David Hoffmeister shares an experience he had while practicing A Course in Miracles workbook lesson 163, “There is no death. The Son of God is free.” He had the experience that there truly is no death and that death is the ego. A woman in front of David had collapsed on the ground and stopped breathing in the grocery store he was in while practicing the ACIM lesson. When David had the experience that there truly is no death, the women seemed to be a reflection of mind and simultaneously began breathing again. What does Jesus mean by, “There is no death. The Son of God is free”? He’s really saying, “There is no ego. The Son of God is free.”
Unwinding from the World
This Life Is but a Dream
This world we see can seem very real, but, in fact, it is a dream. We may feel like we have many problems in this life such as money, relationships, jobs, family issues, addictions and all kinds of issues the ego wants us to believe we have. There is only one problem, and that is our perception. By changing our thought and belief system we can wake up from this dream world and change our perception to a happy dream. The ego would have us think that to escape the world as we see it is a very complex mission, whereas the Spirit would have us learn that it is very simple.
Problem with Self-Help
There is only one problem with self-help—the Self that we are doesn’t need any help. As we move towards the Atonement, we move increasingly to the awareness that we have been wrong about everything, and towards the realization that, “my mind holds only what I think with God.” Our purpose is not to create a utopia on earth, but only to open our minds to a state of deep love and gratitude for the One, our Creator. Many of us were taught that it’s not wise to become too happy, but Love invites us to be divinely and fully happy now.
What Is True Happiness? How Can I Find It?
You have been exerting a lot of mind energy trying to find love, freedom, happiness, and peace in the wrong direction: the world. Put all of your trust in the Spirit, and look closely and honestly at where your mind energy goes. What are you invested in? What are you putting your trust in? Nutrition, economics, being liked? A Course in Miracles teaches us, that to find lasting peace and happiness, we must start to withdraw our attention and focus from the thoughts of this world—the ego belief system—and start reinvesting our trust in that which will bring true fruition, true peace of mind. What is true happiness? It is not found in this world. You are entitled to peace, happiness, and joy; but you have forgotten who you are and are looking to the world for these things. The Holy Spirit is calling you out of this world and its belief system. This is the only worthy cause to put your mind energy into. It is one thing to say the words, “I trust you Holy Spirit and I want to hear you.” But most of the work with A Course in Miracles is taking a very close, honest look at the idea of, What have I invested in? It isn’t even a matter of having more trust. You can run a “guilt trip” on yourself even for that. For example, “I don’t have enough trust, I need to trust more.” It isn’t so much a more-or-less-thing, but it is withdrawing our belief and trust in the ego’s belief system and instead trusting in guidance.
A Course in Miracles in Las Vegas
David Hoffmeister and the Messengers of Peace travel and offer “A Course in Miracles” and Enlightenment gatherings around the world.
The World
Jesus talks about the fragmented ego’s world, in which the ego wants you dead. “A Course in Miracles” Lesson 128 says, “The world I see holds nothing that I want.” Forgive it. He also talks about the real world, the happy dream. Lesson 129 says, “Beyond this world there is a world I want.” We need Spirit’s help to heal our perception and see the forgiven world.
You Can’t Leave Heaven
The ego set up this world including the seeming responsibilities. Holy Spirit’s function is to unwind us from guilt of not giving over our peace when we interact with the world. Therefore the main function of teachers of God is to accept the Atonement for themselves. Always keep in mind that you are in Heaven, and you are never not there. The ego would say you have left, but that’s not the truth.
I Will Step Back and Let Him Lead the Way
In response to a question about how to respond when there is apparent ego attack and resistance directed at oneself, David speaks about his experience learning that what is needed is to step back and let Holy Spirit lead the way, and surrendering to releasing all judgement of who needed help. The ego is like a steel screw wound into oak with a power screwdriver. Hammer, pliers, etc. will not work to get this screw out. It has to be unwound the way it went in. When you join your mind with the Holy Spirit, that screw will come out and Holy Spirit will gently guide how to unwind from obligations that have been set up by the ego. It may be slow to start with but the unwinding is certain. We all are sustained by the Love of God and have just forgotten it.
Divesting Ego Beliefs
You have put your faith in ego beliefs such as making money on the stock market and doing regular exercise. These only wind you into the world. You are called to unwind from the world by divesting ego beliefs and investing in the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Defenses and the Fear of Love
It is difficult to understand what it means to be afraid of love. We are defending a self-concept that was made to take the place of love. What is being defended is a false identity. The goal is to uncover everything the mind is identified with in this world with the goal of seeing it all as the same. It is a helpful use of time to look at what we are identified with. Defensiveness is a good clue and is a great opportunity for true forgiveness. It is a journey of discovery to find everything that is not the truth, exposing the ego. Healing is all-encompassing.