Do You Think You Want Happiness?
Have you heard about the Course or read parts of it, and thought about reading the whole thing? Or have you read parts of it and thought, ‘this is good enough.’ I get it. This article is not intended to convince you that the answers to your problems are in the Course and you are a fool not to read it.
It is to bring out a point that perhaps you’ve not thought of…..the reason you don’t read it is not because you don’t like it or think it’s true, but because you know it is true, and you do like it, and this is fearful. Peace and Joy are at your fingertips, always. They are the very heart of your Being; so in reality, you don’t need a book to tell you so. The Course is a pathway to remembering what you forgot, and the ego is a heavy block sitting in the middle of the path that will keep you from ever crossing over into a new reality. Perhaps you are somewhat like the Course’s Scribe, Helen, to whom Jesus said:
“This course has explicitly stated that its goal for you is happiness and peace. 2 Yet you are afraid of it. 3 You have been told again and again that it will set you free, yet you sometimes react as if it is trying to imprison you. 4 You often dismiss it more readily than you dismiss the ego's thought system. 5 To some extent, then, you must believe that by not learning the course you are protecting yourself. 6 And you do not realize that it is only your guiltlessness that can protect you.” T-13.II.7.
Now, if you are like most people, you will react with utter disregard to that paragraph, denying the possibility that you are dismissing anything on purpose. You will also deny that you are readily accepting of the ego’s thought system. How do I know that? Because there are stages of Awakening that are very predictable. And like you, I did not feel particularly fond of being told that I don’t want happiness, when I was quite certain that I do.
However, as I have let time teach me, I have found that we do block our own peace and joy and it is because we are afraid of looking at the present moment, where Peace and Joy abide and where all are Innocent. We would rather hold onto the past and fear the future than live in Peace and Joy, NOW. We would rather find our brother guilty in the past than realize it is ourselves who feel guilty and freedom from it would require forgiveness, which we are clueless as to how to really go about doing. And so, in laziness (ego) and disregard for truth (ego) we make our experiences up of past hurts and future longings (ego).
"Now" has no meaning to the ego. 2 The present merely reminds it of past hurts, and it reacts to the present as if it were the past. 3 The ego cannot tolerate release from the past, and although the past is over, the ego tries to preserve its image by responding as if it were present. 4 It dictates your reactions to those you meet in the present from a past reference point, obscuring their present reality. 5 In effect, if you follow the ego's dictates you will react to your brother as though he were someone else, and this will surely prevent you from recognizing him as he is. 6 And you will receive messages from him out of your own past because, by making it real in the present, you are forbidding yourself to let it go. 7 You thus deny yourself the message of release that every brother offers you now.” T-13.IV.5.
Every brother, every encounter, offers you Peace. That means every cashier you pay today, each person at the water cooler at the office, or in the break room. Your child, your mother, your brother, your husband, your dog. EVERY single exchange of a glance, hug, and handshake can bring you closer to the Reality that is yours for the receiving….the reality of Now.
There is nothing else to want! There is no where else to go! Right now, there is love emanating between yourself and this page. It is no where else. Right now there is Peace in your accepting these words as you read them, with no defenses, no ‘right or wrong’…just accepting them with love and tolerance and kindness. And going out and feeling exactly that way about what the next person who speaks to you says, or does, or how they look at you, or don’t look at you. See the innocence when you do not hold them to a past you have made? When you just take each moment, each word, like a fresh new word, and receive it, gladly?
Let these words from Jesus sink into your heart and hear them with no defense….
“The shadowy figures from the past are precisely what you must escape. 2 They are not real, and have no hold over you unless you bring them with you. 3 They carry the spots of pain in your mind, directing you to attack in the present in retaliation for a past that is no more. 4 And this decision is one of future pain. 5 Unless you learn that past pain is an illusion, you are choosing a future of illusions and losing the many opportunities you could find for release in the present. 6 The ego would preserve your nightmares, and prevent you from awakening and understanding they are past. 7 Would you recognize a holy encounter if you are merely perceiving it as a meeting with your own past? 8 For you would be meeting no one, and the sharing of salvation, which makes the encounter holy, would be excluded from your sight. 9 The Holy Spirit teaches that you always meet yourself, and the encounter is holy because you are. 10 The ego teaches that you always encounter your past, and because your dreams were not holy, the future cannot be, and the present is without meaning. T-13.IV.6.
In wanting only the now, you want only to hear the Holy Spirit, Who lives only in the Present. Hold no one to any past thoughts and let Spirit teach you what each moment means today. A Course in Miracles is a life changing gift to the world but only when it is received with openness and willingness to learn of your own Holiness. Until you are ready to realize how much you do not want Peace, you will never find it.
Namaste Friends,
Diane
www.thesacredself.com
Have you heard about the Course or read parts of it, and thought about reading the whole thing? Or have you read parts of it and thought, ‘this is good enough.’ I get it. This article is not intended to convince you that the answers to your problems are in the Course and you are a fool not to read it.
It is to bring out a point that perhaps you’ve not thought of…..the reason you don’t read it is not because you don’t like it or think it’s true, but because you know it is true, and you do like it, and this is fearful. Peace and Joy are at your fingertips, always. They are the very heart of your Being; so in reality, you don’t need a book to tell you so. The Course is a pathway to remembering what you forgot, and the ego is a heavy block sitting in the middle of the path that will keep you from ever crossing over into a new reality. Perhaps you are somewhat like the Course’s Scribe, Helen, to whom Jesus said:
“This course has explicitly stated that its goal for you is happiness and peace. 2 Yet you are afraid of it. 3 You have been told again and again that it will set you free, yet you sometimes react as if it is trying to imprison you. 4 You often dismiss it more readily than you dismiss the ego's thought system. 5 To some extent, then, you must believe that by not learning the course you are protecting yourself. 6 And you do not realize that it is only your guiltlessness that can protect you.” T-13.II.7.
Now, if you are like most people, you will react with utter disregard to that paragraph, denying the possibility that you are dismissing anything on purpose. You will also deny that you are readily accepting of the ego’s thought system. How do I know that? Because there are stages of Awakening that are very predictable. And like you, I did not feel particularly fond of being told that I don’t want happiness, when I was quite certain that I do.
However, as I have let time teach me, I have found that we do block our own peace and joy and it is because we are afraid of looking at the present moment, where Peace and Joy abide and where all are Innocent. We would rather hold onto the past and fear the future than live in Peace and Joy, NOW. We would rather find our brother guilty in the past than realize it is ourselves who feel guilty and freedom from it would require forgiveness, which we are clueless as to how to really go about doing. And so, in laziness (ego) and disregard for truth (ego) we make our experiences up of past hurts and future longings (ego).
"Now" has no meaning to the ego. 2 The present merely reminds it of past hurts, and it reacts to the present as if it were the past. 3 The ego cannot tolerate release from the past, and although the past is over, the ego tries to preserve its image by responding as if it were present. 4 It dictates your reactions to those you meet in the present from a past reference point, obscuring their present reality. 5 In effect, if you follow the ego's dictates you will react to your brother as though he were someone else, and this will surely prevent you from recognizing him as he is. 6 And you will receive messages from him out of your own past because, by making it real in the present, you are forbidding yourself to let it go. 7 You thus deny yourself the message of release that every brother offers you now.” T-13.IV.5.
Every brother, every encounter, offers you Peace. That means every cashier you pay today, each person at the water cooler at the office, or in the break room. Your child, your mother, your brother, your husband, your dog. EVERY single exchange of a glance, hug, and handshake can bring you closer to the Reality that is yours for the receiving….the reality of Now.
There is nothing else to want! There is no where else to go! Right now, there is love emanating between yourself and this page. It is no where else. Right now there is Peace in your accepting these words as you read them, with no defenses, no ‘right or wrong’…just accepting them with love and tolerance and kindness. And going out and feeling exactly that way about what the next person who speaks to you says, or does, or how they look at you, or don’t look at you. See the innocence when you do not hold them to a past you have made? When you just take each moment, each word, like a fresh new word, and receive it, gladly?
Let these words from Jesus sink into your heart and hear them with no defense….
“The shadowy figures from the past are precisely what you must escape. 2 They are not real, and have no hold over you unless you bring them with you. 3 They carry the spots of pain in your mind, directing you to attack in the present in retaliation for a past that is no more. 4 And this decision is one of future pain. 5 Unless you learn that past pain is an illusion, you are choosing a future of illusions and losing the many opportunities you could find for release in the present. 6 The ego would preserve your nightmares, and prevent you from awakening and understanding they are past. 7 Would you recognize a holy encounter if you are merely perceiving it as a meeting with your own past? 8 For you would be meeting no one, and the sharing of salvation, which makes the encounter holy, would be excluded from your sight. 9 The Holy Spirit teaches that you always meet yourself, and the encounter is holy because you are. 10 The ego teaches that you always encounter your past, and because your dreams were not holy, the future cannot be, and the present is without meaning. T-13.IV.6.
In wanting only the now, you want only to hear the Holy Spirit, Who lives only in the Present. Hold no one to any past thoughts and let Spirit teach you what each moment means today. A Course in Miracles is a life changing gift to the world but only when it is received with openness and willingness to learn of your own Holiness. Until you are ready to realize how much you do not want Peace, you will never find it.
Namaste Friends,
Diane
www.thesacredself.com
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