Dr of Spirituality Lesson 1

Prayer Visualization:

Close your eyes. Hold your awareness on your breathing for a minute or two until you feel a sense of inner calm. With your eyes still closed, feel the place where you sit, stand or lie. Listen to the sounds you hear. Affirm your intention to come to a deeper understanding of the awareness of Love's presence not only within you but in every person, place, and thing around you.

Open your eyes for a moment. Now look all around you. Try to imagine Love's presence as you rest your gaze on what is around you. As you gaze from object to object try to realize that every thing you see, hear and feel is this world's attempt to hide Love's all pervasive presence. 

Now close your eyes again. Bring your mind to a specific situation in which you feel threatened or scared. As you look upon this scene repeat these words to yourself:

Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God. 

Say this over and over to yourself as a prayer or affirmation of Love's presence within until you feel a sense of peace emanate from your being

Open your eyes and write a one page description of what happened to you during this visualization. 

     This exercise is awakening for me.  I had lots of realization come me in rush of a few moments.  First of all, most of us are not always very aware of what's around us much less what's inside of us.  We are looking so hard outside of ourselves that we have no clue as to what we are "looking" for anyway.  We don't realize that there is nothing to look for.  It's an illusion.   

The things around me that I gazed upon were very revealing.  The attempt to hide Loves presence comes in that this need for something that I think I'm lacking. So, by having it, in a deceitful way, a void is being filled.  The void isn't there in the first place.  There's nothing to fill.  I looked at my dresser for example, something in me felt empty so I needed this item so I can fill up my space, a shell to hide it's contents.  Kind of like me & everyone and all things.  We have shell, a dresser per say that hides and holds what is within -LOVE. I can think by not having this thing or any other thing I'm not loved or I'm not good enough or I'm lacking or I'm needing.  All which is an illusion invented out of fear.  

The whole clincher for me is so what I got the dresser. It doesn't make feel or be happy in anyway. By having it I do not feel more loved.  It didn't change me as human being. Truly, whether or not I have my dresser has no bearing as to what I am or who I am or being what I am.  Do I have more inner or outer peace for that matter? No I don't. Most of the time I don't pay any attention to it.  In fact when I'm dressing I truly don't really see the dresser.  I'm only concerned with what's inside of it.  Which parallels the human condition.  All that matters is what's within.  

At the same time love can be seen in my dresser, in that LOVE created it, LOVE was the tree that is now my dresser. LOVE is the human who crafted it's beauty and function.  LOVE is the water and Earth that nourished the tree. LOVE is the sunlight that provided the photosynthesis for the tree to grow and provide the oxygen that I Breathe.  In that sense there is a lot of love in the object -the dresser.   

Revelation

Nothing real can be threatened

Nothing unreal exists

Therein lies the peace of God.

I think most of what humans do is invent and discover.  We have nothing to create as it already exists.  This applies not only to the material world -the world of things but also to human nature and interaction.  It applies to human psychology and behavior.  

A huge life long obstacle for human existence is relationships. Relationships with things are much easier for us to cope that's why we have so many things.  That's why there's shopping malls and places to buy things all over the place. It's easier to shop than to fear over exposure, abandonment, & rejection from truly interact with another human being on any meaningful level. 

I know I struggle from time to time with, what if I say or do and I'm not loved anymore.  Humans fear the idea of being unloved and alone.  That's an illusion of course.  Humans then spend all of their lives searching for the right friends or the right lover or the right spouse.  Humans keep searching for someone to save them or to "make me happy".   Humans label and judge their relationships with many forms of illusion of fear.  He's this, she's that, blah blah blah.  We including myself, create separation between ourselves in the notion that we will not be loved for some reason or another.  Then we, including myself, are not allowing our true selves be present within (LOVE) . Which means we are not loving ourselves and when we are not Being Love we can't Love anyone else much less a partner.  Because we forgot that we are love and we forgot how to love and because we cut ourselves off from love we then realize that the fear we feel about being unloved come from ourselves not anyone else.  If we feel unloved by someone it's because we don't love ourselves.  If we love ourselves then that's what we are and that what we reap.  

Whenever I think I'll be rejected for some reason or another, it's because I'm rejecting myself.  If I feel loved then it's because I'm being love and loving myself.  

Relationship, which I've had a few.  A few good and a few bad.  I can think back to feeling so miserable because this or that or the other thing. Or feeling disappointed because someone didn't make me happy or fulfill me...what nerve I had. That's a lot of pressure for any human to live up to.  I have to save myself, I have to love myself, and I make myself happy.   It's my responsibility to be Love.  

All of these blockages we create to separate ourselves or to Not love ourselves is a fabricated invented illusion..... It's not real.. If it was real it couldn't be threatened in anyway.  Nothing unreal exists.... Herein lies the peace of God.  

That was my experience during this exercise.  I examined my current and past relationships and where I would feel threatened.   Everyday, I remember more and more how to Love myself and that I never had to learn to love myself or others, I just have to remember what I AM and who I AM and allow it to come through.   If we all loved ourselves we would love each other just fine and that's all there would be. Fear could no longer spread and rear it's ugly head with it's deception.

God is Love. I Am Love.  All is Love. It just is.  I enjoyed how The Course In Miracles  brought out that Love cannot be taught.  We only learn what doesn't come natural to us.  Profound for me and I guess it should be common sense.  

Free will, God is free will, God created free will, hence the free will path is to Love which is God.  I am now using my free will to choose God to choose Love. I am releasing and letting go of imprisonment which is everything but Love.  Love is real. Love is never threatened. Love is the only thing that exists.  

It starts with myself.  How cool is that.  I can no longer give my power away to anyone or anything else.  It's my responsibility.  

I do realize that it's a minute by minute process to be love as the separation from God occurred many eons ago by choosing this imprisonment.  With Love and with God there are Miracles- How Loving!  

Blessings To All

Naunie Maddox

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