“Learning is finding out what you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers, teachers.”   …Richard Bach

As I’ve said many times before, Richard Bach is one of my favorite people to quote. Whenever I use one of his quotes I can feel the depths of the LOVE from which he realizes the truth, knowledge and wisdom he exudes when he writes.  

He wrote the above quote in his book, Illusions, back in 2,001. It was the first time I had ever heard anything like it and at first I thought it to be quite silly and no more than fictitious words in a book. But even so, it was one of those bits of information that contains a whole lot more  than the words themselves can portray. It was also one of those quotes that grabbed my attention and refused to let go.

It was the first sentence in the quote that caused some disbelief and it was also the attention grabber for me. At the time I read it I found it nearly impossible to accept the idea that we already know that which we’re trying to learn.

“You are an aspect of knowledge, being in the Mind of God, Who knows you. All knowledge must be yours, for in you is all knowledge.”   …ACIM

A Course in Miracles was “scribed” by Helen Schucman between 1965 and 1972 and was originally published in 1976. Therefore, I understand if Bach wrote his book in 2,001 he could have easily gotten the idea from the Course. But for some unknown reason I don’t believe that to be the case. I believe Back wrote from his own Source, whatever he imagined that to be. And I believe he was expressing his own beliefs on the subject. 

Whether we are ready to accept it or not, the truth is, each one of us is a Thought in the Mind of God; that’s what we are. Therefore, as the above quote reminds us, we are dwelling in the Mind that contains all knowledge. This knowledge permeates, penetrates, surrounds and fills every living thing in this universe and all other universes.  But as long as we continue to adhere to the false belief that we are separated from this Mind (God) this knowledge cannot be available in our awareness.

“To be the LOVE one is, just stop imagining being all the things LOVE is not.”  …Kip Baldwin

Even though it’s impossible to understand what LOVE is while we believe we’re separated from our Source, it’s not that difficult to imagine what LOVE is not. Every time any of us has a fearful thought we’re thinking about something that LOVE is not. If we’re thinking about sickness of any kind we’re thinking about something LOVE is not.  If we’re experiencing loneliness, emptiness, sadness, joylessness, unhappiness, fearfulness, purposelessness, inadequacy, scarceness, depression – the list goes on and on – we’re experiencing something LOVE is not. 

As Mr. Baldwin implied, once we make a decision to focus our imaginations on something other than those aspects of fear I mentioned above then we’re left with that which we are, LOVE. 

By dragging the power of our thoughts away from imagining ourselves to be something other than we are we’ll realize that we can never be other than God created us to be, a Beautiful Masterpiece of LOVE. 

“This world as you perceive of it is built around the foundation of fear, a fear that stemmed from the belief in finite life, in being born into a body and dying to the body.”   …ACOL

Those who see themselves as no more than a physical body are listening to the teachings of the ego.  The ego teaches that what God created from LOVE, which is synonymous with Life itself will end when the body does. Many however cannot accept this mad idea, and therefore have come to believe in a life after death.

But this belief is also from the teachings of the ego, which fears it will be abandoned if it doesn’t provide some concept that people can believe in and hold onto. Therefore it’s a false teaching, for there can be no life after death, because there is no such thing as death.

As the Course informs us: “You cannot walk the world apart from God because you could not be without Him. He is what your life is.” Each and every thing that lives is a direct expression of the one Life that is God, therefore nothing that lives can die anymore than God could die.

“The body neither lives nor dies, because it cannot contain you who are life.”   …ACIM

To think of the body as neither living nor dying is a very strange concept to those who believe they’re in this physical world. For in this world we see or hear of death almost every day. It’s a very normal thing, which we usually refer to as part of life. People believe this without stopping to realize just how silly it is to think of death as  part of life. Could death be part of God? The answer is, no it could not be, for God is Life and there is nothing else besides Him. Therefore, there is no death, there is only LIFE, which has no opposite. 

“The body is a dream.”   …ACIM 

Many people believe in the erroneous ego teaching that eternal life is found after death. But as the Course explicitly states:“…Nothing is accomplished through death because death is nothing. Everything is accomplished through life.”

Even though the body is an illusion, or as the above header quote calls it, a dream, it is nearly impossible to deny its existence while we perceive ourselves as living in this world. That’s why we find it so difficult to view its falling away as nothing but the end of a dream. We view it as the person it represents, but it is not that person, it is simply an expression into physical form representing the person, or the eternal spiritual Being, doing the expressing.

“Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself.”    …Richard Bach

The above quote by Richard Back may seem to be a bit on the selfish side, but such is not the case. This so-called life in physical form is based on choice. Every second of every hour that we aren’t sleeping we’re making choices. The world we see around us in many ways is a reflection of what we are. But it is also a reflection in many ways of what we are not. In order to know the difference between the two we all need guidance. 

Most of us have chosen the ego – or our own little separated minds – as our source of guidance. This guide picks out all the negative and fearful concepts it sees reflected in the world and bids us to hold tightly to them. In this way it teaches us we are something other than we really are. It teaches us that we are fearful and powerless little beings living a life of susceptibility to all the negative conditions the world sends our way.  

Now is the time to choose another source as our guide so that we may come to realize who we really are. Now is the time to take Bach’s advice and be true to our Selves. Now is the time to choose LOVE, which is our true Source. Now is the time to let LOVE be our guide. Now is the time, for now is the only time there really is.  

I’m going to close this post with a quote from A Course in Miracles: “Identify with love, and you are safe. Identify with love, and you are home. Identify with love, and find your Self.” 

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