Oprah & Sophia

Below is the prologue to my new book, still in progress.

                                               Oprah & Sophia?

                                                 January 1, 2011 

Something that could be best described as an energy shift is beginning to arise from the depths of the heart of humanity. Examples of this shift abound everywhere. Witness the following. Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code weaves a mystery based on that earthy   redhead Mary Magdalene having created a bloodline with Jesus. The film The Black Swan portrays a ballerina’s struggle to embrace the repressed qualities expressed in the image of the black swan. Spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle teaches us of the importance of shifting our focus from doing to being. The best-selling book The Shack depicts God as an earth-mother in the form of a large, wise and deeply loving black woman. The empress of the talk show genre, Oprah Winfrey, has just this very day launched her own television network. What is the deeper energy shift of which the above are but mere waves and ripples?

Over five decades ago, the famous Swiss psychiatrist, C. G. Jung, predicted that there would be a reemergence of the ancient images of the archetypal feminine in the new millennium. Jung saw this as an expression of what he called “the self-regulating nature of the psyche” which applies to both the individual or collective psyche. In my master’s thesis Mandala Symbolism in 19th Century American Romantic Literature, I described how archetypal images arise in the art and literature of an age. As in the dreams of individuals, these images emerge from the collective unconscious in an effort to make up for what is lacking in the collective consciousness or world view of that age. 

This shift to the feminine is taking place after 2000 years of Western Culture being dominated by patriarchal, masculine values. These values are epitomized by an emphasis on doing and having rather than on simply being. The advances in technology reflect what the heroic effort to do and to acquire can do to improve the quality of life. So much has been done to develop new and better things. However, with the archetypal feminine, come the values of emotional intelligence, intuition, the wisdom of the body, and the heart. These values arise to bring balance after centuries of a one-sided emphasis on the head, the intellect, and reason.  

Sophia, the Creek goddess of wisdom, leads the pantheon of divine feminine figures. You might say that my love affair with Sophia began in college when I felt a tingling up my spine the very moment the professor told us that philosophy meant love of Sophia (wisdom). Thus began a pursuit of wisdom that has remained a lifelong endeavor. I also felt that same tingling when I learned of the centrality of Sophia from a recorded presentation on the long-repressed dark, positive feminine by Jungian analyst, Dr. Karlyn Ward. The presentation was aptly named Anchored in the Heart. The  dark feminine refers both to divine feminine figures who have been kept in the dark over the centuries and to the feminine values and qualities they embody and symbolize. 

Sophia has remained hidden in plain sight. For example, almost no reference is made to the diminutive female figure  in Michelangelo’s Creation series on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The figure is Sophia, and she is held to God’s side as a bride by one of God’s massive arms. With His other arm, God reaches out to touch Adam’s finger. 

Sophia is associated with the color black, and with the ancient images of the Black Madonna. Wisdom was associated with black because wisdom is often hidden in the dark depths within each one of us. 

One afternoon, I was reflecting on Sophia and then a question arose. Who is the most powerful feminine presence of our time? Oprah. Clearly, she embodies all that is associated with the archetypal dark feminine. She is a dark-skinned woman who has been dispensing daily doses of wisdom for decades. The steady stream of experts she has hosted on her show have provided information to help us heal our lives and relationships. Now, with her own television network, Oprah has achieved a kind of omnipresence—an appropriate quality for a modern-day representative of Sophia.

In conducting interviews, Oprah embodies the compassionate, empathic presence of an archetypal earth-mother. Oprah appeared at a time in human history when our lives and relationships were, and still are, in desperate need of the feminine values of compassion, wisdom, and emotional intelligence.

What is being described applies equally to males and females. Just because a woman is in a female body does not mean she is in touch with her heart and the other positive qualities found in the archetypal  feminine. She may be driven by the values of our male-dominated society thereby denying all that her deeper feminine nature offers. She may, in effect, behave as if she were a very driven, type a task-oriented man. 

In his book The Essential Mystics, Andrew Harvey directs our attention to what we all, men or women, need for the next conscious step in human evolution.

"For the human race to have a chance to survive…there has to be a fusion between our masculine and feminine energies…between our innermost mystical awareness and our political, technological and economic choices. Only such a fusion and sacred marriage can produce in us the necessary clarity, knowledge and force of active love necessary to preserve the world."

What follows is the story of how my quest for healing my eyes led me, a typical action-oriented American male, a product of Western Civilization, into unfamiliar territory. What I encountered was totally unexpected but, in retrospect, made perfect sense. It is the story of my descent into the dark depths of my  heart where I found the eternal feminine hidden behind a wall of fiercely masculine attitudes. 

The journey in this book begins where the journey initiated in The Space Between Stars leaves off. From there, you will accompany me on both my inward and outward travels. You will go with me and see what I saw on my visits to the healer-medium Joao  de Deus (John of God) at the Casa de Dom Inacio de Loyola (the house of St. Ignatius of Loyola) the healing center located in the village of Abadiania, Brazil. Shortly after my arrival at the Casa (the abbreviated way that most staff and visitors affectionately refer to the healing center), I was confronted by visions dating back to the Crusades. All the eye-opening experiences I had on my quest for restored vision will be revealed to you and, hopefully, help you attain true vision which is something other than simply seeing 20/20. . . . 

Once again, as I mentioned in the preface, it is to see as the still small voice whispered to me when I was with the Maya: “When you can see with total love and no fear, your vision will become clear.”  For more than a decade, it has been my quest to see as God sees with total love and no fear. This seemingly lofty goal  has been the guiding torch I bear, lighting my way through the thorny thickets of the dark-forest night of my damaged vision to the dawn of a new day of seeing everything clearly.

Hushpuppy Wisdom: Go Quvenzhané

I'm excited to hear  the Oscar buzz about the now 9-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis (the youngest actress to be nominated for Best Actress) and the film in which she stars, Beasts of the Southern Wild. It is a film that expresses the shift in consciousness  predicted by the Maya the wave of which we are now riding if we choose to flow with it rather than rsist it.  Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis), the little 6-year-old heroine is an inspiration for us all especially as we face loss. See some of her lines below.

Hushpuppy: I see that I'm a tiny piece of  a big, big universe and that makes it right. 

Hushpuppy: Everybody loses the thing that made them. The brave men stay and watch it happen. They don't run.

Hushpuppy: When it all goes quiet behind my eyes, I see [the sparks of] everything that made me flying around in invisible pieces.

Hushpuppy: The whole universe depends on everything fitting together just right. If one piece busts, even the smallest piece... the whole universe will get busted.

At 6:11 A.M. EST,A New 26,000 year Cycle Began!!!

This morning, at 6:11 A.M. EST, the Mayans remind us that a 26,000 year period ended and a new cycle has begun. Below are some thoughts with which each one of us may embark on this new stage in human history and the evolution of human consciousness. Remember, above all else, each one of us is a creator, creating with the vibrational frequency of our consciousness as we send our thoughts and feelings out into the quantum field of the collective consciousness of all that is. 

"The principle which gives thought the dynamic power to correlate with its object and therefore to master every adverse human experience is the law of attraction, which is another name for love. This is an eternal and fundamental principle inherent in all things . . . there is no getting away from the law of love. It is feeling that imparts vitality to thought. Feeling is desire and desire is love. Thought impregnated with love becomes invincible."

                                                                           —Charles Haanel

"Life is not what it seems, not even close to what most of our parents believed to be true. We live in a dream that our mind has crystallized into what we call reality. The Maya believe that you will soon know a part of yourself that is so ancient, it goes beyond the stars and planets as fixed worlds. For they too are a dream and like a dream upon wakening, you will realize they are pure light. Or, better still, pure consciousness."

    —Drunvalo Melchlizidek from a presentation in which he tells of his talks with don Alejandro Serillo, the head Mayan shaman of all the Americas.

"Every moment your consciousness creates the world you inhabit."

                                                                        —Eckhart Tolle

• On this momentous day, consider how we can all begin to replace a fear focus, which may also include anger, depression, etc., with a love focus in the broadest sense of focusing on what we would love to have happen in our lives. Should fear arise, we can simply use it to shift us back to what we would love to have happen. This can be done by simply reminding ourselves, "My fear of (blank) is telling me that I'd hate (blank) to happen. And that's because, I'd live it if (blank) happened instead." We then look at the gap between what is and what we would love to have happen and take whatever steps we need to close the gap. Whatever gap is left, we can turn over to our higher power (God, Source, your Higher Self, the Universe, etc.). Then, we just pay attention to any signs, meaningful coincidences help close the stress gap or accept what cannot be changed. 

May you Bless Yourself & Others with the Gift of Who You Truly Are: An Individualized Expression  of   Love, which Saint John reminds us is nothing less than God, the Ultimate Power operating in the Universe

Happy Winter Solstice, Merry Christmas &  Have a Blessed New Year

My Little Auntie: A Model for Us All (1918-2012)

My little auntie died in my arms just after dinner Monday night and we will be burying her today  . . .  This October, she would have been  94 years old. . . 

Every Morning this week, I have awakened with my eyes filled with tears of Grat

I had the privelege of taking care of my little auntie after retiring from my private practice as a clinical psychologist. I am her oldest nephew and the son of her sister, Gertrude. I was confirmed at what was then St. Andrews in 1960 and was very close to my aunt when I was growing up. Below are my recollections which will be used for her service. I have asked to have the presiding priest use it, and he has agreed to do so. I can't say it without becoming overcome with tears of gratitude and loss.

Barbara was upbeat, inspired and inspiring and led an active life. She never complained, ever, no matter how bent over and how much it was a struggle for her to shuffle along with her walker.  She was always delighted by the sky, saying, "look at that awesome sky," whether gray or blue, stormy or clear, it was always awesome to her. She loved animals. Every dog was "my favorite friend" and a "handsome four-legged wonder."

Despite her impaired short-term memory due to dementia, she somehow played bridge with her lifelong friends most of whom are no longer with us. On her daily walks, she greeted everyone, not by name, of course, but with her infectious smile.  Up until 3 years ago when she turned 90, she walked all through her neighborhood which included the area of Wilmington known as 4o Acres as well as Rockford Park and the Brandywine from the wooden bridge near her home to the Market Street Bridge. She would tell people how she had been all over the world, and she had. Her trips involved birding, and hiking or biking between hotels, hostels, or camp sites. She was hiking in Cuba just days before Castro took over. She would say how the guide would get news daily about Castro's progress so that the group she was with flew out in time. She was in Tennamin Square in China when the commotion started and the guide told the group to stand still close to a nearby wall as shots fired.  Just moments earlier, she was so pleased when a 10-year-old Chinese boy approached her, asking, "May I walk with you? I want to practice my English." Then, it broke her heart when a guard suddenly grabbed the boy by he arm and whisked him away. She was also fond of relating how she had the smallest camel to ride when on safari in the Sahara Desert. She would delightedly recount how, at the end of each day, her camel was eager to be fed and would dart in ahead of all the larger camels.

She hiked the entire Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia, doing sections during her vacations and weekends off from the DuPont Experimental Station. Of course, she hiked the trail only when she wasn't sailing on her sailboat out of Northeast River Yacht club or traveling abroad. She was an outstanding athlete with trophies in tennis, golf, bowling. She won the Irene DuPont classic golf tournament 3 years in a row, and the third year came from behind.

Above all, even when weakened and  only able to walk with someone pulling her walker, and hunched over from the severe osteoporosis, she demonstrated what only  so few among achieve: unconditional-no-matter-what-happens happiness. Rain or shine, barely able to move or at the peak of her athletic ability, she was always happy. A rainy day was a "good day. It was a good day for reading, or good day for a jigsaw puzzle" or just "a good day to be lazy."

What was said by the angel Clarence in the Frank Capra film classic, It's a Wonderful Life applies to Barbara's life, leaving out the masculine pronoun, "Each person's life touches so many other lives. When she isn't around. she leaves an awful hole . . .". She was loved and will be missed by all those who knew her well or only on her daily walks  and she will be welcomed by those who knew har who have preceded her and have been waiting for her to come Home. , including her beloved younger sister, Gertrude, my mother, and her younger brother, Hank.

Often, as she admired the clouds, Barbara used to say, "When I was a little girl, I pictured myself jumping from cloud to cloud, As Wordsworth wrote, "Trailing clouds of glory do we come from God who is our home" and now, dear Barbara,  traililig clouds of glory do you return to God who is your home . . .

Drop the Story & Flap Your Wings

I just returned from a weekend in the Adirondacks with my friend Ron who has a house there. The Mayan elders taught me how God talks to us all the time through nature. Of course, God is not restricted to communicating through nature. God talks to us through everything, even through our technological world: our computers, cars, TV shows, movies, radio shows, etc. Over the three days, deer, blue heron, red squirrel, hawk, and hummingbird crossed my path and my friend's. Each had some 

quality I could apply to my life situation and they each had something relevant to say about the circumstances in my friend's life. We could each draw upon the gentleness o deer, the self-reliance and sturdy patience of  of blue heron, the non-aggressiveness yet resourceful protectiveness of red squirrel, the infinite joy of hummingbird, and the recognition that they all come to us courtesy of hawk—the messenger of Great Spirit, God. 

In a New Earth, Ekhart Tolle uses the example of what two ducks do after they have a fight. "They separate, go off, and flap their wings, releasing the stored up energy, and then float on peacefully as if nothing had happened.

"If the duck had a human mind, it would keep the fight alive by thinking, by story making. This would probably be the duck's story. "I don't believe what he just did. He came to within five inches of me. He thinks he owns this pond. He has no consideration for my private space. I'll never trust him again. Next time, he'll try something else just to annoy me. I'm sure he's plotting something already. But I'm not going to stand for this. I'll teach him a lesson he won't forget. And on and on the mind spins its tales, still talking about it days, months, or years later. 

"As far as the body is concerned, the fight is still  continuing. . . . this is how most humans live all the time. No situation or event is ever really finished. The mind and the mind-made me and my story keep it going. We are a species that has lost its way. Everything natural, every flower or tree and every animal have important lessons to teach us if we would only stop, look, and listen. Our duck's lesson is this: flap your wings, which translates as let go of the story and return to the only place of power, the present moment?"

• Consider how much we keep our upsets alive by the stories we tell ourselves about the events in our lives. Rather than keep reviewing and thereby continuing to stress ourselves, we can try flapping our wings with the mantra of compassion. Picture the person who upsets you, and silently say to him or her, "I know in my heart, you would have done differently if you really could have done differently, but you couldn't (not yet anyway) so you didn't."

Choosing Transparency

 On this day of Good Friday, I think back to what came to me in the predawn hours of Easter Morning last year. I awoke with the thought that was revealed to me 11 years earlier regarding my impaired vision. "When I can see through the eyes of God with total love and no fear, my vision will become clear."  Over the years, I have fashioned it into an affirmation of gratitude, acting as if it has happened. "Thank You, Divine Beloved, that I AM now seeing everything clearly both the spiritual and the material, through your eyes with total love, no anger and no fear, and my vision is completely clear." Opening my eyes, I gazed expectantly into the darkness surrounding my bed. I then thought of the example of Christ on the cross. My prayer-affirmation became: "Thank You, Divine Beloved, that I AM now seeing everything clearly both the spiritual and the material, through your eyes with total love, no anger and no fear as Christ did His persecutors from the cross, and my vision is completely clear because my Christ vision is here." How can we do this? By remembering who we really are, which means, we affirm our spirit- or love-based identity. 

As we choose the transparency of a spirit-based identity, we replace the solidity of a body-based identity. We let stressful external events pass through us.

Consider the following from Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now. My thoughts are in brackets.

Interviewer: "how do we stop negativity from arising and how do we get rid of it once it is there?"

ET. . . . "Whenever you notice that some form of negativity has arisen within you, look on it not as a failure but as a helpful signal that is telling you, 'Wake up! Get out of your mind! Be present!' . . .

. . . "As an alternative to dropping a negative reaction, you can make it disappear by imagining yourself becoming transparent to the external cause of the reaction. I recommend that you practice it with little, even trivial things at first. Let's say that you are sitting quietly at home. Suddenly, there's the penetrating sound of a car alarm from across the street. Irritation arises. What is the purpose of the irritation? {Is it really necessary for me to be upset about this irritation?] None whatsoever. Why did you create it? You didn't. The mind did. It was totally automatic. Totally unconscious. Why did the mind create it? Because it [the mind] holds the unconscious belief that its resistance, which you experience as negativity or unhappiness in some form, will somehow dissolve the undesirable condition. This, of course, is delusion. The resistance that it creates, the irritation or anger in this  case,  is far more disturbing than the original cause that i is trying to dissolve. All this can be transformed into spiritual practice. Feel yourself becoming transparent as it were, without the solidity of a material body. Now allow the noise, or whatever causes the negative reaction, to pass right through you. It is no longer hitting a solid wall inside you. As I said, practice with little things first: the car alarm, the dog barking, the children screaming, the traffic jam. Instead of having a wall of resistance inside you that gets constantly and painfully hit by things that SHOULD not be happening, let everything pass through you. Somebody says something to you that is rude or designed to hurt. Instead of going into unconscious reaction and negativity, such as attack, defense or withdrawal, you let it pass right through you, offering no resistance. It is as if there is nobody there to get hurt anymore. That is forgiveness. In this way, you become invulnerable. You can still tell that person that his or her behavior is unacceptable if that is what you choose to do. But that person no longer has the power to control your inner state. You are then in your power, not in someone else's. Nor are you run by your [reactive, automatic stimulus-response-based or conditioned] mind. Whether it is a car alarm, a rude person, a flood, an earthquake, or the loss of all your possessions, your resistance mechanism is the same."

Stress Relief For A New Era: Transparent Trophy Revised

 I was just honored for achievement in high school and college basketball by being inducted into The Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association's Delaware Basketball Hall of Fame on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2012. So much is coming together. Signs abound. There is the transparency of my award and its shape as a kind of clear glass tower pointing to heaven. All this suggest to me a kind of concretization of a higher consciousness emerging in and around me and all of us paying attention.  The photo of me having my picture taken by a woman was the one the newspaper chose to publish. It was a photo within a photo, like a dream within a dream. It struck me as very unusual and seemed somehow significant. There is  the implicit higher consciousness of the unseen photographer. The photographer is  witnessing a scene of the opposites of male and female facing each other respectfully. There is a amicable air of equality and mutual respect. . Many spiritual writers are suggesting that a new balance between the male and female principles is being sought after 2000 years of male-dominated attitudes.  It could be said that I am being seen through a feminine lens. It is time for all of us to see the world through nurturing, maternal eyes. We might say the paternal perspective in terms of the masculine emphasis on domination has polluted our planet.  I excitedly have a sense of my vision quest leading to a kind of deeper and more elevated or enlightened perspective. It is both a preparation for the upcoming trip to Abadiania, Brazil to see the healer John of God and my ongoing quest for true vision. 

The following is from the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle with my thoughts interspersed and set off in brackets. 

"In the sea most life forms don't survive for more than a  few minutes.  The human form turns to dust pretty quickly too. And when it is gone it is as if it never was. Is that tragic or cruel? Death of a form is tragic only if we forget consciousness is God essence expressing Itself in form. But you don't really know that until you realize your God essence as pure consciousness. If a fish  is born in your aquarium and you call it John, write out a birth certificate, tell him about his family history and 2 minutes later he gets eaten by another fish, that's tragic. But it's only tragic because you projected a separate self where there was none. You got hold of a fraction of a dynamic process, a molecular dance, and made a separate identity out of it.

"Consciousness takes on the disguise of form . . .until it . . . loses itself in those forms. In present day humans, consciousness is completely identified with its disguise [physical and mental forms]. This is how it is today, Consciousness only knows itself as form and therefore lives in fear of annihilation of its physical and psychological form. This is the egoic mind . .. where dysfunction sets in . . .this is part of Lila [Hindu concept], the divine game. [The Kabbalah's creation story tells us that the Creator, the Endless Light creates a Vessel to receive Its Light. The Vessel pushes back the Light, and wham! The Big Bang occurs as the Vessel shatters into all the souls that will ever exist, and the Light goes into hiding. A cosmic hide and seek game begins].

"Finally the pressure of suffering . . .created by this apparent dysfunction forces consciousness to disidentify with form and awakens it from form and its dream of form. It regains self-consciousness but at a much deeper level than when it lost [or appeared to lose] self-consciousness.

Prodigal Son

"This process is explained by Jesus in the parable of the lost son [Prodigal Son] who leaves his Father's home, squanders his wealth, becomes destitute, and is then forced by his suffering to return home.

When he does, his father loves him more than before.  The son's state is the same as it was before yet not the same. It has an added dimension of depth. The parable describes the journey from unconscious perfection [wholeness] through apparent imperfection  and apparent evil to conscious perfection [wholeness].

"Can you now see the deeper and wider significance of becoming present as the watcher of your mind?

[So, what is the benefit  of learning to disidentify from endlessly-thinking mind by watching it? A respite. Inner peace. At the very least, we gain relief from the internal pressure created by our thoughts as we step out of the ongoing stream and observe it] Watching the mind withdraws consciousness from mind forms [thoughts and images that endlessly arise and pass away]. Consciousness then becomes the witness or watcher or pure enlightened consciousness beyond form. This consciousness beyond form becomes stronger and the mental forms from which consciousness has been withdrawn becomes  weaker. 

The Larger Significance of Watching the Mind

"When we talk about watching the mind, we are personalizing an event that is truly of cosmic proportions. Through you [us] consciousness is awakening out of its dream of identification with  form  and withdrawing from form. This foreshasows but is alredy part of an event that is still in the distant future as far as chronological time is concerned. The event is called the end of the world.

When consciousness frees itself from physical and mental forms it becomes what we may call pure or enlightened consciousness or presence. . . . This has already happened in a few individuals.  it seems destined to happen soon on a much larger scale. There is no guarantee it will happen. Most humans are still in the grip of the egoic mode of consciousness, identified with their mind and run by theri mind [physical and psychological forms]. If they do not free themselves in time [free themselves from identifying with the time-bound mind and sense of self, i.e., mental form] they will be destroyed by it. They will experience increasing violence, confusion, illness despair, and madness. Egoic mind has become like a sinking ship. If you don't get off you will go down with it. 

The collective egoic mind is the most dangerous entity to ever inhabit this planet.

"What do you think will happen on this planet if human consciousness remains unchanged? Already, for most humans, the only respite is to occasionally reveert to a level [of consciousness] below thought, Everyone does this every night during sleep. But this also happens to some extent  during sex, alcohol and other drugs that suppress excessive mind activity.

"If it weren't for alcohol, tranquilizers, anti-depressants as well as illegal drugs, all of which are consumed in vast quantities, the insanity of the human mind would become more glaringly obvious than it is already. Deprived of their drugs, a large part of humanity would become a danger to self and others. These drugs, of course, simply keep you stuck in dysfunction. Their widespread use only delays the breakdown of old mind structures and the emergence of higher consciousness. [These mind structures or mental constructs are epitomized by the angry vengeful male deity depicted in the Old Testament (a projection of the ego and its mechanisms of defense, i.e., the mind and its workings)  which has extended into  2000 years of patriarchy, of male-dominated society, with its emphasis on the judgmental, constantly evaluating mind and linear logic seeking to control, dominate, manipulate and use nature. And, this mode of consciousness is cut off from the feminine characterized by compassion, softness, non-judgment and a recognition of our interdependence with all of life on this planet]. While some may gain relief from the daily torture inflicted on them by their minds, they are prevented from generating enough conscous presence to rise above thought and so find true liberation. 

Only Option is Going on to the  Next Stage 

"Falling back to a level of consciousness below mind,  the pre-thinking level of our ancestors and plants  is not an option for us. There's no way back. If the human race is to go on, it must go on to the next stage.[In this stage we realize that a fear-based consciousness helped create the world we see and a consciousness that realizes we are all one and that we are spiritual beings in bodies can help us all at this time in human history. This is what I learned from the Mayan Shamans regarding the shift of consciousness taking place in the space of time they call the End of Time. we could say, in line with Tolle, we stop seeing ourselves as time-bound minds with bodies, and, instead, realize we are eternal beings, consciousness, in physical forms that fade, decay, bloom and pass away while, we recognize in the timeless lyrics of  George Gershwin, "our love is here to stay" and love is who we are. Love is the stuff, the energy of which the spirit is made. Only our bodies are like the Rockies which may tumble and Gibraltar which may crumble, "they're only made of clay." ] 

Consciousness Creating A New World

Below is another insight that I've been led to in my quest to heal my eyesight as those in Brazil did. For those of you following my blogs on My Vision Quest, you may recall that when I went to Brazil to see the healer/medium John of God, I learned of 4 individuals whose eyesight was restored and, in two instances their optic nerves were not functioning at all. They were not seeing by way of the usual mechanism of the eye. Consider what the following excerpts from Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now say about who we are and the power of our consciousness.

Eckhart Tolle: "Highly conscious beings who are aware of their connectedness with the Source and with each other inhabit a world that to you would appear as a heavenly realm. And yet, all worlds are ultimately one. Our collective human world is largely created through the level of consciousness we call mind. Even within the collective human world there are vast differences, many different sub-worlds depending on the perceivers or creators of their respective worlds. Since all worlds are interconnected, when collective hhuman consciousness becomes transformed, nature and the animal kingdom will reflect their transformation. Hence the statement in the Bible that in the coming age, the lion shall lie down with the lamb. This points to the possibility of a completely different order of reality.

""The world as it appears to us now is largely a reflection of the egoic mind. Fear being an unavoidable consequence of egoic delusion, it is a world dominated by fear. Just as the images in a dream are symbols of inner states and feelings, so our collective reality is largely a symbolic expression of fear and of the heavy layers of negativity that have accumulated in the collective human psyche. We are not separate from our world, so when the majority of humans become free of egoic delusion [that we are primarily bodies, not primarily spirits with a thin veil we call a body], this inner change will affect all creation. You will literally inhabit a new world. It is a shift in planetary consciousness."

Our Consciousness Creates Our World

Below is another insight that I've been led to in my quest to heal my eyesight as those in Brazil did. For those of you following my blogs on My Vision Quest, you may recall that when I went to Brazil to see the healer/medium John of God, I learned of 4 individuals whose eyesight was restored and, in two instances their optic nerves were not functioning at all. They were not seeing by way of the usual mechanism of the eye. Consider what the following excerpts from Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now say about who we are and the power of our consciousness.

• Interviewer's first Question: "We believe in death and that's why the body dies, right?"
Eckhart Tolle: "The body does not die because you believe in death. The body exists or seems to because you believe in death. Body and death are part of the same illusion created by the egoic mode of consciousness which has no awareness of the source of life and sees itself as separate and constantly under threat."

Interviewer's nextt Question: "Why does an animal have a body? It doesn't believe in death."
Eckhart Tolle: "There's no world out there. We create what we see so animals appear to die, etc."

"One of the greatest insights that has come out of modern physics is that of the unity of the observer and the observed. The person conducting the experiment, the observing consciousness, cannot be separated from the observed phenomena, and a different way of looking causes the observed phenomena to behave differently.

"If you believe in separation and the struggle for survival then you see that belief reflected all around you and your perceptions are governed by fear. You inhabit a world of death and of bodies fighting, killing, and devouring each other. Nothing is what it seems to be. The world you see and create with the egoic mind may seem to be a very imperfect place even a vale of tears. But whatever you perceive is only a kind of symbol like an image in a dream. It is how your consciousness interprets and interacts with the molecular energy dance of the universe. This energy is the raw material of so-called physical reality. You see it in terms of bodies and birth and death or as a struggle for survival.

An infinite number of completely different interpretations, of completely different worlds, is possible and in fact exists. All depending on the perceiving consciousness. The being is the focal point of consciousness and every such focal point creates its own world although all those worlds are interconnected. There's a human world, an ant world, a dolphin world, and so on. There are countless beings whose consciousness frequency is so different from yours that you are probably unaware of their existence as they are of yours.

Ten Years Later: A Spiritual View of 9/11/01

A Native American Perspective on the Evil of 9/11/01 [The following is excerpted from A Matter of Love www.thespacebetweenstars.com] If everything comes from the Divine, then why not evil? Can the Darkness somehow serve the Light? Are the calamities of life spiritual gifts? Is it that we can make some use of the tragedy, find a silver lining in the cloud? Or, is there a silver lining there already? Can what is unspeakably horrible from one point of view be something that is beneficial from another perspective? Just days after the World Trade Center attack, I was e-mailed a copy of a statement by Jean Reddeman of the Mohican Nation. Her Native American name is Wasaki Emani Wi, which means Strong Walking Woman. Among her people, she is considered a seer, which I believe means that she is a prophet and a clairvoyant. She indicated that the tragedy had been predicted by the elders of her tribal nation many years ago. They foresaw a “massive spiritual exodus.” The elders saw that many “advanced souls” were going to sacrifice their lives to help shift the values and consciousness of not only America but the world from a materialistic focus to a spiritual one. Jean indicated that the elders believed that this immense sacrifice would not have happened if America had already made the shift to the spiritual values of love, compassion, and peace. She went on to say that the elders “had predicted that great good will come after this tragedy especially if people recognize the teachings of the event and if they honor those who died during the tragedy.” In speaking of those who died in the tragedy, Jean said that these “very evolved souls will be helping the major shift that the world so sorely needs.” She claimed that, “They came into this lifetime to give us this gift, the gift of their lives and of their love so that the world would change to a better place.” She emphasized that: “We must honor them, we must go forward. We must listen to their messages from the heavens.” According to Jean, the role of women is especially important in moving on to implement the change needed. Jean quoted an old Mohican Proverb: A nation is not lost as long as the women’s hearts are still high. Only when the women’s hearts are on the ground—then all is finished, and the nation dies. The women are the life carriers. Jean proclaimed that women must, in effect, access the depths of their heart, and this will enable men to find what she calls “their original strength.” She specified that this is not the strength resulting from economic, political and military power but is from “spiritual strength.” The world needs this “nurturing energy.” And she goes on to emphasize the importance of this energy: We cannot go on with wars; we will all die, if we do. We have to see in the middle of the pain and chaos the greater lessons.We must thank them [those who died at the hands of the terrorists] from the bottom of our hearts, with incredible love, for they are great people. We have to share this moment so that together we can go to this new consciousness, the female energy that is so much needed at this time. From my perspective, we need to see through our heart with the eyes of love and compassion as we look at the areas of the world where terrorism breeds so freely. The deprivation and despair of such harsh living conditions like those in the Middle East are a fertile breeding ground for suicide bombers. Future bombers are living at the level of the reptile as they struggle to survive such harsh conditions. Dropping care packages and not just bombs in Afghanistan and later in Iraq was a small step in the direction of addressing the underlying deprivation.

Recalling TV & Radio Spots I Did re: 9/11

How do you deal with such a massive terror attack? What about the stress? What about the anger some of us are feeling after the attack on New York and the Pentagon? This is the question we are going to put to Dr. Stephen Jackson this morning. Dr. Jackson do you have any answers for us?
—Rita Foley

[Note: To hear the interview with Rita Foley gp tp www.thespacebetweenstars.com and click on In the News and scroll down to Associated Press Radio. It is on the last few minutes of the 18 minute interview that starts with a discussion Talk America on dealing with anger, anxiety, grief and son rgarding September 11, 2001. See also TV clips on MSNBC clip with Rick Sanchez on talkng to your children and Iyanla Vansant. The following is an excerpt from the book A Matter of Love.]


Rita Foley of Associated Press Radio put this question to me just days after the tragedy that rocked our world. My answer, which I had to deliver in ninety seconds, can be summed up by saying we need to express rather than repress or aggress our stress over these horrific events and help others do the same. Emotionally, we can’t heal what we don’t feel. By feeling our pain fully and expressing it, we release our pain and foster healing. And yet, can we really heal our heartbreaking grief over the loss of loved ones?
222222
I explained on one show after another that we heal only as we keep ourselves from giving in to the tendency to repress our pain. Furthermore, I emphasized that we do this by continuing to express our painful feelings to ourselves and others. Eventually, we drain the pain from our heart by expressing all our feelings: our anger, fear, and grief. I told Rick Sanchez on MSNBC that we need to help our children fully feel and redirect the hate triggered by the murder of so many innocent people in New York, Washington, and Shanksville. I explained how the letters of the word heart reveal how we can redirect the hate. We need to hear and feel with our heart what our anger, fear, and grief are t—telling us about what we love, about what is important to us. If we repress or aggress our stress it will poison us with anger and rage, anxiety and fear, as well as with inconsolable grief and depression. Instead, we need to express our pain so that we can feel it and heal it.

We can find solace as we focus on the love in our heart. When we shift our focus to love we access the healing power of our heart and find some comfort. Though our loved one may be gone from this earth, our loved one will forever live on in our heart.

For our heart is the calm, caring, connecting, and continuous consciousness that is the core of our being. When our heart is open, it is like an endlessly flowing fountain. In the fountain of our heart, love flows freely and the poisons of our negative emotions cannot stagnate there. They are washed away.
Our heart can also be likened to the sun that continues to shine even as the clouds of our fear, anger, and sadness or grief hide it from our view. Just as the clouds can do nothing to harm the sun, so the poisons of anger and fear can only hide, not harm, our heart as the core of our being. Nonetheless, when the stress of holding on to our fear and anger is chronic, it may harm our physical heart.

Evil occurs when we allow the dark clouds of our anger and fear to block our access to the light of love in our heart. As we shall see, blocking out our pain is the mental and emotional basis of evil. When we block out our pain, we are in danger of being insensitive to the pain of others and we can more easily inflict pain on them. This is one of the reasons that adults who were abused as children often abuse their children. They don’t remember how it felt when they were beaten and humiliated.
By feeling and expressing our painful feelings of anger, fear, and grief, we can heal and eventually find inner peace and relief from our suffering. Expression and not repression or aggression keeps our heart clear and unclouded by the poisons of anger and fear. The letters of the word peace reveal the essence of inner peace:

P-peace, E-equals, A-acceptance, C-compassion, and E-empathy.

We heal as we feel by accepting with compassion and empathy our own emotional pain. And we help others heal as we help them accept with compassion and empathy their pain. Instead of defending ourselves against feeling our pain, we open our heart to feel and heal our pain. Inner peace is our reward.

The key to detoxifying our life and our relationships is to respond to the tests life gives us with acceptance, compassion, and empathy emanating from our heart. When I was in college we used to say we aced the test when we received a grade of A. Finding inner peace really involves learning to ace the tough tests of life. We do this by responding with acceptance, compassion, and empathy. Of course, we have to ace and then express our anger, fear, and grief arising from the stressful events taking place.

So many lost loved ones on September 11th and many children lost one or both parents. As individuals, and, as a nation, we got caught up in the illusion that retaliation was our healing balm. This instinctive reaction comes from our reptilian brain; the reptile in us is governed by fight and flight. Unfortunately, actor Richard Gere caught the rage of the reptile brains of the audience when he spoke at a rally in Central Park in New York City. Gere was booed when he conveyed how we needed to respond with love and compassion, not hate and retaliation. He was right. The audience was not yet ready for his beautiful message: it was too soon.

Many were still in the grip of heart-wrenching emotional pain. Nevertheless, we ultimately find inner peace as we feel acceptance, compassion, and empathy for our pain and the pain (even if based on delusions) driving our enemy to attack us. We can then begin to recover from such an immense tragedy as September 11, 2001.

My Vision Quest: Mind Creates Body. . .

[Note: The same preface precedes all the blogs on my vision quest and the ones on giving up grievances. It provides the personal context regarding the relationship of each piece to my quest to restore my eyesight since I've exhausted all that Western medicine can do to repair the damage done by my advanced case of glaucoma. Therefore, if you've read it before, you may want to refresh your memory or skip to the new blog entry below.]

My Vision Quest
On New Year's Day 2011, I began the 365-day journey through the dailly lessons in the workbook section of A Course in Miracles. Given all the amazing synchronicities (meaningful coincidences) I've had since completing The Space Between Stars, I am certain that the course holds the key to restoring my impaired vision, which currently fits the definition of being legally blind both in terms of severely restricted visual angles and visual acuity. The last line before the epilogue of the The Space Between Stars(see www.drsrj.com) ends with the words of the man born blind who is healed by Jesus, ". . . I was blind but now I see." This is the title of the book I am currently writing. The subtitle is: "A Miracle of Restored Vision Redefines Reality." The book chronicles my quest for rstoring my vision that began with events leading up to my first and second trips to see the healer/medium John of God in Abadiania, Brazil. What I been led to considier is quite remarkable. I have always seen the healing of my vision as a twofold process. First, I have done what medical science can do for glaucoma, namely, the reduction of the elevated intraocular pressures which have damaged the optic nerves in both of my eyes. Until encountering the redefining of reality in A Course in Miracles, The Disappearance of the Universe, a spin off of the course,, as well as on my trips to Brazil, I have always seen the second phase for healing my vision as regenerating my optic nerves. I have used the following metaphor to describe the damage: If a healthy optic nerve could be seen as a tree in summer with all its green leaves, my optic nerves are like a tree in late November with a few brown leaves left on their branches.

John of God speaks Brazilian Portuguese. So before going before him, you have to tell a translator 3 things you would like to have healed. Your requests are written on a small piece of paper which is read to John of God. I asked my guide if I should ask for the regeneration of my optic nerves. He instructed me not to ask for that but for restored vision. He recommended this because a woman who had "severed optic nerves" had her vision restored, and when doctors examined her optic nerve, they expected to see her nerve reconnected. But, to their astonishment, it was still severed.

Later, as the plane took off from Brasilia, my friend Rod was reading a book containing case studies of individuals healed by John of 'God. With a trace of excitement in his voice, he read aloud to me the case of another woman with completely "nonfunctional optic nerves." Her vision was restored, and guess what?

When doctors examined her, her optic nerves were still nonfunctional. Both of these individuals had several trips to Brazil to see John of God before their sight returned. This got my attention. A Course in Miracles and The Disappearance of the Universe, as well as some sacred spiritual traditions claim vision involves more than the "body's eyes." It is in this spirit that I offer the excerpted material for your consideration and for your spiritual growth and "restored vision" back to what it was before you emerged from the womb.

[Note: The words in brackets as well as the female-gender based words are my additions.]


Excerpts from Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now.

"What you perceive as a dense physical structure called the body, which is subject to disease, old age, and death, is not ultimately real, is not you. It [the bodily] is a misperception of your essential reality that is beyond birth and death and is due to the limitations of your mind which, having lost touch with being, creates the body as evidence of its illusory belief in separation and to justify its state of fear.

"But do not turn away from the body for in that symbol of impermanence, limitation, and death that you perceive as the illusory creation of your mind, is concealed: the splendor of your essential and immortal reality. Do not turn your attention elsewhere in your search for the truth for it is nowhere else to be found but within your body."

These passages are in line with the teachings of A Course in Miracles and the experience of those individuals in Brazil whose vision was restored while their optic nerves remainined unhealed, Last night I had one of those dreams in which I am suddenly able to see clearly both near and far. I was able read a passage in a book and I was also able to see across the street. When we dream, our body's eyes are closed. With what are we seeing? Certainly, it is not the body's eyes just as it is not with the mechanism of the body's eyes that the individuals whose vision was restored in Brazil now see.

• Today, reflect on what this may mean about who and what we really are. In line with St. John's claim that God is love, A Course in Miracles states, "God is but love and therefore so am I." From time to time today, take a deep beathe and, as you exhale, consciously let the tension drain from your body, and silently repeat these words. Notice how you feel in your body. I once received that when I can see through the eyes of God with total love and no fear, my vision will become clear.

My Vision Quest: No One Fails to Heal if . . .

[Note: The same preface precedes all the blogs on my vision quest and the ones on giving up grievances. It provides the personal context regarding the relationship of each piece to my quest to restore my eyesight since I've exhausted all that Western medicine can do to repair the damage done by my advanced case of glaucoma. Therefore, if you've read it before, you may want to refresh your memory or skip to the new excerpt from A Course in Miracles below.]

My Vision Quest
On New Year's Day 2011, I began the 365-day journey through the dailly lessons in the workbook section of A Course in Miracles. Given all the amazing synchronicities (meaningful coincidences) I've had since completing The Space Between Stars, I am certain that the course holds the key to restoring my impaired vision, which currently fits the definition of being legally blind both in terms of severely restricted visual angles and visual acuity. The last line before the epilogue of the The Space Between Stars(see www.drsrj.com) ends with the words of the man born blind who is healed by Jesus, ". . . I was blind but now I see." This is the title of the book I am currently writing. The subtitle is: "A Miracle of Restored Vision Redefines Reality." The book chronicles my quest for rstoring my vision that began with events leading up to my first and second trips to see the healer/medium John of God in Abadiania, Brazil. What I been led to considier is quite remarkable. I have always seen the healing of my vision as a twofold process. First, I have done what medical science can do for glaucoma, namely, the reduction of the elevated intraocular pressures which have damaged the optic nerves in both of my eyes. Until encountering the redefining of reality in A Course in Miracles, The Disappearance of the Universe, a spin off of the course,, as well as on my trips to Brazil, I have always seen the second phase for healing my vision as regenerating my optic nerves. I have used the following metaphor to describe the damage: If a healthy optic nerve could be seen as a tree in summer with all its green leaves, my optic nerves are like a tree in late November with a few brown leaves left on their branches.

John of God speaks Brazilian Portuguese. So before going before him, you have to tell a translator 3 things you would like to have healed. Your requests are written on a small piece of paper which is read to John of God. I asked my guide if I should ask for the regeneration of my optic nerves. He instructed me not to ask for that but for restored vision. He recommended this because a woman who had "severed optic nerves" had her vision restored, and when doctors examined her optic nerve, they expected to see her nerve reconnected. But, to their astonishment, it was still severed.

Later, as the plane took off from Brasilia, my friend Rod was reading a book containing case studies of individuals healed by John of 'God. With a trace of excitement in his voice, he read aloud to me the case of another woman with completely "nonfunctional optic nerves." Her vision was restored, and guess what?

When doctors examined her, her optic nerves were still nonfunctional. Both of these individuals had several trips to Brazil to see John of God before their sight returned. This got my attention. A Course in Miracles and The Disappearance of the Universe, as well as some sacred spiritual traditions claim vision involves more than the "body's eyes." It is in this spirit that I offer one of the daily lesson from the workbook section of A Course in Miracles for your consideration and for your spiritual growth and "restored vision" back to what it was before you emerged from the womb.

[Note: The words in brackets as well as the female-gender based words are my additions. Also, For those of you who are Christian as well as those of you who are not or may not believe in any religion, any terms typically associated with Christianity (Christ, Holy Spirit, Father, etc.) are not intended to promote a religion but are intended to provide a universal, spiritual experience beyond any creed or dogma. And for me, the terms point me toward an experience necessary for the healing of my vision.]

Excerpts from Lesson 185 I want the peace of God.

"To say these words is nothing. But to mean these words is everything. If you could but mean them for just an instant there would be no further sorrow possible for you in any form, in any place or time. Heaven would be completely given back to full awareness, memory of God entirely restored, the resurrection of all creation fully recognized. No one can mean these words and not be healed."

"The mind who wants peace must join with other minds."

"It is this one intent we seek toddy uniting our desires with the need of every heart, the call of every mind, the hope that lies beyond despair, the love attack would hide, the brotherhood that hate has sought to sever, but which still remains as God created it."

• Today, from time to time, consider what you believe will bring you "comfort and happiness," e.g., prized possessions, achievements, a perfect love partner, recognition, and so on. After each one, ask 'Is this what I would have in place of heaven and the peace of God? Remember, this lesson proclaims that "no one can mean these words and not be healed."

My Vision Quest: Adjust Your Vision—Angel or Stone statue?

[Note: The same preface precedes all the blogs on my vision quest and the ones on giving up grievances. It provides the personal context regarding the relationship of each piece to my quest to restore my eyesight since I've exhausted all that Western medicine can do to repair the damage done by my advanced case of glaucoma. Therefore, if you've read it before, you may want to refresh your memory or skip to the new blog entry below.]

My Vision Quest
On New Year's Day 2011, I began the 365-day journey through the dailly lessons in the workbook section of A Course in Miracles. Given all the amazing synchronicities (meaningful coincidences) I've had since completing The Space Between Stars, I am certain that the course holds the key to restoring my impaired vision, which currently fits the definition of being legally blind both in terms of severely restricted visual angles and visual acuity. The last line before the epilogue of the The Space Between Stars(see www.drsrj.com) ends with the words of the man born blind who is healed by Jesus, ". . . I was blind but now I see." This is the title of the book I am currently writing. The subtitle is: "A Miracle of Restored Vision Redefines Reality." The book chronicles my quest for rstoring my vision that began with events leading up to my first and second trips to see the healer/medium John of God in Abadiania, Brazil. What I been led to considier is quite remarkable. I have always seen the healing of my vision as a twofold process. First, I have done what medical science can do for glaucoma, namely, the reduction of the elevated intraocular pressures which have damaged the optic nerves in both of my eyes. Until encountering the redefining of reality in A Course in Miracles, The Disappearance of the Universe, a spin off of the course,, as well as on my trips to Brazil, I have always seen the second phase for healing my vision as regenerating my optic nerves. I have used the following metaphor to describe the damage: If a healthy optic nerve could be seen as a tree in summer with all its green leaves, my optic nerves are like a tree in late November with a few brown leaves left on their branches.

John of God speaks Brazilian Portuguese. So before going before him, you have to tell a translator 3 things you would like to have healed. Your requests are written on a small piece of paper which is read to John of God. I asked my guide if I should ask for the regeneration of my optic nerves. He instructed me not to ask for that but for restored vision. He recommended this because a woman who had "severed optic nerves" had her vision restored, and when doctors examined her optic nerve, they expected to see her nerve reconnected. But, to their astonishment, it was still severed.

Later, as the plane took off from Brasilia, my friend Rod was reading a book containing case studies of individuals healed by John of 'God. With a trace of excitement in his voice, he read aloud to me the case of another woman with completely "nonfunctional optic nerves." Her vision was restored, and guess what?

When doctors examined her, her optic nerves were still nonfunctional. Both of these individuals had several trips to Brazil to see John of God before their sight returned. This got my attention. A Course in Miracles and The Disappearance of the Universe, as well as some sacred spiritual traditions claim vision involves more than the "body's eyes." It is in this spirit that I offer the excerpted material for your consideration and for your spiritual growth and "restored vision" back to what it was before you emerged from the womb.

[Note: The words in brackets as well as the female-gender based words are my additions.]


Excerpts from Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now.

"The body does not die because you believe in death. The body exists or seems to because you believe in death. Body and death are part of the same illusion created by the egoic mode of consciousness which has no awareness of the source of life and sees itself as separate and constantly under threat.

"So it creates the illusion that you are a body, a dense physical vehicle, that is constantly under threat. To perceive yourself as a vulnerable body that was born and a little later dies, that's the illusion. Body and death, one illusion. You cannot have one without the other. You want to keep one side of the illusion [when you hold physical immortality to be true] and get rid of the other. But that is impossible. Either you keep all of it or you relinquish all of it.

"However, you do not escape from the body nor do you have to. The body is an incredible misperception of your true nature. But your true nature is concealed in that illusion not outside it. So the body is still the oily point of access to it. If you saw an angel and mistook it for a stone statue, all you would have to do is adjust your vision and look more closely at the stone statue, not start looking somewhere else. You would then find that there never was a stone statue."

• Today, consider how you as an observer of what you call reality is shaped by your inner conversatopm or what cognitive-behavioral therapy calles "self-talk." Consider how changing your self-talk can change your reality. Wayne Dyer put it this way, "When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."

My Vision Quest…"We give as we receive…"

[Note: The same preface precedes all the blogs on my vision quest and the ones on giving up grievances. It provides the personal context regarding the relationship of each piece to my quest to restore my eyesight since I've exhausted all that Western medicine can do to repair the damage done by my advanced case of glaucoma. Therefore, if you've read it before, you may want to refresh your memory or skip to the new excerpt from A Course in Miracles below.]

My Vision Quest
On New Year's Day 2011, I began the 365-day journey through the dailly lessons in the workbook section of A Course in Miracles. Given all the amazing synchronicities (meaningful coincidences) I've had since completing The Space Between Stars, I am certain that the course holds the key to restoring my impaired vision, which currently fits the definition of being legally blind both in terms of severely restricted visual angles and visual acuity. The last line before the epilogue of the The Space Between Stars(see www.drsrj.com) ends with the words of the man born blind who is healed by Jesus, ". . . I was blind but now I see." This is the title of the book I am currently writing. The subtitle is: "A Miracle of Restored Vision Redefines Reality." The book chronicles my quest for rstoring my vision that began with events leading up to my first and second trips to see the healer/medium John of God in Abadiania, Brazil. What I been led to considier is quite remarkable. I have always seen the healing of my vision as a twofold process. First, I have done what medical science can do for glaucoma, namely, the reduction of the elevated intraocular pressures which have damaged the optic nerves in both of my eyes. Until encountering the redefining of reality in A Course in Miracles, The Disappearance of the Universe, a spin off of the course,, as well as on my trips to Brazil, I have always seen the second phase for healing my vision as regenerating my optic nerves. I have used the following metaphor to describe the damage: If a healthy optic nerve could be seen as a tree in summer with all its green leaves, my optic nerves are like a tree in late November with a few brown leaves left on their branches.

John of God speaks Brazilian Portuguese. So before going before him, you have to tell a translator 3 things you would like to have healed. Your requests are written on a small piece of paper which is read to John of God. I asked my guide if I should ask for the regeneration of my optic nerves. He instructed me not to ask for that but for restored vision. He recommended this because a woman who had "severed optic nerves" had her vision restored, and when doctors examined her optic nerve, they expected to see her nerve reconnected. But, to their astonishment, it was still severed.

Later, as the plane took off from Brasilia, my friend Rod was reading a book containing case studies of individuals healed by John of 'God. With a trace of excitement in his voice, he read aloud to me the case of another woman with completely "nonfunctional optic nerves." Her vision was restored, and guess what?

When doctors examined her, her optic nerves were still nonfunctional. Both of these individuals had several trips to Brazil to see John of God before their sight returned. This got my attention. A Course in Miracles and The Disappearance of the Universe, as well as some sacred spiritual traditions claim vision involves more than the "body's eyes." It is in this spirit that I offer one of the daily lesson from the workbook section of A Course in Miracles for your consideration and for your spiritual growth and "restored vision" back to what it was before you emerged from the womb.

[Note: The words in brackets as well as the female-gender based words are my additions. Also, For those of you who are Christian as well as those of you who are not or may not believe in any religion, any terms typically associated with Christianity (Christ, Holy Spirit, Father, etc.) are not intended to promote a religion but are intended to provide a universal, spiritual experience beyond any creed or dogma. And for me, the terms point me toward an experience necessary for the healing of my vision.]

Excerpts from Lesson 158 "Today I learn to give as I receive."

"Time is a trick, a sleight of hand, a vast illusion in which figures come and go as if by magic. Yet there is a plan behind appearances that does not change. . . ."

"Our concern is with Christ's vision. This we can attain. Christ's vision has one law. It does not look upon a body and mistake it or the son [daughter] whom god created. It beholds a light beyond the body, an idea beyond what can be touched, a purity undimmed by errors, pitiful mistakes, and fearful thoughts of guilts from dreams of sin. It sees no separation. And it looks on everyone, on every circumstance, all happenings, and all events without the slightest fading of the light it sees."

This you give today. See no one as a body. Greet him [her] s the son [daughter] of God he [she] is, acknowledging he [she] is one with you in holiness. Thus are his [her] sins forgiven him [her] for Christ has vision which has power to overlook them all. In His forgiveness are they gone. Unseen by one, they merely disappear because the vision of the holiness that lies beyond them comes to take their place. It matters not what form they took nor how enormous they appear to be nor who seemed to be hurt by them. They are no more and all effects they seem to have are gone with them undone and never to be done.

Thus do you learn to give as you receive. Adn thus Christ's vision looks on you as well. This vision is not difficult to learn if you but see yourself. For if he [she] be lost in sin so must you be. If you see light in him [her], your sins have been forgiven by yourself. Each brother [sister] whom you meet today provides another chance to allow Christ's vision to shine on you and offer you the peace of God."

• "We practice seeing with the eyes of Christ today."

My Vision Quest…"We Live in A Dream…"

[Note: The same preface precedes all the blogs on my vision quest and the ones on giving up grievances. It provides the personal context regarding the relationship of each piece to my quest to restore my eyesight since I've exhausted all that Western medicine can do to repair the damage done by my advanced case of glaucoma. Therefore, if you've read it before, you may want to refresh your memory or skip to the new excerpt from one of the latest presentations on the Maya and 2012 below.]

My Vision Quest
On New Year's Day 2011, I began the 365-day journey through the dailly lessons in the workbook section of A Course in Miracles. Given all the amazing synchronicities (meaningful coincidences) I've had since completing The Space Between Stars, I am certain that the course holds the key to restoring my impaired vision, which currently fits the definition of being legally blind both in terms of severely restricted visual angles and visual acuity. The last line before the epilogue of the The Space Between Stars(see www.drsrj.com) ends with the words of the man born blind who is healed by Jesus, ". . . I was blind but now I see." This is the title of the book I am currently writing. The subtitle is: "A Miracle of Restored Vision Redefines Reality." The book chronicles my quest for rstoring my vision that began with events leading up to my first and second trips to see the healer/medium John of God in Abadiania, Brazil. What I been led to considier is quite remarkable. I have always seen the healing of my vision as a twofold process. First, I have done what medical science can do for glaucoma, namely, the reduction of the elevated intraocular pressures which have damaged the optic nerves in both of my eyes. Until encountering the redefining of reality in A Course in Miracles, The Disappearance of the Universe, a spin off of the course,, as well as on my trips to Brazil, I have always seen the second phase for healing my vision as regenerating my optic nerves. I have used the following metaphor to describe the damage: If a healthy optic nerve could be seen as a tree in summer with all its green leaves, my optic nerves are like a tree in late November with a few brown leaves left on their branches.

John of God speaks Brazilian Portuguese. So before going before him, you have to tell a translator 3 things you would like to have healed. Your requests are written on a small piece of paper which is read to John of God. I asked my guide if I should ask for the regeneration of my optic nerves. He instructed me not to ask for that but for restored vision. He recommended this because a woman who had "severed optic nerves" had her vision restored, and when doctors examined her optic nerve, they expected to see her nerve reconnected. But, to their astonishment, it was still severed.

Later, as the plane took off from Brasilia, my friend Rod was reading a book containing case studies of individuals healed by John of 'God. With a trace of excitement in his voice, he read aloud to me the case of another woman with completely "nonfunctional optic nerves." Her vision was restored, and guess what?

When doctors examined her, her optic nerves were still nonfunctional. Both of these individuals had several trips to Brazil to see John of God before their sight returned. This got my attention. A Course in Miracles and The Disappearance of the Universe, as well as some sacred spiritual traditions claim vision involves more than the "body's eyes." It is in this spirit that I offer the following excerpt from a presentation on The Eternal Maya (see YouTube): In all my time with the Maya, I never heard the following about the nature of what we call reality. It fits with what I am discovering on my vision quest.

"Life is not what it seems to be, not even close to what most of our pareatnes believed to be true. We live in a dream that our mind has crystalized into waht we call reality. We believe it is fixed and can only change according to the laws of physics. The Maya believe you will soon know a part of yourself that is so ancient that it goes beyond the stars and planets as fixed worlds. They are just a dream also, and just like a dream upon wakening, you realize that it was nothing but light, or, better still, nothing but pure consciousness."

• Today, go to a place where you can relax without any interruptions. Close your eyes and reflect on the idea of going back in time and remembring what the Maya refer to as "a part of yourself that is so ancient that it goes beyond the stars and planets as fixed worlds." Who are you beyond your body-based sense of self with a personal history who grew up in a family in specific time and place and so forth.

My Vision Quest cont'd. Peace=Withdrawing Projection

[Note: The same preface precedes all the blogs on my vision quest and the ones on giving up grievances. It provides the personal context regarding the relationship of each piece to my quest to restore my eyesight since I've exhausted all that Western medicine can do to repair the damage done by my advanced case of glaucoma. Therefore, if you've read it before, you may want to refresh your memory or skip to the new excerpt from A Course in Miracles below.]

My Vision Quest
On New Year's Day 2011, I began the 365-day journey through the dailly lessons in the workbook section of A Course in Miracles. Given all the amazing synchronicities (meaningful coincidences) I've had since completing The Space Between Stars, I am certain that the course holds the key to restoring my impaired vision, which currently fits the definition of being legally blind both in terms of severely restricted visual angles and visual acuity. The last line before the epilogue of the The Space Between Stars(see www.drsrj.com) ends with the words of the man born blind who is healed by Jesus, ". . . I was blind but now I see." This is the title of the book I am currently writing. The subtitle is: "A Miracle of Restored Vision Redefines Reality." The book chronicles my quest for rstoring my vision that began with events leading up to my first and second trips to see the healer/medium John of God in Abadiania, Brazil. What I been led to considier is quite remarkable. I have always seen the healing of my vision as a twofold process. First, I have done what medical science can do for glaucoma, namely, the reduction of the elevated intraocular pressures which have damaged the optic nerves in both of my eyes. Until encountering the redefining of reality in A Course in Miracles, The Disappearance of the Universe, a spin off of the course,, as well as on my trips to Brazil, I have always seen the second phase for healing my vision as regenerating my optic nerves. I have used the following metaphor to describe the damage: If a healthy optic nerve could be seen as a tree in summer with all its green leaves, my optic nerves are like a tree in late November with a few brown leaves left on their branches.

John of God speaks Brazilian Portuguese. So before going before him, you have to tell a translator 3 things you would like to have healed. Your requests are written on a small piece of paper which is read to John of God. I asked my guide if I should ask for the regeneration of my optic nerves. He instructed me not to ask for that but for restored vision. He recommended this because a woman who had "severed optic nerves" had her vision restored, and when doctors examined her optic nerve, they expected to see her nerve reconnected. But, to their astonishment, it was still severed.

Later, as the plane took off from Brasilia, my friend Rod was reading a book containing case studies of individuals healed by John of 'God. With a trace of excitement in his voice, he read aloud to me the case of another woman with completely "nonfunctional optic nerves." Her vision was restored, and guess what?

When doctors examined her, her optic nerves were still nonfunctional. Both of these individuals had several trips to Brazil to see John of God before their sight returned. This got my attention. A Course in Miracles and The Disappearance of the Universe, as well as some sacred spiritual traditions claim vision involves more than the "body's eyes." It is in this spirit that I offer one of the daily lesson from the workbook section of A Course in Miracles for your consideration and for your spiritual growth and "restored vision" back to what it was before you emerged from the womb.

[Note: The words in brackets as well as the female-gender based words are my additions.]

Excerpts from Lesson 108:
[The first part of lesson 22 is presented to provide you with a background for lesson 23's practice exercises. This is because the psychological process of projection is key to understanding how true vision involves wihdrawing the projection of our anger and grievances. We can then apply the way to inner peace and freedom from fear suggested by lesson 23.]

Lesson 22: "What I see is a form of vengeance."
[This] idea accurately describes the way ;anyone who holds attack thoughts in his [her] mind must see the world. Having projected his [her] anger onto the world, he sees vengeance abou to strike at him [her]. His own attack is thus perceived as self defense. This becomes an increasingly vicious cycle until he [she] is willing to change how he [she] sees. Otherwise thought of attack and counterattack will preoccupy him [her] and people his [her] entire world. What peace of mind is possible to him [her] then?

It is from this savage fantasy you want to escape. Is it not joyous news tohear that it is not real? Is it not a happy discovery to find you can escape? You made what you would destroy. Everything you hate and would attack and kill. All that you fear does not exist.

Lesson 23: I can escape the world I SEE by giving up my attack thoughts."

This is the only way out of fear. Every thought you have makes up some segment of the world you see. The cause of the world you see is attack thoughts There is no point in lamenting the world. It is incapable of change because it is an effect. There is no point in trying to change the world. But there is indeed a point in changing your thoughts about the world. Here you are changing the cause. The effect will change automatically. The world you see is a vengeful world and everything in it is a symbol of vengeance. Each of your perceptions of external reality is a pictorial represnentation of your own attack thoughts. One can well ask if this can be called seeing. Is not fantasy a beter word for such a process and hallucination a more appropriate term for the result?

You see the world that you have made but you do not see yourself as the image maker. You cannot be saved from the world but yu can escape from its cause. This is what salvation means. For where is the world you see when its cause is gone?

[True] VISION already holds a replacement for everything you think you see now. Loveliness can light your images and so transform them that you will love them even though they were made of hate. For you will not be making them alone. The idea for today introduces the thought that you are not trapped in the world you see because its cause can be changed. This changerequrires first that the cause be identified then let go so that it can be replaced. The first two steps in this process requie your cooperation. The final one [step] does not. Your images have already been replaced [by your Creator and you are discovering it as you do today's practice]. By taking the first two steps you will see that this is so.

• Besides using the idea throughout the day as the need arises, five practice perriods are required in applying today's idea. As look about you repeat the idea slowly to yourself first. And then close your eyes and devote about a minute to searching your mind for as many attack thoughts as occur to you. As each one crosses your mind, say, "I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts about ————." [fill in the blank].

Hold each attack thought in mind as you say this and dismiss that thought.and go on to the next. In the practice periods be sure to include both your thoughts of attacking and being attacked. Their effects are exactly the same because they are exactly the same. You do not recognize this as yet and you are asked at this time only to treat them as the same in today's practice periods. for we are still at the stage of identifying the cause of the world you see. When you finally learn that thoughts of attack and being attacked are not different, you will be ready to let the cause go.

Relieving the Stress of the Unforgiving Mind

[Note: The same preface precedes all the blogs on my vision quest and the ones on giving up grievances. It provides the personal context regarding the relationship of each piece to my quest to restore my eyesight since I've exhausted all that Western medicine can do to repair the damage done by my advanced case of glaucoma. Therefore, if you've read it before, you may want to refresh your memory or skip to the new excerpt from A Course in Miracles below.]

My Vision Quest
On New Year's Day 2011, I began the 365-day journey through the dailly lessons in the workbook section of A Course in Miracles. Given all the amazing synchronicities (meaningful coincidences) I've had since completing The Space Between Stars, I am certain that the course holds the key to restoring my impaired vision, which currently fits the definition of being legally blind both in terms of severely restricted visual angles and visual acuity. The last line before the epilogue of the The Space Between Stars(see www.drsrj.com) ends with the words of the man born blind who is healed by Jesus, ". . . I was blind but now I see." This is the title of the book I am currently writing. The subtitle is: "A Miracle of Restored Vision Redefines Reality." The book chronicles my quest for rstoring my vision that began with events leading up to my first and second trips to see the healer/medium John of God in Abadiania, Brazil. What I been led to considier is quite remarkable. I have always seen the healing of my vision as a twofold process. First, I have done what medical science can do for glaucoma, namely, the reduction of the elevated intraocular pressures which have damaged the optic nerves in both of my eyes. Until encountering the redefining of reality in A Course in Miracles, The Disappearance of the Universe, a spin off of the course,, as well as on my trips to Brazil, I have always seen the second phase for healing my vision as regenerating my optic nerves. I have used the following metaphor to describe the damage: If a healthy optic nerve could be seen as a tree in summer with all its green leaves, my optic nerves are like a tree in late November with a few brown leaves left on their branches.

John of God speaks Brazilian Portuguese. So before going before him, you have to tell a translator 3 things you would like to have healed. Your requests are written on a small piece of paper which is read to John of God. I asked my guide if I should ask for the regeneration of my optic nerves. He instructed me not to ask for that but for restored vision. He recommended this because a woman who had "severed optic nerves" had her vision restored, and when doctors examined her optic nerve, they expected to see her nerve reconnected. But, to their astonishment, it was still severed.

Later, as the plane took off from Brasilia, my friend Rod was reading a book containing case studies of individuals healed by John of 'God. With a trace of excitement in his voice, he read aloud to me the case of another woman with completely "nonfunctional optic nerves." Her vision was restored, and guess what?

When doctors examined her, her optic nerves were still nonfunctional. Both of these individuals had several trips to Brazil to see John of God before their sight returned. This got my attention. A Course in Miracles and The Disappearance of the Universe, as well as some sacred spiritual traditions claim vision involves more than the "body's eyes." It is in this spirit that I offer one of the daily lesson from the workbook section of A Course in Miracles for your consideration and for your spiritual growth and "restored vision" back to what it was before you emerged from the womb.

[Note: The words in brackets as well as the female-gender based words are my additions.]


Excerpts from Lesson 121 Forgiveness is the key to happiness

Here is the answer to your search for peace. Here is the key to meaning in a world that seems to make no sense. Here is the way to safety and apparent dangers that appear to threaten you at every turn and bring uncertainty to all your hopes of ever finding peace. Here are all questions answered. Here the end of all uncertainty insured at last.

The unforgiving mind is full of fear and offers love no room to be itself, no place where it can spread its wings in peace and soar above the turmoil of the world. The unforgiving mind is said without the hope of respite and release from pain. It [the unforgiving mind] abides in misery, peering about in darkness, SEEING NOT, yet certain of the danger lurking there.

The unforgiving mind is torn with doubt, confused about itself and all it sees, afraid and angry, weak and blustery, afraid to go ahead, afraid to stay, afraid to waken or to go to sleep, afraid of every sound yet more afraid of stillness, terrified of darkness yet more terrified at the approach of light.

What can the unforgiving mind perceive but its own damnation? . . . It [the unforgiving mind] looks upon the world with sightless eyes and shrieks as it beholds its own projections rising to attack its miserable parody of life. It wants to live. It wishes it were dead. It wants forgiveness yet it sees no hope. It wants escape but can conceive of none because it sees the sinful everywhere, The unforgiving mind is in despair without the prospect of a future which can offer anything but more despair. Yet it regards its judgment of the world as irreversible and does not see that it condemned itself to this despair, It thinks it cannot change for what it sees bears witness that its judgment is correct. It does not ask because it thinks it knows. It does not question, certain it is right. . . .

Each unforgiving mind presents you with an opportunity to teach your own how to forgive itself. Each one [unforgiving mind] awaits release from hell through you and turns to you imploringly for heaven here and now. It [Unforgiving mind] has no hope but you become its hope. And as its hope, you do become your own [hope]. The unforgiving mind must learn through your forgiveness that it has been saved from hell. And as you teach salvation you will learn. Yet all your teaching and your learning will be not of you but of the Teacher [within] Who was given you to show the way to you.

• Today we practice learning to forgive. Today, if you are willing, you can take the key to happiness and use it on your own behalf. We will devote ten minutes in the morning and at night another ten to learning how to give forgiveness and receive foreignness, too. The unforgiving mind does not believe that giving and receiving are the same. Yet, we will try to learn today that they are one through practicing forgiveness toward one you think of as an enemy and one whom you consider as a friend. And, as you learn to see them both as one, we will extend the lesson and see that their escape included yours. Begin the longer practice periods by thinking of someone you do not like, who seems to irritate you or to cause regret in you if you should meet him, one you actively despise or merely try to overlook. It does not matter what the form your anger takes. You probably have chosen him already. He will do. Now close your eyes and see him in your mind and look at him a while. Try to perceive some light in him somewhere, a little gleam which you had never noticed. Try to find some little spark of brightens shining through the ugly picture that you hold of him. Look at this picture until you see a light somewhere within it, and then try to let this light extend until it covers him and makes the picture beautiful and good. Look at this changed perception for a while and turn your mind toward one you call a friend. Try to transfer the light you learned to see around your former enemy to him. Perceive him now as more than friend to you. For i that light his holiness shows your savior, saved and saving, hdared and whole. Then let him offer you the light you see in him, and let your enemy and friend unite in blessing you with what you gave. Now are you one with them and they with you. Now have you been forgiven by yourself. Do no forget throughout the day the role forgiveness plays in bringing happiness to every unforgiving mind with yours among them. Every hour tell yourself, "Forgiveness is the key to happiness. I will awaken from the dream that I am mortal, fallible and full of sin and know that I AM a perfect son [daughter]] of God."

My Vision Quest cont'd. To Give is to Receive

[Note: The same preface precedes all the blogs on my vision quest and the ones on giving up grievances. It provides the personal context regarding the relationship of each piece to my quest to restore my eyesight since I've exhausted all that Western medicine can do to repair the damage done by my advanced case of glaucoma. Therefore, if you've read it before, you may want to refresh your memory or skip to the new excerpt from A Course in Miracles below.]

My Vision Quest
On New Year's Day 2011, I began the 365-day journey through the dailly lessons in the workbook section of A Course in Miracles. Given all the amazing synchronicities (meaningful coincidences) I've had since completing The Space Between Stars, I am certain that the course holds the key to restoring my impaired vision, which currently fits the definition of being legally blind both in terms of severely restricted visual angles and visual acuity. The last line before the epilogue of the The Space Between Stars(see www.drsrj.com) ends with the words of the man born blind who is healed by Jesus, ". . . I was blind but now I see." This is the title of the book I am currently writing. The subtitle is: "A Miracle of Restored Vision Redefines Reality." The book chronicles my quest for rstoring my vision that began with events leading up to my first and second trips to see the healer/medium John of God in Abadiania, Brazil. What I been led to considier is quite remarkable. I have always seen the healing of my vision as a twofold process. First, I have done what medical science can do for glaucoma, namely, the reduction of the elevated intraocular pressures which have damaged the optic nerves in both of my eyes. Until encountering the redefining of reality in A Course in Miracles, The Disappearance of the Universe, a spin off of the course,, as well as on my trips to Brazil, I have always seen the second phase for healing my vision as regenerating my optic nerves. I have used the following metaphor to describe the damage: If a healthy optic nerve could be seen as a tree in summer with all its green leaves, my optic nerves are like a tree in late November with a few brown leaves left on their branches.

John of God speaks Brazilian Portuguese. So before going before him, you have to tell a translator 3 things you would like to have healed. Your requests are written on a small piece of paper which is read to John of God. I asked my guide if I should ask for the regeneration of my optic nerves. He instructed me not to ask for that but for restored vision. He recommended this because a woman who had "severed optic nerves" had her vision restored, and when doctors examined her optic nerve, they expected to see her nerve reconnected. But, to their astonishment, it was still severed.

Later, as the plane took off from Brasilia, my friend Rod was reading a book containing case studies of individuals healed by John of 'God. With a trace of excitement in his voice, he read aloud to me the case of another woman with completely "nonfunctional optic nerves." Her vision was restored, and guess what?

When doctors examined her, her optic nerves were still nonfunctional. Both of these individuals had several trips to Brazil to see John of God before their sight returned. This got my attention. A Course in Miracles and The Disappearance of the Universe, as well as some sacred spiritual traditions claim vision involves more than the "body's eyes." It is in this spirit that I offer one of the daily lesson from the workbook section of A Course in Miracles for your consideration and for your spiritual growth and "restored vision" back to what it was before you emerged from the womb.

[Note: The words in brackets as well as the female-gender based words are my additions.]


Excerpts from Lesson 108: To give and to receive are one in truth.

• Vision depends upon today's idea. The light is in it for reconciles all seeming opposites. And what is light except the resolution born of peace of all your conflicts and mistaken thoughts into one concept which is wholly true. . . . And now you are at peace forever for the dream is over then. . . .

• True light which makes true vision possible is not the light the body eyes behold. It is a state of mind that has become so unified that darkness cannot be perceived at all. . . .

• This is the light that shows no opposites, and vision being healed has power to heal. This is the light which brings your peace of mind to other minds to share it and be glad that they are one with you and with themselves. This is the light that heals because it brings single perception based upon one frame of reference from which one meaning comes. Here are both giving and receiving seen as different aspects of one thought whose truth does not depend on which is seen as first nor which appears to be in second place. Here it is understood that both occur together that the thought remain complete. And in this understanding is the base on which all opposites are reconciled because they are perceived from the same frame of reference which unifies this thought. One thought completely unified will serve to unify all thoughts. This is the same as saying one correction will suffice for all corrections or that to forgive one brother [sister] wholly is enough to bring salvation to all minds.

• Today we practice with the special case of giving and receiving. We will use this simple lesson in the obvious because it has results we cannot miss. To give is to receive. Today, we will attempt to offer peace to everyone and see how quickly peace returns to us. Light is tranquility and in that peace is vision given us and we can see. So we begin the practice periods with the instruction for today and say, "To give and to receive are one in truth. I will receive what I am giving now." Then close your eyes and for five minutes think of what you would hold out to everyone to have it [be] yours. You might, for instance, say, "To everyone I offer quietness. To everyone I offer peace of mind. To everyone I offer gentleness. Say each one slowly and pause a while expecting to receive the gift you gave. And it will come to you in the amount in which you gave it. You will find you have exact return for that is what you asked. It might be helpful too, to think of one to whom to give your gifts. He represents the others and through him you give to all. Our very simple lesson for today will teach you much. Effect and cause will be far better understood from this time on and we will make much faster progress now. Think of the exercises for today as quick advances in your learning made still faster and more sure each time you say, "To give is to receive are one in truth."