Musings: The Decision Maker
That night Deepak Chopra was speaking to 2400 people in Calgary on non-violence. His goal was “to have at least 100 million people join him in a vow of non-violence in thought, speech and action”.
This is a worthwhile goal and I support it. But let’s be clear what that would mean for each of us if we really were to join him.
“The ego uses the body for attack, for pleasure and for pride”. Text, p.105.
The relationship between attack and who uses the body is the significant part of that statement. The ego uses the body for attack. There is another possibility.
There are two possible commanders of the body. You are not the body. You are the one that chooses the commander. That “you” is in the mind and to make it a little more palpable we’ll give that “you” a name. I’ve heard many names but none has really appealed to me. For now we will refer to it as The Decision Maker. If you come up with one that works better for you, be my guest.
The Decision Maker is your self just prior to the insane choice you made for the ego and its symbol—the body. You still are the decision maker. Instead of being the one run by the needs of the body you are the one who decides if you want to continue in that way.
Just to flesh this out a little more so you understand the choice, the ego is:
a false sense of self
the you that you think you are
the one that likes being an individual, self-centered, separate
the one who sees the world in terms of what it means for you
the little self– the one who is needy and afraid of just about everyone and everything
The false self (ego) uses the body for pleasure, pride, and for attack.
If the ego were not using your body attack, pleasure and pride would not be useful or appealing.
The other option is to put the body in the hands of The Teacher. The Teacher uses your body for another purpose, but you need to become a learner first. This is a good time to point out that “Humility will never ask that you remain content with littleness. But it does require that you be not content with less than greatness that comes not of you.” Text, p. 381.
Who/what is using your body?
Without changing the voice in command of the body, violence will continue. This is very important to understand because not seeing it is what it means to be caught in the dream of perception. You don’t think there is an alternative.
This is a decision that each of us eventually will make. All other attempts to bring peace to the world will fail.
More than likely if you are hearing this you are beginning to feel the disillusionment of being identified with the figure (body) in the dream. It’s not so hot being you anymore. You may even be a little bored with your self concept.
In letting go of our attachment to it there is nothing to defend.
When we stop defending we cannot be attacked. ( The famous relevant lesson in the Course is “If I defend myself I am attacked.”)
We only appear to be attacked because we are defending something that isn’t real. That is the meaning of:
“Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God”.
When we know God’s peace, we also know it envelops the world. The problem was only one of a false sense of self.
Musings: Teaching Love
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Teaching love would be an appropriate thought for that day. What does it mean to teach love?
A Course in Miracles tells you to teach only love for that is what you are. You can’t teach anything else without being false.
I started thinking about the time when I made Valentine cookies with my grandchildren. It was sweet in more ways than one. The cookies were beautiful but what I learned was even more delicious.
That day in the kitchen with the grand girls we made one hell of a mess. It could have offended my sense of order and challenged my ideas of how I should best spend my day. (After all it took an entire afternoon.)
To get the whole project up and running took considerable organization, and once all the decorating paraphernalia was laid out before us it took considerable patience to train the workers. In the end production was poor and there weren’t a lot of cookies to show for the effort. But there was love and there was laughter.
Why is it that our attitudes can remain so generous in one situation and not in others?
Teaching love does not equate with making valentine cookies any more than it does with having the perfect romantic dinner with your lover. You could do either and teach guilt the entire time. You could also do either and teach love. It’s all in the attitude. Teaching is attitude. It has nothing to do with the form of the relationship or the activity engaged in.
Teaching love means not being inconvenienced, burdened or offended in any way by the needs and actions of someone else. Not by the messes they make, the needs they have or the time they demand. Love sees that not the slightest bit of harm came to anyone. This leaves no cause for anything but love and laughter.
Annoyance or upset teaches guilt. It says I am not having a good time because of what you did. The mess you made, the time you took, the demands you made, the things you needed took my peace away. You hurt me. You are guilty and therefore not worthy of love so I’m going to withhold it from you.
Teaching love is a full-time job that goes on in every encounter.
I am using the harmless activity of baking cookies with my grandchildren as an example of how we might see all our relationships. Harmless. No one is trying to take our peace away. Yes, they make messes, want our time and attention, and need our help. We have the opportunity to teach love instead of guilt by seeing them worthy of it.
Helpful reminder from the Course: “Beware the temptation to perceive yourself unfairly treated.”
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