“No one can make you unhappy. Your imagination alone does that.”—Mooji
ABC correspondent and Nightline anchor Dan Harris wrote a book about meditation.
After interviewing Eckhart Tolle and other spiritual gurus, he started to notice that the running commentary that dominated his own consciousness was, as he says, “kind of an asshole.”
Which is what ACIM Lesson 218 tells us. Within each human being is a deep well of joy and glory. The reason this is such surprising news to us is because we’re all driving (and walking and living) under the influence of the asshole in our consciousness.
“How could you?” we reprimand ourselves anytime we eat something we shouldn’t, anytime we score less than perfect 10’s on job evaluations, anytime we have a “bad-hair day.”
We’re downright mean to ourselves. We go to war with those parts of ourselves we deem as bad—the jiggly upper arms, the desire to dance in church, the pull we feel to skip work and write—and only end up crippling humanity as a whole.
The answers, we’re taught, are:
Control. Discipline. Protection.
But willpower only separates us from our true nature, only creates static that keeps us from recognizing that we are part of something thrilling and unfathomable that may never have happened before in the entire galaxy and may never happen again.
Harris decided to deactivate his asshole through meditation and claims, in the title of his book, that he’s now 10 % Happier.
The Course takes it even further, claiming that unceasing (yes 100 percent) joy is our birthright.
It reminds us that everything we see, everything we believe, is just a story we made up. It tells us that, in Truth, we are spirit. We are light. All those voices, those wars going on in our head, are nothing but chunks of the collective consciousness that we can either believe and defend against or transmute with gratitude.
The real me, the Course tells me, is kind, giving, in deep communion with all of creation. The real me is a true force for love.
Pam Grout is the author of 19 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her latest book, Art & Soul,Reloaded: A Year-Long Apprenticeship to Summon the Muses and Ignite Your Daring, Audacious, Creative Side.
10 Responses
Thank you Pam! There is a smile on my face whenever I see your post in my inbox!
All your ACIM posts are wonderful. This one is wonderful-er than usual! Grateful for you 🤗
I so enjoy you. Reading everyday what you write is so fulfilling. I hope more and more people realize the wonderment that is available to all of us.
Thankyou Pam. Fabulous. I love the idea of no longer living under the influence of the asshole in my consciousness (which is good because she can be a real bitch!) and that “the real me is a true force for love.” Wonderful ideas to begin my new day. Blessings galore to you Pam! 😊🦋💗
I decided a couple months ago to evict the ahole in my mind. Horrible thing to live with, constantly telling me I wasn’t cutting the mustard. So off with her head!
Thank-you. I loved this post.
Gail x
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I think this is a lifelong project. I’ve listened to Dan Harris talk about this often and how meditation helps. I keep trying and have even put a handwritten note on my fridge that says ‘ Be kind to yourself”. This is a good post to remind us to keep the gremlin in our heads muffled. Needed this today. Thank you.
I needed this one this very morning, Pam. Although I’m SO much better about not beating myself up, I can sure fall smack dab back into the stinking stew. This very morning I gave the wrong dog the antibiotic, and you’da thought I’d burned the house down, my reaction to myself was so severe. Thank goodness, having spiritual/psychological tools helped get me back on track. But obviously, I can still slip!
Needed this today. Thank you.
I was in Italy for 8 days without a computer so I am catching up on your posts. August 6 was my last night there. And if the plane hadn’t broken down on the night of July 31 in Charlotte, I would not have had 2 extra days to spend in Italy. The first 2 flights had been perfect, with exactly the right people beside me for us to have lovely conversations. Then the plane broke down, and i was wondering for a few hours why did I create this crazy story. I was one of over 600 passengers from 2 planes that American Airlines was paying for us a motel room as we were losing a day of travel. It all worked out to my advantage!
great post – our minds are constantly making up stories which we can choose to go with or not!