Tag Archives: Mind

Aug 28 2019
Consciousness, Contemplation, Omnipresence

Freedom From Illusions

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The Question

One of our subscribers asked this question:

What principle (example: Eternality, Health, Life, etc.) corresponds to freedom from illusions? Is Freedom one of the Universal Principles that we can contemplate as we would, say, Eternality?

The person who asked this should be applauded. It’s obvious, by the question, that he perceives the possibility of living an illusion-free lifestyle. Many people profess God is All. Yet, they seem to believe that life is chock full of unavoidable illusions and appearances with which one must contend. Let’s explore the answers to the question.

First and foremost, everyone must enjoy the freedom to contemplate any word or phrase they feel compelled to contemplate. As long as that word or phrase is in some way associated with God’s Allness, you have the green light. So, go for it.

Freedom Is A Tricky Word

However, there are some suggestions to consider. Look up the definition of the word freedom. Below are two of the definitions I found.

  1. “Absence of subjection to foreign domination”
  2. “State of not being imprisoned or enslaved”

Whatever dictionary you use will offer similar definitions. Look closely at the definitions above. Isn’t it clear that freedom presupposes a duality? The possibility of one being dominated or imprisoned by another implies more than one. It’s very likely that the contemplation of the word freedom will have you wandering up and down the back roads of dualism.

Contemplate This Instead

Take the idea: there is One Infinite, Indivisible Presence – God. Contemplate it. Know that this One includes, and is, your very Being. In such a contemplation, you’ll find no “other” to enslave the One. You’ll find no “other” subjecting the One to adversity or hardship. You will find that the One is free to be what it Is.

Confusion About Illusion — Is It Really There?

The question concerns freedom from illusions. What is an illusion? Webster’s Dictionary gives two pertinent definitions:

  1. “A thing wrongly perceived by the senses”
  2. “A misleading impression of reality”

These definitions say all that needs to be said about illusions. They state clearly that the illusion is not present. However, something is there.

If you mistake the fire hydrant in the distance for a dog, something is there – the fire hydrant. Seeing the dog is the fire hydrant wrongly perceived by the eyes. The fire hydrant is present. The illusion, the dog, is not present. That’s all you need to know about illusions and appearances. They are not present.

You know the Truth: God is All. Therefore, you know what is present, and that’s all you need to deal with. An illusion is an absence – a nothing. No one needs to be free of nothing.

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Mar 07 2019
Consciousness, Intelligence, Mind

You Really Do Know What To Do

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“I don’t know what to do. Please help.”

Sometimes trouble seems overwhelming, and you reach out for help. Although you have read all the books and heard the stirring sermons, you feel like you don’t know what to do. To anyone who is seeking a spiritual solution to a seeming problem, I am stepping out on the skinny branches to make this bold assertion: YOU DO KNOW WHAT TO DO.

First, let’s start with the fundamental FACT that you are the living presence of Infinite Intelligence. Know-how is the warp and woof of your Identity. This supports my original assertion that YOU DO KNOW WHAT TO DO, and what follows is a suggestion to make this very practical.

Most likely, as I previously stated, you have read an assortment of spiritual books. You’ve attended lectures and have been exposed to a lot of information on spiritual living. You might even be a class-taught Christian Scientist. Plus, you pray daily in listening, God-focused prayer. All of this helps. What follows involves a lot of imagination, but it’s not the mental trickery of visualizing your good.

If you feel like you’re in a jam and want a spiritual resolution, find a quiet place to sit. If you can, place another chair in front of you and imagine someone sitting there. This imaginary person is coming to you for consultation. Their problem is exactly the same problem you seem to have. So have them spill it all out just like you would to a practitioner or counselor.

Now that you’ve heard it all. Advise them of the spiritual approach to their dilemma. Lay it out step-by-step. Keep “advising” until you sense a clarity in your approach.

Am I right? Don’t you see that you do know what to do, and even how to do it? The challenge is in this next step. DO EXACTLY WHAT YOU ADVISED YOUR IMAGINARY PERSON TO DO – AND DO IT CONSISTENTLY.

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Jan 12 2018
Consciousness, Contemplation, Prayer

Try This For Your Best Year Yet

new-year-prayer

Move Beyond Resolutions For Your Best Year Ever

Did you make any resolutions for the new year? Why? What are you hoping to accomplish? A better you? A better life? Please answer these questions.

Everyone would like for this so-called new year to be popping with success. People are craving a new and improved life. Most are hoping that this is the year that all their dreams come true. But, reader, you know that as high as these hopes are at the beginning of the year, things usually don’t work out that way. For a lot of folk, the new year ends up a dead ringer for the old year.

In this post, I’m offering you a suggestion that, if followed, will yield greater benefits than all of your resolutions – even if stuck to.

Here is the suggestion.

Take your prayerful attention off of your problems – completely. Stop trying to use Truth (God) to fix the seeming broken places of your life. When you pray, (contemplate, or whatever name you call it,) stop trying to heal your body, repair your relationship, get something, or get rid of something. This includes even the hope that something good will result from your praying.

Instead, let your prayers be for the joy of knowing and experiencing God.

I don’t usually use the word “metaphysical” in these posts, but for the moment the word serves my purpose. Because it is above (meta) all so-called physical phenomena, the suggestion above is the most metaphysical practice there is. It is the only true spiritual practice.

Putting It Into Practice

You may be asking, “How do I put this into practice?” The simple answer is to examine your motive. Whenever you “pray,” ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?” If it is to fix, heal, or get, know that your prayer is off track. Then, ask yourself this question: “Am I willing to do this just for the joy of knowing, experiencing and contemplating the nature of God?” If your answer is an unqualified “Yes,” then proceed with your praying.

If, however, your answer is “No,” ask yourself one more question: “Am I willing to do this just for the joy of knowing, experiencing and contemplating the nature of God?” Willing is the magic word. If you answer “Yes” to this question, proceed with your praying.

Dealing With That Pesky Little Voice

As you read this are you thinking, “Allen, I get it, but when I sit down to pray that way, this little voice says ‘You’re lying. You really want to get healed. You really want to change this situation. You are not really interested in God.’”

Continue with your praying. Don’t fight this “voice.” It really is nothing. Let it “speak” and proceed with your praying. Soon, two things will happen. First, that “voice” will no longer even whisper to you. Second, you will find joy, even ecstasy, in praying just for the joy of knowing, experiencing and considering the nature of God. Now, you are on track and “cooking with gas.”

Reader, enjoy the Infinite Goodness of God’s Presence as your very life and being. In the next post, I will explain why this works.

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Oct 18 2016
Consciousness, Prayer, Revelation

Haven’t Experienced Revelation? Here’s Help

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Sitting In The Silence, But No Revelations

“Allen, I’ve sat in silence for years, but nothing happens. No revelations, no illumination – nothing. I’ve read your books and have practically memorized Joel Goldsmith’s, but I can’t figure out what in the h**l I’m doing wrong.”

Reader, is this where you seem to be? I’ve been there. It’s frustrating. It’s disheartening. After a long while of “nothing’s happening,” you just go through the motion of silent praying, but you don’t expect anything to come of it. It’s maddening!

Don’t Be Discouraged. There Is Only One Mind.

Because I have been there, I’m offering the following suggestion to newbies in order to bypass this phase, and to the disheartened, to finally find fulfillment.

But first, reader, take a look at the premise that undergirds the suggestion.

God is All. There is only One Mind, and that Mind is the full Revelation of Truth. This is “your” Mind right now.

The mind that has never experienced Revelation – the unillumined mind is no mind at all. It is non-existent.

In short, at this very moment, you are a fully Illumined Identity. You, reader, are Revelation Itself.

Now that you have read, understood and accepted the premise, let’s move on to the suggestion

Try This For Thirty Days

Before you start your silent prayer, acknowledge that you are already fully Illumined. Acknowledge right now that you are the full Revelation of Truth. STOP reaching out for Truth. Instead, settle into “your” fully illumined Mind.

Try this for 30 days, but remember, no reaching out. Settle in.

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Sep 10 2015
Consciousness, Identity, Illumination, Mind

The Most Popular Mind Games — Have You Played Any?

GAMES

Yes, it’s true. There is just one Presence, and this Presence is Existence itself. But more than that, reader, YOU ARE THIS PRESENCE.

This one Presence is Intelligence. It is Awareness. It is, as we say, Mind. Mind, being God, is Existence. To make sure we are on the same page of the same book, I’m going to rephrase what has just been written: The one Presence (You) does not have a mind. It is Mind. Did something click? Did you say to yourself, “I get it! I don’t have a mind. I Am Mind.”? Now we are on the same page, and we can have some fun.

We are going to play some Mind games. I did not invent these games. It seems that many people have played them for thousands of years. There are no special purchases, but there are some essentials. To play these Mind games you will have to pretend that God is not All. You’ll have to pretend there is not one Presence – not one Mind. These games are like solitaire. You don’t need a partner to play. Let the games begin.

[Game 1] I Don’t Know Enough Truth

This is a popular game among the dedicated and sincere. In this game you have to have a problem – a serious problem. To win, you have to convince yourself that you have a personal mind that is not the One Mind. Then, you have to convince yourself that the mind you have does not know enough Truth to “handle” your problem. However, there is someone else (a Practitioner, author, or guru) with another mind that does know enough Truth to handle your case.

[Game 2] I Wish I Were As Enlightened As _______

Fill in the blank with any name you choose. To jumpstart the game, I’m giving you a few names you could put in the blank:

  • Jesus Christ
  • Mary Baker Eddy
  • Joel Goldsmith
  • Henrik DeLange
  • Alfred Aiken
  • your “spiritual leader”

How many minds are on this list? How about your list? Each of these minds seems to have a little more or less light than the other. But more than that, they all have more light than you. The only way this game can be won is that you always have to be the spiritual dimwit – a dimmer light than everyone on your list.

[Game 3] The Closed Class Game

This game is awesome. Not just for its unbridled dualism, but also for its self-aggrandizing pomposity.

When I am invited to give a lecture, a small group of people ask me to give a “closed class”. A closed class is for the (please don’t gag) “advanced students”. When someone asks me this, it implies “I and a few others are a tad higher in Consciousness than the rest. Will you have a class just for us?”

My answer has always been “No!” Reader, I’m going to spend a little more time discussing this game.

To play this game, you have to imagine God (the Infinite, Indivisible All) to be divided into levels of Itself. Then, you have to imagine that there are others out there on a lower level than you. Do you see any difference between this game and racial prejudice, gender discrimination, and other social ills based on supposed differences?

This is a dangerous game. PLAY AT YOUR OWN RISK.

[Game 4] I Can’t Wait Until I Am Enlightened

I remember the joys and thrills I got from playing this game. It’s a game of self-deception. This is the only physically challenging game on the list. To play it well, you are constantly reaching up and over your shoulder to give yourself congratulatory pats on the back for “really” wanting to know God.

You will hear players of this game saying, “Every day I sit in the silence contemplating God’s Presence and Power. I never miss. I can’t wait until I experience my first revelation (or illumination).”

To play this game well enough to win, you have to start with the belief that there is a mind (not Mind) that is presently unenlightened. However, with enough sincerity, dedication, and silent moments, this mind will one day become enlightened. It’s all a crap shoot. It may happen, but most often, it doesn’t.

Again, reader, you are Mind. You are the very presence of Illumination. But, you have to sacrifice this fact to play the games. How long you play any of these games is up to you. “You are the light of the world.”

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Jan 27 2015
Consciousness

What Do These Have In Common?

God Is All - Oneness

Scenario #1

The phone rang. When I answered, a trembling voice said in hushed tones, “Allen, I’m afraid. I’m about to lose my home, and I don’t know what to do.”

Scenario #2

One evening I spoke with a man who punched and whipped himself with a flurry of self-condemning and self-hating words. I thought to myself, I sure hope he’s sitting down, because no one could stand after a beating like this.

He whined and moaned about how long it was taking him to make spiritual progress – if he made any at all.

Scenario #3

A woman sat across from me at the café table. Usually all bubbly and sizzling with positivity, she sat there flat as a glass of day-old champagne. She was facing a health challenge that seemed hopeless.

From our conversation, it sounded like she had resigned herself to a life of unimaginable suffering and certain death.

The Only Mind Knows Only God

Read these scenarios once again. Can you guess the one thing they have in common? And while you are in the question answering mode, below are three more questions:

  1. With what mind was the first woman feeling fearful?
  2. What mind (in the second case) was self-condemning and struggling for enlightenment?
  3. What mind was hopeless?

You are right if you answered none at all. GOD KNOWING ITSELF TO BE ALL is the only Mind that knows anything. It is the only Mind that exists. This Mind (which is your Mind right now) knows the constancy of abundant Supply. This Mind knows that birthless, deathless, ageless, timeless, perfect Substance is the only Substance. This Mind is the constancy of illumined Perception.

What Is Happening vs. What Seems To Be Happening

Let’s go back to that one common thing in each scenario. I’m sure you guessed it already, but here it is: While each seemed to be happening, they weren’t happening at all. God is all that is going on – always.

This post is a springboard for the next post which is an All Hands On Deck post.

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Oct 08 2014
Consciousness, Intelligence

The Great Escape (Part 2)

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All You Need To Know About The Human Mind

A reader asked this question: “Is it ever really possible to stop thinking?” The answer is yes … and no. By way of thinking, the so-called human mind is hunting for a “Formula for Living” – a formula for safety, security, happiness and success. Because it can never find this formula, the human mind never stops thinking. Sometimes it thinks fear thoughts. Sometimes worry thoughts. Sometimes it thinks, “I can’t,” and “I will never” thoughts. Like red pepper flakes on a slice of pepperoni pizza, there are smidgens and sprinkles of “good” thoughts.

The human mind bases all of its busy-body thinking on the notion that time and space separates everything and everyone. This, of course, is a lie. There is only ONE INSEPARABLE, INDIVISIBLE PRESENCE – GOD. The formula that the so-called human mind is searching for rests in the awareness of ONENESS. Since the human mind starts with twoness, it can never find the formula that it seeks. So, it keeps thinking, and thinking, and thinking.

Knowing Without Thinking

Reader, don’t let all that I’ve written disturb you. Fortunately, the human mind and all the thoughts it thinks are not real. The entire kit and caboodle doesn’t exist. Stop trying to stop thinking. Take a slow, deep breath and relax in the comforting message that follows.

There is a Mind, and this Mind is All. This Mind, or Awareness, is YOU. It’s completely impersonal and indivisible. This Mind is activity, and the activity that it is cannot be stopped. If it could, the entire universe would cease to exist.

THIS MIND, THAT IS YOU, DOES NOT THINK. It has never thought one single thought. And yet this Mind is always aware. It is all knowledge. What does this Mind know? It knows Itself to be All. This is the full extent of Mind’s knowing.

Reader, can you see that this all-knowing Mind (that is All) has no need to search for Life’s Formula? It has no need to think fear thoughts, worry thoughts, lack thoughts, and all the other thoughts based on the fiction of a presence and power other than Itself? This Mind that I am writing about is YOU – the one and only YOU.

Your Mind In Active Stillness

Once you realize that there is only one Mind, and that this Mind is All, you will first notice a change in the quality of the thoughts you “think”. Mind surges and soars with spontaneous happy, joy-filled thoughts. Worry-wart thoughts are far and few between. Confident “I can” thoughts replace “I can’t” thoughts. “I am able” thoughts overthrow the “But I don’t know how” thoughts. When you look at your neighbor, your spouse, your co-worker, you think “This one that I see is the living Truth.” You didn’t try to think the thought because you ought to. The idea just popped up like a jack-in-the-box.

Reader, perhaps you have already had this experience. During your morning contemplation, you sit down to contemplate a spiritual Truth. Maybe it’s “I and the Father are one,” or “God is love.” At first it seems you are directing and controlling the contemplation. You are conducting the movement of ideas. Then … the contemplation takes on a life of its own. You are no longer conducting the symphony of ideas that flood Consciousness. Instead of thinking, there is the activity of knowing. Just for a moment, it seems as though you are going along for this joyous ride. Then … you experience yourself BEING the contemplation. All the while, you experience an indescribable peace. There is a flood tide of ideas, but no thinking. What’s happening here?

Have you ever seen a bicycle wheel spin so fast that it seems the spokes are not moving at all? There is activity, but it appears as stillness. In contemplations as described above, Mind – your Mind – is whizzing with (as) activity. Yet, it seems still as a frozen lake. This seeming stillness is experienced as a calm, effortless knowing. This is Mind at its all-knowing best – without thinking.

Is this experience confined to a prayer nook? No! Believe me. While you are out and about your day, you can and will have moments of sudden, spontaneous, all-absorbing contemplation. Because Mind is awareness, you will be aware of any and every thing that you need to be aware of to carry on safely. And, the indescribable bliss will seem to transport you to another world. You are active, moving, carrying on your affairs without thinking. The moment may be fleeting as a few breaths, but that’s enough to let you know of greater things to come.

The short answer to the reader’s question is: No, it is not possible to stop the human mind from thinking. Yes, it is possible to know the nothingness of the human mind and the somethingness of God Mind. And yes, it is possible to know without thinking and to experience this as a living fact.

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