Commentary on ACIM Lesson 44
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

God is the Light in which I see.

Hearing 'here'....

What NOW?
It was a question that
arose to my awareness today as
a learning/ teaching response to
the resistance 'I' was feeling to
the rush-hour traffic jam.

"Breathe"
was the answer,
instantly.

Almost aloud,
I wondered
(as I had thought I was asking about where to go...)
'but where am I going?'.

"Here."
  
Right. Now, Here.

I AM Grateful
to be on 'such a
short rope'.

*****************************

The choice to turn our will over to moment by moment Divine Guidance is made moment by moment. It is The Practice of making Faith real. There is no escaping this imperative of Choice. But it is 'made easy' by what todays lesson calls 'standing aside from the ego ever so little'. It is like slipping 'between a moment', this 'standing aside'. It is the art of emptiness.

To do this, simply contemplate everything as being within you. When this 'within-ness' is fully realized, there is no 'I' left to resist anything.

Then, 'What NOW?' is truly effortless.

Namaste,

David

Thank you for sharing this work as you are guided.

Rev. David Seacord
Fine Art Painter / Sufi Cherag
david@davidseacord.com
www.davidseacord.com
www.davidseacord-everymansjournal.blogspot.com
www.davidseacord-acimcommentaries.blogspot.com
www.davidseacord.nobullart.com
 



Commentary on AMIC Lesson 43
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

God is my Source. I cannot see apart from him.

God is neither man nor woman, male nor female. Even so, the language of humanity is. Today let us remember that The All-Inclusive Wholeness contains all forms of access to Infinity, including 'the Goddess'. As the Course language is non-dual, Her Presence is implicit, but unspoken. As we are culturally diverse (yet one in our humanity) there are many for whom the female archetype -- the Goddess-- provides a more tangible and real access to the Heart Cave than any other. Forgiveness, the central theme of this Course and the path to it's Reality, is Yielding. Yielding, being soft, giving, yin, receptive--- these are all qualities that are traditionally understood as arising from the divine feminine, the Goddess. What I am saying is it is OK to think of Our Source as female, as the Divine Mother. It still works (qualifies as authentic ego-surrender), and for some, it works best. And it is 'good flexibility practice' also to occasionally 'walk in each others shoes'.

Whether in the yin or yang or androgynous form, no true spiritual growth occurs without (outside of) a unified mind. In this unifiedness, nothing is separate, and Love awakens correct relatedness with all others. Faith lives from here, as does also courageous action. If you are a Goddess Worshipper, and you are a student of this Course also, that is courageous action. To yield to and be nurtured by Truth expressed/languaged (as in this Course) as singular male is a powerful demonstration of selfless clarity and commitment to Wholeness. For all of us, I write these words today to recognize you as our Sacred Sister.

The paths to Wholeness are unlimited. It is wise to honor them all, yet practical to walk in the Way most true to our individual nature. From there, in Peace, and in Silence, one naturally transcends the World, and embraces the Source containing us All.

Namaste,

David


Thank you for sharing this work with your community (via the forwarding functions), as you see it serving others.

Rev. David Seacord
Fine Art Painter / Sufi Cherag
david@davidseacord.com
www.davidseacord.com
www.davidseacord-everymansjournal.blogspot.com
www.davidseacord-acimcommentaries.blogspot.com
www.davidseacord.nobullart.com

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 42
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

God is my Strength. Vision is his gift.

As Love gives, it's most precious gift is freedom from need. How whole!!! How could a life full of need be whole in this way? Is it not hard to imagine knowing true freedom, true love, while being a slave to any need, and especially any addictive need? "To set up what you like (want/need) against what you dislike (don't want/refuse to allow) is the disease of the mind". (Zen wisdom)

Yes, it is clear that what the entire world 'teaches' is the reversal of this, for all of its messages reinforce the idea that who we are is our need, and that our happiness is in their satisfaction. We are free to believe this, yet, when the result of many lifetimes of such pursuits and the accomplishment of many enterprises is that we are still NEVER FULL, we are usually driven to despair by egoic emptiness and spiritual bankruptcy. I know (and I believe that by the time you read this you also at least suspect, or know also) this is all part of 'the way', part of our necessary spiritual ripening, as it is essential that our choice to place our spiritual welfare above all else be one done in uncorrupted uncoerced free will.

No one can force us to discover we are Love. If that were to be, what we would be discovering would simply be more 'not Love'. When Love comes to us, it is as to a starving, thirst-dying man who has given up all hope of survival, and has finally turned to face his death, knowing there is no escaping it. And the death does come. Whether it is physical or egoic, this death is met by Love! In this meeting, the worth of Love is finally seen. It is Recognized that it IS, and always has been, and always will be, our True Self. All the roads of our life lead to this ultimate meeting with Love as Self.

If we are willing, and choose to met Self as Love before we leave the body, we have the opportunity to be of actual service in this world. We become a living example of the reversal of the world while we are yet within it. We become the hands of Love. Then, what do we teach? Obviously, freedom from need and from fear, by Being....... without need, without fear, without self.

In this, God is my Strength. My only Strength.

Namaste,

David

Thank you for sharing this work with your community, as you see it serving others.

Rev. David Seacord
Fine Art Painter / Sufi Cherag
david@davidseacord.com
www.davidseacord.com
www.davidseacord-everymansjournal.blogspot.com
www.davidseacord-acimcommentaries.blogspot.com
www.davidseacord.nobullart.com

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 41
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

God goes with me wherever I go.

God is UNDER us like gravity. When we give up resisting what is, we will naturally discover this. The natural order of all things is 'back to God'. And everything that exists reflects this order. Yet, it is not a heavy gravity, for it is made of Joy. Joy is actually the demonstration of 'correct relationship'. It is the Joy of Creation that is our Creator, it is the Joy of Creation that is our Sustainer, and it is the same Joy of Creation to which we eventually return. Our life is the music of God, our love the Song.

Where in this is fear? Search every possible where there is, it is impossible to find in Reality. There is only one Reality--- how could there be two? That is incomprehensible. That would mean nothing is true. That would mean God/Love/this 'infinite universe of Possibility of Being' does not exist. This is self-obviously insane. That which does not exist is not aware of its existence.

Give the gift of your certainty today. Teach by being true. Be 'God with/within you' wherever you go. It is not difficult. Just release, hold on to nothing, and like iron to magnetism, you will be effortlessly aligned. This is not 'a promise'. It is the law of life.

Namaste,

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 40
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

I am blessed as a Son of God.

I am so blessed to be holy. I count upon it as my compass to navigate the seas of this world. I depend upon it to know what is right for me, and to guide me to my great good, now, and now, and now.

And, my holiness writes these words.

Yesterday, I understood this newly, in an instantaneous shift. I was driving somewhere, 'being with' "My holiness IS" (the first words of yesterdays commentary) and it shifted/extended suddenly to become "My holiness Knows". It was true. My mind was stunned to quietness, and my silence deepened, as I was shown how I was being given the experience of writing these commentaries as a faith and trust building exercise, learning to rely upon my own wholeness, learning to know my God IS actually always instantly available within me.

These commentaries do not arrive pre-made, they unfold as process, and are confirmed 'from my deep knowing'. When writing, I experience impulses, images, memories, the various thoughts that stream past my mind, and Course text 'jumping out at me' as triggers. I will begin writing and my holiness edits and directs. It simply deletes anything that I write that is not true, in my most profoundly deep self-honesty. And it often leads me to write beyond my own understanding, that I may understand beyond my own understanding. And it then confirms the truth of my words by their resonance with 'my most profoundly deep self-honesty'.

In all the hours of this process I had not recognized until 'the shift' yesterday that this was my holiness being a tangible active presence within my mind. I had not seen (that by being willing to act on the inspiration to write these commentaries) I was 'priming the pump/working the muscle' of my own connection to holiness, and learning to trust it implicitly.

What I get from this 'connecting of the dots' is a profoundly deepening peace. My doubt is diminishing, my faith and trust in my knowing of my wholeness is ascending and becoming visible to the both myself and the world. This is beyond empowering, it is transforming. I am not now he who first said yes to the call, I am he who is the call, and who is being the call by sharing the call. I testify this to you simply that you may also trust your holy calling, and begin/continue giving yourself to it.

As I am in truth you, you can see there is nothing to fear.

Namaste,

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 39
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

My holiness is my salvation.

My holiness IS. There is, in this ISness, an instant answer to every illusion of the imagined and separated. The Sufi's wazifa 'La il la ha, il allah hu' (There is no reality but God) is a similar declaration of the absolute (without opposite) nature of our actually deathless reality. My holiness IS infinitely and eternally. It is whole, it is NOW, and it extends without effort or limit to encompass All, in every dimension of divine possibility.

As our friend, this Course, today points out, what one already IS does not need to be practiced. To remember our one Self is all that is necessary to realize this. In the world, this is very possible if we are willing for God to be everything. Making one exception to this however, will make it seem impossible. All this course is doing is building within us a thought system bringing the light of wholeness to every corner of our belief in whatever impossible not-God-ness that may remain to tempt us to fear. Our willing to do the lessons is the equivalent of putting in the necessary laborers hours that earn his/her paycheck. In other words, the reward of your consistent intention and attention to building this everywhere-without-exception thought structure is the grace of Being Whole increasingly without error.

The blessings of life in phenomenal reality is similar to walking on water. In the reversal of emptiness is the living presence of fullness.

My holiness blesses the world and is my salvation. Thus does the world become whole.


Namaste,

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 38
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

There is nothing my holiness cannot do.


Sacred wholeness equals holiness. And there is nothing that is real that is not sacred. Before this, all creations laws surrender. That is why there is nothing our holiness cannot do.

Very little additional commentary is called for today. Simply bathe in this great and perfect idea. As we drink of it, we bless ourselves and the world.

Namaste,

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 37
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 37
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

My holiness blesses the world.


To be certain of our holiness is considered (by the world) as the supreme egoic heresy. We are unceasingly conditioned by the impermanent transient world to forgetfulness (uncertainty) of our origins in Love, and the naturally recognized divinity we thus inherit. Disinherited, it is demanded that we make enemies, and that we must survive at the cost of others. Yet there are no others, for in Love's truth there is only one of us, and that will never not be so. And all that we do to another, we will find we actually did to ourself as well.

When we see with Love's vision, my holiness is also your holiness. Because of our actual unity, every act of kindness, every good thought sent where healing is needed, they raise us all. It cannot be otherwise, for whether we acknowledge it or not, we are a telepathic matrix, and the vast majority of our consciousness is communal. It is impossible to stay sane while separated from each other, for we are made of Love to be Love for each other. The blessing of knowing your holiness is this: Never will you be seriously tempted to deny another's holiness also. This opens wide the door to authentic communion with any other being. Chose anyone or chose everyone, it matters not, for once impregnated, everything transforms. This requires being attentive: Communion is the full joining of all minds resting in the embrace of Love (or, God). As is promised repeatedly (as in "where two or more are gathered in my name, I am with you also"), when we allow our holiness to extend to another, we come into direct union (communion) with the unnameable Supreme Reality. It is with us always, it is found within this very breath, and it is entered with holy certainty by blessing each other.

Namaste,

David


To be certain of our holiness is considered (by the world) as the supreme egoic heresy. We are unceasingly conditioned by the impermanent transient world to forgetfulness (uncertainty) of our origins in Love, and the naturally recognized divinity we thus inherit. Disinherited, it is demanded that we make enemies, and that we must survive at the cost of others. Yet there are no others, for in Love's truth there is only one of us, and that will never not be so. And all that we do to another, we will find we actually did to ourself as well.

When we see with Love's vision, my holiness is also your holiness. Because of our actual unity, every act of kindness, every good thought sent where healing is needed, they raise us all. It cannot be otherwise, for whether we acknowledge it or not, we are a telepathic matrix, and the vast majority of our consciousness is communal. It is impossible to stay sane while separated from each other, for we are made of Love to be Love for each other. The blessing of knowing your holiness is this: Never will you be seriously tempted to deny another's holiness also. This opens wide the door to authentic communion with any other being. Chose anyone or chose everyone, it matters not, for once impregnated, everything transforms. This requires being attentive: Communion is the full joining of all minds resting in the embrace of Love (or, God). As is promised repeatedly (as in "where two or more are gathered in my name, I am with you also"), when we allow our holiness to extend to another, we come into direct union (communion) with the unnameable Supreme Reality. It is with us always, it is found within this very breath, and it is entered with holy certainty by blessing each other.

Namaste,

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 36
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

My holiness envelopes everything I see.


Wholeness is unspeakably complete. Nothing is missing. Nothing is needed. Everything is provided 'right on time'. The mind says "This can't be", the quiet unfearing heart knows it simply IS. This knowing is what 'surrender' actually is. All of the pathways of life lead to this surrender, to this holiness, this wholeness. It is the purpose of time, and the purpose of LOVE too.

Love is what lets us see each other with Love. Without it we are blind but blind to our blindness. With Love awake within us, we have a guide that is unerring (mistake-less, "sinless") in direct relation to the completeness of our surrender. When we surrender our self wholly, we are self-less. To be self-less is to be One with. You may name it whatever you wish---- but no name truly speaks it. It is simply unspeakable completeness. It is beyond the mind.

'I' meets 'you' there. This 'there' Is True Love. It 'envelopes' everything.....including (especially) our imagined un-wholeness.

Namaste,

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 35
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

My mind is part of God's. I am very holy.


Obviously, the world teaches the opposite. All of our self-hate is created because we do not know this about ourselves. Everything our ego can possibly do to prevent us from realizing this, it does. This is the thing we most fear to know about ourselves, and at the same time, the thing we wish the most to be true. All of this is deeply hidden, both from ourselves, and absolutely from all others. We search and search to find this key, and at the same time, we make sure that wherever we look, it will not be there. This is our predicament, as an ego.

As a spirit in a body, this is simply the truth. Truth is timeless, and spirit is ageless. Selflessness erases the ego and unifies us with God by recognizing that the ego is not real. Egos are like bubbles in water, or air. They are actually very beautiful, but very momentary, very temporary energies, when viewed correctly. They are the after-effect of creation, the claim of 'I' to a phenomena. But they don't last long (when viewed from eternity) and certainly should not be worried about. Best to just return to our peace, and allow the eternal cleansing shower of our holiness to wash away our foolish fascination with the dreams of fear. Best to trust Love to lead the way.

Namaste,

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 34
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

I could see peace instead of this.

'This' means anything that disturbs or concerns or creates anxiety. Anything that unsettles happiness. Any thought that separates you from 'another'. Any moment challenging our absolute trust that only God's good is being given/offered (no matter what it looks like to us personally).

I could see peace instead of this. (In breath, out breath.)

What usefulness! To have a thought standing right beside us today that can answer any voice of fear with a not-fearing possibility. A thought that says: Wait and see. Trust Life. Relax, God has this covered. I am safe. (I remember Gangaji saying: "Just tell the truth to yourself--- really-- and you'll see---Nothing BAD has EVER happened to you, REALLY.)

I could see peace instead of this. (In breath, out breath.)

We are meant to be like a boat without leaks, which floats in light upon the waters of the world, not drowning/sunken in the darkened depths. (This is not to say 'Don''t Explore the Depths'. Just use a submarine, one without leaks. Like this Course, for instance.) Being 'in the world but not of it' is like that. It does not mean being in la-la land. Being Awake is simply Living in Light (being Guided), being fully Present (having a quiet mind) , and being fully at Peace (resisting nothing).

I could see peace instead of this. (In breath, out breath.)

A couple of weeks ago, a thought arose that stunned me. It was: "If God allows it, can you?" (meaning, me.) I saw that this was the basis of true Peace....Allowing whatever God allows to be, to be (for me) also. To not allow is to resist, which is to say to God 'you are wrong about this'. This is ego-battle, and it is very hard to hear wherever fear is living as The Truth. The 3rd Zen Ancestor wrote: 'To set up what you like against what you dislike is the disease of the mind.' This dis-ease is (circularly, ie, like CODA, back to the top) anything that disturbs or concerns or creates anxiety.

I could see peace instead of this. (In breath, out breath.)

Namaste,

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 33
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

There is another way of looking at the world.

Thank God for this. There is a way out of our delusions. It is called 'seeing God'. It is called 'being whole, [same as being holy]'. It does not make us different, better than, or superior; it makes us the same, true equals, and capable of compassion. How else can we become 'as one'?

The silence we are led to enter today is infinite. Nothing has ever disturbed it. It remains pure and untouched by 'the world'. It is instantly available to anyone willing to stop their mind, and kneel to drink. It lives within us, and our wholeness is the simple recognition that it is us.

Stopping the mind is 'the way', and it does require practice. Do practice until practice is everything being done, until no doer remains, until practice as practice disappears into Presence. When we are ripe, this is all we desire. Our most natural state is this communion. Only our mind does not know this. To fully awaken, kindly, compassionately, assist your mind to become quiet. This is all practice is for. You are surrounded by God's Love and assistance, and nothing is impossible. Simply ask to See. Thank God nothing but God Is.

Namaste,

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 32
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

I have invented the world I see.

I call attention today to two important themes that are now being developed: The ability to witness the mind, and the necessity of being responsible for what our life contains. It is like watching a ticker-tape stream of thoughts passing before our awareness, and whatever we react to-- 'positively or negatively' --that is what manifests as our life (the stronger the reaction, the more rapid the manifestation). Thus, being fully responsible means understanding that our life is an exact reflection of our total state of consciousness. That includes EVERYTHING, which only means EVERYTHING. That nothing happens accidentally is because you and I, like our God-Source, are infinitely creative. It is impossible not to be. Each morning we re-invent ourselves, each deep sleep we dissolve and return to Source. The universe is actually just energy directed by thought. As we awaken, the process by which manifestation 'happens' will be revealed automatically. Like in the movie Matrix, we will start seeing the code that creates the illusion we call Reality. Seeing the code clearly will liberate each of us from 'should or must or can't be judgements', to 'anything is possible, nothing impossible'. Can you imagine more freedom than that? To walk and move among the code that believes it is real, knowing none of it actually is. All we need do to enter this state is to release our addiction to the coding of our own identity. The addiction to personal identity is by our choice. This is the God Game. You get to be anything you choose. Why chose Love? Because it created us. Because it is what we are.

Namaste,

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 31
©2010 Rev. David Seacord


I am not the victim of the world I see.

As I write, I am trusting my holiness to encode the word symbols 'properly' for you. As you read, to decode properly, I am that you are trusting yours. We are the same Holiness, and holiness is always completely self-responsible. That is our soul and karmic agreement, which gives rise to the freedom necessary for authentic individual Self-espression in the phenomenal world. Nothing believed can BE 'the truth'; the 'best' outcome of belief being that it can allow for the recognition of truth. There are obviously also other outcomes, but please, don't believe me.

Joyfully, the Course instructs us not to be concerned if we do not believe 'the lessons'. It does not present itself as a scripture, but rather, asks us to engage with it with an openness and 'a little willingness' to receiving confirmation of knowing directly from God. How else can we fully BE 'the Light of God'. We have to have direct connection. Being lit up and useful in lighting up 'others' requires we know we know God. What we must do is simply accept that this is possible (because we have spent our lives believing it was not). This will destroy (think: consciously deconstruct, rebuild, re-new, morph) much of our personal identity as we have known it, which is why we have avoided knowing God in the past. To believe we know God because of our 'learnings and studies' throws us into the soup of religious warfare, the warfare of being right, and being committed to being right as an identity (the 'I'-thought). This kills Love (our connectedness), and is a disguised form of hate. Conversely, to know by revelation, and thus enter Knowledge, places us in Peace, with nothing to prove to anyone. "Nothing to do or undo, nothing to force, nothing to fix, and nothing missing"--- these words are useful to me for maya (illusion) extrication/correction. I keep them available as a memorized key, which is helpful at 'test times'. (I don't know the actual source of the quote, it's in a song of Peter Makena, whose music is non-dual/Adviata satsang).

Todays lesson is another such useful key, also worthy of memorization. If you do, you won't need 'to believe' the results.

Namaste,

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 30
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

God is in everything I see because God is in my mind.

Re-membering our wholeness must include the mind, as it is this that we have come to believe we are. This belief is false, but seductive. It is the 'mind without God awake within it' that is separated from itself and insane, and it produces an insane world. Restoring God to the mind by direct experience is the path to Right Mindedness. This is the same as discovering we are not 'our' thoughts, and especially not our fear or separation thoughts, for each moment entered into and lived 'beyond Fear' reverses the world and rights our insanity.

The Unified Mind is One with itself, Life, and it is Whole. Being Whole, it resists nothing. It accepts reality unconditionally, and it serves Love entirely. In this, no 'I' remains. As a servant of True Being, it creates by the use of Right Will. It does not believe 'in' anything, for the way it knows itself as truth is beyond 'belief'. It creates truth by simply knowing itself completely. This is a radical honesty to the fearful and the false. And this is why Jesus said again and again, "Fear Not". To enter Infinity, this is the key. It is found through selflessness, which is found through releasing the extremely limiting 'I'-thought. Therefore, practice knowing God in everything, and everywhere, and especially, practice knowing God within the mind.

Namaste,

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 29
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

God is in everything I see.


Rest. To fully and completely Rest in God (Love, Truth, Peace, Joy, Presence, Unity, Aliveness, Knowing, the One--- also known as Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Allah-- those, and all like those, too) is to be Healed. This God-ness IS in everything, whether seen or not. Once not blind, this is 'self-evident, with no exertion of the minds power'. For all things 'not of mind' this is the natural state. Is is called True Nature. We can learn it from a flower, a river, the wind, a mountain. They all simply rest (resist not) in God, without egoic clamor.

This Course is for calming egoic clamor. As you and I toss and turn in our nightmares of separation, the practice of the Course is like a mothers lullaby, soothing us, calling us to relax, to rest, and to Awaken. When we chose to enter the True Natural Awakefullness, we are separate from nothing, and see that we never were. Fill yourself with this choice today. Call it whatever by name you like. Just see God in everything. Just do it.

Namaste,

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 28
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

Above all else I want to see things differently.

I call attention to the (now being paraphrased) last line of yesterdays lesson: One completely sincere repetition equals saving 'many years of effort'. I envision each of us reaching that complete sincerity somewhere in this journey. So does Infinite Wisdom (which has led us here) with a complete certainty born of knowing our actual greatness of being (and that we are Itself dreaming).

Todays lesson requests that we relax and trust this certainty. It reveals again that seeing anything correctly will open the doors of our eyes to everything being seen correctly. And it introduces the power of specificity and commitment as keys to the Mastery we are practicing. Whatever we are completely committed to will become our experience. The more specifically we envision our commitment, the more rapidly it shall manifest. These are eternal creative principles, and are available to us to the degree we accept that we are 'made in the image and likeness of God'. (Say quickly, "I Accept"). Todays lesson is really: Above all else I am committed to seeing all beings, all actions, all events through the eyes of Infinite Wisdom. I am committed to knowing myself as this Wisdom and Wholeness. I am committed to being that I am One. I am committed to being the Peace of God. And God will agree, saying: It is as you have spoken truly.

All that seeing truly requires is purification of our mental conditioning. Our hearts have never been disconnected from our Source, or our existence would not be possible. But our mind can believe it can disconnect, and this throws it into insanity. That nearly everyone is likewise insane makes our insanity difficult to recognize. However, each one of us walking the path of purification has had some kind of experience which allowed us 'out of the box' at least temporarily, and that experience impacted us enough to give us a guidance beacon. What we are doing in the Course is purifying that beacon by becoming it. We all have the same work to do spiritually. By choosing to purify the ego-self, we become the true Self, which is one with all things and all Wisdom/Knowledge/Truth. It is a path of endless wonder, to see ourselves as the active Love of God in this world. It is a path of perfect faith because it is our faith that makes us pure.

Namaste,

David

PS. I welcome your reports of the journey so far. Also, I encourage you to share these "Course-based Commentaries/Love Letters to God" with others.

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 27
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

Above all else, I want to see.

As I mentioned in an earlier commentary, I personally replace the word 'want' with 'choose'. So the lesson becomes (for me): Above all else, I choose to see. Why? Because as Love has led me through life, one of the teachings that my heart has recognized as true is that inside of 'thought is creative' is 'language is exactly creative'. Therefore, to gain Mastery Access to 'the divine control tower of life' requires language retraining. This is an inner mystical teaching, as contrasted with 'outer orthodox'. I have made my peace with the Courses use of both traditional Christian terms, and orthodox cultural language. The Course is a trustable tool of widespread awakening, as its fruit testifies. However, I cannot teach the 'course inside the course' (as I am given seeing of it) without teaching the inner meanings and principalities we are traversing too. Since 'want' means: to desire without receiving, and 'try' (in the last paragraph) means: to attempt without succeeding, and neither produces Mastery or Sainthood, I choose to delete or install upgraded Course-consistent language in their place. (BTW, to appropriately acknowledge truth, I learned these upgrades from a living teacher. You can find him at www.masterysystems.com.) If these reinterpretations have no meaning to you or bother you, simply do the Course as you understand it. It will work.

Todays lesson introduces mantra in elemental form. It does not name it that, but that is not relevant. What is relevant is that today we begin to fill our mind with a powerful simplicity of intention, repeated often and regularly throughout the day. Remember more simple more better? It is better because it is easier. And because it is easier, you and I are more likely to actually do it. And as we actually do it, it will assist us in 'remembering'. Remembering is actually all we are doing. Seeing IS Remembering. Re-membering. Becoming again a member. Of the Wholeness. Of God.

Yesterday in a grocery store I 'popped' into 'acceptance'. I created a practice of saying (to myself silently) to each person I saw, the thought: "I accept you as you are". When there were a lot of people, I did simply "Accept". The breakthough (ie, the 'popping') was directly the result of doing yesterdays lesson. Accept. Somehow (by being willing, I suspect) I simply saw (by direct experience) how completely I swim in my judgements. Accept. I was seeing others from a point of separation. Accept. The spiritual antidote was to 'accept everyone as they are'. Accept. Doing that simple 'thought practice' opened my ecstatic gates, lit me up, and created a magicalness around me. Accept. It all arose because I was seeing God (in other people) where I had not been seeing God. Accept. New space gained, new ground taken. Accept. This thrills my soul, which dances as a result. Accept. Jesus said, "I make all things new". Accept. I experience this, as at the store yesterday, by being willing to fully accept this moment as containing only God. Totally Accept.

Namaste,

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 26
©2010 Rev. David Seacord


My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.

Todays lesson makes it self-obvious we live in a dream of fear, afraid to believe (realize) only the good is being and will be given us. It is from this dream that the Course calls us to awaken. As it is shocking to our ego to ever actually see this, it is intentional that this lesson is number 26, and not number 1. In other words, 25 gentle lessons have prepared us for this moment of courage. Courage is absolutely required to face our fears, for the nightmare reality of our normal world is teethed with terrors that we spend great energy investment avoiding. All our habituated social defenses, our preoccupation with looking good and being right are smoke-screens that are designed by the egos we falsely believe we are to keep us forever running FROM the self-examination we are asked by todays lesson to do.

While spiritual freedom has nothing to do with delusions, the way to it is through them. That is why we 'need' (another delusion, which will eventually become 'are') each other (for support). As with any addiction (in this case, to fear), the way to freedom is replacing our most blinding illusions with ones that are contain greater degrees of truth. Over time, like walking into unknown horizons, we let go of limiting beliefs one by one AS THEY ARE CLEARLY SEEN, consciously. Growth is a conscious process, and done with our awareness and cooperation. That is the law of free will. It is also an intimate process, and thus requires the presence of safety. It is Love that gives us that safety--- true love, that is, Love that will enter our fear dream and stand beside us as a friend, as a wayshower, as an example of not fearing, in the dream. This is the great gift one can give another. All that is necessary is authentic self-knowledge, gained from direct experience.

I encourage you to courageously attempt to gain that direct experience today. It begins by facing and being willing to see the sea of subtle fear we live in, and to discover it is a dream of our own creation. Simply doing the lesson will place us in the 'zone' where this will result. Knowing that others are doing the same can be empowering too. That is the purpose of our group. As one we awaken, and each light we share becomes light for all.

Namaste,

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 25
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

I do not know what anything is for.

As with all the first 50 lessons of ACIM, todays lesson focuses on Unlearning (emptying our cups) and Simplification. We've all heard the phrase 'more simple, more better'. In my experience, letting go of over-complication (and the often accompanying 'self-serving-striving') immediately results in greater peace, power, and effectiveness.

Today we focus on another sure thought leading to our freedom from believing we know the truth of the matter without examination. As I did the lesson a minute ago before writing (moving from object to object repeating I do not know what this is for, what that is for, etc) I could see my own knowing instantly appear also, telling me I did know (that the seeds were to grow sprouts with, the blanket was to keep me warm, the container was to carry water in, etc.). None of my instant knowings were wrong or bad, they just fill me up in a way that blinds me to the Great Unknown Infinity within which I actually exist. My knowings leave me in a world much smaller than Infinity, and in the illusions of normal existence. The only dilemma this presents is that I cannot experience anything as truly sacred or (w)holy in this normalness. This is because 'normalness' is always only about 'me-ness', not 'all-of-us-in-God-ness'.

The whole point of 'spirituality' is to develop our ability to enter into communions, or at-one-ments with each other, leading ultimately to at-one-ment with God. As the introduction to this course points out, our natural inheritance is awareness of love's presence at all times, anywhere. That Love is the doorway to entering at-one-ment with another, and our fear (in any form) closes that door. Developing courage to face our fears, and the trash pile of wreckage strewn about our lives that our fears have created, is what we are engaged in 24/7, consciously or unconsciously. It is the curriculum of life. A Course in Miracle is simply a very well lit rocket powered pathway that provides us with access to ever deepening inner peace as we face our fears, or said poetically, as we 'kiss the dragons hand'. Such is the kiss of Infinity, which is another name for God's True Love.

Namaste,

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 24
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

I do not perceive my own best interests.

Our past-based identity is our greatest barrier to our own spiritual freedom. I am blinded when I am being it. It believes in mistakes, it believes separation from God is the truth, and it believes anything that will reinforce its own belief that it itself is real. There is no true peace in it. All this we have been working on exposing in the previous lessons.

Now is the only time there actually is. All miracles, all love, all God Presence--- they are the result of entering 'the Now' with a quiet mind. The quieter the mind, the truer the guidance. So, what quiets the mind? Today we focus on the miracle of not knowing.

"My cup runneth over" (Psalms 23) describes the endless flow of this not knowing, and celebrates the ecstasy of not needing to know. To live in this 'not needing to know' state is what is meant by 'bringing Heaven to earth'. It is possible for anyone at any time to chose to surrender personal identity at the alter of wholeness/holiness within the heart's cave. When I go there, I find my true Soul Heart Self. When I say to God 'show me', and I am willing to see what is shown, I am able to see any situation as God/Love sees it. If there is ever any doubt, it is only my mind in reverse thinking again. Right-minded-ness begins with not knowing. That is worth remembering. It will guide any 'lost in the mind' moment back to 'the now'.

Namaste,

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 23
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts.

So very simple. Perhaps it could be said also thusly: I can transform the world I see by giving up attack thoughts. It certainly would. Or experiment with present tense language for even more power: I will transform the world I see by giving up attack thoughts. If you are that you will, then it absolutely will.

Shifting the perception of cultural consensus reality ever so slightly, just enough to cause a moments hesitation before pulling habituated attack/defend triggers, creates immeasurable space for the miracle of another breath. As we are porous, absorbent, permeable, we can recognize that no position of righteousness ever is anything but another layer of ego defense justifying our belief in the 'unfortunate necessity' of attacking a brother. This is called 'survival' (dog eat dog, sorry, but it's you or me, and it's not going to be me, etc), and it is the fundamental lesson of the upside-down reversed world. It is so fundamental that we are usually as blind to it as the proverbial fish is blind to water.

So it is great good luck to be the fish aware of the water it exists in, so to speak. And once this simple idea of forgiving everything takes root and is practiced a bit, the taste of the sweetness it adds to life is beyond pricing. Can you imagine moving through a day of this life without attacking anything? Practice well this idea, and it will be inevitable. And so then, will your freedom to be anything that your God asks of you.

Namaste,

David

PS. A morph report. I am much wiser about email realities after todays rapid learning curve. Within a couple of days I will be using a new system which will allow you to un-subscribe at will. That that feature was missing, and that I was using bcc is what caused the filters to be triggered. It is probable that I simply shot myself by lacking appropriate email knowledge.

PSS. One gift of todays learning curve was the re-discovery of my poetic 2002-2004 blog, which was (and is) called 'Everyman's Journal'. There are many wonderful entries that you may enjoy. The link is http://davidseacord.blogspot.com.

Commentary inspired by ACIM Lesson 22 (and Life).
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

What I see is a form of vengeance.

Do you choose to go further? To do so requires choosing to do so, again, and today. Like an extremely grimy window that must be washed more than once to become clean, this choice for Life must be continually re-choosen to 'take the ground' truly. More in a minute.

Todays idea is very simple. It says unless we are willing to choose to see God in all things everywhere, we will see illusions. Even though illusions do not actually exist, in our dream, they appear as real. So the two wings of freedom are discernment (of the real from the unreal) and non-attachment (to our beliefs, in particular). "Even to be attached to the idea of enlightenment is to go astray", says our friend the ancient Third Zen Patriarch. There, that is good news.

Now, in the dream and as a group, there is an illusion that has arisen. This email has been reported as spam by at least one receiver, perhaps more, enough, in any case, that may impact to silence this voice. This is, right on time, a signal to course-correct/morph. It is possible someone is having a nightmare and not calling for help. It is possible someone was simply not being attentive. In any case, certainty is required and therefore action is required. For me, action means I must find a better delivery pathway than bcc email protocol and that 'may take time'. (Options/Suggestions/Help Welcome). For you, it means you must re-subscribe or un-subscribe and let me know you choose to hear this voice or not. Please do it now. There is no other time anyway. Click reply, type re-subscribe/Commentaries or un-subscribe/Commentaries, click send. It will be done as you say.

If it takes more than today to correct this, keep doing the Course. I'll be back (but remember, you can hear this Voice inside yourself too, you know). If you leave us, walk in beauty.

Namaste,

David

Commentary inspired by ACIM Lesson 21
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

I am determined to see things differently.


As egos, we worship hate, not love. And our greatest ego desire is to Be God and Be Worshiped ourself. It is this total insanity (reversal of divine order) that leaves us secretly at war with everyone and fearing everything. Very little of this do we allow ourselves to recognize, for, as a child-ego raging intensely at Mother learns, it Needs Mother to survive. Our true Mother is God, and it is with horror that our ego recognizes it needs God. The only way out of this hell-of-our-own-creation is to realize it is I who is not real. I (ego) am the thought of God that never happened, and nothing that I believe about myself (as ego) is true. This is the entire curriculum of the Course, as summed up in the introduction: "Nothing real can be threatened, nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God."

Todays lesson instructs us to practice this peace while looking directly at our insanity. Our anger is our greatest justification/proof of our existence as separated from God. We know God (Love) is without anger. Yet we believe in (worship, hold sacred) our own anger simply to prove we exist. Thus we have created an Angry God, which human history reflects. It is a house of cards that cannot stand the scrutiny of truth. Observed directly, it is exposed, and to our great and sudden joy, we are released from fear's bondage into love's freedom. All that we hated can now be seen with love. All that we tried so intensely to control or avoid we can now allow. All that was justification for continued war we now see with the eyes of peace. This experience is languaged a thousand ways, but the result is always the same. As we enter Peace, we enter God; as we enter God, we cease to exist 'in the old way' (a Zen reference).

We do not know our own ripeness for this tranfiguration. Anything may trigger awakening to true seeing. When we are ripe, any one of the Courses lessons is capable of being the door to a new life undreamed of and impossible for an ego. All paths of sincerity will and do bear fruit. Our practice today demonstrates our honest desire to see as God sees. Practice in Peace, God will do the rest.

Namaste,

David

Commentary inspired by ACIM Lesson 20
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

I am determined to see.

Do not want. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want" (Palms 23) describes well the idea. Being a Son/Sun/Extension of God/Conscious Infinity 'given all power in Heaven and on Earth' is not a state of being 'in want', or not having. Course language was (as was all scripture) delivered via humans in the vernacular of the receiving culture and in the context of the common language as understood in and at the time. I take this opportunity to point out that as a result, no scripture will always connect (have profound meaning) to everyone 100% of the time. Do you not struggle to understand messages sent in languages you are not fluent in? True fluency is always a result of having achieved an ability to think in a specific language. Until that is achieved, there will always be the necessity to compare what you believe is being attempted to be articulated with direct personal experience. I have suggested that direct personal experience trumps believing. So does the Course, which is offering a path to the realization (a direct personal experience) of the Perfect Guiding Presence of Love (in our lives, at all times, under all conditions).

Given the preceding, I will be re-languaging todays lesson for myself. I choose to see. I am the committed choice to see. Or, as a degree/affirmation: With the eyes of God, I do now see. I am doing this simply to be in integrity with the understanding/revelations that are now foundational for my mind, in its present state of training/discipline. If you have no issue with the way the lesson is languaged, use it as written. It is your choice. Everything always is, and it always will be so.

Whatever you choose, do not doubt the value of the lesson. Regular repetition of a powerful idea is not spiritually cheating. It is practice for the actual soul of you/I becoming, in time, 'the (Creative) Word of God', as in "God said, 'Let there be Light', and there was Light'. In our lives, that power often looks like accomplishment mastery. We choose (to act with commitment) to bring something we 'want' (that we desire/envision as possible--- but do not yet have) into existence. That same power is both our birthright and our offering. We offer ourself. To be a purified usable instrument of Love in the world means simply this: Self remains, but no illusionary separate self remains. Love lives, as you.

Namaste,

David

Commentary inspired by ACIM Lesson 19
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts.

I am not alone. Nor do I think alone. The 'hypnosis' is shared. How could it be otherwise? Did we not all once believe we were individuals? Did we not all choose to experience this dream of entering an individualized incarnation? Why? Do you not remember as you prepared for your birth, the soul agreements you made? The choices of when and where and how that would become the content and curriculum of 'the play of your life'? Besides knowing we are not alone, truly knowing ourselves requires understanding that there are no accidents. It is, this dream, a non-divisible and non-accidental domain. Being able to appreciate the beauty of this life requires that we realize it is our own creation.

Only minds can join. This is clearly stated in the Course many times. Thus, you and I can join. We can know ourselves as each other. It is an easy thing to see, once we are willing. It is the source of actual happiness also. Happiness in never a private experience. We all rejoice at 'anothers' successful learning because everything learned by anyone of us upgrades all of us. This is the fruit of incarnation: By experience, to discover we are everything.

In practical terms, we cease resisting. Why resist what we agreed to? What we choose? Does the great actor resist the part? No, they play it with great attention, putting themselves fully into the moment, creating and contributing every nuance of believability possible. A Plays purpose is to enthrall us, move us, thrill us, and bring us INTO ONE MIND. The same is true of this very rich life.

Namaste,

David

Commentary inspired by ACIM Lesson 18
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.


What is our greatest fear? Is it not always some form of being alone? That is my experience so far. To be rejected is to be made outcast, alone. To be humiliated is to be exposed, alone. The fear of being killed, raped, robbed, ridiculed is the fear of experiencing incredibly painful isolation, alienation, aloneness.

What is todays lesson then? The first four words are foundational: I am not alone. To actually know this is to know God. The Presence of God is in the direct experience of 'I am NEVER alone'. The Peace of God is in the consistent undisturbable awareness of this Presence. All our practice is for the purpose of discovering this is true always. That is why the emphasis is on not making exceptions as we apply the instructions for each lesson....that we may 'get' (profoundly and deeply) that what is true is true always, and under all conditions, no matter what.

The lesson extends...."in experiencing the effects of my seeing". Although we can never actually be alone (as we exist, move, and breathe within the being of God), we can nevertheless believe we can be. This belief denies all true reality, and thus throws us into a dream-world of illusional separation, from which we struggle to escape, via a huge number of forms, including spirituality. As with drugs, spirituality often functions additively, attempting to mitigate the horror of our separateness with the comfort of community. What the plant knows as it yields to the plow is something we must learn to find the true peace: There is no death. There is only the embrace of existence turning the page, creating newly.

When we realize that our thinking is creative, with the power to call to us either heaven or hell, we begin to understand why freedom 'from the effects of our seeing' requires only authentic, honest, FULL ATTENTION. If we give Full Attention to life, each and every moment delivers The Great Teaching: All is One. As it is impossible to exclude ANYTHING from this Oneness, where is our aloneness? It is where it always is--- only in our mind, and made from fear. Let us cease to dream the dreams of the insane. Give Attention to entering the quiet mind. The Way is then self-obvious. It is lit by Love.

Namaste,

David

Corrected Commentary on ACIM Lesson 17
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

I see no neutral things.


I must bust myself AGAIN. (And surrender to that busting myself IS the path to authenticity. But, darn, I (ego) sure would love to never make mistakes, and it is humbling to do it publicly.)

Ok, what's wrong? you're asking. Not much, only a tiny little insignificant error of understanding that only makes everything else a lie. It's in the line: 'Eventually we become tired of outsourced stimulants, and begin to thirst to listen to the call from within'.

Do you see it? A clue: Try putting the word 'only' in that sentence someplace. Wherever it makes most sense to you....

My writing process for these commentaries is forcing me to dig into myself bigtime. To make an error that asks for, make that requires, correction publicly requires (there's that word again) me to dig for and into ego protected shadows, and exposes attitudes fossilized by belief into 'truth' that is not 'living truth'. Oh, 'I understand' here will not make a difference. Oh, 'I taste', that does.

All I can say is, after writing and sending todays commentary, I climbed back into my bed (remember, I write 3 to 6 am now, because I told you that is what I'd do, and my integrity practice is 'to be and honor my Word'). I know I am free, and that I may change that, but that's a different conversation. For now, that is what I am doing. Anyway, as I was slipping to sleep for another hour, I noticed I was complaining about how unfair this was. That I 'had to' produce in this tiny little window some perfect jewelness of inspiration. Other 'spiritual writers' get to take their time, edit, rewrite, sleep on it, come back to it.... all that. But I am not somehow (by my own mind, you see) allowed to do that. I am just to do it perfect the first time, or something. Leaves me feeling a little separated (easy to see, right). So the true thought that applies here is from Richard Bach's book The Illusions of a Reluctant Messiah. Quote: We teach best what we need to learn most. I admit its truth. There, the playing field is level again. Thank God.

Anyway, where did you put the "only". I woke from sleep with the correct understanding. Actually, it awoke me from sleep. Whoa! Excellent! Yes! It awakes us! The reversal of thinking languaged! To succinctly taste the rewire: Eventually we become tired of outsourced (external) stimulants only (ie, when they are empty(!) of the spirit, the waters of joy, the fullness of Love and Forgiveness), and begin to thirst (for the spirit, the waters of joy, the fullness of Love and Forgiveness) to listen to the call from within.

Of course this is so much more accurate! We die/whither spiritually when we find ourselves in this hellish isolation. We must have spiritual food (eat at the table of the Great Peace) if we are to walk in this world and be HAPPY. Am I taking a direction here that makes sense? I pray so, for what got originally written could be interpreted as 'aestheticism' (the complete denial of the world as a place for joy), when the whole point of enlightenment is the opposite: To BE the JOY of GOD IN the world.

Namaste (again),

David


Commentary inspired by ACIM Lesson 17
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

I see no neutral things.


Remember Lesson 2? (I have given everything I see all the meaning that is has for me?) Todays lesson is a beautiful variable, leading you/me to a new viewpoint, from which we have another opportunity/possibility of seeing reality as the miracle it actually is.

"I laugh when I hear the fish in the water is thirsty" wrote Kabir (600 years ago). While the mystical mysteries of our existence have always called to our exploratory human spirit---- today they are still of deep interest to only a small portion of the human population. There is nothing wrong that this is so. Life is designed to be the 24/7 school of infinity, and as the introduction to the Course says, we are free to elect what we are willing to learn at any given time. Eventually we become tired of outsourced stimulants, and begin to thirst to listen to the call from within.

It is an unspeakable blessing to be so thirsty. Gangaji calls it 'great good luck'. The Course describes a miracle as 'a collapse of time', where learnings that would usually have taken 'lifetimes' are bridged instantaneously. Such good luck and being thirsty can be intentionally requested and received, when we become truly willing to learn newly. That in itself is a miracle. To escape/exit the habituated thinking ruts in our mind will require a reboot, a restart, a fresh page. Todays lesson neutralizes (refreshes/empties) our known view of life, that we may enter a wonderland of 'not knowing'. How liberating it is to finally 'not know' everything. What a mystery it is, to be seeing that same everything as if for the first time.

Namaste,

David

Commentary inspired by ACIM Lesson 16
© 2010 Rev. David Seacord

I have no neutral thoughts.

This lesson asks us to be responsible for our thinking in ways and at levels that are shocking to our habitual identities. How willing we are willing to be in this determines whether we live in love or fear. It is a continuum that requires great courage to even begin to contemplate with honesty. Our natural intimate friendship with 'the Beloved', the Source of our Being, is our truest compass and our best access to strength as we look into the mirror of our heart and begin to develop and deepen authentic self-honesty. We have, as always, the choice to deny our greatness (our Oneness) in deference to staying in the illusion of powerlessness (our separateness). Our lesson today requests that we recognize that we are not ever neutrally creative. By existing, we are contributive. Our world will arise as a result of our thinking. That it can be very full of emptiness is self-obvious, very prevalent, and the norm of humanity. The Great Love allows this, knowing all separated ones will, in time, choose to be done with insanity. The Course teaches that this is the actual purpose of time, to choose again Love, no matter what. Again, and again, and again, without end. This choosing of Love creates undisturbable wholeness. Moment by moment, choosing Love is walking 'the Great Way'.

Namaste,

David

Commentary inspired by ACIM Lesson 15
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

My thoughts are images that I have made.

Did you catch it? The morph? Commentary 'inspired by' (as distinct from 'on'). It's all part of being straight. I get up early and I read the lesson and I begin writing. The Course provides the ignition, and acts as compass. Still, I've realized I haven't been really 'commenting on the Course per se' all that much. Your occasional feedbacks have told me that value is still being created. That is what is important.

We walk through life dreaming in reverse (for the most part) until something (a shock usually) switches the polarity (for perhaps a few nano-seconds) and we awaken. We recognize nothing is as it seems. I remember vividly the literal electrical-like shock that ran through my body when I realized I didn't really exist-- that I was only a thought. It was 15 years ago and I was taking a shower after a Gangaji satsang. It's still hard to grasp intellectually, but it felt like my molecular structure was suddenly rearranged. Then quite quickly, I was the same as I always was again, but different. I couldn't deny something profound has just happened, and I was 'out of the box' (even though I was obviously still in the 'body' box).

Those kinds of revelatory moments happen in our lives 'right on time' and are spontaneous 'spiritual initiations'. They are gifts given as we are ready for them (that does not mean we think we are ready, it means Knowledge recognizes we are ready). You are reading and I am writing because we are both ready to recognize we are the same being, at least on some level. I am grateful to you, deeply, for the teachings I am receiving by sharing these writing that benefit my own life as a result. The idea that these writing may somehow benefit others is present, yes, but the most important aspect for me is simply that I am expressing the best I have to offer, the fruit of my life experience, as a pure contribution. I am singing my hearts song, and by singing, I am more and more healed.

The Course has been gently contributing to my life for several decades now, as have many other sources of Truth. It is a good friend, and one I recommend to others if they are interested. As it itself declares of itself, that it is 'only one' of thousands of paths to true reality, I have felt free to use inspiration from other sources also. That, I am seeing, will continue, and fulfills the purpose of my ordination: to teach the unity of the apparent multiplicity. That is my personal 'Sufi Path', the path of seeing the mystical unity.

Todays lesson is about seeing mystically too. It is a wonderful lesson. I am very happy to have my mind guided to unravel and peel off my projections, and especially to continue recognizing how much I still live with a projected world. Then I remember, freedom is not never having projections, it is in recognizing them. What freedom does that give? It gives me 'a choice'.

Namaste,

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 14
©2010 Rev. David Seacord



God did not create a meaningless world.



Not competition with God, but rather, my natural and obvious partnership with God--- that is what I celebrate today.  That I am the extension of God.  That I am here to bless and heal by simply being awake as Love in the 'dream of the world' (fear).  That this I is your I also.  There is nothing to do 'before' this really, and in reality, everything is actually about this.  All things (events) become understandable from the vantage point of the Great Peace.  I will be forever allowed to enter and leave this Great Peace as I choose, for that is the surest way free will can assist me to discover my Wholeness through direct experience.  Being Whole is being one with, as Jesus said, 'the Father'.   Or, by any of a thousand other names, same-same.  Source. Wholeness.  Divine Infinite Intelligence. Creator. The Only Being. Shiva. The Causeless. Our Unity. No Mind. Allah. The Eternal. Nature's God. The One.  The Course says clearly on this point (paraphrased):  A universal theology is impossible.  A universal experience of our divine nature is not only possible but necessary.  

As we choose to become 'fully grounded' in our Oneness with God and each other (one being impossible without the other also), we see increasingly clearly, and questioning/questing ceases.  Not like a zealot, but as a baby, we shall remember our holiness.  

Namaste, 

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 13 
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

A meaningless world engenders fear.

    Here, the gentle and masterful hands we (I) are in is softly suggesting we (I) will find it valuable if we (I) 'notice any signs' of 'overt or covert' fear or resistance that we (I) may be experiencing as a result of our (my) lesson practice.  This is an invitation to be in what the Buddhists describe as 'mindfulness', and/or what Advaita practitioners describe as 'being in inquiry'.  The saying "One cannot pour into an already full cup" reveals the imperative necessity of intentionally generating some empty space in ourselves (myself).  In this space we (I) can practice being.  Not being correct or incorrect, not being right or wrong, not being better or worse, not being any attribute nameable.  All that is noise, the smoke and mirrors of our egos illusions, judgements, fears. Just being silent. And in that silentness, simply waiting. Being silent emptiness waiting. This is 'prayer', but  asking 'for' nothing.  Knowing we (I) will always be shown the next step. Knowing what we (I) require, it will always be given.  That is how these words are being written.  That is how a life in faith can be lived.  

   Namaste, 

   David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 12
©2010 Rev.  David Seacord

I am upset because I see a meaningless world.

Todays lesson is being delivered via A Course in Miracles, which speaks in 'a Christian tongue' (if you will).  However, if you were existing in another time and culture, say, pre-Christian Zen, you would still be learning the same lesson.  "When all things are seen equally, the timeless self-essence is reached," is a quote from the writings of the ancient 3rd Zen Patriarch.  To experience this 'equal-ness' the Course requests we give equal time to our contemplation of all things about us, and to not discriminate in our application of the idea based on our personal value assessments (good/bad etc).  What is being underlined for us here this that it is 'my thoughts' 'my judgements' 'my I-dentity' that creates 'the separation' we feel-believe in LIKE IT WAS THE TRUTH.  Drop into The Zone (the equal-ness) however, and we discover the self-obvious: We are making it all up.  Truth doesn't need to be believed.  Beneath our beliefs lies the world of directly revealed unity, where no thing is separate, nothing is  excluded, where there are no accidents EVER, where 'it's all covered'.  No true peace is possible in the domain of our beliefs.  True Peace (I've been thinking of it as The Great Peace) is the inevitable natural result of entering 'the Wholeness', or 'God's Reality'.  To enter, all we must do is be willing to give up our separateness.  The Course asks only for 'a little willingness'. Let us be grateful and relax.  We are in such gentle and masterful hands.  

Namaste, this day and all days, 

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson 11
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world.


Our jails are of our own making. No one can free us but ourself. All anyone else can do is point to the keys already in our own pockets and say "Use them, and you can be free". "I can't" is our normal answer. "It goes against my programming, and I will self-destruct if I do", we explain. "This is true", the wayshower will acknowledge, "However, be assured you are not who or what you think you are. You are in a condition of reversed polarity. As a result, everything is switched, and what is true is appearing as false ad infinitum. It is your choice. You have free will. You can 'take your time' if you wish. There is no one demanding you leave your dreams. Still, even I am here, inside your dream, only because you called for me to come."

What is the key? We are programmed 'Never forgive'. The Course key is programmed the reverse: "Always forgive". As the Course has been pointing out consistently, 'always' means 'without exception'. That usually takes 'a little practice', which is why practice is suggested.

One more thought. Always forgiving releases great energies, generally referred to as 'joy'.

Namaste,

David

Commentary on ACIM Lesson10.
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

My thoughts do not mean anything.

What is freedom? And where is the true jail?  I have heard it said "No man is more enslaved than he, who though enslaved, believes he is free".   Already mentioned in my commentary for lesson 4, the teaching "Just don't believe your mind" is directly applicable here.  We are, by doing this course on a daily basis, taking repeated action to free our mind from the tyranny of its beliefs.  And it is 'OUR MIND' (collectively) that we are freeing, for, as every Bodhisattva (that could be each of us, eventually) has realized, it is the mass conscious illusion 'matrix' that we all share that most deeply enslaves us.  If you doubt this, just go be alone or do a 'vision quest' (in nature, especially) and watch how your creative, generative nature will begin to have and believe in its visions.  Then return to your normal world, stay awake, and look and see the cultural thought forces that will tell you that your visions are 'not possible'.   

I liken todays lesson to a sandwich.  One piece of bread is "My thoughts do not mean anything" and the other piece of bread is "This idea will help release me from all that I now believe".  What goes between the bread slices is any and every thought that arises during the prescribed practice periods.  Especially any 'sacred cow' (special, excluded) thoughts.  Then, for a few seconds, slowly chew.  This is really just an emptiness morsel, had five times today.  If you allow yourself to stay hungry for freedom, and you chew slowly, it will be amazing how wonderfully good such a morsel will taste.  By the way, if you 'believed' any of this commentary, stick it into the sandwich too.  

Namaste,

David

ACIM Commentary on Lesson 9
©2010 Rev. David Seacord

I see nothing as it is now.

As I read through todays lesson, two sentences jumped out for me 'newly': 1. Each small step will clear a little of the darkness away, and understanding will finally come (my emphasis, on the promise).... and 2. Be sure you are honest with yourself.

The Course is a training course, specifically, a mind training course. The first paragraph of the Workbook introduction states clearly why: "An untrained mind can accomplish nothing". What the course offers is the converse, that: "A trained mind can accomplish anything". Along the road from untrained mind to trained mind are many small, seemingly insignificant steps. Yet they are not. They are the necessary steps to spiritual freedom. Spiritual freedom is to understand truly (as the 3rd Zen Patriarch describes) "with no exertion of the minds power." So what is this accomplishment we are training the mind to attain? Simply, to be able to be empty, quiet, silent, still. A very audacious goal, in light of the cacophony nature of this world. A goal very attractive to our spiritual egos too. For in this perfect stillness, there is nothing you will not be able to know. Here, in silence, nothing remains hidden. Only, only, only: the 'you', the 'me' that is being silent must be completely empty of it's 'me'-ness (specialness) to be able to truly know this. That is true spiritual sight: To be empty (self-less) and yet, to see and to know. And what is the saboteur of this? Any form of self-dishonesty. Thus the admonition: Be sure you are honest. Impeccably honest. Remember Shakespeare? "To thy own self be true, and it follows as night the day, thou cans't be false to no man." Another way it could be said: To deny another as yourself is to deny yourself.

Somewhere within us we all already know this. However, as the lesson says (paraphrased): Be only concerned with your practice, and not with trying to understanding this. So let us do that today, and with gratitude.

Namaste,

David

ACIM Lesson 8 Commentary

"My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts."

When I look to see (and am willing to tell the truth about it, at least to myself) I realize that not only have I been preoccupied with past thoughts, but also future thoughts.  Past thoughts often arise as regrets, future thoughts often arise as anxieties. Seldom does the mind  even momentarily 'stop the world' (referencing the writing of Carlos Casteneda).  And the idea that we could consciously Choose to stop living in a past/future continuum occurs to most of us as about as attractive as the idea of being an astronaut working outside a spacecraft, and unhooking the umbilical-cord-like safety tether and floating off into space.  In other words, NOT living in the past/future paradigm occurs to most of us like nightmares of death, and is normally greatly feared.  Adyashanti, a western Zen/Advaita teacher I respect tremendously, comments that most people (that would be us) will, when confronted with such Choice, rapidly retreat back into the known and familiar self-definitions (ie, past/future based) that are the matrix of our egos.  

Of course, the only problem with this is we don't feel alive ongoingly.  We mostly have high points (peak ego experiences) followed by low points (ego depressions/contractions), and by Grace, an occasional moment of Now where we experience Being and Happiness.  If you are here reading this and are interested in true spiritual work, it is generally because you have experienced this high/low cycle enough that it has 'lost its savor' for you, and the deep call to be authentically alive (as distinct from simply 'being right' and 'looking good') has been heard.  Personally, this course has been an invaluable friend on my own continuing journey towards such authentically alive authenticity, and my writing these comments is a bit like birthing a baby, in the sense that 'by their fruit shall you know them'.  In other words, I am receiving what I already have by sharing it.  If I didn't, the Course (for me) would devolve into a belief system, which is to say, a lie about the truth, as distinct from being access to 'the Living Truth'.  Such 'Living Truth' is not ever in the past, and not ever in the future.  It is forever in the Now, and the Now is eternal and forever.  And all great lives (known or unknown to the world) that have ever been actually lived have been lived in this same Forever Nowness.  

What the Course is offering today is a 'purchase point' (a solid, trustable location)  to stand upon as we UNLEARN and remove some key habitual mind barriers to actual spiritual sight.  Todays lesson is very good work.  Let us be intention students today, as there actually is no tomorrow (tomorrow, you'll notice, it will still be Now).  

Namaste,

David

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A (secondary) Commentary on the Lesson 9 Commentary (The original is placed further below).

This was the first commentary written 'the day before', and late at night before sleep, instead of rising early (3 to 6 am) to write. It feels now (in mornings light) a bit incomplete and a little over-fierce, so I am revising it to correct that with this addition commentary. The course repeatedly reminds us that mistakes ask only for correction, nothing else added (as in right/wrong judgements etc).

Point of Correction 1. The line "A trained mind can accomplish anything" could be misinterpreted by our current identities as a license to 'do anything we want to'. Actually, the reality is more like 'the trained mind can MEET (as in the sense of 'to face/embrace') anything'. In other words, we stop running from the curriculum that life is delivering, and we also stop attempting to control the curriculum. Its a deep recognition that we have been given (and will be given as needed) everything we need to do whatever we are being asked by life to do. So ultimately, there is a quiet fearlessness that is present, available, and tangible at all times.

Point of Correction 2. To use the words "cacophony nature of this world" is not meant as a judgement on the world. The Course is not about judging the world. "Indeed, to accept the world completely is identical with true enlightenment", says the 3rd Zen Patriarch.
So where we are going is to MEET the world 'in emptiness', which is about allowing us the experience of being able to express our true Loving Nature in it freely.

Point of Correction 3. Another word for 'empty, still, self-less, etc' is Present. Being fully Present doesn't happen by accident usually, it occurs as the result of intention. That is what practice is about: manifesting intention. Practice is about manifesting intention experientially, thus from practice, our knowing is direct experience. Understanding that is not based on direct experience is unreliable (to understate). That's why the Course simply encourages us to practice, as from it will arise our freedom.

So I shall now practice rising early to write. I am emptier then, it appears. Blessings to you all, and on your day. David

1-7-10 Commentary on ACIM LESSON 7 

I see only the past. 

Profound and simple (and easily made musical).  The basis of all illusion is the past-based disconnection with the Eternal Nowness, sourced in the incompletely experienced (i.e., resisted) present, and healed by the practice of non-resistance to What Is Now.  This is why the course focuses on practical forgiveness as the means to open our beingness to 'the peace (of being fully in the Now) that passeth understanding'.  

Allowing old ideas to become compost and fertilizer for the 'I will make all things new' (quoting Jesus ) mind-state requires only a simple yet consistent willingness to receive the constant in-breath directives/inspirations of Whole Spirit, without blocking them (plugging the pipeline) with past attachments (to experiences, ideas, religions, decisions, beliefs, attitudes etc.).  In Zen, this is called 'beginners mind'. It is not really about being a 'beginner', it's about being a Master of empty-cupness.  It is the opposite of 'been there, done that', as it often leads to repeating lessons as needed, until fully learned.  Trust life, and what it gives as your curriculum.  It never makes mistakes, and the surest path to union with life is simply to not resist it.  The embrace of This Life Now is everywhere, and always especially Right Now.  

As noted in the second sentence, I suggest the option to be musically creative with this lesson, as a song of jubilant  liberation.  The work you do today is for all of us, knowing nothing done with a pure heart is ever lost.  

Namaste, 

David

ACIM Lesson #6 commentary

I am upset because I see something that is not there.

The idea for today, that I am seeing something that is not really there, that I am projecting, adding my own meanings, and making stuff up to support my projections---- to take this idea seriously (even for the few minutes the course requests that we contemplate it) actually pulls directly on the underpinning mistaken presumptions that have created our personal ego-identities and the separated sufferings that we experience as a result.  So I encourage you to do the courses instructions today with gratitude, for the grace of being led to an access to Love pointing to an amazing freedom of being: knowing directly our Unity with the Wholeness.   Namaste,  David

Jan 5, 2010 Commentary on ACIM Lesson 5


"I am never upset for the reason I think."  

This has been a particularly useful lesson to remember many times in my past, and I am grateful for this days opportunity to practice it again.  To become a Christ/God-conscious being basically means we live 'in the world but not of it' as non-reactive, or inert (and at peace), to the tides of passions that constitute the seas of the human-mind drama-land.  If my mind quiets enough however, that drama-land life will not be able to hook me into reactivity to its dualisms of right/wrong, good/bad, better/worse judgements.  I experience such quietness in deep nature, and when in the human cultural world, I 'practice'.   I love the piece of Course-tangential Landmark technology that teaches that Upsets are a function of either 1. undelivered communication, 2. unfulfilled expectation, or 3. thwarted intention.  That information  has helped me release/heal many burrs hooked into my ego over the years.  But deeper than that is being able to bless your enemies, which is not really possible until you get They Are You.  All upsets are the same in their effect of perpetuating our seeming separateness, all acts of forgiveness the same in creating unity.  I loved when I heard Eckart Tolle say that what Jesus meant about 'loving your enemies' really meant was 'Have No Enemies'.  Getting God-consciousness is really about getting that there are simply NO EXCEPTIONS to the truth that we are One Life in many forms, that there is only One of Us Here.  The Hindus call the apparent multiplicity 'the Play of God', or 'maya', but however it is described (in whatever religion or philosophy or ontology), it is the same reality.  No words can fully describe it because it is beyond words and beyond language.  I currently love the word 'communion' as a descriptor, as it stands for "that which believed it was something separate discovering it never was".

This lesson, done with intentionality, can impact the rest of your life.  Let us each practice well.  Be sure to follow the instructions, available if you still don't have the book, at www.acim.org/daily lessons.

Namaste,

David

Jan 4, 2010 ACIM Commentary on Lesson 4

"These thoughts do not mean anything."  

I am reminded by this lesson of several tangential teaching....  Prasad, saying simply "Just don't believe your mind", and the 3rd Zen Patriarch writing that "to seek Mind with the discriminating mind is the greatest of all mistakes."  It further declares the conundrum of duality: "To set up what you like against what you dislike is the disease of the mind."  Also, as those in this group that have experienced Landmark are experientially aware, the mind is fundamentally a meaning making machine, and full of superstitions, the greatest of which is the superstition named "I".   The separated-from-God/all-of-life "I" that is.  All this underlines the comment the course makes that 'this is a major exercise and will be repeated', as the path of extrication from our personal body/mind/desire identifications.  An ancient wisdom teaching from somewhere eastwardly reveals the benefit of such repetition:  "Sow a thought, reap and action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny."  If you are reviewing the Course with me this year (this is not your first time though it), you may chose to exceed the recommended number of practice periods, if you are comfortable with that, and drawn to do so.  


Namaste,

David

Jan 3, 2010  ACIM Commentary on Lesson 3 

I do not understand anything I see.

Hi, you 'other myself's'.....   well, lesson 2 was cool.  I wrote it up into a little chant song, and had it running like a  mantra in my subconscious all day yesterday.  What I get about todays lesson 3 is that it's all about being in the mystery.  Like when Einstein said his understanding of God was 'Awe' at the mystery of the universe.  Of course, we normally kill that off with our 'knowing how it is about everything'.  But this lesson gives us a whole day to focus on how much we don't know, and don't see, and don't understand.  It gives us a day to humbly acknowledge our blindness and become a bit emptier.  Such a day shall be recorded as a very good day to have lived.   Namaste,  David

Jan 2, 2010 ACIM (A Course in Miracles) Commentary on Lesson 2

I have given everything I see all the meaning that it has for me.

For me, Lesson 2 is a fundamental ground zero awareness of being a being who is awake and living in freedom.  It is a key realization to being a master in this life.  It means we are fully responsible for our experience because we are the painter who has created the world we are personally living in.  May today be a day well lived.  Namaste, David

Jan. 1, 2010 No Commentary written (yet).