True Forgiveness Brings Peace and Joy

Ten Questions everyone asks about
How to Stop the World

1. Your book has an interesting title, How To Stop the World and Get Off, Just for a Minute, what does that mean? In a nutshell, it means, when it seems as though this world is just too much to handle, too much to take, just too much, there is a way to see things differently. There is a way to get off of the treadmill for awhile. And that’s something most people desperately need.
2. How can my audience see things differently? There is a simple process and it’s been around forever, we have just ignored it. Its forgiveness.
3. That is wonderful, but not too helpful. How will forgiveness allow my audience to see things differently? Well, I’m talking about a form of forgiveness that is different from what the world is used to. I’m talking about true forgiveness, the kind of forgiveness that is a miracle. It has been the case since the beginning of time, but it gets covered over by the layers and layers of the world we know so well.
4. Okay, please explain true forgiveness. There are a few steps necessary to lay context and backdrop. First, we have to remember our true nature. That is, our true nature is not the bodies we find ourselves in, nor the separate objects that appear to be with us, hurdling through space. Our true nature is spirit. We are non-local beings, appearing to have a local experience. Second, is the recognition that, as spirit, what appears to happen in front of us and to us, is of no effect upon us. And so, whatever stresses, actions or other things that appear to happen to us can be forgiven, because it cannot have a real effect on us.
5. What do you mean by things that appear to happen to us? You caught that. Our true nature is spirit, unified spirit. That is our reality. We have just forgotten it. Our true nature is ancient and true. And deep down, we all know it, but it is no longer in our awareness. Bodies are not our true nature. Bodies are ephemeral, so is the world. Us, and everything in the world will be different a moment from now, than it is right now. Our true nature is eternal, its spirit, just like our creator. It is unchanging, like our creator. We just forgot it. The good news is that there is a way to remember who we are, and in that remembering, we get to stop the world, just for awhile.
6. I take it, you mean forgiveness is the way to remember our true nature? I do. Every time we practice forgiveness, true forgiveness–that is every time we recognize our true nature as spirit and forgive what appears to happen to us because we know it has no effect on us, we remember just a little bit more. Each time we forgive in this way, we remember a little bit more of what we forgot. We start to remember who and what we really are. And frankly, that is what we are all looking for.
7. Give me a real life example. Certainly. Let’s say you are driving along the road somewhere, when out of nowhere some inconsiderate driver rudely cuts you off and flips you the finger. Now most of us, especially the male of the species, just can’t let this go. And if we do, what is the usual result? Conflict, massive conflict. We react. We yell, we scream, we show our own finger. But we feel terrible. We don’t like it. Our blood pressure rises, our heart races and we feel badly. Our peace is disturbed. It can ruin your day, or worse. But there is another way to see this situation. Remember that you are spirit, and so is your brother who appears to have offended you. Spirit cannot harm and cannot be harmed. Forgive the situation in your mind and move on. Forgive it, not because you are better than your brother and you are magnanimous, forgive it because it is not real. Because it has no effect on you.
8. Are you saying we should let the world walk on us? Absolutely not. The concepts I am talking about are to be applied at the level of the mind, not on the physical level of form. There is so much more to say but we don’t have the time here. Let me just say, live your life, pay your bills, protect yourself and your family. Just don’t make it real to you, because it’s not. It’s not real to your true nature, so forgive it in that recognition, and start to remember who you are.
9. How did you come to believe in this approach to life? Well at the outset, nothing I have said here is either my idea or original. These are the concepts of A Course in Miracles, a fascinating course in advanced forgiveness, published by the Foundation for Inner Peace. By the way, I am not affiliated with that foundation. I was introduced to A Course by Gary Renard’s book The Disappearance of the Universe. Both of those sources are excellent, but I wrote my book because I thought it would be beneficial to introduce the advanced metaphysical concepts of those sources in bite sized chunks. I came to believe in the approach after I tried it. It’s experiential for everyone. Honestly try forgiveness and you will feel a peace that has heretofore been unknown.
10. How do you know this is true? Truth is absolute and it is always there. Sometimes…most times, we don’t recognize it. The reason is, we are too busy. There is too much noise. The voice of truth is inside of you, waiting to remind you of who you really are. We just have to prepare the table. That is, we have to forget all the conflict, remember our nature and forgive. That results in peace and quiet, which lets us hear the voice that gently reminds us who we are. You don’t have to take my word for it. Just try it. In the worst case scenario, there is nothing wrong with peace. http://www.vwspeaker.com

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