Awakening Contemplations

[CoolDreamThanks]

Gnostics, Cathars, and others knew that this world was created by the ego as a distraction from God. That is a valuable understanding as long as it does not turn into hating the body or trying to deprive it through long fasting periods or very poor living conditions, aka asceticism. 
 

Jesus says that the illness of the body is just a projection of the mind that seeks external things. He says that if you are sick, that is Function unfufilled.  And what is Function? Function is being in a state of no separation - resting in the I am. 
 

If we play with toys of this dream, if we are distracted from Spirit and instead all of our attention is directed to time and space the ego created to keep us mindless, then that is separation in the mind, a sickness of the mind, and it will get reflected on the body. 
 

Intuitively, I know that if I want to become one with God, I have to keep my mind focused on Him all the time—24/7, every day of the year. Experientally, too, I have confirmed that if I dedicate myself fully, Heaven is within my reach.  
 

But if I play with the toys of this dream, if I seek externals, if I don’t keep my mind firmly focused on Him, then sickness occurs—I live with a constant background of anxiety, my body gets sick, and there is no Light in my life. If the desire is split, there is no Heaven.  
 

If Desire is unified and fulfills the Purpose, then I am healthy, and I begin to experience Divine Oneness and Perfect Love.  

At the start of the Course, Jesus says that you need a little willingness. By the end, he says that you actually need abundant willingness and total commitment. At first, he says you only need to dedicate a 5-minute practice period, and then he says to give your whole day to God. 

In the rules for decision Jesus says if you find commitment weak and resistance strong - don't fight yourself. Total commitment is the end of the ladder - it's a goal to be reached throughout this lifetime, but for most, it's not the time to let it all go. If there's a strong resistance to letting go of idols, then it's not yet time. It should be an obvious, natural choice, not something you try to push through. 

Personally, I will try to live my days mostly from Spirit while still allowing my attention to leave its source and become separated to enjoy the pleasures of the ego's world. However, I will limit those periods to a few hours per day. I know that even that long is to long to live from a separated state, but this is where I am at my journey. I know that if I don't manage my distractions at all, then I live mostly from ego, and then I get sick, I feel anxious, and I experience many other symptoms of guilt, which is a result of my separated state of mind. 

The Course meets people at different steps of the ladder.

Most people are not ready to commit totally, so Jesus gives intermediary steps and teaches the costs and consequences of choosing the ego and his world. He wouldn't say that you are a sinner for living a life of distractions and attack thoughts, but he would question your sanity. 

Who wouldn't, in their right mind, want a life of effortlessness, where all of your needs are taken care of with barely lifting a finger? A life where there is no sickness, no anxiety, no conflict. And anyone can live such a life if they dedicate themselves wholly to God. But people don't live in their right minds, so they continue to live mindlessly in the mesmerism created by the ego. 

The Cathars saw sex as a tool demiurge created to distract us from God, and so with all other things -- these days, that would include social media, video games, pornography, shows, junk food, and many other distractions -- all of these are tools the ego uses to keep us in a state of separation, and in the state of separation the mind is sick; thus a sick body gets projected, as well as the feelings of anxiety and discomfort, which arise as a consequence of guilt - the guilt of being separated from our Source. It might seem that food and viruses are causing our bodies to get sick, but the virus is in the mind, and it's name is separation from God. 

If we live a life of Oneness with our Source, then only feelings of peace and bliss get projected; the body is healthy, and we live happily. 

Even our material needs are taken care of, we are not “broke” anymore because we are not broken inside; we are whole. It is not that we get what the ego wants, but our lower-order needs are handled with little effort by Spirit.

Beautiful symbols get projected outside when we are totally committed. Symbols of peace and effortlessness.

Spirit’s single use for the body is as a communication device. The ego uses the body for pleasure, and it’s impossible to seek pleasure and not find pain. You can’t have freedom of the body and freedom of Spirit; you must choose one, Jesus says. Actually, at one place in the Course Jesus says that the body has no use at all, as in reality, there is no need for even communication.

You must sort out what is valuable and what is valueless, and Jesus's metric is simple - if it is eternal, then it is valuable, if it is temporary, then it has no value at all. And obviously nothing of this world is eternal. 

All of the roads of the world lead to disappointment and death. Jesus says that from the time time began this world did nothing but disappoint you. Resisting and judging the world is obviously a mistake, as that only strengthens the ego, as does indulging in the world. 

Edited 6 hours ago by CoolDreamThanks

[CoolDreamThanks]

A magnificient teaching! We must introduce commitment to the mind little by little as an opposing force to the impulsiveness of the ego, as atonement is total commitment and we must work towards it.

Edited 4 hours ago by CoolDreamThanks

[CoolDreamThanks]

From Ken's book "Ending our resistance to love:"

 

 

 

This is so so true. My deepest enlightenment experiences were after something horrible happened in my life, I saw the ugliness, the horror, the sickness of choosing this dream and this mind, let it all go, and dedicated fully to God.  

Basically, in the book, Ken says how Freud also saw how his patients didn't really want to heal. They still cherished they self-concept. Ken says that we do the same - we don't really want to change at our core. He says that resistance arises when we really get that ACIM is literally saying that this is all an illusion and you will have to leave it to awaken. It means the end - no more dreams, no more relationships, no more you. But in turn, you get infinite, eternal love. But resistance is immense, since we cling to our identities. One part of us wants the peace of God and another doesn't want to die. 

In the end, Ken says, only pain and horror will be the things that make you leave it. Oh how people misunderstood me in the past.. When something horrific happens in the dream I want to really wallow in it. I want to fully soak it up. I want to see the horror for what it is - not underplay it, deny it, push it away - but to see it clearly. This is my life - I am fucked up. No ones loves me, I am constantly anxious, sick, I have to work, I don't really like anyone, my body sometimes hurts immensely, sometimes I experience intense fear and anxiety and shame. This is my life. 

This understanding, this clear seeing of the costs and consequences of choosing the ego is what Jesus is trying to teach us. He says: look! just look at your life! Nothing here works! You are miserable. Your good times are only good compared to bad ones, in truth they are all pathetic. 

That is how Jesus deals with resistance to healing - he shows us how miserable we are, how terrible this psycho planet is - and that motivates us to let it all go and awaken.