Michael on Oprah

It was great to see Michael on Oprah today!  I was reminded of the chapter on the inner thorn and the idea that on this spiritual journey life shows us our inner thorns (any time you feel even the slightest inner disturbance, you have found a thorn).  We can choose to either protect them (which means we keep them) or remove them (which is painful but then they are gone).  As Michael said to Oprah, all that we have to do is relax in the face of our inner disturbances and they will heal themselves, just as a splinter would work its way out of our body if left alone.

Michael shared a personal experience: His company was indicted for fraud and during the 6 years that the case was being investigated he never once blamed God nor felt that the situation was unfair even though he knew that they were innocent.  Instead, he used it as an opportunity to let go of any remaining sense of personal self.  He let go of concerns about what others thought about 'Michael Singer.'

We can do the same.  This self that we have developed is not real.  These thoughts that we hold onto in order to maintain this self, have no meaning (other than the meaning that we give them as the Course in Miracles says).  The thoughts only serve to get in the way of us experiencing Spirit, Joy, Peace, and Love.  I saw that clearly this week.  For years I have held on to a belief about how one family member was being treated by another and what that family member should do about it...basically distance herself from the other person.  She didn't and now the other person is changing his tune in a positive way.  My thoughts, my judgments about this were really just wasted energy.

As Michael reminded us today, all of our thoughts are just ideas that have been programmed from our past, they are not real, we should not listen to them.  My new mantra:  my 'self' does not know anything.  There really is no self but that is too much for my little brain to grasp all at once.  I will start with letting go of thoughts.

As I hold thoughts lightly and let them go, what I often experience is the fear, pain, and other feelings that I have been trying to avoid.  This is why we have created the false self in the first place...to help us navigate "comfortably" in life.  To let go means we have to face the pain that is involved with removing the thorn.  Ultimately, by letting go of this personal self altogether we will have to face the fear of the unknown.  The alternative is to spend our lives protecting our thorns.  Remember the description of the bulky apparatus that Michael described in TUS?

More about feelings, including Adyashanti's teachings about 'beginner's heart' in an up-coming blog.