The purpose of the retreat is the celebration of the true meaning of Christmas with our brother, teacher, and dearest friend Jesus. Click here for more info.
Archives for August 2015
The Purpose of the Body
Preface. What It Says. 7 – 10. Jesus: “The Self that God created needs nothing. It is forever complete, safe, loved and loving. It seeks to share rather than to get; to extend rather than project. It has no needs, and wants to join with others out of their mutual awareness of abundance.
By comparison, the special relationships of the world are destructive, selfish and childishly egocentric. Yet, if given to the Holy Spirit, these relationships can become the holiest things on earth. In fact, they become the miracles that point the way on the return to Heaven.
The ego uses its special relationships as a final weapon of exclusion and a demonstration of separateness. The Holy Spirit transforms them into perfect lessons in forgiveness, in joining and awakening from the dream of separation. Each one is an opportunity to let perceptions be healed and errors corrected. Each one is another chance to forgive oneself by forgiving the other. And each one becomes still another invitation to the Holy Spirit and to the remembrance of God.
Perception is a function you have given to the body, and therefore the body represents a limit on awareness. Perception sees through the body’s eyes and hears through the body’s ears. It evokes the limited responses which the body can make. The body then appears to be largely self-motivated and independent, yet it actually responds only to the intentions of the mind. If the mind wants to use it for attack in any form, it becomes prey to sickness, age and decay!
If instead, the mind accepts the Holy Spirit’s purpose for the body, it becomes a useful way of communicating with others, invulnerable as long as it is needed, and to be gently laid by when its use is over. Of itself it is merely neutral, as is everything in the world of perception. Whether it is used for the goals of the ego or those of the Holy Spirit, depends entirely on what the mind decides it wants.
The opposite of seeing through the body’s eyes is seeing with the vision of Christ, which reflects strength rather than weakness, unity rather than separation, and love rather than fear. The opposite of hearing through the body’s ears is receiving communication through the Voice for God, the Holy Spirit, which abides in each of us. His Voice at first seems distant and difficult to hear because the ego, which speaks for the little, separated self, at least ‘seems’ to be much louder.
This comparison, however, is actually reversed! The Holy Spirit speaks with unmistakable clarity and overwhelming appeal. No one who does not choose to identify with the body could possibly be deaf to His messages of release and hope. Nor could he fail to accept joyously the vision of Christ in glad exchange for his miserable picture of himself.”
Note: Each morning I sit down at my computer, bring to the screen the cited paragraphs of the Course, read them a word at a time while asking my inner guidance for what will make the meaning clear to me in common language I can understand. I ask for clarification and it is given; a comma here, a preposition there, paragraph breaks not in the material before. I think it more correct to refer to what is in quotes as “reflections,” as they are captioned on the RMMC website where several samples appear. They are not verbatim quotes from the Course, but neither are they “interpretations” on my part. Sometimes I do add an observation in another paragraph preceded by >>>.
This careful, meticulous approach to studying the Course was suggested by Ken Wapnick, who stated often that the Course is broader, richer and deeper than most students realize. Once I began again in working through the material, asking the Holy Spirit’s help, I discovered I was being guided. When in doubt, I muscle test, as I learned from Dr. David R. Hawkins, whose books, videos and workshops combining Course teachings with biblical, Hindu and Buddhist practice have been most helpful to me with the Course. Peace – Ron
Sunday at RMMC – August 23, 2015
Join us this Sunday, August 23, 2015.
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM
The Spontaneous Discussion Group
Lesson 27 and 28 of Way of Mastery
Facilitated by Robert Bennett
9:15 AM to 10:45 AM
Basics of A Course in Miracles
Facilitators sponsored by the School For A Course In Miracles
11:00 AM to Noon
Sunday Gathering: Recap of the FACIM.org Academy Class “Find Joy in a Joyless Place” held 18-19Aug2015.
Facilitated by Lyn Corona
Jesus and the Holy Spirit
Clarification of Terms. 6. 1 – 3. “Jesus is the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, Whom he called down upon the earth after he ‘ascended into Heaven,’ or became completely identified with the Christ, the Son of God as God created him.
The Holy Spirit, being a creation of the one Creator, creating with Him and in His likeness or spirit, is eternal and has never changed. He was ‘called down upon the earth’ by Jesus in the sense that it was now widely possible on earth to accept Him and to hear His Voice. His is the Voice for God, and has therefore taken form. This form is not His reality, which God alone knows, along with God’s real Son, the Christ, Who is part of Him.
The Holy Spirit is described throughout the course as giving us the answer to the separation and bringing the plan of the Atonement to us, establishing our particular part in it and showing each of us exactly what it is. He has established Jesus as the leader in carrying out His plan, since Jesus was the first to complete his own part perfectly.
All power in Heaven and earth is therefore given him and he will share it with you when you have completed your part. The Atonement principle was given to the Holy Spirit long before Jesus set it in motion.
The Holy Spirit is described as the remaining Communication Link between God and His separated Sons. In order to fulfill this special function, the Holy Spirit has assumed a dual function. He knows because He is part of God; He perceives along with you because He was sent to save humanity.
The Holy Spirit is the great correction principle; the bringer of true perception, the inherent power of the Vision of Christ. He is the light in which the forgiven world is perceived; in which the face of Christ alone is seen.
He never forgets the Creator or His creation. He never forgets the Son of God. He never forgets you! And He brings the Love of your Father to you in an eternal shining that will never be obliterated because God has put it there.”
Note: Each morning I sit down at my computer, bring to the screen the cited paragraphs of the Course, read them a word at a time while asking my inner guidance for what will make the meaning clear to me in common language I can understand. I ask for clarification and it is given; a comma here, a preposition there, paragraph breaks not in the material before. I think it more correct to refer to what is in quotes as “reflections,” as they are captioned on the RMMC website where several samples appear. They are not verbatim quotes from the Course, but neither are they “interpretations” on my part. Sometimes I do add an observation in another paragraph preceded by >>>.
This careful, meticulous approach to studying the Course was suggested by Ken Wapnick, who stated often that the Course is broader, richer and deeper than most students realize. Once I began again in working through the material, asking the Holy Spirit’s help, I discovered I was being guided. When in doubt, I muscle test, as I learned from Dr. David R. Hawkins, whose books, videos and workshops combining Course teachings with biblical, Hindu and Buddhist practice have been most helpful to me with the Course. Peace – Ron
The Final Step
Clarification of Terms 3. 4 – 8. Jesus: “The ‘face of Christ’ has to be seen before the memory of God can return. The reason must be obvious. Seeing the face of Christ involves perception. No one can look on knowledge. But the face of Christ is the great symbol of forgiveness. It is salvation! It is the symbol of the real world. Whoever looks on this no longer sees the world the ego made. He is as near to Heaven as is possible outside the gate. Yet from this gate it is no more than just a step inside. It is the final step. And this we leave to God.
Forgiveness is a symbol, too, but as the symbol of His Will alone it cannot be divided. And so the unity that it reflects becomes your recognition of His Will. It is the only thing still in the world, in part at least, yet still the bridge to Heaven.
Ultimately, God’s Will is all there is. We can but go from nothingness to everything; from hell to Heaven. Is this a journey? No, not really; not in truth, for truth goes nowhere. It simply is! But illusions shift from place to place; from time to time. The final step is also but a shift. As a perception it is part unreal. And yet this unreal part will vanish. What remains is peace eternal and the Will of God.
There are no wishes now, for wishes change. Even the wished-for can become unwelcome. That must be so because the ego cannot be at peace. But Will is constant, since it is the gift of God. And what He gives is always like Himself. This is the purpose of the face of Christ. It is the gift of God to save His Son. But look on this and you will know you have been forgiven.
How lovely does the world become in just that single instant when you see the face of Christ, the truth about yourself, reflected there. Now you know you are sinless and behold your sinlessness. Now you are holy and perceive it so. And now the mind returns to its Creator; the joining of the Father and the Son, the Unity of unities that stands behind all joining but beyond them all. God is not ‘seen’ but only understood. His Son is not attacked but recognized as what He is!”
Sunday at RMMC – August 9, 2015
Join us this Sunday, August 9, 2015
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM
The Spontaneous Discussion Group
Review of Jeshua/Judith Coates Boulder Advance Retreat
Facilitated by Bud Ham
9:15 AM to 10:45 AM
Basics of A Course in Miracles
Facilitators sponsored by the School For A Course In Miracles
11:00 AM to Noon
Sunday Gathering: Above the Battleground
Facilitated by Susan Dugan
1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Workshop: Navigating the Dream with Forgiveness: Our Inner Kindness Teacher’s Dashboard
Facilitated by Bruce Rawles