Take Me to Truth

For the first time, since we launched our book we will be teaming up with Gary Renard and friends Lucia Espinosa and Rogier F. Van Vlissingen to deliver a Quantum Spirituality Symposium in Atlanta, GA September 6th & 7th. Come on down!

Poetry by Alexy

Changeless Facts Of Life
We need to love God because He is our beloved Cause and we are the Effect
There is no need for arrogance and strife for you are humble and Divine
The true always stays the same, the state of constancy
The false need but correction in one fraction
The sameness of your Father extends to you as All there is
You need to look at fear to recognize it’s unappeal
It is but a shadow of yourself that isn’t true which you are willing to undo
Your gifts of individuality and deceit have served no purpose but to make you blind, mad and miserably sad
You change not, no matter what
What can we want but be eternally at peace?
No answer lies but this
You need but question the belief of what you are, to realize the changeless facts of Life are always true
Be at peace now, you are whole and innocent as All

Questions and Answers

Recently we've been blessed with readers asking the most wonderful questions. We're pretty sure that these questions and the answers that arose from them would be helpful for others too. So, we'd like to include some of these questions/answers in our Newsletter from time to time. Here is our first question and answer segment. The topic is on the subject of 'self doubt' (ego self-doubt/esteem) as we undo the ego. We hope this is helpful.

And if you have any questions that would be helpful to include in our Newsletter we'd be happy to hear from you...

QUESTION # 1

"On page 114 of Take Me to Truth (Cultivate Ego-Self Doubt): with all due respect: I, for one, do not need to "cultivate" self-doubt — it is already there abundantly!

Then you say: "The only doubt that should be avoided at all costs is Unified Self doubt..."
Isn't this the biggest ego doubt of them all? Doesn't avoiding any doubt -- and this doubt in particular -- only intensify / prolong it? Avoiding anything keeps stuff in the dark; it is to be brought into the Light for healing / forgiveness."

ANSWER

Take Me to Truth was a direct result of our experience of living the Course's principles. We are not Course scholars; more like Course explorers who have dared to set sail in the wild oceans of the uncharted New World, so to speak. So this book (and the next) will hopefully be helpful to students/teachers at the very practical level. We are hoping to entice people to get out from the intellectual understanding of the Course and into the direct experience of the Development of Trust. I only say this because there are many students/teachers (we did this for a time as well) who unknowingly cling intellectually to a teaching without doing the "work" within their daily button-pressing environment. The ego loves to intellectualize and discuss rather than to do the work at hand. So, the language of TMTT is couched in ways to encourage us to take the journey from intellectualizing and into the practice/application of Course principles.

On self-esteem? This is one of those things the ego cannot ever understand. As the Course explains (TMTT Page, 112) "...Self-esteem in ego terms must be delusional"

This is one area I (Nouk) battled with myself for many years only to have to unlearn all the ego self-esteem that I'd acquired. It's our experience in the process of undoing the ego that we do need to cultivate self-doubt (ego that is). Holy Spirit helps us to discern how to do this safely when we ask for Guidance. We know nothing in Truth and as we unlearn what we know we grow to realize that we are becoming so much safer and more secure in the awareness that we know nothing. Of course the ego is terrified of this state so the first few stages of Awakening involve conflict over this; the ego must know otherwise it loses control. And we all know how the ego hates losing control!

And the question involving the validity of the statement: "The only doubt that should be avoided at all costs is Unified Self doubt..." Avoid doubt in Holy Spirit; this is what this statement means. We mean exactly that. It's about stopping the second we lose peace, and choosing to avoid or deny the ego's temptation in that moment. We then call to Holy Spirit to help us in honest inquiry and Quantum Forgiveness (the PIQ Formula, see note below). This is the process of recovery whenever we sense a loss of peace. The ego has no idea how to use avoidance or denial in service of the Holy Spirit.

There's an interesting section in the Course, T. Ch.2. 11 which explains the proper use of denial. If you get a chance, please look it up. Here's a little snippet:

"When you are afraid of ANYTHING, you are acknowledging its power to hurt you. Remember that where your heart is, there is your treasure also. This means that you believe in what you VALUE. If you are AFRAID, you are VALUING WRONG. Human understanding will inevitably value wrong, and by endowing all human thoughts with equal power, will inevitably DESTROY peace. This is why the Bible speaks of "The peace of God which PASSETH (human) understanding." THIS peace is totally incapable of being shaken by human errors of any kind. It denies the ability of anything which is not of God to effect you in any way. This is the PROPER use of denial. It is not used to HIDE anything, but it IS used to correct error. It brings ALL error into the light, and since error and darkness are the same, it abolishes error automatically. True denial is a very powerful protective device. You can and should deny any belief that error can hurt you. This kind of denial is NOT a concealment device, but a correction device. The "Right Mind" of the mentally healthy DEPENDS on it."

The PIQ Formula is simply a quick mind-referencing "formula" to help us return to peace when ever our peace is threatened. You will find this theme discussed in many ways throughout Take Me to Truth.

Presence: Calling you back to the "Now" moment to be in the present. This is the only moment that’s real, the only moment where you can effect change and therefore the only moment you need concern yourself with.

Inquiry:Radical self-inquiry, remembering to question your thoughts, to remember the "source" of this uncomfortable projection. What is reality presenting at this moment? Are you resisting reality? Why? While it appears as another person, circumstance, thing or situation, it is really your own thoughts about it that are the cause of your loss of peace. Take responsibility for those thoughts and offer them to the Universal Inspiration (Holy Spirit) for re-interpretation. This reminds you that the world is being done by you and not to you. You have the power to change any thought.

Quantum Forgiveness: Choosing to overlook another's error is remembering that whatever you forgive in another is also forgiven in you. What you give, you receive. This erases the mass of unconscious guilt thereby undoing the ego. Remember there is only ever one ego appearing as many!

Workshops in your neck of the woods?

We would love to come to your region and offer our workshops so please pass the word to A Course in Miracles related networks in your area and ask them to contact us. We'll be there sooner that you can say, "Bob's your uncle!" (Aussie term).

Oh, and remember to pass this newsletter on to any one else whom you think might enjoy this.

E-News

May 2008 Volume 10

May Workshops in Toronto

Teaching with Gary Renard and Friends – Atlanta, GA in September

Poetry by Alexy

Questions and Answers

QUESTION # 1

ANSWER

Workshops in your neck of the woods?