Epigrams

An epigram is a brief, clever, and usually memorable statement. Derived from the Greek: "epi-gramma" meaning to write on or inscribe, the literary device has been employed for over two millennia.

Example: — "May the mind that was in Jesus of Nazareth also be in you. Or, do you expect better than that?"

1. With some, what passes for enlightenment is just being slightly less full of shit.
2. Whatever it was that caused you pain in the past, it wasn't love.
3. Totality is everything. No joke.
4. Some things get hidden so deep, you forget they are there at all.
5. For those to whom eternal life has been given, death is not an option. Easter Sunday 2010
6. Test the many voices. But, remember the voices of deceit will not suddenly speak the truth just because you ask nicely.
7. "The fear of loss is a path to the dark side." Yoda, Star Wars III
8. Everyone occupies the Bell curve in all positions, somehow or another.
9. Use of the word 'singularity' in spiritual discourse creeps me out.
10. It is impossible to cure indoctrination by means of different indoctrination. Indoctrination itself is the problem.
11. "You are not wrong brother, you are just mistaken." - an ACIM student
12. Some of my best ideas come from the sublime state of disgruntlement.
13. It is better to plant one marigold than it is to curse the landscape.
14. I'm thinking that chocolate pudding with strawberries on top is part of the universe of ideas that God created, and therefore real.
15. I finally understand. The dark side of detachment is narcissism.
16. The prayers, "Dear God please rip the darkness from my heart," is a theoretical metaphysical impossibility. God don't know nothing about no darkness.
17. Tell you about it? Words cannot be transcended by means of more words. You need experiences and insights. The more the better to connect the fracking dots.
    
18. Can't talk a way out of projection and perception. Can't even buy your way out.
19. OK. But if I see that your hair is on fire, I promise not to dump the bucket of water on my head.
20. How do you learn what you don't know by clinging to what you do know?
21. So, ya think Helen got all the words exactly right? I doubt it.
22. King of the world. Then hit an iceberg and drown. So it goes. Only the love remains.
23. Enlightenment: Once is not enough.
24. There is no act too small to make a difference.
25. With many, the ego is smarter and more determined than you. Learning involves change, not rigidity.
26. To those without eyes and ears, everything is a surprise.
27. If you don't trust my intentions, you won't trust my words either, so why bother?
28. You expect me to correct your thinking? Start with that idea. It's a mistake.
29. It takes a special type of holy fool to pet a growling dog.
30. The Holy spirit cannot speak English.
31. A Course in Miracles in not philosophy or metaphysics, it is psychology.
32. "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." Antoine de Saint Exupery
33. Simple logic: If complexity is of the ego, then a complex metaphysics must be of the ego.
34. The state of "normal" (as in "miracles are normal") involves the habitual unconscious expression of love. "By this shall all men know that you are my followers, if you have love one to another" (John 13:35 ), bypasses all professions of faith.
35. It is impossible to be a friend to Jesus with a knife clenched in your teeth.
36. Miracles are normal. Don't think about what is on the other side of miracles until you at least reach the state of . . . normal.
37. What you call miracles are simply laws you do not understand
38. Everyone goes through infancy, including spiritual infancy. A reasonable goal is to grow out of it.
39. The only part of me that is uncertain of my own existence is the part of me that does not exist. Being a thought of God is a happy thought.
40. Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. ~ Carl Jung
41. The degree of ideological passion may be directly related to the degree of willful ignorance and fear.
42. "Better late than never" is meaningless to eternity. Now is a good time.
43. Responsibility without authority equals guilt.
44. This singularity ain't big enough for the both of us.
45. Mad cow disease explains everything.
46. Any day that doesn't involve human sacrifice is a good day.
47. Before someone can change, they have to learn, and before they learn, they have to cease being scared. - Seth Godin
48. I'm wondering if boredom is an unloving thought. Have a clue?
49. Anyone who has had the birth of Christ within knows exactly what the virgin birth is all about. Adyashanti
50. You know, like a one-eyed man watching a 3-D movie.
51. One concept notably lacking from ACIM is the idea of a food chain. "Eat me?" is not part of the picture.
52. Question: When is the best time to plant a tree? Answer: 20 years ago.
53. Being of "one mind" begins at home.
54. You long for something different and call it a search for God. Isn't this what got you into trouble in the first place?
55. The vow, "I won't be fooled again!" is the first step to being fooled again.
56. Locating God is easy. Shutting up long enough to hear what she has to say is the hard part.
57. If you focus on spirit long enough, you will see things you've never seen before.
58. Mayan greeting E'en Lakesh which translates I am another yourself. We are one.
59. A Course is Miracles is just like Christianity, except without all the b.s.
60. Sometimes the very young do not do as they are told.
61. You have the information, now is the time for transformation.
62. Test everything. Hold on to the good. 1 Thessalonians 5:21
63. If I drop a rock on my foot and it hurts like hell, is that the result of fear?
64. Forgiveness alone brings confidence, comfort, and joy, and bids fear and despondency flee away.
65. Many wish to "get it" for the sole purpose of "being done with it."
66. If you could just rotate fast enough, you might get a psychic vortex going.
67. As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being. — Carl Jung
68. They ain't nothin' woofin' but the peas in the pot, and they only woofin' cause the water be hot!
69. The instructions for getting out of the box are printed on the outside of the box.
70. The only way to know the truth is to make yourself fit to receive it.
71. Yet if you do not accept the necessary conditions for knowing Him you have denied Him. — ACIM
72. "If you follow the Bab around like a dog, do not be surprised that the Bab treats you like a dog." — Sayings of the Bab
73. Hubris - trying to beat God at her own game.
74. Shut up and put your money where your mouth is. That's what you get for waking up in Vegas - Kate Perry
75. Save me from the nothing I've become. - Evanescence
76. "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?" - Martin Luther King, Jr.
77. Complex metaphysics my ass.
78. I say again: Appearing and disappearing relate only to perception.
79. It's impossible to know for sure something that isn't real.
80. The English word 'fox' has the same meaning as 'renard,' except it's not as froggy.
81. Crucifixion is quicker and easier than death by paper cuts.
82. Perception ends where knowledge begins.
83. Sure, Jesus promised that awakening is better than sex. But, is it better than fantasy sex?
84. “When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free.” — Catherine Ponder
85. Switching from believing to not believing doesn't actually change anything.
86. Salvation is not theoretical. — ACIM Manual for Teachers
87. The Course is a fertile source for daydreamers everywhere to imagine about.
88. My dreams are full of meaning, but not necessarily a lot of understanding.
89. It is not the function of God's teachers to evaluate the outcome of their gifts. It is merely their function to give them. — ACIM
90. Don't focus on reducing the pain that you experience yourself, focus on reducing the pain that you cause others.
91. Love or die. That's a choice, right?
92. New shorthand notation: CAIRI - meaning the Course as I Read It.
93. I haven't worn all the tread off my set of egos, but they are losing traction and are starting to slip. Somewhat. Now and then.
94. Like a snake that sheds its skin, I grow a new one.
95. All illusions are equally false. They are not, however, equally useless.
96. Joining with another mind is fearful because it means the end of secrets and lies.
97. Priest: Someone paid to be kind and forgiving. It hasn't always worked out that way.
98. Catholicism: Failed attempt to impose a universal theology.
99. 99 out of 100 voices in your head are lying.
100. Life is just like lucid dreaming, minus the lucidity.
101. Blowing smoke can be done figuratively or literally. I prefer to do it literally.
102. Abandon all blame, ye who enter here.
103. What if . . . on the other side of that brick wall . . . it's Toontown?
104. One reason for level confusion is that the Big Lie is different on every level.
105. Turn the beat around. Rhythm carries all the action. Turn it upside down. Love to hear it.
106. Mantra: Yes, that too is within me, and I within it.
107. Is that singular, plural, or both, with the "you"? This is English, not some sensible language.
108. Is anyone planning to unlearn how to tie a shoelace?
109. A big problem with 'God the Father' is that many earthly fathers are assholes. 'God the Mother' is not always an improvement.
110. I am under no obligation to accept your limitations.
111. It is impossible to be in communication with and through spirit by means of deception.
112. The way Jesus saw is good enough for me, and I've got the instruction manual.
113. When they say "Know thyself," which self do they mean?
114. The way of spirit is to keep the love and forget the rest, if I recall correctly.
115. A distinction without any difference is not a distinction. It is arbitrary and meaningless.
116. Truthiness is a "truth" that a person claims to know intuitively without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts.
117. Conversation stopper no. 1: This is obviously true!
118. There are some problems in this world which either get solved quickly
     or not at all.

Also posted on Miracle Course Journal

-  oOo  -

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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The Pace of Learning

Stimulus: My partner thinks I am not learning and changing fast enough and moving fast enough along the path or working hard enough, and has given an ultimatum.

Response:

I think your partner has adopted a bad strategy, having made the classic mistake of thinking finite-self-image-called-me understands the fundamental nature of time, what it means, who is driving the bus, and what the bus route ought to look like. There is the improbable tale from the seed-time about a work gang. A bunch started at the crack of dawn and the Bab said she would pay them each $250 bucks US for a full day of hard work.

That was a very good deal, and they took it.

After lunch a new gang of workers showed up on the job and pitched in.

Then about an hour before quitting time, another group of workers arrived.

Then the day was done and the Bab got out her purse to pay the workers. She gave each person there the same amount of cash. $250.

The ones who had been on the job since the crack of dawn looked around and saw what happened and said, "Bugger! This ain't right!" with some emotion. "Them guys that only worked for half a day and those who worked for just an hour get paid the same as us? That's not fair."

The Bab, of course, had been through this before and had her answer quick. "You thought it was a good deal and agreed to it. We're not re-shuffling the deck at this late hour, and I'm the dealer. Take your money with my blessing, and quit your bitching," she said. "Everyone gets what they are entitled to, which is exactly the same as what everyone else gets. Their reward is no greater than yours, and no less."

This is Biblical. Matthew 20:1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard . . . . "

Connect the dots here, please.

My plan is to enjoy all things in moderation and be happy right up to the last minute and then kiss it goodbye.

Who is the smart, albeit extremely lazy, one?

-  oOo  -

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Wise as serpents

The injunction "Be wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove," is frequently interpreted, applied, and justified in the reverse. Wise as a dove and innocent as a serpent.

"The world, in its original connotation, included both the proper creation of man by God, AND the proper creation by man in his Right Mind. The latter required the endowment of man by God with free will, because all loving creation is freely given. Nothing in either of these statements implies any sort of level involvement, or, in fact, anything except one continuous line of creation, in which all aspects are of the same order. When the “lies of the serpent” were introduced, they were specifically called lies because they are not true. When man listened, all he heard was untruth. He does not have to continue to believe what is not true, unless he chooses to do so. All of his miscreations can disappear in the well known “twinkling of an eye”, because it is a visual misperception." — ACIM urtext

What, exactly, does it mean to be "wise as a serpent"?

The saying comes from Matthew 10:16, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." — New International Version (©1984)

Commentary from The People's New Testament explains it like this:

• As sheep in the midst of wolves. Defenseless by human means, among the fierce and cruel; among bitter enemies.
• Wise as serpents. Prudent, discreet. Serpents are very cautious in avoiding danger.
• Harmless as doves. Guileless and innocent as doves. The dove, peaceful, never preying on other birds, has always been a symbol of innocence.
  

And, from the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary:

Alone, the wisdom of the serpent is mere cunning, and the harmlessness of the dove little better than weakness: but in combination, the wisdom of the serpent would save them from unnecessary exposure to danger; the harmlessness of the dove, from sinful expedients to escape it. In the apostolic age of Christianity, how harmoniously were these qualities displayed! Instead of the fanatical thirst for martyrdom, to which a later age gave birth, there was a manly combination of unflinching zeal and calm discretion, before which nothing was able to stand.

The symbolism of the serpent is dependent upon culture. In the Abrahamic religions, serpents are connected with deceit, and are used to symbolize deceitfulness. An example is the serpent in the Garden of Eden, who tricks Adam and Eve into partaking of the Fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The symbolic connection between serpents and deceit may depend in part on the observation that snakes have forked tongues. A forked tongue is a tongue which has not one end, but two, pointing in different directions. In humans, the tongue is an essential tool in speech, and the presence of only one tip signifies the unity of truthful speech, and corresponds to the unity of the truth itself. There is only one truth, but there are many lies. The forked tongue represents the disunity of deceitful speech. Wikipedia

But, this is not the only symbolic meaning for serpents. Serpents are represented as potent guardians of temples and other sacred spaces. This connection may be grounded in the observation that when threatened, some snakes, such as rattlesnakes or cobras, frequently hold and defend their ground, first resorting to threatening display and then fighting, rather than retreat.

Serpents are also symbolicaly connected with poison and medicine. The snake's venom is associated with the chemicals of plants and fungi that have the power to either heal, poison or provide expanded consciousness, even the elixir of life and immortality, through divine intoxication. Because of its herbal knowledge and psychoactive religious association the snake was often considered one of the wisest animals, being close to the divine. The snake's divine aspect combined with its habitat in the earth between the roots of plants made it an animal with subterranean properties connected to the afterlife and immortality.

Serpents are connected with rebirth, renewal or regeneration. This trait is connected with the practice of snakes of shedding their old skin and growing a new one.

The Fourth Way teaching of Gurdjieff is sometimes called the way of the "sly man."  A man does not give up anything in his ordinary life to pursue awakening, rather, he uses what life has given him to further his progress.  The sly man is wise in the ways of the world, but not taken in by the world's allure and deceptions.  He stays in life and works with all  sides of himself. This re-aligns and balances him. As being and knowledge increase so does understanding. Seeing himself as he is, he begins to feel his contradictions, conscience is awakened, not the morality of personality, but conscience that is the same for all men. The way of the sly man may be to what "cunning as snakes and as harmless as doves" refers.

-  oOo  -

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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ACIM is NOT nihilism

The term "nihilism" comes from the Latin word "nihil", which translates to the English word "nothing". Most commonly, the philosophical doctrine of nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism. Existential nihilism argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value.

Moral nihilists assert that morality does not inherently exist, and that any established moral values are abstractly contrived. Subsequently there are no moral values with which to uphold a rule or logically prefer one action over another.

Nihilism can take an metaphysical or ontological form meaning that, contrary to our belief, perceived aspects of reality do not actually exist as such. Upon realizing there are no necessary norms, rules, or laws, one may develop a mood of despair at the perceived pointlessness of existence.

Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) posited an early form of nihilism which he referred to as "levelling". Levelling was the process of suppressing individuality to a point where the individual's uniqueness becomes non-existent and nothing meaningful in his existence can be affirmed.

"Levelling at its maximum is like the stillness of death, where one can hear one's own heartbeat, a stillness like death, into which nothing can penetrate, in which everything sinks, powerless. One person can head a rebellion, but one person cannot head this levelling process, for that would make him a leader and he would avoid being levelled. Each individual can in his little circle participate in this levelling, but it is an abstract process, and levelling is abstraction conquering individuality."

– Søren Kierkegaard, The Present Age

A Course in Miracles does not present or support a philosophy of existential nihilism.

-  oOo  -

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Christ in You - Lesson three - Christ the life

Christ in You — Lesson three — Christ the life

The voice of spirit is far-reaching. It is the expression of omnipresence, and is both near and far. It knows nothing of space, but for the present we must deal with beginnings. Perhaps it would be as well to help you at your present stage of unfoldment. It is absolutely necessary that you should have times of quiet, that you should come out from the business of life for a part of each day. If you were to wait in silence, holding the attitude of growth and steady development, thinking above all else of the kingdom of God — your condition should not be one of strain or of blank nothingness, avoid both these extremes — the result would be of the highest value to yourself and to all around you.

Hold in your heart, the true place of understanding, a stillness which is alive, like the heart of a rose. The God powers within you would assert themselves; crooked things would become straight, rough places plain. All smallness and discord quietly but surely would drop away and have no longer any power. To spirit, stagnation is impossible. The creative energy is constant activity within.

All outside energy is waste and hindrance. As you quietly wait upon God, the breath of life renews each particle of the body by its silent, orderly activity.

We are not able to tell you of future events, but we can indicate their trend, for each individual makes the future by the thoughts and acts of the present. You are today the result of your past. You may be hopeful, as your present thought will be fully realized in the future day. Hold the positive attitude in all that you undertake for spiritual development, knowing that God never fails. This holds you above the sense plane, and you immediately function from the spiritual, substantial, and only real. All must be finished before the Christhood of the race is complete — complete, unselfish, impersonal. Loving God and loving man, all may enter into unity. The evolution of spirit through the material is the work of creation. It is God that works in you now. Rejoice that you have this knowledge, and give the utmost for the highest. Live in spirit, breathe and walk in the innermost heart of yourself.

I want you to give some part of the day to this silent growth, thus bringing poise and balance into your whole being. I repeat this, as it is so necessary, so pregnant with results. First, you will be conscious of good sound judgment, a better understanding of your neighbor, and clear insight. Afterwards, the result in your body will be realized, for in the silence the heart of flesh will have become one with the heart of spirit; and thus you bring about perfect circulation between the two.

You can understand how highly important this is when I tell you that the brain is fed by the spirit; a finer element has become ruler over the grosser, and the spirit of the living God breathes through the outer body of flesh. I am making this clear in order to emphasize the necessity for quiet. Later, you will not need this, as you will command at all times and in all places, heeding neither environment nor discord. Do not seek love — give it. This is your nourishment. Will you pay attention to this? Take what is your right from your Father. He who brought you to this very moment of your lives is speaking in your hearts. Awake, thou that sleep. Christ shall give thee light.

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Reading A Course in Miracles

Jesus has led the way. This course has come from him because his words have reached you in a language you can love and understand. - ACIM

Over a period of forty-three years, the great Sufi master Jalaluddin Rumi (1207 - 1273) dictated his Spiritual Couplets (Mathnawi-i-Manawi) to a scribe.

In his 1964 book The Sufis, the great contemporary Sufi teacher Idreis Shah wrote of the Mathnawi that its poetry and imagery is, "of such power in the original that its recitation produces a strangely complex exaltation of the hearer's consciousness."

"It contains jokes, fables, conversations, references to former teachers and ecstatogenic [ecstasy-inducing] methods — a phenomenal example of the method of scatter, whereby a picture is built up by multiple impact to infuse into the mind the Sufi method. This message, with Rumi as with all Sufi masters, is arranged partially in response to the environment in which he is working."

Assume for a moment that A Course in Miracles is a rare spiritual classic at least on par with Rumi's 750 year old Mathnawi.   How would Shah's remarks about Rumi's work apply to the Course?

1. The effect of just reading or hearing the words.
2. The scatter method, using jokes, fables, and conversations.
3. Partially designed in response to current conditions.

First. There seems to be a strong tendency among many to consult secondary sources first, and to avoid reading the Course itself. Wapnick, Renard, Perry, Charles Anderson (a/k/a Master Teacher), and so on .  .  .  have each built careers around explaining A Course in Miracles.

The Course is a big book, highly abstract and difficult to read, and it requires a significant commitment of time. There aren't any pictures in it anywhere, just a lot of words. Surly, there has to be an easier way. The cry, "Just tell me what it says!" goes out, and it is answered.

Unfortunately, it is a lot like filtering wine through mud.  Not a lot of the wine gets through the mud, and the little bit that does get through is muddy.  "They lose the effect of what is in fact a special art form, created by Rumi for the express purpose of conveying meaning which he himself concedes have no actual parallel in ordinary human experience." Idreis Shah — The Sufis.

I can attest that on occasion I have been reading the Course and tears will suddenly start flowing out of my eyes and down my face, for no obvious conscious reason, accompanied by a deep inarticulate sense of boundless joy.  I have never had that experience reading anything written by Kenneth Wapnick, for example.

There is no substitute for reading A Course in Miracles yourself.  An easier way is not the same as a better way.

"I took a ride I didn't know what I would find there,
Another road where maybe I could see some other kind of mind there."

Got to Get You Into My Life — Lennon & McCartney

Second. The scatter method of teaching is evident throughout the Course.  A theme will be explored and dropped, only to be re-visited again several times later in the book.  The scatter method is a practical concession to limited attention span, different learning styles, multiple levels of psyche, and the value of repetition without indoctrination.  One aim of the Course is to change how you think, and not so much to change what you think.  It is not an alternate belief system in the sense of merely offering a new unorthodox credo.

Although nearly all of the conversational style, the jokes, and direct references to other teachers or psychologists were edited out by Schucman and Thetford to produce the 1972 Original Edition of the Course, those are now generally available again with the unauthorized publication of the ACIM urtext.

Third. A Course in Miracles was partially designed in response to current conditions.  Many have previously suggested that the Course is superior to the Christian Gospels, and the Course was intended to correct many of the errors that crept into Christianity over the millennia.  I have recently written The Easter Lily and cultural relativism in ACIM, on this subject.

-oOo-

50 Spiritual Classics

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Reading the Gospels

October 1991 through October 1992 was my one-year stint in an intense super-secret Fourth Way teaching school that had relocated in Louisville from Colorado just as I joined, and which moved on to Lexington, Kentucky, shortly after I got myself kicked out.  There were two teachers who were husband and wife, and about twenty students.  At first, most of the students were the ones who had re-located with the teachers from Colorado.  The focus of study was through a direct line of teaching from G. I. Gurdjieff, through P. D. Ouspensky, through Rodney Collins.

It was here that my reconciliation with Christianity began.  It was here that I first encountered a plausible alternative interpretation of the Gospels that made sense to me at the time.  The value to me at that time was immense. It opened a crack in the seemingly monolithic and impenetrable fog of contemporary mainstream Christian discourse that I didn't believe or respect.  It involved questioning the purpose and intent of the gospels.

The suggestion was simply this: The Gospels were never intended to be read literally.  The Gospels were written in coded language which could be understood only if the keys to understanding were shared by one who knew. The only way to know the secret was by direct transmission of the secret in an unbroken line by word of mouth only.  It is a Western form of Guru-ism, except the focus was not upon the teachers themselves, it was upon what they taught.

The written Gospels are a teaching tool and not a primary source of understanding.  There are four Gospels because there are four basic types of men and women, or four different levels of psyche.  Each Gospel speaks to a different level.  This explains the apparent inconsistencies.

I shall gather basic resource information and update here.

My theory is that reading A Course in Miracles apart from its relationship to everything else is a mistake. It is an ego mistake.

When you think about it, that's what the ego does - it separates, isolates and makes different. It makes "better-than" or special. Everything in the world, including sacred texts, can be used for opposite purposes.

So, I don't think it is even possible to usefully apply the teachings of A Course in Miracles without a basic knowledge of Christianity. But, I have found it very useful to read the Gospels with a questioning mind.

My reading the of the Gospels as suggested here was not an end-point for me. It was a starting point. After investigating the metaphorical meanings of the Gospel stories, there is then a return to literalism. Time is a spiral.

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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The Easter Lily and cultural relativism in ACIM

The symbolic association of white trumpet lilies (Lilium longiflorum) with Easter, and the phrase "Easter Lilies," is a fairly recent development. The cultural significance of the symbolism is limited primarily to the English speaking parts of the world, and particularly the United States and Canada. These lilies are native to Japan and were not introduced to England and the United States until the 19th Century.

Although Brewer's 1894 Dictionary of Phrase and Fable discusses the symbolic meaning of lilies, it makes no connection at all between that flower and Easter. In England and also in Russia the pussy-willow is the flower traditionally associated with Easter. The most ancient association of Easter and a particular flower is with the narcissus. This is still the tradition in areas of Southern France and northern Italy.

When A Course in Miracles states, for example, "This week begins with palms and ends with lilies, the white and holy sign the Son of God is innocent," in connection to Easter, the average Russian or Italian might be hard-pressed to understand the meaning of the reference. If a translation of A Course in Miracles into Russian aimed to adopt a relevant cultural symbol of equal significance, that sentence might properly be rendered as, "This week begins with palms and ends with pussy-willows."

This would be in line with what the Course itself has to say on the subject of translation:

"Laws must be communicated if they are to be helpful. In effect, they must be translated for those who speak different languages. Nevertheless, a good translator, although he must alter the form of what he translates, never changes the meaning. In fact, his whole purpose is to change the form so that the original meaning is retained."

White trumpet lilies normally do not bloom in nature until June and July. Considerable planning and expense go into creating the artificial conditions required to force Easter lilies to bloom in time for Easter Sunday in late March or April. The final phase of forcing potted lily bulbs to bloom at Easter time involves several months of cultivation in hothouse conditions.

One might assume, therefore, that the "tradition" of the Easter lily was invented and popularized by commercial greenhouse growers in modern times, and quite successfully it seems. Easter lilies are the fourth most popular potted plant marketed in the United States today. Easter lilies are a big, but specialized, business. See: Easter Lily Research Foundation.

Although the connection between the white lily and Easter is of recent origin, there is no denying the emotional impact of the symbol in the North America. The National Society for Crippled Children, for example, launched its first "Easter Seals" campaign in 1934, incorporated the lily into its logo in 1952, "for its association with resurrection and new life," and officially changed its name to "Easter Seals" in 1967. See: Easter Seals Disability Services.

A Course in Miracles first mentions the lily in chapter 20. Before 1975 this chapter was titled "The Promise of the Resurrection," and it begins with, "This is Palm Sunday . . . . ." Those words were actually scribed on Palm Sunday, March 19, 1967.

 Lilies are used to symbolize love and innocence, in contrast with the image of thorns which are used as the symbol of fear and guilt. The contrast between lilies and thorns is used to emphasize and make clear the nature of the choice placed before us in every inter-personal encounter.

"Offer your brother the gift of lilies, not the crown of thorns; the gift of love and not the 'gift' of fear. You stand beside your brother, thorns in one hand and lilies in the other, uncertain which to give. Join now with me and throw away the thorns, offering the lilies to replace them."

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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The unity of opposites

Anti-idolatry is no cure for idolatry. They are two sides of the same coin, and the reverse side affirms the belief in specialness just as much as does the obverse. When the Course says to reverse thinking 180 degrees, this isn't what it means.

This is the hidden unity in duality: You can't have anything without also having its opposite. As G. I. Gurdjieff said it, every stick has two ends. In the seeming opposites of apparent duality, opposites are in a mutually dependent relationship.

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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A Christian dialog - first

from Peace of God
A Christian dialog


Michaela: So, what does Contemporary Gospel mean?

Maz: Hi, its Maz Martin Weber-Caspers, Flevoland (a provence in the Netherlands).

Michaela: Hi Maz. I'm Michaela.

Maz: It means that the author of ACIM identifies himself as Jesus. He clarifies and correct 2 thousand years of upside down teachings. He gave the Course through inner dictation, great chunks in Iambic Pentameter Which is unworldy on the level of form, as well.

Michaela: Oh ok. I can see this isn't the room for me, Maz. But thanks for giving me a moment of your time to explain it. Take care...

Maz: No problem

Michaela: Cheers...

Maz: Look for yourself. Peace! BTW its NOT religious!

Michaela: Thanks.....it's living in me. Ok...that's no problem.

Maz: Good You may want to check out Ekkart Tolle or Marianne Williamson (Oprah's channels) for sharing ACIM "Perrenial Philosophy."

Michaela: Oh...Ok. I've heard a little about Williamson. I don't subscribe to her thoughts. But thanks. It might help you understand where I'm coming from if I mention I'm a born again Christian, and I believe the bible in its original text to be the supernaturally inspired word of God.

Maz: God Bless us all. Jesus is Savior to all. The Kingdom of Heaven is within.

Michaela: Not in the way you believe. But that's cool...thanks for your time. Bye now..

Maz: God's Plan of Salvation offers many paths, and cannot fail. Bye, take care.

Michaela: The bible says there is only one way to God and that is through Jesus Christ.

Maz: Yes, that's correct. I believe that.

Michaela: That's good. Who do you say Christ is?

Maz: "I and the Father are One" Christ is God's Son.

Michaela: And you? Who are you?

Maz: We are all part of Christ, God's eternal children, equal and saved.

Michaela: All are saved?

Maz: I am a Child of God, like Jesus and yourself.

Michaela: You believe all are saved?

Maz: Yes, God is Just.

Michaela: Oh...ok. So you believe you are equal with Jesus?

Maz: No, Jesus is CHRIST realized, I am on my way He helps me. He protects me. He teaches me. He is the Leader of the Atonement and of the Sonship. He is the first complete witness to God.

Michaela: Oh....ok, so do you believe that you are corrupt in nature, sinful, and in need of Christs work on the cross to be saved? Do you believe in repentance?

Maz: Yes. I believe that all sin is an error, and that all of God's Creations are sinless. The world teaches the opposite, that sin is real. I listen to God's Voice, not the world. The Bible says that Adam fell asleep, and nowhere does the bible mention his awakening. But the Atonement restores every Soul to its truthful inheritance, to the Glory of God Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus is leader of the Atonement. That's my faith and experience. And I thank Jesus, as I thank you.

Michaela: The 'world' believes they are good enough to enter heaven. The 'world' doesn't believe Christ is in fact God himself. The 'world' doesn't see its need for repentance. True Christians believe the opposite of the world. We believe what God says....that there are none who do good, and none who seek after God. We believe that man needs a saviour, and Jesus Christ is that person; that all things we see were created through jesus Christ, that Christ is not a created being, but like God the Father, has always been...

Michaela: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16...

Maz: Jesus showed himself to me and my wife. He lives and teaches salvation, and freedom from sin and error. Theology can not split humanity since Jesus joins all. There are so many wars based on interpretation. Peace is God's Will for us.

Michaela: Really? Yet he said 'I have not come to bring peace'

Maz: The sword of Divine Wisdom IS the Atonement. A weapon that can NEVER be used to attack. After we saw Jesus Face in the Clouds in 1991, and read the prophesies in the Bible, we learned from him. We invited him into our lives, and he came.

Michaela: If you believe that Jesus Christ actually showed Himself to you, then there's nothing I can say to you that you will listen to. But I pray that God would remove the scales from your eyes, as He has done for me and millions of others, and I pray that Satan's deception will release its hold over you and your lovely wife. You are being severly deceived, as I was, and I truly pray for your eyes to be opened to the truth.

Maz: That's all that counts for me. A personal relationship with Jesus.

Michaela: That's correct. A personal relationship with Him, but the Jesus you say you know, I know nothing of and the bible does not speak of.

Maz: You are very kind. Read the prophesies, his 2nd coming will be announced in the clouds.

Michaela: No argument there....

Maz: Its in the Bible, and I trust I am not deceived. He works many miracles in our lives. He heals and restores.

Michaela: He does indeed....he shows mercy to whom he will show mercy...

Maz: He is available in the Holy Spirit for eveyone who asks.

Michaela: But I'm sorry friend, you don't know him.

Maz: Aaah, and how do YOU know that?

Michaela: Because the doctrine you speak of is not biblical. And the bible is the inspired word of God. If it doesn't match up with His description, then it just ain't true.

Maz: 'I will never forsake you or leave you comfortless' is his promise, and he keeps it.

Michaela: Yes, but He is speaking to those who are saved by grace, through Jesus Christ. He is not speaking to everyone.

Maz: And you think you know I am not saved by grace because I have a non-biblical doctrine? Are you a judge about my salvation?

Michaela: Not me friend, but the holy word of God is your judge.

Maz: I have no doctrine except my Love and Faith for God and Jesus.

Michaela: I didn't write the contents . . . God did. We can believe what we want, but it is useless if it is not the truth.

Maz: Well, i don't think its kind to tell me that I lie and am deceived.

Maz: The Truth is of God, not of man.

Maz: No man should judge a brother's salvation. Or faith

Michaela: You don't think it's kind to try to warn someone of the desperate state they are in, to try to steer them on the right path?

Maz: Desperate? LOL What do you know about the Miracles that Jesus works in my Life? How can you judge me as deceived? Is your Bible telling you to do that? I don't think so.

Michaela: Because of the words that are coming from your mouth. My bible tells me to share the Gospel, and that's what I'm doing.

Maz: I am not judging you for your belief.

Michaela: Your salvation is God's business, I am only saying that what you are saying doesn't line up with the Word of God, and that is my guide.

Maz: I am a brother and I don't understand why you would see me desparate and deceived.

Michaela: I know you're not. And I'm not judging you, merely seeking to share the truth with you.

Maz: That is appreciated. Thank you.

Michaela: If you knew that 2 and 2 makes 4, and your life depended on knowing that, but your wife said it really made 5, wouldn't you try to persuade her otherwise?

Maz: I know that sometimes 1+1=3, so I will always ask Jesus if something is true or not.

Michaela: In the same way you are sharing your understanding with me, I am sharing what I believe is truth with you...

Maz: My wife does the same.

Michaela: lol 1 and 1 = 3?

Maz: Yes. How? See, we are judging too quick sometimes....

Michaela: So you're saying there are no absolutes, and that God's word is incorrect?

Maz: Take the color Yellow (1) and the Color Blue (1) and mix them at the edge: What do you see? 3 colors, Blue, Yellow and Green. It all depends on the level.


Michaela: Absolutely,but the third colour does not take away from the truth of the other two. they are still yellow and Blue

Maz: Yes, but in this case 1+1=3. That's all.

Are you a Christian?

A Course in Miracles Text (FIP)  Chapter 3.
THE INNOCENT PERCEPTION

I. Atonement without Sacrifice

T-3.I.1. A further point must be perfectly clear before any residual fear stillassociated with miracles can disappear. 2 The crucifixion did not establish the Atonement; the resurrection did. 3 Many sincere Christians have misunderstood this. 4 No one who is free of the belief in scarcity could possibly make this mistake. 5 If the crucifixion is seen from an upside-down point of view, it does appear as if God permitted and even encouraged one of His Sons to suffer because he was good. 6 This particularly unfortunate interpretation, which arose out of projection, has led many people to be bitterly afraid of God. 7 Such anti-religious concepts enter into many religions. 8 Yet the real Christian should pause and ask, " How could this be?" 9 Is it likely that God Himself would be capable of the kind of thinking which His Own words have clearly stated is unworthy of His Son? 

T-3.I.2. The best defense, as always, is not to attack another's position, but rather to protect the truth. 2 It is unwise to accept any concept if you have to invert a whole frame of reference in order to justify it.
 ----------------------------------------------------------
Are you a Christian? from ACIM Chat

Jed: Are you a Christian? I know it don't matter either way, but I'm just curious as to who feels they are and not. I for one feel I am a Christian. I Don't believe what most organised religions say about Jesus or Christ. However, I do feel Jesus that Jesus has set the record straight with the course. I consider it the Gospel of Jesus. For it is truly good new! Is it not? I'm not trying to change anybody's mind, just would like to take a quick survey about how you feel.

Tom: G. I Gurdjieff once said that the only person who could honestly call himself or herself Christian was one who actually followed the teachings of Jesus. That would not necessarily include all Course in Miracles students.

Billy: This is something that amazes me -- that certain people who study the Course obviously do not think that Jesus was the author of the Course. It seems to me that ALL students of A Course in Miracles are following the teachings of Jesus. I am aware that there is a theory in the Course community that Jesus is not the author of the Course (taught mainly by Wapnick -- or so I am told), but if we take the Course at its word (which some people do not want to do for some reason -- they want to read it metaphorically, when Jesus tells us in the Course, "You have surely begun to realize that this is a very practical course, and one that means exactly what it says." Now there are times when Jesus uses metaphorical language, but those times are usually pretty obvious) then it is clear that Jesus is the author. So, by Gurdjieff's definition, all Course students are Christians. I actually agree with this definition. It seems to me that Course students are "true" Christians. But, I realize that I am in the minority here. He even tells us in the Course, "those who accept me as a model are literally my disciples."

Here is what he says in T-6.I.8-10:

"A church is where an altar is, and the presence of the altar is what makes the church holy. 5 A church that does not inspire love has a hidden altar that is not serving the purpose for which God intended it. 6 I must found His church on you, because those who accept me as a model are literally my disciples. 7 Disciples are followers, and if the model they follow has chosen to save them pain in all respects, they are unwise not to follow him.

"I elected, for your sake and mine, to demonstrate that the most outrageous assault, as judged by the ego, does not matter. 2 As the world judges these things, but not as God knows them, I was betrayed, abandoned, beaten, torn, and finally killed. 3 It was clear that this was only because of the projection of others onto me, since I had not harmed anyone and had healed many.

"We are still equal as learners, although we do not need to have equal experiences. 2 The Holy Spirit is glad when you can learn from mine, and be reawakened by them. 3 That is their only purpose, and that is the only way in which I can be perceived as the way, the truth and the life. 4 When you hear only one Voice you are never called on to sacrifice. 5 On the contrary, by being able to hear the Holy Spirit in others you can learn from their experiences, and can gain from them without experiencing them directly yourself. 6 That is because the Holy Spirit is One, and anyone who listens is inevitably led to demonstrate His way for all."

Billy: In this passage, Jesus is referring to what we might call the "true" church and altar (here is an example of him using metaphorical language -- you and I are not literally a church with an altar inside), his crucifixion and resurrection, us as disciples, him as "the way, the truth and the life," etc. I don't understand how someone could say, "Oh, but that is not really Jesus saying those things. And, he doesn't mean any of that literally." It sounds pretty clear to me.

Tom: Reading and talking about a book does not amount to "actually following the teachings of Jesus," in my opinion.

Billy: I agree that just reading and talking about a book does not make us followers of the teachings of Jesus. Actually "taking this course" is what makes us followers of the teachings of Jesus. The three volumes add up to a spiritual path that leads to "true perception," and then God takes the final step and brings us the rest of the way Home -- a Home that we never really left. We study the Text as a way to get the "theoretical framework" that prepares us for the Workbook. It is with the Workbook that we practice the thought-system of the Course that we learn about in the Text. Then we extend love and forgiveness to our brothers through our unique way of teaching (Manual), thus learning (reinforcing) what we teach. In short:

1. Study
2. Practice
3. Extension

Carrie: "I must found His church on you, because those who accept me as a model are literally my disciples. Disciples are followers, and if the model they follow has chosen to save them pain in all respects, they are unwise not to follow him." (T.6.I.8:6-7)

Tom: Are you a Christian?

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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The Psychic Grid

The Psychic Grid
by: Beatrice Bruteau
Paperback: 270 pages
Publisher: Theosophical Pub. House (1979)
ISBN-10: 0835605310

This book has been on my mind since Carmen sent me her story about a vivid altered state experience she had during a reiki master attunement. Read it here - The Grid. It is time for me to re-read this book, again.


From the book: "Human consciousness is the most mysterious reality we experience.  The fact that we coincide with it does little to allay our uneasiness in its presence, for the only instrument we possess with which to study this mystery is again the same mystery, human consciousness.  If consciousness should deceive itself, we would be caught within an enchanted Hall of Mirrors from which there is no exit."

From a review: "This is not a book about psychic phenomena. It is a work of philosophy about how our perceptions are conditioned by the world view of the culture we are raised in. Each human being carries a "lens" through which he perceives everything that happens around and within himself, and with which he filters out bits of information which do not jive with the lens he carries. Our lenses are a product of family, school, workplace, regional, religious, and national influences--indeed there are many layers to each person's lens, and the layers begin to be formed when we are infants and continue to be added on throughout our formative years.

"The consensus reality of one's community therefore bestows upon each individual a field of knowledge, and this field determines what new knowledge we pick up. It is this field which Bruteau refers to as the "psychic grid." There are a multitude of psychic grids. They are simply different belief niches which people can inhabit. You might think of them as subcultures. No one psychic grid is "right," according to Bruteau. What makes a psychic grid "right" is if it works for a group of people, if it allows them to find meaning. If it does not, it will be replaced. . . . ." ( Read more )

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Selling Jesus to the Romans

This riff by Seth Godin — Think like me, agree with me — gives a good clue to what happened to the early Christian church as it went mainstream.  The only way to go mainstream . . . to appeal to the politicians and the patricians . . . was for the Christian mythos to adapt to the prevailing world-view.  It could not have spread as rapidly as it did if it relied upon people actually changing their ways of thinking.

"The challenge doesn't lie in getting them to know what you know. It won't help. The challenge lies in helping them see your idea through their lens, not yours. If you study the way religions and political movements spread, you can see that this is exactly how it works. Marketers of successful ideas rarely market the facts. Instead, they market stories that match the worldview of the people being marketed to."

The early church father-politicians adopted the Sol Invictus - Mythris Mysteries. By so doing, the Roman Catholic Church became moral successor to the remaining power of the Roman Empire itself.

They did exactly the opposite of what they were told to do.  They did put new wine into old wine skins, and those old skins are exploding like a slow motion train wreck.

Meanwhile, the true teachings of Jesus were handed down by an oral and encoded line of transmission through the centuries in an unbroken chain.

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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The question of money

 A Course in Miracles

"We have spoken of many different human symptoms, and at this level there is almost endless variation. There is, however, only ONE cause of all them. The authority problem IS "the root of all evil." Money is but one of its many reflections, and is a reasonably representative example of the kind of thinking which stems from it. The idea of buying and selling implies precisely the kind of exchange that the Soul cannot understand at all, because its Supply is always abundant and all its demands are fully met."

A Course in Miracles - Original Edition

G. I Gurdjieff

Anyone discussing “money” and “spirituality” in the same breath bears a heavy burden. Gurdjieff carried this burden lightly. Moreover, his actions revealed unique relationships with and attitudes toward money. Turning to the final chapter of Meetings with Remarkable Men, “The Material Question”—which we assume our readers have read—we are awed by the extraordinary money-making talents that Gurdjieff mastered. Other narratives describing how he dealt with money—earning, “shearing,” spending, giving, using it to bring unconscious attitudes out of the shadows and into the light—indicate Gurdjieff’s amazing skill and freedom. Reading about his directness in going-for-the-money, as reported in the piece by Jean Toomer, some of us will react admiringly and others will be disquieted. Are we clear about the internal foundations of these reactions?

Several pupils reported that Gurdjieff wasn’t always “above” money. C. S. Nott witnessed a period when Gurdjieff was virtually broke. The fact that Gurdjieff, too, had difficulties can help us to accept the fact that most of us live beneath forces that entwine our lives with money-insecurities, whether arising from avidity, tightness, carelessness, the use of money to gain approval, or in connection with unearned money. His skill, his freedom in “shearing” people, and the vast sums that flowed through his fingers are especially striking because Gurdjieff’s teaching points to a higher level, untouched by money.

Gurdjieff said, “I am colleague of life.” Who among his living legacy can possibly say that? To be, in relation to life, with all of its pressures—including money matters—a “colleague”

. . . . ( read more )

Gurdjieff International Review
Fall 2005 Issue, Vol. IX No. 1

Editorial: “The Material Question”

By James Opie, Guest Editor

Gurdjieff said, “Weak in life, weak in the work.” But what is real strength? Can we participate in bringing our attitudes related to money out of the shadows, into the light?

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Mind power or miracle?

The Roman Catholic Church has institutionalized miracles in a way that seems odd when viewed through the lens of A Course in Miracles.  ACIM defines the word 'miracle' in the most general terms as an extension of love that is, or ought to be, a normal part of everyday life.  The followers of Peter and Paul tend to view miracles as rare and bizarre phenomena frequently associated with ancient trinkets of dubious authenticity.

In chapter 5 - A Pocketful of Miracles -  of The Holographic Universe, Michael Talbot describes the twice-annual miracle of San Gennaro, or St. Januarius, who was beheaded by the Roman emperor Diocletian in A.D. 305.

"The miracle involves a small vial containing a brown crusty substance alleged to be the blood of San Gennaro . . . when the crowd shouts at the vial, the brown crusty substance changes into a bubbling, bright red liquid. There is little doubt that the liquid is real blood. In 1902 a group of scientists from the University of Naples made a spectroscopic analysis of the liquid by passing a beam of light through it, verifying that it was blood. Unfortunately, because the reliquary containing the blood is so old and fragile, the church will not allow it to be cracked open so that other tests can be done, and so the phenomenon has never been thoroughly studied."

It is difficult to see how that event, by itself, amounts to an expression of love, and the odds are pretty good that the vial of blood is some Medieval forgery from a time when saint's bones were bought and sold as collectibles with considerable commercial value.  Nonetheless, something strange is going on with this, as Talbot explains:

"Occasionally throughout history (the first written account of the public performance of the miracle dates back to 1389) when the vial is brought out, the blood refuses to liquefy. Although rare, this is considered a very bad omen by the citizens of Naples. In the past, the failure of the miracle has directly preceded the eruption of Vesuvius and the Napoleonic invasion of Naples. More recently, in 1976 and 1978, it presaged the worst earthquake in Italian history and the election of a communist city government in Naples, respectively." 

One might conclude the event is simply demonstrating the power of mind, and particularly the power of group mind.  This is how Talbot sees it.

"Is the liquefaction of San Gennaro’s blood a miracle? It appears to be, at least in the sense that it seems impossible to explain by known scientific laws. Is the liquefaction caused by San Gennaro himself? My own feeling is that its more likely cause is the intense devotion and belief of the people witnessing the miracle. I say this because nearly all of the miracles performed by saints and wonder-workers of the world’s great religions have also been duplicated by psychics."

The phenomena defies the ability of accepted science to explain.  By all rights it should be a wake-up call to all genuine scientists to be open minded.  To all miracle workers, light workers, and healers it can be more evidence of the power that lays hidden in the world.

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Michael Talbot - The Holographic Universe

In The Holographic Universe, Michael Talbot explores the idea that the entire universe is a hologram. Using this  new description of reality the universe is actually a kind of 3-D projection and is ultimately no more real than a 3-D image in space,despite its apparent solid materiality.

Talbot examines the works of physicist David Bohm and neurophysiologist Karl H. Pribram, both of whom independently arrived at holographic theories or models of the universe. Talbot suggests that a holographic model might provide a scientific foundation for understanding various paranormal and anomalous phenomena, such as extrasensory perception, and provide a scientific basis for understanding mystical experience. He also ties in elements of Carl Jung's "collective unconscious" theory, and the synchronicity phenomenon, to suggest the existence of an underlying unified field that ties all things in the universe together.

Talbot explains in simple prose the theory behind a holograph and its traditional applications to science. In part two, he shows the panoramic way in which the holographic model makes sense of the entire range of mystical, spiritual and psychic experience. Finally, in part three, he explores the implications for other universes beyond our own.

Talbot often referenced Stanislav Grof, whose work on Holotropic Breathwork (The Holotropic Mind) was also of obvious influence. Talbot attempted to incorporate psychology, anthropology, spirituality, religion, and science to shed light on truly profound questions.

There is evidence to suggest that our world and everything in it—from snowflakes to maple trees to falling stars and spinning electrons—are also only ghostly images, projections from a level of reality so beyond our own it is literally beyond both space and time.

The main architects of this astonishing idea are two of the world's most eminent thinkers: University of London physicist David Bohm, a protege of Einstein's and one of the world's most respected quantum Physicists; and Karl Pribram, a neurophysiologist at Stanford University and author of the classic neuropsychological textbook Languages of the Brain. Intriguingly, Bohm and Pribram arrived at their conclusions independently and while working from two very different directions. Bohm became convinced of the universe's holographic nature only after years of dissatisfaction with standard theories' inability to explain all of the phenomena encountered in quantum physics. Pribram became convinced because of the failure of standard theories of the brain to explain various neurophysiological puzzles.

However, after arriving at their views, Bohm and Pribram quickly realized the holographic model explained a number of other mysteries as well, including the apparent inability of any theory, no matter how comprehensive, ever to account for all the phenomena encountered in nature; the ability of individuals with hearing in only one ear to determine the direction from which a sound originates; and our ability to recognize the face of someone we have not seen for many years even if that person has changed considerably in the interim. But the most staggering thing about the holographic model was that it suddenly made sense of a wide range of phenomena so elusive they generally have been categorized outside the province of scientific understanding. These include telepathy, precognition, mystical feelings of oneness with the universe, and even psychokinesis, or the ability of the mind to move physical objects without anyone touching them.

Indeed, it quickly became apparent to the ever growing number of scientists who came to embrace the holographic model that it helped explain virtually all paranormal and mystical experiences, and in the last half-dozen years or so it has continued to galvanize researchers and shed light on an increasing number of previously inexplicable phenomena.

Complete book online

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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The Control of Self and Environment

A Course in Miracles Text (FIP) T-10.V.9.11

"Your mind is capable of creating worlds, but it can also deny what it creates because it is free."

Christ in You - Lesson 26
The Control of Self and Environment

The world around, or rather the visible world, is, as you know, full of wonderful possibilities, though yet imperfect, because un-mastered. The world you know is illusory and shadowy only because man has not reached the crown of being. As man evolves, the whole material plane is lifted into a higher condition. The seasons depend on God in man, and are according to the inner mind. The world is wild and lawless in some regions, so much so that man is subject to the nature or world spirit. Misused energy and uncontrolled force call for lord and master, as the trees of old asked for a king to reign over them.

The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honor God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? And the trees said to the fi g tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the fi g tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheers God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fi re come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

Judges 9:8 - 15

If you read this parable carefully, you will find much hidden truth. God made man to rule and to have all things respond to him. The world is gradually learning some of these higher mysteries. If you had a tree or plant under your control, in time it would respond, and assume its highest possible form, on condition you became at one with its hidden laws, and you are meant to become this. I merely give you this simple truth to lead you higher. The physical world is governed by its own forces and passions, and not by the spiritual, the only real. For the teaching of this very lesson Jesus stilled the’ storm with the word “PEACE.” Since He had control over His own natural and physical self, He afterwards used the God-given right of dominion. You are the channels through which the divine will and energy manifests its one self. To effect this you must become selfl ess and at one, for the Lord thy God is one Lord and not many.

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Spiritual eye - Walter Hilton

Walter Hilton (1340 – 24 March 1396) was an English Augustinian mystic. Little is known of his life. He was the head of a house of Augustinian Canons at Thurgarton Priory, near Newark, in Nottinghamshire. He was closely in touch with the Carthusians, though not a member of that order.

His spiritual writings were widely influential during the fifteenth century in England. The most famous of these is the Scala Perfectionis, or Ladder of Perfection. In that work the phrase "spiritual eye" is repeated 30 times. These are a few quotes.

"For that is the life which is truly contemplative to begin here, in that feeling of love and spiritual knowing of God, by opening of the spiritual eye, which shall never be lost nor taken away, but shall be perfected in a far higher manner in heaven."

"Nevertheless inasmuch as thou hast not as yet seen what it is fully, for thy spiritual eye is not yet opened, I shall tell thee one word for all, in the which thou shalt seek, desire and find it; for in that one word is all that thou hast lost."

"I believe that if a man could see with his spiritual eye how foul pride and covetousness are in God’s sight, and how contrary they are to Him, he would more loathe a stirring of pride, and the vain liking of it; and also he would more abhor and rise against that evil will of envy, or anger to his neighbour than many a stirring or liking either of gluttony or of lechery."

"I mean that Humility which a soul feeleth through grace, in the sight and beholding of the endless being, and the wonderful goodness of Jesus, and if thou canst not see it with thy spiritual eye, yet that thou believe it; for through this sight of his being, either in full faith or in feeling, thou shalt esteem thyself not only the most wretched creature that is, but also as nothing in the substance of thy soul, though thou hadst never done any sin."

"What this opening of the spiritual eye is the greatest scholar on earth cannot imagine by his wit nor show fully by his tongue; for it cannot be gotten by study, nor by man’s industry alone, but principally by grace of the Holy Ghost, and with human industry. I am afraid to speak anything of it, for methinketh that I cannot, it passeth my attempt,274 and my lips are unclean."

"But then through opening of the spiritual eye into Jesus the love is turned, and the soul is raised up according to its own nature above all bodily creatures. And then the beholding and thinking, and the using of them is spiritual, for the love is spiritual."

"This tasting of this Manna is a lively feeling of grace had through the opening of the spiritual eye. And this grace is not another grace from that which a chosen soul feeleth in the beginning of his conversion; but it is the self-same grace, only it is otherwise felt and showed to a soul. For why? Grace groweth with a soul, and the soul groweth with grace."

"And therefore the grace of the Holy Ghost, shutting the fleshly eye, causeth the soul to sleep from worldly vanities, and opening the spiritual eye, keepeth it awake to the sight of God’s majesty covered under the cloud of His precious Humanity."

"These are the tokens of inspiration in opening of the spiritual eye. For when the eye is opened, the soul is in full feeling of all the aforesaid virtues for that time."

"Unto this I answer that bodily feelings, be they never so comfortable, are not to be desired nor regarded much if they come; but spiritual feelings, such as I have spoken of, if they come in that manner as I have said, should ever be desired. I mean the killing of all worldly love, the opening of the spiritual eye, purity of spirit, peace of conscience and all other spoken of before. We should ever covet to feel the lively inspiration of grace made by the spiritual presence of Jesus in our souls, if we could."

"For by opening of the spiritual eye it is wholly applied to grace, ready to pray."

"Then mayest thou be secure, that at what time thou feelest thy soul stirred by grace, specially in that manner as I have said before, by opening of thy spiritual eye that thou seest and feelest Jesus, hold Him fast whilst thou may, and keep thyself in grace, and let Him not easily go from thee."

"See now, then, how grace openeth the spiritual eye, and Heareth the senses of the soul wonderfully above the frailty of corrupt nature. It giveth the soul a new ability whether it will read holy Writ, or hear it, or meditate in it, for to understand truly and savourly the truth of it in th manner aforesaid; and also for to turn readily all reasons and words that are literally spoken in spiritual understanding."

"And this is another work of Contemplation, to see Jesus in the Scriptures after the opening of the spiritual eye. The cleaner the sight is in beholding, the more comforted is the affection in tasting."

"The drawing of a soul fully to perfect love, is, first by the showing of spiritual things to a clean soul, when the spiritual eye is opened; not that a soul should rest therein, and make an end there, but should by that search Him and love Him who is highest of all, without any beholding of any other thing than He."

"And all this spiritual sight is nought else but the sight of Jesus, not in Himself but in His merciful secret works, and in His righteous judgements every day showed, remembered and renewed to reasonable souls. Moreover, to see with the spiritual eye the pains of the reprobate and the joy and bliss of chosen souls is full comfortable. For truth cannot be seen in a clean soul without great delight and wonderful content of blessed burning love."

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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