The Word & Truth

The Word & Truth

Question: Truth CAN be placed into words, but doesn’t it also lose some of its full meaning in the process of being stepped down?

JJ: Words on the physical plane are a symbol of points of truth and because these symbols are communicated in imperfect circumstances the understanding of them is also imperfect.

But keep in mind that each word is represented in the higher planes. Those who are in touch with the soul can read the scriptures and sense the words, not only on the physical plane but on a number of planes and obtain a pure understanding of the word, or words.

Those who are not in touch with the soul or even higher mind, will interpret the words like a computer program would and not receive a full understanding.

Question: Wouldn’t the person who receives the words, then have to contemplate them, receive their own soul confirmation, which then helps them recreate or duplicate that same original truth within themselves?

JJ: Yes, this is true.

To illustrate this, let us use the example of a song again, such as Yesterday.

See the whole melody as one word. When this word descends to the physical plane it is represented by vibration of physical matter and can be arranged in many different ways with a variety of lyrics.

Now, does this song, or word, cease to exist when it is not vibrating on the physical plane?

The answer is no. It continues to exist on the plane of the mind and higher even when it is not being played. This word is still in existence in a pure form even when there is not a physical vibration or symbol.

To understand the pure idea behind the song one must listen to the physical word and then reflect on the higher realms until you see the song as Paul McCartney did when he first received it. But the chance of doing this without the aid of the physical word is remote. This is why we need to be stimulated with physical plane words and ideas and then trace them back to the soul for full understanding.

“This is also why the final authority for the disciple is not a physical human, but the soul.

To be pleased with one’s limits is a wretched state.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 – 1832)

Examining Mind, Soul

Purusha: Thank you for your warm welcome. And I, in return, thank you, as one Ishaya to another, (an Ishaya being merely one who has dedicated their life to the healing of humanity) for your work in bringing forth the Truth. I will soon be leaving to teach for an extended period in Asia. The wisdom you brought forth in the The Lost Key of the Buddha I know will be invaluable to me there.

JJ: I am honored you find it helpful.

As I said, we have had several Ishayas on the list in the past. They have always been gentle souls, but not always attracted to the logic presented here.

I understand that you do not wish to spar with me and I will seek union rather than separation as a whole.

It seems we both agree that we must go higher than mind, but where we disagree seems to be in the use of mind after soul contact is reached.

I quoted him post #272 from the archives about “Two Becoming One” 

“Where it is a duty to worship the sun it is pretty sure to be a crime to examine the laws of heat.” John Morley

The Mind as a Step

I never received a definition of truth from our previous reader

Again, I ask, would you share with us your definition of truth so we can get a better idea of what you are attempting to communicate? While you are at it give us two examples of truth.

Until we get at least a vague idea of what you mean here it appears senseless to argue with you.

To those of you who feel a strong urge and have a sense of personal mission to convince us that your perspective of the mind is correct let me say this.

Most of the people in this group value mind and common sense even though we realize that there are realms above mind that must be contacted. When contacted, the enlightenment received will be logical.

DK, who most of us respect, said this about the Masters of Wisdom in relation to his teachings:

“If the information given raises the aspiration and the will-to-serve from the plane of the emotions to that of the mind (the plane whereon the Masters can be found) then they will have served their purpose. If the teaching conveyed calls forth a response from the illumined mind of the worker in the world, and brings a flashing forth of his intuition, then let that teaching be accepted.”

Note that this Master tells us that the mind is “the plane whereon the Masters can be found.” He also notes that the goal of his teachings is to raise the seeker up from the plane of the emotions to the plane of the mind.

We respect mind, logic and reasoning here. Dozens have come and gone over the years attempting with great perseverance and ferocity to convince us to drop the use of the mind, but since none of them have any logic behind their words, or offer a path to soul confirmation of such, they have left without converts.

One of the purposes of this teaching and this forum is to teach the value of mind. If some are only hanging on to make converts in the opposite direction of the purpose of this group then I would suggest this is a counter productive and a useless effort as well as a possible infringement on free will.

We invite all to stay who feel the mind, logic reasoning and common sense has value. If someone wants to make an effort to convince us that the use of logic is not logical we will entertain such sophistry with mild amusement for a limited time but then we must get back to the purpose of the group which sees all planes as steps on a ladder which, if missed, could cause a fall back to the beginning of the climb.

As far as the Biblical teaching of perfection goes, I have written a lot on the subject. Rather than repeat myself readers can go to Google and place this in the search box:

Perfection site:freeread.com

This will bring you up numerous articles dealing with it.

If you read these and still have questions feel free to ask.

If some enterprising reader compiles the best of these into one collection this may also be helpful.

“We desire nothing so much as what we ought not to have.” Publilius Syrus (~100 BC), Maxims

Aug 7, 2004

Copyright by J J Dewey

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The Word is God

The Word is God

A reader quotes me as saying: “But attempting to figure things out is a stepping stone. I have never met anyone (or read about anyone) who has discovered any truth through the soul who has not first done some thinking about the subject or principle.”

To this she responds:

Truth has no form. It is not something that we can figure out. It just Is.

JJ: 2+2=4 is certainly a truth one can figure out, even without soul contact. Or are you applying some definition to truth that belies the dictionary and is peculiar to your philosophy?

If so, perhaps you could share your definition with us so we can know what you are talking about.

Also, if you do disagree with my above statement, I would like to hear a truth that you registered through some higher means that you had not thought of or reflected on first.

Reader: When you have experienced Gnosis, you have a Certainty, an experiential Knowing that exists within you. There are no words, but to communicate this Knowing, the mind must find words to express it.

JJ: It sounds like you are not talking about truth here but a process of discovery. Two very different things.

Reader: The words are not stepping stones to the Knowing, but stepping stones to communicate the Knowing.

JJ: I said that the use of the mind and reasoning is a stepping stone to knowing. It is true that words are definitely stepping stones to communication. I think all agree with this.

As far as words go consider this: Anything that is true can be put into words.

The “Word is God” and God is the word. If God is also the Truth then Truth is the Word and the Word is Truth.

If a thing is true and is of God then it is of the Word and can be placed into words.

Reader: And regarding Perfect and imperfect: As Purusha explained words are used to help us verbalize what is and what isn’t God. Perfect or Complete is an expression of what is God. Imperfect is what is not God. And so God can most certainly do something differently than originally Planned and remain Himself.

JJ: I know Gnostics see the lower worlds as lower emanations that are imperfect and not of God, but since God is all there is it would have had to come either directly or indirectly from Him. If it was created by a being below God then that being had to be created by God.

Most esoteric writings including H. P. Blavatsky and Alice A. Bailey give another view. DK uses these two quotes (see below) and obviously sees truth in them.

The first is from Shri Krishna who said: “Having pervaded this entire universe with a fragment of Myself, I remain.”

The second is from Sh’vet Upanishad, II.17.

“To the God Who is in the FIRE and Who is in the waters; To the God Who has suffused Himself through all the world; To the God Who is in summer plants and in the lords of the forest; To that God be adoration, adoration.”

What do we get from this? That God has pervaded the entire universe and is in the waters, the plants and suffused through all the world.

Or as the Mormon scriptures relate:

“The elements are the tabernacle of God.” D&C 93:35

This world we are in is far from perfect.

What does this tell us?

It tells us that God is in the midst or middle of creation in this sphere and has not yet been able to bring things to perfection. Relative perfection will come, but is not yet.

Man, who is in the image of God, is in the same boat. We are in the middle of a creative process and have not yet consummated it. As such we are imperfect reflections in time and space but moving toward perfection in form just as God is.

True and Truth

Reader continuing previous conversation: Interesting that you use math as example of Truth. Did you not know that Math has been distorted to fit into the model of duality?

JJ: No. I did not know that. Perhaps you can explain to be why 2+2=4 is distorted. Perhaps it is really 5?

Reader: For example, negative and positive numbers are not moral judgments of having or not having, but are only referring to the direction and distance one moves from the source?

JJ: No one is claiming they are moral judgments.

Are you saying that he who has two apples is further from God than he who has one apple? Strange reasoning.

Reader: Fallen math may be used as an example of what is true or perhaps what is false, but it is most certainly not Truth.

JJ: So you are saying that 2+2=4 is true, but not truth. If that which is true is not truth then it must be falsehood. Perhaps you can explain yourself.

Reader: All that we find here in this realm is simply a picture or image, a shadow, of what is Real.

JJ: But even a shadow has a cause and is a real effect. If I cast a shadow, it is true that there is a shadow and the principle that creates it is also true. I speak the truth when I explain a shadow. Do you deny this reality?

Reader: There have been many encounters that precluded any thought or reflection on the topic of revelation. The following is one.

As a fundamental Christian with not a thought of duality, I experienced something that my mind first interpreted as two extremes or ends of the spectrum. Truth or Certainty did not exist in either end but somewhere above. And somehow was inclusive of them both.

Following this experience, I was able to see these two opposite ends being played out in the Bible, and also in life in general.

….I have found writings and that did resonate with that feeling.

JJ: Can you please tell me what the truth was you received so I can make a fair judgment? Apparently, it was a “feeling” about duality.

As far as duality goes, if you were a fundamentalist Christian, you had done a lot of thinking about duality as you contemplated heaven and hell, God and Satan, good and evil etc.

Reader: When you have experienced Gnosis, you have a Certainty, an experiential Knowing that exists within you. There are no words, but to communicate this Knowing, the mind must find words to express it.

Reader quoting me: “It sounds like you are not talking about truth here but a process of discovery. Two very different things.”

Reader: How so? What is there to discover but Truth?

JJ: That’s certainly the goal, but many discover that which is not true and are deceived.

Those who speak of going beyond the mind fall into two categories.

(1) Emotionally based people who have not yet discovered mind or soul, but only brain and feeling. When these reach an emotional high they feel they have reached the Absolute where in reality they have only reach a new emotional feeling and have yet to achieve the vibration of mind – which is higher than emotion.

(2) Intuitive people who have truly gone beyond mind. This is the minority of the two categories. These do not leave the mind behind, just as an intelligent person does not leave a car behind. The mind is a vehicle that he continues to use while in the world.

True gnosis occurs in the plane above the mind, but there are three planes yet above this. This fourth plane is also a vehicle that presents before the mind ideas and principles as in a flash of inspiration.

Thus, whatever truth is brought into consciousness is through a process. Any seeker on the earth is a far distance from any ultimate reality.

Reader: The words are not stepping stones to the Knowing, but stepping stones to communicate the Knowing.

JJ: Reality seems to disagree with you. Mankind is the only species that uses words and is also the only one that has a conscious knowing.

Words are stepping stones to knowing and also “from” knowing to the communication of that which is known.

Reader: Huh? Who said human words were the Word of God?

JJ: We are talking about words, which are the same whether they be spoken by God or man.

The Word is God whether they are spoken by God or his reflection which is us.

One of the future Keys is the discovery of God in all words.

Reader: God’s Word existed before man, before he uttered a single word.

JJ:  This is not true for there was no beginning to God or man.

Reader: It is God’s creative thought, His Voice, a vibration, not words spoken or written by man.

JJ: Words are vibration whether spoken by God or man and originate with God for “the Word is God.”

Reader: And regarding Perfect and imperfect: As Purusha explained words are used to help us verbalize what is and what isn’t God.

JJ: This cannot be true of the Word which is God. There is nothing that is not God – nothing that is not vibration or words.

Reader: Perfect or Complete is an expression of what is God. Imperfect is what is not God. And so God can most certainly do something differently than originally Planned and remain Himself.

JJ: If all these imperfect worlds were not of God then something other than God created them. Who was this? And was this imperfect creator created by a perfect God?

It is true that God or any life can do something different than originally planned, but this just proves my point that the original plan could not then have been perfect and no being is perfect. The idea of absolute perfection is an illusion. The only perfection possible is pralaya where we go between creations of time and space or when the universe is folded up. Where there is no form, one could say there is perfection, but the idea would be fairly meaningless there.

Reader quoting me: “It tells us that God is in the midst or middle of creation and has not yet been able to bring things to perfection. Relative perfection will come, but is not yet.”

Reader: Huh? (Again) How do you get that?

JJ: Look around you. We are in an imperfect world created by God or a high intelligence created by God. Perfection cannot create imperfection so obviously God is not perfect as is formulated by the theologians though He may be perfect some other definitions.

Reader: Sparks of God do exist in this fallen world but they sleep encrusted in matter. And these sparks of God are pure and perfect already, just clothed in rags! Have you not experienced the pure and innocent in yourself or perhaps within another in a moment of intimacy?

JJ: Yes, we are reflections of God, but since you cannot walk on water you have not yet perfectly mastered the physical plane. Obviously, the divine spark cannot yet do many things on the physical, emotional and mental planes to perfection and thus is not perfect on all the planes. To deny this takes a convoluted reasoning.

Reader: Who set this standard of perfection that God is moving towards?

JJ: The atom sets the standard of perfection in creation. When a creation cannot be improved upon then relative perfection is reached and a model is formed that is endlessly duplicated. A single a tom can last billions of years and physicists think a proton can last for trillions.

Reader: What has been created is in process but God the All, the Infinite is lacking nothing and is already complete and perfect. Do you doubt Jesus’ words?

JJ: Jesus did not say this and the Bible does not teach the perfection of God as espoused by the religions. I have talked about this at length in previous writings.

God is obviously lacking something or he would not create. We, who are in the image  of God, are like that. We create  to be fulfilled and are happy with the result for a time then we decide we want more and create  again.

The widely accepted Course in Miracles makes this interesting statement, “How can he (God) enter, to rest and to remember, without you? Except you be there, he is not complete.”

Without the union of God with man then even God is not complete, or in an imperfect state.

You never answered my question from my last post. Would you share with us your definition of truth so we can get a better idea of what you are attempting to communicate?

“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.” Edgar Allan Poe (1809 – 1849),

Aug 5, 2004

Copyright by J J Dewey

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Conversations with a Monk

Conversations with a Monk

Purusha writes: I was finally able to start reading the posted chapters of Book 4 of The Immortal last night. What I read is really off from the Truth. What I read was a great example of mind mimicking the Absolute in its limited, finite way.

JJ: First, I never welcomed you to the group. We are honored to have an Ishaya monk in our presence. We have had several students in the past. I’m not sure if any remain.

That said, I do not think the writings are off the mark as you believe. Let us continue.

Purusha: I am referring to where the book starts into the lesson on the third Key, of Communion. It is true that Communion involves “a form of communication”,…

JJ: I would hope so. That is the basic definition of the word.

Purusha: but that is just a very limited understanding that is safe to the mind. A more expansive version (from expanding the word no less!) would be “coming into Union” or “come-union-ication”.

JJ: I would say that this definition applies to some degree on all levels. Even when two average people speak and understand each other with no soul contact, the understanding, which is correct, that they share is through a union of thoughts, feelings and even concrete definitions of literal words.

Purusha: This Union occurs in the soul, not in the mind.

JJ: A union can occur in the soul for advanced souls, but also to a lesser degree in the mind as well as the feelings and also the concrete brain.

Purusha: The soul “remembers” the Truth of communion, and causes us to seek it. But like the game of Chinese Whispers, a distortion of the Truth takes place…a distortion that comes about due to inattention, or misunderstanding. This misunderstanding and inattention take place because we chose to come out of Union with the Source and became “stuck” in one moment, or one piece of the manifestation of the Source.

JJ: No disagreement here. I have taught this basic principle in different wording a number of times. Book IV will cover this in more detail as it proceeds.

Purusha: The mind, in its independent need to justify its own existence, has an addictive habit of understanding, categorizing, and analyzing everything in order to decide what action to take in order to avoid pain and acquire happiness. Like the blind men discovering the elephant.

This process is NOT cognition, it is not knowing, it does NOT come about as part of the Oneness Principle.

JJ: I basically agree again. The mind understands data, but the language of the soul is the language of principles, as I have said many times. An understanding of a principle comes through “cognition” as you say, but the mind provides stepping stones to get there.

Purusha: And this is why “Christ”-ianity and the Church needed to obfuscate, condemn, and attempt to eradicate Gnosticism. Gnosis is “the knowing” of something from direct personal experience.

JJ: Agreed. The church wanted to be the final authority.

Purusha: If the blind men had innocently asked to know what they were sensing, they could have cognized it was an “________”, and then they could have cognized what to call it in their language. This is what true sages have done for ages – cognized the Truth rather than figuring it out.

JJ: But attempting to figure things out is a stepping stone. I have never met anyone (or read about anyone) who has discovered any truth through the soul who has not first done some thinking about the subject or principle. Now, I have met people who claim to have all truth through osmosis, but when probing them there is usually nothing there, except a repetition of what they have read.

Purusha: But the mind, in its limited understanding, has called these men magicians, or sorcerers, or even Satanists.

JJ: But other minds have called them sages.

Purusha: Somewhere the mind has crept back into this work and is masquerading as John. It became very apparent to me when John began using inductive reasoning (a form of logic) to explain the nature of God. An entity with John’s gnosis of God would not use such a limited form of thought on such an Infinite topic. Logicians no longer even agree on the validity of logic. William of Occam (Occam’s Razor) maintained that the structure of language and logic corresponds only to the structure of the mind, not to that of Reality. He went on to state that there is a distinction between our concepts and Being. William had recognized Creation not as a necessary consequence of the Divine Intellect, as Thomas of Aquinas suggested, but as an expression of God’s limitless will. So, rather than trying to use logic to induce the Infinite, as “John” has tried to do, I would like to share with you what I have directly experienced, or cognized, in the hope it will help you have your own direct experience of what you seek.

JJ: It is true that there is understanding (or “cognition” as you call it) above the plane of the mind. I have often referred to the first step in this direction as “soul contact,” a phrase not original with me.

It is important to keep in mind that when the higher is attained, that the lower is not negated, but enhanced.

For instance, when attention is lifted from the physical instincts and brain to the feelings, the body does not disappear, but is put to greater use.

When the attention is moved from the feeling nature to the mind, the feelings and body do not disappear, but are used all the more.

When the attention is raised to the Buddhic plane through the soul the mind, emotions and body are not negated, but the greater understanding uses these three as a vehicle of expression.

Therefore, both an intellectual and a master may use the mind in his presentation.

The greatest of us all, the Christ did this and often reasoned with those who asked him questions. Let me give two of many possible examples:

He said that God “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matt 5:45

Then the next two verses give further mental reasoning: “For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?” Matt: 5;46-47

If the master himself used the mind regularly then why do you discourage others from doing so?

Purusha: That is why the Keys have been presented to mankind. That is the purpose of any true Teaching, and is the purpose of any true Teacher. It is “the reason” that Yeshua was asked to experience crucifixion. The purpose of God is simply to experience Itself. To know Itself as Itself in all forms, flavors, instances, and situations. Why? Simply, as Neo in the third Matrix movie answered Agent Smith before he surrendered to him, because God chose to. Or as Occam would say, as an expression of God’s limitless will.

JJ: I accept this as an aspect of the truth.

Purusha: God, even the Supreme Being, was “created” in that It is a movement of the Absolute, of the Source into form. The Absolute, (or Ascendant as we Ishayas call it) is pure, perfect Totality in and of Itself. It is both the Source and the Goal of all things. The Ascendant is the all-Moving and the all-Still, the Alpha and the Omega. Of all the limitless possibilities of occurrences, “one day” a desire became to know Itself, and so Creation was begun to facilitate that desire. Now, know that this desire was not like a human desire. There was no need, nor lack substantiating that desire, just a pure choice of expression. So, I chuckle to read all of this thought on the “imperfection” of God and of Creation. It comes not from one who lives the Truth but from a mind that fears Truth.

JJ: I think the truth is the other way around. People are afraid to even consider that God may be imperfect for “fear” of offending him. It’s much better (says the lower mind) to give God the benefit of any doubt and ascribe to him all perfection, all knowledge, all of everything to avoid any offense coming up on judgment day.

It takes a courageous and fearless contemplation to believe in God and yet consider he may not have achieved perfection in time and space. One must have a genuine faith in the love of God.

Purusha: It is the same line of thought that invented “Original Sin”, and “Satan” and from the same mind that has the desire to divert mankind from the Truth and mankind’s reclamation of its true Nature and subsequent re-Union. It is the creation of an ego that needs to create God in its own image in order to preserve itself. Some would call this the Dark Brotherhood, or the Opposition, or the Asurs. Whatever name it is called, this too is part of the manifestation of God’s desire.

JJ: I’m not sure why you think this way as I see no evidence in the scriptures.

Moses doubted the perfection of God and argued with him and forced him to change his mind. I doubt if you think he was in league with Satan.

Consider this: the Christian Church who was opposed to gnosis is extremely adamant about the perfection of God. Anyone questioning it in the past would have been put to death. In fact, it is only of recent date that controversial doctrine can be presented without persecution.

Purusha: What some call the Illusion, or maya, or the Opposition, is simply contrast. To perceive the manifestation of “white”, it is helpful for a while to have the manifestation of “not-white” (maybe black). To perceive “right” it is helpful for a time to have “not-right”. For God to know Itself, it was decided it would be helpful to have available “not-God”. So the purpose of all of this temporal manifestation of the Ascendant is simply to help all of us “little aspects of God” know who we truly are – to provide contrast. It is no more real than that, no more meaningful than that.

JJ: Additional truth is revealed in the Law of Correspondences. When you are a child, do you seek to become an adult just so you can know that you are an adult, or is there more to it?

There is more – much more.

When you are mature you attain greater reasoning, strength and power. But when this is attained do you feel that this is all there is to your life?

No. What do you do?

You use these greater resources to attain greater joy and open greater vistas of achievement.

Even so, we came in this world for a much greater reason than to merely return knowing we have matured. We will use that maturity to go to new endless worlds of creation.

Purusha: For someone to say that this is imperfection, and to subsequently imply that God is seeking perfection is the ego projecting one of its cornerstones of ignorance onto the Infinite.

JJ: Again, I think the truth is the other way around. The first words out of the strongly ego-orientated religious ones is that God is perfect, knows all things and can never make a mistake. That may  be true in the realms beyond time and space but  not true as God manifests in the material world.

Purusha: The Ascendant seeks nothing. It is the Source and the Goal. Those of us that have re-cognized Truth and live it call our lives the supermundane. As simple a thing as placing a hanger on a clothes rack is as orgasmic as the best sex, the best meal, the best painting and the best music all experienced together at once. And that is “just” my still expanding experience of my expression of Itself knowing Itself.

JJ: I see some opportunity for some good humor here, but will leave it to the reader’s imagination.

I agree that if one is one with the Spirit that he will have feelings even better than sex and this could occur while hanging a coat, but the feeling has nothing to do with the act of hanging clothes.

The feeling from sex though does have something to do with physical and emotional touch beyond the feeling generated by the clothes-hanger – unless hypnosis is involved.

Purusha: But that “unfinished-ness” does not imply an imperfection.

JJ: Obviously, anything unfinished is not yet perfect. In fact the word translated from the Greek as “perfect” more accurately means “finished.”

Purusha: Imagine that all of this that we know is a playground and we are simply enjoying ourselves. Are we better after we play hopscotch than before we do it?

JJ: Yes, we are better off if we had a good time.

Purusha: Are we worse off before we finish building our sandcastle than after it is done?

JJ: Does anyone, after he has created anything of beauty, wish to go back before creation as if nothing was built? No.

Obviously, it is natural to feel, when we have made a step in creation that we do not wish to take it back. We do not wish to take it back because we feel we are in a better place because of it.

Purusha: This whole train of thought is again just the mind making believe itself is real instead of the Truth; again just running its old habit of comparison (a form of analysis) in order to ascertain if it is “doing it right” or “doing it wrong” so it can make sure it will attain pleasure and avoid pain.

JJ: If you believe this way then why are you using your mind to reason with me?

Why are you using comparison such as that which is God and that which is not God, true and false communion, the Church and Gnosticism etc???

It is impossible to not use the mind, body and emotions and yet live in this world. They are here for us to use as you are doing in your post – and as I am doing.

Purusha: The true Keys, or any true Teaching, will bring your awareness back to your true Self and a personal direct experience of the Source – gnosis. Be Still and know thy Self. All of this discussion that I see, all of these opinions of meanings and interpretations and bantering just keep you from that knowing, just keep you adrift in the ever-changing instead of coming to rest in the Source of All. It is pointless, fruitless, tiresome and unfulfilling, but it keeps the ego busy and therefore engaged and in control. If you wish to let go and experience peace, quit thinking about it, quit arguing your intellectual ideas of it, quit engaging your mind. Instead, find a Teaching that applies the Oneness Principle (Union with the Absolute) as its goal, a Teacher who has used that Teaching to attain stabilized Union, ask for help and follow their guidance to the letter. Then you can have your own experience of the Immortal Self, instead of just reading about it.

JJ: You speak from an attitude of superiority here and make assumptions about me that are not true.

The true teacher comes through the soul and is not to be found in some technical system. No matter how good it is the word of life will not be there if soul contact is not achieved.

You know not what I have experienced. If you did you would have no need to reason with me of the way to peace.

Overall, I do not see much conflict between your basic thinking and what I have written. I have taught many times that we must go higher than mind to achieve liberation.

Aug 5, 2004

Copyright by J J Dewey

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Mastering Duality

 

Mastering Duality

Reader Question: But the attitude of Inviting Grace is very important, JJ, is it not? It correlates to surrender (of self), consecration (to God), faithfulness and invocation. All these are required in order to attract Grace, no?

JJ: I’m not sure what definition you are applying to grace, I assume the Biblical one. “Grace” as used in the New Testament comes from the Greek CHARIS which is derived from CHAIRO. CHAIRO means “to be cheerful, happy or joyous.” CHARIS which is sometimes translated as “joy,” but usually “grace,” implies a favor with joyous results. Thus the grace of God implies a favor from God that will bring joyous results. The grace of God was seen as a gift available to all. One did not have to wait for it or go after it, but merely had to accept it as a free gift and then make use of it.

This favor as implied by Biblical writers was the favor God did in sending Jesus Christ as well as his Holy Spirit.

I like the word “joy” in connection with this word. I like the translation “By joy you are saved” better than “by grace you are saved.”

By my grace I place my writings on this forum. They are correspondingly a free gift. All can accept them or reject them according to their will.

I do not see the grace of God as an exclusive favor to those who have the right belief, but as an inclusive favor to all those who are open as a little child.

Question: Do principles need to be taught in order to convey conceptual truths or to transmit awakening energies?

JJ: Teaching them plants the seed of understanding. When the seed sprouts and grows, comprehension will come in connection with the soul.

Question: So, you feel that the return of Christ in these times will ensue through the incarnation of a personality, one single man, like Jesus?

JJ: He who was the Christ in Jerusalem was not many entities, but one entity and thus cannot return as more than one entity. He doesn’t plan on splitting himself in two.

There are three steps in his coming.

(1) The establishment of the teaching of the Christ consciousness available to all.

(2) The overshadowing of certain disciples.

(3) His physical appearance through either a divine possession or a body of his own. The details are not given.

Question: Yet if that were so, how then could “everyone know”, for there are many human beings without TV or other communications, especially in third world countries?

JJ: What makes you think everyone will know him when he comes? It is written that he will come in a similar fashion to when he left, even as a thief in the night. Only about a dozen or saw him leave. All (speaking generally) will eventually be aware of his presence, but that may take a thousand years.

All will also be affected by the Christ consciousness.

Question: And how does lightening flashing from east to west support the idea of just one personal savior incarnating and traveling (slowly) worldwide?

JJ: It doesn’t. Did someone say it did? The word “personal savior” is not found in the scriptures. Jesus was not meant to be a personal savior.

Question: So the prophecy suggests to you that there may be MANY Christed ones on Earth before the end?

JJ: There is the Christ consciousness which is basically the same as soul contact and this is and will be had by many. There is also the position of the Christ, as well as the Planetary Logos. Only one person at a time can hold either of these two positions on a particular planet.

Reader Quoting JJ:

“Things are the way they are not because of God’s will, but because of God’s experiment. He plunged into this universe, which is his physical body, and as he works his way to master the universe through the lives in it certain things just come into play that even he has no power to eliminate, except through time. One of these is suffering. This and other negative elements are just here to be dealt with and mastered by the participating lives.”

Reader Commevnt: This idea still suggests that a Loving and Omniscient or all-Wise Divinity would sanction suffering and evil (not just permit it under free will choice, but SANCTION it).

JJ: First, I am curious as to why you are so adverse to a little suffering. I have gone through some pretty intense suffering in my life and would not trade the experience for anything. It led me to a state of joyousness that I would not have attained without it. The small amount of suffering we have to endure is not much of a price for the good that awaits us when the lessons of the suffering are learned. I see no reason to be mad at God for this game we are in that is so fun to play.

The laws and effects of the universe just exist and have nothing to do with the sanction of God. To understand whether or not God creates suffering one must ask if we create suffering in our own lives and how it comes about for we are reflections of God and as reflections we are the life of God in this physical universe. We, as individuals, are just as much to blame for suffering as God is for we are members of the body of the One Great Life.

Reader: Also, I have the direct experience that even just a tiny droplet of divine Grace eliminates suffering, and in an instant.

JJ: I have found that suffering is completely eliminated by discovering and working with the laws which govern this unwanted effect. I guess I could say that the understanding of these laws came through the grace of God for the Holy Spirit has enlightened my mind.

When one does not resist the voice of the soul, the path of joy replaces the path of sorrow.

Question: What about the problem of cosmic evil that ruins countless lives, retards spiritual progress and even negates long-term investment for Deity?

JJ: Cosmic evil is a problem that will eventually be negated by the “dominating good.”

Question: Can the physical creation (which is inherently flawed, temporal and subject to perpetual entropy) ever become a Beautiful Building?

JJ: Yes. At the end of this universe all physical creation will be very beautiful. The universe will disappear and reappear many times before a greater universe is created. With each creation beauty is enhanced.

Reader: You seem to teach duality yet Buddha and Lao Tzu taught that there is no duality in Universal Mind or Tao Great: the causeless Cause.

JJ: Duality exists everywhere but just in different degrees and building blocks. Duality could not exist in the outer creation if it did not exist in some form in the inner world.

How could he who has no duality or concept of duality create duality?

The body of God is one, but the body will always have many parts.

To prove me wrong one would have to demonstrate a state where there is no duality and no one has ever done this. If he did, he would disappear body and soul and be no more and never appear again anywhere in heaven, earth or hell.

The teaching of reaching a place beyond duality is a fanciful one that has no foundation in reality.

Some teachers have reached higher consciousness where they sense the oneness of God and they thus think they have arrived in a place where duality does not exist. They do not realize that it just exists in a different form. If it did not, the lower worlds could not manifest from the higher.

Buddha achieved the Atmic plane, but there is a plane above this which brings duality in play again.

If you search for the word “duality” in the archives you will find a lot that I have written on the subject.

Reader Quoting JJ: “It seems compassionate to build a house when the enjoyment at the end will far outweigh the few scratches received.”

Reader Comment: Ok, this poses an important question.

You say “scratches” and I assume you allude here to the millions of years of suffering and evil-effects on just this little planet alone.

All those “scratches” for what? Where is the beautiful building that is a direct result of such suffering and of which you speak? Do you mean this physical Earth?

JJ: I speak mainly of the internal joy that one feels when he has learned the lessons that suffering offers.

Of Jesus it was written: “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith: who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross…” Hebrews 12:2

Here we see that Jesus saw suffering as a means to attain joy.

Question: In other words, if all the evil over the ages (again let us take just this local planet Earth for now) were NECESSARY in order to create something beautiful, should we not be seeing something of this beauty by now?

JJ: I see lots of beauty on the earth, in people and within. Where have you been looking?

Reader: Does the physical world – where the majority of suffering on Earth has been known to incarnated mankind – actually have the capacity to become Beautiful in the divine sense (which is the only True sense)?

JJ: Yes. Unless we completely miss our opportunities, the earth will get better and better. Just look at the improvements over the last 100 years. Then imagine the planet 1000 years from now. It will become our happy dream.

Question: Does a temporal creation that is inherently fated to die (being by nature temporal) have the capacity to demonstrate God’s Eternal Beauty, ever? Or can it at best only reflect the true beauty of God’s Kingdom?

JJ: God’s kingdom is not only the spiritual, but also includes the physical, but they have different purposes. Those who gain experience on a physical planet will have more capacity for enjoyment on all the higher planes than those who have not mastered physical reality.

Question: How can something be enjoyed fully if death and dissolution are intrinsic within its nature?

JJ: Quite easy. For example, I can pick a flower and fully enjoy its fragrance. I also enjoy a good glass of wine and a good meal. This should be an obvious truth.

Question: Are not such fleeting joys those very things that great teachers such as the Buddha have warned us bring in the end only misery and a return to he wheel of suffering?

JJ: No.

It’s not the pleasure that gives us the problem, but the attachment to it.

Reader: Actually, I am concerned with the idea/belief that God Himself CHOSE suffering for us, not that He allows it.

JJ: If he is all powerful and he allows it then he had to choose it. Are you mad at God then? Actually, he chose suffering no more than we did.

Reader: In a free will experiment, a certain degree of allowance is, of course, quite necessary, else there would be no free choice.

However, I am suggesting that suffering is caused by ignorant (not Divinity’s) choices, and that cosmic evil arises due to ignorant choices made over ages.

JJ: Much of our suffering is because of our lack of knowledge of universal laws, but it is merely a matter of time before they are mastered.

Reader: I also suggest that evil is not necessary for the play of creation to unfold (tho contrasts are) and that evil has actually bound many souls unlawfully for ages on this small planet alone.

JJ: Good is the going forward in evolution and evil is traveling backwards. Are you saying that new creation can unfold with no mistakes, with no destruction, with no steps backwards?

Can you give me an example? I can think of none.

When a master creates a great painting he will make some good strokes and some bad (evil) strokes that will need to be erased, but be can never make a great new work with only good strokes.

You are teaching something that cannot be demonstrated.

Reader: That is to say that the vast majority of evil and suffering experienced on this planet by mankind (and the other kingdoms) IS NEITHER KARMICALLY NOR EDUCATIONALLY NECESSARY. Surely this is a part of the sorrow of Christ?

JJ: Why do you think this? How can one learn without mistakes?

Question: I propose that this world is a kind of prison for consciousness (like The Matrix movie depicts), hence the need for Liberation, taught by all the Avatars and Way-Showers. If we are not imprisoned, why the need for Liberation? Liberation from what?

JJ: Unlike the Matrix, we volunteered to come here and master the problems of time, space and duality. To even see our limitations here requires an enlightenment that we have never had before.

Reader: Evil influence, I say, and essentially ignorance, which includes the ignorance of believing that evil is the lawful opposite to God sent purposefully by God.

JJ: Going backwards into the illusion (evil) is the opposite of going forward to liberation (good) and this duality will always exist as long as there is creation in time and space.

Reader: I suggest that evil experience is not at all necessary for our development; evil does not help spiritually but clearly hinders spiritual progress and even destroys all hope of it in any particular incarnation.

JJ: Evil (going the wrong direction) doesn’t take us forward, but does teach us what not to do. To go forward we must learn the paths not to take as well as the one to take.

Example: A reporter once approached Thomas Edison as he was working on the light bulb and said, “You have been working on this silly light bulb for years and have attempted 10,000 times to make it work and they have all failed. After 10,000 failures are you now prepared to admit that this light bulb idea is just a dream? Edison wisely answered: “My dear friend. I have not failed as you have said. Instead, I have successfully identified 10,000 combinations that do not work. I am 10,000 steps closer to success and do not have many more to go.”

It took Edison 10,000 evils (wrong directions) to find one good (right direction). But when the good was discovered, the evil directions were no longer used and faded away.

Reader: And I propose that this Earth has been tyrannized by evil intelligence for a very long time indeed. You can see it working out at all levels of society, together with the ‘good’ works that only maintain the swing of the pendulum in mayic duality and have nothing to do with either God or the Path of Return to God.

JJ: And you know this because…? Can you not see the progress we are making?

Reader: Finally, I propose that since evil has ruled the consciousness of mankind in general worldwide for so many ages, a veritable bottleneck of trapped souls and deep karma has been built up in this world, a great black cloud or miasma, if you like, that has both intelligence and an agenda, and which has kept humanity in the dark and has not at all served the best interests of mankind’s soul but has in fact retarded them, thwarted them, twisted and distorted them into a parody, a shadow of their original Beauty and Intention, which is the divine plan of Evolution.

JJ:

If evil were dominating then we would not be making progress and humanity has made tremendous progress over the last 2000 years.

Humanity is in the dark about many things but the good guys are here to reverse this. Just think. A couple hundred years ago human slavery and animal cruelty was the norm. Today this has been largely reversed. We are gradually creating a better world despite the various setbacks.

Question: Do you think that mankind has the wherewithal to extinguish evil and suffering before this planet dies as a result of the parasitic activity and the cumulative effect of ages of abuse perpetrated upon her physical body, and within her astral and mental spheres? And if not what is going to happen in this age to the Earth?

JJ: We’ll make a lot of progress in this age and eventually suffering will be mastered so we will only experience it if we choose a situation that warrants it. I rarely use Novocain, even with root canals, and contemplate the pain as something good rather than evil. Changing your thinking changes the experience.

Reader: So it seems, JJ, that we are agreed, then, that one of the most immediate goals of mankind is the end of suffering. This actually suggests, doesn’t it, that suffering is NOT a good thing at all and neither is it necessary for the constructing of beautiful buildings/creations?

JJ: It doesn’t suggest that at all. When you are a kid you may have had a bicycle. To discard the bicycle to get a car does not mean that the bicycle was not useful over a period of time.

Some types of suffering will come and go, but that does not mean they did not offer us important lessons.

There is suffering by even the Masters, but of a different type than is registered by us.

Reader: For if suffering should end, then according to your previous idea about suffering and evil being necessary byproducts of co-creation, no further creation could arise after suffering was extinguished.

JJ: You are right. There are various grades of suffering associated with all creations of form. No carpenter can build a house without uttering a few cuss words.

When the carpenter hits his thumb, it was not because he planned on doing so. When the painter makes a mistake, it also was not part of some plan. Yet both the carpenter and the painter know they are going to suffer some mistakes before the creation is complete. This is something that just is.

It is not that God gleefully plans suffering, but that it will naturally happen to us as we create, until the creation is complete.

Eventually we will transcend physical suffering but in future rounds there will be new levels of frustration to overcome.

Reader: This also brings to mind the excellent and wise teaching of the Buddha and his four noble truths, the first being: Suffering exists, the second being: the cause of suffering (which Dava also comprehensively addresses), the third being: there is a way out of suffering, and the fourth detailing: the way out of suffering.

JJ: You might want to read my book The Lost Key of the Buddha which discusses this.

Reader: There is another Evolution which never fell from Grace and enjoys building ineffably Beautiful Buildings for all Eternity, yet without ever having to experience suffering and evil. And this other Law-Abiding Evolution, this other Kingdom (that “is not of this world”) is awaiting the Return of prodigal humanity.

JJ: Some believe that those who did not enter the illusion will have a disadvantage because they never had an experience in time and space as we are having.

The kingdom is not in some far-off world of beautiful buildings, but right here right now. I am not attached to the world of form but as long as we are here we might as well make the best of it. Why not optimize this world? By doing so people will have more time to look within and find the kingdom.

“Things are more like they are now than they have ever been.” Gerald R. Ford

July 28, 2004

Copyright by J J Dewey

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The Power of Symbols

The Power of Symbols

A Reader says:

In our discussion about the use of symbols to evoke spiritual phenomenon, good or ill, one of the Ten Commandments comes to mind. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images…”

Aren’t symbols and the use of objects like crystals and wands graven images?

JJ: I see no contradiction not all objects are used as graven images. Some use wands, but keep in mind that both Moses and Aaron used rods. A rod certainly was not considered a graven image in the days of Moses, even though they probably had engravings on them.

Here’s the scripture: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them… Exodus20:4-5

The key scripture here is “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them.”

The Ancient Israelites had many engraved images, especially in the temple such as lions, bulls etc. Moses himself even lifted up an engraved image of a serpent in the wilderness that caused those who looked thereon to live.

If we were to be completely literal with this we wouldn’t even have photographs or even coins.

The principle involved is does not negate art or engraving, but to substitute an outward image for the God within.

As I have written before, to have an outward image (whether it be a man or an engraved stone) that replaces God in the consciousness we then have the mark of the beast.

A symbol is a means of communicating, for even the words we speak are symbols. Such words either spoken or given in symbols can create many beneficial effects, even miracles if followed by the power of thought and faith.

Some early statues and paintings of Christ have him with a scepter or wand in his hand and indicate that he used it for healing. Mormon scriptures prophesy of a mighty and strong one with a “scepter of power in his hand.”

Legends tell us that Moses had a rod that amplified his natural energy.

One of the purposes of rods or wands is to charge them with energy so a person can join with it and immediately move his consciousness back into its spiritual center.

This was one of the purposes of the garment introduced by Joseph Smith as well as the meditation robes in the east. They should be worn when a person comes out of the noisy world and should have the effect of quickly raising the seekers vibration so he enters the spiritual state. Mormons who wear their garment all the time do not understand its purpose. This answers the question of why Joseph did not have his garment on when he was killed – he also did not wear it on many other occasions for he understood its purpose.

Question: Which are more powerful? Symbols we make up ourselves or symbols from other systems like Reiki?

JJ: Remember words are symbols conveying certain meanings as are more simplistic forms such as the Star of David. The difference is that words have meanings assigned to them and have different meanings in different countries and languages. A symbol in its purest form is a universal language that is understood the same way by those whose consciousness allows them to register. Certain Deva (angel) lives only communicate with symbols and can be called forth to assist humanity if they see symbols they understand.

You therefore create little effect by making up symbols. It would be like trying to make up French words. This would not help you to speak French. Instead, what you must do is learn the French language from a source who knows.

There are a number of schools of thought and institutions who teach some of the truth behind symbols. The Masons and the Rosicrucians are two that come to mind. DK elaborates on them from time to time. Contemplating the Law of Correspondences is also a good exercise in understanding, for that which is below is a symbol of that which shall be above.

Reader: I turn light off and on, I wash my hands over and over, I have to do someone exactly right or something bad will happen to me.

JJ: You’re talking more toward rituals and superstition rather than symbols. However, some rituals do have symbols incorporated within them.

Reader: I saw a faith healer on T.V. who brought out evil spirits in people and cured them of depression, anxiety and others. He said he do NOT use holy water or rituals or anything, he only tells the person to believe in Jesus and by the word and your demons are gone.

JJ: Many faith healers use hypnosis which has little to do with rituals or symbols.

Why use rituals? Why not just use the power of thought? Obviously Jesus saw the need to use them from time to time:

“And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.” John 9:1-7

Now why didn’t Jesus just lay his hands on his head, use his thought or speak the word? Was there really any healing power in the clay or in the pool of Siloam? Or was Jesus using the power of symbols to create a miracle? Did these symbols call forth the healing Devas who restored the man’s sight?

Real truth is found in symbols just as it is found in the words of a book or of a wise man.

Reader: Should I use the same method JJ used to defeat his dweller? Not ignore, but put aside the OCD thoughts and keep one’s mind on whatever you doing?

JJ: The discipline would probably help.

Reader: My Dad was angry all the time it seemed. If letting out your feelings keeps you well how come it did not cure his mental illness? He let out so many feelings that he should have been cured. Maybe he should have suppressed his feelings for he was abusive.

JJ: Two of the main things that cause disease are suppression and its opposite which is excessive release of emotion which cause disease of congestion and inflammation. It sounds like your dad was too inflammatory, but looks can be deceptive. Some abusive people with bad tempers are still suppressing and not letting out their true feelings.

You ask about the OM and AUM.

It is the OM which is a destroying sound and the A-U-M which is the building one. The OM can be used to destroy all that stands in the way of Spirit and the A-U-M builds in form that which fulfils Purpose.

Reader: If we are not supposed to know about rebirth because we may waste a life knowing we will get yet another chance (says JJ) then why did Buddha teach it or why do Buddha monks believe in it?

JJ: Teaching about reincarnation does not bring back your memory, which could cause interference in the current life. All truth is good to know when we are ready to receive it and when you are ready you can be give past life memories.

Reader: How do  accurate psychics get their information?

JJ: If you want to see how accurate Psychics are, retrieve an old issue of the National Enquirer and read their predictions. I have done this several times and usually not a single prediction came true.

There are very few accurate psychics. Some of the ones with real ability catch a glimpse of the Akashic records but catch glimpses of unrelated items that are inaccurately interpreted. The most impressive psychics will pick up your thoughts and give you advice related to them. It takes an advanced soul to use extra sensory powers with accuracy and wisdom.

Reader: Christ met his dweller in the wilderness. He seemed to brush the dweller off without much effort.

JJ: Actually, we do not have the full story. It was much more difficult than the Bible relates.

Reader: Didn’t he meet is dweller in the garden before the crucifixion.

JJ: He met his personal; Dweller in the wilderness, but met the planetary Dweller, a more formidable foe, in the garden. Judas caused Jesus a major problem, but the Dweller was another matter unrelated to Judas.

Hope this helps.

“I have noticed that the people who are late are often so much jollier than the people who have to wait for them.” V. Lucas

July 26, 2004

Copyright by J J Dewey

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The Mysteries of A Course in Miracles, Chapter 24

The Mystery of Freedom
The Freedoms of Body and Mind

A reader may look at the title of this chapter and ask why we would attach the word “freedom” to mystery. Isn’t the meaning of freedom pretty simple and cut and dried?

Actually, there is great disagreement about the principle of freedom. Everyone claims to be for it, but there are many ideas about what it is and how it is to implemented.

It is interesting that many of those who are relegated to history as the greatest enemies of freedom claimed to be its champions. Hitler, in his rousing speeches, often presented himself as fighting for freedom. Slaveholders during the U.S. Civil War stressed that freedom was their cause. Fidel Castro claimed to be a freedom fighter before enslaving the people of Cuba.

The first question to be addressed when solving the mystery of freedom is why is it that the vast majority of people claim to support it when it is obvious that many do not?

The answer is actually quite simple and it comes down to looking at that which the ego values. The ego values freedom for the separated self in the body, even if it comes at great pain and loss of freedom to others. We are told that “the rock on which its church is built, and where its worshippers are bound to bodies, believing the body’s freedom is their own.” T-22.III.4

On the other hand, the Course stresses equality, and the idea that helping our brother is the same as helping ourselves.

So, in this world we have two versions of what real freedom is:

Version One: The greatest freedom possible for the individual self with little regard for the price others have to pay.

Version Two: The highest quality of freedom for the whole, or that which brings the greatest amount of freedom for the highest number of people.

The second is, of course, the one that the spiritually-minded person would pick between the two.

On the other hand, the Course speaks of freedom from a higher level than we normally think of it in this world. It tells us that the most desirable freedom pertains to the mind, whereas the general idea of freedom in this world is centered on the body. It makes this statement:

“Do you want freedom of the body or of the mind? For both you cannot have. Which do you value? Where freedom of the body has been chosen, the mind is used as means whose value lies in its ability to contrive ways to achieve the body’s freedom. Yet freedom of the body has no meaning, and so the mind is dedicated to serve illusions. T-22.VI.1-2

The Course teaches that we have the choice of freedom on two levels – that of the body and of the mind, and that we cannot choose both. We have to settle for one or the other.

Choosing freedom of the mind over body may seem to be a simple choice that many obviously make, but like many alternatives in ACIM, the correct choice is not that easy or that simple.

Here’s what would happen if the student completely chose the mind over the body:

“Declare your innocence and you are free. The body disappears, because you have no need of it except the need the Holy Spirit sees.” W-pI.199.4

This is what ultimately happened to Jesus when his body disappeared in the tomb, but then he reappeared in it when there was a need.

Then there was a previous incident where his body disappeared. This was where the people of his home synagogue were enraged with his words and sought to kill him:

“And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way,” Luke 4:29-30

So, apparently Jesus was awake enough at this point that he was able to make his body dematerialize and then reappear beyond the reach of the mob.

Since they could not hurt his body unless he gave them the power, is it any wonder then that he had no fear?

The Course tells us numerous times that our fears are connected to the body and gives this advice:

“Those who would free their brothers from the body can have no fear. They have renounced the means for sin by choosing to let all limitations be removed. As they desire to look upon their brothers in holiness, the power of their belief and faith sees far beyond the body, supporting vision, not obstructing it.” T-21.III.8

When we are free from fears connected to the body, we have chosen “to let all limitations be removed.”

Think of how true this is and how free you would be if you had no concerns about your body. You could speak freely or do anything you want, and no one could imprison you or hurt you. Just imagine an ACIM graduate speaking out for his oppressed brothers in North Korea, and the Dear Leader being powerless to stop him or do anything to harm him. That would be fun to watch.

Or imagine if you were falsely accused and imprisoned. You could just pass through the midst of them as did Jesus, or through the walls of the prison itself as did Peter as related in Acts 12:4-11.

In addition, many fears connected with the body are related to pain and disease it can suffer. Think of how your sense of freedom would be enhanced if you had no concern in this regard. You would have no fear of infections, of disease or even accidents. Medical attention would not be needed at all.

And how about food, housing and money to supply the body’s needs? Even these would not be needed if we were free from the body.

“Think of the freedom in the recognition that you are not bound by all the strange and twisted laws you have set up to save you. You really think that you would starve unless you have stacks of green paper strips and piles of metal discs.” W-pI.76.3. 

So here the Course tells us that if we were totally free from the body, we would not need money or the things money can buy such as food and shelter. Maybe this is why Jesus said:

“Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Matt 8:20.

One can imagine the possibility of doing without food, as some yogis claim to do, but doing without shelter seems impossible to many.

Yet, even here some have demonstrated the great power of mind over matter. Wim Hof, a Dutch athlete, has shown us what the power of mind can accomplish. Here are some of his accomplishments.

  • Running a half marathon above the Arctic Circle, barefoot, only wearing shorts
  • Swimming underneath ice for 66 meters
  • Hanging on one finger at an altitude of 2,000 meters
  • Climbing Mount Everest while wearing only shorts
  • Running a full marathon in the Namib Desert without drinking any liquid.

He makes the interesting statement that he is not special because anyone can do what he has done.

As a result of his conquest of the limitations of the body, he says, “I am not afraid of death.”

If a student reads the choice between body and mind and assumes he has chosen mind, perhaps he needs to think again. After all, how many can climb Mount Everest in their shorts or do without food and water as some yogis are able to do?

Focusing on Mind Over the Body

What is unrealized by some students is that the end of the journey is often presented by ACIM, and many students are far from achieving the ideal presented.

The problem for students is when they read of the ideal in ACIM, they want to think that they are either there or an instant away from what is presented. They do not want to consider that they may be lifetimes away from the liberation presented.

The question then arises as to why ACIM would present the final liberation as if it is available right now. The answer is quite simple.

No matter how great or long is the journey, the one taking it must be able to see the end result in his mind, or he will get discouraged and not continue.

ACIM often presents the end goal as if it is available right now if a simple decision is made. Although it is true that it is a simple decision, it is not very simple from the view of one who is immersed in the dream.

Let us suppose you were on the edge of a cliff, and suddenly you hear an inner voice that tells you to jump and you will be safe because you will be able to fly.

It would be a simple and easy decision if you could fully accept and believe the voice, but for most of us it would be difficult to arrive at a state of consciousness where one could actually jump. Believing in theory that you could fly and fully trusting in that belief are two very different things.

Even so, casually believing what the Course says about obtaining freedom from the body by freeing the mind is easy, but placing that belief into practice requires some daring and difficult decisions. Believing that you are invulnerable as the Course teaches is one thing, but acting it out in bypassing doctors, vaccinations and medicine is something else.

Even though very few have yet achieved freedom from the needs of the body at present, the day will come when each of us will achieve this, and the belief in this possibility is what the Course is attempting to achieve. It is the way of things that one first has to believe that something is possible before he will eventually act and manifest that belief.

Students must see the desirability of freeing themselves from the needs of the body and believe that such a freedom is possible before they will decide and act in that direction. Eventually, all will have no concern about the body as mentioned here:

“Yet it is not the body that can fear, nor be a thing of fear. It has no needs but those which you assign to it. It needs no complicated structures of defense, no health-inducing medicine, no care and no concern at all.” W-pI.135.5

“As these (limits) are laid aside, the strength the body has will always be enough to serve all truly useful purposes. The body’s health is fully guaranteed, because it is not limited by time, by weather or fatigue, by food and drink, or any laws you made it serve before. You need do nothing now to make it well, for sickness has become impossible.” W-pI.136.17

We are told that we can choose to place our attention on freedom of the body or of the mind, but cannot do both. If our focus is on the body, then all our efforts will be centered on making the body comfortable and safe. Our focus will be on making sure the body has nice surroundings, good food and drink, good healthcare, medicine, suitable transportation and much more.

If our focus is on the mind, then we seek to do the will of God as revealed through the Holy Spirit. Jesus was directing us toward the freedom of the mind when he said this:

“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

“Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Matt 6:24-34

These statements from Jesus in the Bible correspond very closely to many of the teachings in ACIM. For instance, Jesus here says to “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.”

This is confirmed in the Course:

“The Bible enjoins you to be perfect, to heal all errors, to take no thought of the body as separate and to accomplish all things in my name. This is not my name alone, for ours is a shared identification.” T-8.IX.7

“I am in need of nothing but the truth. My only need I did not recognize. But now I see that I need only truth. In that all needs are satisfied, all cravings end, all hopes are finally fulfilled and dreams are gone.” W-pII.251.1

This idea of taking no thought for the care or needs of the body is a difficult one for both Christians and ACIM students to accept or explain. Instead of teaching anything that could justify neglect of the body, the emphasis is usually placed on the positive statements of Jesus such as this from the above quote: “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

ACIM students also place emphasis on positive statements such as:

“In time, He gives you all the things that you need have, and will renew them as long as you have need of them. He will take nothing from you as long as you have any need of it.” T-13.VII.12

So, what is the correct path to take here? Are we supposed to overlook the body to the point of neglect, or are we supposed to have a prosperity consciousness focusing on abundance in all things as many teach?

The correct path, according to the Course, is to place attention on freedom of the mind. That is a choice to be made, for we cannot simultaneously place focus on both mind and body freedom.

Freedom of the body is pretty easy to understand. It includes the taking care of the body so it has no needs and is free to do whatever the ego directs. On the other hand, freedom of the mind is more esoteric. We need to clearly understand what the Course means by this if we are to choose it.

The Laws of the Ego vs Laws of God

The Course teaches that our shared mind is an extension of the mind of God and has power to make any idea real that it desires. At the Separation, the mind decided to make the unreal seem real and the universe of time and space was created. Thus, the mind made the unreal while still retaining its power to create the real, but it “cannot serve two masters.” T-1.V.5 It therefore has to focus on what the Course calls “miscreation” in one direction or “creation” in the other. The result is “the mind is split between the ego and the Holy Spirit,” T-3.VI.7

The natural inclination is to choose freedom of the body supported by the ego, for if any pain is involved, we automatically seek to free the body from it. The Course tells us that true freedom is found in choosing freedom of the mind. This is found by following the Holy Spirit which represents right-mindedness and leads toward true creation.

So, the Holy Spirit represents right-mindedness and true creation, whereas the ego wrong-mindedness and miscreation. Even though it has us convinced it represents freedom of the body, following it only brings pain, disease and death of the body.

Following right-mindedness through the Holy Spirit may seem neglectful and careless, but if the student does it with a firm decision he will not only heal his mind but a heal his body as well. The mind has power to heal the body, but the body has no power over the mind. Therefore, it makes more sense, even from a material viewpoint, to seek freedom of the mind rather than freedom of the body as the top priority.

This is easier said than done, for as soon as any pain arises in the body what do we do? Do we first seek to heal the mind or do we reach in the medicine chest for pills and make an appointment with the doctor? If this is the first thing we do, then our prime choice is freedom for the body over freedom of the mind.

The reason this is so is because all the effects in the body are produced by the mind. If we choose something not related to mind to cure something caused by mind, then we are deceived into thinking freedom can be found on the material level rather than the spiritual, by the ego rather than the Holy Spirit.

The choice between freedom of mind and body comes down to a choice between the law of God and mind vs the ego and the body.

The Course tells us that we have made up all kinds of laws governing the body which we are deceived into thinking we must obey. It speaks of:

“different kinds of ‘laws’ we have believed we must obey. These would include, for example, the ‘laws’ of nutrition, of immunization, of medication, and of the body’s protection in innumerable ways… Dismiss all foolish magical beliefs today… Hear Him Who tells you this, and realize how foolish are the ‘laws’ you thought upheld the world you thought you saw.” W-pI.76.8 & 10

“Think of the freedom in the recognition that you are not bound by all the strange and twisted laws you have set up to save you.” W-pI.76.3

What is often overlooked is that all but a very small handful of people on this planet place the laws of the body above the laws of mind. Who among us is completely unconcerned about taking care of the body and its comfort and shelter and is entirely reliant on the laws of God? Chances are the reader knows of no one. Yet the Course tells us that we are to be “under no laws but God’s.”

“Here is the perfect statement of my freedom. I am under no laws but God’s. I am constantly tempted to make up other laws and give them power over me. I suffer only because of my belief in them. They have no real effect on me at all. I am perfectly free of the effects of all laws save God’s. And His are the laws of freedom.” W-pI.88.3

The problem is that in the true reality God’s laws “are the laws of freedom,” but though that seems to sound good in theory, it doesn’t seem real in practice. Who, for instance, being diagnosed with a terminal disease, will seek to first obey the laws of God over the laws of the ego? Who would completely reject all medical treatments and seek to heal the mind first?

Not many.

Yet the Course tells us that this is where true freedom lies.

The Course explains why the understanding and thus the choice for the laws of God is so difficult:

“The Holy Spirit is the Translator of the laws of God to those who do not understand them. You could not do this yourself because a conflicted mind cannot be faithful to one meaning, and will therefore change the meaning to preserve the form.” T-7.II.4

Here we learn that if we try to understand the laws of freedom on our own that we will fail. We need the Holy Spirit to be a “translator” for us. Without this translation from Spirit to our regular consciousness we will choose the laws of the ego every time, “and will therefore change the meaning to preserve the form.”

This last quote is a key one. For, when we choose the laws of the ego for safety over the laws of God, we tend to rationalize and “change the meaning to preserve the form.”

For instance, the student will say something like this: “Of course, I am going to take my medications. The Course doesn’t tell me to kill myself.”

He thus changes the meaning of the laws of God to the laws of form, thinking to “preserve the form.”

Between the body and the mind, the mind is the better choice because:

“The higher mind thinks according to the laws spirit obeys, and therefore honors only the laws of God.” T-5.I.1

BUT…

“Fidelity to other laws is also possible, however, not because the laws are true, but because you made them.” T-6.IV.11

We tend to favor the laws we made which separate us from God, yet we are encouraged to switch to eternal laws by this:

“In the holy instant the laws of God prevail, and only they have meaning. The laws of this world cease to hold any meaning at all. When the Son of God accepts the laws of God as what he gladly wills, it is impossible that he be bound, or limited in any way. In that instant he is as free as God would have him be. For the instant he refuses to be bound, he is not bound.” T-15.VI.5

 And this…

“God’s laws will keep your mind at peace because peace is His Will, and His laws are established to uphold it. His are the laws of freedom, but yours are the laws of bondage. Since freedom and bondage are irreconcilable, their laws cannot be understood together. The laws of God work only for your good, and there are no other laws beside His. Everything else is merely lawless and therefore chaotic.” T-10.IV.4

Then we are told this:

“You must choose between total freedom and total bondage, for there are no alternatives but these.” T-15.X.9.

The problem that makes the choice for freedom difficult is that neglecting the laws governing the body seems to be very dangerous and careless. For instance, many seem to strongly depend on certain medications, and without them they will seem to suffer great distress or even death.

If another gets cancer, then he may feel he has no choice except to place his faith in medical professionals. How many of us have made such a firm decision in favor of the laws of God that we need pay no attention to the laws governing the body? Who among us could drink poison with no negative effects as mentioned by Jesus?

The Goal of True Freedom

The Course tends to simplify all we need to do to obtain healing, freedom, liberation, heaven etc. It reduces these seemingly giant steps to a simple decision. It encourages us to make the right decision and in an instant transformation will occur.

This is indeed true in principle, and we can see why the Course presents it this way. It is deemed wise to present the ultimate goal before us as if it is now, in the present time, for, as the Course says, “The present is the only time there is.” W-pI.164.1 By keeping the goal before us at all times, it gives us something positive to advance toward so more progress is taken in each life. Rarely does the Course give a hint at the idea that the journey home will take a significant amount of time, but it makes an exception here:

“Just as the separation occurred over millions of years, the Last Judgment will extend over a similarly long period, and perhaps an even longer one.” T-2.VIII.2

So, here we are told that the Separation took millions of years and the journey home may take even longer. But, even though the journey is long, when the student is ready, he can make the right decision in an instant and in that instant transformation can occur.

Any of us could return home tomorrow if we were completely ready to give up all things in this world of time and space, but such relinquishment is much easier said than done, and many who think they are ready are far from it.

Even so, it is always important to keep the end goal before us as the Course does. As a result, it says that it can shorten the time that we have to spend in this world.

The problem of gaining the greater freedom of the higher mind boils down to this. We seem to be in a body and there seems to be a necessity to pay attention to it, take care of it and keep it safe. If there is any problem with the body, our attention is naturally drawn to it. Helen and Bill had this problem, for they were told:

“You have been told again and again that it (the Course) will set you free, yet you sometimes react as if it is trying to imprison you.” T-13.II.7

Indeed, many feel their imprisonment will be greater if they do not pay sufficient attention to the body.

Fortunately, there is a realization that will make this possible and it is this: The Higher Mind is linked to the Holy Spirit. The will of the higher mind is one with the Holy Spirit, which is one with God. In this state of unity all that you will is fulfilled. Are you going to will that your body be healthy and usable or in pain and a diseased state?

You will have full power to keep your body healthy and vital for as long as it is needed. This teaching was covered in our chapter on health.

What requires a leap of faith is this: The student must switch his attention away from the body and the cares of the world to rely on the direction of the Holy Spirit through the higher mind.

“Say to the Holy Spirit only, ‘Decide for me,’ and it is done. For His decisions are reflections of what God knows about you, and in this light, error of any kind becomes impossible.” T-14.III.16

When you and the Spirit become one, then all decisions are made in the direction of the kingdom of God and not of the body, or of this world. When this is the case, all that is required for a happy existence will be supplied. You will not have to concern yourself with doctors, medicines or special care.

Jesus said it well here:

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” Matt 6:28-30

By switching our focus away from the cares of the world to the kingdom of God and the higher mind, we will be richer than Solomon, and all our needs will be fulfilled, but in the higher state we will define needs much differently than does the ego. We will value treasure in heaven much more than the treasures of the earth.

As we noted earlier, when a full awakening has occurred, there will be no concern for the body, for no one would have power to hurt or imprison it. We would be free beyond our wildest dreams here. There would be no need for healing the body for it would never get sick, and the realized Son of God could keep it as long as needed. He could even make it disappear as a dream disappears when awakening, but then make it appear in another location by entering the dream again in service of those still in illusion.

The Course speaks of reaching this realized state as if it is just a simple decision. It makes it sound like we just have to make the obvious decision and we are there in an instant, and the dream is completely over.

Yes, when the final and complete decision is made to let go of the world, this will be the case but overlooked by many students is this: We have millions of years invested in this dream of time and space, and when such a major investment is made, there is a great reluctance to just let it go. This is why the Course tells us it may take a longer time to wake up than it did to separate and go to sleep.

The Course makes no itemization of steps that need to be taken to fully awaken, though it does cover many things we can do in different places in the text. When we reflect on our own progress, it becomes obvious that there are steps and degrees of awakening to full freedom.

There is one major step mentioned by the Course, and that is an advancement of our attention from this world to what it calls the “Real World.” As discussed earlier, the real world is not yet heaven, but those achieving it see with much greater clarity than those who have their attention on the dream. Nevertheless, the fact that it exists tells us that there is a step between heaven and earth. And if there is one, there could be many more.

I submit that there are many steps, but to keep our attention in the right place, ACIM places major focus on the last step.

Some of the steps are obvious, such as learning to forgive our brothers and sisters, overcoming fear and guilt, letting go of grievances, seeing innocence in associates, etc. Perhaps the most important step is to realize that more is needed than taught in mainstream religion when the person becomes a seeker, wanting to know who he really is.

Obtaining the Highest Freedom

To discover one’s true identity requires an advance in freedom, for until the seeker makes a break from outer authorities (called idols by ACIM), he has limited freedom indeed. The various governments of the world allow different degrees of freedom for the body, and many who live in Democracies feel fortunate that they are “free.” But even a perfect society can offer only limited freedom of the body if the mind is not free.

“An ‘imprisoned’ mind is not free because it is possessed, or held back, by itself. It is therefore limited, and the will is not free to assert itself.” T-3.II.4

The question that needs answered is how is the mind imprisoned and how is it freed?

As the quote says, the mind is the source of its own imprisonment. If the seeker is held prisoner by the mind, then he is not free in any society. Here are some examples. Assume that each of these lives are in a free country.

Jim is a member of a cult that is very strict about those with whom members can associate. The cult leader tells Jim that his parents are too far removed from the truth and he must cut off ties. Jim loves his parents and doesn’t want to disown them, but because the leader supposedly speaks for God, Jim obeys.

Gloria has a job she loves but her boss keeps making unwanted sexual advances. She is afraid to say anything for fear of losing her job. She feels trapped.

Bob was just elected to Congress and starts his job with a desire to do the right thing for the people no matter what. Shortly thereafter the party leaders sit him down and explain how things work. Bob must become a team player and vote the party line no matter what. If he doesn’t, he will receive no support for reelection, no leadership positions and will be shunned by members of his party. Bob feels violated but figures he must play along even though he votes contrary to his belief system at times.

Veronica is a serious Course in Miracles student and is approached by a homeless guy in obvious need of assistance. He asks her if she can spare $5. After adjusting to his somewhat startling ragged appearance, she thinks to herself: “This is not real. This is just a dream. It doesn’t mean anything. Nothing here has even happened.” She then ignores him, moving on, keeping her $5 since giving it away does not matter.

All these examples have one thing in common. The person in each of them is not in prison because of any government or political system, but is held hostage through his own miscreations and wrong-headed thinking.

To obtain the higher freedom mentioned by the Course, the student must rely on the inner voice over the many outer ones that compete for his attention. When the shift is made to rely on the higher mind, he will then have power to ignore the preacher, the politician, the media or even the book that tells him what he must do. He is independent of all things in the dream, and follows solid direction from the Holy Spirit through the higher mind.

Making this switch will give the student power over his own life and happiness today, and expand to total control even to power over death in the future.

It is interesting to contemplate how free one would feel if he had no concern at all for the care or protection of the body.

A question considered by some students is how involved we should be in improving this world of form and whether we should even be concerned about physical freedom as it is generally understood.

Yes, it is true that one who is totally awake is also totally free and does not need to worry about this world, but those who are not yet liberated find they have to take certain steps to ensure the body stays healthy and the individual maintains his freedom.

The loss of freedom, even as it is understood by the world, hinders the liberations of the Sons of God as a whole. After all, how many Course in Miracles books do you suppose there are in North Korea? Pretty close to zero because freedom for the body there is very low.

Freedom on every level possible is important to insure maximum spiritual progression for the whole. We are told this:

“Freedom cannot be learned by tyranny of any kind, and the perfect equality of all God’s Sons cannot be recognized through the dominion of one mind over another.” T-8.IV.6

Notice here that tyranny happens because of the dominion of one mind over another. This can happen through domination of others with a belief system, as happens with a cult leader, or with political restrictions on what people in bodies can do such as North Korea. Dominion of one mind over another reaches down to the physical level, and such dominion needs to be corrected wherever it manifests.

The Course recognizes that such hurtful things can descend to the body level:

“The body in the service of the ego can hurt other bodies, but this cannot occur unless the body has already been confused with the mind.” T-7.V.3

The Course tells us our wills can be imprisoned:

“You have imprisoned your will beyond your own awareness, where it remains, but cannot help you.” T-9.I.4

“How wonderful it is to do your will! For that is freedom. There is nothing else that ever should be called by freedom’s name. Unless you do your will you are not free.” T-30.II.2.

In addition to this it says:

“The Holy Spirit opposes any imprisoning of the will of a Son of God, knowing that the Will of the Son is the Father’s. The Holy Spirit leads you steadily along the path of freedom, teaching you how to disregard or look beyond everything that would hold you back.” T-8.II.4

This has to be referring to the imprisoned will here in the illusion because: “In the holy state the will is free, so that its creative power is unlimited.” T-5.II.6

But here on earth, “There is no man who does not feel that he is imprisoned in some way. If this is the result of his own free will, he must regard his will as if it were not free, or the obviously circular reasoning involved in his position would be quite apparent. Free will must lead to freedom.” Tx:3.71

The only place where there is a lack of freedom is in the world of illusion. It is here where we need more freedom, not in the eternal world. One of the steps to true freedom involves freeing up the body with the mind. As the mind becomes free, the body automatically becomes healed and the removal of restrictions seemingly placed by other minds are also removed.

These words of wisdom on freedom are appropriate:

“Whom God created as His Son is slave to nothing, being lord of all, along with his Creator. You can enslave a body, but an idea is free, incapable of being kept in prison or limited in any way except by the mind that thought it. For it remains joined to its source, which is its jailer or its liberator, according to which it chooses as its purpose for itself.” T-19.I.16.

Because ideas are free, their communication and free flow are among the most beneficial things we can participate in within the illusion. Many there are who try to restrict, censor or prohibit the free flow of ideas, and this is indeed an error that needs correction.

We’ll conclude with this quote which gives the goal of the Course itself, which is to set us free toward happiness and peace.

“This course has explicitly stated that its goal for you is happiness and peace. Yet you are afraid of it. You have been told again and again that it will set you free, yet you sometimes react as if it is trying to imprison you.” T-13.II.7

Copyright by J J Dewey

Read the Introduction HERE, Read Chapter One HERE. Chapter Two HERE, Chapter Three HERE, Chapter Four HERE, Chapter Five HERE Chapter Six HERE, Chapter Seven HERE, Chapter Eight HERE, Chapter Nine HERE, Chapter Ten HERE, Chapter Eleven HERE, Chapter Twelve HERE, Chapter Thirteen HERE, Chapter Fourteen HERE, Fifteen HERE, Sixteen HERE, Seventeen HERE,       Eighteen HERE, Nineteen HERE, Twenty HERE, Twenty-One HERE, Twenty-Two HERE, Twenty-Three HERE, Twenty-Four HERE, Twenty-Five HERE, Twenty-Six HERE, Twenty-Seven  HERE, Twenty-Eight  HERE, Twenty-Nine HERE, Thirty HERE

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