The Yoga of a Little Willingness

The yoga of a little willingness: 

it's never been a stretch for me to see forgiveness as a seamless expression of yoga, in fact my first year through A Course in Miracles I easily took it as a deepening of my practice. While Patanjali's Yoga Sutras doesn't explicitly mention forgiveness, it's clear to see how it unfolds in that direction, a natural result of a yogi's commitment. I fell in love with how the Course too me there directly, a reverse order yoga where the truth is practiced first without preamble. 

forgiveness is my path of yoga.

my practice.

and it immediately offers me the benefits of yoga, as a matter of fact these words from Lesson 122 of the Course could easily have been taken from any ancient yogic text:

Do you want a quietness that cannot be disturbed, a gentleness that never can be hurt, a deep abiding comfort, and a rest so perfect it can never be upset? (ACIM, W-122.1:6)

Jesus explains in the Course that all this, and more, forgiveness offers you, and it's certainly has been the case for me. It often brings me directly to the second sutra, leaving me in a profound state of grace that can only be explained as an instant awakening in truth. Even if for just the moment of my practice. Of course the good news is that it's repeatable, uncomplicated, and only requires one thing that Jesus ever asks from us...

⁵Your part is only to offer Him a little willingness to let Him remove all fear and hatred, and to be forgiven. (ACIM, T-18.V.2:5)

so really, this is the yoga of a little willingness.

and that's become my practice.

~

I love you, Eric

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Sips of Coffee

Sips of Coffee: 

the ritual is now sips of coffee and asking Holy Spirit for just the right words to reach the page - between the two is a sweet space of silence where inspiration always finds me. I guess every writer has their process, a means of invoking their own personal muse. Through the years my writing has grown softly specific with little need to petition for inspiration. 

sips of coffee,

ask,

and then patiently wait for the Holy Spirit's words to find me. 

my ritual for joyful writing.

every morning.

~

I love you, Eric

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A Present Moment Retrospective

A present moment retrospective

: 

forgives goes so deep these days, older now, and feeling there's less time to hold onto any resentment longer than he very moment that it appears. And they still do appear, even after decades of practice they arrive in regular fashion - but more often now they're subtle, trickier, taking a bit more introspection to root out and forgiven. Perhaps this is because they're so familiar, as if we expect them to be there and they're treated as an accepted backdrop to our lives.

aging is in an example.

relationships too.

death.

what I find isn't that I've made peace with certain changes and endings, but that they accepted as inevitable declines and that I should grit by teeth and play a brave role here. That's not peace and it certainly doesn't feel like forgiveness. So my life is in a present moment retrospective, a paradox, yes, but not really a contradiction. It's not that I'm reviewing the past to heal, not really, but that the present moment is holding remnants of all my previous unhealed encounters, outdated belief systems....wounds.

all things that I wish to heal in my remaining years ahead.

they're present now in thought,

memories,

stored patterns still repeated.

and I forgive them all.

deeply so.

as often as they appear.

patiently,

with no hurry,

there's still a lifetime ahead.

~

I love you, Eric

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Gently

 

Gently: 

Regard him gently. (ACIM, T-26.IX.1:5)

such a wonderfully soft description of the Holy Spirits directive in the world, it's a heartfelt way of navigating life and extending ourselves to others. 

my lifelong search for a sense of transcendence and enlightenment has largely been replaced by the gentleness of this soft approach, a focus centered more on a holy instance that offers room for others in a truly loving way. 

and oddly too,

this is the place of my own awakening.

exactly where I found you.

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: I need Do Nothing

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I Need Do Nothing

I need do nothing:

it's become a continuous theme for me, a deep expression of trust, softing playing through the undercurrents of my mine. Jesus, in A Course in Miracles, gives the ultimate zen expression, a whispered urge to drop the frantic chase towards....anything. 

“I need do nothing.” (ACIM, T-18.VII.5:7)

of course life goes on as always, my outer life appears much the same - and yet my inner stress has lessened, there's an easiness to forgiveness now, it's more immediate and available as a practice. Gentleness is the world that comes to mind, my life has become increasingly gentle. Even in the midst of problems, some serious issues at hand. Yet throughout everything I'm reminded that I need do nothing, there's no rush to get the ego involved.

it's as if I'm always held in loving arms.

guided.

and all I have to do...

is remember.

~

I love you, Eric

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Mending

Mending:

there's still a call for some deeper healing, not just feeling better, but to allow the recent anxiety, distress and sleepless night to reveal to me their meaning. I love how the psychology of A Course in Miracles explains this all a single problem, not a thousand things that need to be addressed - just one. Fortunately the appearance of every issue points me towards forgiveness. I don't need to assign a greater meaning to their appearance, they're all symptoms of my belief in separation. 

there's only one false belief to be healed.

one thing to be forgiven.

appearing in a thousand different forms. 

this is the self-honesty of forgiveness, my every projection owned and stripped of the illusion of their betrayal. This is the world I dreamed, my body as well - and they're my responsibility to heal. Or should I say mend, a preferable word for me, as it implies returning a fragment back to it's original source. So really, I'm in the process of mending my world, bringing my every issue to the light of forgiveness, dissolved, mended, returned.

whole again.

that's the deeper healing.

~

I love you, Eric

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Bellwether Poses

Bellwether poses: 

and it's those few asanas that assure me, balancing poses, and they're the bellwether postures for the morning. For me this is trust on display, commitment, showing how much of myself I'm willing to give to an unseen force that gently holds me. 

it's yoga with the Holy Spirit. 

and of course it's different each day, variables always at play such as quality of sleep, stress, and a distracted mind. But these are also factors in trust, indicating just how willing I am to ask for help, if there's still a depth of hurt I wish to cling to keep hidden. The Holy Spirit asks for all that I have to be given, every once of fear and doubt, keeping nothing for myself alone. 

and these asanas often reflect how much I wish to share.

bellwethers.

the more I give, through each moment of my practice, brings me closer to a clean instant of surrender. I'm unburdened of an inner weight that keeps me earthbound, lighter, feeling softly held by loving arms. This how I'm supposed to feel. Always. Those arms are always available, and yet I so often forget to seek them out to hold me. 

so really, my yoga is trust.

and I'm still learning.

but each morning, 

those bellwether postures show me just how willing I am to learn.

~

I love you, Eric

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For Our Salvation

For our salvation: 

and so it's really a course in trust, an entire curriculum designed to take us from ego dependence to complete reliance on the Holy Spirit. Our primary tool is forgiveness, learning to shift focus from a material world filled with potential harm and seeing instead a universal Christ that's always extending grace towards us all. A Course in Miracles delivers tools for guidance, workbook lessons with real life applications and a text filled with lyrical prose to assure our understanding. 

but we're not to asked to trust.

not straight away.

only a little willing is required.

and then we're gently led along the way.

learning to trust,

forgiving,

an entire course designed for our salvation.

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: In Praise of Doubt

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In Praise of Doubt

In praise of doubt:

here's a moment of praise for doubt, an important role at play, that finally, finally - there come a beginning point in which the ego's thoughts are questioned. I've written quite a bit this year on trust, how my focus this year was a conscious shift to living by faith more fully. And yet it was many years before this when that the seeds for trust were planted. 

first comes doubt.

trust is a gradual development that grows from the cracked foundation of the ego. My once mighty thought system that guided me so surely began to show it's true design. Why wasn't I happy? And really, why did happiness seem to elusive? The answers that came ti me were simply more of the same, only doubling down on all the things that obviously weren't working.

so doubt began to creep into my thoughts.

along with a single line that held such great meaning...

 there must be a better way. (ACIM, T-2.III.3:6) 

and there is.

it's clear to me now how everything serves the purpose of awakening. The Holy Spirit uses everything to its advantage. Even doubt. Maybe even especially doubt as it's here, one small crack in a once mighty foundation that the seeds of trust are planted...and later come to bloom.

~

I love you, Eric 

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Reliance

Reliance: 

thinking about my earlier days with A Course in Miracles and an obvious issue that played through decades of my practice - regulating the role of Holy Spirit to what I considered spiritual concerns alone and allowing ego free reign to the areas I believed it was better suited for. Now, not with hindsight, but with a greater sense of true reliance...

I smile.

my life is coming closer to a full surrender. 

complete reliance.

and only the Holy Spirit has a role. 

 seem like it's been a long arrival.

and yet,

the Holy Spirit was always waiting here.

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: It's a Practice

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It's a Practice

It's a  practice:

and so I'm happy to be practicing, that's the big thing - there's no frantic energy to arrive anywhere, a complete absence of a seeker, content and even happy right now. There's also a certain amount of physical pain in my life this moment and anxiety still hangs on the edge, ever ready to appear. But through the recent years there's been a definite shift towards a greater sense of joy. I'm more at peace within the moment, no matter what might be present, and what strikes as most remarkable - is coming to terms with those occasion when peace and steadiness seem nowhere to be found. 

forgiveness is such a wonderful tool.

a beautiful practice.

there's no performance here - I don't need to be okay. 

not all the time.

but my practice always sees me through, forgiving my way through darkness without need for an apology, mindful of my position and yet making no demands for change. Just accepting, just accepting...and when the next moment unfolds, accepting still just a little bit more. Whatever life offers. Of course there's a wish to heal, and sometimes I'm still lost in hopeless despair, and find myself dashing for an imaginary escape route. And so that's what I forgive, it's my present moment lesson and I love myself through it. I think it's especially those toughest moments that I eventually find the most joy. Not because I made it through the pain or darkness - but that I found the light even then. 

or at the very least...I reached for it.

maybe not always right away.

but soon after.

I'm happy with my practice - 

and that makes all the difference.

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: God Thinks Otherwise

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Only One is Real

Only one is Real:

it could be said that the ego is a literal grievance against God, a childish wish to move away from home and make our own kingdom away from heaven. On a softer note, the ego is simply a belief in an autonomous self that doesn't really exist. As A Course in Miracles makes clear it's our commitment to the ego as a guiding force to navigate life that's the source of all our troubles. However, this isn't really about the ego - it's about the Holy Spirit.

or more truly,

switching our alliance to a loving thought system.

and not rely on the ego at all.

we have an alternative, much better suited as a guide, a gentle voice for God that whispers of our true power. Somehow we've gained confidence in a false promise, believing that only the ego can keep us safe within such a dangerous world. Yet it's that very promise that keeps us trapped in a belief system that only leads to harm. Listening to the ego is a turn away from God - not because it's evil, or even that it's wrong, but only because it doesn't even exist, and it's every loud promise is a lie. 

anyway,

here's what I really want to talk of -

my own soft turn towards the Holy Spirit, a long life between two voices, and how now, finally, the one for God is more clearly heard then ever. Every hard choice I've ever made has only been a lesson on the futility of choosing alone. I always had a better, more loving option. At first I didn't know,that there was a choice and then later I just didn't believe that this was so. I trusted an option that wasn't even real. And life continued with its lesson. 

⁹There is no peace except the peace of God, and I am glad and thankful it is so. (ACIM, W-200.11:9)

so I'm still learning that the peace of god is all I need, hard lesson continue to follow - yet only one voice is truly believed, and it's the one I listen to most keenly now. 

and that makes all the difference.

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: God Thinks Otherwise

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God Thinks Otherwise

God thinks otherwise:

it's how my every mistaken thought is corrected in an instant, a single phrase that wipes clean my mind and restores me to original innocence - 

And God thinks otherwise. (ACIM, T-23.I.2:7)

 for me, this one sentence in A Course in Miracles that holds the most promise. It tells me that the worst thoughts used against myself and others simply aren't true in the mind of God. He thinks otherwise. This sets me free form my own dark beliefs about....everything. 

but especially myself.

and most important is it's such a soft mindfulness. I'm not asked to examine these thoughts, to trade them for an instant affirmation of good faith. There's no battle here. Whatever it is the the ego brings, from darkness to depression, no emotions or impression excluded...God thinks otherwise. 

and I'm free.

nothing has to change because reality is already established.

it's an easy recognition.

always true.

no matter what clouds my mind right now.

~

I love you

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it's Simple

It's simple: 

simplicity, I'm so grateful for my own life being reduced to the value of the Holy Spirit, my path narrowed, and my only choice shown is between love and ego. Over the years my spiritual practice has lost it's urge for specialness. There's little need to search for enlightenment when every awakening opportunity shows up directly at my door. 

What could you want forgiveness cannot give? ²Do you want peace? ³Forgiveness offers it. ⁴Do you want happiness, a quiet mind, a certainty of purpose, and a sense of worth and beauty that transcends the world? (ACIM, W-122.1:1-4)

and that one lesson, 122 from A Course in Miracles simplified everything for me. It ended a near life of sifting through complexity for what was present all along. The Course reminds me that complexity is not of God, it's not valued by the Holy Spirit because it's just a collection of the unreal and will only lead me further than my goal. 

and the Goal is always God.

love.

The reason this course is simple is that truth is simple. ²Complexity is of the ego, and is nothing more than the ego’s attempt to obscure the obvious. ³You could live forever in the holy instant, beginning now and reaching to eternity (ACIM, T-15.IV.6:1-3)

there's my choice laid bare, the complexity of pursuit versus a holy instant where everything is given to me at once without my even asking. 

it's simple.

I only want the peace of God.

and so my life now unfolds from this single point on.

~

I love you, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Present Memory

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Present Memory

Present memory: 

and so it seems that forgiveness is the true means of transcending karma, that every effect will stem from the simple choice of choosing ego or the Holy Spirit. With both being the ultimate cause of how my life will unfold from that choice on. Karma is the Sanskrit word for action and the effect that accumulate around the choices that one makes. It's not a theory of retribution, nor a means of justice, but only what follows the actions, based upon thoughts, that are taken. A Course in Miracles breaks this down nicely, psychologically as well as spiritually - there are only two thought systems and only one of them is real. 

love is reality.

 fear, being the ego, is an illusion.  

²Nothing real can be threatened.
³Nothing unreal exists. (ACIM, T-in.2:2-3)

forgiveness cleans the slate of every previous action, continuously pointing to the unreal and erasing it from karmic view. Nothing has truly happened. We're free. By choosing the Holy Spirit's view each moment, or as often as remembered, we're existing in a holy instant that's entirely free of any thoughts of repercussions. Our actions are a holy choice that only delivers the effects of love. Nothing is accumulated because Gold alone exists and is always found within an eternal holy instant. 

it's always now.

and so thoughts of time, and even actions, don't exist within this moment.

we're free, 

forgiveness is the present memory of holiness.

it reminds us that we're home.

right now.

~

I love you, Eric

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Two Teachers

Two teachers: 

the practice has always been simple, easier than I ever previously made it - the mind is split, two teachers, symbols, representing either side. This is often described as our "right/wrong" decision making, and played out in real time, yes, my every ego drive choice has left me wishing I had chosen another way. At least eventually, and especially from the vantage point of 61 years. 

but I'm here now.

so now, recognizing two teachers and only wanting a gentle life, a  kind truly approach to others - and living in the absolute certainty that my needs are met through service to God. My practice is love, that simple choice in every moment that I remember. 

I choose the right teacher.

sometimes.

but more often than ever now.

~

I love you, Eric

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A Deeper Healing

A deeper healing: 

I've been sleeping in a bit lately, just an extra half or or so in bed to make up for the preceding weeks of sleep nights that seemed to haunt me. Even now my slumber is less than optimal, not the same struggle as before but the quality hasn't yet been restored. Nor has the original cause been addressed, a few more upcoming appointments and maybe they'll be some answers.

regardless, 

a deeper healing has begun.

what I've noticed about sleeping in is the guilt that seems to follow. I'm compressing time while laying in bed, setting my self-created schedule off by what seems a large degree. I feel guilty. Amazingly, this is all my own work flow, I've no one to report to, and few things that actually require a firm commitment. Yet I've conditioned myself so thoroughly to a routine that there's a self-induced pressure to confirm to my own made up schedule. My day feels a bit more rushed now, compromised in a way. And all because of a much needed extra 30 minutes in bed. 

of course it has nothing to do with sleep.

it's about guilt.

my guilt.

already present and in mind.

and so here the real healing begins - forgiveness practiced just before bed, letting go of anything that might linger through my sleeping hours. And any hour that I might awaken through the night is a moment to first be  grateful for any sleep at all, followed again by forgiveness for whatever it is that caused me to awaken. My first thoughts each morning are gratitude and forgiveness, a wish to wipe the slate of the previous day clean and start this one completely open and ease. 

it's truly forgiveness 24/7 now.

a deeper healing at play.

so I'm mindful of those extra minutes in bed, and more so of the feelings they induce. That's the benchmark, a bellwether for my healing. Can I offer myself just a bit of much needed kindness without a backlash of guilt to follow? 

I don't know.

forgiving myself for that as well.

~

I love you, Eric

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Ask

Ask:

through my own tough days I am regularly reminded of just how much of this I actually choose, my mind set given to all the things that leave me feeling as victim of the world I see and experience. Even after decades of mindful practice I still often forget to ask for a miracle, that all important shift in perspective that brings me directly to the holy instant. 

clear seeing. 

⁷Forgive, and you will see this differently. (ACIM, W-193.3:7)

and there's the miracle, the healing that's available this very moment and doesn't require anything other than a sincere request. I am a participant in this, asking the Holy Spirit for every gentle reminder that a miracle is ready for me right now. Forgiveness is my prayer of healing, and there's no sense being brought down to my knees before I ask for a miracle. 

right now is the holy instant.

forgive...and we will see.

we'll know.

and all we have to do is ask.

~

I love you, Eric

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Some Mornings

Some mornings:

for the first time in some years my writing has been a bit more of a struggle, tension gathered around my desk as I wait for the right words to arrive. It's not writers block, there's always infinite things to write of, and I'm always inspired to share my thoughts. Yet some mornings, not all, but more than a few lately - I find myself without anything that seems like it's meant to shared, not a single thought arrives that feels ready to be given to the page. 

some moments aren't meant for writing.

and I need to honor that.

and there's the tension, when ritual no longer fits the moment and the air becomes tense with expectations of an easiness that just isn't there. Writing isn't meant to be a struggle, it's a joyful meditation, a process of listening and response. 

so some mornings,

lately,

I spend more time listening, my response is patience and I sit for a longer period of time...some mornings, it seems, I'm meant to trust the silence more than the arrival of words. 

it's about honoring what's present. 

not the expectations.

some mornings the ritual is silence and mindful sips of coffee.

and that's part of writing too.

~

I love you, Eric

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All Things

All things: 

I love the absoluteness of these lessons, if the very beginning of A Course in Miracles is a discourse in negation, dismantling our false belief system - then the middle point of lessons 180 to 200 are where are filled with the truth of who we actually are and why we're here. 

today's lesson:

  All things are lessons God would have me learn. (ACIM, W-193)

there's no wavering here, it's a declaration of purpose, and doesn't broker any deals. The Course tells us that if we understand any one lesson completely than we can get the whole. This could certainly be the one to bring us home. Whatever occurs in our lives, with no exception, is a lesson that God would have us learn - and remarkably there's only one thing that God would have us know.

⁷Forgive, and you will see this differently. (ACIM, W-193.3:7)

that's it.

forgiveness. 

so of all our suffering, our every sorrow and the trials that we believe we're asked to endure - their only purpose is to be forgiven all the way to the point of our awakening from this dream of separation. We're meant to return home each moment, now, always now...

and forgiveness takes us there.

that's the only thing we're ever asked to learn.

~

I love you, Eric

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Beginner's Mind

Beginner's mind: 

I'm finding great joy in sharing A Course in Miracles, offering the lessons each morning on my YouTube channel, and gently guiding people in it's practice. I've always resisted the idea of being a teacher, never quiet feeling ready or worthy of the title - which, of course, is a subtle play of the ego. Because the truth is, the only real teacher is the Holy Spirit. With this in mind, sharing the Course becomes a vital point in my own practice. I'm a better student now, more apt to listen to my own inner teacher now than ever before. Each lesson becomes alive in a new and exciting way for me - and in this sense I'm a beginner again, learning the very familiar deeply to my core. 

exactly as it's supposed to be.

~

I love you, Eric

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Ready

Ready: 

at a certain time in history lesson 191 of A Course in Miracles would be hereasy and saying it's key phrase out loud would most likely lead us to a gruesome death. There are many such statements in the Course and even today they stand in stark contrast to what most standard traditions have to say. Lesson 191 is particularly bold, powerful in its surety, and by the time we reach this point in the Course - utterly believable. 

it rings with certainty. 

I am the holy Son of God Himself. (ACIM, W-191)

what I most love about this statement is that it follows soon after lesson 189 where I am asked to come with wholly empty hands onto God. This lesson empties me out completely, leaving me with nothing false to cling to, and with a yearning to be filled by a powerful truth. I'm not left waiting for very long, the lesson concludes with a prayer asking for a revelation. 

. Father, we do not know the way to You. ²But we have called, and You have answered us. (ACIM, W-189.10:1-2)

and what follows are some of the most powerful lesson in the entirety of the Course.

I am revealed. 

more so,

I'm ready to accept this truth...

and live my life from here.

finally.

~

I love you, Eric

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Welcome

Welcome: 

as a lamp, that's the analogy I've been thinking of lately. An instrument of light. My life has been a slow repursebing of body and mind, realizing through long years that, indeed, giving and receiving are truly the same thing. A lamp receives light for the sole purpose of offering it indiscriminately, not a single corner within it's reach is left unlit by its touch. 

and there is it.

my reason for being here.

yours too, really.

my writing, YouTube channel, social media accounts, all these little creations equal to instruments meant only to offer light to the world. They're lambs. 

we're lamps.

and so are the things that we create.

may we find each other my friends...

the light is always on.

welcome.

~

I love you, Eric

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