Forgiveness

When I have done radio interviews, one of the questions that keeps coming up is about forgiveness. Have I forgiven my mother for what she did to me? I reply to this with another question. At what level do you want to look at forgiveness? As I have risen to a higher perspective, my view of forgiveness has evolved. When I was going through the early years of therapy, there was a period that I cut off contact with her for about a year. I was angry with her for what she did, and then I came to a certain level of acceptance and forgiveness. This is the typical reaction of the world --- forgiveness follows anger. But there is a false premise underlying this scenario, for it assumes that someone is forgiving something which is true. We do this because this what we are taught by the world's religions that this is what we are supposed to do.

When you forgive something that you believe truly happened, then you always feel uncomfortable about it. There is always that small thought which reminds you of the offense committed by that person, even when you think that you have forgiven them. And that uneasiness is the way that it should be, because if they have truly wronged you, attacked you, etc. then how can you forgive this. But this is the perspective that we use when we see through eyes of separation, when we see bodies. Bodies that are separate from you are capable of attacking you. When I moved to a higher perspective and I began to see through eyes of Oneness, this lower perspective of forgiveness passed away. We are One, and this is your dream of separation. You are the writer, the actor, the director, and the producer of everything that happens to you. There is nothing random, and every one of your encounters, regardless of how minor, is pulled to you, by you, on purpose. Everything! You probably believe that only some of the things that happen to you are fated, but it is all or nothing, otherwise the universe would be chaos. This was not an understanding I gained overnight; it evolved until I knew that there was nothing random. What a beautiful model of how the body of God works!

Since there is nothing random and you are pulling every encounter and every circumstance to you, there must be a purpose. You are not doing this to yourself so that you will suffer. You are doing this to grow in perspective and to remember God. So when someone wrongs you, whether it be minor, like a mean comment, or whether it be major, like the rape of a loved one, you are pulling this to you. Now, I can see the thoughts flying through your head that says this guy is crazy --- I would never choose to have my sister raped. And I will say at the level of your personality or egoic mind, you would not choose that. But when we move to a higher perspective, we realize that we have been seeing and judging through that egoic mind and that nothing happens outside the Will of God. Only the Will of God exists, because God is One. Only God exists. There is no choice which is made that is independent of another. In the Oneness we don't see separate bodies that can attack or wrong us. Those that appear in a body and are part of your dream are really God in disguise doing a hell of an acting job so that you can evolve in perspective. With you/God (one and the same) doing these wrongs to you, what is there to forgive? These acts or wrongs did not happen in the way that you think they did. At the reality of Love, which is the only true reality, they really didn't happen at all.

What is the difference between Jesus and Hitler

Nothing. They were both just actors in a play. They were both divine, regardless of their actions. If you see a difference, you are using your own (unique only to you) belief system to cast judgment on what is good and bad. Can you utilize discernment instead of judgment? Judgment is based on a system of good and bad. It is based on a belief in sin. But sin does not exist. God is expressing through each of us, and we are inseparable from His perfection. If you have a hard time with this, then know that you are judging yourself and that you see yourself as sinful. Few people feel this at the foundation that holds this belief. It is too painful, too scary. As opposed to judgment, discernment sees actions not as bad and good but rather as choices that we would decide not to make. I would choose not to do the same actions as Hitler, but I know that he was an expression and manifestation of God, as am I. And I am one with him. So if I see his actions as sinful, I am seeing myself as sinful. When you no longer see Hitler as a body, separate from you, that performed horrific acts, you will see through eyes of unity. And when you see through eyes of unity, you no longer judge his actions as anything other than what an actor might do in a play. See how this all ties in together?

Of course, there was one important "difference" between Jesus and Hitler. They differed in their recognition. We exist on a continuum (no separation). In his recognition Jesus was at one end of the continuum, and Hitler was at the other. At a personality or worldly level, Hitler thought that was all he consisted of. He did not recognize his divinity at all. Otherwise, he would not have committed those acts. Jesus fully recognized his divinity. He saw his personality/worldly mind as a very small part of him, and he saw that this personality would pass away when this segment of the dream ended for him, leaving only his true essence. So opposite ends of the continuum. But when we look at the continuum, we realize that it must be a circle, because there is no separation. If it is a circle, when you put the two ends of the continuum together, Jesus and Hitler are right next to each other. Very interesting. In essence, this tells you to not be fooled by appearances, nor should we take anything as hard and fast or black and white. In God, everything blends to grey.

Are You Afraid Of Losing Your Job Or Your House?

Well, obviously you are not alone. It is understandable in these times to have such fears. But are these fears serving you? What exactly is in your control?

I want to make a distinction. You think that earning money, keeping your job, etc. are in your control, but they are not in your control in the way you think, thus they are not really in your control. Or better yet, you are affecting what happens (having control) in a negative way. If you are out of work, you believe that you can get a new job through effort --- putting out large numbers of resumes, furthering your education to make you more attractive to employers, etc. If you are competing against many others out of work, which is increasingly the case these days, you may believe that it is hard to impossible to get any decent job. But neither of these beliefs is real. They are beliefs which are based on this illusory world. They are based only on appearances, just as who you think you are is based on a false belief in your ego/personality as real. What is Real is not based on anything as fleeting as appearances. Because you create your reality through thought, as your fear increases, you effectively ask God and the Universe to bring you more of the same (less money, job loss). This puts you in a deadly downward spiral as what you fear most becomes manifested.

You think that having money and a house will keep you safe. Basically, you believe in the appearance of separation and the body as who you are. Your Source is unlimited, but in order to tap in to that Source, which is the Kingdom of God, you must withdraw your belief in separation. When you do that, you know with complete certainty that God will provide all of your needs. You need only to open to the abundance that surrounds you and of which you are a part. There could be unemployment of 50%, but if you know that as a part of God you have available to you all of His peace, joy, and abundance, you will be fine. And I don't mean fine as in just being at peace with everything. I also mean finding a job, your perfect job, when everything arounds you looks bleak. That is true control. That is manipulating the system - LOL! Now is the time for you to come to the knowing that He is present with you at all times and that fear is not real. For the majority will not come to that understanding, and as their fear grows, you have the opportunity, through contrast, to open an incredible world. You have the opportunity to take an evolutionary leap in your remembrance.

Looking Outside Yourself

Why do we constantly look to others to save us? President Obama has a great Light in and around him, and people are placing their hopes on him. But they are also placing their heavy expectations. They expect that he will solve all of their problems in quick fashion. But there are several problems with this outlook. First, purely from a worldly perspective, these problems were not created overnight. But more importantly, we need to look at these problems from a higher perspective, not a worldly one. Albert Einstein said that you can't solve a problem in the same field of consciousness in which the problem was created. So you can't solve this economic crisis by throwing more money at the situation or by trying to fix the problem. This "problem" is a spiritual issue. Everything is a spiritual issue, not what it appears --- an economic problem, a racial problem, etc. This turmoil we are encountering now is collectively, as the One, what we have decided our course of action to be.

So if you, as part of the One, have decided this to be the course of action, then you have personal responsibility for what is happening. Don't cast the blame on anyone else, and don't look to anyone else, including the President to fix the problem. It is not fixable until you see it from a different perspective, until you no longer see it as a problem that you, as a body, are encountering. Because you are not a body! Looking to the government to fix this is no different than looking to a pastor or priest or rabbi to teach you about God or to be your intermediary to God. You give your power away when you do this. You believe that you are small, separate, and sinful, and you would never think that you could talk to God directly. Heaven forbid you entertain the thought that you are One with God. But you are. The answers to this crisis --- the answers to everything lie within you.

The Spiritual Search and Enlightenment

There may be a number of people who read this post and get angry. And that is good! Because when you have a reaction to something, it is an invitation to explore why you have the reaction and ultimately, to drop the false belief that has created the reaction. If you see yourself on a search for enlightenment, whatever form that may be (and we will come back to that), then you are trying to run toward something. Which means that you are running AWAY from something else. You are running away from your present life, how you see yourself, your concept of perfection, your concept of God, etc. Anytime we run away from something we are seeing with eyes of Duality, not Unity. God is All, so when you search for something different, you put one thing as better or more preferable than another. This gives the impression of a split that cannot occur, for God is One, God is All, and you are part of that Oneness. You are part of that perfection. So when we see differences, we see from a split mind --- that doesn't really exist. It is this split mind which undertakes the search for something better, because this split mind, knowing at some level that it is not real, has to constantly reinforce itself.

So enlightenment is not something separate from you. If you are All as part of God, you must already possess this thing which you search for. But possess is not the right word. You ARE this thing which you search for. So it is just a recognition you need to make. There is and can be no change. Now, there are many ways that you can fool yourself by not recognizing the search that you are on. Because if you keep searching and keep fooling yourself, you will never have to "face the music." You believe that facing the music will be very hard, painful, and punishing by God as He sees your "sins." But none of this is true. Yes, there may be a little angst as you release false beliefs, but there is joy, love, perfection, and wholeness on the other side. This is what you already are --- it is just a matter of recognition. So what are you searching for? Even if it is not enlightenment, maybe it is a good companion, a better career. It can be any number of things. Don't be fooled by the form in which you search. Searching for something like a companion or job is no different than searching for enlightenment. Now people will say that living in the world means that you have a job, a spouse, etc., and sometimes we change jobs, get married. This is true, but take a close look at your search. Are you dissatisfied with your current situation, for this is eyes of Duality. Change that comes as part of the River of Life means that you recognize the perfection as you are but you are open to change within that perfection. It is a subtle but important difference.

Did Jesus Die For Our Sins?

If you have read my last post about sin, then you probably think you know my answer. But I may surprise you on this one. This is one of those deals where our belief system determines the answer, and since our belief system is different than others, plus we change our beliefs constantly, then the answer is not Truth. Only the changeless (God) is Truth. So the answer to the question of this post is "true" for everyone where they are at. Plus it is more muddled than that.

Jesus died for our sins to show us that sin never existed. If you are a person who believes in the standard Christian theology that you were born in sin, then by Jesus' act he took your sins away from you. And in a sense he did that, although you are not taking the same path to the answer. Jesus was crucified because those who condemned him to death projected their sins on to him, in their belief system only. He was such a bright light that they were afraid of the light shining upon them and revealing their sins to God. Since they were under a belief system of sin, they also believed in separation from God and from each other, and they believed in the body as real. Thus by destruction of Jesus' body and his death, the sins which they had projected on to him were destroyed. In the several centuries after his death, early Christian theologians operated under the same belief system as those who had sent Jesus to his death, but they certainly did not understand the psychology of projection, thus they came to the logical conclusion that their sins had been "taken away" (not projected) by his sacrifice. And until someone begins to break through the belief in separation, they will continue to see it that way.

So back to the original question. But first that brings up another question that has to be answered. Jesus knew that these people were projecting their sins on to him and that they believed in the destruction of these sins through the death of his body. But he also knew that sin and separation do not exist, thus his crucifier's line of thinking was illusory. Why did he permit himself to be crucified? He could have "blinked" out of there at any time --- you know, gone to the live the sweet life somewhere on Earth or just left his body to return to the heart of God. He stayed, because he knew that "sin" would be "gone" either way someone interpreted his death. Only through his death could he show that sin never existed. Some people would come to this understanding by never starting with the belief that they were born in sin. Others would believe in sin initially and still have the final conclusion that they were sinless; they would just come in a different route to get there. They would see the falsity of their belief system from a different viewpoint, as they would first have to come to an understanding that they have projected their sins on to others and the world. Sin was not taken away in the way which they thought, as they came to see that it only existed in their own belief system.

By either way you could "say" that Jesus died for our sins. As you become more aware of who you truly are, you understand that we can never die, that you can destroy the body in this dream only. And you understand that sin does not exist, that at its worst it could be described as error. So Jesus was a savior to the world, for he illuminated many unique paths to God.

To Sin or not to Sin

Are we sinless, or are we sinful? Everyone wants to say that we are both, but that is impossible. Can you be partially pregnant? So if you believe that you can both, you have been fooling yourself. There are actions, thoughts, experiences, relationships --- whatever it is --- that you don't want to give up. You hold on to them because they define you. You can not imagine yourself as completely guiltless. You have known the victim role for so long that you would not know how to live without it. It scares you, just as God scares you. You don't even want to acknowledge your particular "sins", because to do so would mean that God will see them. And you fear punishment by Him for these "sins". So you tell yourself that you have some good (sinless) qualities, because somehow in your mind, that balances the "sins". It makes you feel better at the surface, while at a deep level, you hope that God's punishment will not be forthcoming because there are some "good" qualities within you. But as shown at the start of this blog, you are either completely sinful or completely sinless. There is no in between. How will you choose to see yourself?

You have no secrets from God, because God is All, and God expresses through you. So let's first drop the idea that you can hide anything from God. But that is not really the point here; it is only an intermediate step. Since God expresses through you and God is All, if you are completely sinful, God is as well. If you try to tell me that God is sinless and you are sinful, then you are still looking through eyes of separation, not unity. So is God sinful? You know the answer to that. God is Love. It is all Love, and we are one with that Love. Only sinlessness exists, and you are completely sinless. BY YOUR EXISTENCE! There is nothing you have to do, or be, or say to be sinless. If we asked one thousand people what a sin was, we would get one thousand answers. Sin is arbitrary. It varies from person to person as your belief system, which is created through your own experiences, varies. Anything that is arbitrary is not of God, as He is changeless. You are part of and One with that eternal changlessness. One of the funny parts to this is that God, because He is changeless, is not aware of illusion. He cannot be aware of something that is not of Him. So He is not aware of these crazy ideas of sin that each of us have. Each of us goes through this crazy process of worrying about and feeling guilty about our sins, as well as trying to avoid punishment, and He knows nothing of this. THIS IS ALL HAPPENING IN YOUR OWN MIND. Your "sins" and your beliefs around them are solely unique to you. We spend so much wasted energy on something that falls away once we withdraw belief from it. When we withdraw belief, we laugh at all of the mind games we played on ourself, and we see our sinlessness shining through for all eternity.