. A walk on the beach at sunset with awaken your belief in miracles.

"You are the work of God, and His work is wholly lovable and wholly loving. This is how man must think of himself." I love this statement. This is something I can work with. We all deserve to be loved and are lovable despite our imperfections. All of God's children are entitled to this regardless of your race, religion, sexual orientation, social or economic status or any other factors that could not possibly define us.

"When you offer a miracle to any of my brothers, you do it to yourself and to me"
We are requested to provide others with acts of kindness. To begin our own path towards God and also to release others on their path. Forgiveness of self and others provides this release. We provide miracles by simply loving our brothers and sisters.

You respond to what you perceive , and as you perceive so shall you behave. The Golden rule asks you to do unto others as you should have them do unto you. This is a rule of appropriate behaviour. You cannot behave appropriately unless you perceive correctly. Since you and your neighbor are equal members of one family, as you perceive both so you will do to both.


A little about me:
Obinna is one of my greatest gifts. I have only come across a few truly enlightened people in my life and Obinna is one of them. His love is limitless, powerful and selfless. Obinna also provides with the best stories pertaining to love because the love vibrating from him is palpable. He shines really brightly. He might only be four but the wisdom that he holds is inspirational. I keep saying that he must be aware that he is divine because wisdom and love flow from his lips.

I have two Obinna stories to share with you. One occurred today. Obinna and I were speaking on the phone. He was telling me of a friend that he had visited. This woman had seriously wronged me in the past and although I have forgiven her for her indiscretion against me and my family I can honestly say that I have not come to a place where I could say that I loved her. I have never mentioned this to Obinna yet I sometimes feel that he knows what is in my heart. He was telling me what the two of them had done during the day when he suddenly stopped his conversation and simply said to me that I should try to love " this woman" because we are supposed to love everyone. I thanked him for his statement. It resonated with such truth that I needed to check myself. I told him that I am working on being more loving. I was a little taken aback by his statement due to the pure honesty in it. This four year old is right though. Regardless of the situation I should be projecting love onto my sister. We are here to just love one another and sometimes when we believe that a person has 'wronged' us we forget about love and focus on our hurt. So, I guess thanks to Obinna, I am busy trying to remove my blocks for loving this woman. It is easy to love those that love us. I find it a challenge to love those that have hurt me in some way. This woman has provided me with a fabulous opportunity to grow and I need to thank Obinna for recognizing that. I guess I am blessed to have him reminding me of who I truly am.

The second story happen a couple of days ago. Obinna and I are separated for a few weeks so that he can feel his fathers love for a period of time. During a phone conversation Obinna told me that while he was sitting in his room he could feel my love for him. He asked me if I could feel his love all the way in Vancouver. I made him aware of the fact that no matter where I was in the world our love for each other could always be felt because love is powerful. It is his perspective on life that makes me realize that some gifts are more special than others. Love is a very special gift.


Lesson Three
I do not understand anything that I see in this room.

The point of this exercise is to help you clear your mind of all past associations, to see things exactly as they appear to you now, and to realize how little you really understand about them. It is therefore essential that you keep a perfectly open mind, unhampered by judgement, in selecting the things to which the idea for the day is applied.

A course in Miracles Chapter 1-1

Chapter 1. The Meaning of Miracles : I. The Principles of Miracles


I guess we have to start somewhere and defining is the most logical step considering I am certain that not all miracles have the same packaging as the walking on water one preformed a few years ago.

'The source of miracles is God and they are naturally occurring expressions of love. Everything that comes from love is a miracle.'

' God's voice will direct you very specifically towards miracles.'

'Miracles are natural, when they do not occur then we are doing something wrong. Miracles are every ones right,. They are healing because they supply lack and are performed by those you temporarily have more for those you temporarily have less.'

'Miracles are an exchange. Like all expression of love, the exchange reverses the physical laws. They bring more love both to the giver and the receiver.'

'Prayer is the medium of miracles. It is a mean of communication of the created with the Creator, Through prayer love is received and through miracles love is expressed. '

'The miracle is never lost. It may touch people you have not even me, and produce undreamed of changes of situations you are not even aware of. '

'Miracles arise from a miraculous state of mind, or a state of miracle readiness.'



Lesson One

Nothing that I see means anything.

The exercise was one that all objects within my visual field was to be identified as not meaning anything. This exercise in detachment is not as easy as it seems. We place so much meaning on possessions and self. At times are identity is linked with our possessions or roles that we play. I generally don't define myself by material possessions but I have acquired them because to me they do represent something to me. A car represents an ability to get from point A to point B with ease. My clothes enable me to leave the house without getting arrested. The sounds and scents I surround myself with enhance my environment. I am sure that further exploration of the course will allow me to see this lesson in attachment for what it truly is.

Why do we identify with objects, roles and our physical self to such a degree. We generally see the worth in these items but tend to ignore our true authentic self and don't identify with or acknowledge the divinity within.

The beginning of a Course in Miracles

There are a few statements and ideas from the prologue that piqued my interest. Anything in quotations is a direct quote from The Course in Miracles and if there are just single quotes then I am basically paraphrasing.

'The world we see merely reflects from our internal frame of reference. Projection makes perception'. This statement is definitely one of those universal truths. We all shape our reality based on our experiences and emotional states of being. Our senses are merely directed by our neurological patterning based on what we have experienced to date. If we experience a shift in perspective and actually view the past differently then our view of the present will change and thus in turn shape our present reality.

'We look inside first, decide the world that we want to see and project it onto the outside world to make it truth. ' I speak to a lot of different people from all walks of life each day each experiencing the world in a different way. I love these differences and celebrate them but also find them amusing. Each person generally is of the belief system that their viewpoints are on the only correct viewpoints and are shocked when others see things differently. I was speaking to a really wise man a few years ago that caused me to reflect on this exact point. I was driving in Calgary and saw a man pushing a shopping cart full of all his worldly possessions. I was at a really rough point in my life financially and was doing everything in my power to make sure that I was remaining financially buoyant. The struggle for me was all consuming. The scene that I witnessed though invoked an emotional response in me. Mainly because I would assume that this is not the state that my brother would chose. I felt for the person. I was upset about it when my friend called. I relayed what I had seen to him. His perspective was entirely different from mine. He simply stated to me that it was wrong for me to project my feelings onto this person and that his perspective might be different. This state of being for him could have represented freedom and surrender. His previous experienced could have been one of financial pressure and emotional pain. He said that I had to right to judge this man's situation as 'bad' because of my views of the situation. He has a point. I had labeled his situation in my mind and had wrongly passed judgement on him. I still stand by the fact that our basic need of security (being food and shelter) need to be met but I no longer project my feelings onto another persons situation.

The Course in Miracles has a different perspective on a number of items compared to conventional interpretations of the bible and common religious beliefs. The generally christian consensus is that sin is basically breaking the 10 Commandments. As long as you follow those basic guidelines you are pretty good to go. In the Course in Miracles sin is describes as a deviating from love....or a lack of love. At first I thought this concept was a little bit vague because I am definitely sinning more often than not. Fear generally gets in the way of love during most of my day. So even though I am generally not breaking any commandments through out the day I can tell you that I am not making all of my choices love based choices. This project I am undertaking.....which is basically a whole overall of myself.....will take quite a bit of effort.

"Love is incapable of asking for anything". This is probably the reason why I am single. The love I have for children asks for nothing in return, there are no conditions to my love and there is no agenda. That is the closest thing that I have experienced to true love. The love that I have for a partner has expectations placed on it. I expect their love to feel a certain way and for them to act a certain way. I do not expect perfection from a partner for I realize that relationships are God's way of providing us situations so that we can grow. The challenges that are posed in relationships are generally so that we can come closer to discovering and accepting our authentic self. So this simple statement that true love asks for nothing might be the root cause for me not finding a partner. I am sure that this dynamic situation will be explored further.

So the Course's definition of love follows the verse in Corinthians: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

The course basically states that Love is the only thing that exists. The aims of the course is to remove the blocks that we have to the awareness of loves presence which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear but what is all encompassing can have no opposite. Fear, according to the Course is a construct of the ego and it ascertains that nothing unreal exists. To in essence.....love is all there is.

I realize that this might seem ridiculous but lets close our eyes and walk a new path for a minute. Our realities are dictated by our beliefs and our experiences....so even if the world remained at it was and just your perception of reality shifted to a place of love the world would shift. If we all let go of our fears and our ego based constructs the world would ultimately shift to a place of peace. Similar to a heaven-like state.

The Course states that Heaven is our natural state....which is the state of love. Forgiveness is the means by which we will achieve that. Forgiveness of self and forgiveness of others. If today you resolved to forgive all those that have wronged you.......EVER I think that this would free up a lot of space to focus on love. IF we looked at those "wrongs" as opportunities for us to grow, then we really can only thank those people for those experiences. Just a thought.


I can't wait to start the Course.

One love