The light of understanding.

 

“There is one mind common to all individual men.  Every man is an inlet to the same and to all of the same.  He that is once admitted to  the  right  of  reason  is  made  a  freeman  of  the  whole  estate.    What  Plato  has  thought,  he  may  think;  what  a  saint  has  felt,  he  may  feel;  what  at  any  time  has  befallen any man, he can understand.  Who hath access to this Universal Mind, is a party to all that is or can be done, for this is the only and sovereign agent.” ~Emerson

Eventually everyone begins to recognize, however dimly, that there must be a better way. (ACIM, T-2.III.3:6)

 

To be fatigued is to be dis-spirited, but to be inspired

is to be in the spirit. (ACIM, T-4.in.1:6)

To be egocentric is to be dis-spirited, but to be Self-centered in the right sense is to be inspired or in spirit. (ACIM, T-4.in.1:7)

If you speak from spirit you have chosen to “Be still and know that I am God.” (ACIM, T-4.in.2:2)

No one can escape illusions unless he looks at them, for not looking is the way they are protected. There is no need to shrink from illusions, for they cannot be dangerous. We are ready to look more closely at the ego’s thought system because together we have the lamp that will dispel it, and since you realize you do not want it, you must be ready. Let us be very calm in doing this, for we are merely looking honestly for truth. The “dynamics” of the ego will be our lesson for a while, for we must look first at this to see beyond it, since you have made it real. We will undo this error quietly together, and then look beyond it to truth.
 

What is healing but the removal of all that stands in the way of knowledge? And how else can one dispel illusions except by looking at them directly, without protecting them? Be not afraid, therefore, for what you will be looking at is the source of fear, and you are beginning to learn that fear is not real. … Do not be afraid, then, to look upon fear, for it cannot be seen. Clarity undoes confusion by definition, and to look upon darkness through light must dispel it (T-11. V.1:1–2:3, 8-9).

 

"For the first time you [lift your heart to God with stirrings of love], you will find only a darkness, and as it were a cloud of unknowing [...] Whatever you do, this darkness and the cloud are between you and your God, and hold you back from seeing him clearly by the light of understanding in your reason and from experiencing him in the sweetness of love in your feelings. [...] And so prepare to remain in this darkness as long as you can, always begging for him you love; for if you are ever to feel or see him...it must always be in this cloud and this darkness."

— The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works. Translated by A. C. Spearing. London: Penguin. 2001. pp. 22

The underlying message of this work suggests that the way to know God is to abandon consideration of God's particular activities and attributes, and be courageous enough to surrender one's mind and ego to the realm of "unknowing", at which point one may begin to glimpse the nature of God. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing

 

Robert Gass – Kyrie