Listening

Listening:

there are two thought systems at play here. Yet jut one is in opposition to the other, for only thoughts of love are ever real, and the voice of ego eventually rings hollow to our ears. That's the psychology of A Course in Miracles, summed up, but it doesn't really need to be explained much further than this. 

only love is real and it's voice is expressed through acts of kindness, brought to the forefront of the mind by continuously choosing to forgive the issues of our world. Ego, a voice-dream,speaks only of illusions while loudly proclaiming itself as real. The voice of love is silence, all-accepting, and patiently awaits for our listening-return. 

so we can see that there can be no true opposition.

reality, love, is never opposed.

 it only waits for our attention, and that's the purpose of the Course. This is true for yoga as well, Buddhism too, they point us towards reality. They're techniques in listening to the voice of love, practices in the art of heart-listening. Each moment gives us an opportunity to listen a bit deeper, to notice the briefest pause that's present just before the rush of ego's first shout. There's no need to fight it, or attempt to stifle its concerns. 

it's a dream voice, 

an echo of an illusory life we've never truly lived.

only love is truly present.

and eventually...it's all we ever hear.

until then,

we simply practice listening.

~

Love, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Only Kind

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Only Kind

Only kind: 

towards the end of his life author Aldous Huxley, famous for his writing on world philosophies, was asked what he had learned from a life time of studying these traditions. His answer was thoughtful and beautiful in it's simplicity, he replied. "try to be a little kinder to each other." 

and so that's my practice.

I just try and be a little kinder, including to myself.

A Course in Miracles with the Manual for Teachers, insights offered to Course students that are now ready to engage the world in a more mindful, loving way. The conclusion is clear, we're asked to be kind, and more so, that the sincerity of our practice should have led us here naturally. What it really seems like is that our innate kindness is revealed through the mindfulness of our practice. For me, I am kind in an easier manner, joyfully so, and my life is better for this, enriched beyond measure. 

of course my own pettiness still occurs, quite often too. But it's quieter now, tampered softly with a gentle smile towards at the assertions of my ego. Self-kindness has been such a gift, arriving somewhat a little late in life, yet welcomed just the same. Everything starts from here, with compassion and self-care, truly cherishing the wounded child within me that still cries out so often. I don't have to be right, or even near perfect in any sense -

only kind.

and this gets easier everyday.

~

Love, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Just Enough Light

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Just Enough Light

Just enough Light: 

as January draws to an end, a rough month for many, I reflect upon my own struggles through the harshest, coldest days that so often begin the year. This is a month that without fail would deepen my depression, low lying through much of the year, yet already primed by holidays, January would rush it to the surface almost from its first day. 

it was a month of struggle.

and February always seemed to offer a salvation.

that, although still cold, sometimes just as bitterly so as January, there was a promise in the air, with the slightest gain of extra light more easily noticed. Spring was near., and February, being shortest month, was all that stood between me warmer, light-filled days. 

 February offered just enough light and warmth, a promise...

most days, at least.

yet January doesn't seem so harsh to me anymore, still not a favorite month, but there no longer needs to be the promise of February to see me though. Each day has just enough light of it's own, gifted to me with the warmth of sun even in its distance. I don't know what brought about this change, maybe being older, or the death of my father after years of being his caregiver has brought me to face my own mortality. But my guess is that it's the accumulation of gratitude. I'm grateful for warmth on the coldest days, and darkness now offers me its contrast for a deep appreciation for any extra light to appear.

January has it's own promise.

just enough light...

and everyday is its own salvation.

~

Peace, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: A Cookie Half

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A Cookie Half

A cookie half: 

more than ever now my politics are one of kindness. I'm not sure I can really offer an explanation, or that one is truly needed. Kindness is all that matters and we are suffering from its deficit. Yes, I'm naive, but I will take the architect Buckminster Fuller's words to heart and dare to be naive as that's how we change the existing order of the world. Our self-interest at the expense of others, of the planet itself, is unsustainable and will only lead to ruin. 

only through kindness is how we'll save ourselves. 

and this is across the political aisle.

kindness is a continuous practice, moment to following moment, and doesn't really take much consideration. It's simply the re-education of the heart, remembering to pause for a silent beat and allow our spirit speak from it's long hidden depth. We remember kindness, it's the shared toy, the broken off cookie half we offered to a childhood friend. It's what we were and still are - kind. Yet we have bought into the political madness that a selfish gain is somehow now a better option. 

of course it isn't.

no one flourishes at another's expense.

ever. 

so my politics, such as they are, is without motivation other than our true concerns. How may we serve for the benefit of all. No one is excluded. I will dare to be naive and hold out hope that kindness truly matters and will resurface as our only goal. Really, this is an invitation, it's not a political movement, but simply a request for each of us to remember who we are -

and with this in mind,

here - 

a broken off cookie half...offered to a friend/

~

Love, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Beyond Belief

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Beyond Belief

Beyond belief: 

almost a leap from the page, soft words of insight that immediately bring relief from striving for anything beyond this single revelation - in chapter 7 of a Course in Miracles we're told to not be afraid of the ego, that it depends entirely upon our belief in it, and once those are withdrawn will wither on its own. That's the simplicity of the spiritual path summed up in just a few words. If I had never read beyond this point, allowing those words to truly take hold and gently lead me to the source of its wisdom, it would have proven enough to bring immeasurable peace within my world. 

for some of us though...we need a little more.

and that's what the rest of the Course is, just a little more practice, reminders that forgiveness is a tool that dispels the myth of my own self-importance. It's simple really, to forgive, to live a life of loving-kindness, is to continuously withdraw belief from ego's hold. There's an incredible amount of freedom offered here, and almost instantly it appears with just a few well chosen words -

I forgive, 

and surrender to this present moment.

as there's nothing more to do.

peace is found right here.

now.

beyond my belief in ego's hold. 

~

Peace, Eric

To read more Headless Now, please visit: Only Love

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Only Love

Only love: 

I appreciate the stark choice laid clear by A Course in Miracles, that we have love and fear, both voices found within us, with one representing the reality of the Holy Spirit, while the other gives us a continuation of ego's illusions. 

love or fear - our only two options. 

and only one is real.

the truth is, we so immersed within ego that it doesn't seem we have a choice at all. reality is flipped around to give us a living world of chaos while love becomes an occasional act of folly. We are so deep within illusion that not even the brightest lights of Jesus or a Buddha shines its way through to us. We're lost, completely so. 

until we're not.

the voice of God, synonymous with love, is ever present. 

a whisper, yes, for love makes no demands.

yet patiently so,

a continuous whisper,

choose only love, for only love is real.

and eventually...

I do.

~

Love,Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Hierarchy of Illusions

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Hierarchy of Illusions

Hierarchy of illusions: 

some deep understanding now dawns, decades after initially picking up A Course in Miracles and 17 years out from completing the workbook book for the first time. Not an easy journey, but always fulfilling in the insights that it brought me. What I find these days is that the Course shines even brighter, that things once glossed over capture my attention and draw me even closer to the happier dream that's offered. See, the Course doesn't really talk of enlightenment, it's only concern is in awakening from the illusions perceived into the light of truth, reality - and that until happens we can begin to see the world in a much different way, a kinder, more gentle landscape of illusions.

I am not a happy dreamer, not yet at least. 

but I'm drawing ever closer.

an important insight, vital actually, is that there is no hierarchy of illusions. It's difficult to understand that meaningless is, indeed, meaningless, and that all we see fits within this category. This is what makes true forgiveness possible. An illusion is always false and only our beliefs give weight to its existence. We make our every grievance and resentment real. 

and so they carry on.

but without a hierarchy there's no difference between our slightest hurt and most grievous wound - everything is forgiven equally, and so the illusion of a fearful world begins to unravel. True forgiveness can never be done by the ego as the entirety of its existence is based upon a hierarchy of illusions. We believe that somethings must remain unforgiven and other wounds may be forgiven over time. The Course says that this is a misuse of time and that it only projects a continuation of a very unhappy dream. To forgive is to undo it all, right now, and enter into a brand new world. 

or at least a happier dream. 

and so for me, at this point in my dream, I begin to forgive more frequently now, more easily, and to catch that glimmer of light that extends as my awakening. It's right there, an eye flit away from dawn, and truthfully, I'm in no hurry.

as it is with every dream,

awakening happens on its own.

and until then...

I'll just continue to forgive. 

~

Love, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Smallest Things

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