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SearchIs physical pain or suffering of any kind ever still experienced in Enlightenment? After Enlightenment, is it possible to fall back into the ego?
Question:
1) When one is enlightened, does one still experience physical pain as unpleasant? Does one experience pain or displeasure about ANYTHING? Another aspect of this question is: Once you awaken completely, are you still vulnerable to falling back into ways of the ego, or is it ALL gone for good?
2) Do you think the Holy Spirit would EVER guide one to harm or take the life of another being (ex: meat-eating, killing ants in your kitchen, using violent force to stop a murderer, etc.)? And, by the way, do you eat meat, and if so, would you personally take an animal's life?
Answer:
In Enlightenment, all perceived pain has vanished, for what but wrong-mindedness seemed to produce the misperception called pain. Pain was the illusion that Christ could leave a Loving Creator's Mind. If pain is real there is no God. If God is real there is no pain. The latter is true because God has no opposite. Enlightenment entails no pain or displeasure about ANYTHING, for Enlightenment is Pure, Constant Happiness, Peace, Freedom, and Joy. Being Constant, Enlightenment knows not of change. The illusion of vulnerability and fluctuating emotions has gone as well. There is no ego to fall "back into." Spirit Abides ...in gentle Love. All pain is over Now and nothing remains but a blessing of Stillness.
The Holy Spirit is the reminder that Life is Eternal. The Present Moment is the gateway to Eternity. The world of images was a world of illusion. Images are therefore neutral to the Holy Spirit. They were "neutralized" the instant they seemed to arise. What does this mean in relation to your second question: You cannot kill what has never lived, and in the Holy Spirit's Perspective of forgiveness harm is impossible. Bodies were never born and never die because the world of images is the past. It is impossible to find beginnings and endings in a script that is already written and over long ago. There is no life in images. This is the meaning of "Hold no graven images before the Lord Thy God." All images were made to obscure the Truth from awareness, and they can only be forgiven as one illusion. If illusions could be divided up into living and dead, organic and inorganic, animate and inanimate, Enlightenment would be impossible. For what is Enlightenment but Pure Oneness, far beyond the possibility of division of any kind. The split mind was the illusion. Seek not to project the split mind to forms and call some forms alive and some forms dead. God knows not form. The split mind seemed to be the "killer" illusion, yet the Holy Spirit reminds the sleeping mind that what is whole and unified can never BE split. In Heaven, Mind is One Spirit, and even with regard to this world forgiveness reflects this Oneness. The forgiven world recognizes the unity of the healed mind and sees that there is nothing "outside" of this single mind which dreams softly a happy, gentle dream. The goal of ACIM is to dream softly of a sinless world. This goal is more than possible, it is inevitable!
As for my seeming diet, "eat what is served" is the Guidance I was given from the Holy Spirit many years ago. Join with your brother and let no concept come between the Love you share. This Guidance has not changed. "Dinner" is always a backdrop for sharing the Joy of the Living Moment. What the world calls "breathing" and "eating" and "drinking" and "sleeping" are really all the same in the Enlightened State. The Healed Perspective sees the sameness of all things because they all share the same Purpose: forgiveness. This Perspective is not "personal,” for in unified perception nothing is personal. God is no respecter of persons. I literally cannot "take" an animal's "life" because Life is Spirit and can only be extended or Given as God Gives. "Take" has no meaning in my mind and since animals have never "lived" it is impossible that they could "die." The belief expressed in the thought "personally take an animal's life" has many underlying assumptions that are false. In right-mindedness it is obvious that ideas are strengthened as they are given away or shared, and "taking" a "life" or anything at all has no meaning. All that I give is given to mySelf, and in giving there is no loss, no sacrifice, and nothing is ever taken away from wholeness and unity. The teacher of God does not want anything that cannot be given away. Such is the Joy of miracles! The thought seeds seem to be flung everywhere, yet there is never even a glance back to see where the seeds land. The seeds are never for an "other,” and since giving and receiving are the same the mind receives the gifts it gives. This is truly the feast you seek for underneath the ego's questions.
The only question that needs to be asked is a question that is not really silly at all: Am I ready to know that God's Will and My Own are the Same? God's Will for Me is for Perfect Happiness. And what but this Will is the Will of Christ? Happily, nothing can change Eternal Love.
Follow up question from another reader:
If none of our forms are real, "A Course in Miracles" (ACIM) students could go around killing people. I know God would still love us if we murdered but would a Course student do that? I see that mostly you want to show love and forgiveness to others but why bother if they are not real? You said it’s ok to eat animals because they aren’t real but aren’t people and animals the same? To kill a human would conceivably cause hurt to their family even if that person is just an image. Killing an animal could cause hurt to people that love animals even if they are in perceived form. I have found this Course, but find it hard to love a world of illusion. Why bother to do anything? I fell in love with someone from my recent past. I was changed and mushy about how much love I felt for this person. He was everything and every one to me. I imagined marriage and children, things I never thought about before. He is in another relationship as am I. I can’t bear to hurt either of their feelings. I have been having visions of peoples’ hearts outside of their image and beautiful light around them. It felt like seeing through the eyes of God and there was no judgment. I became fearful, lost weight, and tried to push this person from my mind. When I heard a voice say, “Are you ready to be forgiven?”, I said, “Yes,” not knowing what it meant. The voice said, “Lyndsey will be gone.” I then felt something lift off the top of my head. I thought my feelings for the person I loved would improve but I don’t feel happy. I am afraid I am going mad. What was done to me?
Answer:
Thanks for writing. Sounds like you've had some mind-opening experiences. It takes lots and lots of mind training/clearing before the world is experienced as illusion. What one does comes from what one thinks, so questions about behaviors like killing animals are about effects and not cause. ACIM is about forgiving the ego, the false "cause,” and the behaviors flow from mind. Purity of thought is a lofty goal indeed. The "Lyndsey will be gone" statement points to emptying all self-concepts through forgiveness so that only the awareness of Spirit remains. It is deep, and the ego panics at where it is all heading, though it is all glorious to the Spirit.
Love,
David
David, do you consciously feel God as your "Companion as you walk the world a little while" (W#124.2:4)?
Question:
Do you consciously feel God as your "Companion as you walk the world a little while" (L#124.2:4)? Would you be willing to discuss this idea?
Answer:
Yes, I feel God as my constant Companion. God is my Soul Mate the world could not hide. God is the Lover I could not leave behind. God is the Provider that never ends. God is the Meaning that is ever my Friend. When images and memories have all gone by, God remains. The Intimacy that was "sought,” God already Is. Interpersonal closeness which had been attempted through bodies joining could never substitute for Intimacy in the Divine. There is a trust and openness that radiates from Companionship with God. There is an inner Joy that looks not to form for affirmation.
The strongest feeling of Companionship with God is dependency on God for everything. It is a feeling that existence is impossible without God. Because God is the Source, there are no debts or debtors. Because God is the Source, Innocence is assured. Guilt cannot be believed in any situation or circumstance for one simple reason: "God is the Source of All Being."
I rest in my Eternal Companion. I behold a forgiven world with my internal Friend. As this Answer was coming through, I received from a friend another email witness to the Companionship within that is ever-present:
"Hi,
your comments on one of the Idaho tapes inspired this one:
METAPHYSICAL GOOD ADVICE:
"It is impossible to seek for pleasure through the body and not find pain. . . Call pleasure pain, and it will hurt. Call pain a pleasure, and the pain behind the pleasure will be felt no more. Sin's witnesses but shift from name to name, as one steps forward and another back." (T-19.IV.B.12.)
METAPHYSICAL GOOD ADVICE SONG:
Give up the pleasure; give up the pain. You might not believe it, but they are the same. They say you're a body and death is your goal. You're broken in pieces. You'll never be whole. They share the same purpose: attacking God's Son, The pain and the pleasure are one.
Give up the bad things. Don't search for the good. Don't do what you shouldn't. Don't do what you should. Illusions are unreal, no matter what kind. The world offers nothing to satisfy mind. All forms are unworthy of God's holy Son, the good forms and the bad forms are one.
Give up your concepts of less and of more. You cannot be wealthy; you cannot be poor. Your function is wholeness. You make God complete. No limits restrict you. You're forever free. Eternal the union of Father and Son, the rich thoughts and the poor thoughts are one.
There's no need for healing an unwounded heart, and no need for joining what can't come apart. It's all in perspective, the way that you see. Look with the Spirit at reality: You have one Creator, and He has one Son, who always and always are One.
Love,
David
Can you speak to the physical oddities (neck spasms, etc..) I'm experiencing as well as the sadness I feel about giving up the "me"?
Question:
Could you say something about my neck being in spasm for a week, during a time when many of my beliefs are being examined and seen as false? There are also other symptoms. I would like to hear what comes to you regarding letting go.
Answer:
Whether the discomfort seems physical or mental, the Solution rests in acceptance. You are not responsible for the error, only for accepting the Correction. Do not project the error to the past or future and you will see you are free of it Now. You are afraid of the Present Moment Correction, believing it requires of you everything that seems to be familiar to the little "self." Yet forgiveness asks for nothing. It rests on the idea that the Truth is True Now and Forever, and sees that all concepts are false. The miracle shows that nothing real can be taken away or lost. Be glad that there is no perfect scenario, no perfect person, place or thing to turn to. Right now is always Everything and forgiveness is never circumstance dependent. Forgiveness is the concept of now, and as this concept dissolves and melts there shines Eternity in awareness.
Align with God and it will seem the dream is happy from this new Perspective. Be happy paying bills, happy taking care of the yard, happy buying groceries, happy cleaning things, happy watering plants inside, happy from the Purpose that is far beyond the "doings" of a body. When at rest in mind everything and everyone is Still. It dawns that things shared in Purpose are effortless and easy. Personal effort is not required in Beholding God's Glory. Accept Divine Ease, and there is nothing to be concerned about. You cannot lose Who You are, for God created You as Perfect and You remain so.
The Correction clearly demonstrates that Love is All there Is. Do you want the "problem" or the Answer? Love is never difficult. Love is natural to a mind that trusts. Spirit is trustworthy. You cannot mess up Who You are, so there is nothing left to doubt. Now is the only obvious choice for accepting this simple Fact.
Love,
David
Are all forms of sickness lessons we need to learn?
Question:
Are all forms of sickness lessons that we need to learn?
Answer:
Sickness is an impossible lesson! Sickness and the ego are the same lesson. The Holy Spirit is a lesson and the ego is a lesson. They are different lessons. So, the mind that clings to the ego is trying to learn an impossible lesson, one that can never be learned because fear is not real. It would be like beating your head against the wall to try to learn the lesson of fear. The Holy Spirit is a lesson of forgiveness. It is the only lesson that can be learned, because it reflects the love of God. In the Kingdom of Heaven, there is no need for forgiveness. Truth needs no correction. The mind asleep is in need of the correction, and that is forgiveness. The ego has a different version of forgiveness. The ego says: "You did this thing against me. I have the evidence. I saw it with my own eyes. I heard it with my own ears. But, out of the kindness of my heart, even though you have wronged me, because I am superior, I will forgive you." The Holy Spirit teaches a different version of forgiveness: "You forgive your brother and sister for what they did not do." The grievance was a misperception, a setup of the ego to blame another person, to blame the person that you think you are, to blame the government, blame the weather, to blame something in form for your state of mind. Forgiveness lets go of the setup. That is why forgiveness is always a gift to yourself. It returns the mind to peace.
Love,
David
Letting Go of the Human Condition Video: David discusses accepted beliefs such as the "laws" of health, sleep, nutrition, etc..
General description:
David talks about the undoing of accepted beliefs such as the laws of nutrition, health, and sleep. As we unwind from long-held beliefs about what our needs are as humans, we begin to feel the inspiration of the Spirit and trust that all of our seeming needs are always met. We are free to live in the joy!
Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8ttHQWmEnE
After recovering from cancer, I'm an emotional roller-coaster and don't know what to do with my "new life".
Question:
A year ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer and have spent this past year undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments with all the subsequent side effects. A part of me now feels stronger and physically healthier than I have in years. So I'm wondering if I was given a second chance, and what I'm supposed to be doing with my life now. My husband has been my caretaker for this past year and is now drinking heavily and doesn't know how he fits in anymore, since I no longer need a caretaker. So our relationship does not seem close. I find it difficult to maintain a spiritual view of my life right now because my ego seems to be screaming at me about money, security, etc.—all the things necessary to survive in this physical world, but I'm just not sure where I fit in anymore. I appreciate your kind patience and any words of advice you may give.
Answer:
Thanks for writing and sharing all that is on your mind. The "diagnosis" of illness can be viewed as a trigger to explore the mind much more deeply and with great sincerity. It is a time that the question "What is this for?" might be asked with attentiveness and willingness. With a deep desire of going within for answers this time can be one of earnest prayer and questioning all underlying beliefs.
Disease is of the mind, and all illness is mental illness. Sickness is always a wrong-minded decision, and the attraction to guilt must be exposed before it is seen that the wrong-mind has no value. You have a Purpose that will lead to Happiness, and this Purpose is what everything is for. This is the Purpose for your relationship with your husband and with everyone. The Purpose of forgiveness undoes the attachment to pride and the body and the world, and opens the way to Lasting Joy. It is emptying the mind of everything it thinks it thinks and thinks it knows, and thus looking upon the world anew. The old self-concept will seem to undergo many changes as unlearning progresses, and each change will yield an expanded view of the self. Yet forgiveness is the only self-concept, the only illusion, that reflects the Peace of God. A mind emptied of tiny self-concepts can grasp the last illusion, the illusion that is the end of error: forgiveness.
Now is the time of release. Nurture your new Purpose, for all security and safety is found in the Purpose the Spirit offers. The old purpose was the ego's attempt at "getting,” and the new Purpose involves giving freely as God Gives. In the past your husband and co-workers and clients and family and friends were strangers. The new Purpose will take the strangers in, as you see that deep down everyone wants to know the Love that is Real. Openly communicate what you are experiencing and hide nothing from the Light. Take the lid off of secrets and private thoughts, and see that they never meant anything at all. Share your deepest yearning (the desire to forgive and Awaken) with your husband, and be ready for a cascading flow of miracles. You are a miracle worker and will experience happiness and freedom in conjunction with your Spirit Given function. The thinking of the world has never offered lasting fulfillment, yet the new Purpose will lead to heights of Happiness.
Mind is One. Purpose is shared. Bodies cannot join, so make no attempt to "join" what was made as a symbol of separation and isolation. Share in the gentle laughter at the nothingness of the ego and its world as symbols are retranslated and perceptions unified. Nothing can hold one back from what the Spirit has appointed for a holy mind, for one is entitled to miracles. Use time to share miracles, and the need for time and unlearning is shortened beyond measure. Feel free to call on me, for we walk the Selfsame road and are together now. Nothing can hold one back from the Destiny everyone shares, for what God Wills is Perfect Happiness for the One created Perfect.
Love always,
David
Would someone with brain damage still be able to access Universal Mind just as easily?
Question:
I remember reading that the brain of the human has nothing to do with the mind. Am I correct in this? As for my question, if I was hit by a truck and suffered brain damage, or had a major mental illness, or later suffered from organic brain syndrome, would I still have contact with universal mind (God)?
Answer:
Yes, you are correct—the brain has nothing to do with Mind. The brain, like the body, earth, stars, and cosmos, is a projection of the ego or belief in separation. Everything of the cosmos was made to mimic or substitute for the Reality of Spirit. The brain was the ego's attempt at making up a mind. The brain is temporary. The Mind Eternal. The brain is an unreal effect of an unreal cause. The Mind is One with God, the Cause or Source of All. The brain follows instructions and does what it is told to do. The Mind is the residence of God, the Holy Spirit, and Christ.
All seeming sickness is the ego belief held in mind. The mind was sick that believed the brain could have a dysfunction. Mental illness is the belief that it is actually possible to separate from a Loving Creator. Mental illness is the belief that mind can be split into both love and fear. Therefore "brain damage" or "organic brain syndrome" are nothing more than ego attempts to project the "belief problem" to form by calling the "belief problem" a "brain problem."
"Brain damage" and "organic brain syndrome" have no meaning to the Holy Spirit, Who looks not to effects. The Holy Spirit knows that they have no cause and therefore cannot be at all. As you work with the Holy Spirit and ACIM you will be carried to the forgiven world in the mind, and from this Perspective will perceive a reflection of Reality: a healed cosmos. The body is neutral and cannot be endowed with the characteristics of Spirit or ego. If you believe that the body can be sick you are perceiving from a wrong-minded perspective and seem to have temporarily blocked your connection with the Universal Mind of God. The miracle shows the world to you anew, and in the miracle all seeming "suffering" has gone. In the right-mindedness of the miracle, suffering is impossible, for the miracle reflects the Light of the Holy Spirit Who is the Comforter and the Bridge to the remembrance of God. Before healing can be accepted in mind it is necessary to realize that the one problem is a perceptual problem. The problem is the lens that you were looking through, not the specifics that were perceived through the darkened lens of misperception. "Brain damage" and "organic brain syndrome" are specifics without a cause, because all misperceptions have no real cause. God is a real Cause, and Christ and Creation proceed from a real Source. Atonement is seeing that this is a fact and that nothing else exists. But first it is important to see that all sickness is mental sickness and has nothing to do with a brain.
The ego was made by belief and is dispelled as the mind ceases to believe in it. It is really this simple. If one scrap of false belief remains held in mind the Truth of Divine Mind will seem obscured from awareness. Divine Mind simply Is and Is All that can be Known.
I rejoice in your work with ACIM and the Holy Spirit. It will bring you lasting peace and joy and happiness!
Love & Blessings,
David
Does the concept of Holy Relationship mean that there is one specific person out there who will be my perfect mirror?
Question:
I don't know if you remember my previous letter, but it was about my sister dying mysteriously at the age of thirty six. You helped me put perspective on that. We discovered since that she was secretly anorexic, and my family clearly has some attitudes about the body that we need to heal together.
My personal issue is about special and holy relationships and whether a holy relationship with one particular person is necessary in order to awaken. I have never had a serious long-term relationship. What if I never have one? The Course talks about holy relationships and how important they are, so I have big expectations for each limited relationship I go into, and they all seem to fail quickly. Am I taking this too literally?
Answer:
Thanks for your openness and your willingness to look deeply at what is underneath these topics and issues. The split mind contains the problem (the ego) and the solution (the Holy Spirit). When they are brought together only One remains.
The body and the world are always the focus of ego's perspective, for it seeks to make real problems and struggles "in the world" and to avoid the inner healing correction of the Holy Spirit. The ego's distorted world is the product of identity confusion, an outpicturing of the belief that it is possible to make an identity which God did not create. The ego is this identity problem and it was Answered or forgiven by the Holy Spirit the instant it seemed to arise. This one problem could be described as an authority problem or a confusion in who is the author of Reality. The "mind" that believes in the reality of the time-space cosmos has a control issue, for it believes that it can create itself. This ego mind also thinks it is in competition with God, although this is pushed out of conscious awareness. This unconscious ego thought system is exposed in the ACIM Workbook lessons, and Lesson #13 contains an excellent example of this unveiling:
"A meaningless world engenders fear because I think I am in competition with God."
This is the beginning of training the mind to forgive, for the focus is brought back to the mind, back to thinking, and taken away from the body and the world. Anorexia, weight issues, body image issues, and interpersonal relationship issues are examples of projection, of seeing the "problem" where it is not, which is in the world. The mind cannot tolerate the belief in a "war” with God, so this belief is pushed out of awareness. The deep-seated control issue that such a belief entails is then projected to the body and the world. Weight "control,” like any attempt to control the script or the body, is an attempt to control the past. The Holy Spirit teaches that the past can only be forgiven or released or seen as false - not fixed or controlled or changed.
The same ego dynamic is underneath interpersonal relationship struggles of power and control, of wanting to fix or change a person or a self-image. Personal relationships may seem to sail happily along for awhile, yet the make believe self-concept IS the "personal perspective" and thus is always on shaky ground. Decisions are continuous. The Holy Spirit is a decision. The ego is a decision. Atonement is the decision that ends all decisions, an acceptance of the changelessness of Mind. The ego is the decision to believe that the mind can be separate from God. Once the mind believed that it had separated and built this time-space world, this time-space world of bodies became its substitute identity, because it believed it had thrown away the Kingdom of Heaven. The world was made-up as a substitute "identity." The sleeping mind is split on the decision of identity. The Holy Spirit says,”This world is not Identity. This world is an illusion." And thus the Holy Spirit reminds the mind constantly,”This world is not your Home. This world is not your Identity. This world is not real." While the mind is split it is hearing another voice (the ego) that's saying: "You've done it. You've separated from God. You'd better make the best of it and find something of the world to identify with. You can never go back, for God will punish you."
Thought-form associations seem to become a substitute "identity." The ego mind seems to be identified with the body, with family, with environments that seem to surround it (I'm an American, Japanese, I'm male, I'm female, I'm from a wealthy family, from a poor family, I'm Catholic, Jewish, Protestant). All of these are thought-form associations. And these seeming other persons and places surrounding the little personal self are all part of this construction. The mind is very shaky about this small identity, this small self, this little "me." So the little me is shaky, and it seems like other persons give the little me reality and importance (you're my son, my daughter, you're my boss, you're a loving father) and all the different things that these images seem to be telling this little me seem to be really important. Praise thus seems very important (you are a "person" and you're a "good" one)!
Praise and acceptance from others SEEM to stabilize this very shaky thing. (you're a great lover, you're a great provider, you're great with the children, you have a fine intellect, you have such a heart, you help serve so many other people, you're a great team player, on and on). This aspect of the self-concept says that you are a person, and you have all of these positive attributes that really make you a valuable and worthy person—that make you stand out above the crowd. You're not just anyone—you're someBODY special. The flip side is criticism, which directly reflects the shaky sense of self. Criticism would be: you're not as great as you think you are, you're not such a good team player, such a good provider, so good in bed—all the things that are taken as "insults" to the personal self-concept. That's the flip side of the strokes. To this ego self-concept that believes both sides (the positive and negative) of "thinking" are real, the Holy Spirit is perceived as a great threat, for the Holy Spirit leads to the experience of forgiveness, which is just the realization that none of the tiny images perceived as separate have any reality.
When the criticism seems to come, the ego attempts a substitution. It thinks "I don't need this. I'll go elsewhere and start other relationships with people who can appreciate my talents and skills and abilities, appreciate my personhood. I will avoid those 'negative influences' in the world and those negative people. I'll find another 'person' or join a group where people are 'like-minded' and forget about the rest of the world. These new people will like me and stroke me and praise me." The attempt at substitution is an attempt to maintain a sense of specialness, a sense of separation, a sense of individuality (a private mind with private thoughts). Those attempts are special love relationships. They seem to reinforce worth and value and to validate personhood. And they offer a false witness for clinging to the ego as "identity." To the ego, past associations serve to give personhood some sense of stability and consistency and value. Yet the Holy Spirit shows that past associations offer nothing of value, for they were made by the ego to deny the truth of God's Love.
Holy relationship emphasizes and reflects Content (right-minded thinking) and has an awareness of the meaninglessness of form. While the ego is believed, relationships will seem to be specific, yet each one will present an opportunity to release the belief in specifics. Divine Mind is Abstract and Universal. Forgiveness is the bridge to the remembrance of Christ and God, Divine Abstraction. Thus the Holy Spirit teaches:
"When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter. As you see him you will see yourself. As you treat him you will treat yourself. As you think of him you will think of yourself. Never forget this, for in him you will find yourself or lose yourself. Whenever two Sons of God meet, they are given another chance at salvation. Do not leave anyone without giving salvation to him and receiving it yourself. For I am always there with you, in remembrance of you.(T-8.III.4.1-8)
The goal of the curriculum, regardless of the teacher you choose, is "Know thyself." There is nothing else to seek." (T-8.III.4-5)
The focus is always a willingness for miracles. Change but your thoughts and your whole perception of the world is changed. The ultimate outcome of this transformation is: I am as God created Me. My Mind holds only what I think with God.
If there is a temptation to buy the bait of thoughts of form, here is a helpful reminder from the Beyond All Idols section of Chapter 30:
"It is not form you seek. What form can be a substitute for God the Father's Love? What form can take the place of all the love in the Divinity of God the Son? What idol can make two of what is one? And can the limitless be limited? You do not want an idol. It is not your will to have one. It will not bestow on you the gift you seek. When you decide upon the form of what you want, you lose the understanding of its purpose. So you see your will within the idol, thus reducing it to a specific form. Yet this could never be your will, because what shares in all creation cannot be content with small ideas and little things.
Behind the search for every idol lies the yearning for completion. Wholeness has no form because it is unlimited. To seek a special person or a thing to add to you to make yourself complete, can only mean that you believe some form is missing. And by finding this, you will achieve completion in a form you like. This is the purpose of an idol; that you will not look beyond it, to the source of the belief that you are incomplete. Only if you had sinned could this be so. For sin is the idea you are alone and separated off from what is whole. And thus it would be necessary for the search for wholeness to be made beyond the boundaries of limits on yourself.
It never is the idol that you want. But what you think it offers you, you want indeed and have the right to ask for. Nor could it be possible it be denied. Your will to be complete is but God's Will, and this is given you by being His. God knows not form. He cannot answer you in terms that have no meaning. And your will could not be satisfied with empty forms, made but to fill a gap that is not there. It is not this you want. Creation gives no separate person and no separate thing the power to complete the Son of God." (T- 30.III.2-4)
This section gives a clear Answer to your question about holy relationship. Think with God, Perceive with the Holy Spirit, and experience the wholeness of forgiveness. A "personal relationship" is still a self-concept and can only be a transitional "step" in Awakening. The Holy Spirit's Purpose offers a forgiven world, a wholeness that transcends the seeming "parts." Glory and thanks to God for creating All as One!
Love & Blessings,
David
How can I transition out of using lots of medication/magic? Also, what is the definition of the term "level confusion" in ACIM?
Question:
The course teaches that believing in medicine is like believing in magic, and I can see that. Over the last several years I have used vitamins and minerals, etc. to try to improve my health. I have also been practicing recognizing my beliefs and their effect on my health, and releasing the need for them. How do I begin making the transition to living without “magic”? My health is less than perfect, but not crippling. Also, can you give me an understandable definition of "level confusion," as is mentioned often in ACIM?
Answer:
Thanks for writing. The saying goes: "Mind over matter." Illness and health are solely mental, and the belief in the physical or the manifest is the basis of all conflict, disease, stress, and upset. The mind is causative, yet the sleeping mind remembers not the making of the world. The sleeping mind believes that the world the ego made has turned around and made the body self. This is the belief in physical "birth." Thus it appears that events and circumstances happen to the body apart from its asking or control. The first step in healing this cause-effect split and reversal is opening to the realization that everything which seems to happen is the result of belief. The mind perceives what the mind believes. Questioning what is believed is therefore a way of raising the ego belief system to the Light.
Level confusion is the belief that time-space-matter is causative instead of an unreal effect of an unreal "cause." There is nothing causative in the material universe, and the sleeping mind is imprisoned by its own beliefs. Once the ego belief system is exposed as having no foundation, the effects it seemed to produce are seen as causeless. Appearances and images are seen for what they are, illusion, and no longer are they endowed with "life" and "meaning." Right-mindedness or miracle-mindedness is the end of level confusion, for the miracle simply sees the false as false. The miracle does not judge the contents of consciousness, for it sees their unreality. The Holy Spirit looks not to effects, having judged their "cause" as unreal. The ego is the unreal "cause."
Trust the Holy Spirit in the transition or transformation of mind. The Holy Spirit will reinterpret everything perceived with a new Perspective. If you do the workbook lessons of ACIM and read the text, with openness and willingness, you will see that the Holy Spirit orchestrates everything of time-space for your benefit. Time is actually under the direction of the miracle-worker, for the miracle-worker is aligned with the Holy Spirit's use of time. The Holy Spirit will instruct you on what is most helpful in terms of using time and the symbols of time. The body, diet, medicine, exercise, and activity in general are best given over to the Holy Spirit. The specifics are used by the Holy Spirit in the workbook practice until the Divine Principle is transferred and applied so consistently that the belief in specifics is completely undone. In accepting Atonement, the mind is thus prepared for the remembrance of Light or Divine Abstraction in God.
Blessings of Love,
David
David discusses the topic of Healing.
Question:
Does the Holy Spirit give specific instructions as to how to deal with perceived sickness, like seeing a particular doctor?
Answer:
When you open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you will receive specific instructions. These instructions seem to be very individualized, based on what you believe. The Holy Spirit has to reach the mind in a language it can understand and with concepts which it can understand. It is like climbing up a ladder. Once you reach one rung and push off, you move to the next.
I recall one woman who came to a gathering of mine and was very distressed. She had been into metaphysics her whole life, always telling her friends and family that sickness is all in the mind. She had just been to the doctor who diagnosed her with cancer. She did not feel she could go home and face her family and friends, for they might ridicule her instead of having compassion for her.
She told me of a past life regression she had in which she was beheaded by guillotine, and now had cancer in the lymph glands on her neck. I told her to go ahead to the hospital and proceed with the surgery and see that the scalpel or knife, that would be coming to the same place on the body, would be a symbol of healing. And that she should see the doctors and nurses as angels, and share all of her wonderful ideas with them in the hospital.
This is an example of working with the belief system. If the mind was not too frightened of healing, it would be healed in an instant. The Holy Spirit will never force healing unless it is welcomed. Healing would seem to require a letting go of everything that is perceived, and at times the mind is too resistant to that. The sleeping mind would rather remain tiny and call forth a witness of sickness to prove that it is right about its tininess. This is the insanity of the ego. It will never make any sense, but it can be forgiven.
Love,
David