I needed to see this in some way I don’t think I can even articulate yet. I’ve been feeling so alone and set apart—and worse, so tormented by my seemingly failed efforts to address or correct that. It’s an aloneness that has been with me a very long time but that lately just seems to be torturing me. Whatever the truth is in your words, I can feel my soul or spirit reaching for it, wanting to be held by it. I guess, wanting forgiveness. Wanting a happier dream. I deeply appreciate the glimmer of light in your words.
I'm glad its helpful, Dan. Please be gentle with yourself - those spaces are hard to navigate. I know navigating them matters- I would never say to anyone don't look at that stuff - but, again, be gentle and kind to yourself. The course opens up some truly existential crises in us - as I say from time to time, the abyss is no joke.
I'm here holding you in my thoughts and I know other folks reading are as well. Step by step - hand in hand - we find our way out of the darkness. That glimmer of light you see in my words is your own self calling you home.
Thank you for being here and helping make it work for all of us. Healing isn't healing until it includes everyone.
Deborah what a beautifully poignant image and kindness in your words. And in just those few words I feel that kinship. Many blessings and much grace to you on this walk.
Thanks Sean for this honest and deep sharing. Your relationship with your sister and that email: we all have things like this, but are we honest enough to admit, like you do here, that we fall for those ego traps again and again? We totally believe the ego. You are doing a fantastic job in step by step uncovering the tricks of the ego in this article. It is so interesting. So AMEN to all of this. This December month will be a terrible month for the ego if we go on with this work of dismantling it LOL. Much love to you and see you also on your website for the Advents journey, 💖 Valentine
Thank you, Valentine. I'm very grateful for the chance to write and think with you in this way, about these things.
Ego is a pattern, a rhythm. I think that when I began to get past the guilt/fear to the projector, the one where the guilt and fear originated, that's what I saw first: patterns. System outputs that intimated the structure of the system. In my experience, one has to see that clearly in order to truly and well let it go.
But I am a slow learner and needs things to be very basic :)
I am reading Carolyn Sawicki, an obscure feminist theologian from the 1980s, and she talks about competencies - skill sets that are necessary in order to know the resurrected Jesus, undo one's fear of hunger, understand the love that gives rise to service, et cetera. She reads the gospels as pointers to those competencies (and also emphasizes that they can only be practiced and applied in communities already skilled in those competencies).
It's an interesting idea and helps me think more deeply and critically about my ACIM study and practice. Here, it helps me think of "seeing ego" as a competency - we have to know the steps, know the tricks and know the goal AND we need to do this work in the company of others who are doing/have done it.
So I am very grateful to you for sharing and being here 🙏🙏
That is so interesting Sean what you say here in your comment. I looked up if I could find more about Sawicki but she seems kind of hard to find? I am always interested in books. Not as much in other paths to practice but books that can enhance our ACIM study and practice, and also art, music, poetry etc. that Holy Spirit points me to to give me more and deeper understanding of things...I am always amazed to find things that help me at exactly the right timing. Much love to you, Valentine
Yes . . . Sawicki is pretty obscure . . . I found her in a couple of footnotes in another book I was reading and tracked her down . . . absolutely love the synchronicity of discovering a writer or thinker at just the right time . . .
I love how you can, reflect, probe, break down, and assimilate confusing psychological patterns. This article is a masterpiece understanding what forgiveness is. 🙏♥️
Thanks for the kind words, Glenda. Understanding and going deeply into those patterns feels really fundamental to healing - and yeah, to forgiveness in ACIM terms. If I can remember the steps, then I can repeat the healing. I think that's a big part of being in relationship - undoing those patterns, supporting one another moving through those patterns, and discovering together what lies beyond.
And, I just wanted to say I was so very grateful for your Advent post "Advent Travels: The Raspberry Patch", it is exactly what I have been experiencing lately and your words helped clarify my understanding of what I was experiencing. What a gift your contemplations are !!!! Much Love and gratitude🙏
A great post, sir. Especially after a week of ego attacks in the middle of the night. "I need to forgive myself for falling for the egoic lie - the elaborate fiction - of separation, especially separate interests. That's the source of the problem." Thanks, Sean.
You're welcome, Silvanus. Those ego attacks are frightening.
I don't know if it helps - and please disregard if it doesn't - but I have come to understand ego attacks as symbolic of progress occurring in my thinking that is threatening to ego. And so it unleashes itself in non-subtle ways. Ego prefers anonymity - when we are well and truly aware of its machinations - then it's feeling threatened. If it's willing to expose itself in an attack, then at some level - in some way - something is being healed.
And so in those moments I try to be grateful - even though I am being grateful for a healing I cannot in that moment experience or even know.
The other thing is, in those moments, given the leaky sieve my psyche can be, I will often as Jesus in those moments to visit or share. When ego attacks, its defenses are weakened, and sometimes Jesus or the Buddha or a saint or a beloved deceased dog or other ancestor can seep through and offer some love.
In any event, thank you for being here and sharing, and please don't give up hope. We are in this together.
I see you Sean. And that means I see me. And I forgive you. I am the same and that I do the same things thankfully not as often anymore and then have to forgive myself.
Last night as I was in my bed I was thinking about how difficult I find it not to see separation because we are bodies. Bodies bodies bodies man. And I have yet to experience whatever it is to experience that represents our not being separate.
Well maybe I have experienced it in don't remember. I know I have those glimmers from time to time.
And I've said this to you before and I'll say it again, you shine always even when you fail to be kind, I see you.
Thank you for this Rebecca. "I see you" and "I forgive you" are powerful words. I am deeply grateful to you for offering them to me AND for understanding that the gift goes both ways (as Nilsa pointed out in another comment), indeed kind of HAS to go both ways in order to BE a gift. I accept them and I am lifted by them.
For what it's worth, I experience that offer - made and accepted in words, in language - as a nontrivial undoing of separation. I hear what you're saying about not yet having experienced the end of separation - and I appreciate deeply the glimmers you perceive (I LOVE the glimmers) - but honestly it feels like you're pretty far up that ladder separation led us down. You are certainly a light for me. I'm very grateful for you 🙏🙏
Sean - I truly resonate with your "struggle" as I've had my challenges with extended family. It wasn't until I became willing to quiet the ego chatter and see "others" as a reflection of myself that I found peace. And I’ll be honest—it took many years to get there.
I agree with you: the ego is like a malfunction, a flat tire. But I also see it as a blessing in disguise. If not for the tire, there might be no salvation (a paradox). To change that tire, I might need to get down into the mud and get dirty. How I choose to handle that dirt is a metaphor for forgiveness. Do I wallow in it, or acknowledge it, wash it off, and move forward clean?
I’ve spent my share of time wallowing. I love how you point out that the ego seeks an argument, a negotiation, an investigation—it craves our investment. For me, only the forgiveness outlined in the Course seems to offer true peace. It helps me stop investing in the ego’s games.
I also recognize that I'm doing this to myself, and there’s still resistance to healing the apparent separation. But each time, it becomes a little easier to move past it to freedom. As Wei Wu Wei says, "Are we not wasps who spend all day in a fruitless attempt to traverse a window pane—while the other half of the window is wide open?" <sigh>
Part of what I am learning - and I don't think I write much about it because the lesson doesn't neatly resolve that way for me - is that "I" - in the local, "Sean" sense - don't become willing, in the way that we traditionally think of the verb "to will." "Sean" is defeated, or undone - revealed as an illusion. But that is not the end. It is AN end - it is the end of the personal, the end of the special, the end of ME ME ME and MY MY MY - but something goes on to which "Sean" was never important and relevant.
Part of the problem for me in using that language is that I end up tracking Ken Wapnick in ways that reinforce some of his own confused thinking, and I have a lot of respect for Ken and those who studied closely with him.
I do think the more Zen or Advaita-flavored language helps in this regard! You seem pretty fluent. Did that show up before or after you began working with the course?
And always, Susan, thank you for sharing. I don't know where you are in the world but I'd love to buy you a coffee 🙏🙏
I appreciate your thoughtful reply, Sean. I've been doing the Course for 30 years off and on. Ken Wapnick helped my understanding in the early years. The Advaita flavor showed up about a year ago when I started listening to Ram Dass. I struggled with the "impersonal" and "unreal" attitudes I encountered in some Course Students. This broke up a study group I was part of. At that time, Ram Dass provided an intimate experience of the connection between consciousness and being human. He unveiled that deep, sacred love. It felt right and in line with the Course.
I had also read David Carse in the past, but could not understand it. You mentioned him a few weeks back so I revisited his work--thank you for that. Something "popped"! I see things differently now, but it seems more important than ever to connect with others on a personal level: meeting everyone exactly where they are and being truly helpful. Rigidity is no longer a part of my journey.
I find language difficult and wish I could express ideas as you do! My journey has included a lot of doubt, heartbreak, and acceptance. Wouldn't coffee together be fun? Unfortunately, I think we are at different ends of the East Coast. I am a former New Englander. I miss it!
Did you study closely with Ken? Ram Dass is lovely. I'm glad he resonates for you - s I said, you seem very comfortable with that language and those insights. It's a natural fit for ACIM for sure. "Rigidity is no longer part of my journey," feels like a very beautiful thing to be able to say. I hear you on the doubt, heartbreak and acceptance.
Well, coffee in spirit then!
Thanks again for being here, Susan. I really appreciate your intelligence and kindness - thank you 🙏🙏
Sean, you are describing exactly what my practice of forgiveness is. Sitting in the midst of the “ego storm” and not judging. Not easy at all…but the reward is I am then right minded in the Holy Spirit…a non-judgmental witness to the ego…thank you
"Sitting in the midst of the “ego storm” and not judging" - that's it, perfectly. And that witnessing becomes the undoing. Thank you, Carol - you said in about ten words what took me a thousand or so!
By coincidence (haha), I was paying special attention this morning to Workbook Lesson 38, and its advice about what to do in cases of "any source of pain, sorrow, sense of loss, or unhappiness of any kind as you see it."
"Solipsism is the ego's understanding of nonduality."
So funny! and pinpoint perfect.
Thanks and love to you, Sean. (Just because I don't always comment doesn't mean I'm not reading, learning, enjoying.)
Thanks for being here, Nancy, and for dropping a reference to Lesson 38. That first sentence is always a shock to me, like a sudden blast of wind or light. "Your holiness reverses all the laws of the world" (W-pI.38.1:1). There is so much promise of so much power in that!
I appreciate your presence at whatever distance you choose, Nancy. The light you are has a big reach!
This is well written and expressed in a way I could palpably feel the rise and swell of the emotions. We all go through it and as you say, it’s not a joyride by any means, to face the ego and do “nothing”. I fall into the trap of confrontation quite often. But as of late, the forgiveness of myself is popping up inside, like someone’s extending an idea, a jewel for me to ponder and consider. Thank you for sharing your honesty, Sean
You're welcome, Fran. Thank you for being here. That self-forgiveness is so helpful to our ability to be present to others . . . I'm glad it's surfacing for you . . . 🙏🙏
Thank you so much Sean and all brothers sisters for your sharing. Your piece also precisely describes where my ACIM practice is. After so many years with the Course, I just started to realise I have been judging ego and hence tangling my mind with ego thoughts trying to ’fix’ ego most of the time. What you describe as our need for going down to root of ego, and not judge it, as Jesus asks ‘just look’, is so difficult to an untrained mind, when, as you said, you don’t like what you see, you feel guilty and scared, you want to do something anything to stop it! Noticing this pattern so helpful. I am beginning to see a glimpse of light but need to keep in mind that it is a constant process and you can’t fall asleep an instant because ego appears out of nowhere with some specific grievances to trick you yet again, but if you do fall for it again, we will forgive ourselves because it is just another silly mistake and remembering also that if I was so good at not making mistakes then I wouldn’t have needed the Course😊.
Keeping quiet, emptying our mind, being gentle with ourselves and others, and remembering not to forget ‘this means nothing’ and ‘I know nothing’.
I pray you will experience the healing of the pain you are feeling with your relationship without any further delays.
Deep gratitude for this decoding, it is very very helpful. 🙏🙏
You are so welcome, Aysin, and thank you too for being here and sharing. We share this path - and learn together - how to walk it. I appreciate so much your clarity and kindness - and the reminder to keep it simple:
"Keeping quiet, emptying our mind, being gentle with ourselves and others, and remembering not to forget ‘this means nothing’ and ‘I know nothing."
Thank you Sean. Your honest and vulnerable story telling is a beacon of sorts. At this time of the year there is both darkness and light. What is that line "the darkness surrounds the light"? Thank for reminding us to look with light
Thank you, Sean. I feel my understanding of Ego and the work set before is a lot clearer. As usual, my experience of your posts elicits a deep dive into the paragraphs... more time to read, to reflect on, to open up my heart for the courage to see more clearly. This is what I’m dedicating my Advent Season to...this latest writing. It’s an entire seminar, so rich and full of healing!
I’m grateful for my two brothers who are there for me to butt up against in my railing and gnashing of teeth.
I loved this...”When we are no longer afraid of the ego, we find ourselves in transformed relationships - relationships that are premised on undoing our shared fear in order to reach the shared love that is what we are in truth.”. As I walk toward this Oneness that we are, a lightbulb has been lit, once again. Thank you so much. 🙏
You're welcome, Denise. I'm glad it's helpful and resonant. We are in this together in a way that defies easy understanding of relationship. I'm learning that at what feels like an accelerated pace these days - we are helping and sharing at levels we rarely notice and even more rarely understand. It is not a journey for those who are not ready - in one way or another - for a journey.
So thanks for being here and sharing and going deeply into it. I think Love is the answer to all our problems, and we may actually be able to bring forth a world in which Love HAS solved all our problems and answered all our qeustions.
That's my happy dream - I'm glad you're a part of it.
I needed to see this in some way I don’t think I can even articulate yet. I’ve been feeling so alone and set apart—and worse, so tormented by my seemingly failed efforts to address or correct that. It’s an aloneness that has been with me a very long time but that lately just seems to be torturing me. Whatever the truth is in your words, I can feel my soul or spirit reaching for it, wanting to be held by it. I guess, wanting forgiveness. Wanting a happier dream. I deeply appreciate the glimmer of light in your words.
I'm glad its helpful, Dan. Please be gentle with yourself - those spaces are hard to navigate. I know navigating them matters- I would never say to anyone don't look at that stuff - but, again, be gentle and kind to yourself. The course opens up some truly existential crises in us - as I say from time to time, the abyss is no joke.
I'm here holding you in my thoughts and I know other folks reading are as well. Step by step - hand in hand - we find our way out of the darkness. That glimmer of light you see in my words is your own self calling you home.
Thank you for being here and helping make it work for all of us. Healing isn't healing until it includes everyone.
~ Sean
Dan, like Jesus dragging his cross, I feel you said 'yes' to help carry and heal the world's pain. Have courage! We take this holy walk with you!
Deborah what a beautifully poignant image and kindness in your words. And in just those few words I feel that kinship. Many blessings and much grace to you on this walk.
Thank you, Sean. I appreciate that and you, more than I can say.
🙏🙏
Yes, I am experiencing same, Dan.
Silvanus, thank you. I appreciate you being present with me.
Thanks Sean for this honest and deep sharing. Your relationship with your sister and that email: we all have things like this, but are we honest enough to admit, like you do here, that we fall for those ego traps again and again? We totally believe the ego. You are doing a fantastic job in step by step uncovering the tricks of the ego in this article. It is so interesting. So AMEN to all of this. This December month will be a terrible month for the ego if we go on with this work of dismantling it LOL. Much love to you and see you also on your website for the Advents journey, 💖 Valentine
Thank you, Valentine. I'm very grateful for the chance to write and think with you in this way, about these things.
Ego is a pattern, a rhythm. I think that when I began to get past the guilt/fear to the projector, the one where the guilt and fear originated, that's what I saw first: patterns. System outputs that intimated the structure of the system. In my experience, one has to see that clearly in order to truly and well let it go.
But I am a slow learner and needs things to be very basic :)
I am reading Carolyn Sawicki, an obscure feminist theologian from the 1980s, and she talks about competencies - skill sets that are necessary in order to know the resurrected Jesus, undo one's fear of hunger, understand the love that gives rise to service, et cetera. She reads the gospels as pointers to those competencies (and also emphasizes that they can only be practiced and applied in communities already skilled in those competencies).
It's an interesting idea and helps me think more deeply and critically about my ACIM study and practice. Here, it helps me think of "seeing ego" as a competency - we have to know the steps, know the tricks and know the goal AND we need to do this work in the company of others who are doing/have done it.
So I am very grateful to you for sharing and being here 🙏🙏
~ Sean
That is so interesting Sean what you say here in your comment. I looked up if I could find more about Sawicki but she seems kind of hard to find? I am always interested in books. Not as much in other paths to practice but books that can enhance our ACIM study and practice, and also art, music, poetry etc. that Holy Spirit points me to to give me more and deeper understanding of things...I am always amazed to find things that help me at exactly the right timing. Much love to you, Valentine
Yes . . . Sawicki is pretty obscure . . . I found her in a couple of footnotes in another book I was reading and tracked her down . . . absolutely love the synchronicity of discovering a writer or thinker at just the right time . . .
I love how you can, reflect, probe, break down, and assimilate confusing psychological patterns. This article is a masterpiece understanding what forgiveness is. 🙏♥️
Thanks for the kind words, Glenda. Understanding and going deeply into those patterns feels really fundamental to healing - and yeah, to forgiveness in ACIM terms. If I can remember the steps, then I can repeat the healing. I think that's a big part of being in relationship - undoing those patterns, supporting one another moving through those patterns, and discovering together what lies beyond.
And, I just wanted to say I was so very grateful for your Advent post "Advent Travels: The Raspberry Patch", it is exactly what I have been experiencing lately and your words helped clarify my understanding of what I was experiencing. What a gift your contemplations are !!!! Much Love and gratitude🙏
🙏🙏
A great post, sir. Especially after a week of ego attacks in the middle of the night. "I need to forgive myself for falling for the egoic lie - the elaborate fiction - of separation, especially separate interests. That's the source of the problem." Thanks, Sean.
You're welcome, Silvanus. Those ego attacks are frightening.
I don't know if it helps - and please disregard if it doesn't - but I have come to understand ego attacks as symbolic of progress occurring in my thinking that is threatening to ego. And so it unleashes itself in non-subtle ways. Ego prefers anonymity - when we are well and truly aware of its machinations - then it's feeling threatened. If it's willing to expose itself in an attack, then at some level - in some way - something is being healed.
And so in those moments I try to be grateful - even though I am being grateful for a healing I cannot in that moment experience or even know.
The other thing is, in those moments, given the leaky sieve my psyche can be, I will often as Jesus in those moments to visit or share. When ego attacks, its defenses are weakened, and sometimes Jesus or the Buddha or a saint or a beloved deceased dog or other ancestor can seep through and offer some love.
In any event, thank you for being here and sharing, and please don't give up hope. We are in this together.
~ Sean
I see you Sean. And that means I see me. And I forgive you. I am the same and that I do the same things thankfully not as often anymore and then have to forgive myself.
Last night as I was in my bed I was thinking about how difficult I find it not to see separation because we are bodies. Bodies bodies bodies man. And I have yet to experience whatever it is to experience that represents our not being separate.
Well maybe I have experienced it in don't remember. I know I have those glimmers from time to time.
And I've said this to you before and I'll say it again, you shine always even when you fail to be kind, I see you.
Thank you for this Rebecca. "I see you" and "I forgive you" are powerful words. I am deeply grateful to you for offering them to me AND for understanding that the gift goes both ways (as Nilsa pointed out in another comment), indeed kind of HAS to go both ways in order to BE a gift. I accept them and I am lifted by them.
For what it's worth, I experience that offer - made and accepted in words, in language - as a nontrivial undoing of separation. I hear what you're saying about not yet having experienced the end of separation - and I appreciate deeply the glimmers you perceive (I LOVE the glimmers) - but honestly it feels like you're pretty far up that ladder separation led us down. You are certainly a light for me. I'm very grateful for you 🙏🙏
~ Sean
Sean - I truly resonate with your "struggle" as I've had my challenges with extended family. It wasn't until I became willing to quiet the ego chatter and see "others" as a reflection of myself that I found peace. And I’ll be honest—it took many years to get there.
I agree with you: the ego is like a malfunction, a flat tire. But I also see it as a blessing in disguise. If not for the tire, there might be no salvation (a paradox). To change that tire, I might need to get down into the mud and get dirty. How I choose to handle that dirt is a metaphor for forgiveness. Do I wallow in it, or acknowledge it, wash it off, and move forward clean?
I’ve spent my share of time wallowing. I love how you point out that the ego seeks an argument, a negotiation, an investigation—it craves our investment. For me, only the forgiveness outlined in the Course seems to offer true peace. It helps me stop investing in the ego’s games.
I also recognize that I'm doing this to myself, and there’s still resistance to healing the apparent separation. But each time, it becomes a little easier to move past it to freedom. As Wei Wu Wei says, "Are we not wasps who spend all day in a fruitless attempt to traverse a window pane—while the other half of the window is wide open?" <sigh>
Part of what I am learning - and I don't think I write much about it because the lesson doesn't neatly resolve that way for me - is that "I" - in the local, "Sean" sense - don't become willing, in the way that we traditionally think of the verb "to will." "Sean" is defeated, or undone - revealed as an illusion. But that is not the end. It is AN end - it is the end of the personal, the end of the special, the end of ME ME ME and MY MY MY - but something goes on to which "Sean" was never important and relevant.
Part of the problem for me in using that language is that I end up tracking Ken Wapnick in ways that reinforce some of his own confused thinking, and I have a lot of respect for Ken and those who studied closely with him.
I do think the more Zen or Advaita-flavored language helps in this regard! You seem pretty fluent. Did that show up before or after you began working with the course?
And always, Susan, thank you for sharing. I don't know where you are in the world but I'd love to buy you a coffee 🙏🙏
~ Sean
I appreciate your thoughtful reply, Sean. I've been doing the Course for 30 years off and on. Ken Wapnick helped my understanding in the early years. The Advaita flavor showed up about a year ago when I started listening to Ram Dass. I struggled with the "impersonal" and "unreal" attitudes I encountered in some Course Students. This broke up a study group I was part of. At that time, Ram Dass provided an intimate experience of the connection between consciousness and being human. He unveiled that deep, sacred love. It felt right and in line with the Course.
I had also read David Carse in the past, but could not understand it. You mentioned him a few weeks back so I revisited his work--thank you for that. Something "popped"! I see things differently now, but it seems more important than ever to connect with others on a personal level: meeting everyone exactly where they are and being truly helpful. Rigidity is no longer a part of my journey.
I find language difficult and wish I could express ideas as you do! My journey has included a lot of doubt, heartbreak, and acceptance. Wouldn't coffee together be fun? Unfortunately, I think we are at different ends of the East Coast. I am a former New Englander. I miss it!
Did you study closely with Ken? Ram Dass is lovely. I'm glad he resonates for you - s I said, you seem very comfortable with that language and those insights. It's a natural fit for ACIM for sure. "Rigidity is no longer part of my journey," feels like a very beautiful thing to be able to say. I hear you on the doubt, heartbreak and acceptance.
Well, coffee in spirit then!
Thanks again for being here, Susan. I really appreciate your intelligence and kindness - thank you 🙏🙏
~ Sean
Everything you do for a brother you do for yourself. As your brother is part of you.
Next time remember that you can only offer love to yourself.
Thank you Nilsa . . . this is so simply and wonderfully put . . . thank you 🙏🙏
~ Sean
Sean, you are describing exactly what my practice of forgiveness is. Sitting in the midst of the “ego storm” and not judging. Not easy at all…but the reward is I am then right minded in the Holy Spirit…a non-judgmental witness to the ego…thank you
"Sitting in the midst of the “ego storm” and not judging" - that's it, perfectly. And that witnessing becomes the undoing. Thank you, Carol - you said in about ten words what took me a thousand or so!
Thanks for being here 🙏🙏
~ Sean
And a wonderful "share" it is, too.
By coincidence (haha), I was paying special attention this morning to Workbook Lesson 38, and its advice about what to do in cases of "any source of pain, sorrow, sense of loss, or unhappiness of any kind as you see it."
"Solipsism is the ego's understanding of nonduality."
So funny! and pinpoint perfect.
Thanks and love to you, Sean. (Just because I don't always comment doesn't mean I'm not reading, learning, enjoying.)
Thanks for being here, Nancy, and for dropping a reference to Lesson 38. That first sentence is always a shock to me, like a sudden blast of wind or light. "Your holiness reverses all the laws of the world" (W-pI.38.1:1). There is so much promise of so much power in that!
I appreciate your presence at whatever distance you choose, Nancy. The light you are has a big reach!
~ Sean
This is well written and expressed in a way I could palpably feel the rise and swell of the emotions. We all go through it and as you say, it’s not a joyride by any means, to face the ego and do “nothing”. I fall into the trap of confrontation quite often. But as of late, the forgiveness of myself is popping up inside, like someone’s extending an idea, a jewel for me to ponder and consider. Thank you for sharing your honesty, Sean
You're welcome, Fran. Thank you for being here. That self-forgiveness is so helpful to our ability to be present to others . . . I'm glad it's surfacing for you . . . 🙏🙏
~ Sean
Thank you so much Sean and all brothers sisters for your sharing. Your piece also precisely describes where my ACIM practice is. After so many years with the Course, I just started to realise I have been judging ego and hence tangling my mind with ego thoughts trying to ’fix’ ego most of the time. What you describe as our need for going down to root of ego, and not judge it, as Jesus asks ‘just look’, is so difficult to an untrained mind, when, as you said, you don’t like what you see, you feel guilty and scared, you want to do something anything to stop it! Noticing this pattern so helpful. I am beginning to see a glimpse of light but need to keep in mind that it is a constant process and you can’t fall asleep an instant because ego appears out of nowhere with some specific grievances to trick you yet again, but if you do fall for it again, we will forgive ourselves because it is just another silly mistake and remembering also that if I was so good at not making mistakes then I wouldn’t have needed the Course😊.
Keeping quiet, emptying our mind, being gentle with ourselves and others, and remembering not to forget ‘this means nothing’ and ‘I know nothing’.
I pray you will experience the healing of the pain you are feeling with your relationship without any further delays.
Deep gratitude for this decoding, it is very very helpful. 🙏🙏
You are so welcome, Aysin, and thank you too for being here and sharing. We share this path - and learn together - how to walk it. I appreciate so much your clarity and kindness - and the reminder to keep it simple:
"Keeping quiet, emptying our mind, being gentle with ourselves and others, and remembering not to forget ‘this means nothing’ and ‘I know nothing."
That's the practice - that's it 🙏🙏
~ Sean
Thank you Sean. Your honest and vulnerable story telling is a beacon of sorts. At this time of the year there is both darkness and light. What is that line "the darkness surrounds the light"? Thank for reminding us to look with light
You are welcome, Johan - and it's nice to hear from you! I hope you are well! Together we are the light that calls the world to be healed 🙏🙏
~ Sean
Thank you, Sean. I feel my understanding of Ego and the work set before is a lot clearer. As usual, my experience of your posts elicits a deep dive into the paragraphs... more time to read, to reflect on, to open up my heart for the courage to see more clearly. This is what I’m dedicating my Advent Season to...this latest writing. It’s an entire seminar, so rich and full of healing!
I’m grateful for my two brothers who are there for me to butt up against in my railing and gnashing of teeth.
I loved this...”When we are no longer afraid of the ego, we find ourselves in transformed relationships - relationships that are premised on undoing our shared fear in order to reach the shared love that is what we are in truth.”. As I walk toward this Oneness that we are, a lightbulb has been lit, once again. Thank you so much. 🙏
You're welcome, Denise. I'm glad it's helpful and resonant. We are in this together in a way that defies easy understanding of relationship. I'm learning that at what feels like an accelerated pace these days - we are helping and sharing at levels we rarely notice and even more rarely understand. It is not a journey for those who are not ready - in one way or another - for a journey.
So thanks for being here and sharing and going deeply into it. I think Love is the answer to all our problems, and we may actually be able to bring forth a world in which Love HAS solved all our problems and answered all our qeustions.
That's my happy dream - I'm glad you're a part of it.
Sean