One of my greatest tools is fantasy. An imaginary future can be pursued and in some cases brought into existence in some or many of its aspects. "Follow your dream," say the world's teachers, "visualize your dream enough and it will come true!"
That would be great advice if my dreams came from my spirit with zero influence from my ego. The lessons of this course, for example, have used spirit-guided visualization and the results have always led to great good for everyone.
But what happens when ego-vested interests create a dream or influence a dream?
It helps to know that the ego has no ultimate interest other than pain, sickness, suffering, and death ... although it tempts one with promises of riches, power, sex, glory, etc. The ego is roughly equivalent to what most religious people call "Satan."
If I keep in mind that the ego's glittering promises are like the glittering spoon-hooks fishermen use and serve the same purpose ... to hook me so I can be yanked up out of my home, cut to the core, and fried ... then I'll have a pretty good idea about the kind of dreams the ego creates.
For example, my ego could tell me the new person I just met is just perfect for me. "Oh, those eyes!" "Oh, that body!" "What a mind!" "What perfection!" When the ego is in control, fantasy starts quickly. "Oh, if I could live with this person!" ... or whatever.
Following such an ego fantasy will always lead to pain because the unseen purpose of the fantasy is to lead to pain. If the fantasy does not come true I've missed the unspeakable joy of living in the now moment during the time I was fantasizing, and when the bubble bursts, as it must in ego fantasies, the momentum towards pain is tremendous. If the fantasy does come true in part, then the pain when the bubble bursts could be even more devastating even unto causing deaths.
The ego always gets me coming and going ... if I allow it.
But I don't have to allow the ego the use of this wonderful tool of fantasy. I can fantasize only when guided by my spirit or higher self. To train my mind in this respect is the goal of this week's lesson.
Each day this week upon awakening I search my mind for possible fantasies. Am I thinking the grass would be greener somewhere else? Am I thinking my life would be more wonderful if I had a certain person or certain kinds of people in my life? Have I caught myself wishing I had more money, or a better position, or a different situation? "If I only had this or that...."
I want to find all thoughts that serve as the cornerstones for fantasies. I cleanse my mind of ego fantasies by saying aloud with each such thought I find:
"Unless this idea came unexpectedly from my inner voice, I will not give it further thought."
I say this as many times as it takes to begin having the feeling that this fantasy is no longer going to be pursued if it's from the ego.
I need not fear that fantasies guided by my spirit or higher self will be inadvertently cleansed from my thinking with this exercise. A spirit-given fantasy will always keep persisting and persisting until I pay attention to it and go along with it. But the exercise will clean out ego-driven fantasies.
Then throughout the day this week I use as a mantra as often as possible the statement:
"Everything I really, really need I already have right now. Instead of thinking about future possibilities, I enjoy myself here and now."
At the end of each day I review my progress. Have I caught myself fantasizing during the day or in some way thinking that "the grass could be greener"? Was I able to dispel such fantasies? Have I been able to identify when my spirit would guide me to think about the future and feel the difference between these and ego fantasies?
At the end of my review I say aloud to myself a few times in order to reaffirm my commitment to learning this lesson:
"Each day it is easier and easier for me to tell the difference between an ego-serving fantasy and a spirit-serving fantasy."
I fall asleep satisfied with my progress and thankful. I might even say before sleeping:
"I enjoy fantasizing ... but only when guided by my spirit."
Also available free of charge online:
Course in Political Miracles
In the process of practicing earlier lessons of this course, I have dedicated myself to opening spiritually as never before. With this course I've been given a few assignments involving rudimentary meditation exercises, but none have yet been the most powerfully opening meditation. Now it's time to devote myself to a deeper meditation practice than ever, since meditation is one of the most valuable tools in existence for opening spiritually and maintaining spiritual opening.
As I've learned, meditation is not the only device for opening spiritually. Joining with a heart and soul opening partner opens me considerably. More drastically, as shown in the marvelous film "Powder," being struck by lightening could open me. More fantastically, being abducted by "visitors from outer space" would open me. But the time-honored method advised by enlightened spiritual teachers is meditation.
Some say that after a lifetime of meditation the enlightened one comes to the happy realization, "I need do nothing!" This is true, but this is precisely what meditation is ... doing nothing.
The purpose of meditation is to focus my mind intensely on doing nothing. Meditation is very literally an "unbelievable" relaxation of the mind because meditation takes the mind to a place beyond where beliefs are formed.
When the mind relaxes so much that it no longer forms thoughts or pictures, an enormous expansion into spirit takes place. When this expansion occurs I experience "out of this world" joy and love and peace and certainty which uplifts my life and the lives of everyone around me. This week I dedicate myself to experiencing at least two 20 minute meditation periods daily, one at the beginning of my day to start off the day in the right spiritual space, the second to clean out my energy and bring me back to the best spiritual space after things have settled down following the busiest part of my day.
At the beginning of each meditation period I simply ask my mind to show me what it feels like to have no thoughts or mental pictures. Once I feel the feeling, I focus on holding onto the experience of thought-free, picture-free being as long as possible.
If my focus slips and I find myself with thoughts or pictures in my mind, I simply ask again to be shown what my mind feels like before I ever form thoughts or pictures, and once again I focus intensely on the meditative experience.
If it helps, I can pretend I'm a sheriff hiding with my motorcycle behind a billboard watching for thoughts or pictures to speed by so I can catch them. Not wanting to be caught, they will not come and I will have achieved my goal of a still, quiet mind.
My ego hates meditation and will distract me with a passion. My ego will do everything it can to insert thoughts, pictures, feelings of boredom or curiosity ... whatever it can insert ... to pull me out of the experience of true meditation. I must be vigilant against the ego's insertions. I am determined to not break focus during meditation.
These are my objectives this week: to meditate twice each day and to be utterly determined to keep my focus in the thought-free, picture-free realm as much as possible during meditation.
I gladly pursue these goals because meditation greatly enhances my ability to radiate undreamed of love and joy into relationships.
At the end of each day, before falling asleep, I give attention to how glad my spirit is that I'm devoting myself to meditation. I might say something like:
"Unbelievable! Being in heaven is the easiest thing on earth!"
Also available free of charge online:
Course in Political Miracles
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