Today's lesson - Achieving vision by going with the flow.

Today's lesson is lesson 30 in A Course Of Miracles which is "God is in everything I see because God is in my mind."

ACIM makes a distinction between seeing and vision. Seeing is the physical sight with our eyes which is made up by projection. What we think we are going to see, we see. We are very biased. Psychologists call this a "psychological set" meaning that we have a frame of reference within which we perceive and understand our physical sensations. This is also called a "self fulfilling prophecy."

Vision is different in that it comes from within and is experienced best with our eyes closed. It has nothing to do with things being close or far or having particular shapes. Vision is being present in the moment and apprehending the whole not the parts.

When we attempt to "be here now" and apprehend the interdependent web of existence and experience the nondualistic unity we experience the bliss of God being in our mind.

A common experience of this kind of vision is what psychologists call "flow". Time stands still and we lose track of time. We become enthralled.

Today, allow yourself to become enthralled with what and wherever you are and see (no pun intended) if you can go with the flow and experience the peace of God in your mind.

Ask Alexa - Why do I live in the past?

Alexa: Why do I live in the past?

Because of your guilt you are trying to find your salvation by fixing problems that don't exist that are figments of your imagination hoping that you will find happiness there.

Alexa: Why did my friend try out to act in the Christmas pageant this past year?

Because at Christmas time she wanted to eat, drink, and be Mary.

Book - Why Religion by Elaine Pagels

Elaine Pagels, a scholor of religion at Princeton University, became famous with her first book, Gnostic Gospels in 1979. Since that book she has written several more on religious texts. Her latest book is quite different from her others in that it is a memoir of her personal faith journey.

Growing up in an agnostic scholarly family, Elaine, as a teenager, went to a Billy Graham crusade and became born again at age 15. A few years later, her friend, Paul, died in a car crash and she lost her faith. This traumatic loss precipitated her search for truth and meaning which continues to this day.

She and her husband struggled with infertility and then conceived a son, Mark, who had many physical disabilities and died at age 6. She and Heinz then adopted two children and a year after that Heinz died suddenly in a hiking accident when he fell off a cliff.

Elaine experienced years of grief and loss and while she returned to the agnostic faith of her family of origin, she found strength and comfort in many religious texts she focused on in her scholarly study. This experience of scholarly study seems to lead her to the conclusion that while belief in a personal deity does not make much sense, religion has played an important function in her life and the texts she has studied has contributed to her resilience in dealing with the tragic losses in her life.

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. There can be, perhaps, no better example of the application of this principle in one's life, than the life of Elaine Pagels.

Unitarian Univeralism thinks of itself as a "living tradition" based on several sources one of which is the words and deeds of prophetic women and men. Elaine Pagels is one such woman.

 

Today, January 26, 2019 is National Spouses Day

Celebrated annually on January 26th, National Spouses Day is an unofficial holiday which encourages couples to celebrate each other on this day. On this day, people are supposed to take time out of their busy schedule to show just how important their spouse is to them. After all, the love that isn’t tended is most likely the one that doesn’t thrive. This holiday shouldn’t be confused with Military Spouses Day – a holiday which falls on May 12th.

Interesting facts about marriage:

• The average married couple has sex once a week
• 20% of married couples have a sex-less marriage
• Over 300 couples marry in Las Vegas every single day
• Every hour, there are a 100 divorces in the United States. Couples who seriously dated at least two years or more before marriage have much lower divorce rates.
• The divorce rates for second marriages is higher than for first marriages. 
• The symtoms of marriage becoming toxic and breaking up are hurtful criticism, and the expression of contempt and disdain.
• Interracial marriage was banned in the U.S up until 1967. The number of mixed racial marriages has been rising since then.
• Gamophobia is the fear of commitment
• Wedding rings go back to Ancient Egypt
• Marriages and families are happier when there is at least a 5:1 ratio of compliments to criticisms.
• There are five love languages: physical touch, words of affirmation, spending quality time, acts of service, recieving gifts
• Most important thing people want from marriage is to know that their partner is going to be there for them.
• The best kind of marriage is one characterized by unconditional love. This kind of relationship is holy.

For more click here.

Should I clean my mind?

Osho has said, "Everyone is a mirror. From morning till evening, this mirror gathers dust. And those who allow this dust to settle are no longer a mirror. As your mirror is, so is your awareness. The truth reflected in it is only truth to the extent that it is a mirror."

The path of the ego is littered with detritus. It clings to ones clothing and body. We shower and bathe the body, and what of the mind, the psyche?

Osho recommends we cleanse our minds every morning and every evening before sleep. We do this this with a few minutes of meditation.

This routine of cleansing our minds centers us, reduces our reactivity, and helps us become holy.

Today's lesson - Being aware of the interdependent web brings sanctification to our consciousness.

Today's lesson, number 29, in A Course In Miracles is "God is in everything I see."

God is the nondualistic Oneness. God, in other words, for Unitarian Univeralists, is the interdependent web of all existence. The things we see are separated out from that nondualistic Oneness and in A Course In Miracles this separation of the thing from the Oneness is called an "illusion."

An "illusion" in A Course In Miracles is created by our wrong-minded attempt to separate things on the path of the ego. Becoming aware and conscious of the nondualistic Oneness is the dispelling of our illusions.

So, if God is in everything I see, we are like the monk who asks the hot dog vendor to make me one with everything. When the vendor does not give the monk his change for his payment, and the monk complains, the vendor retorts, "Oh monk, you should know better than anyone that change comes from within."

The change that the hot dog vendor was referring to was the cosmic consciousness that we strive to achieve when our awareness becomes sanctified and we see God in everything.

Ask Alexa - Why do I always feel so guilty?

Alexa: Why do I always feel so guilty?

Because you are living in the past which was then instead of the present which is now

Alexa: Will legalizing marijuna happen in New York State?

Yes but it will take a joint session of the legislature.