Category: Self-Realization

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Update

I guess it’s time for an update. Whether or not it’s factually true, the last post I remember leaving here, was of my commitment to the final Lesson of the Holy Spirit: Be Vigilant Only for God and His Kingdom (T-6.V.C., p. 108). That was some time ago.

In the meantime, I have learned many things. I have found my freedom. Judgment is God’s, and He has judged Us as Good. End of story.

Then, there is the Workbook. Lesson 1. Nothing I see…means anything….Lesson 4. These thoughts do not mean anything….Lesson 32. I have invented the world I see. Etc.

That’s freedom. Meanwhile,  Lesson 29. God is in everything I see….because God is in my mind (Lesson 30). That’s the real world, the world you see when (you know) God is in your mind. It’s still an illusion, but it’s a happy dream.

My Amma t-shirt says, “Happiness is a choice.” And Lesson 121 says Forgiveness is the key to happiness. So, forgiveness is a choice. As God’s Son, everything is a choice, except my One Identity in Him.

I could go on and on, quoting the Course, but I won’t. If you’re looking for a way to achieve liberation from the pain and suffering of this separated world, you need look no further. If you continue to study it, you will realize the Self. And, you will have a thorough and complete guide for living the happy dream on Earth.

If you have any questions, please ask them. And, maybe I’ll write some more.

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Stand In the Light of Christ

I was interviewed this week by Wanako Oberhuber of The Holy Spirit’s Curriculum of Joy Podcast. As Wanako describes it, “We hear how Michael started his awakening and the journey through the priesthood to A Course In Miracles. There are so many take aways you will enjoy applying to your own lives.”

I talked about the things I learned from experience in an amazing non-denominational, non-sectarian, religious order that ordained both men and women to the priesthood and allowed priests and brothers and sisters to marry and raise families, and performed many miracles on a daily basis.

I also spoke about the pain of separation I felt when the order gradually disintegrated into religious orthodoxy, and the challenge of reentering the world and dropping that religious identity to pursue a worldly vocation. I talked about my search for spiritual connection and the places I found it: Western Sufism, Tibetan Buddhism, Sanatana Dharma and, finally, A Course in Miracles.

I shared my healing from a painful divorce, my self-therapy, and my second awakening to the Self Within; and, healing the aging body from Scoliosis, the effect of childhood polio. I describe the Power of the Word, Devotion, and the importance of showing up in your life. The video is right here, and the podcast is here. I hope you enjoy it and find some inspiration thereby.

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I AM the Light of the World

Jesus said, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid (Matthew 5:14).” He confirmed this in his 20th Century correction, A Course in Miracles: 

I have assured you that the Mind that decided for me is also in you, and that you can let it change you just as it changed me. ²This Mind is unequivocal, because it hears only one Voice and answers in only one way. ³You are the light of the world with me. ⁴Rest does not come from sleeping but from waking. ⁵The Holy Spirit is the Call to awaken and be glad. ⁶The world is very tired, because it is the idea of weariness. ⁷Our task is the joyous one of waking it to the Call for God. ⁸Everyone will answer the Call of the Holy Spirit, or the Sonship cannot be as One. ⁹What better vocation could there be for any part of the Kingdom than to restore it to the perfect integration that can make it whole? ¹⁰Hear only this through the Holy Spirit within you, and teach your brothers to listen as I am teaching you (ACIM, T-5.II.10:1-10, emph added).

Thus we can say, with him, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world (John 9:5 emph added).” Some things don’t change: we all are the light of the world. And, since our consciousness is individualized, each of us is the light of the world. You can say with me, “I AM the light of the world.” That is a fact.

When we left the “tired” world in the 60’s—“turned on, tuned in, and dropped out”—we brought part of the weary world with us. It wasn’t until we found the Order and got all the drugs—including the Mass Mind—out of our systems, that we really awakened and were glad. We answered the “Call of the Holy Spirit” and taught our brothers to listen as we were being taught so the Sonship could be as one.

Now we are the age of our Teacher when he founded the Order. Before he did, he’d been weary too. He entered an ashram to heal his mind and body because he knew that “rest does not come from sleeping but from waking.” He renewed himself by remembering Who he was. He followed his guidance and founded a little center on Market Street. We’ve all been called to reawaken, as he did, follow our guidance, and be the light of the world.

That doesn’t necessarily mean starting or joining a religious order or making any outward changes at all. The early church taught you should remain in the station you were in when you found the light; that was “the world” in which you were to be the light. When I remembered that I was never happier or more inspired than I was “doing my Father’s business” in the Order, I aspired to recapture that spirit.

For a long time I thought it would be so much easier to be the light when living in a community that was filled with the Holy Spirit, like the Order was. And, I joined a number of them. But, I found that the “Jesus Way” was my way; it had been planted inside me, it is what I AM: the light of the world.

Then, A Course in Miracles filled in the blanks for me: Everyone is the Christ. The world is my community. Everyone is my sister, my brother. The Kingdom of Heaven is within me. Now, however I am led is my service. It is not up to me to decide or define what I do. It is up to me to listen and follow. Even if it appears I am doing nothing, I know whether I am “in the spirit” or not. And, being in the spirit, I am fulfilling my part in God’s plan for salvation. I am one with the Sonship.

We can know we are the light wherever we are.

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Launching This Blog

It feels really great to have finally launched my blog! I’ve started a few over the years, but didn’t have enough inspiration to keep it going. And, for being more of a mystic than a technician, that side of things has always seemed pretty daunting. Although I have a quick mind and see things whole and instantaneously, it feels like I’m a slow learner. So, I work until I’m stumped, and then, when I come back, I miraculously know how to move ahead. It’s the perseverance that counts and that’s where the strong, visionary inspiration is really needed.

Last night, my first ACIM study group had its last meeting. My friend Jim, who introduced me to Gary Renard (The Disappearance of the Universe), started the group with me, and took me on my first backpacking trip here in Oregon, read the last paragraph of our fourth and final time through the Text together. We’ve built some strong bonds through this practice, over 15 years.

Before we got started reading the rest of Chapter 31, I showed them the blog and talked about my vision for making it; how I got it from the Course and my time in the order. With Neptune in the house of Community opposing my Sun in the house of creativity, I’ve always been driven to share what I’m learning and build community that way. And, Neptune is really devotional, so I needed someone or ideal to devote myself to. In the order, it was Jesus, through my Teacher. Now, it is you, my brothers and sisters, as manifestations of the Son of God.

And, Chapter 31 The Final Vision is all about that. Here’s just one paragraph from Section VII. The Savior’s Vision: “13. The savior’s vision is as innocent of what your brother is as it is free of any judgment made upon yourself. It sees no past in anyone at all. And thus it serves a wholly open mind, uncluded by old concepts, and prepared to look on only what the present holds. It cannot judge because it does not know. And recognizing this, it merely asks, ‘What is the meaning of what I behold?’ Then the answer is given. And the door held open for the face of Christ to shine upon the one who asks, in innocence, to see beyond the veil of old ideas and ancient concepts held so long and dear against the vision of the Christ in you.”

We were all amazed at the synchronicity between my vision for this blog and The Savior’s Vision. The Course teaches that “I am healed as I let Him teach me to heal.” Or, I am forgiven as I forgive my brother. Because all the apparent differences between us are illusory, superficial and untrue. Separate or together, we are God’s One Son.