 We were talking about atonement at the lunch table. Atonement might be equated with total escape from the past and total lack of interest in the future. Total escape from the past and complete lack of interest in the future. So now you know why Eckhart Tolle wrote The Power of Now. Now you know why all the mystics and sages... Total lack of interest in the future. It's acceptance. And then you're present and you can be fully present with whatever is with you. It's like it can look however it looks. Then you're really content. Truly you're on a state of contentment when you come to that place because as long as you believe the past is real you're going to have these ego imagination thoughts, scenarios of the future. Like this is where I want my life to go and those are ideal expectations and it never works out. I mean that you always get disappointed when you have these expectations. Isn't the past what you are made of? Or are you what your past is made of? Yeah, ego. Only the ego. Not the spirit of stuff. So basically you're letting go of...that's why we had D on the first page. Basically D is my belief in lack of taking the form of an image of self out of the world. That D in here is the past. And you're going to have... D is generating E. So because you believe in D which is the ego, you're generating E. Expectations. And then it happens over and over and over. That's why the serenity prayer is really the whole course of miracles boiled down into one prayer. You know, God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. What is it that I can't change? The script. It's like watching a movie. Like I mentioned before, like watching Gone with the Wind and saying to Red Butler, don't you tell her that? I've watched this 50 times. You treat her like a lady and then you're watching again hoping that Red's going to be kind and courteous and gentleman-like and he goes, frankly my darling, I don't give a damn. And he did it again. But see, it would seem stupid to react and get emotional to a movie. But people do it all the time. They forget that it's a movie and then they get all caught up in it. But what we're saying is, yes, you have to let go of the ego and then you let go of the expectations and then you can be fully present and fully in alignment with your spiritual reality. So this all makes sense if you can follow these ideas because it's like you deserve happiness. God wants you to be happy all the time, you know, just eternally happy. And that's what God's will is for you to be happy all the time. And it's only this ego and these expectations that block like dark clouds that get in the way and keep you from the happiness. So you're watching a movie that's not real. So when you're crying, you're not actually crying about the movie. It's what's inside of you. It's like the joy. And it's the ego. But yeah, it can be the ego. If you're crying because of sadness, it's the ego. I know a lot of times I'll watch that movie as it is in heaven and I'll just start crying because I feel so much joy and love that it's like I can't contain it and it's almost like it squirts out of there. So they've actually studied tears. You know, they've actually studied the biochemistry of tears. Is the sad tears and happy tears? Yes, they're actually, they're different chemical make-ups. They've actually studied the tears. When you're so happy that you can't contain it and those tears come down versus tears of loss and grief and sadness. I mean, the chemical make-up is actually different even in the tears. Even when you respond to the happiness to the movie, though, it's still the same process as if you had responded with sadness. So, isn't it? You know what I'm saying? It's all coming from your mind. It's all being generated from your mind. But it's like if you're watching something that is so reflective of the miracle, which for me, a lot of the movies I have in my collection, I watch them over and over. It's a wonderful life and Groundhog Day and all of them. And a lot of times I have the same tears and same emotions as if I'm watching it for the first time, which it does feel like that. And it's all it is. It's just an expression of love, just like an overflowing. My cup run is over. But it's the same dynamic. It's not the movie that's making me happy or it's not the movie that's making me cry those tears of joy. It's just the movie is reflecting that movies can be part of your process to get in touch with some of those you've seen that hurts. So it can be very helpful. And then maybe you could do one of these. Like, watch a movie where it intuitively feels it's going to really touch on your big issues and themes. And then when your emotions are up and it's real raw, then work through an instrument for peace. And I can save you thousands of years in terms of time. Because sometimes I can watch a movie and it does stir me. And other times I can watch a movie that I can relate things that have happened to me that are very detached from it. So it doesn't stir anything. So to me, I look at it and I think, well I'll heal from that situation because it hasn't affected me at that time. You noticed that? But if I see something that does stir it up, then I think I need to do more work on that healing. It's very intuitive. And the spirit will continue to guide you to things, workshops or movies or relationships or whatever that will help you speed up the healing. You know, that's what it's all about, just being really open. Okay, now we're getting down here. We've got to the point on number nine. Everything in the world works together for my good. What I think is the cause of my upset is not the cause at all. The choice to be upset is a choice not to see the cause, my belief in separation lacks, as a present decision in my mind. It's an attempt to see the cause in the past or future and the present as its effect. Now that's as clear as it gets. Either I'm making a decision right now to separate from God and I'm upsetting myself with this crazy decision that I'm hanging on to or, which in that case would empower you to choose again. See, I'm going to choose again here. Choose to be happy instead. Choose to be free. Or you believe that time is basically positive and that you're just at the mercy. You know, you are at the mercy of hot days and cold days. You're at the mercy of good movies and stinking movies. You're at the mercy of good food and bad food, food poisoning. You're at the mercy of tsunamis or hurricanes or tornadoes and weather patterns or earthquakes or things like that. You know, really this is bringing it down to either you're in a position where you're very helpless and powerless because you're at the mercy of time, the past and future or you're very empowered because you start to see what's going on and you choose a miracle. You choose to align with your source and feel happy. And that's as simple as the spiritual journey gets. Yes, you know, this is divine metaphysics. Like, this is the Christ's mind given to you as straight as can be. Like, you can choose to be happy. Really, always. It takes practice, you know. That's why we have this instrument for peace is because you have to keep working through it. Just like if you exercise your muscles, you know, you don't build your muscles, you know, in two or three movements. You got to go to the gym or do a lot of movements to build it up. And it's the same with training your mind. You have to actively practice and practice with this, do a lot of these kinds of instruments. And then all of a sudden, just like with riding a bike, you start to be like, oh yeah, you can do it in your mind. That's the expectation here. Oh, yeah. I really expected that ice cream shop to be open. I really did, or I really expected that. I signed a contract and I really expected them to pay the money that they agreed to pay there in the contract. You know, you start to see that whatever you get irritated or upset with, if you're honest and you get good at this, you can zip it down to a time-space expectation, then that's really wanting to hang on to the ego. That's all it is. And then if you desire to let it go, that's where we're getting down to the next one. Number 10, what I want right now above all else is peace. You know, to really want peace right now, if you have a powerful mind, it's like putting the ego on notice, I want peace right now. I deserve peace right now. I am worthy of peace right now. I question D, that self-concept that I believed in, all that lack and scarcity, I question it. I am willing to doubt, not my Christ identity, but I'm willing to doubt the ego. I question D and I voluntarily let go of E, the resulting expectation, in order to reconnect with my one goal, peace. Peace of mind is a present decision that I gratefully choose right now. Guilt and fear of consequences only seem possible because I was determined to hold onto a belief in past and future cause. I let go of the meaning I gave to the past and the future and opened my mind to the present, which was all and innocent. I am grateful for the realization that the cause of my upset, which I thought was in the world, was actually only an unquestioned belief and decision in my mind. I have decided anew for my peace of mind. So, you know, we could do a lot of workshops and seminars, but this really puts it down in a very distinct way. We really got to cut down to the core, to the nitty-gritty of what the ego's trick is and how to get past the trick. That's what this tool is for. Yeah, you make huge inroads when you do a process like this repeatedly. It's like when you were doing the radical forgiveness work. It was very similar. It was like tracing it in to see it differently and choose again.