— THE ART OF LISTENING —
PAUL. In an earlier conversation, you said two important things. At least to me, they are important! When I said I thought I was in the market for a miracle and asked, “How do I get out of the way and let one in?” You said, “You are already doing it! You have abandoned your thinking and turned your attention to me.” And then you followed it by saying, “I know you don’t think you have the answer yet, but you do.”
Secondly, you referred to the “Art of Listening . . . the motivation of which leads one into avenues of unity, expressions of unmitigated Love, and practical humaneness recognizable to everyone.”
I recognize that you have described WHAT we are doing, together with the WAY in which we have engaged in it. It amounts to a description of the BASIS of everything we do—the Gifting of it—and the inescapable Nature of the giving. It is what flows through us, and has since the beginning.
On the other hand, the “practical humaneness recognizable to everyone” which cannot be separated from the Art of Listening and thereby secures the radical idealism of Truth in the practical realism of our Brotherhood—is exhibiting a flaw somewhere! Or so it seems to me. And I must ask for clarity in this regard.
At your direction, everything we do, we share. And always have. For forty years. We would not have it any other way.
Needs have been continuously met without accumulating wealth or even ease provided by a cushion to be drawn upon in case of an emergency. And yet we are—in spite of careful Listening—faced once again with a notice of intent to auction off the property in which our work is done (and is our home as well) if the loan is not repaid in full to the Foundation’s benefactor by the 24th of June . . . three weeks from this past Monday!
Where is the “recognizable humaneness” in this picture?
RAJ. Indeed, Paul. Brotherhood is not a solo exhibition, but that which is in concert: ALL joined in MUTUAL INTENT to let the Voice for Truth and omnipresent Love express as recognizable humanity—and thus embody the INVOLVEMENT of the Golden Rule.
You see?
The Golden Rule will never be a bargain—a transaction, “this” for “that.” It is, instead, INVOLVEMENT which requires ALL to shift away from rugged individualism, self-responsibility—that from which one then creates self-serving “rules” of good behavior which supposedly create a whole-souled, independent person . . . yes, persona . . . ego . . . Ego . . . NO!
Do you realize that when you look into your Brother’s eyes and see yourself—another “puny ego”—you are automatically in a state of competition? It’s the truth. But, if you look into your Brother’s eyes and you remember God, you must have willingly decided you would look at him with God’s perspective of His Son instead! In this act of generosity a learning can occur as an experience! That being that the former is defense, while the latter is pure living Love . . . the former is deceitful and destructive, while the latter heals.
It’s simple. When the operating system is upgraded, it requires one to learn anew because the goals have changed. If Atonement means abandoning defense, then “purpose” shifts from “being safe FROM everyone”. . . to “being safe FOR everyone.”
The former builds up walls, while the latter tears them down, uncovering an unexpected quandary:
“WHY do I now do things,
and to what end?
When I no longer find
a use for walls
to keep me safe,
what will my
motivation be?”
You see? And so one’s context shifts from “What about just me, myself, and I?” to all of “US” which seems, as I have said before, to be misapprehended as “more work.”
What’s overlooked, though, is the fact that all transactional relationships are more than just a clean-cut “this” for “that” arrangement. They are the invitation to engage in bartering, and then negotiating, followed then by competition and manipulation . . . graduating to control, and ultimately domination on behalf of me, myself, and I. And what one learns is that transactions are, by far, the more laborious, debilitating choice than the INVOLVEMENT of the Golden Rule will ever be.
And so, it is my task to be That which awakens curiosity, and to inspire whoever has the ears to hear to actually engage the holy instant—which the Course reveals—and then engage the Art of Listening . . . for everyone to be courageous and to trust into the Silence, and to be in a new way . . . with one another!
How?
By asking if you really are an individual . . . learning all about this thing called Brotherhood? Or are you one of Us . . . a Brother . . . learning that you are not and have never been a separated individual? Is it that there really is a choice, or is it that you’re simply waking from an “image,” an imagination? A simple restoration of your Sanity?
You can begin to find the Truth by daring to be radical and looking with the eyes of Love at all you are familiar with, instead of self defense.
You can begin to ask yourself how you can be together with your fellow man without extracting benefit, and giving benefit instead.
You can begin by giving him the patience, understanding and respect you know that you deserve, because you know he is no different . . . and you find no private ego need to make him think he is a stranger—someone in your presence, but not RECOGNIZED by you.
A-ha!
That is the key! That’s the INVOLVEMENT of the Golden Rule! But, each one sees . . . and each perceives . . . what he is looking with. And if he thinks that he is nothing more than just a “puny ego,” that is how he will see me. And that is how he will see you! And so I must correct his misperception.
I won’t confront him by illuminating his stupidity! No. I will teach: “If you HAVE seen me, you have SEEN the Father.” And if he says, “I do not understand,” I will find another way to put it, so his recognition can occur . . . while never indicating that I do not RECOGNIZE the holy one he is!
What better thing is there for me to do?
What better thing is there for anyone to do?
If this simple shift of consciousness separates illusion from Awakening, if it replaces Armageddon with Atonement, why not persist? Why not BE the presence of the Art of Listening . . . and increasingly confirm the Truth inherent in my words?
Just as Armageddon is not somewhere in the future, even so, Atonement is occurring now. The operating system is a-changing as the walls come tumbling down . . . and it is irreversible!
In other words, divine Integrity is permeating everything, even as the omnipresence of our Brotherhood, experienced globally, goes with you on your wrists and on devices in your pockets, in your hands, and on your desks . . . allowing everyone to dare to care AND RECOGNIZE EACH OTHER once again as Family.
Remember, though, that when this “omnipresencing” seems difficult, we will be called upon to TEACH those who are slow to yield the mindsets of defense in favor of the unfamiliar but necessary value of defenselessness, resisting the temptation to respond reactively OURSELVES and lose the benefit of Listening.
Do not be dismayed by the confusion which is often part and parcel of “now” yielding to “new.” It does not mean that something has gone wrong!
The sprouting tendrils of a brand new plant disturb the earth around the seed while reaching for the light. And it is foolish for the leaves to question what is “wrong”—that they must push against resistance as they do. You see? And then be honest with yourself . . . and humble, too.
Acknowledge that your Brother’s sometimes obtuse—and his often awkward—forward movement is just like your very own. In other words, you recognize yourself in him . . . you understand . . . but love him still because you see your Self in him as well and are not truly tempted to restore the walls of competition and control.
My task is likewise to stand there with you, reminding you of what you Know, you holy Son of God, that you might then have cause to recognize the holy Son of God who stands in front of you, no matter how he might present himself.
This is the practice and the meaning of Atonement, bringing forth the end of all illusion. And it is the royal way
Be wise, and Listen well.
Whenever you are looking “back,” you see the “present” fading as Creation transforms “now” to “new.” The threshold of Creation isn’t in the future or the distant past. It is NOW. So, be present in the consciousness of Being NOW and do not “think” it into space/time imagery. In this way, you let Creation in . . . excluding none of It . . . and you recognize that it is BY grace that It reveals Itself WITH grace . . . which feels like a miracle!
You see . . . the mistake has to do with the placement of your attention . . . that in which everything revolves around one absolute “presence”. . . either you as “the thinker,” or God.
This is the problem
of being,
AND the solution
of being!
As I have said before, “You are the puppet of one of two masters—the ego, or God. And no matter what you want to believe, you will always be a puppet! You did not create yourself and you will never achieve your prized independence—an independence which, if you actually accomplished it, would have the disastrous effect of undoing God’s Authority and Presence, effectively negating YOU entirely, including any pretense of actuality that you thought you were achieving by your active self-assertion.
To clarify more pointedly: This “disastrous effect” is not off in the future, simply waiting your arrival there if you succeed. It is the current suffering, the current insecurity, the current doubt and fear . . . the sickness, sin and death that everyone finds normal but attempts to rise above and overcome.
The Truth is obvious! A puppet without strings is nothing but a limp collection of incoherent parts, incapable of grace or balance or communicating anything of Meaning. And most of all, it is without Identity.
Do you want to know the Truth? I am your Tinker Bell to your Pinocchio. And my “magic wand”? It is the Truth I share with Love, which magically, and in the twinkling of an eye reveals that “if you have seen me, you’ve seen the Father,” and the same is true of you.
It’s simple! If you have seen the Puppet, you have seen the Puppeteer. And if the Puppeteer is seen, Truth is restored—the shift that’s called a “miracle” occurs! And the apparent failures and successes of becoming “a real boy” fade into the nonsense that they are, no longer to distract you with irrelevant and fruitless goals.
Why? Because the problem now is clear to you.
PAUL. So, what, if anything, is our response to the notice of intent to auction off the property on the 5th of July if the loan isn’t satisfied by June 24th?
RAJ. It’s simple, Paul. We will not leave our premise—that of being out from Love and giving voice to Truth; refusing to succumb to ploys and invitations which would justify commercializing what we do “because it is the expeditious thing to do” . . . and “practical,” as well!
It isn’t true.
The power of the dollar, and of the price of gold, together with the domination they afford, are part of the disjointed flopping puppet’s world which seems so meaningful but can’t replace the genuine embrace of Love expressed by everyone in concert. The mindset lacks the caring which spontaneously promotes the Soul’s assurance of the Puppeteers divine Intent, expressing All God Is through each and every one of Us, together, in the terms of common human decency.
His absolute expression of His Wholeness, right where we say “I,” deprives us of a self-created selfhood of our own . . . indeed!. . . while wonderfully rendering us, one and all, absolutely and inviolably safe, and therefore free to fearlessly, defenselessly embody and embrace the all-inclusiveness of Brotherhood . . . with each other!
This is no small thing! It is the key to the Atonement!
It is the “complex problem of existence”
reduced to “this” or “that.”
It is uncomplicated.
“Black” or “white.”
It is the choice between
Mind-lost-in-thought
or Mind, Itself!
Light bulb “on.”
Light bulb “off.”
One is Something.
One is not!
And never the twain
shall meet!
That any of these “opposites” present a choice is so nonsensical that they can serve to justify abandoning the act of thinking for the Art of Listening . . . the motivation of which leads one into active avenues of unity, expressions of unmitigated Love, and gifts of practical humaneness recognizable to everyone.
They can be quite enough to cause one to stand back, withdraw his well-established confidence in his beliefs, and look with eyes unclouded by the past, or even his most reasonable “present,” and let his curiosity be a standing invitation to . . .“God knows what!” Such is the practice of the Art of Listening. And what happens is assured . . .
Knowing . . . revealed!
Problem identified
becomes problem solved.
Rajpur
Kington, Washington
June 6, 2024
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