Often people say about the Course, “Ah, at last, a spiritual approach for intellectuals!” For different reasons, one might think that highly intelligent people, Christians, or even atheists may take to it, but the responses are not predictable. Emotions are sometimes overwhelming, too strong to want to feel. ACIM is not meant to cover over these, but to reveal them. Movies and music can help. In this way, life will seem fresh and like an adventure. Stuffing feelings or using the lessons as affirmations or mantras will only stunt your spiritual understanding.
Stress and Worry
Exposing Private Thoughts
To learn “A Course in Miracles,” you must question every value that you hold. At our Monastery we have two guidelines that help us do this: “No Private Thoughts,” and “No People-Pleasing.” Every day people expose their private thoughts at expression sessions.
Inquiry into Consciousness
In meditation we observe our thoughts, yet self-inquiry is the pathway inwards to stillness. As I inquired into myself, I found that beneath my faulty perceptions were fear-based emotions, and beneath them were my thoughts. And what drove my thoughts was my belief system. The core belief of the ego thought system is linear time. This is the root of all conflicts. The ego made linear time to cover over the present moment. The ACIM Workbook is the beginning of self-inquiry. It leads you to an open mind and to the experience of miracles.
Reduce Stress and Worry
David Hoffmeister reminds us of the ACIM teaching that all is in the mind. All problems are mental problems. “A Course in Miracles” is a tool to take us into a consistently peaceful state of mind. While practicing the lessons of ACIM we experience the difference between a fear-based thought system and a love-based thought system. Through practice, we can learn to choose the loving thought system that gives us peace. In this way, we reduce stress and worry in our lives. Things that seem to happen in the world are neither good nor bad. It is the underlying thoughts and fears that need to be looked at.
Fight the Ego or Be Used by Spirit
My life was based on fear of consequences. In the late 1980s, I tried to overcome my fears by going into the woods and fasting. The ego laughed at me. I realized I needed mind training. The Holy Spirit told me to read the “I Need Do Nothing” section of “A Course in Miracles” and choose the holy relationship. Spirit told me that He wanted to speak through me. So I went out to gatherings and let Him communicate through me with people in holy encounters. Now my mind is still and the communication is involuntary and spontaneous.
God Dependency or Autonomy?
What we learn from “A Course in Miracles” is that all beliefs are false. One belief, forgiveness, is the answer that takes us beyond the world. We become God-dependent and everything is given. When we experience difficulty with studying “A Course in Miracles,” it is the ego that experiences the struggle. Jesus teaches that ACIM is easy because it is leading to a natural state of mind. By practicing mind training, in spite of ego resistance, we undo our individuality and autonomy. It is all or nothing.
Hypothetical Thinking
The world of linear time is a hoax. Possible future outcomes are hypotheticals. But time is really simultaneous, which solves all problems, because problems do not exist now; they are always remembered or anticipated. Your mind selects the tiniest sliver of perception, what you want to see, based on the ego’s filter. You feel what you want to feel.
What about That Deadline?
Feeling an obligation to complete anything in form keeps you in the loop of involuntary choices. When you release fear from your mind, you’ll see that perception is unified, which carries with it no consequences. Life has its own gentle voice, reminding us we’re never alone.
The Mistake Is in the Mind
The ego tries to project the error of separation from God out into the world of images, concretes, and specifics. Behavior, actions, and people are the focus. Through “A Course in Miracles,” Jesus trains us to see that there are no mistakes in behavior; the only mistake is the egoic wrong mind. Learning to be right-minded and choosing the correction is what the spiritual journey is all about.
Expression Sessions
David Hoffmeister shares about “expression sessions.” In our communities, we encourage expression of our unconscious patterns and thoughts. Rather than fearing and repressing dark thoughts, we hold the space of love and acceptance for them. In this spacious non-judgment, the burden is lifted and healing takes place through the Holy Spirit. The point is to get in touch with emotions, not to give advice or attempt to teach. David Hoffmeister recounts a parable of healing around sexuality.