 beautiful to be here this morning. It does. Thank you. When James got here it just felt like an instant recognition, you know, and it happens quite often when people find their way out here. It's a bit of a pilgrimage just getting to the monastery. We're about, I don't know, 10 miles down a dirt road in a very remote canyon in eastern Utah. Very beautiful and secluded and remote and peaceful and all those things that help us drop down into the truth of who we are and let go of those obstacles and distractions of the world. So when you got here it was just like, it was so, you know, heartfelt. So beautiful having you here. Thank you. You know, I have this image of a tethered balloon, you know. They used to show this in old movies where there'd be, at a fair or something, there would be a hot air balloon with the basket and it would be tied down and it would be just off the ground but it would not be able to fly and it would be tied with these ropes and that's what perception is and we we're always tied down by our thoughts and our ideas and our concepts and coming here I know that for the first little while I could I could actually feel them. That's the beautiful thing about an environment like this is that you can feel those ropes and the chains that that hold our consciousness. But then if you're just gentle with yourself it's like beginning to untie those and one gets untied than another and then before long you're flying. The balloon has let go and you're able just to soar and that's what an environment like this and the beautiful monastery like this is for me and it's in that pause where the miracle happens. Absolutely. Yeah, I mean it's all about mind, right? It's not about what's going on out here. You can have that stillness wherever you are but here it's the because the stillness is amplified so is the opportunity. Yeah, it's like the like in nature you know a lot of people feel this this connection this deeper connection in nature because you know the trees aren't trying to be better trees you know the the chipmunks aren't trying to be better than the other chipmunks and there's so there's a naturalness here that is very much the way that the mind actually is but there's so many distractions in the world that you almost think it's normal to have those tethers, right? And like you said you don't have to come and live in a place like this but to be able to come and have a space where you can come and just start to get in touch with those tethers and and let them go and then carry it back out you know carry it back out into whatever whatever you're doing and we just recently opened this up for people to come it's been a pretty well used property for deep mind training based in the course of miracles really using the mirroring of relationships and undoing the blocks to the presence of love and so it's been it's been beautifully used and now it's it's kind of like this wonderful support for the silence we're dropping more and more into the silence ourselves and we just have this beautiful heart opening for people who have that desire because there's not really a lot of places that you can go to to find that you know so yeah we're very very inspired for people to be able to come and just let go just let go you know and and just be without an agenda we're not teaching anything here we're just a living demonstration the peace is possible and it is our natural state you know so it just it's it's new to us to be able to have others from from the world come in and just stay no matter what tradition they practice whether they practice anything at all because the presence is the presence it's not it's not a certain way and if you are a student of a course of miracles this is a really special because it is such a living embodiment of that vortex and I always like to think of the course as a vortex because when it pulls you in it doesn't let you out and this is a place where that can really happen once again in the pause you get away from all of those tethers all of those ideas and thoughts and so-called responsibilities and could just be present here this is a place where the course can really sink its hooks into you and that is a good thing and to have people like yourself and the others who are living demonstrations of that we're here for no other reason no other reason and and it's that focus the focus on that one thing yeah like the course says to be in the kingdom of heaven you must focus your full attention on it and to be able to just let everything go and and let that which loves you find you you know but it like it has to fight you have to have the spaciousness in the mind for it to come into awareness open your heart you know this is this is the most important thing really and we just really love it we we're very grateful for it it's all given by the spirit you know there's no efforting to try to make anything happen it's just natural and when you come into that naturalness of the forgiven mind yeah then everything is added unto you that's right so it's just and last night we had a beautiful joining with David and and we did a movie session just so deep and profound yes I'm just sitting there going wow you know this is this is the happy dream you know sitting here with James you know heard about you for years and it's just such an honor to to be able to share some space with you you know and it's it's like a lifelong it's like we just know each other so lifelong relationship and so that's how it is with the mind when it clears yeah there's only happiness available so that's all that stuff everything else is falling away it's amazing actually to watch the healing that occurs in the silence you know I think everybody has done so many retreats and they're all very valuable but I've seen the immense healing that happens just because it's all about this interconnection and so to be able to have that is just a real gift to the mind and a lot of people wouldn't probably think that you know that if I just go and be quiet you know because we're so used to process work different types of things which have all been helpful but eventually it comes right down to the self and this this deep deep prayer you know like the Course in Miracle says prayer is the medium of the miracle so without that prayer that's right it's a process you know and without that true healing it's just management trying to manage and trying you know we don't say it's an illusion very often here because it's not helpful yes that's that's eventually you'll have that experience but that purification has to take place so you know and silence is David Hoffmeister always says silence and relationships are the fast track to awakening yes you're faced with yourself you know yeah so it has been a deep immersion in the mysticism of the Course through the music and that has made it come to life yeah the mysticism and that's really really what we're about here is the direct experience we go through many years of perhaps studying the Course and just you know for me trying to figure out what is this really saying and then it's like oh my gosh this is really about a direct experience of who I am and that's really what the monastery is about is it's about this direct experience and you know the conceptual ideas are important for a while and then it's like you just keep dropping don't you it's like you said it's a vortex and it it takes you down and then about halfway down you're going oh my god what is this really saying oh I have to let go of myself it's always just being so open to receive the message however it's going to come and don't decide on how that's going to be you know just be like open-mindedness you know the last attribute of a teacher of God nothing like open-mindedness there's nothing like open-mindedness it's like the best it's like you're just like okay you know you open to that that quantum field you know the forgiven mind so it's simple you know everything is really very simple I used to not think that but now it's like it is my experience yes sweet yes it is thank you so welcome thank you for just hosting me for a couple of days it's all it really took but I have a feeling I'll be back for more yeah so how about singing this I really want beyond this word there is a word that I want