REVELATIONS CHAPTER 4

Chapter 4

I just love this first paragraph:

(v 1 - 6)1Looking too deeply for the meaning of symbolism is an activity of the thinking mind. 2Analyzing details and searching for meaning is asking the ego to explain images to you.  P. 466

Here I am spending my time and energy trying to figure something out, and missing the show. It’s like I find a ticket to Cirque de Soilet in my pocket and instead of watching the show I soend all my time womveringhow the ticket got there. And at theend of the show I still don’t have an answer, but I missed the whole thing.

This lesson is even more powerful for me since I found some of the language in this chapter quite confusing, and spent a good bit of time trying to figure it out and understand it.

After I wrestled with the material for awhile what finally came to me was that I could analyze all the diffent little pieces of illusion, but they would still be illusion. 

Anything that seems to tell me I am separate from God, or Truth or Love, is an illusion and needs to be let go of--that’s my ticket--

(14_22) v.3 But when you have left these beliefs behind as tiny wisps of air that are not noticed, you shall see the world differently. From chapter 3 P.466

REVELATIONS CHAPTER 3

Chapter 3

The Message here is “Wake Up!” But as I mentioned before it is not about waking up and being frightened or guilty. I is about waking up to the Truth you already know: you are theSon of the God, the Christ. The Prodigal Son never left home(only in his mind, because you can never leave the Father’s unconditional love--you can pretend, you can forget, but that does not detract from Truth that IS.

There is a great line in this chapter about thinking that you are the “greatest sinner of all time.” I was reminded of that old definition of an alcoholic--an egomaniac with an inferiority complex.”

I really get tweeked when I read passages such as v. 11-13 telling me that  joy, peace, etc. are right around the corner. When I here messages like that I find myself waiting for something to happen. OK, God, I’ ready for the joy now, and then nothing happens. What I miss is that this is not a passive trip, there is work to be done. 

In its simplest form the work is described in (14_22) v.3 But when you have left these beliefs behind as tiny wisps of air that are not noticed, you shall see the world differently. P.466

REVELATIONS CHAPTER 2

Revelations Chapter 2

 The beginning of this chapter reminded me of that beautiful quote from Augustine, “You have made our hearts restless, and they will never rest until they rest in Thee.”

When confusion hits, know it is the ego that is confused, not You.

“Do not hate the voice. Simply do not follow it.” Tell it, Thank you for sharing and then open yourself to Divine guidance.

1. 8-11 remind me that “in my defenselessness my safety lies.” (ACIM)

1. 12-13 is great wisdom in dealing with darkness.

You might also want to check out:

Mark 1(43-45); Romans 1(18-32) 1-8; and 2 Thessalonians 2(1-4)

Fear and Guilt go hand in hand, although neither on is the truth they can grab us because we are so used to experiencing those two demons.

We are encouraged to stare them down, as the lies that they are in the powerful presence of God, and let them dissolve away.

REVELATIONS CHAPTER 1

Reflections:           NTI  Revelations    Chapter 1

The old/New Testament book of Revelations was formerly known as the Book of the Apocalypse(meaning The End of the World, Final Judgment, and all those other things). Coming at the end of the New Testament, I always felt as if it was a very definite warning to get your act together because you “did not know the day or the hour.” It did not seem as if anyone was safe.

Even beginning with chapter , the Lord says some good things about a particular church, but then slams them with what they are doing wrong--again, “you better get it together, NOW!”

There is a good bit of fear and trembling here. I often wondered where did the God of Love go to?

In NTI we are also reminded that the time has come, but in a much more gentle loving way. The time has come to claim your inheritance as the Son of God, because you are now aware of this truth. You are Home, or at least you are beginning to know the truth of that. 

It is all a question of what I am identifying with---my ego, my attachments, who I think I am, my past, my fears or my True identity--which is beyond all “I” thinking.

Reflections on v. 1-8

You already know you are more than your body, mind and emotions. Why do you keep identifying with them? This identification and attachment keep you in false perception.

All my thoughts keep shouting, “look at me; I’m real!”

The Truth of who you are is not to be grasped by the intellect, the thinking mind(or as Marianne Williamson calls it, “the mortal mind.”)

Buddha’s reflection on the Golden Rule--”See yourself in others, who then shall you harm.”

My mind still wants an answer, still wants to explain everything. Here is where I get trapped so often.

I want to think/believe that I have some purpose, but that’s the catch, ultimately, there is no “I”

I would also like to explain and understand why we got here, how this whole thing got started. 

Buddha suggested, “It’s none of your business.”

The most consoling message for me is, “You are not alone.” in all your confusion, and even self-doubt and other struggles, You are not alone.

If I could only remember that I would probably struggle much less.

THE MEANING OF LIFE PART 1

After studying ACIM,NTI and other forms of spiritual awareness, many of us are still left with the question, “Why did we start this whole thing if it seems so messy and painful?” “If it is a game, can’t we stop it right now?” or “How did this whole thing get started?”

ACIM explains the beginning of the illusion or life on planet earth as beginning with a “tiny mad idea” of wondering what it would be like to be separate (fromGod). NTI has a similar explanation that it all begin with a wish to experience things different than they are.

My take on all this is that the Western mind is oriented, perhaps even hard-wired to having a mental construct or intellectual framework to operate in initially.

Whenever I was giving a retreat, without even  thinking about it, I would usually spend the first few hours helping to construct a model or intellectual framework that we would be working with. Even though the material would be spiritual in nature, the 12 steps, healing, etc. It always felt natural and comfortable for me have a structure to fall back on even though it essentially became irrelevant) 

What I am beginning to get for myself is that no matter what system we might be working with, traditional Christianity, ACIM, NTI--any other form of Western Spirituality, there seems to be need to explain how it all began, what happened.

Buddhism and Hinduism do not seem to need this kind of explanation.

I am working on becoming less attached to the story, the explanation of how it all got started, whether it was eating an apple, or a “tiny mad idea” or “a wish to see thing differently than they are.” 

All these are “stories”--ways to explain the unexplainable. They have the purpose of shutting up the thinking mind for a while, so the soul can do its work.

Soon the mind will be dissatisfied with the story and go looking for a new one. 

I don’t want to spend my time thinking about or trying to prove a particular story is true or real or not.

 My Soul has more important things to do or not do.

I missed an implication in NTI some time ago,and as I was rereading a passage it hit me.

Romans 4 (13-15) 3-8 p. 266

3In creating you, God extended Himself. 4In extending His Truth, that which is Enrichment was enriched further. 5So in your existence, God Himself is enriched. 6This is why you are His joy. 7You are His own enrichment. 8And that which enriches God must be Enrichment Itself.

The above passage explains the “meaning of life” in a much more positive way than the tiny mad idea, etc. It apples more to my sense of mystery as well as not involving my mind in the pseudo-judgment about guilt, fear ,etc.

I cannot understood the stemming form NTI with my head, only my heart.

The link below will take you to a sound clip from a talk given by Ram Dass. He has a delightful take on this question. There might be a short ad before the .mp3 file is available.

http://www.4shared.com/mp3/1aLqHYCs/meaning_of_life.html

REFLECTIONS ON TITUS AND PHILEMON

TITUS and PHILEMON

I am both at a loss for words and grateful for not needing them.

The next two books, Titus and Philemon stand on their own. I would encourage you to read each one slowly and reverently. Know that you are not grasping these truths with your mind, but you are letting them settle into your heart where you already know them as true. 

REFLECTIONS ON 2 TIMOTHY

2 TIMOTHY

Most of us have collected baggage over this lifetime. I think of my emotional baggage as being “unfinished feelings.” These are feelings that I have not dealt with fully. It might be grief I have denied, resentment that I have not let go of, fears that I have not faced, just to name a few.

All of this unfinished stuff gets in the way of my peace of mind, my ability to see Truth, and to Love more fully. In other words, my unfinised feelings are preventing me from being where I want to be and experiencing what I truly desire to experience.

So in Timothy 2 we dive into the realm of our unfinished feelings that we might let them go and be healed.

(v 1, 2)1It is time to look within at the darkness that blinds you to your awareness of Life. 2You will see many things, all of which are false. 3Hold My hand, and know it is your own truth that you hold to as we look together at all you are not. P. 383

(v 8 – 12)1Life is a rollercoaster of feelings. 2But when you are lost in your thoughts, you rob yourself of the feelings you set out to experience. 3It is as if you skim the surface, but you do not go in for a full flavor of experience. 4And so the desire for experience remains at a level of which you are not conscious. 5The unanswered question remains unanswered, because you have not allowed yourself the full experience by the distraction of your thoughts. (pp. 383-384)

(v 16 – 18)1Release yourself by accepting your own innocence. 2God has granted you the right to have experience. 3You have, within you, the desire to have experience. 4This desire remains until you have let it go. 5But you cannot fear it and let it go also. 6You must let yourself realize the experience to see that the experience can hold no limits that could ever limit or hinder you. (p. 384)

(v 11 - 13)1Here is a trustworthy saying: 2I am all that I am, and that is all I am promised to be. 3But I cannot limit myself through fear, and know all that I am. 41 choose to release the limits I have chosen for myself. 5In their release, I see that I am. 6Make this the constant prayer of your heart. 7In purpose, step forth unto your release. (p. 385)

(v 20, 21)1It is through fear that you are purified. 2Do not shy away from fear. 3It is through fear that you realize your own shine, because it is through experiencing fear and releasing fear that you learn fear has no hold on you. 4The unlimited cannot be limited by fear. (p. 386)

(v 1 – 5)1Let’s remember that this is a course of looking within in order to heal all 6When you look on the world, remember it is only a prop. 7You are never looking on anything real. 8You are not subject. 9You are lord. 10And the world you look on is your own gift given unto you. 11Now look on the world. 12Look without judgment. 13Look with curiosity. 14Look on the world and see it as a harmless and meaningless prop. 15As you do this, feelings will seem to come up in you, feelings that say, “The world is not a prop!” 16Do not turn away from your feelings. 17Turn your attention, now, from the prop to the feelings it has evoked. 18This is the experience you deemed to have. 19Feel the feelings of injustice and anger and sadness and blame. 20Feel hopelessness and anguish and helplessness and pain. 21Allow yourself the feelings from that place within the Heart where the feelings are only an experience, and you hold hands with Me. (pp. 386-387)

11Feel the fullness of the experience. 12In this way, the stage show can be finished and you can move beyond the experience you wanted to have. (p. 387)

6Accept willingness and feel gratitude for it, that it may increase within you. 7Look at resistance with your willingness; focus on letting resistance go. 8This is the way to peace. (v 16 – 18)1You are not deserted. 2When you feel deserted, you have looked away from the Love within yourself. 3Take this moment to be quiet and to ask Me to look at your pain with you. 4I am with you always, but through inviting Me you acknowledge My presence within you. 5In peace we will experience your pain together. 6Through peace, we will joyously let it go. (p. 390)