The ego’s sense of ‘self’ and the need to defend

Listening, joining, and the Holy Instant

The ego’s sense of ‘self’ and the need to defend
"You're a liar. You say one thing and then you say the opposite to someone else. You are the biggest fake," she says to me. My reaction is instantaneous. Outrage. I feel misunderstood and I notice the strong 'need' to defend myself. I'm not a liar! I want to say. It's actually just the opposite. I may not be consistent in form (what I do and say) but that's because I try to act consistently with the content of my mind. Whenever I'm conscious, I try to respond from a loving space. Love inspires you to say what is most helpful and sometimes the most loving thing to do is to talk in their language and at their level; even if that means that what you're sa

Listening, joining, and the Holy Instant
About ten years ago I went to the zoo with my daughter's Kindergarten class. All the moms were split into small groups and I shared my chaperoning duties with a mom who had just moved to town. Though I had never talked to her before, in our four hours together, she told me her sad story which ended with her husband cheating on her and a nasty divorce. It seemed random at the time that she would tell such a story to a stranger, but I've since realized that no interaction is ever without purpose. If you're not aware of its purpose, you can be sure that the ego is using it for its purpose of reinforcing the separation. Judgment is its key tool. Over the years of pract

From the “Australian Center for Inner Peace”
This morning I found this article in the Quarterly Newsletter from the Australian Centre for Inner Peace, Issue 22 – September 2009. I really enjoyed reading it and I thought I would share it with you. The article is written by its founder, Michael Dawson, founder of ACFIP. You can sign up for the Newsletter by visiting http://www.acfip.org .Self-worth and Sinlessness Many of us have been told, early in our lives, to make something of ourselves. We may be encouraged to perform well at school, academically or i

Notes from Ken Wapnick’s S-9 Workshop “A Qualified Entente” September 12, 2009
I was at the Foundation for A Course in Miracles yesterday for a workshop and I thought I would share my notes with you. The title, "a qualified entente" comes from the section entitled "The Closing of the Gap," at the beginning of Chapter 29 in the Text. The word "Entente," comes from the French and means agreement. Ententes are unofficial treaties. It's a limited agreement we make with each other to limit love within the special love relationship. Formal religions make an agreement with God. It's a way of telling God I will love you sometimes and express my love in certain ways. One thing that is very clear in this

Withdrawing support from the dream
I usually shop for vegetables at a market that sells local vegetables at a very reasonable price, but in a hurry the other day; I ended up in a regular chain supermarket. Looking for fruit and vegetables I came upon my favorite tomatoes in the vine which I usually buy for 99 cents a pound, but to my surprise and outrage they were $2.99 a pound! Five feet to the right I saw pineapples for $1.39 a pound. I weighed one of them on the scale and calculated that each pineapple was at least $6.70; more than double of what I usually pay. The half gallon of organic milk that I pay $3 dollars for was $3.89 and so on and so forth…. As I walk up and down the aisles pi