People are thoughts in the mind, they are not really people. People do not have their own private minds and private thoughts. And they cannot seem to exist outside of the One Mind. A Course in Miracles states that at no single instant does the body exist at all, it is always remembered or anticipated. It is the fiction of identity as a person that has to be forgiven, and that’s it. You can see as many thoughts as you want. You can watch those thoughts come by, come and go in your awareness. The ones that seem to be dead, the ones that seem to be living..there’s no difference. It’s artificial, birth and death. And responsibility, there’s only one that ACIM teaches us, and that’s to accept the Atonement.
Mind
The Gift of Happiness
The way to receive the gift of happiness is to make a habit of living a Spirit-guided life. To do this we must recognize that the mind, not the body, is the decision maker. Our current perception shows us a fragmented world of fear and rage. So when confronted with a decision it is helpful for us to step back and ask “What is it for?” Then we can choose the Spirit’s purpose of forgiveness or undoing. We can choose to serve something bigger than our self. David and Frances continue on to tell enlightening parables about: opening to love, our one responsibility, Siddhartha and the movie, “Sully.”
How Can I Know the Christ Mind?
What would it be like to live in a state of grace forever? Someone compliments you, then the next moment curses you, then leaves your life forever. What if none of this had any effect on you? You simply stayed happy no matter what the passing objects did or didn’t do. The Christ Mind does not get offended. It is always content, always peaceful, always still.
Your Transcendent Life
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.
How to Be Free of People-Pleasing
The ego’s identity is very shaky! It is constantly searching for approval from the world. Notice when you are tempted to use people-pleasing in order to feel liked, or feel good about yourself. The only way that you can be free of people-pleasing is to get down to your underlying beliefs and assumptions. These beliefs are underneath the stream of thoughts that happen on the surface of your everyday life. You get a lot of opportunities on a daily basis to let the Spirit help you navigate your mind and the world that is projected from your mind!
The Depth of ACIM
David is asked about a practical scenario, and he gives the depth and context of what needs to be uncovered, explored, and released to experience healed perception. The Holy Spirit meets the mind where it believes it is, yet God did not create the cosmos of time-space, and ultimately Love must look upon Love to to be itself.
ACIM Talk (Part 8)
Tilba, Australia 2009
Becoming Passersby
Empty the mind of concepts. The mind is the classroom. Spirit will use many different backdrops for mind training. The goal is to be able to watch the world without having investment in it, to become a passer-by.
Experience and State of Mind
Spirituality has to be practical. We don’t really need another theology. We’re here to have an experience. A Course in Miracles says an experience will come to end your doubting. In heaven there are no concepts, but one concept that is still helpful while we are here is forgiveness. There is no thought of forgiveness in heaven; God does not forgive for he has never condemned. There must be condemnation first before forgiveness is necessary. The ego is a wish to be separate from God and forgiveness is a healing wish. Everything is mind. The question always comes down to, “What do you want?”
No Need to Control the Script
“… seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world.” (ACIM,T-21.in.1:7) Explore one of the most talked-about A Course in Miracles quotes: “The script is written.”(W-158.4:3) You do not have control over the script, but you do have control over your state of mind. Healing is of the mind. You made everything that your perceive with the body’s five senses in order to imagine yourself separate from God. The mind is reminded of this through many A Course in Miracles quotes, including, “Everything you perceive as the outside world is merely your attempt to maintain your ego identification,” (T-12.III.7) and, “Do not believe it (the world) is outside of yourself.” (T-12.III.9)