Reality Check Ahead!

that conversation is a " lu lu" in itself.
very insightful

I don't disagree with you, Robin. I would merely add that in Truth there is no duality - God is everywhere and everywhen and this does not leave room for anything else.

Have a great Easter!

Indeed Magi indeed!

And have a great Easter as well...

I would also point this conversation to a lecture by the late Alan Watts titled Democracy in Religion. He discusses this point rather nicely in Buddhist and Christian terms. That indeed there is this duality thing which does equal a oneness of sorts, and then there is this no thing. This place where we must leave the vehicles behind. A transcendence, for the lack of a better word. Oh it's all words, though, isn't it? And to that I must leave my favorite zen response, "hahahahahah!"

Be well.

Terri It's all words until it's an experience, when the knowing comes in, the words come as you need them or not, it ceases to mater...

I assure you that there is a moment of confrontation with Reality, and nothing is ever the same again.

A cup is still a cup yet you have understood what that means because you have listened to the cup instead of pressing past ideas upon it!

I agree with you Dean, I love the way you express yourself... I would love to replace the word God or creator with the word Love and when I'm talking amongst like minds this is fine. However there is a notion of love in the world that is separate from you and me. Lovers, children, friends all have different levels and expressions of love.

"Divine Love" seems to be a good way to express it, maybe Ill do that from now on...

Dean: The idea of dualism is the idea of separation, nothing within this imposed construct is really true. Many of the great sages including Jesus have said, "Resist not evil" or "Whatsoever you resist will persist".

This is because evil is the dualistic opposite of truth and in reality truth has no opposite, so any resistance to ideas of evil, such as time, or human love, with serve only to make them seem more real.

I am not using the word evil here to describe only that which is not good, I am using it to describe the entire physical dream so let's change the word evil to "illusion" then there will be less misunderstanding.

Human love – the love between two that excludes others or family love which is exclusive to blood is part of the horizontal illusion and is really not what real Love is. That is why Jesus says in his masterpiece, A Course in Miracles, "there is no love here" he is attempting to show that all real love is outside the physical illusion, in the realm of the vertical as he puts it.

The miracle happens when the dreamer realizes that there is no love in the horizontal world and he, through an act of faith brings Divine Love to a situation or encounter. Divine Love does not judge the murderer of the thief, it is timeless and formless, it is the way God thinks, it is abstract.

Not sure I understand, but is the certainty of singularity a good thing? It sounds like it might not be, for the long run, in human relationships.

Sarah - Not ultimately, at least not "special" human relationships. The certainty of singularity is the end of human relationships in the conventional sense. However outside the illusion we are already singular, one, and oneness can reflect very brightly here in the illusion. A Course in Miracles calls a relationship that reflects non-dualistic Love, Holy.

A Holy Relationship is one that is shared generally, it is what Love really is, it doesn't see bodies but Spirit. That is not to say that one ignores the needs of a brothers body, it just mean that while serving a brothers need, one is not confused about what is real and what is illusory.

Human relationships thus become extremely simple, there is no "special" person, all people are equally special, time and place cease to matter and everything one needs to know is given.

Special relationships come from a heightened but unconscious sense of need or lack; they are not relationships, they are deals. Two people come together and form a relationship, they set up boundaries and as long as neither partner steps outside the agreed upon boundaries the relationship continues. When one partner tries to change the deal or crosses a boundary, the special love quickly turns to special hate.

In the world/illusion, the opposite of love is hate, in truth Love has no opposite, it is real, and it is non-dual.

So, you can see where you are on your journey, by checking your relationships, is there anything someone can do that would give you cause to be unloving towards then? If there is, you are in a deal with that person; there is no Love between you.

This isn't such a bad thing though, we are all here to learn and all of us are at various levels of our transformation from special relationships to Holy Relationships. It is not about ending special relationships or feeling guilty about them, it is about transforming them, making them Holy.

That is how the sages and the wise teachers help the world; it is good to give them at least a small part of your daily attention. They have been where you are and they have learned their lessons of Love, their joy is in sharing their wisdom with whomever is ready to hear it.

hmmm. glad you directed me to this..very interesting.....I have only just begun to digest Tolle! But the part about arrogance......hmmmmmm can you say "Eliot Spitzer" [among others]?

Hi Fern - I haven't read Tolle yet but I'm told by many I should, maybe I'll look it up... Books books everywhere!