Very good article Sean (as always ;-) It indeed takes discipline to be in communication with God and to translate that in our lives. A step to step process of letting go of our own control and handing things over. Allowing the stillness to grow and to be guided and give up your own plans and control....not easy! For me at least it isn't easy. That is why I love lesson 135 from the Workbook so much. It gives me the tools.
And the synchronicity again, because I just posted also today my stance on 'control issues': letting go of my own planning and handing it over to the Holy Spirit, like lesson 135 tells me to do so brilliantly. You give us a very in depth perspective of the Text about this topic of control.
Thank you Valentine - I appreciate your friendship and presence - and I am looking forward to reading your essay. "A healed mind does not plan" is one of ACIM's more fascinating and challenging ideas 🙏🙏
There you go again Sean making my day great as l so needed this with family dynamics,l am heading home to Ireland for a trip tomorrow, I am assuming you have Irish genes with the name Sean in the illusion lol.❤️
You're welcome, Jennifer! That's exciting - travel to Ireland. I do indeed have a LOT of Irish genes floating around in this dream body. I went there in 1989 - spent many months traveling around with my guitar, playing in little pubs and on street corners. People were very generous and kind. It's such a beautiful place. I hope your travels are safe and happy. Spread love!!
Your writing on “Becoming a Disciple” is so rich with ideas to meditate on, Sean. Thank you so much. The simplicity of it all is freeing and brings joy to my heart. These phrases were poetic to me..“discipline as an interior grace, long ignored, at last accepted and given room to flourish.” and “soon there is only the river.”. I haven’t yet come across these in ACIM but oh, so powerful…”as you see yourself is God to you” and “Teach not that I died in vain. Teach rather that I did not die by demonstrating that I live in you” (T-11.VI.7:3-4). How else would I live today? So very simple and all I ever wanted.
Thanks Denise - one of the cool things about reading and rereading ACIM is finding those little gems. I swear I never saw them before! And I must have but for whatever reason my mind wasn't ready for them or didn't them at the time or whatever. The "as you see yourself" is an example of that . . . read it the other day and was like, WOW, that's it, that's the course, why am I only no reading it ?!? But we get what we need when we need it :) Thank you again for sharing the way with me. I'm very grateful 🙏🙏
There is always so much good stuff to chew on when you write....I can re-read a number of times and find new bits to ponder. So much gratitude! Thank you.
I have a big soft spot for Douglas Harding's practical and simple 'experiments' to 'see who you truly are'. In his book 'Head off Stress' he outlines, in his typical direct and accessible style (albeit with a bit of old fashioned English expression thrown in), the 3 aspects of 'will' or intention:
i) What I think I want (our conscious desires and wants)
ii) What I really want (our subconscious needs, which sometimes affect the outcome of our conscious desires in some way)
iii) What I really really want (what the Universe serves up, the whole gamut, including those aspects of i and ii)
And by realising that aspect iii) is what it's all about, we open ourselves to what life brings. We say 'Yes' to life. Come on in!! '
Thanks for sharing this, Martin. Harding's work is fascinating, especially because of how utterly practical it is. One of the most grounded non-dual pointers of which I am aware. Richard Lang has done a great job evangelizing Harding's work. If folks are interested, the website headless.org is a great resource. Huge respect for Harding.
The thing about acceptance, is that what are really accepting, is that we not know what anything is for. Not only do we not know, we cannot know, and we cannot know because we cannot see the bigger picture of this collective dream we find ourselves in.
It is because we are not separate, and because we are all connected as one Love, that nothing that happens here happens to us alone. We are an interwoven whole, we are part of a greater interwoven illusion/dream.
It doesn’t mean anything is bad or wrong it simply is. It is simply a part of what happens in the dream. We cannot judge anything because we cannot know the full picture of the Holy Spirits plan for ourselves or the collective dreamers.
We rest in the truth and fully accept that as holy sons of God we are always safe and always looked after. If we make a seemingly wrong choice it will be corrected, we will be realigned back to our true purpose, it will return us all back to only Love because that is God’s Will for us.
We must trust that everything that seems to happen to us here, is always used as a tool for us to return ourselves, and the collective dreamers, back to the Love that is real and awaits our return. By accepting what happens to us it will allow ourselves to be realigned no matter how tragic, how painful, or confusing it seems, to accept the truth of our purpose here and to understand there is a bigger picture, a bigger plan of which we are a part. That everything is always unfolding as it should and if there are seeming mistakes made in the illusory world then they will be put right for us all to continue in this journey Home to Love.
So yes Sean, we are not alone, never alone, for God walks every step with us with His goal to return all His sons back Home to Love.
I have been away from you all a while, it is great to be back to your teachings Sean, you make me really think......
Suzy, this is so lovely and clear. Thank you. I always enjoy reading your comments, but this one really resonated. I often feel there are spaces in my study and practice that are not aligned with your own and I am always curious how that shows up in your comments. You always show me something, and because it is you doing the showing, I always go slowly and try to understand why I perceive a gap. Because there is no gap! And yet sometimes it does seem so . . .
But honestly, here, I mostly felt like you were just seeing more clearly than I could what I was trying to say (which is OFTEN the case with you 😀) and it really landed in a helpful way. Thank you. I appreciate the careful read and the insightful response. You make ME think.
I'm glad you're here, and glad you're you, and thank you again. I hope all is well 🙏🙏
Oh my - you love Mary Oliver. For sure my top favorite poet! Loved your words on the Holy Instant. Not to trivialize Holy Instants, but I feel small holy instants - sparks of holy instants - reading her...or in nature.
Oh yes! Mary Oliver is a teacher of holy instants AND holy relationship . . . she lived those concepts and shared pointers with us in her poems . . . Very grateful to her and have learned a lot reading her.
Your words were soothing and spot on. Today I will let my day unfold instead of being tightly planned. I will meet my brothers as God knows them and let Him teach me how to know them as He does. Thank you Sean.
You're welcome, April - thank you for being here. Letting go of plans - letting God show us the Kingdom of the Happy Dream - is such a gift. We give it to ourselves but also to everyone we meet. There is so much to be grateful for!!
"The way is not what I want; it's what is given. It's not about what I can get from Life, but what comes forth when I cooperate with life. The way, the companions and the means are not hidden. But we have to be ready. We have to go forth, empty-handed and willing but not alone. Never alone." Thank you, Sean, for this. I'm at the point where I know what I don't want, but have no idea what I do want. I see that I am not ready and therefore must empty my hands in order to go forth. "Be quiet, be still" is where I'm at today and I can surely cooperate with that.
Honestly, in my experience, "be quiet, be still" is most of the ACIM program. In that space I learned that stillness and quiet were WHAT I wanted, though I named it "peace." The name doesn't matter. There is an interesting space in which I realized that "stillness and quiet" were easy in their way but there was a deep level where they were suddenly not easy at all - where a kind of formless energy of wanting and clinging appeared - and then the work got real in a fast, scary and intense way. And it's odd because going into that darkness, facing that fear - grappling with ego in its non-sophisticated forms of basically raw appetite - can only be done alone and yet without relationship it is impossible. There's a funny blend of diving deep but then resurfacing and finding some folks around who are also doing the deep dives, reminding yourself, okay, I can do this, they're doing this so I can do this, and then diving deep again. At a point in that diving/resurfacing - deeper even than ego - is a light and when we reach it at last the work changes yet again - still a lot of work!! - but our companions are clear and present and hard as it is, it is joyful. The happy dream is no joke. Thank you for sharing Susan. I'm very grateful that we are on this path together.
It is God's Love that joins you and your brother, and for God's Love you would keep no one separate from yours. Each one appears just as he is perceived in the holy instant, united in your purpose to be released from guilt. You see the Christ in him, and he is healed because you look on what makes faith forever justified in everyone (T-19.I.10:4-6).
Sean I love this simply because I am close to living this way. I’ve given up searching not out of choice but the course has taught me with the help of you and all course students Im a we bit late in responding but thank you Sean
Very good article Sean (as always ;-) It indeed takes discipline to be in communication with God and to translate that in our lives. A step to step process of letting go of our own control and handing things over. Allowing the stillness to grow and to be guided and give up your own plans and control....not easy! For me at least it isn't easy. That is why I love lesson 135 from the Workbook so much. It gives me the tools.
And the synchronicity again, because I just posted also today my stance on 'control issues': letting go of my own planning and handing it over to the Holy Spirit, like lesson 135 tells me to do so brilliantly. You give us a very in depth perspective of the Text about this topic of control.
Thanks Holy Spirit and thank you Sean🙏🏻🧡
Thank you Valentine - I appreciate your friendship and presence - and I am looking forward to reading your essay. "A healed mind does not plan" is one of ACIM's more fascinating and challenging ideas 🙏🙏
~ Sean
There you go again Sean making my day great as l so needed this with family dynamics,l am heading home to Ireland for a trip tomorrow, I am assuming you have Irish genes with the name Sean in the illusion lol.❤️
You're welcome, Jennifer! That's exciting - travel to Ireland. I do indeed have a LOT of Irish genes floating around in this dream body. I went there in 1989 - spent many months traveling around with my guitar, playing in little pubs and on street corners. People were very generous and kind. It's such a beautiful place. I hope your travels are safe and happy. Spread love!!
~ Sean
Your writing on “Becoming a Disciple” is so rich with ideas to meditate on, Sean. Thank you so much. The simplicity of it all is freeing and brings joy to my heart. These phrases were poetic to me..“discipline as an interior grace, long ignored, at last accepted and given room to flourish.” and “soon there is only the river.”. I haven’t yet come across these in ACIM but oh, so powerful…”as you see yourself is God to you” and “Teach not that I died in vain. Teach rather that I did not die by demonstrating that I live in you” (T-11.VI.7:3-4). How else would I live today? So very simple and all I ever wanted.
Thanks Denise - one of the cool things about reading and rereading ACIM is finding those little gems. I swear I never saw them before! And I must have but for whatever reason my mind wasn't ready for them or didn't them at the time or whatever. The "as you see yourself" is an example of that . . . read it the other day and was like, WOW, that's it, that's the course, why am I only no reading it ?!? But we get what we need when we need it :) Thank you again for sharing the way with me. I'm very grateful 🙏🙏
~ Sean
There is always so much good stuff to chew on when you write....I can re-read a number of times and find new bits to ponder. So much gratitude! Thank you.
Thank you for the kind words, Jaye - I appreciate them, and you too, reading and sharing. Thanks for being here 🙏🙏
~ Sean
“Discipline as an interior grace.” 💕💕💕 Thank you for your gift of words. They impact me greatly.
You're welcome, Kimberley - thank you for reading and sharing this path with me. I'm grateful 🙏🙏
~ Sean
I have a big soft spot for Douglas Harding's practical and simple 'experiments' to 'see who you truly are'. In his book 'Head off Stress' he outlines, in his typical direct and accessible style (albeit with a bit of old fashioned English expression thrown in), the 3 aspects of 'will' or intention:
i) What I think I want (our conscious desires and wants)
ii) What I really want (our subconscious needs, which sometimes affect the outcome of our conscious desires in some way)
iii) What I really really want (what the Universe serves up, the whole gamut, including those aspects of i and ii)
And by realising that aspect iii) is what it's all about, we open ourselves to what life brings. We say 'Yes' to life. Come on in!! '
Thanks for sharing this, Martin. Harding's work is fascinating, especially because of how utterly practical it is. One of the most grounded non-dual pointers of which I am aware. Richard Lang has done a great job evangelizing Harding's work. If folks are interested, the website headless.org is a great resource. Huge respect for Harding.
Thank you Martin!
Sean
Thank you.
Love,
Cheryl
You're welcome, Cheryl. I hope all is well - thank you for reading and sharing 🙏🙏
~ Sean
The thing about acceptance, is that what are really accepting, is that we not know what anything is for. Not only do we not know, we cannot know, and we cannot know because we cannot see the bigger picture of this collective dream we find ourselves in.
It is because we are not separate, and because we are all connected as one Love, that nothing that happens here happens to us alone. We are an interwoven whole, we are part of a greater interwoven illusion/dream.
It doesn’t mean anything is bad or wrong it simply is. It is simply a part of what happens in the dream. We cannot judge anything because we cannot know the full picture of the Holy Spirits plan for ourselves or the collective dreamers.
We rest in the truth and fully accept that as holy sons of God we are always safe and always looked after. If we make a seemingly wrong choice it will be corrected, we will be realigned back to our true purpose, it will return us all back to only Love because that is God’s Will for us.
We must trust that everything that seems to happen to us here, is always used as a tool for us to return ourselves, and the collective dreamers, back to the Love that is real and awaits our return. By accepting what happens to us it will allow ourselves to be realigned no matter how tragic, how painful, or confusing it seems, to accept the truth of our purpose here and to understand there is a bigger picture, a bigger plan of which we are a part. That everything is always unfolding as it should and if there are seeming mistakes made in the illusory world then they will be put right for us all to continue in this journey Home to Love.
So yes Sean, we are not alone, never alone, for God walks every step with us with His goal to return all His sons back Home to Love.
I have been away from you all a while, it is great to be back to your teachings Sean, you make me really think......
Love + Blessings. Suzy xxx
Suzy, this is so lovely and clear. Thank you. I always enjoy reading your comments, but this one really resonated. I often feel there are spaces in my study and practice that are not aligned with your own and I am always curious how that shows up in your comments. You always show me something, and because it is you doing the showing, I always go slowly and try to understand why I perceive a gap. Because there is no gap! And yet sometimes it does seem so . . .
But honestly, here, I mostly felt like you were just seeing more clearly than I could what I was trying to say (which is OFTEN the case with you 😀) and it really landed in a helpful way. Thank you. I appreciate the careful read and the insightful response. You make ME think.
I'm glad you're here, and glad you're you, and thank you again. I hope all is well 🙏🙏
Sean
Thank you Sean, that is lovely and thank you for being there too. xxx
Oh my - you love Mary Oliver. For sure my top favorite poet! Loved your words on the Holy Instant. Not to trivialize Holy Instants, but I feel small holy instants - sparks of holy instants - reading her...or in nature.
Oh yes! Mary Oliver is a teacher of holy instants AND holy relationship . . . she lived those concepts and shared pointers with us in her poems . . . Very grateful to her and have learned a lot reading her.
~ Sean
...in each apparent part, the whole....
WOW. Just beautiful, the whole thing. Thank you once again for your insight.
You're welcome, Heidi. Thank you for being here and sharing. I'm very grateful 🙏🙏
~ Sean
Your words were soothing and spot on. Today I will let my day unfold instead of being tightly planned. I will meet my brothers as God knows them and let Him teach me how to know them as He does. Thank you Sean.
You're welcome, April - thank you for being here. Letting go of plans - letting God show us the Kingdom of the Happy Dream - is such a gift. We give it to ourselves but also to everyone we meet. There is so much to be grateful for!!
~ Sean
"The way is not what I want; it's what is given. It's not about what I can get from Life, but what comes forth when I cooperate with life. The way, the companions and the means are not hidden. But we have to be ready. We have to go forth, empty-handed and willing but not alone. Never alone." Thank you, Sean, for this. I'm at the point where I know what I don't want, but have no idea what I do want. I see that I am not ready and therefore must empty my hands in order to go forth. "Be quiet, be still" is where I'm at today and I can surely cooperate with that.
Honestly, in my experience, "be quiet, be still" is most of the ACIM program. In that space I learned that stillness and quiet were WHAT I wanted, though I named it "peace." The name doesn't matter. There is an interesting space in which I realized that "stillness and quiet" were easy in their way but there was a deep level where they were suddenly not easy at all - where a kind of formless energy of wanting and clinging appeared - and then the work got real in a fast, scary and intense way. And it's odd because going into that darkness, facing that fear - grappling with ego in its non-sophisticated forms of basically raw appetite - can only be done alone and yet without relationship it is impossible. There's a funny blend of diving deep but then resurfacing and finding some folks around who are also doing the deep dives, reminding yourself, okay, I can do this, they're doing this so I can do this, and then diving deep again. At a point in that diving/resurfacing - deeper even than ego - is a light and when we reach it at last the work changes yet again - still a lot of work!! - but our companions are clear and present and hard as it is, it is joyful. The happy dream is no joke. Thank you for sharing Susan. I'm very grateful that we are on this path together.
~ Sean
Relationship and silence...hmmm there's something there :) You are one of those folks who help make it joyful...thank you!
It is God's Love that joins you and your brother, and for God's Love you would keep no one separate from yours. Each one appears just as he is perceived in the holy instant, united in your purpose to be released from guilt. You see the Christ in him, and he is healed because you look on what makes faith forever justified in everyone (T-19.I.10:4-6).
Thank you Sean for sharing God’s love.
Perfect, Frank . . . thank you . . . and thank you for helping me remember how to share it 🙏🙏
~ Sean
Thank you so much Sean for sharing once again, this is very very helpful 🙏🙏
You're welcome, Aysin. Thank you for reading - I'm grateful 🙏🙏
~ Sean
Sean I love this simply because I am close to living this way. I’ve given up searching not out of choice but the course has taught me with the help of you and all course students Im a we bit late in responding but thank you Sean