Be willing to listen to and follow your Internal Teacher, the Holy Spirit, and you will be led as gently as if you were being carried down a quiet path in summer. Jesus, who was a devoted follower of the Holy Spirit, accepted the Atonement for himself and then became the leader in charge of the Atonement. He tells us, “if you will be a miracle worker for me, I will organize time and space for you.” That means you don’t have to do “this and that” first. If you are willing and ready, you are being called now.
Dedication and Devotion
Trust the Holy Spirit’s Voice
The Course goes far beyond an intellectual endeavor. It is a course in relinquishing every concept that we have ever held and opening to a deep trust that Spirit will guide and lead us. We can’t trust our past learning, our opinions, or our past experience, for these were made by the ego. Nor can we trust Newtonian empirical research, which is also an egoic projection based on the belief in an external world. Yet we can trust the Holy Spirit, Who will lovingly unwind our mind from every self-concept and limiting belief we ever held. By choosing to hear and follow His Voice alone, we will gradually awaken to Love’s Presence and be happy.
The Practical Tools of Awakening
In this talk, David reveals the practical tools of Awakening and how they are used to help heal our mind. He shares about his journey as a devotee of Christ, desiring only to be the living Presence of Spirit and to go wherever called. As he immersed himself deeply in the teachings of “A Course in Miracles,” allowing his mind to become empty of personal beliefs and expectations, he came to a consistent state of unified perception, the true experience of the happy dream.
From CEO to Mystic
David Hoffmeister has a revealing conversation with two former Chief Executive Officers who left their careers to devote their lives to God. CEOs cannot become enlightened. Holding any role as an identity—mother, father, butcher, baker—keeps you in illusion. You can’t spiritualize a business. You can’t bring the truth to the illusion; you must bring the illusion to the truth.
Errors Have Been Corrected
David Hoffmeister clarifies the distinction between “error” and “sin.” Error is a mistake that is correctible, but sin is a belief that there is something dark and devious that is stronger than Love. This is a crazy idea! David shares how our only function is acceptance the correction—the grace is already there! So, how does one practically experience this truth? By giving one’s mind over to Spirit, we open to the joy of true service.
Transcending a Personal Sense of Self
What am I identified with, right here, right now in this present moment? Could it be that there is an identification that has its own thoughts and its own feelings that isn’t me, yet I believe it is? Can I be that insane? No. It is only that I am believing in something that is that insane.
How to Become Enlightened?
What if you do entertain the notion of enlightenment? Some symbols and stories are about the possibility that you will become enlightened in a different Earth lifetime, and that it isn’t possible in this one. But deep down, there is a feeling that anything is possible. What if you entertain the notion of the Holy Instant as spoken about in “A Course in Miracles?”
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.
Revelation and Spiritual Practice
The direct experience of God, or revelation, is rare within the world of time and space; even Mother Teresa revealed she only experienced 7 or 8 months of consistent, direct experience with God. “A Course in Miracles” states that, “If God were reached directly in sustained awareness, the body would not be long maintained.” (M-26.3:8) You can however attain a state of consistent happiness and peace through practicing to the fullest. Parables of Helen Schucman, Bill Thetford, and David Hoffmeister’s life show that it only takes 1% principle, but 99% practice! Let your pathway to Awakening find you and follow it all the way through!
Introductory Talk (Part 3)
David welcomes a group at the start of a weekend retreat and gives an overview of the spiritual journey. Topics include: purification of thought; oneness; pure, open-mindedness; letting go of dualism; devoted practice and the desire to be still and know God; innocence.