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Hello Everyone,
It's great to get comments
on topics most would rather not become involved in, yet which
remain most challenging. Leap of faith to follow reason, once we
have shed linear thought sounds good to me. It would never have convinced
me as an agnostic, however, at a time when I regarded such faith as
solace for times of uncertainty and a crutch for people who could not
fulfill their dreams.
Keith asks what is mind.
May I ask, without mind, what use is the brain and body ? Can a
body create without it? Can it offer its creations all that it is and never
incur loss? Mind is the only real thing about you. It is where your thoughts
reside, (and as you already suspect, not just your thoughts). It is
that which is witness to your thoughts, as you take form around the needs
of your special function, and it is that which tells you how you feel from
moment to moment, constantly weighing right vs. wrong. You have, in this
physical universe both an ego mind (Greek sense of the word), totally concerned
with physical matters and self-preservation - which ultimately knows nothing but
convinces you that it knows everything, and a right-thinking mind which you will
never lose, but will spend most of your life on earth unveiling. Mind and its
thoughts are the only things of which you really are in complete control,
from moment to moment. No one can tell you how to feel, or what to dream
(barring mind control events), and you are free to change your mind at any
time.
Each one of us is but an idea,
an illusional fragment of a collective mind, seemingly independent and
autonomous, and a "reflection of the thought of the mind that is beyond all
form" (quoted from a personal letter sent to me by Kenneth Wapnick, format
editor for original Course manuscript). I think we are learning the very
detailed lesson of how not to be Creator in a collective dream. Arriving at
this knowledge, which I do not claim to have arrived at,
means finally recognizing fear and judgment and
their chaotic projections as illusory, and choosing for the
truth of peace and love instead, finally aligning yourself with the
only real force that exists--that of love.
The new book Selma cited does
sound exciting, and I realize how important these findings are, not just to
convince skeptics, but for healing's sake. What I find unfortunate is that for
decades, if not centuries, people have experienced spontaneous healing, as well
as healing considered otherwise miraculous; countless documented cases supported
by the allopathic community to give evidence of mind over body. All of
these documented cases have been ignored because they did not conform to hard
copy evidence produced by double blind studies, or was it a thing of
any excuse to refute what is too much for the scientific mind to bear? We
are definitely more afraid of our real strengths and what we could become if
we became aware that we really have minds. Hence, a blind eye to the
obvious. Religion, often accounting for these phenomena, still
demands a change of mind to take place to reverse terminal cancer, stage four,
as example. The body is too weak to have an immune system rallying at this
point.
Is it alien intervention?
Perhaps, but knowing aliens, they would want to take the credit, and when they
don't, and faith or positive visual re-enforcement does, scientists should give
the individual credit to know the reason for healing. Most drugs that do
work were approved by FDA's on anecdotal evidence alone, but where it comes
to professionals publishing anything that may liberate the minds of the
masses, they feel their power-over will diminish.
Selma, your need for an
objective reality is impossible to realize within chaotic existence. Fear
breads exponentially, and trying to perceive correctly is, as you have no doubt
read before, not something you can do while still on the battleground. Being
clear on limitations is a clear limitation on your only reality, which
is that of spirit. I agree there is a danger in people expecting that power of
the mind will enable them to do whatever they please. We are still bound by the
laws of the collective dream that brought about this mindset of physical
existence. If, for example, you are physically attacked, protect yourself.
Gravity will likely cause you to fall from a mountain top if you lose your
footing. The primary goal of A Course In Miracles is not to teach
people the power of the mind so much as it is to inspire forgiveness of
self and the world we think we see in order to achieve inner
peace.
The Course is definitely not
for everyone, and the immature mind will not be able to wrap round its message
without becoming afraid or feeling incompetent. To unlearn all that we are
taught badly requires that we recognise first that we have a mind, next
that it is limitless because of its divine source, and then the task of
unlearning what we learned badly can begin. The lessons are not merely
intellectual, they are experiential, which is how we come to recognise them
to be truth. That marks only the beginning; experiencing forgiveness on
classroom earth takes a lifetime (may be two or three if re-incarnation is
true). If we were meant to accelerate to the point that we could all do the
bidding of our minds without the preparation that manifests in wisdom, we
would only experience further chaos (not unlike the chaotic moment in which we
imagined a physical existence). This is precisely why we should be grateful
that we are not in charge of anything but our imagined thoughts.
Take the medicine, whatever
form, if it does you no harm. Anything that will allow you a clear state of mind
to achieve inner peace--which is the real goal.
Good Night, and choose your
dream guides carefully!
Natalia
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2003 8:37
AM
Subject: RE: [Futurework] new book
Wonderful
comments, all. It seems that
understanding requires more than linear thinking, and that’s when faith helps
us leap over the unproven to make the hidden connections. -
KWC
Arthur wrote: when uncertainty
becomes unbearable, faith provides solace.
Ed wrote: Selma, I think you've put the matter
very well. It reminds me of Thomas Merton's concept that, to understand
God, we must depend on both reason and faith. In understanding who
and what we are, we must let rational thought take us as far as we can
possibly go with it. With each passing day or year, or with each
scientific breakthrough, we will know a little more, but we will then
increasingly recognize that what we cannot know is much larger, perhaps
infinitely larger since there may be no boundaries, than what we can
know. That is where reason ends and faith must take
over.
Selma wrote:
Hi
Natalia,
I am familiar with
The Course in Miracles; I have the book and its companion and did a little
work with it some years ago; as you say, there are many paths to the same end.
I am not comfortable
however, with the idea that there is no objective reality, although I doubt
that my idea of objective reality is exactly like that of those who believe
that's all there is.
I do think science
is a very useful tool and regardless of whether one believes that it has done
us more harm or more good over the long run, the reality for us, today,
is that the goals of A Course in Miracles or Bhuddism or any other belief
system that is based in love and forgiveness is likely to become more
believable for more people if it can be shown that that belief system has a
basis in scientific evidence. The fact that the effects of the mind can be
seen on a screen as changes in the brain will convince a lot of people that
otherwise are able to dismiss the notion out of hand. The Dalai Lama and
others have also been working very closely with neuroscientists in this regard
and more and more books are appearing with this theme. Likewise, physicists
(as in the case of Schwartz and Begley's work, Bohm, Peat and others) are
explicating similar ideas.
I think the danger
with A Course in Miracles or other paths that depend solely on the power of
the mind or belief is that it ignores the physical and psychological and
sociological limitations that exist in reality and can really hurt people who
believe it can attain its goals with this one method. I think the power of the
mind is much greater than most people believe but I also think one must be
very clear that there are limitations; only an awareness of those limitations
will make it possible to overcome them.
Selma
If you
think that work exciting, try "A Course In Miracles", copywritten 1975, by
Foundation For Inner Peace.
This
work constitutes the most enlightening and meaningful ideas on mind vs. brain
you'll ever encounter, and you won't need scientific evidence to convince you
of its perspective because truth resounds as self-evident once it is felt deep
down.
The
Course maintains from the outset that mind is totally in control of brain, and
not the reverse--as so many want to see it. Not only is one drawn to the
beautiful presentation of ideas, which can be likened to Shakespeare for
both richness and because so much of it is in iambic pentameter, but the
answers to the most important questions we have in life are, for many like
myself, satisfactorily answered. Why we are here, what is important, what is
real and what is not.
If I
may, I'd like to quote from the preface: (Please read on-I know this is going
to be offensive to some, and the masculine use of the word God is not anything
but convenience for agreement of pronouns)
"Nothing
real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.
"This is how A Course In Miracles begins. It makes
a fundamental
distinction between the real and the unreal:
between knowledge
and perception. Knowledge is truth, under one law, the
law of love
or God. Truth is unalterable, eternal and
unambiguous. It can
be unrecognized, but it cannot be
changed. It applies to
every-
thing that God created, and only
what He created is real. It is
beyond learning because it is beyond time and
process. It has no
opposite; no beginning and no end. It merely
is.
"The world of perception, on the other hand, is
the world of
time, of change, of beginnings and endings. It is
based on inter-
pretation, not on facts. It is the world of birth and
death, founded
on the belief in scarcity, loss, separation and death.
It is learned
rather than given, selective in its perceptual emphases,
unstable
in its functioning, and inaccurate in its interpretations.
"From knowledge and perception respectively,
two distinct
thought systems arise which are opposite in every respect. In
the
realm of knowledge no thoughts exist apart from
God, because
God
and His Creation share one Will. The world of
perception,
however, is made by the belief in opposites and separate wills,
in
perpetual conflict with each other and with God.
What percep-
tion sees and hears appears to be real because
it permits into
awareness only what conforms to the wishes of
the perceiver.
This leads to a world of illusions, a world which
needs constant
defense precisely because it is not real.
"When you have been caught in the world of perception you
are
caught in a dream. You cannot escape
without help, because
everything your senses show merely witnesses to the reality
of
the dream..."
I hope
that those God words didn't offend the scientifically minded as much as they
once offended me, and I hope that the "offensive" words were substituted with
Creation, Source, Goddess, or whatever name you'd care to give to the
oneness that is Life. This is not a book on a new religion, it is not
religious, yet is intensely spiritual and metaphysical, and the best
psychologist a person could have. It may have been written by another
so-called prophet, but was actually delivered to a Professor Helen
Schucman of Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in
New York City, and she was anything but spiritual.
Whether
it was related to her by a divine source, or whether it is the work of another
savant with schizophrenia is irrelevant. What is significant to this
little note is the content, which I see partially being
pursued today in science, medicine, quantum physics, etc. To cite the
example of positive behavioural reinforcement on an individual's neural
pathways, with the actual effect of physically changing the old pathways
that took challenged people down roads of tortured thought. Well, I've worked
for many years with people with mental illness. Change how someone sees
things, not behavior so much, but get them to recognize a universal truth. I
know that if most had not been thinking or forced to think along the
pathways of fear and defensiveness when growing up, their propensity for
mental illness would not have had such a jump-start, and these very
pathways could have developed physically differently. Perhaps 85% or more
patients suffered extreme physical, emotional or sexual abuse in their
first homes. Those with whom I had contact were almost at the 100% figure
for abuse.
The
New York Times recent papers on origins of the universe, big bang theory,
accelerated expansion of same, all seem to be drawing conclusions you can find
in the Course, such as we are the creators of the physical universe, by virtue
of Free Will.
We are
free to experiment with all forms of illusion. We are dreaming the universe
collectively, and at night each one of the fragmented parts of the collective
soul that participates in the dream, dreams their very own dreams which only
they will experience, yet believe to be true because of the source of their
creation. Tell yourself to be afraid, and you will be. Tell yourself the
nightmare is unreal, and the dream changes usually to happier events. Whatever
you wish or feel will occur. On a larger scale, collectively as the one
creation of a Creator, in the realm or mindspace in which we never actually
could leave the source, both God and Heaven are unaware of anything being
prayed for in a realm that does not really exist.
Prayer
is for guidance, but mostly a song to your fellow-human to wake up to Heaven
that is possible now. One has but to change one's mind. Forgiveness is the
key--and that is what the miracle is. It is the closest thing to real love --
which scientists will eventually learn is the only real force that exists --
we will experience on Earth.
Check
it out! No books but one, a course in how to unlearn what you were
taught badly, no gurus, leaders, no sacred places or things to buy to help you
in your journey. This path is not for everyone, it remains one of
many.
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