“There is a place in you where you have never been wounded, where there’s still a sureness, where there’s a seamlessness, and where there is a confidence and tranquility. And I think the intention of prayer and spirituality and love is now and again to visit that inner kind of sanctuary.”—John O’Donohue
So I got this comment yesterday. It started by thanking me for clarifying the lessons in A Course in Miracles, a blogging pursuit I started January 1. But it went on:
“I cannot wait to hear what you say about lesson #128, because even in my 4th year (of doing the Course in Miracles), I don’t get this one.”
Being a long-time Course student who is still puzzled by many of the lessons, I couldn’t wait to find out which one she was talking about. I actually leafed ahead. And here’s what I have to say about ACIM Lesson 128:
First of all, I glommed on to the part towards the end about asking for help, about being still and resting (always a worthwhile goal) and opening my mind to my Guide. That’s what I call the Holy S.
And then, I broke it down. The world I see holds nothing I want. The operative words are the world I SEE. Because the world I SEE is just my version of a bunch of random molecules. I’m not really Pam. Pam dies. Pam is just a made-up story, a fairytale.
My brain (like all human brains) takes in sounds and light and crafts a story that matches my beliefs and expectations. It’s not real.
Perhaps magician Derek DelGaudio said it best. In 2016, after winning Magician of the Year, he was asked how he first got interested in magic. His interviewer wanted to know if he’d seen a particular magician or a particular trick or a….
He stopped the interviewer and said, “It was never anything I saw. My imagination was captured with what I couldn’t see.”
And there you have it. The juice is what we can’t see. When we strip away the labels, the boxes, the random configuration of molecules, we find our essence.
We find the world we DO want. We find the intoxicating, invigorating, ecstasy of who we really are.
Pam Grout is the author of 19 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her new book, Art & Soul,Reloaded: A Year-Long Apprenticeship to Summon the Muses and Ignite Your Daring, Audacious, Creative Side.
15 Responses
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! This is perfect! Exactly what I needed to read, understand, embrace and live!!! I can totally re-set my life, which I’m doing. The beauty of it is that I’m able to manifest what I want in my life, faster than ever before. I follow your advice, what you share, teach…. religiously (I’m not religious anymore in a sense). Today’s teaching is PERFECT!!!!
Much love, kindness and loads of Angel hugsss to you always. To your daughter too!!! (Btw.. I listen to E2 E3 often.. and each time, there’s something new I get. Thank you)
Have an amazing day!!!! My best, Vilma
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This is what came to me on reading lesson 128.
“The world you see holds nothing … at all that serves to give you joy.” Joy is our natural state and the key to eternity, our eternal being.
The Grace Prayer: Oh Thou, sustainer of our bodies, hearts and souls, bless all that we receive in thankfulness, Amen.
The Meaning: Bless all that comes to us. Bless all the challenges, hardships, unwanted circumstances as well as our awe-inspiring experiences and gifts, as signposts of our vibrational frequency, as an indicator of our current jumping off point for our elevation towards the One, the Perfection of Love, Harmony and Beauty, the Only Being, united with all the Illuminated Souls who form the embodiment of the Master, the Spirit of Guidance.
The embodied Spirit of Guidance is the Samhogakaya of the Tibetan Buddhist Trikaya, the physical embodiment of the Vadrasattva state, the physical manifestation of the clear light of the quality-less, formless, invisible, indivisible, mirror-like, Reality.
Brilliant job making this accessible, girl! Thanks!!!
Big thank you again. And thank you questing asker.
Sometimes I’m just all over it… it’s all clear in me. But this morning I woke with an old feeling… lost, sick in the stomach, staff. There’s not a lot to pin it on….I don’t really know why it is here today… first I asked for bigger help to move past it… but…. as reading this post is one of the first things I do in the morning… I know playing with ‘why ‘ is not where its at. That’s just playing with the illusions.
Peace is returning to my insides even as I type this. I’ll read the lesson and I know I’ll find some of my centre.
Doing this every day is for days like today.
Thank you again from my deep insides.
X
Suzi
I find all this “real” and “not real” stuff really confusing! And my old self says “well if nothing is real then what the heck is the point of anything?!” But I pondered this a little further this morning and I came up with this: “If Jenny Louise is just a fairytale and the real me is not going to die no matter what I do in this current life as Jenny Louise, then yeehaaa I can do anything I want at all just for fun and make this the best fairytale ever!! And no matter what I do or don’t do in this life it’s all ok because at the end the real me will still be around, enjoying looking back over the life of me as Jenny Louise, and perhaps pondering what fairytale I might like to create next 😁 Ok then, that’s cool- let’s go have some fun Jen!” So that’s really inspired me in a new way and I feel excited and free – free to try anything because none of it matters in the bigger scheme of life. Amen. Thanks, as always Pam, for your truly helpful insights and encouraging posts. I’m going to have a fabulous day now! 😁
Joining you in the Fairytale 💕
Oh, gotta tell you ~
I just got done with 4 hours of emails trying to nail down the logistics for the reading of a musical. 12 adults with busy schedules – 10 would be OK for a certain day/time then # 11 would chime in, ‘that doesn’t work’. OK, offer a different day/time. 11 would be yes, then # 12 ……. you guessed it. And so it went .. not reaching a consensus. Within the parameters of that reality; very frustrating. So I took a look at the ACIM lesson for today, “The world I see holds nothing that I want” – and lost it, just busted out laughing. Too good. Love to all 🙂
Ok, so if “My brain (like all human brains) takes in sounds and light and crafts a story that matches my beliefs and expectations. It’s not real.” then (because this is how my brain works) doesn’t that mean that ACIM isn’t real either? Is all my questing and trying to figure out what life is all about just a dream I’m dreaming? Will I just wake up some day and think, “Wow, that was an bizarre dream”? Does it make maybe more sense to forget trying to figure any of it out?
The thing I hold onto these days is something that happened to me last September, a couple of weeks after my brother “passed”. I went for a drive. It was the first day of sunshine in a long time, and with all the news of storms and fires, and earthquakes and politics and crap that was going on, as well as the loss of Dave, I wanted to get out to find some relief. It didn’t actually help much, but on the way home, I passed the church with the sign “One day it will all make sense.” I decided to stop and take a photo with my phone. As I held it up to take the shot, it searched for a wireless connection, and on the screen it said “Choose a network” and the only one it listed was “David40-5”. Now, my brother was also my network guru, so, even if I’m having trouble making sense of things, I choose to believe that one day it will all be clear. Maybe not today, but someday.
I totally relate to what you’re saying here Terry! And Thankyou for sharing the story about the sign on the church and your brother’s wireless network – great story 😊
Thanks for sharing about your brother David..great network story..maybe one day this dream will end and our questions will be answered..until then peace to you..
I kinda love the world that I see when I try to create heaven on earth with my family and loved ones..💖
Now just trying to spread the love around..
I could hardly wait for you to come back here again. Love the John O’Donahue quote. He is one of my favorites. This sentence spoke to me today. “My brain (like all human brains) takes in sounds and light and crafts a story that matches my beliefs and expectations. It’s not real.” It lights up all the areas of my knowing. I’m writing the script of my life and how it ends as well. Yes, I think we do have that much choice. Happy life is a choice and mine is becoming more fun every day. Yay!! Thanks for all of this.
“We find the world we DO want.”
I like this very much.
I see no evidence that it is true.
But still – I feel strongly that I like it.
After reading a large part of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, the words “Look for the Rigpa” have stayed with me. The Rigpa is the truth beyond the veil. My friend and I were talking about this and she didn’t hear me correctly and thought I said “the ringpop.” Now, whenever I see a Ringpop, I remember the truth behind the veil, reality is not here. All the world’s a stage. Letting go of the world was a hard lesson for me…scorpio energy in my birthchart means shedding what no longer works for me on a regular basis, while my heart wants to hang on and not let go. Now, I find it difficult to be a capitalist collecting things, because I know I will eventually have to let them go even before i buy them. So I try not to buy and I try not to become attached (Buddha’s premise of attachment being a distraction or a barrier to nirvana). This lesson is also reminiscent of the Bible stories in which a rich man asks Jesus how to get to heaven and Jesus says give away everything you own and follow me. And the rich man walks away, leading Jesus to say It is more difficult for a rich man to get into heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. (Even if the eye of a needle is the tiny entry into a walled city–difficult enough).
Hi, Pam. You and I have several things in common, two of which are travel writing and this woo-woo mindset. I wrote to you a year ago saying that I asked the universe (FP) to let me win a trip so I could go to Hungary, and I did. And I asked to get a free river cruise from Budapest to amsterdam, and I did, along with a free place to stay for 3 months in Europe. These things have happened for me before.
I also got a job offer in Florida 2 days before leaving Hungary last September, when I was not sure even where I would live or how I would make money. And I now live in the water view apartment I have asked for for 8 years.
I am grateful every day for these events and my good fortune. And I’m happy to continue doing it. At the same time, u have a dream of going on every river cruise in Europe and possibly the new Viking world cruise that lasts for 6 months. I probably should not try to figure out how to make it happen, but since I’m a writer who did travel writing all last summer in Europe, I keep wondering how I could possibly make it happen by pitching a story or two in order to do this. Since you are a travel writer, too, as well as a manifestor, I was hoping I could pick your brain. Ideas like “A Year of Cruising,” or “Rolling on the Rivers,” “Around the World in Luxury.”
If you have any ideas or advice or supportive words, I’d love to hear it.
Thanks, Diane Dobry