Posts Tagged ‘A Course in Miracles’

Freedom Cannot be Learned by Tyranny of Any Kind

Friday, January 9th, 2009

A Course In Miracles - smallThe title of this article was taken from page 145 of the A Course in Miracles text. I wanted to share an extended quote with you here today. I’m also going to use it as the invocation at my Toastmasters meeting tomorrow morning. (Exact location is paragraph 6 starting with line 7).

Freedom cannot be learned by tyranny of any kind, and the perfect equality of all God’s Sons cannot be recognized through the dominion of one mind over another. God’s Sons are equal in will, all being the Will of their Father. This is the only lesson I came to teach.

This statement is flawless, it is clear that we are all equally children of God, equal in will. Only our language clouds the truth. You see, we have decided to use the word “He” as the pronoun for all people. Not all languages adhere to this custom. Some have one word that means all people or “humankind”.
Photo by Cindy Schafer www.synergyimages.com
So, if you are a woman reading the phrase above, realize that in God’s terms “He” = All people. Don’t let the language prevent you from receiving the message.

A woman loves her familyThe first sentence of this quote assures you that sexism and racism are not Godly. “Freedom cannot be learned by tyranny of any kind.” That means you can’t have one group oppressing another group and have freedom. This applies to all human beings in all settings.

The next part of the sentence states: “the perfect equality of all God’s sons cannot be recognized through the dominion of one mind over another.” Said another way, as long as we are at war, we will never have peace. As long as we hate, we cannot experience love. As long as we are looking for problems, we will never find solutions.

What Does Elvis Presley Mean?

Saturday, January 3rd, 2009

Elvis Presely playing guitarMost Americans and music lovers worldwide acknowledge Elvis Presley as “The King” of rock and roll. But some people have no idea who Elvis Presley is or what it means to be “The King” to millions of loyal fans.

Today I was reading Lesson 3 of A Course in Miracles: I do not understand anything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place].

Just then I thought about Cindy. The foreign exchange student from China that I hung out with for a few weeks.

I was taking a class on multi-cultural competency as part of the process towards my master’s degree in counseling. Our instructor, Vince Noble asked for volunteers to escort foreign exchange students and ease their transition into the USA. He may have even offered extra credit, I can’t remember. But I volunteered and was paired up with Cindy from China.

One day, Cindy and I went to the CSULB art show. There were many paintings and several rooms filled with original art pieces created by students. We came upon a portrait of Elvis Presley. I admired the creativity of the piece. Cindy pointed at it and asked, “who is that?”

I was stunned. It was as if my life was flashing before me. I could not imagine how to describe who Elvis was. He is so many things to so many people and I couldn’t imagine what the world, or at least my world, would be like without him.

I managed to mumble out some answer about how Elvis was a rock legend and I hummed a few bars of Blue Suede Shoes and Jailhouse Rock to see if it would ring a bell.

Nothing.

I was speechless.

I had been slapped aside the head once again and reminded that just because I have an experience or a social construct built up around a certain object or person, doesn’t mean everyone else does.

I know that part of the lesson with A Course in Miracles is to realize that I can choose to live in the now, free from attachments to the past, anytime I want to. This is the only place I can experience true freedom and creativity.

So, Cindy gave me a gift that day, the gift of realizing, “I have given everything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place (on this blog)] all the meaning that it has for me.” Yes, even Elvis Presley.

It’s Sunday, Time to Go to Chuuurch

Sunday, December 7th, 2008

It Seems to Be Many religious download from Rev. AhmanI grew up around people who used the Bible as a tool for domination. It made me want to run from anyone who mentioned it. Then, I met Ahman. He understands the Bible as an empowering document.

What I love about Rev. Ahman is his uncanny ability to weave The Bible and A Course in Miracles together to help people understand spiritual healing in a very practical, freeing way.

Another cool thing about Rev. Ahman is that he’s an animated speaker. At any given time its like you get to experience a multi-faceted show with guest appearances by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor and James Brown. He is a preacher/teacher with a spunky attitude. That’s just the kind of teacher I can relate to.

Here is a recording from the Third Church of Religious Science in Leimert Park on Sunday, September 7, 2008. The topic is: “It Seems To Be Many”. It’s based on Mark, Chapter 5.


MP3 File

Object Relations, A Course in Miracles and Creating Illusions

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

I’m helping my friend with her doctoral dissertation. The important thing I want to say about it right now is that its on the topic of how Object Relations relates to eating disorders. I also need to say I read A Course in Miracles everyday. The reason for the above two sentences will make sense in a moment. Especially if you know that both of these schools of thought believe that we create our reality based on our pain and fear.

I’m going to keep it brief because the truth is, I’ve got enough to say about this that I can post one blog a day for at least a year and not run out of topics.

In short, I’ve been a walking victim for 42 or more years and I made it all up. Here’s how:

My mom and dad split up when I was 9 months old. He never wrote, called or sent child support. I made up a story about it. Here are the highlights:

*My dad doesn’t love me
*If my own dad doesn’t love me, I must be awful
*Nobody loves me

The rest of the story highlights are simply a reinforcement of above.

A Course in MiraclesWell, according to the Object Relations theory, an off-shoot of Freudian psychotherapy, I created my dad as a “bad object”. He hurt me, he abandonded me so I made up a story that basically “men cannot be trusted”. I stuck to the story whether it was true or not.

If I had a bad guy in my life, I used it as evidence. If I had a good guy, I made a point of turning him into a bad guy, even if I had to make it up.

According to A Course in Miracles, we can’t see reality because all we’re seeing is a replay of our fears. The Course says we can surrender the illusion of fear to the Holy Spirit and have our sight restored.

So, that might have been what happened tonight.

Long story short, I have seen my dad in person 3 times. The last time was over a year ago when we decided to forgive each other and try to have a relationship. From that moment, the illusion began to crumble.

Tonight it came tumbling down.

After working on Sharareh’s dissertation for 7 hours I came home and saw a book on my table. A book titled “Victory Over the Darkness.” A book my dad bought for me on Amazon.com and had shipped to my house.

It hit me. My dad is in my life now. He loves me. He wants me to forgive him. He drove across country to see me. But still, the remanents of the old story linger in the recesses of my mind.

Tonight, I thought: “What if I just let the story go right now?” “What if I had a new story about a miraculous reunification?” “What if this story could help me AND other people?”

That seemed logical. So I dropped the story and it felt pretty good.

P.S. If this story did help you, I would recommend that you subscribe to this blog because I haven’t even begun to tell it. Stay tuned.

P.P.S. Above is a picture of me and my dad at Denny’s last year when we met for the 3rd time ever and decided to forgive and let go.

Rev. Ahman – He Uses The Word Wisely

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

The Dynamics of Spiritual Mind Treatment by AhmanIf I had to name one person who’s influenced my spiritual beliefs the most and the most directly, it would be Rev. Ahman.

Ahman has a preacher-teacher style. He combines his intricate knowledge of the Bible with his practical understanding of A Course in Miracles. He is a master of communication and delivers a message that leads to mental healing.

Ahman will be the guest minister at Third Church of Religious Science in Leimert Park on Sunday, September 7. His topic is: “It Seems To Be Many” based on Mark, Chapter 5. Services begin at 10:30 a.m. at 4323 Leimert Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90008.

Ahman is the author of The Dynamics of Spiritual Mind Treatment, a book that describes the steps necessary to get the mind prepared for healing. To hear a sample of his presentation style, just click play on the player below and learn about the Mental Fast.


MP3 File

It Might Be Time for a Mental Fast

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008

In a previous blog, I promised to post a powerful mp3 called Mental Fast by Rev. Ahman. Seeing Ahman live is an experience to be had. When he gets going, he reminds me a little bit of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. This audio will stir your soul and help remind you of the power of your thoughts. Ahman encourages congregants to fast from thoughts that cause self-destruction and unhappiness. The audio is about 20 minutes long. Trust me on this one, the longer you listen, the better it gets. Hang in there, it’ll be worth it.

In this presentation, Ahman mentions his book, Spiritual Mind Treatment. You can get a copy at www.inspirationsministries.com

Ahman only speaks publicly in Los Angeles about 3-4 times a year. You will have two opportunities to see him in action on June 22. First off, he will be speaking at the Los Angeles Third Church of Religious Science in Liemert Park at 9 a.m. on the topic: “Show Us The Father.” Then, later that day he will be the M.C for the Second Annual Gospel Concert at 3 p.m., same location. I went last year and it was inspiring to say the least.

Address: 4323 Leimert Blvd. Los Angeles CA 90008
Details: 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning service
3:00 Gospel concert

Would be great to see you there.

My Tree of Life is Growing – Even If I Can’t See It

Thursday, June 5th, 2008

Tree of Spirituality and GrowthThe past few months have been scary for me and many others I know. In my case, it seemed like everything was put on hold including money. My habitual response is to panic when something like this happens but with all I know about the power of the mind, I realize I Can’t Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought. Sometimes that’s easier to say than do.

When I need powerful reassurance that everything is gonna be okay, I go to Rev. Ahman. He is excellent at tying in concepts from The Bible with A Course in Miracles and bringing them down to earth so that anyone can understand them and use them. I will post a blog with Ahman’s Mental Fast presentation within the next couple of days so you can see why I like him so much.

Ahman has given me a vision to ponder for the past few weeks. It’s me, as a tree. As I stand still and tall like a warrior, filled with faith everything I need is provided for me. The sun is absorbed by my leaves, feeding me. My roots suck in nutrients from the soil and an entire swirling mass of activity is all around me. Bugs, flies, ladybugs, butterflies, ants, wind, pollen. The constantly changing atmosphere is gradually contributing to my growth.

Yet, to look at me, it would be easy to say I look exactly the same from day to day. You cannot see growth but it is happening. It will happen faster if I let it flow, if I don’t block it with my thoughts of “not good enough”, “I’ll never make it” and “what difference does it make” and yadda, yadda, yadda. So, that’s my job, don’t allow the thoughts of resistance to block the flow that is trying to happen within me.

I can do that job pretty easily lately because I’ve been getting hypnotized by Jessica Bergvist just about once a week for the past 4 weeks. I am going with the flow more and more all the time. I have also connected with some amazing people in the past year or so. I am constantly inspired by my surroundings. Examples include hiphopphilosophy.com, working out with Your Next Victory and LA Derby Dolls, attending Agape Toastmasters and meeting with my Master Mind partners. So many wonderful people have continuted to reflect my potential back to me every day, patiently, over a period of years. They gently coaxed and nurtured me out of my state of complete self-loathing. Prior to their arrival, I was literally trapped in a shell. I could barely see out of the crudely cut holes in the cardboard box that contained me. These supportive people, in addition to my husband, have shown me a pretty cool person with a lot of potential. Believe it or not, they showed me a person I actually wanted to be but didn’t think I could be.

Darth VadarThis blog is a great example of how rapidly the “force” has been moving through me. If you look at the date on my first entry, it was May 3, 2008 (the very DAY I attended Kathe Shaff’s workshop and met Sierra and read The Ray). I have posted 27 blogs since then. I even have some pre-written blogs I haven’t published yet. I am brimming with ideas. I am unstoppable (that’s one of the suggestions Jessica put in my CD, she had me imagine I was a stream running down the side of a mountain, unstoppable, and so relaxing!)

Ahman’s son drew an outline of the tree for us to use. Each of the big leaves represents a goal you want to acheive or a vision for your life. I wrote my goals in my leaves and then colored it all in and tried to communicate some of the energy floating around this tree of me. When I focus on this image I feel happy, calm, content and satisfied. When I think of my fears and “what if” I am anxious and uptight. It doesn’t help me get anything done.

I hope you enjoy the tree. If you click on it you can see an enlarged version. If you want to support my financial unfoldment, please click on the donation button on this blog or go shopping at donateyourweight.com.