The mind has become the slave of the body, doing meaningless things. You are a transcendent being. Use the body as a miracle worker for the glory of God, as a blessing for the whole universe. You are headed for joy and peace! In this illusion, the body has become the end—pleasure, comfort, and convenience are all for the body. In the Kingdom of Heaven, minds don’t work to give the body a life because there is no body to have a life. Everything is reversed here. Here, mind seems private and separate and has its own private thoughts and that it has to work out life.
Creation and Extension
Let Thine Eye Be Single
How do you change something that is not real? How do you live in a world that was made as an attack on God? What is the purpose of my life? As long as you believe in the ego, you’ll seem to have needs. When you’re coming from a place of lack, you don’t make the jump from needing things to needing nothing. The Holy Spirit uses the seeming needs to lift us higher until we realize we don’t have any needs. Enlightenment is an emptying out of all self-concepts and is a state of being. We now give all our seeming talents and needs to the Holy Spirit for the ultimate re-translation.
Service
There is a high burnout rate in the field of Social Service because it is often mixed with the ego. Don’t serve because you think there is a need. Release misperceptions from your mind. See your brothers’ wholeness and completeness. When you are in divine service you are inspired. David said “yes” to Spirit and was in joy in his world travels. If you are happy, the whole world is too. All service is Self service.
It’s Very Simple
Diving into the experience of presence is the natural state while we’re not at Home. If there are plans to be made, we will be told of them. Nothing needs to be held in mind. Everything in life is given intuitively. Any kind of event comes effortlessly.
Future Thoughts and Purpose
“A Course in Miracles” offers steppingstones and metaphors that point to the change of mind it takes to make a future different from the past. When you have gone through a phase of changing the mind this way, you dip into deeper states of mind called mysticism. Here, you begin to discover the sameness of the world and start to question even the idea of linear time, and the idea that the future could be different from the past. “The past is gone, the future but imagined. These concerns are but defenses against present change of focus in perception.” (W-181.5) This is an entirely different idea than making a future different from the past because when you have gone this deep, even thoughts about the future will be distractions away from the moment—the gateway to eternity. But “A Course in Miracles” is so practical, just like learning to ride a bike, we have to go out and pedal, and take our steps! We need to use the metaphors and the steppingstones that have been given to us. And it’s also very individualized; the Spirit reaches the mind through whichever form of communication the mind is open to, yet the supporting joy and love underneath the form is the same. This is based on our invitation.
Embrace Your Experience
Forgiveness underlies all paths to God, no matter the form. The Holy Spirit uses all forms the ego made and beautifully translates them to give them a new meaning. The purpose is always to bring the mind back into unification. This is not a path of comparisons; no experience is better or worse than another. We are all here to bless everyone, because everyone is our mind. As you go deeper, as Jesus and Buddha did, it is all about emptying your mind of everything you thought you knew!
Form and Guidance
If the goal is peace of mind and form does not matter, how do we deal with things of the world such as locking doors and taking out insurance? While we seem to be in the world, we are not asked to overthrow those laws but to follow guidance on practical matters. We don’t need to ask, “Is this spiritual or not?” These things are like props coming in to use. We need to be open and prayerful as to the use of the symbols. When we are tuned in and listening there is no problem.
Washing Away the Fear
The Holy Spirit works with the mind where it believes it is. In the beginning, there seems to be a deep fear of joining. The ego looks at joining with our brothers as a way to get something. As we open to what is given and guided by Holy Spirit, the fear and resistance is washed away and our joining becomes one of what can I give, instead of what can I get.
How Can I Know Which Teacher(s) to Follow?
Jesus taught us a simple way of knowing who to trust and follow: “You will know them by their fruits.” Some fruits of the Spirit would be: consistent peace and happiness, transparency, and a true generosity that gives freely of the heart. One’s attitude is the greatest demonstration, and it is important that one doesn’t just “talk the talk” but also “walks the walk.” We all have the truth within us, and so by tuning into our feelings, we will be Guided as to who or what to follow, moment by moment.