Monday, May 26, 2008

http://groups.google.com/group/talk.religion.course-miracle/

A good usenet group on A Course in Miracles. See about for more information.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Message from Tony Ponticello: Charles Anderson has made his transition

Note: Tony is a founder and minister at California Miracles Center in San Francisco.
Charles Anderson aka "Master Teacher" was sometimes controversial. He helped to create one of the fine teaching missions and living centers of A Course in Miracles: Endeavor Academy.

Beloved One,

I received the following message of gratitude & celebration from my
friend Tony Ponticello in tribute to a fellow ACIM teacher who
recently passed. I offer my gratitude to Charles and to fellow
teacher Tara Singh, who passed last year. All glory to God.

Love & Blessings,

David

Dear *ACIM* Students,

It has been verified that Charles Anderson, affectionately known for
years as "Master Teacher" the guiding force of Endeavor Academy, in
Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin has made his transition.

The following was from the email I received today from someone
named "Dennis"

This is the story: the old man went into the hospital in Reedsburg
last Thursday he was having trouble breathing...yesterday he had
recovered and was going to be released today and maybe make it to
session tomorrow. At the last minute he had a final seizure.. and
left. Mitch and John were with him.

Soooooooooo grateful - watched Avalon - (Al Jolson) and the Old Man
was just the Old Man. I am exploding with joy and gratitude........

Another story - M.T. was giving out 'milky way bars' at the Cheese**
after church on Sunday and introduced himself to a woman having
breakfast. When he was at the hospital - the same woman breezed into
his room and said 'Hi again Charlie - I'm your nurse!'

At the academy there is an air of ecstatic gratitude for what the Old
Man has achieved. No one believes in death anymore - we finally heard
the Old Man.

**the Cheese is the nickname for the restaurant owned and operated by
Endeavor Academy and Miracles Healing Center (CMC addition)

I (Rev. Tony Ponticello) just called Endeavor Academy to confirm that
this was indeed true. It is. I asked if there was an official
announcement and/or statement of his passing on any of their web
sites that I could quote, but I was told that there was none at this
time. The woman I spoke to thanked me for my sensitivity and I asked
if there was anything she would like to say that I could quote. She
said that I should communicate the the atmosphere at Endeavor was one
of celebration. Of course she meant celebration of a life that has
meant so much to so many who are dedicated students of *A Course In
Miracles* and who have learned from "Master Teacher's" lessons. I got
the sense that Charles Anderson had now given his final lesson to his
spiritual community and he was directly challenging them all to
perceive the unreality of death.

The following is from the Wikipedia entry on Endeavor Academy:

Endeavor Academy, founded in 1993 as the New Christian Church of Full
Endeavor of Wisconsin, is a school and residential community for
spiritual transformation. The Academy heavily utilizes a variant of
the book, A Course in Miracles, which they publish and promote.[1]
The Academy's teachings also derive from the New Testament. The
organization is headquartered in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA.

Leadership and founding

The founder and spiritual guide of the Endeavor Academy is Chuck
Anderson, also known as the "Master Teacher". Anderson was inspired
to establish Endeavor Academy after a pair of incidents changed his
life. In a letter to the Atomic Veteran's History Project, Anderson
describes how, with the Marines 6th Regiment, he was one of the first
to land at Nagasaki after the atomic bombing of that city in 1945,
where he was faced with a vast and overwhelming feeling of the
devastation he was witnessing:

On "one particular day", at "one particular moment in time", I found
myself standing directly in the center of this unspeakable, indeed
unthinkable, devastation that had to have been caused by someone or
something. At "that one time" I was filled with complete rage, a
wrenching, seething, frustrating, insatiable need for revenge. But
against what or whom? It had no point of location, no focus of
causation - in effect, no one to blame, no one to hold responsible.
It became a passion of intense revulsion for myself, for this world
and for any and all members of the human species - a contained
certainty from deep within me that all of us, everyone on this earth,
all were totally guilty together. And then at "that one moment in
time", the light of an inner peace enveloped me. It became "a space
in time" where a new resolution appeared, and with it, the
message, "Look at this as a new beginning."

Anderson writes that he had a second "space of peace and happiness"
in 1971 while lying on what he presumed would be his deathbed, and
reminded himself of his "mission to teach to all, a "continuing
rebirth".

In an interview with CBS News, Anderson denies having followers. He
claims to be "returning to heaven" "shortly", and says
that "everybody" is going with him. "There's nothing dangerous about
me," Anderson explains, "I am the danger of eternal love."

History and activities

Anderson first discovered ACIM ca.1989. Two years later in 1991 he
first registered the organization in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, USA under
its original name, which was "God's Country Place" (GCP). This
organization was based on many of the teachings of *ACIM*, as well as
some Biblical and AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) materials. By July of
that year it had grown from 4 to 12 residents, and by October there
were 70 residents. In 1999, Endeavor Academy had grown to accommodate
500 residents.

In 1992 the organization was registered to operate under the names;
Endeavor Academy, and New Christian Church of Full Endeavor. Around
this time, the use of the GCP name was discontinued.

Endeavor Academy's headquarters facility is a converted summer resort
facility located in an idyllic wooded setting in the Wisconsin
countryside. The original facility of 1991 was a large main house,
but in 1992 a summer resort motel complex was acquired and converted
to meet its present needs.

I, Rev. Tony, would like us all to send our love and support --
and "Yes" our energy of "celebration" to all the dedicated *ACIM*
students who live in the greater sphere of the Endeavor, Wisconsin
Dells, Wisconsin organization.

At this moment of Charles Anderson's passing I want to acknowledge
that without the hard work and enormous amount of time and financial
resources provided by his organization the copyright of *ACIM* and
the service marks "*ACIM*" and "*A Course In Miracles*" would still
be tightly held by the Foundation For Inner Peace (FIP) and the
Foundation For *ACIM* (FACIM Ken Wapnick's organization). We would
have no *ACIM - Original Edition*, no web chat rooms and web sites
that could label themselves as *A Course In Miracles Groups*, and no
teachers -- other than Ken Wapnick -- who could say that they were
teaching *A Course In Miracles" in any public way. The importance of
this contribution can not be thoroughly fathomed. It has vast and far
reaching implications for now and for the future healing of the world.

"It is impossible to overestimate your brother's value."
(Tx.Or.Ed.20.39)

I also want to say, at this moment, I have a smile on my face in
remembrance of an OUTRAGEOUS teacher who greatly disturbed many yet,
seemingly enlightened many many more. I will always give a nod of
gratitude to the outrageous and confrontive few. Souls like these
challenge us all to look at our perceptions, our beliefs and our
attachments to them.

I give a nod of acknowledgement to Charles Anderson. He was never my
teacher, but I have a great awareness that he was THE teacher for
many dedicated, valuable *ACIM* students.

Love, (Rev.) Tony

from David mysticspiritone@yahoo.com

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

The one block to experiencing consistent Joy

Beloved One,
Blessings of Joy.  I often hear people tell me that they want the experience of Peace, but they aren't aware what it is that's blocking Peace from consistent awareness.  This post addresses this request.  I have spoken about our Teacher of Teacher's website and about transfer of training using the ACIM Workbook.  So this is the way: learn about and practice transfer of training (tot) using the (ToT) web site.  This is a very, very fast approach - and very direct.
Transfer of training
The experience of joy comes to a willing mind that has given up all
attempts to make exceptions to the miracle. Only exceptions
block the awareness of ever Present miracle mindedness. Today look
at some ideas I shall offer to clarify transfer of training as
described in A Course In Miracles. This clarification will have
tremendous benefits for anyone desiring to experience the State of
Mind I call Enlightenment.

Many have heard of the teaching from the Bible in Corinthians: Love
does not possess. This world of time-space, made by the ego, is a
construct of possession. Everything and everyone that makes up
distorted perception is the result or outcome of the desire to
possess. To be free of limits of any kind, therefore, it is
imperative to expose and release the concept of possession from the
mind entirely. There is no such thing as partial forgiveness or
partial healing, and no such thing as partial possession. Either
the mind believes in possession and experiences the illusion of
imprisonment, or the mind has forgiven or released the concept of
possession and is naturally free and whole. There can be no
compromise or middle ground or balance with the release of
possession. If you believe you can actually possess anything you
have allowed your mind to be possessed by error or illusion.
Freedom is nothing more than the escape from concepts, and all ego
concepts rest on the assumption of possession. Once this error is
abandoned, all errors vanish immediately.

Think awhile on what seems to attract so much attention in the
world: the body. What plans do you make that does not involve the
comforts and conveniences and care of the body. You treat it like
it is your home, a valued treasure in a world of transient images.
Yet the body is nothing more than a temporary learning device that
you can use awhile to expand your perception beyond its current
limits. That is all. The mind can be mind free that no longer sees
itself as in a body, firmly tied to it and sheltered by its
presence. Without the concept of possession you would not believe
that you can even possess a body. Yet you believe far more than
the body as a possession, you have identified yourself with the body
and therefore see yourself as temporary and transitory. How can
there be consistency and stability at all if your identity is in
constant flux and change? And this self-concept "identity" seems to
change and be as instable as the things with which it has surrounded
itself. No stability is possible in an impossible situation, and
this world of time-space is just that – an impossible situation.
Everyday the deceived and untrained mind concerns itself with
survival of the body, and the state of this mind seems often
stressful and at times angry, fearful, and guilty. Though these
conditions of mind are illusions, they seem very real to a mind that
believes in the error of possession. Possession is a synonym for
the ego, for the ego desires to get and has no awareness of True
Giving, Which is the natural attribute of Spirit. Only the mind can
be freed and it can only be freed through the peace of forgiveness
(the release of illusion). How simple is Salvation.

To experience freedom of mind trust in the Holy Spirit is a basic
requirement. Without this trust in the Holy Spirit the spiritual
journey will seem like an intellectual endeavor or an impossible
undertaking or a sorrowful, intense series of trials and
temptations. What is temptation but the wish to make illusions
real? And who will Awaken to God's eternal Love who still values
the illusions of the ego? As you answer the Call to Awaken and be
glad the Purpose of forgiveness becomes strengthened in awareness
and the need for the concerns and the dramas surrounding the body
will fade away. Thus it can accurately be said that without trust
in the Holy Spirit and devotion to this Purpose the Awakening will
seem to be delayed until there is a willingness to trust. As you
develop trust in the Holy Spirit it can accurately be said that all
perceived problems will disappear from awareness, and with
acceptance of the Atonement it is certain that "problems" will
never "return" again.

Since the topic is transfer of training our brief discussion will
eliminate aspects of this world that seem most problematic for they
are all the same. All of the aspects I will discuss are based on
the concept of possession, and therefore the Answer or Solution will
always be as simple as the release of this erroneous concept. Trust
in the Holy Spirit undoes the concept of possession, and as
possession dissolves away only the Light of Spirit remains in
awareness. The Light of the Spirit simply Is, so when the obstacles
have been removed the Light shines unobstructed in awareness. The
Light of Love is perfect Oneness, and there is nothing lacking or
incomplete in perfect Oneness. This is the Unity and Purity of
Heart that Christ radiates forever Being God's Love.

In the time-space cosmos this Love has been temporarily forgotten
and pushed out of awareness. The sleeping mind has therefore
experienced a kind of amnesia about the Kingdom of Heaven and seems
preoccupied with bodies, environment, food, clothing, shelter,
entertainment, competition, betterment, pleasure, attack, economic
advancement, education, and striving for progress or destruction in
a variety of ways and forms. These pursuits leave the mind mired in
an unnaturally stressful state that is highly busy and exceptionally
unproductive. Productivity and Creativity are synonymous, yet the
makings and the strivings of the ego have nothing to do with true
Creativity. The imaginations and goals of the ego are all of linear
time-space and serve only to perpetuate the illusion of linear time-
space.

The linear time-space cosmos of distortion is a game. The only way
the game becomes consistently happy is when you allow the Holy
Spirit to Interpret the game from the lofty Perspective of non-
judgment. Possession is a belief (the ego) which seemed to set the
game of time-space in motion. The game cannot be won or lost. The
game can only be forgiven or Observed in a beneficent way. The game
is in the mind, though the ego projects a world which seems to be
the game. It is not. The game cannot be forgiven or Observed
Correctly until you realize that the game is in the mind. Economics
are therefore in the mind. Sexuality is in the mind. War is in the
mind. Competition, attack, defense, education, entertainment,
pleasure, suffering, bodies, striving, etc. are all games that the
sleeping mind is toying with. The game of time-space is only a game
in the mind and has no reality whatsoever. It is a game of belief
and has no real Substance or Spirit. The only thing necessary to be
free of the linear time-space game is to stop playing the game and
trust in the Holy Spirit for absolutely everything. Absolutely
everything. If you open to experiencing the Holy Spirit as the
Provider you can open to experiencing our Self as Christ as God as
the Creator. The Way is very simple, and it is only the ego that
obscures the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

I dedicated my "life" to experiencing the peace that passeth the
understanding of the world. It has turned out wonderful. The whole
world is now a miracle to me, and it feels like a happy fairytale.
Drama has been replaced by Certainty, striving has been replaced by
rest, depression and boredom have been replaced by joy and freedom,
loneliness has been replaced by intimacy of shared Purpose, and I am
happily in Love with God and everything and everyOne. So peacefully
Present am I, there is no longer an expectation that people, places,
events, or things be any different than they Are. By Grace I live
in the Heart of God, serenely unaffected by the journey that never
was. "How" did this awareness seem to happen? I trust the Holy
Spirit absolutely. The Holy Spirit is the "How," the means and the
End together as One. There is nothing left to search for, nothing
left to attain. There is no problem to solve and nowhere to go.
There is nothing left to do. Enlightenment is a Present experience.
Teacher of Teachers website (section 3):
Transfer of Training - Materials Set Three
This section covers the most advanced ideas from the Course on cause and effect, the subject / object split, relationship and many
other topics, focusing on the transfer of training. A solid understanding of the most advanced metaphors of ACIM combined with a willingness to transfer those ideas to one's life without exception has only one result; a clear mind and consistent happiness.

Read about how to use this website
Transfer of Training - The experience of joy comes to a willing mind that has given up all attempts to make exceptions to the miracle. Only exceptions block the awareness of ever Present miracle mindedness. Today look at some ideas offered here to clarify transfer of training as described in A Course In Miracles. This clarification will have tremendous benefits for anyone desiring to experience the State of Mind called Enlightenment.
The Experience Beyond Theology - The concept of theology has only temporary value as a "stepping stone" to the Awakening Experience. The Text of ACIM is intended to make the Workbook lessons more meaningful yet it is application of the lessons (without making exceptions) that is the key to the transformation of consciousness or the happy dream. The goal is true forgiveness and theology must be laid aside for this Experience to occur in awareness.
Letting Go and Trusting - Follow your heart on a journey of discovery. Listen to the Voice within and do what It says, even if it sometimes doesn't make sense according to what you believe are your "personal" best interests.

A Prayer For Us - We are joined in Purpose or Content and "joining in form" is a meaningless concept.
Sex and Spirituality: Do they go together? - A long answer to one of the issues that is not specifically addressed in the Course.

Relationships: Lack, Completion and Ownership - KEY - (MP3 27:23mins 37.6MB) - Completion is your inheritance. Wanting a partner, to be with a body, is seeking for completion in form. Yearning for companionship is a distorted miracle impulse. When the mind is attracted to one person over another the equality of the Sonship is obscured. The right mind sees that personal love and impersonal love do not go together. The way out of the loop of seeking for specialness is to desire only to be truly helpful. The deceived mind has a very deep rooted belief in scarcity, lack, unworthiness and guilt. Expectations come from the belief in lack and incompletion. Extending and giving have nothing to do with specifics. Having and being are the same. Giving and receiving are the same.
Read also: What about marriage? , Holy Spirit Vows of Union
Opening to the Experience of Real Relationship - How do you define relationship? This is a beginning point in dissolving the disillusionment and dissatisfaction you experience. Are you aware of all of the unconscious assumptions and definitions you hold about the concepts of relationship in your mind? Do you have any idea of the hold these concepts exert on your experiences of this world? First we must take a look at how you have defined relationship, for your experiences of the world result from your beliefs and concepts and thoughts about yourself and the world.
Read also: Releasing Guilt and People Pleasing , Awakening to Relationship , Love has no opposite , Relationship is Divine , Releasing the "family concept" , From partnership to Divine Relationship , Holy Union; undoing the construct of coupleness , Help releasing fantasies
"Wait" on No Body - You are the One Holy Child of God, there is no one to wait for.
The Secret Dream - KEY - (MP3 29:50mins 40.9MB) - Discussion about dreaming, seeing and exposing the false belief in separation. Right mind is a present decision. The thinker and the thoughts are the same, the perceived gap/separation between the perceiver and the perceived is the wrong mind. The right mind sees the gap as false and sees that the perceived world comes from the belief in separation. Exposing the gap/the belief in separation is the undoing of the ego – seeing its impossibility is the healing. Purpose is the only choice and all strain comes from compromising, attempting to live in two worlds. Beliefs are dissolved when they are deeply questioned and judgment is seen as impossible. The ego's definition of life is the birth and death of the body – on a grand scale this is the big bang and impending implosion – it is all part of dreaming. Ideas about good and evil are all part of dreaming.

Beyond the Subject / Object split - KEY - (MP3 25:59mins 35.7MB) - Everything is a present moment decision. Becoming miracle-minded is a metaphor for the mind that believes in linear time. The metaphor of right mind and wrong mind is helpful but like all metaphors, it is to be released. Desire the holy instant above all else. The wrong mind believes in bodies and the illusion of attack. Right mind and wrong mind are not at war – the right mind watches and the wrong mind projects the illusion of attack. Past thoughts of the self are images. All perceptions of duality are seen with the wrong mind – it sees differences. The right mind is a reflection of reality – it sees everything as the same. There is no causation in the world, images are images. There is only one miracle, it is the atonement. There is one holy instant, one holy encounter, one holy relationship. Everything collapses in the instant. Cause and effect are one, time is simultaneous.
Opening to the Dreamer of the Dream Perspective - KEY - (MP3 43:09mins 59.2MB) - ACIM the book, and words, are symbols; they are the past. What is causative is desire. Parables and teaching sessions are the Holy Spirit's use of the past, to point to what is beyond. Words can be used to ask meaningful questions and open the mind. Inward questioning leads to a point of taking a leap into Certainty. There is no questioning in Certainty - Christ is not a questioner. The experience comes by desire, at first through miracles (glimpses). Time is to be questioned; the ego uses it to maintain guilt, keeping the mind closed. Accepting the atonement involves looking at assumptions and mistaken beliefs that are in the way of the experience.
Read also: Lucid dream realization; one mind dreaming , Holy Relationship is a shift of mind


The Dreamer of the Dream (selections from A Course in Miracles) - A four part publication which provides a layout of the ego thought system versus the Holy Spirit. Subject material includes; Use of metaphysical terminology and metaphors God, Spirit, Knowledge, Creation, Christ, Heaven, the metaphor of split-mind, cause and effect, perception, ego, Holy Spirit, miracle, revelation, consciousness, right- mindedness, wrong-mindedness, choice, beliefs, subject/object split, level confusion, ordering of thoughts, judgment, healing, the relinquishment of judgment. Two uses of time, relationships, and the body; Ego and the Holy Spirit purposes. Ego goals: What are they? Why is it important to let them go? Examining the Self Concept. Approaching truth through negation (seeing false as false). Revealing all illusions as one. The image-maker and the images are one. True forgiveness: a new purpose. Meditation: emptying consciousness of its contents. To see the self-concept completely is to be free. This publication summarizes some core metaphysical points.
Reversing Effect and Cause; Getting to the Bottom of the Belief in Linear Time - The idea of `cause and effect' is an essential element of the metaphysics outlined by A Course In Miracles. This idea must be understood in order to begin the process of thought reversal. Once this idea is fully grasped it must then be transferred from a mental concept to practical application, without exceptions. This is the key element in the process of forgiveness and accepting the Atonement, which is the sole responsibility of a teacher of God. This leads to the experience of Inner Peace, Happiness, Freedom, Joy, & Divine Love. Note: A Course In Miracles was used for all "quotations" used in the following teaching/learning session. The words of Jesus are in quotes " "

Questioning the Reality of Debts and Reciprocity - KEY - (MP3 8:51mins ) - A stepping stone to begin to tracing back inward from identification with the world and the body is to seem to pay off debts in form. The laws of reciprocity, exchange, and the reality of debts are to be questioned, which leads to realizing that there is an association with personhood. The world is the means, and provides evidence of beliefs in the mind. Concepts are to be released and a retranslation occurs. This seems to be a process until the leap is taken. There is no debt in the real world, or in Heaven.
Time, Space and Personhood - KEY - (MP3 1:19:26mins 89.4MB) - This advanced discussion goes deeply into the major topic areas of ACIM including ordering thought, right mind/wrong mind, cause and effect, linear time and hypothetical thinking, the subject-object split, and the immediacy of salvation. The immediacy of salvation is to see that everything is thought. Time and space are of one illusion. Every memory is a thought. If projected beyond the mind and seen in terms of personhood, thoughts are described in terms of time. Discernment is the key to seeing that "I Am the Right Mind!" The wrong mind is dissolved in this realization. The right mind is a constant state. Vacillation is a metaphor; there is only the right mind. "I am wholly mind" is not believed and so all false beliefs are to be questioned to come to the experience of being Mind. It is a metaphor to say that the ego exists or even to say that it could be resistant or resilient. The ego is a present decision as is the Holy Spirit. The right mind is a state where there is no ordering of thought/of images. It is practical to see cause and effect are not apart. This is a state of rest, of peace; there is nothing to attain or strive for, no future goals or outcomes. Only present peace and joy. Mysticism is realizing that there is no gap between time and space, no gap between cause and effect; there is no personhood and there is no subject-object split.

The 'Hero' of the Dream - A transcribed dialogue on some of the deepest core ideas of the Course, done in a very practical and comprehensive way. "And so you wander idly in and out of places and events that it contrives. That this is all the body does is true, for it is but a figure in a dream. But who reacts to figures in a dream unless he sees them as if they were real? The instant that he sees them as they are they have no more effects on him, because he understands he gave them their effects by causing them and making them seem real. How willing are you to escape effects of all the dreams the world has ever had? Is it your wish to let no dream appear to be the cause of what it is you do?"
See also: Projector chart (requires Adobe Reader)
Read also: The projector metaphor
Self Concept vs. Self - KEY - (MP3 1:21:51mins 112MB) - This dialogue was part of an in depth workshop and followed the talk called 'Hero of the Dream' which can be read above. This talk goes deeply into uncovering the idea of the self concept, the false sense of self which was made as a defense against Christ. The reading in this recording is from "Self Concept versus Self" in the ACIM text.
See also:
Projector chart (subject / object split) , cause and effect chart, domain of consciousness chart (charts require Adobe Reader)
Levels of Mind (Selections from A Course in Miracles)- The world you see is a reflection of your desire. Map the levels of mind from desire, belief, thought, emotion and perception. The Holy Spirit consistently brings everything perceived on the screen back to the mind, where it can be seen as what it is: the out-picturing of the mind's false thoughts/beliefs. The Holy Spirit sees only wholeness, all things working together for good, and only two orders of thought: love or a call for love. When the Holy Spirit's thought system has the mind's allegiance, it is at peace, and peace of mind is the goal of life. In a state of sleep or mindlessness, perception is very unreliable and changes continually. In a state of alertness or mindfulness, there is awareness of and detachment from "ego" thoughts and mind sees everything and everyone differently. As mind changes, perception changes, and the world is seen differently from the way it was seen before.
Read also: To desire wholly is to Be
Purpose is the Only Choice - This dialogue (which takes place between the Speaker and several friends) begins with an expression of restlessness which is a subtle form of upset or simply not being at peace. This provides a starting point for tracing the specific upset back to its source, the deceived mind, where perception is corrected by the choice of a new purpose.
Read also: Spiritual Practice is Nothing Without Integrity , Integrity: Living in Divine Purpose
Only the Truth is True - Nothing said about the Truth is true as no idea of this world is wholly true. The truth is beyond all concepts and images.

Rest in Me - Ask only this: Will I fulfill the function given me? What else is there to ask? Why must I know the form in which the answer comes to me? God answers, "Yes" and it is done. No more than this is meaningful to you.
Stillness: Readings on Going Beyond the Words - KEY - (MP3 17:18mins 23.7MB) - Some readings from the Course on Stillness, 'I need do nothing' and 'The time for words is almost over'.
Read also: Singularity and Silence
Selections on' Living in Community' and practical application - KEY - The following audio tracks hint at what it can be like to live in community with the intention of exposing and releasing the ego thought system and practicing these ideas without compromise or exception.
Living in Community - Pointing Out Inattentiveness (MP3 32:28mins 44.5MB) - This track includes a discussion that took place over a decade ago around the subject of caring for the the original recordings that are now found on this very website! There were many teaching learning opportunities that arose around these resources even then. The first part of this dialogue is about preferences, ordering of thought and the belief that I am the author of reality leads to frustration. When frustrated, there is no awareness of being the dreamer of the dream. It takes great effort to train the mind and release the "doer". There is no way to wake up with out being attentive. If you say you want to wake up, then you must be grateful when inattentivenes is pointed out even if it there is a temptation to perceive an attack. Sometimes it is necessary to get the student's attention; examples from the life of Jesus are cited. Everything that seems to be done is always a backdrop for mind training, done in the spirit of love.
Living in Community - Looking at Wants and Preferences (MP3 14:21mins 19.7MB) - "I want" comes with a picture; an outcome in mind. It is a personal request, a decision made by oneself (autonomously). Preferences are a hierarchy of illusions. To order thoughts is to believe in the wrong mind. When the mind sees that ordering thoughts offers nothing of value it can become set on purpose. Preferences may seem miniscule but they are to be questioned. The dreamer of the dream perspective cannot judge or order thoughts. This perspective is the desire to be truly helpful.
Living in Community - Demands vs. Requests (MP3 40:51mins 56MB) - The ego's purpose for the world is to see the cause of upset out in the world and it uses situations to defend its position / its reality. Before being able to accept the atonement one has to see oneself as the dreamer of the dream. Beliefs are decisions that are pushed out of awareness.
In Love & Gratitude,
David

__._,_.___

David <mysticspiritone@yahoo.com> wrote: