Mastery Through Love — Everything that you perceive is the self-concept. The stars, the body, the trees, the cosmos, it’s all your making. Enlightenment occurs through mastery of love and in order to return to love we must forgive all of these ideas of what we think we are. This talk is a great aid for understanding what the self-concept is and how we can regain the awareness of love’s presence.
Right Mind vs Wrong Mind
I See Only the Past – ACIM Meditation
I see only the past and I can relax now, knowing that all I need to do while I seem to be in this world is to listen to the Holy Spirit and follow His guidance. I don’t have to strive for anything or to set any goals, because I see only the past. I don’t have to think about what to do in the future, because I see only the past. I have no control over the world I made, and never did, because I see only the past. “This world was over long ago” (T-28.I.1:6) and I rest in this Holy Instant, now. “I see only the past. This idea will be very important in our awakening, because this idea must be first acknowledged before an experience can come that is beyond it. This idea is so important that the first six Lessons of the Workbook are all based on it. You might say it is a very fundamental step on the seeming ladder of awakening. There will be ideas that will come along that may seem very radical like, “the script is written”, an idea that seems very perplexing to students of this Course, but actually, is just another form of this lesson number 7, “I see only the past.” So, when we say “I see”, it means “I perceive.” I perceive a world of images, a world of sequenced images that seem to come one after another in what seems to be called daily life, in what seems to be a linear cosmos, moving from past to future in that direction, and yet all that, all those perceptions are based on the past. The meanings that are seen, experienced, are based solely on the past. If everything I perceive is the past, it can show at once how delusional are the thoughts and images that pass the mind. I say delusional, because if you think of this in terms of making a series of choices that all seem to be different throughout the day, choosing this over that, choosing to stay or to go, preferring one thing over the next, watching your eyes be drawn to one thing instead of another thing, planning the day, having a schedule, following a calendar, you are presuming that there is something going on other than the past. There seems to be something actively present and actively unfolding in the direction of the future. Presumptions of seemingly different locations in time and space, different increments of time, some much shorter and tinier, some much, much longer, all rest on the belief that this world is somehow dynamic and unfolding.”
ACIM Meditation – I Am Upset Because I See Something That Is Not There
ACIM Meditation – I am upset because I see something that is not there. Nothing of this world resembles reality because the ego made up the world and the ego knows not of God. The ego is a hallucination and is only capable of making more hallucinations. That is why you cannot expect this world to tell you who you are. You can only be supremely happy if you know who you are and the Holy Spirit is the means to do so. The Holy Spirit is the bridge given us to escape from time and enter into eternity. Sink deep and allow this ACIM meditation to strengthen your connection with the Holy Spirit. “Today’s Workbook Lesson is giving us the chance to unpin, to unwind from the belief in being trapped in appearances. When our very identity of love of the living Christ, a perfect idea in the Mind of God, has been forgotten and completely pushed out of awareness, appearances seem to have come to take the place of love and light. This condition could be called hallucination. It is like when a thirsty traveler walking through a desert, feeling scorched, hot, parched and dry may hallucinate an oasis of shade and water. The sleeping Son of God has believed himself to be bereft of his holy Father, his creator. He finds himself lost and wandering in a desert of images, a desert of perception that God did not create: a fantasy world, a fictitious, linear stream of images that have nothing to do with reality, nothing to do with eternity, divine love and happiness. And so, the first step in healing from this apparent condition of separation is to realize that all upsets experienced are coming from a perception which is not there.”
ACIM Meditation – These Thoughts Do Not Mean Anything
These thoughts do not mean anything. Today we begin a practice of meditation. The workbook lessons are guiding us, helping us to train our minds to meditate. And the first three lessons are: “Nothing I see means anything,” “I have given everything I see all the meaning it has for me,” and “I do not understand anything I see.” These first three lessons are the very beginning of letting go of all meaning of what is perceived, all meaning of the linear perceived world of time and space. It’s like the first three lessons are opening the lid of a can, and then, as we peel that lid off, we are told these thoughts do not mean anything. So today’s lesson is the first lesson from Jesus that is addressing thoughts. The first three lessons’ addressed perception, and now, lesson number four addresses directly the thoughts of a sleeping mind. So, we now make the attempt to stop, and watch, and sink within toward “Be still and know that I am God”, toward the truth of our being. Move away from the temporary, the ephemeral, the fleeting, and inward towards certainty. Focus on this idea for today, “These thoughts do not mean anything.”
In Enlightenment Does One Still Feel Pain, Fear, or Sadness?
This is a commonly asked question by non-dual students on the topic of enlightenment. David’s answer is direct—that is a misperception; he says that there is no pain or suffering of any kind in Oneness. It is the deceived mind (the ego) that seems to experience emotions. If you perceive a world of separate images and seem to feel fluctuating emotions, that is the indicator that you want to ask for Help. It is the opportunity to question and enquire within; to forgive the very possibility of emotions, pain, and suffering, to use the language of “A Course in Miracles”. “Help me to see,” then an openness and humility can come in and you can choose again; to choose the joy of reality, of truth, of God instead of a false idea of pain.
Letting Go of Situational Thinking
You have what seem to be mounds of memories of past situations. You try to use these memory fragments to gain understanding. For example, if you have a conversation with a family member that you find upsetting, you might think back on it later and wonder: What was going on there? Why did I feel so upset? When you use this kind of situational thinking to try to understand a feeling, you are using the ego’s framework of linear time. Through the ACIM daily lessons you are trained to remember that time is already over. You do not have to believe that one thing happens after another in your experience. There is a different way to experience being.
Duality Is Not Real
Duality is not real. Truth is beyond this world and nothing has ever touched it. It cannot be anything it is not, no matter how hard we try to put our meaning onto it. It remains perfection, free from our prying hands. God is not going to reach a point of giving into the ego, and say, “Alright already! My gosh, you’ve protested enough already for millennia. Have your fantasy world. Have your illusions. We’ll coexist.” Love is all there is, light is all there is. Perfect love casts out fear, so perfect light casts out darkness. It is not a dualistic compilation.
An Uncompromising Path to God (Part 5)
David Hoffmeister has been teaching the principals found in ACIM for many years. He has been uncompromising in his practice of what the Course teaches. Because of his uncompromising approach, he is now a living demonstration of the Awakened Mind. As “A Course in Miracles” states: “You will learn this Course completely or not at all.” This series of videos recorded at the Kalani retreat center in Hawaii helps one to understand some of the steps required to awaken to the clear and beautiful state that the Course describes as the Christ Mind. Enjoy!
Duality
This discussion follows a viewing of a clip from the movie “What the Bleep Do We Know” on quantum physics. There is really just one ego and one projection. Everything that involves duality is part of the projection of the split mind. Fragmentation was made to hide the face of God. The first lesson of the Workbook of “A Course in Miracles” already speaks to this: “Nothing I see means anything.” The ego has invented this whole system to perpetuate guilt. The world looks solid but it is just a projection. God does not know anything of this world. All pain is in the mind and it is only in the mind that it can be resolved.
Coming Into Consistent Right-Mindedness
In a world of opposites, forgiveness isn’t positive. In fact, “A Course in Miracles” states, “The miracle does nothing. All it does is to undo.” (T-28.I.1:1-2) So, we could even call a miracle a positive thing, in the sense that all it does is undo. The journey from the ego’s perspective is very disheartening, challenging, disconcerting, frustrating, irritating. In fact, a vast amount of the stages in the development of trust are very difficult to go through. With this forewarning, it is no surprise when the floor drops out and we experience intensity. But it is only inevitable that the floor will no longer drop. Eventually, we experience lasting stability in mind. This is no small gift.
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