Me: One blog member has brought up this philosophy, ACIM. It’s central thought is that the entire material world and all perception is completely devoid of reality—that’s it’s all a dream made up by our ego to keep our true selves in the dark to the fact that we are one with God, perfect, and that we have never left Him or Her. The only way to enlightenment is to understand that all perception is an illusion and to forgive each and every person, including ourselves, thing and event in our lives by recognizing that none of it is real. The blog member says, “I find this approach to be really powerful but also pretty extreme. It’s like a prescription strength, New Age spirituality. So, the question for Erik is whether he or others he has access to in his realm has any thoughts or impressions about his approach to this journey to enlightenment.” Phew!
Erik: Damn! Great question.
Me: I know!
Erik: I understood all of it, because I have listened to people talk about how everything, even dream state, is an illusion.
Me: It is?
Erik: No. Well, a lot of it is, yes, but 100%? No.
Me: Okay.
Erik: Like our bodies are held up somewhere plugged up to some damn machine keeping us asleep so that we can live a human life? Nope. This is not the matrix.
Me (giggling): I was just going to say! Is it?
Erik: But the reason I like his question so much is he is recognizing it’s extreme. And I keep telling you guys there’s a simple beauty about being alive, and it’s the fact—I’m sorry for disappointing anybody, but it is the great fact that –
(Silence)
Jamie: Pause. Dramatic pause, Erik?
Jamie and I chuckle.
Jamie: He’s got one hand out like he’s about to say something very big and he just kind of quits and I just, ‘Whoa!’
(Pause)
Jamie: I’m asking him to pick back up.
Erik: To achieve this enlightenment to 100%, to achieve this unity with God at 100%—
Me: Mm hm.
Erik: —it really is to, I’m sorry, but it’s to let go of this life.
Me: Oh!
Erik: And, like I said, I don’t mean to be a downer on anybody’s parade here, but we’re human for a reason. We want to achieve enlightenment, and during that want or desire or drive or passion or however you fucking label it, c’mon, it is that that keeps us on a track or a path to understand the beauty of love within the human life. And yes, how I have understood this whole fucked up journey about being human and being screwed up is that love is the answer. How you define love will give you the answers and guidance to reach that enlightenment. But the simple beauty is that you are the raindrop from the cloud. You are a pretend individual in this moment when you are trapped within that body.
(Pause)
Jamie: I really liked that. Pretend individual.
Me: So, it’s not all an illusion.
Erik: We’re an illusion, right. It’s set up for a reason, Mom, because we need to feel a bit of that separation. We need to feel a bit of that illusion of being separated to discover our own definition of ourselves.
Me: So, the separation is the illusion.
Erik: Oh, that’s the part that’s a total, fucked up illusion, yeah. You’re right. We are completely woven into the same fabric.
Me: Okay, so we’re not just—
Erik: Forty % of the people just went, “Yeah, I totally get it! I knew it!” Twenty % went, “What the fuck? No way! I’m not in the same thread as that Nazi, Hitler!”
Jamie (giggling): He started listing all of these really bad people.
Me: Oh no!
Erik: And the other 40% are going, “Maybe. It kind of sounds right, but I don’t have any proof.” This is the point. Nobody can walk over and hand you that proof while you’re in the body. This is the part that’s sweet. This is the sweet spot—being the raindrop. Pretending to be an individual, you can’t get that proof that you’re seeking, and that’s the whole fucked up thing, because society has grown. Humanity has grown to rely on proof. Better yet, you know how they structure it. It’s called scientific proof. That’s such a crock of shit. That definition they have in their head is so fucked up. It’s not real.
Me: I agree.
Erik: Thank you, Mom. Thank you!
Me: I try.
Jamie laughs.
Erik: But this is what the majority has and so they’ll totally shove you aside, because you can’t give them what they consider scientific proof. It’s the whole journey of being human. That dude is absolutely right who wrote the question. We’re all part of one. But to sit down and force your brain that’s enjoying the break, the pretend break, from the whole unity, to have a focus on self, which is not egotistical—we’re not talking about ego, I’m talking about focus on self as that pretend individual away from the fabric. So that when you’re reunited, what you bring back to it is so much more powerful than the person who discovered greed or jealousy or the emotional imbalances from relationship structures, from lack of love, too much love, control of love.
Jamie: He’s scratching his head and saying, “I don’t know. I’m fucking talking in a hole, but I get it in my head. That would be a great person to—“
Jamie: Hire? Okay. I didn’t think I got it right. (She giggles)
Erik: —to hire to send in questions, like say, “Hey, let’s just give you a fucking column here. Questions by X” We answer the questions by X like once a month.
Jamie: I love that raindrop thing. Pretend individual.
Me: Masterfully done, Erik. Gave me goosebumps.
Jamie (giggling): Even though he’s sitting down, he’s faking bowing you know, like, “Oh, thank you, thank you.”
***********************************************
Results of marijuana usage:
Never: 23.1 %
Previously but not now: 42.3 %
Rarely: 3.8 %
Occasionally: 15.4 %
Often: 7.7 %
Daily: 7.7 %
