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The
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Invitation: Being in the Now - On the Road
My
friend, it is my deepest honor that you have allowed me to join you on your
journey. Together, we will facilitate peace and union by reflecting Heaven on
Earth. There are no chance encounters:
“When
you meet anyone, remember it is a Holy encounter. As you see him you will
see yourself. As you treat him you will treat yourself. As you think of him
you will think of yourself. Never forget this, for in him you will find
yourself or lose yourself.”
[A Course in Miracles, p. 142]
With
each month’s Invitation, we will progress towards the relinquishment of
judgment. Giving up judgment is a slow process because the world has programmed
us to rely on our judgment. Without judgment, all people are brothers and
sisters. Judgment is many times confused with wisdom. Wisdom is not judgment,
but the relinquishment of judgment. We will personally experience that when we
lay judgment down, we do so, not with a sense of regret but with a sigh of
relief. The relinquishment of judgment is not hard, but the keeping of it is.
We will, in effect, not truly be learning anything new. What we will be doing is
unlearning. Unlearning is true learning in the world.
 During the month of October, we will be relinquishing judgment during our time
in the driver’s seat. The symbolism of this specific invitation should not be
lost on us. We are in the driver’s seat even when we are not in our cars. We may
have been taught otherwise, yet what has this belief system brought to our lives
other than judgment, fear, stress, anxiety and anger?
Many times, we have allowed judgment, fear, stress, anxiety and anger to fill
our hearts and minds while driving. We will work together on the relinquishment
of this judgment, and replacing it with what we truly desire to experience -
peace of mind and joy on our journey. All things, events, encounters and
circumstances are helpful. Again, we may have been taught otherwise, but what
has that thought system ever offered us?
This
Invitation is divided into 6 sections:
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A short personal story on how this activity came to
be.
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The activity: Living in the Now: Four Steps to
Choosing Peace On the Road.
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A forum on the website to share your experience and interact with others
relating to this month’s Invitation activity.
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Two weekly meditation
practices in which we join our energies together. These specific
meditations will then be followed by dream preparation, where we each go to
sleep with the intention of continuing that night’s meditation.
A. Sundays’ Meditation – release of judgment and forgiveness meditation.
B. Wednesdays’ Meditation - a healing meditation for children at our local
hospitals.
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A forum on website for sharing meditations and dream work experiences.
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Any
recommendations or subject
suggestions you may have.
My dear
friend, there are no coincidences. We have chosen, on a much deeper level to
come together, and through our experience and interaction with each other
rediscover a more peaceful and joyful place. We are now on a journey without
distance to a place we have never left, but only forgotten. Once remembered, we
will once again become a spotless mirror in which the holiness of our creator
will shine forth from us - to all around us. We can reflect Heaven here, now.
Peace, Health, Happiness, Love, Laughter and Light.
Your brother,
James Blanchard Cisneros
Personal
Story: Being in the Now on the Road
"Have you ever noticed... anyone going slower than you is
an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?"
- George Carlin
 The
ego has taught us that if someone cuts us off in traffic, we should
react with emotions such as annoyance, irritation, anger or even rage.
The world considers any of these emotions to be natural and deserved
responses. The world tells us that we have every right to be angry. It
feels natural and right to react with anger because that is how we have
been trained and what we are now used to. In fact, we often consider
what is natural and what we're used to as basically the same thing. What
we are used to and what is natural are usually two completely different
things. Any time we react with anger, such a reaction occurs not because
it is natural, but because it has become a bad habit. We have learned
negative tendencies, have not corrected them and they have become bad
habits that we now call our natural behaviors. We have repeated these
bad habits over a period of time and they have now become "second
nature" or natural tendencies. But many of the reactions we consider
natural tendencies have, in truth, nothing to do with our true nature.
As a child, our parents, other family members and friends reacted this
way. As a child this type of reaction was often common, first with our
parents and family members, then with our peers. As adults, they
probably still react this way, and we have probably joined them in their
thinking. At first, such reactions probably did not sit right with us,
but as we heard our families react over and over in such a manner,
sooner or later we got used to the behavior, and let it be.
I remember as a very young child, driving with my mother in Caracas,
Venezuela. Sooner or later, someone would cut her off, or something
would happen on the road that she simply did not agree with. Her
response was typically a negative comment regarding the other driver's
skills. I remember hearing my mother say things she would never say
outside the car. Needless to say, the first time I really remember
arguing with my mother was in the car. She complained about someone's
driving and I immediately came to that person's defense and explained to
my mother what she could have done to avoid the situation. Let's just
say that taking criticism about her driving skills from a seven year old
child did not win me any brownie points! On the other hand, she was
happy because she thought that it was only a matter of time before I
would become a successful defense attorney. So on and on it went. My
mother complained, I defended the other drivers, she came back at me
telling me why I was wrong, and I offered driving advice on how she
might avoid such situations in the future. She would say that I should
be defending her and not the other driver whom I did not even know.
Anyway, on and on it went, drive after drive, until one day I got so
tired of the whole game that I figured it would be best for me to just
fall asleep, or just keep my opinions to myself.
The reactions of my mother, which most people consider natural and
correct responses, offer people a certain level of comfort. For if it
did not offer a certain level of comfort, why would people continue to
react this way? Attacking a brother or sister only offers a certain
level of comfort because we believe that when we do so, we are released
from the negative emotions we ourselves offer. Yet, if we were to look
within, we would see that whatever we offer a brother or sister remains
with us. If, in a car, we offer anger, that anger, as much as we want to
believe affects the other driver, affects us more. We think that we
experience release and comfort by attacking a brother or sister, but
this is only a false release, a false comfort.
I invite you to look within. Does this so-called release truly bring
comfort? True comfort manifests itself as the state of peace. Does
attacking a brother or sister, regardless of how much we think we are
right, offer us true peace? Shouldn't comfort and peace of mind go hand
in hand? Do these “comfortable” feelings come from actual comfort, or
from habits and illusions of comfort?
The ego would have us believe that if we "give it" to another driver,
this action will make us feel better. The ego teaches us that what we
give we lose. Thus, if we give a negative emotional response to another
driver, this negative emotion will leave us and somehow stay with the
other driver, thus releasing us from the response. This, the ego says,
will make us feel better and will make the other driver feel worse. Not
only that, but the ego also wants us to believe that this negative
emotion will somehow stay with the other driver for a long time to come,
thus making us believe that we got the upper hand.
The Godself reminds
us that what we give we keep, that what we offer a brother or sister, we
gift ourselves. There is no way we can offer a negative emotion without
feeling it ourselves. What we offer a brother or sister must first flow
through us. There is no such thing as letting another driver "have it"
without feeling it in one way or another.
Now try to remember all those times you reacted with anger out of habit.
You will probably not have to think too far back. Has this habit ever
brought you true peace of mind? And if not, has it ever brought you
comfort? So isn't this habit of anger, with which we are now
comfortable, really just an illusion of comfort? Haven't we suffered in
our cars long enough? Would you like to change your way of reacting?
Would you like to know what true comfort feels like? There is a way, my
friend, to find peace and comfort on the road.
I used to react with a lack of peace on the road. I admit that even
today, I slip every now and then and mentally let a driver have it. But
the difference is that I now catch myself being out of peace with myself
much quicker, and as I catch myself I correct the situation in my mind
and find true comfort and peace.
Living in Caracas, Venezuela presents many opportunities to choose peace
on the road. If you haven't been there, imagine Los Angeles with half to
a quarter of the available traffic lanes, no real street police
enforcing laws and stop lights which, on a good day, are perceived by
fellow drivers as yield signs. If it rains, people are better off
walking to work, regardless of the distance. This is a city where, if a
survey were conducted asking people to find the turn signal in their
cars, at least 90 percent would fail!
We have discussed that anger might seem to be a logical, comfortable
response - one that we are used to, a habit. We have also discussed that
this so-called comfortable response has truly never brought us comfort,
and if it hasn't brought us comfort, it definitely hasn't brought us
peace. In fact, we have tried it the ego’s way over and over again, and
what has it ever really brought us? Are you open to trying a new way?
Good, because this has worked for me, and if it has worked for me then
it can work for you.
Top
Invitation Activity - Living in the Now: Four Steps to Choosing Peace on
the Road
p.
201 - You Have Chosen to Remember: A Journey from Perception to
Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy by James Blanchard Cisneros.
There are four steps that I have used and still use to obtain peace on
the road. They are as follows:
-
Learn to differentiate between the spiritual being driving and the action of
cutting you off.
-
Look
at each driver on the road as the child of God and visualize someone you
know, trust and love. I visualize Jesus, especially when I need His
assistance with those who cut me off or drive recklessly.
-
Pray
for the safety and protection of every driver who cuts you off or is driving
recklessly.
-
Be a
positive example on the road.
The
first step toward choosing peace on the road is to learn to differentiate
between the spiritual being driving and the action of cutting you off. We have
all had bad days, or at least days we perceived as bad. We have all been late
for a meeting, a date or work. We have all had plenty of excuses for not driving
as carefully as we could every day. Having said this, would we like our
lifetimes to be judged based on one driving mistake, one careless act? Well,
that is what we do when we call someone a jerk (or worse) for cutting us off. We
judge that person's entire life by that one moment in time. We see this person
as someone who has always been a jerk and will probably die a jerk. Not only do
we punish this person for this one act, but we equally punish ourselves through
our loss of peace. Little do we know what kind of day or week this person has
had or what kind of situation that individual is currently experiencing.
For all
we know this person could be a great person who just happened to make an error
in judgment while driving. We are always in the right place, at the right time.
Thus, this person is offering us a gift, and this gift is the opportunity to
remember and practice our perfection through the act of choosing peace on the
road. As Plato once said, "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard
battle."
What a wonderful gift it is be to be able to choose peace in such a situation.
This child of God who has crossed our path is allowing us the opportunity to
practice choosing peace. We have been taught the habit of choosing anger, and
judging our brother or sister. This is a habit that will probably take time and
practice to correct. Therefore, every opportunity that a brother or sister
offers us is no more or no less than a beautiful gift. This individual is
offering us the practice of choosing peace. There will come a time when we will
no longer need to practice choosing peace, for we will be at peace and live in
peace. Until that day comes, thank our brothers and sisters for their offerings,
participation and assistance.
We, and our brothers and sisters, are the extension of God's love in action.
When we see that in our brothers and sisters, we feel it. Every action, reaction
and situation is an opportunity to remember this. There will come a day when
instead of judging our brothers and sisters, we will thank them. There will come
a day when, instead of reacting with anger, we will react with understanding.
And there will come a day where, instead of seeing an error, we will see and
meet the opportunity. That day is coming, for you have been led to this passage
and in your heart you sense its truth. We have tried it our egos’ way long
enough. We have tried judging our brothers and sisters. We have tried anger and
seen error. Now our hearts remind us that there is another way of looking at
this. There is another way of reacting. There is a way to find peace in our
brother or sister's action. There is a way to find peace in our reactions. There
is a way indeed.
The second step toward choosing peace on the road is to look at each driver as a
child of God and visualize someone you know, trust, respect and love. I
visualize Jesus driving certain cars on the road, especially the ones that cut
me off or drive recklessly. At first, you might feel a little strange doing this
but this might assist you in getting past the illusion that the spiritual being
who just cut you off is a stranger. For how could you ever truly be mad at God’s
child? There is nothing strange about a child of God, for you and he are one.
You are a child of God; the stranger is a child of God. Both of you are part of
the extension of God's love in action. Both of you have chosen this path, a path
that will allow each of you to choose heaven or hell, peace or anxiety,
forgiveness or judgment. Forgive his error and you will be released. Choose not
to forgive, and you will add the weight of judgment to your heart.
To me, Jesus was and is a great teacher. He is the definition of love in action.
In my heart, I know that He would want me to feel the same way about all my
brothers and sisters. He would want me to see His perfection in everyone. He
would want me to forgive and love my brothers and sisters no matter what, and to
treat all my brothers and sisters as I would treat Him, and so I do. To me,
Jesus is a child of God, and we are children of God. There is no difference
between any of us, except for the fact that Jesus has remembered his perfection
and we are in the process of remembering ours.
See who you will in the other car, but know this: that person is a mirror image
of ourselves. There is nothing that we wish for that person that we do not
experience ourselves. If we are angry with him, we will feel it within
ourselves. If we forgive, understand and have compassion for him, we will also
feel that within. There is nothing we do to another that we don't do to
ourselves. You know this to be true because you have felt your own anger.
Regardless of where and to whom you distribute it, you have felt its
consequences.
The next time you become angry with another driver, feel what that does to you,
not only to your outer self but also to your inner self. Feel the heavy fog roll
through your heart, feel its denseness. Feel the tension in your body, the
anxiety. Then listen to the sadness in your soul. Hear it for the first time
asking you this one simple question: Why would anyone in their right mind do
something like this to themselves over and over again? Ask yourself: "What am I
doing to myself? What am I accomplishing?" Then, as the fog dissipates and the
light begins to shine through, say this: "I simply choose not to do this any
longer to myself! There is another way I can react. I will now choose to see
God's child in my brother and sister!"
The third step toward choosing peace on the road is to pray for every driver who
cuts us off or is driving recklessly. Replace the angry reaction that has
brought us nothing but pain and sadness - with a prayer. Let that prayer come
directly from your heart. Reach into your heart and pray that the individual
gets home safely, that he or she has a great day, and that his or her kids and
family are showered with love. With all your soul, pray for God to send angels
to escort him or her home. Pray that they touch his or her heart so he or she
might think of others and slow down. Pray that anything that is bothering him or
her will be washed away through God's mercy. Do this for him or her and you will
be set free. You will feel all that you have asked for them. What you will
receive in return is a peace that will fill your drive anywhere you go.
The fourth step toward choosing peace on the road is to be a positive example
for those on the road. It feels good and peaceful being a positive example,
whether in life or on the road - there is no difference.
Top
Share Your Experiences
Visit the
forum on the website to share your experiences and interact with others
about this Invitation activity: Living in the Now: Four Steps to Choosing
Peace on the Road.
Top
Weekly Meditation Activities
We welcome you to join us
for weekly meditation practices in which we will join our energies together.
These specific meditations will then be followed by dream preparation, where we
will go to bed with the intention of continuing that night’s meditation. Please
click here for all of the
details.
Top
Participate in our Forum
Visit the
forum on the website to share your experience and interact with others
regarding the weekly meditation and dream work activities.
Top
What is the
Godself ?
Coming Soon - Flash
presentation: What is the Godself?
If you're interested, you’ll be able to email the link to your friends and family.
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starting our monthly newsletter called Invitations.
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have any recommendations, subject suggestions or comments that you would like to
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