Abracadabra, please & thank you

Every scripture speaks of a mysterious Word. Is the Word “Abracadabra”? “Open sesame”? “Om”? “Please and thank you”? All of the above? None of the above?

Is the Word as small as a letter? If so, which letter? Is it a sound? If so, which sound would it be? Or is it as big as a book made of many words? If so, which words? Which book? And in which language or languages?

Close scrutiny of scriptures seems to indicate that the Word is not itself a word; neither a person, place, nor thing. The Word that was in the beginning had no beginning and will have no end. It had no form.

Scriptures say the Word is the primordial vibration of life, the essence of all things, the power of life. All scriptures agree that the Word was, is now, and always will be everywhere, unlimited and forever. No one has a monopoly on the Word. Nobody owns the Word.

Nor can the Truth be defined by human minds, language and words. Truth can only be known, within.

Thy Word is true, sings the Psalmist. Thy Word is Truth, wrote John. Jesus promised, You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free. Truth is, after all, true, constant. It is the only thing that is. Everything else comes and goes.

What is Truth with a capital “T”? Is Truth merely a correct thought? Something to contemplate and ponder over? Is Truth a compilation of worldly, human knowledge and facts? Can Truth be limited?  I don’t think so… no, none of that is the Truth with a capital “T”, nor is human knowledge, Knowledge with a capital “K”.

Truth is unchanging, constant, faithful, dependable, enduring, real. The eternal Truth is beyond all concepts. It is everywhere and everything. It is in us and we are in it. We are so accustomed to it that we cannot conceive of it. For in it we live and move and have our being. Kabir said, I laugh when I hear the fish in water is thirsty. It is everywhere and we are unaware of it.

Truth is true, always was, is, and always will be true. Yet is it possible for any person, place or thing in this world true, unchanging? No. It all changes. Truth is true, constant. Everything else comes and goes, begins and ends, is born and dies, while Truth remains, always true.

What about the mysterious Name all scriptures revere? Is the Name a word? Mere language? Can it be spoken? Is the eternal Name Eloha? Jehovah? God? Jesus? I Am? Alaha? Abba? Allah? Buddha? Krishna? All of the above? None of the above?

Some religions teach that you can annoy God merely by speaking his name aloud or by saying it wrongly. Others preach that you can chant your way to heaven by repeating his name over and over again. Some think you can abuse God’s name by cursing. But Word, Name, or Truth cannot be abused. There is a built-in fail-safe because neither Word, Name, nor Truth have anything to do with language.

The Name that can be named is not the eternal Name.
– Lao Tsu, Tao te Ching

The Word versus words


The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the Word of God stands forever.”
Isaiah 40:8

There is the Word of God — and then there are words. But human words, however poetic or beautiful, have limits. They are not forever.

Words are abstractions, symbols of symbols. New words are added to dictionaries and old words fall out of style. Languages begin and end.  Books are written and published but they do not endure. Neither words, nor languages nor books are forever.

And yet, with all their limitations, the lovely words that sing to us of the glorious divine presence, caress our hearts and something within us begins to yearn for the powerful, loving Forever scriptures speak of.  Something in us begins to stir. We want to find the wonder we forgot, to reclaim the secret we have lost. Something in us begins to long for the Word that is forever, the Word that we were created by and in the likeness of… before we had a body.

People, places, things, words, concepts, philosophies — all things physical, mental and emotional — are temporary. They come and go. Anything that had a beginning will have an end. Even this planet will disappear in time.

For dust thou art,
and unto dust shalt thou return.

Genesis 3:19

So tell me. please.. Is it possible that a thimble can hold the ocean? Can our minds hold the Infinite? Can finite words deliver to us the omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, eternal… the Word that was in the beginning… before there was a world… before language even began?  Or do we need to go further, to our hearts, to find what we are looking for? Is it as all the scriptures promise — within us?  Our birthright is to know for ourselves, the Forever, to not settle for mere words.

The Name that can be named is not the eternal Name.
The Word that can be spoken is not the eternal Word.
Tao te Ching

What Word could that be?  Let’s ask that question from our heart of hearts leave all words behind.  Let us determine to know and enjoy daily the Word which is forever.

Light is flowing, moving, glowing,
never stopping, always going,
I am caught in endless movement
tho I sit still in my room. I twirl
and swirl to and fro and love and
love and love and love… I breathe
and live and give the love that moves me.
It is my source, my destiny,
my everything… I need nothing.
© Patricia Robinett 2010

ACIM & Knowledge

What could God give but Knowledge of Himself?
ACIM 18.VI

As you read A Course In Miracles, you may begin to become aware that the word “knowledge” is used quite frequently. If you begin to read it with a capital “K” and use the phrase “Knowledge of God”, then ACIM will make even more sense.

From the end of Chapter 18…

This course will lead to Knowledge, but Knowledge itself is still beyond the scope of our curriculum… The readiness for Knowledge still must be attained.

Love is not learned. Its meaning lies within itself. And learning ends when you have recognised all it is not. That is the interference; that is what needs to be undone. Love is not learned, because there never was a time in which you knew it not. Learning is useless in the Presence of your Creator, Whose acknowledgement of you and yours of Him so far transcend all learning that everything you learned is meaningless, replaced forever by the Knowledge of Love and its one meaning.

To inspire us all (including myself) toward the speedy realization of that Love, I have made a book that compares the course’s use of the word Knowledge with quotes from world scriptures throughout the ages.

Knowledge will provide you with tantalizing new insights into the course, world scriptures and religions. This book makes it very clear that Knowledge of God is your birthright.

“Call out for inner sight”

Tune your ear to wisdom.
Set your heart on a life of understanding,
Cry for Knowledge and call out for inner sight.
Look for Knowledge as if you are mining for silver.
Search for it as if you are digging for buried treasure.
Then you will understand the reverent worship of the Lord
and you will find the Knowledge of God.
For it is the Lord Himself who gives Knowledge —
and from His mouth come wisdom and understanding.
The Proverbs 2

Head & shoulders above other books on scriptures…

Knowledge: The Essence of World Scriptures is now available as a paperback or kindle at amazon.com here.

WHAT IS “KNOWLEDGE”? KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT?

“You shall know the Truth and the Truth will make you free.”

FREE YOU? FREE YOU FROM WHAT?

Free from fear, need, greed, terror, sorrow, grief, blame, shame, guilt, anger, rage, hatred, resentment; the urge to judge and condemn; susceptibility to manipulation; free from feeling separate — from God and heaven, from other people and from nature.

WHAT IS GOD? WHO ARE YOU? WHERE IS HEAVEN?

These are good questions that deserve good answers. And these are titles of chapters in the book — with the good answers you deserve.

HOW CAN YOU KNOW FOR SURE?

Skeptics claim you cannot prove that God exists. Neither can you prove that love exists. But when you feel it, do you doubt its existence? Wouldn’t you like to feel the freedom that made Kabir sing and Rumi dance?

LOOKING FOR LOVE IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES?

A famous drunk lost his keys in the alley but searched for them under a streetlight, because the light was better there. Why look for heaven outside? Why wait for heaven? Kabir says, In the city of death, it will be too late… Ghosts will not do it for you.

DARE TO SEEK, FIND & KNOW

This book fast-tracks you through the process of sorting it all out. Leave behind fear, wishful thinking, crossing your fingers, supplication and superstition. Graduate to unspeakable love, reverence and awe.

KNOW NOW!

Free yourself of the “heaven is for after you die” myth. This eclectic collection of world scriptures makes it clear that heaven is within you now. Knowing how to experience the heaven within you now is your birthright.

THIS IS A VERY RADICAL BOOK

It says blind belief is not enough… it says you can know God. You will never be satisfied by anything less than Knowledge.

Knowledge: The Essence of World Scriptures is now available as an ebook here, or as an elegant paperback at CreateSpace here and  at amazon.com here.

You have two sets of senses

My heart has five other senses of its own.
Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi

You have five outer senses with which you navigate the physical world — sight, sound, smell, taste and touch — and you have inner senses that correlate to the outer.

The pleasures of the outer world are limited, because all things physical, mental and emotional have limits. You can only eat so much ice cream and cake or pretzels and beer before you get sick. No matter how hard you try to squeeze happiness out of this world, it’s temporary. People, places and things come and go in time. Our tenuous hold on physical goodness results in fear, insecurity, stress, tension and dis-ease.

The pleasures of the inner realm, on the other hand, have no limits and no adverse side effects. When you turn your awareness inward, you find the love, joy, fulfillment and security you have always longed for. You may enjoy these non-physical pleasures to your heart’s content whenever you wish. The inner realm is always there. It never goes away. It honors your autonomy. You can choose it in this moment, or not. It will never punish you nor will it leave you. You can ignore it but you cannot lose it. Knowing this level of safety and security, you can relax deeply and breathe fully and freely. Health automatically returns.

In you is the purest and most dependable pleasure possible. When you enjoy your inner senses, you become content and peaceful.

Those who see themselves as whole make no demands.
ACIM Workbook Lesson 37

Where Is Heaven?

“In the arena of knowing,
there’s no make-believe.
You experience.
It’s not a fantasyland…
You are here
to experience Heaven.”

A few quotes from Knowledge, The Essence of World Scriptures

The coming of God’s Kingdom
is not a matter of external observation.
People won’t be able to say,
“Look, here it is!” or, “Look, there it is!” because
the Kingdom of God is within, inside of you.
Luke 17

If those who lead you say,
“Behold, the Kingdom is in heaven,”
then the birds of the heaven will be before you.
If they say unto you,
“It is in the sea,”
then the fish will be before you.
But the Kingdom is within you, and it is outside of you.
The Gospel of Thomas

Open the eye of Truth,
Discover the spiritual path.
Put your feet in the way of God
and seek his celestial court.
Once you have glimpsed that glory
you will no longer be attracted
to the tinsel and glitter of this world.
Farid ud-Din Attar

Where are you looking to find me?
I am closer than you imagine.
I am neither in temple nor in mosque,
neither in synagogue nor cathedral,
neither in rites nor rituals,
neither in yoga nor austerities.
If you are a true seeker,
you will see me immediately.
You will meet me in an instant.
Kabir says,
God is the Breath of all breath.

In the city of God is a secret dwelling place —
the lotus of the heart.
Within this dwelling is a space
and within that space
is the fulfillment of all desires.
The secret within that space
should be longed for,
actualized and realized.
As great as the infinite space beyond
is the infinite space within —
the lotus of the heart.
Heaven and earth are contained in that inner space —
fire and air,
sun and moon,
lightning and stars —
Everything is contained in that inner space.
Chandogya Upanishad

Whirling in the stillness

As waves upon my head the circling curl,
so in the sacred dance weave ye and whirl.
Dance then, O heart, a whirling circle be.
Burn in this flame — is not the candle He?
Rumi

There is a way of sitting very still and being taken up into a wonderful inner whirling.

It is this inner experience, it appears, that Rumi was trying to express in all his poetry… like candles, incense, bells and gongs, stained glass windows and magnificent pillars and spires — all are merely reminiscent of a transcendent inner experience that we try to convey with physical outer expressions.  “It’s a bit like this…”

The only problem is, in the outer everything that has a beginning will have an end, and therefore all things come and go and don’t really get us where we want to be… all the way back to the beauty from which we were created.

The Real Thing, on the other hand, far exceeds our highest hopes and wishes.  We can know it but we cannot describe how beautiful Reality is, for the human mind is only a thimble to the vast ocean and cannot hold it.

To know the Forever is our birthright. Joy is grounded in what never was born and will never die, is certain, regardless of our ability to physically whirl and twirl.  What is ultimately Real is accessible even for the crippled, blind or deaf.  There is a truly universal experience that has no limits — anyone can have it all, always, regardless of personal circumstances.

Then Jesus answering said unto them,
Go your way, & tell John
what things ye have seen & heard;
how that the blind see, the lame walk,
the lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
to the poor the gospel is preached.

It is beyond the body.

To heal is to make happy

From the book A Course In Miracles

To heal is to make happy. I told you once to think how many opportunities you have to gladden yourselves, and how many you have refused. This is exactly the same as telling you that you have refused to heal yourselves.

The light that belongs in you is the light of joy. Radiance is not associated with sorrow. Depression is often contagious, but although it may affect those who come in contact with it, they do not yield to its influence wholeheartedly. But joy calls for an integrated willingness to share in it, and thus promotes the mind’s natural impulse to respond as one.

Those who attempt to heal without being wholly joyous themselves call forth different kinds of responses at the same time, and thus deprive others of the joy of responding wholeheartedly. To be wholehearted, you must be happy. If fear and love cannot coexist, and if it is impossible to be wholly fearful and remain alive, then the only possible whole state is that of love. There is no difference between love and joy. Therefore, the only possible whole state is the wholly joyous.

To heal, or to make joyous, is therefore the same as to integrate and make one. That is why it makes no difference to what part or by what part of the Sonship the healing is done. Every part benefits, and benefits equally. You are being blessed by every beneficent thought of any of your brothers anywhere. You should want to bless them in return, out of gratitude.

You do not have to know them individually, or they you. The light of joy is so strong that it radiates throughout the Sonship and returns thanks to the Father for radiating His joy upon it. Only God’s own holy children are worthy to be channels of his beautiful joy, because only they are beautiful enough to hold it by sharing it. It is impossible for a Child of God to love his neighbor except as himself. That is why the healer’s prayer is, “Let me know this brother as I know myself.”

A Course In Miracles, Urtext, p.123
(in the edited version: Introduction to Chapter 5)