 In this very blue, there's white and blue For what I need And in this very blue, there's light and joy For what I need And it's white and blue And it's white and blue To which everything is alright And it's blue Shut it down For Jesus Crying Jesus Is this very blue Is this very blue Is this very blue There's white and joy For us To which everything is alright And it's blue For Jesus Crying Jesus Is this very blue There's white and joy Of course in miracles tells us that this is a required course That nothing real can be threatened That nothing unreal exists It tells us that the dream that we live in is not real But the dreamer is And we're so privileged tonight to have David to come and share with us We have a part of the Course that tells us we don't know We don't know We don't know what anything is for We don't even know how to respond to anything And when we do make that surrender The Course tells us that's when God comes in and gives us an insight To see something that we're not dependent upon our past experiences from So I'm going to ask you to lay aside all your past tonight And don't look for anything that David says that you agree with Or that you disagree with Just listen with a completely open heart, open mind And a willing soul Welcome David And thank you everyone here I'm always so honored to come be with my brothers and sisters everywhere Because it really, really feels in my heart like I'm just meeting myself wherever I go And I've been traveling around the country for about 13 years And up through Canada And this year the Holy Spirit's got me going and starting world travels now So I get to go to other cultures that I don't even speak the languages And they follow me around translators and translate the words into their languages So my friend Resta who's put together some of that beautiful music She was saying to me in March when I was supposed to go down to Argentina She said, I think there's going to be a problem And I said, a problem? What in the world? How could there be a problem? And she said, I think there might be a language barrier And I said, why would you think there'd be a language barrier? And she says, well, they speak Spanish David and you speak English She said, they just start out And I said, oh, I don't think that's going to be a problem And sure enough when we got down there Before I got down there they had organized 19 consecutive Course in Miracles gatherings Which, excuse the stone taters, thought it would be a logistical nightmare And it was a meeting in a row where all the meetings would be met And a lot of them were in a city of 15 to 16 million people The transportation logistical nightmares of getting around to all the places and everything And it was just wonderful I absolutely had a ball and there was two translators following me around Often three or four in the meetings and when the translators would get stuck on words People would call out the words from the audience They'd always be up and say, just calling it out And I was sharing with a couple groups I've done here in Los Angeles that One of the questions that was asked of me because when I went down there It was synchronized when the United States began dropping bombs on Baghdad And there was protests in the streets and all kinds of things going on down there And I was walking around just watching all the people and everything And I saw these big banners across the street and I said to one of them What does that banner say? And they said, it says, senior bush, take up knitting And I said, no, they're really getting into the bees movement here And so I said, I think I'm in the right country And so I was down there and they actually did say to me One of the questions got translated to me, you know, two translators What is your view on your president? I said, oh, I have no presence And the translator gave the answer and came back Don't you understand the question? And I said, oh no, that's not understandable That's not an understandable question I said, we're all children of God And we all have a loving spirit, parents And we're all the same We can't be fooled by the things of nationalities and countries and politics We've got too much love in our hearts So I was sharing this, and they translated the whole answer And most people, about 97% of women were there For all nodding, going, claro, claro, claro Meaning clear, very clear And then one of them, the translator said, he's got it And everyone was laughing and joyful And also gathering went But it started off with a question, you know, again This is not awakening to a political stance Or taking sides or, you know, trying to make differences Real, because the ego is the one that tried to invent his ideas of differences So I broke into a chorus of John Lennon's song, Imagine And they started singing with me in English On key, and I had chills And we all were there, I'm like, whoa, where am I? Imagine there's no country, I wonder if you can Nothing to kill or die for Brotherhood of man, you know We're all singing together and harmonizing And I just thought, you know, this is really what the oneness is about When we all can just sing and sing together Like we were all singing tonight Harmonizing together about the great glory of God And really with gratitude to the Christmine For saying, here it is, this is real and true You're one, and nothing can ever change that oneness So I have a ball, I'm going back to Argentina in March And I'm open, we've had talk of Germany And there's all kinds of beautiful things opening up And I just feel honored to go around And just let the Holy Spirit speak through me Because it's not only speak through me Because people have said, you know, it must be nice Just going to course groups and course conferences And gatherings and spending your life Hugging people and smiling and everything And I said, all right, missed the whole journey If I thought of it that way Most of the people I meet are in rest areas And grocery stores and laundry mats And rest, you know, all the parks and places along the way And when you really get into the joy of this You're just beaming, you just have people coming up to you And smiling and laughing and waitresses and waiters You know, I mean, it's just that you feel like You're just so in love with everyone And you just, I mean, to me, everyone's just a sweetie And so I go around and I really think that And that's how it turns out I mean, you know, just everywhere Everyone comes out of the woodwork, just so adorable Even when I went through this transformation Things like biological parents, you know They went from the old perception of them When I thought they were parents And I thought I was the son And I had expectations of them Like me, and it was really all my mind So when I let go of all that Then I said they turned into Cupid dolls They were just so adorable Can we make you some brownies before you go And make you some cookies? Woo! It was just, you know, incredible But it was actually incredible, it was believable Because that was what forgiveness was about, you know When you take all the projections And the concepts that you lay on everyone And you just let go of those Then everybody is really adorable And so I have that experience now with groups Whether it doesn't really matter I don't even, I mean, I go to course groups But it's not so much about a course of miracles, per se It's about our oneness, it's about enlightenment So now I'm getting invitations to conversations With God groups, and power of now groups And you name it And it's like, yeah! If they, I was up in New England They had, I forget what they were called But there's all these groups that I've never even heard of And they say, would you like to stop by? I say, that sounds wonderful If they had, like, atheists unite I was in Texas And I was at a course of miracles meeting And we went around the room And everyone was introducing themselves And this one guy was like, he said So my name is Arthur And I'm an atheist And he said, and? I think if there is a God, his name is Arthur And I think that we're all connected And we're all part of one mind And I said, hey Arthur! And Arthur kept showing up You know, all together And he's like, who cares? Who made these crazy distinctions? Believers and non-believers What's the difference? Who's a believer and a non-believer? And even Jesus, you know In the psychotherapy path where he says Belief in God is unnecessary For God can be but known He's wiping out this whole believer And non-believer stuff And the same thing goes with Ignosticism and all the Any kind of different path That in the end what you realize It's all your mind And since you love yourself And you love your creator Then everyone is included in that love And you're not going to try to judge against Anyone So to me I think My path has been one of You have to have a trust level You have to trust in a power Beyond this world To open up to this You're not just going to let go Of fear and guilt without Something to put your faith and trust in And both steps Higher power Or God as we know him Whether it's Jehovah Or whatever Anybody wants to call it Whatever name It doesn't really matter Just this beautiful creator That just loves us so dearly And blesses us beyond anything We can even fathom in this world But it's nice to receive all those miracles And have them just showering down upon you So I often share that I really don't do sermons And I just come And I talk But generally it's like When we come together We have the spirit We all have the spirit within us And so The questions come And the answers come And we all feel like We're just being showered and blessed In God's love Because there's no There's not even any hierarchies There's no beginner And intermediate advance In oneness Of God, oneness doesn't see gradations Of beginner, intermediate advance And so what I share is that From the state of Salvation or enlightenment You feel in your heart And you see Everyone is enlightened with you It's not this old kind of guru trip Of I've got it and you don't It's just joy of We're all in this And that's where the joy is Because you can feel it You can feel it in your heart The connection And then when the questions come All it really is is an opportunity For clarity For getting into some of the soulies Because the ego can sometimes seem Kind of sneaky And sometimes kind of subtle But when we join together There is no way that the ego can hide It's nothing We can really see it For what it is And that's why we laugh And we laugh a lot And that's why we don't take Anything seriously We don't Whatever seems to arise You know, it's like We don't buy into it And in that joy And in that laughter And peace You know, it's pretty obvious that As we were just saying In this very room That God is here with us So I Reach you all with great love And I am so honored that We could all be here tonight To rejoice and celebrate in God's love And We can get into any of the The soulies Just the songs we were singing You know, about God's divinely providing for us And that's a topic that We've been going into A gentleman came to the one center last night And he really Had a lot of questions about this Divine Providence And how are you provided for A lot of doubts and fears And that was so beautiful That he could just pour out his heart And it kind of ignited the whole evening Because it was so sincere And that's what we do when we come together If you want to talk about relationships Or sickness or death The mind How do you apply The Course Principles to specific situations Those are all really good Practical things because It's right where your heart is You don't need another theology To just memorize a bunch of high ideals We want an experience Of openness And an open heart And an intimacy and a connection And so that's what I call Practical spirituality It's when we come together The Spirit just orchestrates everything That goes on to bring Bless us To bring clarity and blessing So I open the floor If anybody has anything they want to Talk about We'll Dive into it What about sickness, David? In sickness are synonymous And we might say that What Jesus teaches us is that All illness is mental illness So right away you can see Where it's starting to go Because in this world The ego has tried to convince us That there's all kinds of Many different sicknesses And many different illnesses And that there are many different forms Of it And you start studying the Course And you get to lessons like 79 and 80 Let me recognize the problem Let me recognize the problem So it can be solved And then let me recognize My problems have been solved And 80 So basically what we're looking at is That this is what the mind training is about Is beginning to open your mind To this statement That all illness is mental illness To begin to train your mind When it's tempted to think that it has You have a physical pain Or a physical ailment To start to go within and say Okay, this is just symbolic This is a symptom Of a misperception And we could say that Sickness is always a misperception God's will of pure love Has nothing to do with sickness So first of all We're saying sickness All illness is mental illness The second thing I'll say is that It's like in lesson 136 We learned that sickness Is a defense against the truth And that sickness is a decision So not only is all sickness Or illness mental But it's a decision So that Really leads to a question I get When I travel a lot Of who in their right mind Would choose to be sick And I say that's it You have got it That's it Who in their right mind That's exactly it And that is a very helpful thing To look at too Because then You start to say Then this right mind, wrong mind Stuff is pretty important That Jesus is talking about In this course That most of the whole book Is coming actually to a discernment Letting the Holy Spirit show you And discern between the right mind And the wrong mind And if sickness is a wrong mind A decision It must have some kind of Sick, insane attraction Because if you weren't attracted to it Why would you even choose it In the first place So it's like we talk about Sometimes in 12 step groups About the stink and think And the attraction to misery And the course He's got some subsections That he has for his chapters The attraction to guilt The attraction to pain The attraction to death When you first read those titles It's like, man, that's sick Or what? What's he talking about? But he actually goes in Very deeply to saying that That in this world You are actually attracted to these things And that's why We need to expose the ego Because until the ego is exposed You could say the wrong mind Actually seems attractive Or seems to offer something of value So that's what we're going to get into tonight When we talk about sickness Because once we can begin to clearly see That it has no attraction That is when you are really approaching Quickly, the awakening To the truth Because sickness then holds no Attraction to pain So how does the attraction to guilt work? Well, the ego Is the belief that it's possible To separate from God And then, even though the Holy Spirit Is given simultaneously As an answer to that crazy, mad idea The mind was afraid of the Holy Spirit And so it made up a world And projected out a hiding place Some of you know I've heard about it in the Bible There was the Adam and Eve story And then they were naked And they covered themselves with a fig leaf Well, you might think that this whole cosmos The time and space is like a giant fig leaf It's like a giant cosmic fig leaf A place where God could in or not It says in the workbook It actually says the world was made As an attack on God A place where God could in or not So this is almost just like a hiding place Like the ego said, let's make up some stars And some dust And God's eternal He'll never chase you into time and space You can hide in there You're not going to come in and try and get you in there You're safe You're safe in the dust And the mind that was afraid of the Holy Spirit Actually thinks that it can hide And that there's something to hide from So that's where this body identification stuff Comes in, getting identified with these tiny little Vessels of flesh Thinking that this is the home now Instead of the kingdom of heaven So the attraction of guilt comes in From judgment The cosmos in and of itself is just Once it seemed to be made up by the ego The Holy Spirit neutralized the whole thing Kind of like a chemistry experiment You got this acid going and You put it in the neutralizer So it's not good and it's not evil It's not an evil world and it's not a good world It's just been neutralized by the Holy Spirit So the Holy Spirit sees no guilt with this world But the ego is going to use this world To promote and to maintain and to perpetuate A sense of guilt Because if you're guilty you can't be innocent And the Course keeps saying The Holy Spirit is saying you are innocent And that's not going to change God's not changing His mind You're going to be forever innocent So the way it works is All these images get fragmented out And that's no problem right there The Holy Spirit heals and neutralizes the whole thing And sees this beautiful tapestry of time and space And the ego tries to break the pieces off Into little tiny pieces and fragments And then it arranges them in hierarchies of illusions Good images, bad images Or indifferent images So you might say that judgment Is an attempt to arrange the fragments And these go by different names You could call them hierarchy of illusions You could call them preferences When we talk about food preferences Clothing preferences Environmental preferences Sexual preferences Temperature preferences You know, to have preferences You've got to have a range And that's exactly what the ego's plan is For maintaining guilt Because if you've got good illusions And bad illusions You're not seeing them as the same The good ones would be what? More attractive And the bad ones would be more repulsive And as long as the ego can maintain this game Of ranking, ranking the images The hierarchies and whatever Compare it, ego The Course says comparison must be an ego device For love makes fun As long as the mind is caught up into comparing And ranking and saying This is good, this is better, this is the best And this is my favorite and the typical things Then the ego just sitting back there Like a little spider going I got my way into thinking that the images are real And the mind feels depressed And it feels upset and angry and guilty So that is why this is a Course in Miracles Where every little miracle that you have Every little tweak of your mind Where you just I say see the false is false You look around you and you go Just feel the Lord I've got in your heart You can look and let those eyes move across All those images That's what the mind-training of that workbook's about Nothing I've seen is anything I have given everything I see all to me As for me I do not understand what anything is for If you start to see those workbook lessons He's going to take you inward to a place of non-judgment To this calm still point with the Holy Spirit Where you can just look upon the false is false Thank you very much Don't need to dissect it Don't need to arrange it into hierarchies Don't need to get into all these schemes In fact, he could find the miracle He says a miracle does not create Or really change it all It merely looks on devastation It reminds the mind of what it sees as false You see how we're looking at just being able To sink in there with the Holy Spirit with Jesus If just see the false is false Now, the ego does not like this miracle stuff Because this is the undoing of the ego And if the miracles keep getting stronger and stronger And more consistent into awareness Kind of like the wicked witch of the West And the wizard of Oz A little bit of water will do the trick A little bit of Holy Spirit and miracles And this witch has no power You just down to a cap and gown in a hurry Because the miracle just completely dissolves away This guilt and this pain and suffering And you go, yay to that Hallelujah