A.R.E. Meeting for 2/22/21

 Leader: John
 
Group Ideal: Oneness - action: Affirm daily our oneness with each group member.
 
Book: Experiments in a Search for God, keyed to Book I. Author: Mark Thurston.
 
Experiment: Choose from the first three experiments, in chapter four, lesson, ”What is my ideal?” These are on pages 37, 38, 39, and continuing on the top of page 40.
 
As studious seekers came into our Sacred Space on Zoom at the new meeting time, 6:30 pm, one half hour earlier, conversation became a wellness check among us. Postponed surgery recommended 5 years ago for an enduring childhood injury has become cervical pain requiring medical intervention and a neck brace for June.

Whatever prompted the question, “Are ghosts real?”, lead to a discussion. "Yes, they are." Cayce verified a battered wife’s comment, “When he’s been drinking, (and beats me) it’s like he’s a completely different person.” “He is. He’s possessed,” a sleeping Cayce replied. So we also said, some people in their transition state may get stuck before completing it, due to sudden death without the realization they have crossed over. Dead souls may linger to guide and watch over a loved one, or may stay to indulge themselves further in an addiction to drunkenness, or drugs. A dream that seemed as if a father’s spirit, a man who had crossed over weeks earlier, was actually in his sleeping son’s room might have been a brief ghost appearance. Or being awakened by a “feeling” a dead spouse was standing beside a sleeping woman’s bed“ could have been a ghost sighting. There are more ghost stories yet to be told about souls who lost their way and may have died without an ideal. Or lost souls even who have become ghosts now because of an ideal of loyalty and a life dedicated to protecting others. For example, a now dead police officer has reportedly been seen by people with higher sense perception, standing just behind a widow’s left shoulder as if to provide her guidance and further protection. But when seven of our eight members were present, our leader got us back on track.
 
We then opened with prayer, meditation, sent out once again Universal Love, Light, healing prayers for our group, ARE, souls seeking the light, suffering, needy, ill or grieving people, our country and our world, sending out all envisioned needed blessings.
 
This meditation and circle of prayer is this writer’s most treasured, cherished action we take in group oneness. To come together on a spiritual level, each soul joining and becoming one in a group energy or power and like-mindedness, then sending out to others that we have received for the healing and blessing of people and our world is indescribable. However, it is so meaningful and precious to be a part of. Thank you, group members, thank you God, for this time of oneness❣️It is just indescribably meaningful. In the Fall 2020, “Venture Inward,” an ARE member benefit magazine, author Joy Scott, describes so well our experience, writing about how a group can come together to tap the power of the Universal Mind and direct it toward a common goal. I recommend this article to better understand how we individually, and as a group with an Ideal of Oneness, can help our own transformational soul growth or heal those country and world divides based on differences. Her article on page 28 is entitled, “Seize the Moment, Create the World”.
 
Greg sent additional “Ideals” resources, the verbatim Cayce reading on Ideals, the basis for this lesson; a Lora Little link, “Knowing and living your Ideals; a link to information posted on our blog about Ideals when we last studied “What is my Ideal?” Seeing hits on our blog via Zoom was interesting to see for group non bloggers. He also has another 1988 pub. date resource for our meeting of discussion questions and additional experiments, entitled “Step by Step.” Eric emailed that PDF link to us.
 
Everyone in our group was either able to recognize new troubles or pain in life can be the birth into a new self as a result of setting an ideal; or to choose from qualities of our concept of God, and working on manifesting during the week several aspects our our personal concept of God. Reports on our experiment, with our group doing at least half of them for every lesson in each experiments chapter found us completely done with a quick reading of the short “Ideals” lesson in our red book, but doing the final two experiments from “Know Thyself,” while studying and reading, “What is my Ideal?” The last lesson and final experiment on "Know Thyself" set the stage well for the next lesson for determining a current ideal.
 
A report of a belief “that every thought is God” appeared to manifest the beginnings of that idea within 24 hours, and led into discussion a resource, a link on manifesting being sent out to those of us who want it. It is a course offered by Mitch Horowitz on three steps to manifesting based on Neville Goddard. 1. Desire 2. A relaxed altered “hypnogogic” level of consciousness 3. Picture that desire fulfilled.
 
Another question creating discussion and comments from most is, “What was your first ideal? Has your ideal changed over the years?”
 
Someone read an excellent, lengthy list of one word ideals. Love, Service, oneness, Truth, Faith, and so on.
 
John was thanked and shown our appreciation for leading us this month. Our leader next month is Cindi!
 
In Loving Oneness,
Sylvia Raye

A.R.E. Meeting for 2/15/21

Leader: John

Experiment 1: When you are feeling low or troubled, affirm that this is just part of a larger growth process, that since you have set a spiritual ideal, your pain is but a part of a new self being born. Look for ways to appreciate the down times and listen for God’s presence in the midst of them.

Experiment 2: Take time to consider your own concept of God and His Spirit. List the ideas and thoughts that you have (e. g., I think God is responsive to sincere prayer, I think God’s Spirit is within every person. ) Choose one aspect of your concept of God and write down two or three specific ways that you could work on expressing this in your relationship with others over the next few days. Work on giving this better concept to the world. 

Reading the last two experiments in the “experiments book” and choosing to work with one of them during the upcoming week concludes our lesson, “Know Thyself”.
 
“Know Thyself” is not an easy lesson. To look into the mirror of the universe, to see one’s dark side, and realize, “yes, those annoying behaviors I see others do, are the very same principles of the behaviors I do.” For example, I may not feel entitled enough to demand money I don’t own from a bank teller. But I may feel entitled enough to be late wherever I go, as in “rules don’t apply to me” entitled. Those irksome behaviors are reflections of my darkness within; darkness I can release forever! I can change my behavior. In fact, only by doing so, can I let more of Divine Father-Mother’s God light shine through me to others. Ouch! Let’s get to the next lesson.
 
John’s suggestion to consecutively sign into Zoom for our full two hours meeting is working beautifully. This was our second week to do so. Every member attended, not all of us for the full time, but our meeting was excellent.
 
And beginning with February leadership, his original suggestion to meditate before signing in, to become better prepared to use our spiritual study time well, is such excellent preparation for entering our Sacred Space on Zoom! If you haven’t already done so, take an extra few minutes to try it.
 
Six reported on our experiments, about half doing the first, others doing the second one. Interesting was the the work done in truth telling and “seeking to know what the highest Spirit Spirit within me wants for this relationship.” This challenge yielded lessons learned and insights gained, or perhaps a deeper understanding of a spouse, of the complementary balance of two contributing completely different skills and talents that add up to “totally providing all needs” for a long happy life together. Much inspiration was gained just listening to each other’s results from our work with one of the two experiments.
 
“What is my Ideal?” is our lesson in “A Search for God, Book l,” begun by four Divine Feminine Souls and four Divine Masculine souls and read through in its entirety in one meeting! This is an unusual first, for a migrational ASFG group going home to home to library to Zoom but meeting consistently since 1980’s.
 
The affirmation on seeing humanity in our spiritual leader or “Universal Forces “ and God in people, brought to mind a famously enduring, well loved poem by Robert Burns, modernized herein without its lovely Scottish brogue:
“Oh the gift that God would give us to see self as others see us.” Sometimes more than the afore famous quote goes on: “It would save us from many mistakes and foolish thoughts. We would change the way we look and gesture and to how and what we apply our time and attention.”
 
Also recalled by our prompt, stated by a group member with excellent memory another description of an Ideal:
“...Christ consciousness is the awareness within each soul imprinted in pattern upon the mind and waiting to be awakened by the will, of the Soul’s oneness with God....” Edgar Cayce Reading #5794-14, given May 14, 1949. Recognizing our Oneness with each other is another way to see this higher consciousness to strive for, this enlightenment.

Yet another member gave a Zen wisdom gleaned from “The last Samuri.” After a lifelong quest for the perfect cherry blossom a realization came. There is not just one single perfect cherry blossom. All cherry blossoms are perfect.
Or our military servants in training learn to excel in cleaning, polishing, presenting their best self for daily inspection. Every day another trainee gets a turn of having their best undone, criticized, messed up, a metaphor on the reality of life. There’s no protection for the beautiful, cleaned and polished work accomplished. Life will throw mud on it, put it in disarray, perhaps destroy it. Lesson learned is— keep doing our best anyway.
 
Thank you, Greg, for sending out previously Cayce’s verbatim original readings, “What is my Ideal?” And for sending us “The Ideals workbook” now as well. Every group should be as lucky as this one is to have a great librarian like you!
 
The challenge of this affirmation led to discussions on “seeing God in others is fine, but surely one can’t see humans with frailties, dark sides, desires to kill serially in God.” The qualities of evil, dark desires, cancer cells just aren’t Godlike, are they? No. Not in our religious concept of an all knowing, all loving, everywhere present, all powerful God of forgiveness. For some, God is so great as to actually be the universe, the body containing multiple solar systems , stars, galaxies. A Universe that expands each time a human soul increases Zen, develops, evolves, loves more, learns to forgive (a step necessary to open a heart wide enough to give and accept love). And yes, the quantum, atomic level humans, the whole of which on earth can both have darkness or cancerous cells and still be like just one cell in the body of God.
 
Mankind can easily be atoms within God, with human desires, dark and evil deeds. “No”. “Yes.” The discussion continued. Only the all knowing, the Omniscient Creator knows whether the family members of a Jeffery Dahmer victim may have been given (thru the grace of a loving God) an opportunity to understand the grief and loss others relatives experienced due to their own killing of someone in another place, another lifetime. Perhaps that which we judge evil is/was true justice at work with opportunities for some to choose new ways, new paths next time? Faith urges us to accept God is Good. Evil is but an illusion mysteriously being used in some unknowable way. Isn’t it?

More discussion to come next week on ideals and the presence of man in God and God in mankind., etc.
 
In loving Oneness,
Sylvia Raye 

A.R.E. Meeting for 2/8/21

Leader: John

Choose one of these two experiments:

Experiment: Choose some other person with whom you feel a special need to be truthful and honest, and write down that person’s name. Each day observe your relationship with this person and take a few moments (perhaps at the end of the day) to consider the question, “What does the highest spirit within me want for this relationship?” Write down your thoughts and feelings in answer to this question. Through your thoughts and actions make an effort to be true and honest with yourself regarding those things you have written down. Allow your expressions of truth and honesty to that person to be a reflection of this initial effort to be true to yourself and the highest that you know.

Experiment: At the end of the day review the things you have done with others. Try to step outside yourself for a moment and imagine how other people understood the things you did. What would they likely have assumed your ideals or standards are from having observed your actions? Write down the ways they might possibly have perceived you. Work each day to let your actions express to others what your ideals really are.

Three decided to take advantage of the early meeting start time to discuss dreams and current events. We wanted to wait for others to join before we got into discussions about our work over the week. Two more joined at the top of the hour, so we then began our meditation and sending of light.

We finished the chapter in the ASFG book on “Know Thyself” by reading the conclusion. There was some discussion as to whether to consider the needs of others before our own, and on setting a constructive program that we will follow even if we suffer for it.

In the Experiments book, we covered two experiments written above and are near the top of page 34.

A.R.E. Meeting for 2/1/21

Leader: John

Experiment: Be aware of your body each day.  Take special note of its desires and functions and try to keep an awareness of holiness as these activities are fulfilled.

Experiment:  Each night before falling asleep say a prayer asking that in your dreams you will be guided to experience that which is best for your growth. Try to retain this sense of seeking as you fall asleep. Keep a careful record of your dreams and of your feelings when you awaken in the morning.  

 
Which experiment will you choose to do?      

We meditated and prepared ourselves to enter our Zoom room for our sacred time together. With our Lords Prayer, we then entered a five minutes of silence together and individually in circular, each sent out prayers and blessings.

We summarized how our experiments went when we resisted not yielding to temptations to complain about personal difficulties and whether progress was made.  Members also found ways to use  words to uplift others consciously. Going the extra mile, some members sent supportive inspirational emails to the group during the week, not allowing isolation of quarantines to interfere.

We read our in our experiments book keyed to Know Thyself from page 30 through the experiment near the top of page 32. We made good progress in our red book, too. We covered sections: Self in Relation to Others, Self in Relation to Creative Force, and the Awakening of Self. We had some discussion on awakening, and may have some questions yet about the latter.

We began a discussion of how we can apply our Ideal of Oneness. Most agreed we can affirm our oneness with each other daily. As we are mindful that our thoughts are creative, the possibility exists that our individual thoughts together can form an expanding growing energy of Oneness in our world. Our time expired before we heard a reaction from one member and another wasn't feeling well enough to join us tonight.

ARE Vision/Ideal: Global manifestation of Oneness, and the Love of God and all People.

ARE Mission Statement: To create profound personal change in body, mind, and spirit through the wisdom found in the Edgar Cayce material. 

Group Ideal: Oneness

In Loving Oneness,
Sylvia Raye