It Is Not So

It is not so:

and with this, with just four words and the image given of a gentlest companion, my every fear is eased - "it is no so." I'm always amazed at the impact that a few familiar words can have on me in my early morning reading of A Course in Miracles. Even with decades of study I am still often left in a profound silence after encountering such words, as if a sacred mantra whispered in initiation. What makes this particular phrase so powerful is the manner in which they're delivered, straight from the lips of Jesus and given to address any fear that I might encounter through the day.

"it is not so..."

and with these words...I find the peace of God. 

~

I love you, Eric

To read ore from Headless Now, please visit: One Headline at a Time

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One Headline at a Time

One headline at a time: 

it seems I'm relearning how to navigate the world. Morning headlines still call to me, there's concern for new wars declared and those that continue, and my heart breaks for all who suffer from lack and proper care in a world so full of resources. Yet I'm not pulled into the seriousness of events in quite the same way as years before. There seems to be a great relief that the solution is present here within me, not by denying the world of its appearance, but through participating with full awareness that what's occurring right now is indeed a very bad dream that calls for my awakening. 

so for me, this means forgiveness. 

no matter what occurs my heart will not sway from love.

only God is real.

and so I forgive the illusion of this unloving world,

just one headline at a time.

until we all awaken. 

~

I love you, Eric

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Eternity

Eternity: 

this moment, I forgive...and then eternity follows. And that's it really, the entirety of my practice in a single line. From sitting on the meditation cushion, gently returning my mind back to my mantra, each morning asana released from the expectations based upon previous session, and then my day follows from there in easier embrace of every moment. All I'm doing is forgiving the past, a vast illusion as A Course in Miracles calls it, and this sets me free to meet in a holy instant. Even when I forget, as I so often still do, forgiveness brings me right back to where everything begins anew - 

eternity.

and nothing really needs to be forgiven.

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Empathy

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Empathy

Empathy:

empathy, in it's truest form is to meet everybody in this holy moment, free of past concerns, and recognizing only the light that's shared between us. A Course in Miracles reminds me that to join in someone's suffering only makes it real and doesn't serve to offer comfort. My tasks is to see beyond the illusion of anguish, even as I hold them through their pain, not trying to dispel their belief in suffering with the use of words, but only to be a loving presence. If words are needed, they will be provided, whatever comfort is required will be brought by the Holy Spirit. 

I need do nothing. 

my prayer is to be truly helpful, to bring light and healing through the presence of the Holy Spirit, and for this to happen I must relinquish any thoughts of having control. This is the empathy of meeting someone's pain empty of judgement, not being there to fix them, yet not believing in their brokenness either. I am not there to heal....but to facilitate a healing. 

my only function is forgiveness. 

and it brings a healing light to every situation. 

I need do nothing,

but to allow this healing to occur.

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Practicing

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Practicing

Practicing:

there's a story I've always loved of the great Zen master Dogen disappointing his followers. He was once asked if meditation led to enlightenment and his immediate response brought much alarm to those who had believed they were on the fast-track to a soon, if not eventual awakening. Dogen's answer was a straight forward no, with a smile, and their despondence only made it wider. What Dogen explained is that the practice itself is enlightenment, we awaken through the action and not because of it. 

and so it is with forgiveness. 

our practice is not done for the promise of heaven, but for the immediate realization of heaven's presence in the very moment of our practice. The peace of God isn't an attainment, it's available right now for us to claim, and when we do...we're as awake as we'll ever be. 

enlightened even.

forgiveness is instant zen, circumnavigating the ego and getting straight to the heart of the matter. We forgive in order to perceive reality, literally seeing past every story we've ever told about others, and ourselves as well, so that we can awaken within a singular light that joins us. Dogen was right, of course, our practice is the very essence of the thing we believe we're seeking. Forgiveness doesn't lead us to heaven - it reveals it.

right here.

now.

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Host to God

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Host to God

Host to God:

my forgiveness practice has now grown into a subtle form of meditation, almost continuous, becoming a more gentle approach to life. It's as if each moment presents itself as an opportunity for the reality of love to make itself more apparent, whispering for me to forgive even the thinnest veil that blocks my true seeing. My deepest wish is to know myself as host to God, no longer held hostage by the dark threats of ego that keep me bound to a loveless world. To be host to God it is accept His reality in every situation, illusions of bodies and separate minds might still appear, yet gain no sure purchase in this holy vision. So my practice now is just an inquiry into my own state of mind, gently noticing my choice of host or hostage, accepting where I am -

yet willing to change my mind.

it's continuous, 

and even forgetting is a loving form of practice.

everything serves.

until the world's forgiven.

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Everything I want 

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Everything I Want

Everything I want: 

and so for me, it's nothing but the practice, there's no longer any concern about awakening, final or otherwise. A Course in Miracles has a beautiful lesson, 122, stating the forgiveness offers everything I need, and this has been certainly proven true to me now. This is a radical form of forgiveness, a purity of seeing everyone alike within a holy instant. Really, it's recognition, looking deep enough within the appearance of another in order to find my own self peeking through. 

light...recognizing light.

after years of accumulated care-giving for my aging parents, being present at the end of life for bother of them, I have a singular benchmark for my practice - am I awake enough to be kind at any given moment, am I able to bring patience to the forefront of every situation? 

am I at peace, right now, with whatever might be happening?

and the answer, quite often, frankly...

is no.

at least not always.

but I have a practice, and it truly does offer me everything I want. Forgiveness infinitely brings me back to center every single time, no waiting, and without need of anything other than a littler willing to turn all of troubles over to the Holy Spirit to be met with an unconditional light of understanding. Nothing is held back, everything's surrendered -

and in this moment, my own holy instant,

I'm healed.

ready for whatever might follow.

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Time

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