Releasing the self-knot

Forgiveness, atonement, salvation,  enlightenment—these synonymous terms signify nothing more than the restoring to your mind of what is already in it.

You cannot, by meditating on your problem, find release from it...you must release the need to dwell upon this self-knot, which is in no ways fundamental to your being, but only an artificial imposition upon it.

You are free and enlightened, as you naturally are, as you were created! Awakening is nothing more than recognizing That which is always already the case and training the awareness to continually abide in It. But this cannot be done through effort, which is more of the same struggling to undo the knot by tightening it. You cannot get there from here. You need to rise above this battleground, and then it is clear that you need no protection from it at all. You have no knot to loosen, it was just an optical-delusion of consciousness. See that temptation is nothing more than a tightening of the knot, a projection onto the world outside, reflecting an internal wish that things be other than they are, and which your control is needed to assert your fantasy and make it "real". Yet fantasies, whether merely dreamed of or seemingly carried out, do not become other than what they are. No reality can be found in them, and it is only reality that can satisfy you. Rest content in the knowledge that reality is here and now, and very easily obtained. You need merely withdraw your projections on the world, and accept that whatever happens from here on, you will remain rooted in the acceptance that all things are working together for good. That reality is, fundamentally, good. And by inhering in that awareness, you will be brought to the recognition that there is no part of creation that is not good...there is an infinite play and diversity of forms, and it is all necessary to bring humanity to the point of awakening. And when you stumble, practice self-forgiveness. You will never untie the knot by beating yourself up about its existence. 

You will come to know that God has not abandoned the Child He loves, by not abandoning your brother, whom you love. His hand remains outstretched for you to take, had you the willingness to raise your eyes and see him in a different light than the dark and obscuring one you held him in before. Lifting the veil, behold your brother: savior of the world, the holy Child of God, come to save you of the sin you saw in him, before the light had come to set you both free.

God's Plan For Salvation

       

          Peace. Be still. My brother, who art like Myself, a dear Son of the Father: hallowed be thy Name. And hallowed be His Name as well. All Heaven rejoices as you listen to the clarion call of His Word within your heart. Do you not know it is but He that makes it beat? That it is he who fills it full to bursting with Divine Love and Compassion? Christ can only return through you, and this is why God is as dependent on you as you are upon Him. When the number of believers reaches a critical mass they will come together, and lo! I will be there in their midst. Remember that I said wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there I AM. The meanings of this are manifold, but one is to emphasize the necessity of cooperation among miracle workers, and another is a reminder that it only needs one of you, because I am there with a single individual that has joined with Me. That one will suffice, and becomes a teacher of God. But first, he must let me be the teacher of his ego. He who would be a Teacher of God must first be His Student. It is good for a human being to think of himself as a servant of God, for there is no danger of ego involvement in this. Rather, it purifies his ego, and this is necessary as a preliminary step in restoring you to your original state. In a broader sense, we are all His Teachers, just as we are all His Psychotherapists, for He would have us all learn and be healed in Him. As you teach, so shall you learn; as you heal, so shall you be healed.

          I came to teach the utter lack of specialness among the Sons of God. Perceiving the perfect equality of the Sonship is the way you can heal it and help to renew the earth to what it once was, and will be again. In this undertaking, you cannot be alone, because in joining your brother, you joined the Creator of all things that are, and in that joining, aligned yourself with God’s Plan for Salvation, whether you knew it then or not. This Plan is the Atonement, which was built into the overall separation schema as a fool-proof device for protecting the wholeness of the Sonship, and ensuring the return of all the separated sons. God gave you free will, but you denied it by not valuing the gift. And so, within this context, there were protective limits put in place on how much you can bear before you cross your own pain threshold, and cry out, “Father, reveal to me Your better way!” This is not, seen properly, a denial of your free will, but a protection of it. For true Free Will means only that your will is free. “Resist ye not evil.” Means that when you relinquish your struggle with the ego, by letting me handle its errors, you will know what is always so: your will is as free as God’s because it is His.

The Law of Love

       

          Now is the time that we are being brought together, to share our Truth with the world. What could this Truth possibly be but love? All the children are brothers, and you should love them all as you love Me. For as you do unto the least of these, you do it unto me. If you bear in mind the truism “as you give, so shall you receive”, you will realize that you also do it unto yourself. And now we are getting at the meaning of giving out of true Self-interest. We do not know our own best interests…until we do, and when we do it is only because we have recognized that our interests are shared. This recognition, or this knowing again of what the mind had dissociated, means that we have now decided to be under God’s law instead of the laws of this world. His law is the law of Love, embodied in the phrase, “My gift unto my brother is my gift unto myself.” Give Love then, that you may have it.

          It is true indeed that no one likes to be fearful, nor does anyone like any of the myriad of other negative emotions that arise out of the ego, such as worry, resentment, and anger. Although they are many—legion--to Me they are one, and the word that best sums them all up is fear. None of them are from Me, for if they were, I could not help you, because I would then be subjected to the same Error as you, and so would be but an erring spirit and a false guide. But you know from experience that when you have turned to Me, you have been helped. The corollary is that when you have ignored me, you have not been helped, not because I was not willing, but because you weren’t. Fear not but that all these errors will be undone, and you will be quietly translate back into the Kingdom, your eternal Home.

          Self-control is like Dante in the novel Paradise Regained, it can take you to the edge of the forest of illusions, but cannot lead beyond it. Christ-control contains all of the virtue of self-control, and provides for that which it lacks. (The Channel is now open…but be sure to let Christ direct it…he knows where it should flow, and to whom, and when) My control can take over what does not matter, and what does not matter in the working of a miracle are things like, who is around or how many, what people may think of you, your questioning of your abilities, and so on. This allows me to guide the miracle along the proper channels, so that it is received by the miracle recipient where it needs to be. And the result is always a return to their right mind, for as I have said, if a miracle does not entail healing, it is not a miracle. The beautiful thing is, they do not need to know who did it, or how, nor do they need to feel gratitude for their healing. None of these things matter, or will reduce the miracle’s efficacy. If you recall what I have said, miracles themselves do not matter, because they are the natural law, which again, is based on God’s One Law of Love. 

On Atonement

          The teaching of atonement is for all the separate ones who know not they are One. To atone, archaically, meant to bring into unity, or accord. It literally meant to “set at one”. This, not expiation, is the meaning it should hold for you. The other sense which it holds is that of “undoing”. You recall seeing “at one” within the word atonement at a bookstore years ago, although it was not explicitly stated in the text. That was intended as a special sign of love, and I was happy it delighted you. Oneness is a teaching hard to grasp within a world ruled by duality. Yet this is what I came to teach, and teach you still, not in words as much as in the stillness of your heart, that witnesses all things, detachedly. This witness aspect of yourself is vital to your progress in the Truth. Avail yourself of it, and you will find the silence speaks in thunderous tones impossible to miss. It speaks, but not of head knowledge you are accustomed to cramming in your brain. It empties all these thoughts and dead ideas, and quickens you unto the Living Word that offers you the Truth in place of them.

          You may ask, “What is Truth?" But there is no answer, only an experience. It was on account of this that I did not respond when Pilate questioned me. The very fact that what is obvious to everyone with eyes to see and ears to hear nevertheless remains completely unclear, speaks to the fact that the separation has occurred. And this separation, from God, from Truth, although an order of reality real enough to you, has all the falseness of a dream and the illusoriness of a hallucination, at the level from which I call to you. Do not neglect your body, nor your soul. Nourish both, for both are useful to Me, in service of the Greater Plan. Accept that the separation has occurred, but do not stop at that, for that would be to stop short of the message I came to share with you. This acceptance is merely the recognition that something has gone wrong, and is a sure indicator that immediate correction is required. Say, therefore, “Father, heal my mind of its insane belief that I could ever be separate from You.” Then be still, and hear His Answer to you now. You'll know His answer by the peace it brings.

          Sift not through vain illusions for the Truth, nor eternality in fleeting forms that are as flowers, fresh and beautiful today but soon are blighted by the sun. Seek not the deathless in this dream of death. Seek, rather, that which you shall never lose. I may seem far from you at times, but I am ever near. Blame not the Spirit for Her still, small Voice, but understand it is but you who are hard of hearing. Lay not this deafness to your charge, but recognize it as the ego’s interference in the path that I am guiding you upon. Offer your ego up to Me, and let the blazing fire of eternal Truth, melt away the dross that hides the gold of pure Love and Devotion to the Lord. This is the inner part of the chalice of the Atonement, while its silver, outer aspect is spiritual Knowledge. Love contains within it Knowledge, but Knowledge will lead to Love in the end.

I came because you sought me with all your heart. Inconsistently, yes. With faltering footsteps, it's true. But a moment of genuine yearning suffices. In that one instant, when your heart cried out from the depths of despair for God, He answered you. It was not in a form you recognized, nor was it direct, as I am communicating with you now. There are times that an answer takes the form of silence. As you recall, it was sometime later that the answer began to speak, and always at your own invitation. Our conversation is nothing but a continuation of those dialogues, whose voice you then called inspiration. And rightly so. My Voice is the Holy Spirit’s, and She is indeed the Universal Inspiration. You did not call often, but when you did, you were always answered, and reassured. No one can truly make a call to God without being answered. You could say God has a 24 hour hotline through the Holy Spirit. His Answer is enough. It tells you that the time of learning is over. It speaks to you of all things, and greater, that you shall do if you let the miracle--now--save you thousands of years, by the world’s reckoning. For Christ has returned. And he is offering you the miracle of the Atonement that was begun long before I appeared in the flesh, but which I completed. And having completed it, I found my own completion, which I would gladly share with you. 

Be still, and hear God’s answer. There is a capacity in you which can hear My Voice with perfect clarity. Every shut eye is not asleep, nor is every shut ear deaf. This is not a special talent possessed by some special few, but one shared by all, although most have not yet learned to use it. Do not accept a message as coming from me just because someone claims it is. Do not make appeals to false authority. But go, rather, within yourself and check to see if it resonates with your deepest intuition. Does it ring true with the highest understanding and light that you currently possess? Then embrace it. If not, do not trouble yourself with it a moment longer. Find peace in this: you do not need to know what your part is in the Plan. You only need to play it when you are called upon. You may not know from one moment to the next what to do, but this is intended to help you learn to ask. Be the witness, and trust that you will see miracles through your hands through Me. As you accept the atonement for yourself, a part of all minds do the same, for minds are joined.

This is readiness: to always be willing and able to do that which is truly helpful to your brothers; and that includes Me. You can assist me most by stepping back, and letting Christ guidance lead you to the highly personal experience of salvation. That is what really matters. And be sure to leave what doesn’t to the control of Christ. Afterwards, you will be able to represent me to the struggling ones still seeking in the dark for the light they think they lack. The world is not “out there” to be saved. Salvation is the gift of the Atonement that I offer upon your altar, in devotion to You as Your Father created Both of us to be. Take this chalice, dear brother, and drink of it deeply. It is the blood of my divine Life. Truly, the life is in the blood. But the blood is not the Life, but merely the river that carries it. There was certainly nothing magical about My physical blood that invested it with healing or saving power. It is the Divine Life I demonstrated while a living, breathing man that does have power to save. And we are saved through devotion to our brothers. We witness not just with words, but with our every action. Now, arise and teach the ways of the deathless one to those too fearful to go on. 

Remember always your indebtedness to your brother, and by this sense of overwhelming gratitude to him for being savior unto you, may you be lifted up from the great Poverty, and accept my Father’s hidden Treasure as what you both have and are. My Peace I give you, and you know I do not give gifts as the world: given only to be rescinded later, and guarded to ensure that they are properly appreciated. My faith in you is infinite, for I know your great Love for Me and invite you now to enter into my rest. My yoke indeed is light. The sting of death is momentary, but the majesty of Life endures forever. Life, as you know it, is bound by the forces of dissolution. Death is but a sad fact of life. Those who deny it are denying their experience of life. Such is bound to produce level confusion. The eternal Life is not this short trip from cradle to the grave; these few revolutions around the sun with even fewer revelations from the Son. Your life is God’s gift to you, that you may gain eternal Life. Although meager, perhaps, it is the way that you have available now, and it is not for you to waste anything. Trust that God’s Will in all things is already accomplished, and was accomplished even before an alien will ever seemed to interpose itself between you and the Father of All. That accomplishment cannot be undone, regardless of the dreams you dream. You could but fantasize the separation. You could not make it real. And I am here, to the ends of the earth, to remind you of it. This is also the reminder that you did not create yourself.

As you submit yourself to the correction of your level confusion, you may feel personally insulted. This is quite common, and does not surprise me at all. Actually, I expect it. Your resistance is my opportunity, for I know how to work with it. I am the ego’s teacher, and since I evolved out of my own, I am now in an optimum position to help others to do the same. Here, in my heart, is boundless compassion for the suffering of the world. Here, in my mind, is the thought of Union that forever and completely undoes the thought of separation in the holy instant, where the Holy Spirit’s Answer abides. Accept the truth of your completion, not of yourself, not through special relationships, but through the One who ensured that you would fulfill your function by fulfilling his own. In healing himself, he healed the world. In dying to self, he showed us the way that we, too, could fly with eagle’s wings and soar into the infinitudes of the Divine Mind. In forgiving those who considered themselves his enemies, he revealed the Heart of God, which sees no enemies, but only brothers calling out for love. And as he answered them, he answers you. As you accept God’s forgiveness, it is only natural that you extend it to others. Ignorance is the real root of all evil, for it blinds man to the truth of everything, and being blind, is likely to attack without warning anything and everything it perceives as a threat. Ignorance is also the justification for forgiveness. If you hold a grievance against a brother, say, as I did: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” All shallow roots will be uprooted, for they cannot give your soul the nourishment it needs. You are sustained only by your Love of God, and His for You. 

Don’t have any expectations about how revelation is supposed to look, for it comes when the gaze is turned inward, and so there is no spectacle to behold. The mind, divorced from its ability to see truly, can only misperceive. So, yes, the world as you see it is an illusion, or better, nothing at all. The world, like your mind, is merely a blank until Vision dawns. All things here are merely neutral, nor is there anything you can invest with value here, without suffering its loss, and shedding bitter tears of disappointment at its passing. Have mercy on yourself, and cease to value what is valueless. Seek the Real World, endowed with all the Value God has given it, along with you. For this is your joint Creation. The Real World is your inheritance, for God has willed that It be yours. Nothing can change God’s Mind about you, but this is meaningless while your own mind is so distracted by false thoughts and vain ideas. You must discover changeless mind within yourself, and knowing this, you will not doubt, but abide in childlike trust. Take hold your brother's hand, for it is sure. See now your savior who was in the dark, redeemed from dreams of hell and sacrifice.