Ask: Can you clarify "God created Love"?
“… I don't recall precisely where in ACIM, but I remember
reading the sentence "God Created Love." This sentence struck me as,
in my thought process, it implied at one point Love did not exist in God's
Awareness or at least was not as Complete in His Awareeness as it is now.
(Trying not to include "time" in this concept.) I also believe the
statement was made "God IS Love" (emphasis I believe is mine).
After some attention on this (and I realize the disadvantage of trying to understand God from my particular viewpoint), I came to the conclusion that Awareness by Nature is expansive and seeks to increase. As such, it would explain a God that increases in Awareness - that is "Expansive" in Nature.
If this is True, it is logical to consider that God started at a point of Awareness and increased His Awareness from that point. It is also logical to conclude that any sane and logical expansion of Awareness would ultimately reach the Awareness of the concept of Love and would realize that Love is the Ideal Scene i.e., any solution or thought or action etc. based in Perfect Love is invariably the optimum solution/action.
At that point of Awareness, the most optimum action would be to "become love." This "becomeing of Love" would also suggest certain logical subsequent (time again) action(s) such as sharing and the "Creation of a Son," because love desires or foments the desire to share of itself…Do you have any thoughts on this subject? Can you clarify?” – MM
After some attention on this (and I realize the disadvantage of trying to understand God from my particular viewpoint), I came to the conclusion that Awareness by Nature is expansive and seeks to increase. As such, it would explain a God that increases in Awareness - that is "Expansive" in Nature.
If this is True, it is logical to consider that God started at a point of Awareness and increased His Awareness from that point. It is also logical to conclude that any sane and logical expansion of Awareness would ultimately reach the Awareness of the concept of Love and would realize that Love is the Ideal Scene i.e., any solution or thought or action etc. based in Perfect Love is invariably the optimum solution/action.
At that point of Awareness, the most optimum action would be to "become love." This "becomeing of Love" would also suggest certain logical subsequent (time again) action(s) such as sharing and the "Creation of a Son," because love desires or foments the desire to share of itself…Do you have any thoughts on this subject? Can you clarify?” – MM
A
Course in Miracles redefines many words in new ways so that, as you figure them out,
you come to see how very different is your limited experience of a self from
Truth (God). “Creation” is one word that it is vital as a student of ACIM that
you understand is used in a new way:
“If
creation is extension, the Creator must have extended Himself, and it is
impossible that what is part of Him is totally unlike the rest.”
(T-19.III.6)
In the world we use the word “creation” to mean “to bring
something into being”. As you see in this quote in ACIM “Creation” is the
extension of God’s Being. And God’s Being is one and the same throughout.
Therefore, any part of God’s Extension is God and what is not like God cannot
be of God. It is an illusion.
God is whole and complete so God has no need to bring something
into being, to expand, or to become something. “Love” is another word in ACIM
that is used differently. As people what we call “love” is attachment based on
like, familiarity, family connection, etc. In ACIM, when Love refers to God, It
means “wholeness”. The experience of God is True Love, or wholeness.
Those passages in ACIM about God increasing are from our point of
view, not God’s. The idea of “extension” is also from our point of view, not
from God’s. In God there is only God. There are no boundaries or limitations in
God so God does not need to “increase” or “extend”. Into what would God do so?
God? Then we are back to: In God there is only God. The idea of “extension”
only arises because, from our point of view, God seems to be blocked. So ACIM
uses the term “extension” to explain that God is still in your mind (“extends”
into your mind) even when you are not aware of God. God seems to “increase” as
more seemingly-separate minds experience God.
God is also beyond “awareness” (“perception” or “consciousness” in
ACIM). God is Knowledge and what God knows is God. Again, in God there is only
God. This is the meaning of “Oneness”.
So “God is Love” and “God ‘created’ Love” simply mean God is Whole
and God’s Wholeness extends everywhere, always. God is All-that-is.
The experience of a self is always lack and limitation of some
kind. You get fulfilled in one area temporarily and it only makes you aware of
how you are not whole in another area. And then eventually you may find that
are not fulfilled where you once were. You are always busy doing. From this perspective it is hard to understand pure Being
(God), in Which you do not have to do anything to be whole. But that Wholeness
is within you and it is to just this experience that ACIM leads you to open.
>>>>
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Comments
1 "What is not like God cannot be of God." It is an illusion.
2 We are an illusion and are not like God and are not of God.
3 "So ACIM uses the term "extension" to explain that God is still in your mind (extends into your mind) even when you are not aware of God.
4 So number three is not referring to Liz or Will. Liz and Will are not of God, they are the illusion in numbers 1 and 2.
5 "So "God is Love" and 'God created Love" simply mean God is Whole and God's Wholeness extends everywhere..."
6 But number 5 is not referring to Liz and Will. As the illusion we are not part of "everywhere."
So your explanation to MM's question is not about MM who we think of as a person.
Your mind is an extension of God's Mind. But the idea you have in your mind that you are a personality in a body (a self) is not of God. (This idea is represented by the personal thought system/ego). It is a false idea; an "illusion". Therefore, you need to open yourself to the Truth in your mind (Awareness of Truth/Holy Spirit), Which is still there even though you may not be aware of It. That's ACIM in a nutshell.
Mind is not something that can be conceptualized. It has no boundaries to conceptualize. But you experience it. I did not come to see myself as mind through a concept or by telling myself I am a mind. I attended to what was occurring in my mind and over time I saw how I made my "world" through my thoughts. That's when I understood I am mind.
"You" are the mind split between Truth and illusion.
Anyway, these concepts are not important. What is important is the practice. The understanding comes from that. You have thoughts that cause you conflict. Look at those thoughts. Examine them; question them with the Other part of your mind (HS) by being open to It. Just always bring it back to your mind (and don't worry about what "your" means - you experience a mind, that's all that matters). Understanding will come from this practice.
and when you say
"Just always bring it back to your mind (and don't worry about what "your" means - you experience a mind, that's all that matters). Understanding will come from this practice."
do you mean that by bringing attention to our thoughts and their effects to our individual mind, we will in time come to understand one Mind?
By paying attention to your own thoughts you will come to understand that you are a mind and that that is all you are aware of. I don't know if this is what you mean by "one Mind".
which is probably relating to wills comments about 'who' is experiencing extension? (ken wapnick says it is usually a shock to realise that acim is not (at all? usually?) speaking to you as the person you think you are, but to 'you' as the One mind dreaming the whole story, all the seemingly individual stories.. assuming i understood him, laugh!)
oh hang on! acim says one identity cannot know the other identity, right? ego cant understand or experience holy spirit? and holy spirit cant experience ego as real, though it can understand it??
so, liz, that comment re ken wapnicks explanation probably explains clearer what i meant by one mind. i dont think i actually get what you are talking about at all yet!
"By paying attention to your own thoughts you will come to understand that you are a mind and that that is all you are aware of." mind is all that i am aware of? oh, hang on again.. thats the same as saying my thoughts make my world, right!?
Will, im a bit embarrassed that i like changing my profile pic, like, basically, its unspiritual.. because i choose pics i like, that stroke my ego somewhat, for whatever reason, be it a pic i think is interesting, attractive, funny. and im ashamed of that! on facebook i post pics i like regardless of if i judge them to be 'nice' ones of me or not, cos id rather not qive it (appearance) a second thought, though i obviously do, drat it ;) as a child my school friends told me i was the ugly one but very nice, so maybe ive just got some forgiving to do.. well, that was hard to write! i DO have a rubber face, laugh! im cringing at this.. so im not deleting it. maybe that just being unkind to myself? but i find so far that when i do that, (post things here that expose parts of my self that i judge against) that usually something starts to loosen.
At times like these - feeling ashamed, shoulda, coulda, woulda, moments - that we may ask ourselves: "Who is after me?"
'dream of your brothers kindnesses instead of dwelling in your dreams on his mistakes. select his thoughtfulness to dream about instead of counting up the hurts he gave. forgive him his illusions, and give thanks to him for all the helpfulness he gave. and do not brush aside his many gifts because he is not perfect in your dreams, he represents his father, whom you see as offering both life and death to you.'
but there are still so many times when i am not feeling forgiving, where i do let 'pain disturb my dream of deep appreciation of loves gifts'. for example.. when i feel self pity, laugh!! and when what i think i know stops me from listening ;)
having written that out, i can see that acceptance of the ego (or.. looking on the ego with kindness) is something im still only just really looking at at all. i dont know where the line between letting myself be and putting up with unnecessary bs is! i feel like im playing a game of constant ping pong with myself.
My pleasure. ("...holding both bats.." great image). And all your pictures are nice.
the things i had studied before ACIM awakened me to the possibility that my childhood idea that inside of every single being was something truly astonishingly beautiful and exactly the same in all of us maybe wasnt so childish after all, but only ACIM really got to the heart of the whys of the insanity of it all, and had a mythology that didnt just make no sense, it began to paint a picture of a god, or a truth, that wasnt basically as insane as this world. it started to slooowly allow me to begin to sort out what is true from what is not true, to tentatively have the courage to let go of shame enough to be honest. to start to see what i was projecting and why. and gave me a nice gentle easing into being a tad more disciplined with my focus, laugh, a real feat for one so higgledy-piggledy in general! im going on a bit (surprising, hey ;) ) as i just made a deeper connection around dissociation and guilt and projection, and am feeling so damn grateful. to all of it, im so glad the insanity was sharp enough that it was check out or find another way of relating to myself! and im grateful to you will, for being a damn fine mirror, and a wonderful companion on this stage of learning to trust that only the truth is true. i cant exclude anyone from that, not at this moment, laugh ;) but there have been many times when reading your words in particualr, alongside liz, has just dissipated the feeling of loneliness ive felt. not entirely sure why, but there it is! many thanks xx
Recently I had a conversation with someone about spiritual paths. I mentioned that I was studying A Course in Miracles. "Gee", said the other person, "I never heard of that. How
long does it take?"
Gosh, how does "a lifetime" sound? Yeah, that "course" word can be a bit deceiving...
'It seems to take many, many, many years to get to a quiet mind meditating. But is the goal to have a quiet mind or to connect with God? You can connect with God even with a noisy mind. You simply need to find the quiet among all the noise and rest there as all the commotion goes past. Your mind does not have to be absolutely quiet to connect with God.'
anonymous and will.. thanks again, laughing!
Around 2006 I was a year or so into doing the Course. I was taking care of my parents back in NJ. I was under their house, in the crawl hole, fixing some plumbing. I can do a lot of stuff but I hate plumbing. It wasn't going well. I was lying in the dirt, there were spiders and other assorted creatures climbing on me which I don't like but can tolerate having done this kind of work for a living. It was the freeking pipes that were fighting me. I could feel it welling up inside me, this rage, and I crawled out from under the house and just started cursing and yelling as loud as I could. I'm sure the whole neighborhood was on lockdown. If there were schools nearby they would be locking them down too. Loud. I called Liz. I was sweating, dirty and just at the end of my rope. I don't remember Liz saying much and after awhile I went back under the house. Now tonight, my bedside table came in the mail. It's like one of those hospital tables that have wheels people in bed eat off of. It's made of walnut and is a pretty nice little table. It has a tilt top and you can raise and lower it. I bought it because I have some really big heavy art books that I want to look at before bed. I even bought an adjustable book holder to do with it. It came in pieces, with multiple screws, bolts and other pieces to put it together. And the instructions. It's either Japanese or from China, I haven't looked at the writing on the box very close. I've done a ton of these things and I'm not intimidated any more. So I sitting there and I put the hinges on backward and I start laughing. A two year old would have stopped me from doing it. I just kept laughing at myself, the mistake, the person sitting on the floor putting this thing together. And that's the way it is almost all the time. I'm laughing at Will, who he is, rather than the other.
After the last post I sat back down on the floor and began putting the table together again. The wood is pretty hard and the screws are pretty cheap and I'm having a hard time getting them in. I know it's only a matter of time and I'm going to twist the head off one of them leaving the screw body in the wood without a head. Not good. So I get out my drill and start drilling holes to enlarge them. Then POW!! You guys probably have a sense what happened. The insulation around the power cord right at the entrance to the drill had worn out long ago so I rewrapped it with electrical tape. I guess the old tape wore out because with a FLASH the wires touched and it blew the cord right out of the drill. Burned the cord right in half. So my reaction to all this? I was getting tired and it was time to quit anyway. If it wasn't this something else would have happened. AND I get a new power drill!! There was a time when the sliding glass doors would have been in danger over this incident:)
I recently had an email Q&A with Liz where I proposed a mentoring session in which we would "hunt for my obstacles to willingness" and uncover them so I could undo them once and for all."That's not the way it works" said Liz. Just deal with them as they show up throughout the day. At the time my issue was why I could not turn away from the news and turn to Truth instead. A meditation revealed that I felt if I were not personally vigilant 24/7 in the face of what I saw as an assault on democracy, I would be overrun and obliterated. Not so, said the facts so I took a break from the news and felt much better for it. In the wake of N mounting new evidence of Trump's traitorous behavior in colluding with the Russians however, I'm back almost where I started but with a healthier attitude. So now I go back and forth - a little Trump, a little Truth.
Liz would say that my emotional charge (anger/fear) regarding the Trump situation reveals that my belief in guilt is real and that I am projecting my guilt onto Trump and his supporters. I have no reason to doubt that but also no reason to believe it either ie. no direct experience of these concepts - they are just words to me at this time. So I just keep going. I do feel it's important to be vigilant in the face of what is going on but with a flatter affect - if and when I can manage it.
Some people in this current blog seemed to be struggling with some painful issues of ego attacks on the self. I have tons of experience with this but am happy to say that after studying for 4 years with Liz and of course on my own, these self-attacks are few and far between, certainly feel much less intense. The bulk of my guilt is projected outward toward perceived threats. The Course would say that it's all the same thing but I like this version better while realizing there is still no real peace in it.
Regarding dreams. I know its hard not to place importance in them considering our fascination with Freud and others, but at this point I see them as nothing more then surreal
dramatizations of ego nonsense. More of the same in cryptic form.
And now, back to Trump. What a life.
i have never been much focused on politics, but during the term of our last prime minister tony abbot, i started having intense fear reactions due mainly to environmental choices that government were making (mainly dredging near the great barrier reef to make more efficient shipping routes) and changes to the education and health systems, for example going to tafe (technical and further education) used to be easily accessible to people in all income brackets, even if they couldnt afford university, due to government subsiding, and it is now no longer so. it all seemed so insane. then i started having dreams about tony abbot, where i saw his fear and my attack on him. i saw his fear mirroring my own.. so we are afraid (on the worldly level) of different things.. and in his defense against what he perceives as attack on what he sees as valuable, and what keeps people 'safe', he was seeming to attack what i felt was valuable, and what keeps people safe. the end of one dream in which tony abbots ear was almost ripped off, i was sitting in a room with tony abbots wife, she was asking me to help him, and from the balcony i could see a whole heap of dogs attacking a friend of mine. that day i was listening to a talk by ken wapnick in which he spoke of the way we actively choose to send out 'hungry dogs of fear' to find victims of our fear guilt anger etc. i couldnt see him as fundamentally different from me after that.
so i guess you could accurately say that the dream WAS a surreal dramatizations of ego nonsense.. it was about perception, it was about egos, and it was a learning within the ego system, as all learning here is. but it was leading me away from attack, to a way of seeing that held more love in it, so it had personal value, i was hearing the holy spirit through the nonsense, lol! i finally understand what liz was saying about the dreams and the synchronicities in my life/mind not having meaning.. only the truth has actual meaning.. but the temporary meaning they have for me as a way of shifting into more loving perceptions, is so helpful. but they will fall away in time im sure of it.
a course ism just popped into my head.. it tells us that all thing, circumstances and events are helpful, once we choose that that be so.. if ive got that right, laugh ;)