NORTHWEST FOUNDATION FOR A COURSE IN MIRACLES
Hanalei, Kauai, Hawaii
Executive
Director
P.O.
Box 870
Hanalei,
HI 96714-0870
PHONE.
808-826-7060
24-HR.
FAX: 808-826-6555
COMPUSERVE
ID# 72172,334
Dear
friends,
Early
on in our communion/relationship, I told Paul to keep his feet on the ground
and his head not too far away. A metaphysically or spiritually valuable path is
never irrelevant to the ground one is walking on, no matter how deluded his
perception of it.
The
grounded fact which called for the "bold steps" I referred to in my
letter of March 18th was that on August 1st, less than nine weeks from now, the
Foundation and its activities and Paul and Susan would be homeless. At no point
has this fact been vague or unclearly stated, and it is obvious that without a
place to operate from, there is no
activity—no Newsletters, no tapes, no books, no Gatherings.
In
many cases, my letters have been allowed to elicit a wide spectrum of ego
reactions, from excitement about the new facility to doubts, fears and
imaginative opinions about what it is all for, without an accompanying
grounding question being asked: "Do I want these materials and public
Gatherings to continue to be available to me?" Even more, "Do I want
them to continue to be available at cost, or free, since that is the only condition under which they will be made
available?
Less
than 7% of those on the active mailing list have responded with financial
support, bold or otherwise. This is indicative of heads too far away from the
feet—minds caught up in spiritual
and intellectual abstractions that have little to do with anything. A 7% response does not reflect the percentage of those
who do value and have valued this work. It reflects confusion.
Groundedness
reduces confusion.
August
1st = end of lease. End of lease = no place to carry on the work and live.
Post-hurricane conditions = no rentals available on Kauai. No operation of the
Foundation = no tapes, books, or Newsletters in your mailbox (even if they are
delayed in arriving) and no free Gatherings to attend.
Again:
Groundedness reduces confusion.
On
May 23rd, I had the following grounding conversation with Paul and Susan:
RAJ:
Deadlines and structures, conceptual specifics and orderliness are not what
this is all about. This is a movement that is in the flow of life. It will be
part of the local community and the world community. In other words, it will be
relevant—not a cathedral or a stepping-stone to escape from the world. The
facility will not imply, as the churches do, a means to get to the Kingdom of Heaven, but will be an example of being in the Kingdom of Heaven right here. This
means that the unfolding of the facility is not a special event separate from
the natural flow of life. It is not an interference, by virtue of being
spiritual, to that which is utterly normal. It is divinity unfolding here. You
might say it is being here in a new way that
gives greater meaning to "being here."
The
ego says, "there's nothing radical about that," suggesting that
because it doesn't involve a radical departure from the norm, it can't really
be spiritual, since the nature of Spirit is other-worldly—divine. That is the
way the ego has always obscured Heaven an earth.
All
that is happening now is that you are being here from your center rather than
from your circumference. You are, gathering the facts from your Being rather
than externals. Relax into the naturalness, the relevant naturalness, of this movement, rather than obscuring it by
seeing it as special. This is where the flower
is blossoming.
What
I mean to convey here is a feeling of belonging. If you do not feel that you
belong where you are, you will not allow the meaning of the Kingdom of Heaven
to register with you.
PAUL:
Raj, there has not been much indication financially that we belong here.
RAJ:
You will not get your indication of "belonging” from a bank account
balance. You will get it from Listening.
I
will say this also: it is amazing that contributions amounting to $33,000 have
been made in the short period of 60 days without big business techniques having
been employed. You cannot constantly undermine the miracle by ignoring its
miracle nature, nor can you give permission for the rest of the miracle.
The
contributions are the manifestation of love, not business procedures, because
someone has dared to be the presence of the Christ. This is not normal! Do not
be mechanical or materialistically jaded in your assessment of what is
happening.
Do
you think everyone is supporting the construction of a building? No. They are
expressing their love/desire for the ongoing presence of the Christ—the
unobscured presence of the Father's Love. This is not normal! It is amazing. It
is a miracle.
Do
you notice that we are looking at the donut instead of the hole?
You
tend to believe your intellectual ramblings, and that is disastrous. Thinking
in absolute terms does not make your thinking absolute. It does tend to make it
absolutely flawed!
It
is not appropriate for you to continue further in a context of renters carrying
on the work from place to place, as necessity requires. That has been the
context for ten years. Now the stated context is: Permanence, free of debt.
Everything is now happening in that context. You need to understand this. In
this context, you will simply do whatever works, and you will not assume that
"whatever works" may be something inconsistent with this context.
That is clarity.
I
understand that you think you are going to be homeless and in a state of
struggle, but you are not. I will say again and again and again: This is where
you belong ... truly belong.
***********************************************************************
Then,
on May 30th, I redirected Paul's attention to a house for sale, which has ample
space for the Foundation's activities to continue without interruption and
accommodates both he and Susan. I directed him to make an offer, and the offer
was accepted.
I
have instructed him to withdraw the offer on the land mentioned in the prior
letters—which will not involve the loss of the deposit. That land remains the appropriate permanent location for the
Foundation's activities, and it will still be there when the funds are
finally available to purchase it. In the meantime, relevancy has been
maintained.
***********************************************************************
Later
that same day, I shared the following with Paul and Susan:
You
are indeed having to be real while at the same time not abandoning the ideal that must penetrate the real. Both
the work and you must be anchored. The context has not changed.
Again:
The context has not changed!
Again: We do what works in that context here on
this island—not what works somewhere else. And you are not to live in
substandard conditions.
The
stability you feel is necessary is not a "personal want" but a
comprehension of the truth. You must abide with it fearlessly. It is Knowing.
We will withdraw the offer on the land, but not the intent to build the
facility.
There
must be a point of penetration in the dream, and it must be stable in order to
register. An intermittent "beep" from here and there provides no
focal point for the dreamer to shift his attention to. I cannot change the fact
that Kauai is one such world focal point in the form of this work. There is no
alternative.
Indeed,
it is not appropriate for you to be coping with homelessness. That learning is
well behind you. You must stay with me on the beam and share it! Only in this
way will others have a focal point of duration
in the dream, illuminating where the beam is—the avenue out of the dream.
For
now, we will secure the means (the stable home base) for the teaching/work to
continue.
***********************************************************************
More
grounding clarity: If you want these activities to continue, you must support
them. That is not a command or threat, but the simple truth—the way it works.
These activities are not available on any other basis because any other basis
would constitute "business practices" and Love is not a business!
I
will not give you a "free" book, hot off the presses, for every $100
contribution. I will not set up a "fund-raising tour" of Gatherings
to whet your appetite for a "fix" of Truth and loosen your
purse-strings. I will only be Real with you as I/we have been for the past ten years. To have a home base from which to
be Real with you is utter common sense, relevant—feet on the ground with the
head not too far away.
The
balance of the down-payment on the house—$110,000—will be required at the closing of escrow on or before August 1st. There
are 2,038 people on our mailing list, which means that if everyone were able to
pay an equal share, it would come to $53.98 per person. Not everyone can or
will, but the information helps you to know that the approximate equivalent of dinner
for two at a nice restaurant is all it takes. It is not outrageous!
Rajpur
Princeville, Hawaii
June 1, 1993