Building Spiritual Muscle, Part 2

Building spiritual muscle also involves discerning then overcoming illusions. What are illusions? My bloated nothingness is an illusion – the belief that I have to have things a certain way, is an illusion. How do I know its an illusion? Because when I have things other than my way, I’m fine and often better. Having things my way – sorry Burger King – is a habit, habits enslave and keep us in a rut, small and bound to the ego, and the only difference between a rut and a grave is the length and the depth. So discerning and overcoming illusions, and unfortunately almost everything we experience is an illusion except our experiences of oneness with God – love, forgiveness, joy, creativity, gratitude, is an important part of building spiritual muscle.

“How does one overcome illusions?” the Course asks. “Surely not by force or anger, nor by opposing them in any way. Merely by letting reason tell you that they contradict reality.” The ‘reality’ referred to here is our reality as spiritual beings having an earthly experience. The ‘reason’ referred to is the still small voice deep within, our umbilical connection to God. Illusions “go against what must be true. The opposition comes from them, and not reality. Reality opposes nothing.” See Byron Katie’s ‘loving what is’. “What merely is needs no defense, and offers none. Only illusions need defense because they are weak. And how can it be difficult to walk the way of truth when only weakness interferes? You are the strong one in this seeming conflict. And you need no defense. Everything that needs defense you do not want, for anything that needs defense will weaken you.

I, the ‘you’ referred to here, is me in my spiritual reality as the Son of God, and remember, the Course says all human beings are the Sons of God. “Who can attack the Son of God and not attack his Father? How can God’s Son be weak and frail and easily destroyed unless his Father is? Do you not see that every sin and condemnation you perceive and justify is an attack upon your Father? You do not see this because you think the Father and the Son are separate. If you were one with God (which you are) and recognized this oneness, you would know His power is yours.”

The great illusion which we are building our spiritual muscle to overcome is the belief that we are separate from God and separate from each other, when in reality, we are not separate but connected to God and each other. We are all the Sons of God, connected to our Source and each other, spiritual beings having an earthly experience.