Atonement

Atonement: 

in Christianity atonement is the traditional virtue of forgiveness of a sin, it's seen as the ultimate act of Jesus as he died for our for sins, most specifically the original sin that caused our fall from Eden. I've never really understood this, why there must be suffering before forgiveness is bestowed and if we were created in original innocence - shouldn't this always remain as our true nature?

I'm no longer a Christian, in fact, I don't think I ever truly was as it was an inherited belief system that I was not allowed to really question. Or at least in the school that I attended. There was a much more relaxed atmosphere at home and I was encouraged to read freely on all that interested me. So at a fairly early age I dropped my loosely held beliefs of Christianity and explored other options, mostly eastern, although mystics of all traditions fascinated me. 

then in my early thirties I discovered A Course in Miracles.

and struggled with the language.

being very Christian in it's terms.

yet now, decades later, I find myself loving how some traditional thoughts are redefined, offered as a means of my own transformation and not as a belief system that doesn't seem to truly heal. So now, once more, I come to the word atonement and I find myself falling in love with the promise that it holds. Here, I'm asked to find within my own inherent innocence and look past perceived sins of others and see their innocence as well. 

it feels like a true forgiveness.

the promise is that through forgiveness we undo the world our thoughts have created. We see through the past and no longer project fear upon the future. Indeed, the atonement is at hand, right now and every moment that we're able to forgive ourselves and others.

and as the Course says...

herein lies the peace of God.

it's nowhere else but here.

~

Peace, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: A Surprising Urge

Also, please visit to buy: The Mystic Jesus

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A Surprising Urge

A surprising urge:

to start again, a surprising urge given that I had largely put A Course in Miracles aside, having completed the workbook and text over 15 years ago after an even longer period of false starts and short commitments. It's not that my time with the Course wasn't valuable, its message clearly stayed with me and served as a foundation for peace in troubled times. 

but I wasn't committed to its practice.

through those years my yoga practice deepened and matured, thoroughly working through me and leading to a profound shift in my awareness. Decades of meditation helped me hold the world more lightly, gently, and there's a sure and lasting sense of peace within. 

so why now? 

why this sudden and persistent urge to practice the Course again?

honestly, I don't know, and care very little to explore the reasons why - it's just time, and the energy feels different now, subtle, less frantic for change, and simply calls for me to practice forgiving my every grievance and resentment. That's enough of a reason, and surprisingly, there's so much that remains completely unforgiven, hidden layers now revealed to me with an urge to let them go. 

and so I do.

happily.

for whatever reason -

it's a time of deep forgiveness.

~

Peace, Eric

To Read more from Headless Now, please visit: Easy Return to Love

Also, please visit to buy: Daily Meditations for Practicing the Course

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Easy Return to Love

Easy return to love: 

the answer is everything, that's the practice, I forgive whatever thoughts disturb my peace of mind, intrusive or subtle makes little difference in appearance - my only choice is love. Honestly though, it's not a choice at all, it's not really even a practice as forgiveness happens completely on its own. My only role is to note the disturbance and allow my mind it's easy return to love, relaxed, noting that this natural presence is always available to me.

it's not truly a return.

but who I am right now.

always.

forgiveness only serving as a reminder. 

~

Peace, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: A Forgiving Practice

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A Forgiving Practice

A forgiving practice: 

of course my forgiving practice starts upon waking, that whatever was before the night is now gone and instantly surrendered, this morning is a return to innocence and I'm ready to embrace it. My day begins with meditation and yoga and this too is a forgiving practice, after years my mind will still wander from the mantra, I will fall from poses that I've performed fro decades - and each moment calls for my forgiveness, the simplicity and easiness of holding no grievance towards either my mind or body.

just forgiving myself for any judgments held.

and returning to the practice.

that's how my day unfolds, forgiving the belief that mistakes were truly ever made, proceeding gently through life with the ease of returning always to the present moment, relaxing, smiling, surrendering...

returning to the practice.

until it's not needed any more. 

~

Peace, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Teach Only Love

Also, please visit to buy: Practicing a Course in Miracles

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Teach Only Love

Teach only love: 

it's a small YouTube channel, growing by a few each day, but I don't anticipate large numbers for what I do - which is mainly share short  clips of nature that I'm able to capture each morning in my beautiful early morning walks. And I talk. The live streaming service provides me a platform to present the ideas that have been meaningful for me through the years. Yoga, meditation and breathwork, creativity, health, and after keeping fairly quiet about it for some time, my devotion to A Course in Miracles. It now feels like I've been called to teach, and it's important to not that the Course doesn't distinguish between a teacher and student, that we're here to teach what we most need to learn, which is a peace  found only through a return to love.

as the course asks of us...

teach only love.

so that's my plan.

and it's with this small platform that I'll stake my livelihood for now, being inspired to share beautiful scenes of nature and talking of all the things I need to learn as I proceed on this new path of life. I have no idea if I'll be successful with this livelihood, if I will be able to earn just enough to provide for my concerns. We'll see, as I'm fortunate to reach this stage of life without a great desire for more than what is needed. There's a great opportunity for me here, as well as a large amount of fear being present, perfect, it's time for me to learn through my own demonstration -

seeing through thus fearful presence...

and teach only love.

~

Peace, Eric

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: True Prominence

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True Prominence

True prominence:

mostly, it feels like things are being taken away, dismantled really, with nothing replaced and the remaining spaciousness allowed to stand alone. Maybe this is the result of being a little older now, a life process of letting go of all that no longer serves for the prominence of ego and now only wishes to explore this sense of love that seems to prevails. 

and all this happens in my mind.

not a transformation.

but revealing what was present all along.

as I was too occupied with the busyness of life...

and failing to take notice.

that's the things with self-improvement, it's a project, always building and expanding a larger sense of ego - yet life itself is always seeking my surrender, dismissing my concerns for anything lasting past this very instant. There is no real self that ever needs to be improved, it's a phantom given prominence, a leading role in my expression. 

life is now urging me to let go of all these smaller concerns.

and give myself fully to the reality of love.

the only true prominence.

~

Peace, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: It's Never About

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It's Never About

It's never about: 

it's never about why we should forgive someone, as that puts us directly back within the mindset that there's anything from the past that could ever truly do us harm. Forgiveness is always about returning to the innocence of the present moment, free of past events, and resting in the peace that's found right now. We forgive in order to recognize this freedom.

as it's never about the past,

nor anyone else.

forgiveness is for each of us alone.

a simple gift of healing.

~

Peace, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: No Matter How Often

Also, please visit to buy: Lesson 101: Perfect Happiness

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