Omega Psychotherapy
"Healing into Wholeness"
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Developing A Contemplative Life
Adapted for ACIM meeting on Sunday, April 19th, 2009, further adapted for ACIM meeting on April 26th, and finally adapted for ACIM meeting on May 3rd. Tom Baker (tbaker@omega.hrcoxmail.com) The Examined Life Traditions: Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology, Edgar Cayce’s life
readings, A Course in Miracles. The Inclusive Heart Traditions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, A Course In Miracles To see a World in a Grain of Sand The Quiet Mind Traditions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, A Course In Miracles On April 9th, 2009, also known as Holy Thursday in the Roman Catholic calendar, I gave a talk on the experience of God in everyday life, dividing that experience into three parts: (1) the examined life, which is the modern approach to spirituality based on humanistic and transpersonal psychology, (2) the inclusive heart, the vital center of the semetic religions, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, and (3) the quiet mind, the meditative focus of the eastern religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism. As I gave the presentation I noticed how easy it was to talk about the contemplative experience using these three approaches. I began to wonder how it would be to approach the study of A Course In Miracles in terms of the examined life, the inclusive heart, and the quiet mind. As is evident above, I picked out the lessons in the first two hundred that sounded like they might apply to the examined life and used them as the basis for our discussion Sunday evening (April 19, 2009). As the discussion around the thirteen lessons I had chosen proceeded we touched upon some of the vital elements of human life. When we looked at Lesson 2, I have given everything I see…all the meaning that it has for me it was noted that very early on in the Course we are asked to take responsibility for how we see the world and everything and everyone in the world. I suggested that in order to be true to that responsibility in our discussions that when we were talking about a relationship or interaction with someone that we use the 85/15 rule, 85 per cent us and 15 per cent them. When we examine our lives from the perspective of giving everything the meaning it has for us, the amount of blame and victimization we can justify is enormously reduced. God is blamed not at all. “Make no attempt to include anything paticular, but b sure tht nothing is specifically excluded.” Several people noticed how Lessons 20 & 21, I am determined to see…… I am determined to see things differently addressed the issue of will which Edgar Cayce said is the strongest part of the human mind. When determination is introduced into the Course, what might devolve into a series of mental exercises becomes an impassioned desire to see as the Holy Spirit sees, to discover the face of the Christ in every face we meet. “This is our first attempt to introduce structure. Do not misconstrue it as an effort to exert force or pressure.” I noted that Lesson 24, I do not perceive my own best interests requires a degree of humility we are not used to and a commensurate trust in the Holy Spirit Who does perceive our own best interests. One of my insights gained from doing therapy, especially with couples, is that when we are afraid and/or angry we do not doubt the rightness of what we claim. If we are afraid and angry most of the time, as the Course claims the ego has made seem normal for us, then most of what we confidently claim we want and need we actually do not. “In no situation that arises do you realize the outcome that would make you happy.” Lesson 35, My mind is part of God’s. I am very holy is how the Holy Spirit sees us. The idea that we are holy is always hard for us, “holy” being an exceptional virtue for the ego, possessed only by the rare saint or ascended master. The notion that our minds are part of God’s brought up for some the issue of privacy and individuality. We agreed however that most of our secret, awful thoughts were shared by the rest of us and when brought to the light of sharing were not so bad after all. “You will believe that you are part of where you think you are. That is because you surround yourself with the environment you want. And you want it to protect the image of yourself that you have made.” One person who was currently worried about her finances was greatly comforted by Lesson 50, I am sustained by the love of God. No one objected. “All these things [pills, money, ‘protective’ clothing, influence, prestige, being liked, knowing the right people] are your replacements for the Love of God.” Lesson 73, I will there be light reminded me that the Course calls us as Jesus called his disciples “the light of the world.” The light that we will is already among us as each other. “Do you really want to be in hell? Do you really want to weep and suffer and die?” Lesson 98, I will accept my part in God’s plan for salvation, I noted, is the hardest one for me to remember. I keep wanting it to read God will accept His part in my plan for my salvation with wishes and prayers following. Humility once again is required. “We dedicate ourselves to truth today, and to salvation as God planned it to be. We will not argue it is something else. We will not seek for it where it is not.” Lesson 100, My part is essential to God’s plan for salvation is the Course’s version of self esteem. One person asked what exactly was God’s plan for salvation and another answered that he thought that the Holy Spirit directed each person, so the plan was both individualized and mysterious and not explainable in a general way. I thought this was brilliant and followed it up with the idea that the world without any of us would be like the world without butterflies or blue birds or roses. Someone added “rainbows” and I mischieviously said, “cockroaches” and everyone made faces. But I was remembering Emmanuel saying that we would be greatly surprised and rather divinely edified to see ourselves from the perspective of a roach. “God’s will for you is perfect happiness.” In humanistic psychology the major positive dogma is that you begin to love yourself. Lesson 139, I will accept Atonement for myself is the Holy Spirit’s version of loving yourself. In other words, accept that there is no reason for you ever to be afraid. You are the holy Son (Daughter) of God. You cannot lose your life and you cannot lose your worth. Somewhere in the realm of spirit Sigmund Freud and Mr. Rogers are walking arm in arm and smiling. “Here is the end of choice. For here we ome to a decision to accept ourselves as God created us. And what is choice except uncertainty of what we are? There is no doubt that is not rooted here. There is no question but reflects this one. There is no conflict that does not entail the single, simple question, ‘What am I?’” Although no one would probably admit to worrying about cruelty being in themselves or still believing that God could be cruel, these beliefs, though carefully suppressed, are alive and well in our subconscious minds or else we would never think we deserve punishment or fear it in the form of bad fortune or karma. So Lesson 170, There is no cruelty in God and none in me is an important truth to remind ourselves of over and over again. “How thoroughly insane is the idea that to defend from fear is to attack!” I truly love the Hindu idea that the most important thing to know about yourself is what you really, really want. We spend lifetimes figuring that one out. The Course in Lesson 185, I want the peace of God gives us the answer and then five lessons later suggests why we don’t easily want what we really, really want: Lesson 190, I choose the joy of God instead of pain. In the oddest way we have come to want pain so as to have gain, with sacrifice we get love and our dreams come true; after a long week we thank God that it’s Friday. “The mind which means that all it wants is peace must join with other minds, for that is how peace is obtained.”----L. 185; “Pain is a sign illusions reign in place of truth. It demonstrates God is denied, confused with fear, perceived as mad, and seen as traitor to Himself.”----L. 190. Sunday, May 3, 2009 I do not have a new set of lessons to look at since in the group we did not finish the above lessons. However, I have a few new ideas. I have been praying lately for guidance in my spiritual life, praying with ferver and sincerity. When I do this there are always results, usually in the form of new books and people who come my way. About three years ago I had a telephone psychic reading from a woman named Liz Voohees who channels an entity with a Cokney accent named Ruthie (email: lizv555@yahoo.com & website: www.ruthiewisdom.com. She told me something about myself that, although not particularly amazing was very accurate. She said that in this life I am like a dog who runs around digging up bones and other treasures and I bring them back excited with my tail wagging and show them to anyone who is interested. That’s me. My latest treasure is a book by Wayne S. Peterson entitled Extraordinary Times, Extraordinary Beings which tells the story of Mr. Peterson’s experience with a being named Maitreya, supposedly the second coming but not yet manifested person of Jesus, and what are known in psychic circles as the Masters of Wisdom. I had never heard of Maitreya and much of what Mr. Peterson writes about is pretty hard to believe. But that has never stopped me before. However, insights rather than predictions, are my big interest. Late in his book Mr. Peterson quotes Krishnamurti to the effect that true meditation or what St. Paul refers to as “to pray constantly” is “the correct observation of life…….observation when the observer is not.” This is different from the technique of meditation, but is more a way of seeing without the little self or the ego addled self in the way. Krishnamurti also calls it “observation without prejudice.” Mr. Peterson thinks this agrees with Maitreya. I think this is how A Course In Miracles teaches us to see and in a number of places refers to as “vision.” If I see my life and you without the lens of the past and my fearful and guilt-ridden obsessions, then I see my life and you as you are: what is rather than what I want to be true for me. Thus meditation and the Course are about seeing things as they are and, as Byron Katie so succinctly puts it, “loving what is.” The hard to believe part is a kind of second manifestation of Jesus as Maitreya which Mr. Peterson describes as follows: “Those following the emergence of Maitreya are waiting for a very special day called the Day of Declaration, which will be like a second Pentecost. On that day, Maitreya will appear on worldwide television. His words of inspiration will telepathically sound in every person’s mind----in their own language. His energy of Love will enter the hearts of all, galvanizing humanity to save the world, and hundreds of thousands of spontaneous healings will occur.” (Peterson, pp. 129-130).Mr. Peterson goes on to say that Maitreya will continue to be present to humankind, guiding us into a thousand year period of peace and spiritual enlightenment. Part of me believes every word of this and can’t wait for the big moment. The other part of me, which I refer to as the grown up, knows that the history of Christianity and all the world religions abound with predictions of second comings and final judgments and perfect worlds which seem to have never quite panned out. So I count on insights but allow myself unthinkable dreams. I must say the election of an African American president gives the grown up pause and the young dreamer a little hope. Next week I will look at lessons that reflect the inclusive heart and have a few things to say about Mother’s Day.
This talk is reprinted from www.TomBakerOmega.com
© Thomas P. Baker 2009 Omega Psychotherapy — 923 First Colonial Rd. Suite 1809 Virginia Beach, VA 23454 ·Telephone: (757) 437-0008 |
