Deep Structural Change

Photo taken in Morocco

Unknown photographer 

Have you ever wondered if there is any merit to people shouting out loud, “Yes, We Can!!”? On the surface, it would be improbable — perhaps impossible — to think that three little words could make any difference in the outcome of anything at all. But think of why sports coaches give pep talks during halftimes of games. What about instilling confidence in a child who feels small and inconsequential? I’m sure you can think of hundreds of instances where it matters in a particular situation. But most people don’t think the collective can be joined together by the knowledge that something is possible. Usually when we practice “positive thinking” there is an element of doubt, a niggling sense that it would be nice, but probably won’t happen. We have just witnessed a huge “yes-we-can” moment in history. It’s not the first time it’s happened, but that doesn’t dim the beauty of it. Joining together for a deep structural change, not being afraid to speak truth to power, shouting hallelujah all together — that’s true communion! Yes, we can…

“The second step is a positive affirmation of what you want. This, then, is a step in the direction out of conflict, since it means that alternatives have been considered, and one has been chosen as more desirable. Nevertheless, the term “more desirable” still implies that the desirable has degrees. Therefore, although this step is essential for the ultimate decision, it is clearly not the final one. Lack of order of difficulty in miracles has not yet been accepted, because nothing is difficult that is wholly desired.”
—A Course in Miracles T-6.V-B.8:3-7

“It is a grave mistake to suppose that matter is any part of the reality of intelligent existence, or that Spirit and matter, intelligence and non-intelligence, can commune together. This error Science will destroy. The sensual cannot be made the mouthpiece of the spiritual, nor can the finite become the channel of the infinite. There is no communication between so-called material existence and spiritual life which is not subject to death.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 73:24-2

Escaping From Darkness

ON JOY AND SORROW — Kahlil Gibran

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.

And how else can it be?

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.

Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?

And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”

But I say unto you, they are inseparable.

Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.

Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.

When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall." 

—Kahlil Gibran

“The escape from darkness involves two stages: First, the recognition that darkness cannot hide. This step usually entails fear. Second, the recognition that there is nothing you want to hide even if you could. This step brings escape from fear. When you have become willing to hide nothing, you will not only be willing to enter into communion but will also understand peace and joy.”

—A Course in Miracles T-1.IV.1:1-5

“The periods of spiritual ascension are the days and seasons of Mind’s creation, in which beauty, sublimity, purity, and holiness — yea, the divine nature — appear in man and the universe never to disappear.” 

—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 509:24-28

Ram Das Wisdom

"One of the systems we’re part of, of course, is the political system. We may wish we weren’t part of it often, but we are. And all of those people playing with the power of the medium of politics, and its effect on the media and its effect on collective human consciousness, and those people that are addicted to power are there because of us. It boils down to that. That we create a field in which they can play with power, and that power is more or less compassionate. And the political system is a system in which as long as you have a passport, you are a member of it whether you like it or not. You’re part of a government, and your not voting is voting. So there’s no way out. You can’t say, 'I’m not going to have anything to do with politics.' You can say it, but you’ve got to watch where you’re saying it from. You may say, 'I’m not going to get involved with politics because I am so busy with something else that I think is my dominant theme, and I’ll vote, but I’m not going to put my time into campaigning for candidates and things like that, or issues, because my energies are best used here.' That’s fine. If you’ve thought it through and felt that way and can look somebody in the eye and say, 'This is the way it is.' If you’re saying, 'I’m not having anything to do with politics because it’s too dirty and because I don’t approve of it,'. Forget it – you are abdicating your responsibility to society. It’s as simple as that.

“We’re at an interesting moment within the shift of collective consciousness, specifically around the way in which we’re integrating the changes in power structures. Now business holds sway over government, over religion, in terms of social power. And business is like pirates on the high seas – the question is, do you control it from the outside, or does it control itself? Does the whole process have a meta-game that’s controlling itself, and can you stand back far enough to see how it’s playing out? How is the shift in collective consciousness going to evolve and what part do you play?

“Part of the curriculum is looking at the systems that you are a part of and being able to say 'That system needs work.' It’s important to be able to shift your game so that you’re not simply pushing the system away and saying 'I don’t think about that stuff, because it’s too complicated. Let somebody else worry about it.' Because as long as you get really frustrated with Americanism, you may be standing in the way of everybody’s survival." 

—Ram Dass -1995

“Your influence for good depends upon the weight you throw into the right scale. The good you do and embody gives you the only power obtainable. Evil is not power. It is a mockery of strength, which erelong betrays its weakness and falls, never to rise.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 192:21-30

“An insane learner learns strange lessons. What you must recognize is that when you do not share a thought system, you are weakening it. Those who believe in it therefore perceive this as an attack on them. This is because everyone identifies himself with his thought system, and every thought system centers on what you believe you are. If the center of the thought system is true, only truth extends from it. But if a lie is at its center, only deception proceeds from it.”
—A Course in Miracles T-6.V-B.1:5-11

Separating The Gold From The Dross

Buffalo River

Photo by Theresa Beshara-Cox

For years, we’ve been feeling that a universal shift in thought is upon us — and I still believe that to be true. With all the turmoil in our world, this may seem to be a preposterous statement, but there’s a statement in the Bible about separating gold from dross. This is what I found about its meaning: “Dross is a substance related to the process of refining precious metals. Smelting involves the heating and melting of ores. Intense heat causes the dross to separate from the ore and rise to the top where it forms a scum and can be extracted, leaving a pure metal base.” These thoughts give me comfort. The breaking up of material belief brings peace.

“This material world is even now becoming the arena for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord and dismay; on the other side there will be Science and peace. The breaking up of material beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new phases until their nothingness appears. These disturbances will continue until the end of error, when all discord will be swallowed up in spiritual Truth. Mortal error will vanish in a moral chemicalization. This mental fermentation has begun, and will continue until all errors of belief yield to understanding. Belief is changeable, but spiritual understanding is changeless.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 96:12-24

“Conflict must be between two forces. It cannot exist between one power and nothingness. There is nothing you could attack that is not part of you. And by attacking it you make two illusions of yourself, in conflict with each other. And this occurs whenever you look on anything that God created with anything but love. Conflict is fearful, for it is the birth of fear. Yet what is born of nothing cannot win reality through battle. Why would you fill your world with conflicts with yourself? Let all this madness be undone for you, and turn in peace to the rememberance of God, still shining in your quiet mind.”
—A Course in Miracles T-23.I.8:1-9

A New Development Paradigm

Art by J. Clement Wall 

Thomas LeGrand has written a book called “Politics of Being - Wisdom and Science for a New Development Paradigm”. I discovered him in an interview on Buddha at the Gas Pump. He lives at Plum Village and refers to himself as a “wisdom seeker, a social scientist, and sustainability practitioner.” In order to facilitate change, he thinks we should turn our attention to becoming better humans. To quote him: “Most importantly, the emerging science of happiness is evolving our vision of well-being from hedonism, materialism and consumerism towards human flourishing and eudaimonia. Research emphasizes human relationships as the main factor for happiness, while highlighting the potential of meditation practices and spending time in nature.” I look forward to learning more of his ideas …

“And as we pay the debt we owe to truth,—a debt that merely is the letting go of self-deceptions and of images we worshipped falsely—truth returns to us in wholeness and in joy. We are deceived no longer. Love has now returned to our awareness. And we are at peace again, for fear has gone and only love remains.”
A Course in Miracles W-313.2

“Give up your material belief of mind in matter, and have but one Mind, even God; for this Mind forms its own likeness. The loss of man's identity through the understanding which Science confers is impossible; and the notion of such a possibility is more absurd than to conclude that individual musical tones are lost in the origin of harmony."
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 216:30-5

Seeing Each Other in a Holy Light

Have I been superimposing my feelings onto my fellow humans? For the last decade, I’ve made a special effort to examine my beliefs and opinions about the political atmosphere. Fully realizing that when a finger is pointed at anyone, three are pointing back at me, perhaps I’ve made up a mythical me, wishing to be above untruth and misplaced beliefs. Convincing myself that I can differentiate between truth and lies has caused a separation between myself and whomever I deem to be a liar. We all have a personal agenda, which can clash with another person’s personal agenda. I cannot change what anyone else thinks; only myself. As ACIM daily lesson #335 tells us: “I never see my brother as he is, for that is far beyond perception. What I see in him is merely what I wish to see, because it stands for what I want to be the truth.” Today I shall release humanity from my false beliefs, thereby releasing myself. Namaste …

“In silence, close your eyes upon the world that does not understand forgiveness, and seek sanctuary in the quiet place where thoughts are changed and false beliefs laid by.”
—A Course in Miracles W-126.10:1

“The nearer a false belief approaches truth without passing the boundary where, having been destroyed by divine Love, it ceases to be even an illusion, the riper it becomes for destruction. The more material the belief, the more obvious its error, until divine Spirit, supreme in its domain, dominates all matter, and man is found in the likeness of Spirit, his original being.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 97:13-20

The Senselessness of Conquest

A favorite spiritual seer told this story. In the struggle to control civilization, the same fight has been fought through the ages. As an example, you have a pragmatic king who is greedy and power-hungry and takes advantage of people at every opportunity. On the other side, you have the idealistic church, forcing everyone to follow the same rules and believe the same things. Neither the king nor the church have ever been completely right or wrong. Both sides end up doing terrible things to get what they want — really terrible things. The point of the story is this: this struggle has been going on forever. The church and the king might take on different forms and philosophies, but they will always fight each other, pragmatists and idealists. And most times, you’re better off standing on the sidelines and letting them fight it out. But every once in a while, one side or the other decides it might be better to just blow up the whole world to get its own way. And when that happens, you can’t stand on the sidelines anymore; you have to pick a team.

“The ‘still, small voice’ of scientific thought reaches over continent and ocean to the globe’s remotest bound. The inaudible voice of Truth is, to the human mind, ‘as when a lion roareth.’ It is heard in the desert and in dark places of fear. It arouses the ‘seven thunders of evil’, and stirs their latent forces to utter the full diapason of secret tones. Then is the power of Truth demonstrated — made manifest in the destruction of error.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 559:8-15

“Those with the strength of God in their awareness could never think of battle. What could they gain but loss of their perfection? For everything fought for on the battleground is of the body; something it seems to offer or to own. No one who knows that he has everything could seek for limitation, nor could he value the body’s offerings. The senselessness of conquest is quite apparent from the quiet sphere above the battleground. What can conflict with everything? And what is there that offers less, yet could be wanted more? Who with the Love of God upholding him could find the choice of miracles or murder hard to make?”
— A Course in Miracles T-23.IV.9:1-8