David on Plato's Cave

Plato once wrote a now famous allegory, the allegory of The Cave.
In the cave, people lived their lives facing the walls, never turning to see what else the cave might hold.
The whole of their experience revolved around their interaction w/shadows that were always cast on the walls of the cave.
Over the course of generations, it came to be believed that the shadows comprised the whole of reality; there was no need to turn around.
But one day, for no apparent reason, a young boy did slightly turn his head.
At first he was disoriented and did not comprehend what he saw.
Gradually, though, it became apparent to him that the cave dwellers were chained in such a way that all they could see were the shadows.
He saw that the cave was much more vast than he had been taught.
He saw a huge fire some distance away, being maintained by a few individuals whose appearance was not unlike his own.
With a start, he realized that the shadows on the wall were actually being cast by the dance of the firelight.
They were not real at all!
He learned how to drop the chains that had unwittingly bound him, made his way quietly past the Guardians of the Fire, and noticed a trace of light seeping in from some point high above him.
With great effort, he climbed up to where the Light was coming through and lifted himself up out of the cave.
The brilliance of the light was dazzling at first.
Everything was crystal clear! Here there were no shadows at all!
Then he remembered his family and friends still living in the cave, still entranced by shadows. Climbing back inside, he returned to his spot along the cave wall, and excitedly began to tell of his experience.
Some acted as though they could not hear him, their faces without a trace of _expression.
Others turned for a moment and then looked away.
Still others warned the young boy that the Light was an old myth, long since explained away by the high priests and governors of the cave dwellers, and that he would do well to forget it.
A few -- a very few -- wanted to hear more.
Is that what this world is?
Am I, are we, living in a cave occupied with mere shadows we cast ourselves?
Am I ready to give up my world?
It is the only one I know, and even this one I know not well.
Or do I simply fear what lies beyond the borders -- the proscriptions of authority -- of consensus "Truth"?

After enjoying watching the movie As Good As It Gets at one of the Movie Gatherings at the hotel I felt fine… until I was up on the stage. Then, with the camera recording the discussion, and an audience watching and listening, I began feeling all stirred up. Later in the evening after the event I talked it through with David and got to the feelings and beliefs that had been triggered.Lesson 12. I am upset because I see a meaningless world.Good morning Holy Spirit, last night on the stage I felt awful, cold, shaky, stirred up emotionally, and blocked – I wanted to get down and sit at the back of the room but I felt paralyzed. I kept asking You for help but it all felt so disjointed and I couldn't hear your voice. What can you tell me? Holy Spirit: You are perceiving through the egos lens. The ego was stirred up and to look back on a scene with regret or fear, wishing it was different is to perceive through it's lens. All things work together for good. Remember there are no exceptions except in the ego's judgment.Questioner: I'm considering the "lessons learnt" from the experience but I realize now that I'm perceiving them as lessons "for next time" "for the future" " so I don't have to go through that again" But this is still the ego. The lessons learnt are already past, over, done. They have nothing to do with an imaginary future. What can you tell me about this?Holy Spirit: You have picked up on this subtle ego trick several times – trying to protect the future, no matter how disguised in "helpfulness" it may appear, is the ego. Right now you can choose to focus on the past, on guilt, remorse, regret and hypotheticals, or the imaginary future, all of which are nowhere but in your imagination and they keep you distracted from the present moment. Or you can give your fears and doubt to me, remember there is only one mind, there is no-one outside of you, judging you. You are doing it all to yourself and you can let it go now.Questioner: Ok. I give it to you, all of the thoughts. I want only peace. And to know myself as perfect.From the text: The search for joy in misery will fail. (Good point Jesus).Always when I apply the experiences of the day to my lesson I am astounded at how perfectly matched they are. I am upset because I see a meaningless world. ------------------------------ Lesson 13. A meaningless world engenders fear (because I think I am in competition with God).Good morning Holy Spirit: I booked the tickets within New Zealand for David and I to fly down to the South Island and immediately after sending a suggested itinerary to the organizers all of the doubts came up with strong resistance. A strong feeling of "No more gatherings". "I don't want to go". Help!!Holy Spirit: When your motivation involves covering costs (plane tickets) you put yourself under pressure to perform. The spiritual journey is about healing your own mind, nothing else. Remember your One Goal. Give your fears and doubts to me. Trust that the plans will be given you – as they were this morning (the Guidance was to book the tickets and email the itinerary and it flowed effortlessly –the doubt came up after the action was taken) and remember that your only responsibility is to accept the healing for yourself. David is joined with you, loving you, supporting you, holding your hand whenever you need help. It is you who withdraws your hand and then feels alone. Keep your hand in his as his hand is Mine. Remember your Promise, to do Gods Will, not your own. Trust that you will receive each perfect step in your awakening plan, one moment as a time. Let the fears and doubts come up for release and remember Who's hand it is that you hold. Questioner: I don't want to do gatherings right now. Why did I set them up in NZ? Am I setting myself up to fail? I feel mixed up.Holy Spirit: You do not have to do any gatherings right now. I have set up the gatherings in NZ. They are part of the plan. Those who want healing will step up and the gatherings will unfold perfectly. You are not responsible. It is only the ego's judgment that makes things seem difficult. Return to Peace now. All is perfect. You are loved.I talked through it all with Carolina, received an email of loving support from David and before long was through the clouds of doubt. Whenever I go through this kind of turmoil I hold strong to one crucial piece of advice I was given early this year. Never make a move when you're not feeling peaceful. -----------------------------------------Lesson 14. God did not create a meaningless world.First thing in the morning after reading through my lesson I was greeted at the bedroom door by Carolina saying "Oh I have terrible period pain." I greeted her with love, went into the bathroom blocking out the message I had heard regarding pain and within seconds I had intense period pains. I applied my lesson immediately. "God did not create period pain, and so it is not real". Gone. Instantly. Within seconds. I went and told Carolina and she applied the lesson. Her pain went instantly. Gotta love those miracles!The post written on Integrity is from this day (see archives: Integrity)

YOU ARE EXISTENCE ITSELF

You are Existence Itself

Question: A Course in Miracles says that I did not affect my own
reality at all by illusions. What would you share regarding this
thought?

Answer: Do not confuse reality with illusions. You are thinking that
you were born, and now you have the opportunity to be saved. [And
you are thinking] that this birth of you and the opportunity for
your salvation would not exist had it not been for illusions. You
are thinking that since you are a product of [the thought of]
separation, you exist because of illusions. This is but a confusion
regarding who you are.

You are existence itself. You existed before illusions seemed to be
and your existence is assured after illusions are forgotten. This is
why I say you are eternal. Your existence is free of pain, fear and
worry, all of which seem to be a part of the consciousness of which
you think you are now. It is the seeming individual consciousness
that is illusion, and this illusion is not you because it is not
existence. It is an illusory consciousness that has been laid on top
of existence through imaginings.

You try to imagine yourself without imagings. This cannot be done,
for illusory consciousness does not remember existence without
consciousness, and so it cannot imagine it. Because you believe that
consciousness is what you are and that all experience must come from
being conscious, it seems that existence without consciousness must
be death. But how can existence be death? And if existence is death,
how could it have made consciousness?

Existence is a peacefulness and wholeness that your consciousness
cannot imagine. This [fact] I ask you to accept in faith and trust.
To try to imagine existence without consciousness is to continue to
exercise consciousness and to retain [consciousness] as your seeming
identity. To know your Self as existence, you must relax and let go
of consciousness.

This is why I ask you to focus on the moment, the now. Existence is
now, whereas consciousness seems to be all over the place and
nowhere at the same time. It strives to control the past and the
future, this imagining and that [imagining] all at once. In its
striving, it spins and spins missing the fact of reality by striving
within its fantasies. To let go of this striving is to be, and to be
is existence.

This is something you can do, even within the dream. And as you be
within the dream, you cease to exercise consciousness so that it
slows down, quiets and dies. But after consciousness dies, you still
are, so you must not have been consciousness . And this that you are
always was, so that it was not affected by the insane consciousness
that seemed to be you for a little while.

Consciousness is like a mask that you wear, and it seems to be
something and to be alive, but when the mask is taken off and laid
aside, it is nothing. You are what is behind the mask. You were
there before the mask was put on. You are there now, under the mask.
And you continue when the mask has been laid aside.

http://www.endeavoracademy.com/journal/baruchdespinoza.htm

God acts merely according to his own laws and is compelled by no one.That infinite things must follow from the mere necessity of divine nature, or what is the same thing, by the mere laws of divine nature, we have just shown and we have shown that nothing can be conceived without God, but that everything exists in God. Therefore, nothing outside God can exist by which he could be determined or compelled in his actions; and, therefore, God acts merely according to the laws of his nature, and is compelled by no one.
--Baruch de Spinoza

Be Hurt No More

Question: Could you speak about relationships? The Course talks about special and holy relationships. Can you briefly describe what they are?

David: Relationships seem to be a difficult undertaking in this world. They seem to be a mixture of love and hate, attraction and repulsion, joy and misery. Jesus refers to special love and special hate relationships as destructive, selfish, possessive, and exclusive. These are ego-based relationships that are songs of praise to their maker. Holy relationship is a metaphor for a special relationship that has been given over to the Holy Spirit for His purpose of forgiveness. Holy relationship is a healed relationship that reflects wholeness and completion.

Beyond all metaphors, one might say that the only real relationship is one of Spirit, of God and Creation, of Father and Son. As the only real relationship is given by God, the holy relationship is learned of the Holy Spirit. As the "scarcity principle" is undone by the Holy Spirit, the sense of lack, inadequacy, weakness, and incompletion that is typical of the special relationship is replaced in the holy relationship by joining, extension, appreciation, and acceptance.

I like to speak of the special relationship in the past tense, for as with everything of the ego, it is history. If we recall the metaphysics we have covered today, the sleeping mind became so terrified of the light that it attempted to hide from God in a world of form. Believing it had torn itself from Heaven, it attempted to set up a body-world self as its "new" identity. It attempted to forget about its Identity as Spirit. As it became identified as a body, it was shaky about this "new" identity because, though it had tried to forget the light, deep down it knew that it was making this world up and that God could and must be remembered. Being uncertain and afraid to go back to the light, it looked for an "external" solution -- other bodies with which it could "join" to find happiness and completion. That was how the so-called "co-dependency" of special relationships began.

As soon as the mind believed it was out on the screen of the world, it sought outside itself to alleviate the guilt and fear and loneliness and emptiness it felt within. It looked for other bodies to be its friends and companions. Associations with the "right people," the sleeping mind's God-substitutes, took on great importance. The whole world became one giant special relationship, because everything that the mind associated with on the screen was set up to be a God-substitute. And the reason why special love and special hate relationships are never completely satisfying and never bring lasting peace and happiness is because there can never be a substitute for the Love of God.

The holy relationship can only be experienced now as a reflection of the Love of God. It is analogous to the real world, complete forgiveness, or healed perception that I spoke of earlier. As one realizes the impossibility of personal judgment, one also realizes the impossibility of special relationships of any kind. Holy relationship, then, is not personal in the sense of bodies relating to one another. It is symbolic of a universal wholeness, a state of mind that can only give of its complete perfection. The concept of "getting" something in return for something else is utterly meaningless in the present moment. Right now, there is only rest, contentment, and fulfillment.

To be continued . . .The body represents the gap between the little bit of mind you call your own and all the rest of what is really yours.
You hate it, yet you think it is your self, and that, without it, would your self be lost.
This is the secret vow that you have made with every brother who would walk apart.
This is the secret oath you take again, whenever you perceive yourself attacked.
No one can suffer if he does not see himself attacked, and losing by attack.
Unstated and unheard in consciousness is every pledge to sickness.
Yet it is a promise to another to be hurt by him, and to attack him in return"
(T.28.VI.4; italics added).

More on A Course in Miracles from Awakening Mind

Questioner: If nothing unreal exists, what is there?

David: God and everything that comes from God has existence. So Christ, Who is His created Son, has existence.

Christ is the Thought of God. God extended His Son from Himself "in His own image and likeness," which translates to alike in thought and of a like quality. In A Course In Miracles(c) Jesus also says that the Son of God has creations and the power to create, since God gave His Son creative ability. So the Son's creations also have existence.

However, we can make a distinction between this world's definition of "creation" and what Jesus calls "creation." The time/space cosmos, world, and the bodies that seem to inhabit the world are projections of temporary and ever-changing thought-forms that God did not create. These, then, are called "miscreations." To induce the mind to give up its miscreations is the only application of creative ability that is truly meaningful.

There was a time when these thought-forms (ego) seemed to begin, and there will seem to be a time when they will end. That time is now if one so chooses. This ending has already happened via the Holy Spirit. The linear time/space illusion has been corrected. Accepting the Atonement or Correction for all misthought only seems to be a matter of time. It is a present choice which brings an end to all choice.

The cosmos and world of bodies are a make-believe dream that is illusory. Spirit, in contrast, is eternal and changeless. Spirit comes from Spirit, in a continuous line of creation. God is Spirit; the Son of God is Spirit; the creations of the Son of God are Spirit. Spirit, however, has nothing at all to do with the world perceived through the five senses of the body, including the body itself. When the Course says nothing unreal exists, it is referring to the unreal projected time/space cosmos/world of bodies, planets, stars, black holes, galaxies, etc. Jesus is contrasting the eternal Spirit, which is of God, with the time/space universe, which is of the ego.

Questioner: Wow! When I look at the stars and I look out at the vastness of this physical universe, I see oceans, I see mountains, I see continents. The material universe seems pretty vast for something that doesn't even exist.

David: All of that is testimony to the power of one's mind, to the power of the mind given to an unreal belief.

In the Bible, the Genesis story says that God created the heaven and the earth. In contrast, Jesus in His Course, as I have noted, reserves the term "creation" for the perfect, the eternal, and the changeless. The "fall of mankind" refers to the world of duality within which mankind now seems to struggle for survival. The world is merely the unreal projection of an unreal belief: the ego. In other words, this puff of an idea, or this belief in separation from God, was an incredible, ridiculous idea. The cosmos/world seemed to arise as a hiding place from God for the mind that believed in the separation, having remembered not to laugh.

Again, the distinction between what has existence and what has no existence is the distinction between the eternal and the temporary. Anything that is temporary, including the tiny, mad idea and all that seemed to spring from it, does not exist. Anything that is eternal or of God does exist and has reality.

Questioner: I don't really want to get stuck on this for too long because there's a lot to cover, but I'm looking for the origin of the ego. What was it originally? Where did the ego come from?

David: If there was an answer to the question, "Where did the ego come from?" it would give reality to that which has no reality. If the ego had a source, then it would be real. And so to ask this question is still to assume that the impossible did happen, and to look to the past for answers.

The experience of the Answer is within this moment! Seek it here and now.

In practical terms, this kind of question is simply an ego delay tactic to avoid the acceptance of the Correction in the present moment, which remains one's only responsibility. An experience is available now in which one sees that the impossible did not happen. Why look to the past? History would not even seem to exist if one wasn't continuing to make the same mistake in the present.

Whenever one is looking for a historical answer or theology to explain the impossible, just be aware that it is a delay maneuver. Remember, right now, this very instant, there is the opportunity to be completely absolved of guilt and fear, completely healed forever. Remind yourself, "I don't want to figure out how the impossible happened, since that cannot be figured out. What I want is healing; I want to accept the Atonement for myself."
Questioner: I'm still puzzled about our creations. What are they? We create from God, of God, that which is real. The Course goes on and on about what we create and there's a question that keeps coming up for me: "What is it exactly that we create?"

David: Jesus refers to the Son's "creations" many times in the text. Yet He never goes into a description of these creations in any specific detail except to imply that one remains unaware of them until one truly remembers one's Self as the Son of God. To try to imagine what they might be is impossible, for the imagination is still within the domain of the ego and these creations are not. Imagination involves images. Creation does not. There are no specific references as to what the "creations" are because they are not concrete or specific, being abstract Spirit.

Questioner: So actually they are created in Spirit, unseen to us at this time. But perhaps in our passing on they will be known to us?

David: Even in using the phrase "in our passing on," one must be clear about what that means. These creations are known when one wakes up from the dream of the world. Yet perception has to be cleared up, so to speak, before one can truly know anything. When one talks about "passing on," there is often an assumption that the "life" that one seems to experience in the body really is Life. For example the statement: "In the course of a lifespan we are born, we grow up, we age, and then we die or pass on" assumes that life is of the body, when in fact, Life is simply a state of mind.

Concepts such as "making one's transition" or "passing on" still involve linear, time/space components. All Life is One as Mind is One. Life is being with God in the Kingdom of Heaven. Life is Being. In terms of the world, some individuals seem to have had glimpses or reflections of Life, moments of joy, for no apparent reason.

When one is lined up with and listening to that still Voice in one's mind, when one is right-minded, that is a reflection of Life. When one is listening to the ego, when one is wrong-minded, that is death.

Life is eternal and has nothing at all to do with time. That's a lot different than worldly definitions of life and death (i.e., of bodies, plants, animals, organisms, etc., which live, grow, fade, and die with time). The Course lifts these definitions from the level of form to the level of mind. At the level of mind, both death and the reflection of Life are purposes.

Questioner: Is it possible to know our creations in form?

David: Again, God's Creation and the Son's creations have nothing to do with form or images. What the Course calls "the real world" is the experience one has when images or perception become true or straightened out via the Holy Spirit. The real world is the Holy Spirit's perception of the world, or the forgiven world. This is the metaphorical stepping-stone in the seeming return to God or Knowledge or Creation. True perception, or the real world, leads to God or truth.

When God's Son seemed to fall asleep and dream of separation, the Answer that God gave was the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has a purpose for the dreaming of the world which brings with it the Vision of Christ.

In the Bible it is written: "As you sow, so shall you reap." The way this world is set up, this "law" translates into: whatever the mind thinks and feels and believes about itself, the world will prove or bring witness to.

The ego-invested mind feels guilty, believing it actually separated from God, and therefore calls forth scenarios and scripts and scenes from the world that witness to this guilt. Abuse, neglect, victimization, sickness, pain, and suffering are all, therefore, interpretations of the world that are based on the belief that one has separated from God.

A movie projector/theater analogy may be helpful here. In the projector room, inside the projector, is this glowing, brilliant, radiant light. That's a great metaphor for the Holy Spirit. That brilliant light seems to pass through the film, which is filled with a lot of dark images. We'll call those dark images "attack thoughts" or "ego thoughts." As these thoughts are projected, what seems to be produced on the theater screen are shadows. To the mind watching the movie, these shadows appear to have meaning. However, the only meaning the movie seems to have is given to it by the mind, which has forgotten that what it sees is just a movie. It has identified with figures on the screen and thought of itself as a person among other persons.

The world perceived through the body's eyes and heard through the body's ears is also a screen of images. The world is just the shadowy reflection of the attack thoughts in the deceived mind. If one becomes aware of these attack thoughts and is willing to let them be replaced by clear, real thoughts, one is willing to clean the film up, so to speak, and let more light shine through. When this happens, the screen is going to light up more and more. The world will reflect the light in one's mind.

As the mind begins to let go of the ego belief system of separation, it opens up to the Holy Spirit's thought system, which is the memory of God in the deceived mind. This is a thought system which reflects love and offers a completely different interpretation of the world. As the mind embraces the Holy Spirit's thoughts, the world brings forth witnesses to that love. When one accepts the Holy Spirit, the world that was once seen as a place of kill or be killed, of violence, of competition, and of inequality becomes full of miracles -- witnesses of wholeness and completion. Only then is it possible to experience the peace, joy, and happiness of forgiveness, what Jesus calls "the real world."

Questioner: What about this real or forgiven world? What do I have to do to see the forgiven world the Holy Spirit sees?

David: One has to be willing to give up judgment, or more accurately, see the impossibility of judgment. The reason one seems to experience hot and cold, pain and pleasure, sickness and health, war and peace, death and life and all the variations, degrees, and extremes of the world, is simply because of judgment. Judgment breaks apart and fragments.

Let me use the thought of unity as a contrast. Just think of the word "unity." One. Oneness. Union. An unbroken continuity. The circle is a great symbol of unity; no beginning, no end, no duality, just one. The deceived mind looks about the world, the world perceived through the body's senses, and experiences fragmentation and duality.

How does one reconcile duality with unity? One doesn't for they are not reconcilable. The Holy Spirit's function is to translate duality or misperception into healed or true perception, which is the bridge to Unity or Oneness.

The Holy Spirit, an eternal creation, functioning as the memory of God in the sleeping mind, sees the thought of duality as false. Therefore, it is the Holy Spirit that is the bridge back to truth, reality, or God.

That can seem like a lot of metaphysics, so let's use a concrete example to gain some insight about perception. Have any of you ever had the experience of a friend highly recommending a movie to you, saying "You've got to see this movie, it's the best"? So as soon as you can, you see the movie. And afterwards you think you must not have seen the same movie -- you don't understand how your friend could have rated it "the best." You have a very different perception of the movie.

When we really start to look closely at perception, what we find is that no two people see exactly the same world. Everything seems relative and nothing seems to last forever in this world. Within a world of duality, a world of unreality, there is no universal agreement. It seems as if some perceptions have common elements. People may seem to be able to agree, for example, on the color of the grass or the sky. Yet even these "agreements" are not without exceptions.

When one really explores the topic of perception, it becomes more apparent that every one sees a different world, based on subjective interpretation. That's where all the conflict comes in. Nothing in a world of subjectivity and relative perception can be completely shared. Only true ideas, ideas of God, which are not of this world, can be shared.

The good news is that all is well. You can rest in the idea that what is seen with the body's eyes doesn't make any sense because true meaning and happiness are beyond the body, within the mind. When perception is twisted and distorted, pain, anguish, and a host of fear-based upsets can seem to be experienced. Therefore, the attempt to reconcile what is perceived through the body's senses with peace, happiness, and joy is impossible! Peace, happiness, and joy characterize the Spirit of God which is within, within the Silence.

Everyone seems to see the world differently; opinions and varied perspectives abound. A first step in coming to peace of mind is bringing the many seeming problems of the world back to one's own mind and admitting that one has a perceptual problem. The first step is being open to the idea that all the events that seem to be happening in the world, all the wars and competition and conflicts, are just mirroring one's own conflicted mind . Only if the problem is seen to be in one's mind, can the solution, which is also in one's mind, be accepted.

Therefore, I want our discussion to be a discussion of the mind. As we continue our discussion today, let's take a look at some of the beliefs and perceptions that are held. Doing so is a big step on the road to release. It is a necessary step. Thoroughly questioning all beliefs, and ultimately the one belief in separation on which they are based, is the way to come to a lasting state of peace of mind.

Questioner: I have a sense of what you are saying, yet I don't feel like I have an idea about how to stop criticizing and judging. It seems automatic, like a habit, and I don't know how not to do it. Can you give me any suggestions about how to begin to let go of some of that stuff?

David: Yes. In the Bible Jesus says, "Judge not, lest you be judged." The Course gives a framework for laying aside judgment. The Workbook is a tool designed to undo "personal" judgment and make way for the one Judgment of the Holy Spirit: God's Son is guiltless, sinless, forever whole and pure and innocent. Jesus says it is not that one shouldn't judge, but that judgment is something that one is totally incapable of doing. So in other words, one is like a little child who is trying to run the world. Jesus says that in order to judge anything accurately, one would have to be aware of an inconceivably wide range of variables, past, present, and to come. In order to judge fairly and correctly, one would have to know the consequences or effects of one's judgment on everything and everyone -- in other words, the entire Sonship.

That's not the way one generally thinks of personal judgment. It is usually thought of in terms of the consequences to the personal self, family, friends, etc. "What are the consequences going to be for me and my significant others?" is often the question. "What are the pros? What are the cons?"

What Jesus is saying is that a sleeping mind is incapable of judging accurately because it doesn't see the total picture. It is literally blind, for it hallucinates. The good news, though, is that the Holy Spirit is in one's mind, and the Holy Spirit does see the total picture. His Judgment is accurate. In any conceivable situation the Holy Spirit knows what is most helpful for the entire Sonship. The Holy Spirit is always the Answer, regardless of the question.

The most helpful answer I can offer you is this: use the Workbook as Jesus instructs. Right now we have the opportunity to examine the metaphysics on which the Workbook is based and that can help make the Workbook lessons more meaningful to you.

From the belief in separation from God an entire thought system of separation seemed to arise. The ego is this thought system's first premise. To go all the way to the bottom of this distorted thought system, is to realize that the ego is the false underlying belief that one can actually separate from God. According to logic, any statement is only as true as the premise on which it rests. The ego is the false premise. When the mind seemed to separate and fragment, it seemed to forget abstract reality and identify with a physical time/space world. This was a stark contrast to reality and also very chaotic to a mind that was accustomed to the unity of the Kingdom of Heaven. In Heaven the mind is at home and in its natural state of wholeness and oneness and completion. After the so-called "fall," the mind felt so chaotic that it tried to order the illusion; it was an attempt to bring some sense of stability to the chaos. That's where judgment first came in. To order the illusion, to make a hierarchy of illusions, is to judge. A worldly example which reflects this attempt is the scenario of someone entering an "out-of-control" situation, feeling fearful, and believing that if he could just get the chaotic situation in order, everything would be better. So really, judgment is nothing more than a device, and an ineffectual one at that, designed to bring some type of order to chaos and thus minimize fear. But by thinking that it can order its own thoughts, or think apart from God, the mind blocks awareness of the Christ, which thinks only with God. In reality, God orders one's thoughts.

If you believe your own personal judgments are necessary for your survival in this world, the teaching I am sharing will seem to entail radical trust, for this world teaches that judgment is actually good and beneficial. Educational systems are based on the belief that you can learn "good" judgment and become a "mature, functioning, adult citizen." That's what worldly education is all about. One seems to get really good at judging, which is equated with "knowing" what things are good and what things are bad, so the good can be pursued and the bad avoided. Yet wisdom is not judgment; wisdom is seeing the impossibility of personal judgment and therefore relinquishing any attempt to continue it. Only when one has recognized something as valueless is there a desire to relinquish it. Once the impossibility of judgment is grasped, judgment is relinquished, for it ceases to hold any attraction or value.

The belief that one knows how to take care of one's self is what needs to be undone, since the deceived mind knows nothing. When, as the Course recommends, one starts to let go of thinking one knows what's in one's own best interests, it seems scary to the ego. The ego is being undone and fearfully objects: "If I don't take care of me, who will?" Yet if one does not rely on the ego's voice, but trusts instead in that small, still Voice within, decisions flow from this intuitive listening and everything works out smoothly. All the effort and judging that one does in trying to maintain the tiny personality self and to survive in this world has no value. Yet, one is always, so to speak, in good hands with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is deserving of one's trust.

This seems to be a world where one has to fight tooth and nail at every turn. This seems to be a world where one has to have many defenses and security systems. The world teaches: Make sure you carry your mace and a hand gun; make sure when you leave your house that your alarm is turned on; make sure you lock your car doors; make sure you wear enough clothing when you go out; make sure you take your medicine. It's a web of defenses, all of which involve protection of the body and personal judgment. The world's teaching is that you must do all these things just to keep "alive" in this body. Again, I raise the question as to the meaning of "life" as related to the body. The Course is saying: "My little child, you think that's your Life. But, that's not your Life at all. Your Life is Spirit. Spirit is invulnerable and needs no defense."
Questioner: The other day I was saying, "If we can wake up in the morning and forget that we're male or female, black or white, rich or poor, Republican or Democrat, or whatever we think we are, and go through the day without all that baggage, judgment is a lot less. It's almost forgotten."

David: The end of judgment is indeed forgetting all concepts of duality.

Obviously there aren't any Democrats or Republicans in Heaven. There aren't men and women in Heaven. Whenever one gets defensive about anything and is willing to just be quiet and ask for help from the Holy Spirit, insight into what is being defended comes to mind. One finds that one is always defending a false identity.

For example, if I'm identified as a Democrat and I perceive that someone is knocking the Democrats, a defensive reaction is inevitable. Whatever concept or image one identifies with, one will defend. The only Identity that one can identify with and be totally defenseless is the Christ. The Christ is not a concept or an image, but a reality. Spirit is something that doesn't need to be defended. It just is.

When one is identified with anything of this world, then one has made up a self-concept that is intended to take the place of Spirit, and it must be defended because it is not true. Truth needs no defense. Defense is what the belief in separation leads to. It's the belief that one can make an image of one's self, instead of just accepting one's Self as being created by God. That's very basic when you think about it. It seems like it could take a lot of mind training to become completely disidentified from those concepts that we were just speaking of. But it is unavoidable. The natural direction of the mind is to disidentify from those concepts, to learn true forgiveness, and to finally remember God.

Questoner: I'm really curious to get a picture of how you live your life. I mean what's the difference between judgment and priority? How did you end up here today without any judgment? How does that happen for you?

David: Every time one comes to a branching of the road, in the worldly sense, it seems as if one has to go either one way or the other. It seems as if there's a judgment involved. Which way should I go? From the time/space perspective, at every single junction of the road, the Holy Spirit knows which way one needs to go. One need only listen!

The Holy Spirit appears to be evaluative as long as the mind believes that it is in the maze of time/space. Yet the last judgment one need make is that it is impossible to judge anything. God doesn't make judgments. There is nothing to judge between in Oneness. God knows only what is.

But, as long as the mind believes that it is in a maze of duality, the Holy Spirit seems to guide it out of duality. So, if I apply this to the question you asked about me ending up here today, the answer is simply that I listen. I don't have any goals other than staying tuned in to the Holy Spirit and being at peace. Without worldly goals that spring from false self-concepts, there are no perceived separate interests or any future ambitions or past regrets. One can truly trust and listen and follow.

Let me share another analogy to help clarify some of the ideas about uncovering the ego thought system. I've talked about the deceived mind at times as analogous to a skyscraper. The many floors of the building are like the many layers of the unconscious mind. In this analogy the Holy Spirit, the Answer that God gave to the belief in separation, is in the basement. The ego is in the basement also, for God placed His Answer where the problem of separation seemed to be and it was solved. All the floors, first, second, third, twenty-ninth, thirty-first, thirty-second, and every dark room and closet of beliefs which have sprung from the ego were made as a defense against the light, the Holy Spirit.

In its deceived state, the mind is afraid of the Holy Spirit because it believes what the ego says: "You've left Heaven and God is furious. You walked out on Him and if you go back to the light, God will punish you."

The Holy Spirit, in contrast, is gently reminding the mind: "God loves you. He'll always love you. You can never separate your Self from Him. He's not angry."

With all these floors of unquestioned beliefs, the mind has forgotten that it is Spirit and believes instead that it's a person living in a world of duality. In our analogy, the mind believes it is a person on the roof -- where the flag is blowing. It believes it is stuck in a body and at the mercy of a world external to itself.

Like our earlier movie projector analogy, the roof of this building is comparable to the movie screen of the world. It seems as if one needs to go through all the different floors of beliefs to get down to the basement. Yet there is a master switch in the basement. Seeing the master switch as self-destruction, the ego has heavily guarded against the discovery of it. The ego fears that all at once, the entire building will be lit up, and it will be! This master switch is complete forgiveness, the Atonement, or the reversal of all ego thinking!
Questioner: Here's my situation on the roof of that building. I have to go back to work today and do some computer work and some other things before tomorrow morning. I'd rather stay right here. You talk about intuition and Spirit leading you. Now how do I do that?

David: The Holy Spirit starts from where and what the mind believes it is. Suppose you believe you're a woman who has a particular job, and tonight that looks like having to do work at a computer. Let's suppose that this scenario is all just a motion picture of a belief system that you have, and that this is simply the way that you perceive yourself at this moment. The Holy Spirit doesn't try to yank this web of beliefs apart. The Holy Spirit will use those things that you believe in, to help you realize that you are much more than the self-concepts in which you believe.

This discussion, for example, is bringing witness to your mind's desire to wake up and remember your reality as the Son of God. All one has to have is the willingness, and the Holy Spirit will undo the false self-concepts and replace them with forgiveness. Start with this prayer: "Abide with me, Holy Spirit. Guide me in what to say and do and where to go." If you welcome and trust Him, you will experience immediate results.

Questioner: I'm having some trouble with the description of duality and that it's our perception that's the problem. I work in a business where I have to see things exactly as they are happening, not as I might like them to happen. So, the problem for me is understanding how to get to that place that you're talking about.

David: It certainly seems that when one has identified one's self, for example, as an employee in a business, that there are "external" constraints and restrictions to abide by. For example, let's say one is identified as a manager. As a manager, one seemingly has to hold other people accountable for doing certain things. A manager monitors and evaluates employees, directs them, conducts performance reviews, and so forth. Also, every manager has a "boss" whose job it is to make sure the manager is accountable. What one must do is look closely and go deeper into the belief system that is producing the faulty perception, that is producing the scenario I have just described. One must be willing to examine what one's priorities are, what is most important in one's life. Is peace of mind one's only priority?

I've had to take a good look at everything I believed, turn inward for strength and support, and realize with certainty that the Holy Spirit is my only "Boss" and forgiveness my only function. One may say, "How practical is that? What do you do when you have two bosses, if you have the Holy Spirit and your employer telling you two different things?" Again, the Holy Spirit meets the mind where it believes it is. He works with the mind, helping it to exchange accepted self-concepts for the more expansive self-concepts that approach true forgiveness.

As you lay aside judgment and change your mind about the world, what happens on the screen of the world will be a symbolic representation of that mind shift and of your perception of relationships. So really we're back to just saying, "Okay, Holy Spirit, work with me right now where I believe I am and help me loosen my mind from these false beliefs. Help me let go of the ego and my perception will be healed."

Trust in the Holy Spirit for everything and He will take care of you in ways you can't even envision.

Questioner: I'd like to bring up a particular relationship I'm having trouble with. I realize that this one person keeps reflecting something back to me. I perceive this person as controlling and really manipulative. I buy into it and then feel guilty. I really don't think I can go on with this any longer. It is dangerous for me to hang around this kind of control. It doesn't do me any good and it doesn't help this person either. So, what's going on in my mind?

David: A control issue is always an _expression of what the Course calls "the authority problem." If one takes a sampling of human behavior, there appears to be a variety of control issues that seem to be evident in the world. There seems to be control issues with parents, with children, with spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, control issues with teachers, politicians, employers, and perhaps even with the IRS or the police. This world seems to be full of control issues. Yet it is the sleeping mind that has the one central control issue or the one central authority problem. This authority problem is the basis of all seeming control issues between people or between people and "the system."

The authority problem is really a question of authorship. The central question is: "Was I created by God or can I make myself as I wish to be? "Was I authored by God or am I the author of myself?" The sleeping mind believes that it has separated from God and has made up a self and a world. It thinks it is the author of its own identity, the author of reality. Until the Correction for this basic error is accepted, this problem is believed by the sleeping mind to be a battle with God. But a battle of this magnitude is too terrifying to keep in awareness and is therefore denied from awareness as a defense. As a further defense, the problem seems to be projected onto the screen of the world and thus appears to be where it is not, between persons or between persons and institutions. These are, therefore, make-believe conflicts. There are no control issues in the world, though that's where they seem to be experienced. The ego is the control issue and the ego is a belief in the mind. Again we come back to the main idea: There are no problems apart from one's mind.

Questioner: So when I talk to this person again, what's supposed to happen? Am I not supposed to see any controlling behavior?

David: You will see what you believe. Just be willing to examine the belief in control. When you say that another person reflects something about yourself, you need to go beyond the level of behavior. For example, you may look at someone and seem to judge from their behavior or appearance that they are sloppy. That is not the level at which the mirroring we are speaking of takes place. It does not necessarily follow that you are a sloppy person if you see another person as sloppy. The mirroring is at the mind level. One has to believe in the concept of sloppiness before one can see it in the world or in a person. Everything is an idea. The ideas of God are very different from the ideas of the ego. Sloppiness and control are just ideas or concepts that are made up by the ego. A sure way to retain a concept is to project it out and see it in the world instead of seeing it as a made-up concept in one's mind.

God is not controlling. God is not manipulative. Yet as long as one projects responsibility for making up the idea of control, one will believe that control is possible. One must question the false belief in one's mind, the ego, and allow it to be raised to the light.

Questioner: What would you say about deceit as opposed to control or manipulation? Probably the person that I was the most angry with in my entire life was a very deceitful person. He lied whenever it suited him and I think he hurt many people that way. When I was dealing with him I wasn't just imagining those falsehoods, was I?

David: The same line of reasoning can be applied to deceit. The reason deceit of any kind seems to provoke anger is because all deceit is a reminder of the deceit in one's own mind. To believe in the ego is deception. One who perceives one's self as existing in this world has fabricated a self and that is deceitful. To believe that one could actually separate from God is the most basic and the only deception. But that's too terrifying to keep in awareness, so it's denied from awareness and the deceit is projected onto the world and onto persons.

Anger could not really be because of a relationship with a "deceitful person," but comes from projecting the guilt inherent in believing one has separated from God. You can see that upset of any degree or variety can be traced back to that one error. And only the one Correction, the Atonement, will bring eternal peace and happiness and an end to anger forever!

Question: What about practical advice? I want something to go with right now, something I can take with me as I go forth from here. How can I move more towards tuning into the Spirit and allowing my mind to wake up to reality?

David: Everyone in this room can look at one's self, however one perceives one's self, and say "Hey, I've learned some skills and abilities." Each of us has the capacity to learn and has seemingly developed abilities through "life" experiences, education, or perhaps skills training, workshops, etc. Jesus meets the mind wherever it believes it is. These skills and abilities will be used in the Plan of the Atonement.

Recently someone told me: "I've been learning my whole life and I'm just getting into graduate school. Now I'm reading the Course and it says I have to unlearn everything." She said she felt conflicted about going into graduate school and going through all the study and papers and exams while feeling that she was supposed to unlearn the world. What I am sharing is that the Holy Spirit can use whatever the deceived mind has learned for His purpose.

Let's examine this closely. When we consider learning in the context of this world, we may think of learning mental and motor skills, athletic skills, skills in reading, in writing, in speaking, and so on. The key thing that one needs to get clear about is the purpose that skills and abilities serve. The ego wants to use these abilities to reinforce the separation and maintain the body identity. The ego wants to maintain itself. One needs to get clear on the Holy Spirit's use for these abilities. The practical question is: "Am I willing to be shown the Holy Spirit's use for my body, mental skills, and physical skills?"

Properly perceived, all skills and abilities are channelized into the ability to heal. All skills and abilities that are used to prop up the little self-concept, in the pursuit of fame, fortune, status, or bodily convenience and comforts, etc., are used for ego goals (i.e., bigger, better, more, faster). The ego is counseling one to use one's skills and abilities to become a better person. Instead, use those skills and abilities to let go of the body identity and to extend love to your brothers. Use them to share the ideas of the Holy Spirit. Use your skills and abilities to change your perception of yourself and remember that you are a mind and not a body.

The most practical thing one can ever ask about anything is: "What is this for?" For example, I liked the idea of freedom. I wanted to be free. But I discovered that my definition of freedom was way off the mark. I had defined it as doing what I wanted to do, wherever and whenever I wanted to do it. Freedom of the body was the basis of that definition. Other definitions of freedom might include economic freedom, freedom of choice, political freedom, or the freedom of mobility. They all involve the body. What the Course teaches is that true freedom has nothing to do with any of these definitions. It has nothing to do with the body and everything to do with the mind. It has everything to do with listening to the Holy Spirit and following the Holy Spirit's guidance.

Again, it really all comes down to purpose. We can call purpose the "level of mind" or "causation." Purpose is content. Form, the level of the body, is essentially irrelevant. The ego attempts to raise up form as important (i.e., how the body looks, what the body eats and wears, how old or young the body is, what color the body is, etc.). These images are merely overlays, just concepts that cover over the awareness of Spirit, and their importance naturally diminishes as one starts to follow the Holy Spirit's purpose. It just becomes less and less and less noticed. One ceases judging how people look or what kind of cars they drive or what kind of houses they live in, etc. How does form stack up when it comes to tuning in to Spirit? It doesn't! When one really gets into purpose and intention, all the specific details leave consciousness and fade from awareness.

Questioner: I'm glad you're bringing that up because I feel that following the Spirit can look no particular way. Trying to model my life after anyone else's life or trying to choose appropriate behaviors is not it, because that would be placing an emphasis on form. It's the purpose that's important, and the form just follows and flows automatically from that. I think sometimes it's easy to jump to the conclusion that if the form of my life seems different from the form of the life of someone I regard as a model or an example, then I've got to change my life to be like theirs. That's missing the whole point. It's not about the form, it's about the transformation that takes place in the mind. Then, if the form changes, it changes because of the change that has occurred in the mind, not because I have addressed the form and tried to change the behavior or how things look.

David: Yes. Indeed the only thing one can choose to change is the way one thinks. To try to change the behavior will not solve anything. The only way that one can solve misperception once and for all is to look calmly and directly at all false thoughts, see their unreality, and look beyond them to one's real thoughts.
If one chooses to think with the Holy Spirit, one perceives everything as either love or a call for love. So, for example, if your child is screaming or crying, or your spouse starts yelling at you, the situation is simply perceived as a call for love if you are lined up with the Holy Spirit. It is as if your brother were saying: "Please teach me that this isn't who I really am. I'm asking you to remind me who I really am." The Holy Spirit sees it that way. But through the ego's lens, the situation gets perceived as an attack. Can you see that once you perceive attack, a defensive reaction is unavoidable? So really the key is seeing that attack is impossible. It doesn't do any good to think, "Gosh, I'm being attacked" and then try to control the behavior to appear defenseless. To try to correct the error at the form level never works.

Questioner: I've read most of the Text in A Course in Miracles(c) and the idea of the physical world and the body being just a projection calls to mind a lot of old Christian beliefs. For example, the belief that abusing the body or neglecting the body or punishing the body, brings us back to Spirit. That belief doesn't seem to be of God. I guess I'm confused, because to me it doesn't seem loving to say that we must leave the physical world behind, neglect it, and not take care of it to become Spirit. So I guess I'm confused and I thought that maybe you could help me understand that better.

David: Jesus came nearly 2,000 years ago with a message of unconditional love and it's interesting to observe the ego distortions that have presented themselves. From a metaphysical perspective, whenever one tortures the body, hates the body, or abuses the body, it implies an underlying false belief in the mind that the body or the world is evil. The ego wants the mind to see the body as its home. And yet it hates the body because the body doesn't seem to be a good enough home. It seems to grow old, get sick, and die. Yet to hate anything one must believe it is real. That is the deception, for the world and body have no reality. Reality is Spirit. Can one be open to seeing that by attributing a negative value to the body or world, one is making the projection seem real, as more than neutral or nothing?

The flip side of this error, which is the same trap, is valuing the body/world, glorifying it for what it seems to offer, or raising it up in importance in any way. Indulgence of the senses, status, fame, etc., don't bring lasting peace and happiness because they reinforce the bodily identity and one is not a body. Trying to solve an inner emptiness or feeling of lack by indulging in drugs, sex, entertainment, food, or any pleasures of the world, is to make the error seem real by thinking the body is valuable and desirable. It is certainly esteemed as more than neutral or nothing. Denying the body or indulging the body is not the truth that will set one free.

Miracles are shifts in perception that witness to the mind that it is much more than a body. As I have shared, this is a Course in changing one's mind about the world and not a Course in trying to change the form and hoping that one's mind will follow. This is a Course in learning that there is a higher purpose for the body and the world: the Holy Spirit's purpose of forgiveness. Again, the body itself is neither good nor bad. The Holy Spirit uses the body solely for communication, to speak for God through it. To learn true forgiveness is to give up the ego's uses for the body, which could be summarized as pride, pleasure, and attack. To allow one's body to be used by the Holy Spirit as an instrument of healing is to allow distorted perception to be corrected.

Questioner: I just thought I would share this. I would like you to address the concept that what I see in front of me "is only a projection of my own mind." So essentially there's no one out there? If I still perceive a negative trait in another, that means that I still harbor that thought in my own mind and have not yet released it. I still hold that thought in my mind and that's why I still see it.

David: Yes. Every thought is either projected or extended. Attack thoughts are projected. Real thoughts are extended. The perceived world is just a representation of thoughts. Attack thoughts are kept out of awareness and then "seen" in the world as if they were external or independent of their "maker" -- one's own mind.

Questioner: I don't know, there's something else. I just really want to look deeper into this. I guess there's an aspect of that I'm not understanding or I wouldn't have brought it up. So wherever you want to go with that would be great.

David: Everyone, deep within, wants to be free of attack thoughts or personal judgment. In fact, that is the only freedom. The process of relinquishing judgment may seem to be difficult. It really isn't, once the value of nonjudgment is grasped by the mind. To the ego, the relinquishment of judgment is perceived as personally insulting. Giving up judgment is often interpreted by the ego like this: "Hey, I am a competent, mature person. I have learned lots of very useful judgments about the world. I cannot be completely wrong about all of it." One is told in some of the early Workbook lessons that one's mind is filled with meaningless thoughts. The key is to have faith in the Holy Spirit's undoing of the ego and not to perceive the lessons as humiliating, which would be the ego's interpretation. Start with a sense of true humility and true humbleness and say, "Okay, I want to start with an admission. I want to start with the admission that my mind is filled with a lot of thoughts that don't come from my Father in Heaven." It's starting to see that one really does need a mind overhaul, a complete change of mind about one's self and the world.

The early lessons help loosen the mind from the way one currently thinks and perceives. The later lessons in the Course are wonderful affirmations of the truth. These are reflections of real thoughts. These are the thoughts that one thinks with God. But the real thoughts are buried in the mind underneath all the judgments and attack thoughts. These dark thoughts need to be brought into awareness before they can be released.

To be continued . . .
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Thank you,
Regina, David, Kirsten & Herb
(608) 268-7746
http://www.awakening-mind.org/

If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to the Foundation for the Awakening Mind, please Click Here.

Thank you,

Regina, David, Kirsten & Herb

(608) 268-7746

www.awakening-mind.org

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Our Holy Inheritance Blog

Our Holy Inheritance--A Course in Miracles
A New Christianity
Glory is Your Inheritance given your Soul by Its Creator, that you might extend it. (ACIM)
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I AM WE ARE
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about David

David began his journey to spiritual enlightenment in 1986 when he encountered A Course in Miracles and recognized it as the tool he had been seeking for a radical transformation of his mind and perceptions. In the early years David studied the Course with passionate intensity, often reading it for eight or more hours a day. After two years of this study, David began to seek the company of other students of ACIM, attending as many as five groups a week. He was startled to find that a Voice was speaking through him with great authority, so that many began referring their questions to him.Among family members, friends and teachers, David was always known for questioning everything, rather than accepting conventional answers. Thus he was delighted to find in the Course support and encouragement from the Voice of Jesus for his careful examination of every idea, belief, concept and assumption in his mind. Jesus became David's internal teacher, answering his every question, guidinghim to hand over the day-to-day management of all relationships, circumstances and events in his life, and providing inner discernment.
In 1991 David was impelled to make another leap of trust and to begin traveling around the United States and Canada, sharing his clarity of understanding related to A Course in Miracles. He followed Jesus' instructions to "become as a child", allowing himself to betotally dependent on the Holy Spirit for money, transportation, shelter, food and the words to speak in countless ACIM gatherings, churches, metaphysical and spiritual groups and a host of holy encounters with persons who knew nothing of the Course. David found that it was his constant joy and peace that was the best teacher in all encounters, and that it was this peace that all his brothers and sisters were seeking. The Voice of Jesus told David – as it instructed the apostles 2,000 years before, "Freely you have received; freely give." Thus David has never charged for histime, teaching or any of the many materials he gives away, but has been supported entirely by love offerings. In all his years of traveling and sharing the wisdom of Christ, David has become a living demonstration of the principles of A Course in Miracles, such lessons as:"I am sustained by the Love of God.""I am the light of the world.""I will step back and let him lead the way.""In my defenselessness my safety lies.""God's will for me is perfect happiness."David learned through countless miracles that he could perfectly trust the Holy Spirit to provide for him and guide him through every situation. Everything he seemed to need to accomplish his purpose as a teacher of God was given without his making any effort whatever. Several hermitage experiences helped David to free his mind from ego chatter and enter into deep Silence, where he ultimately experienced Enlightenment.David was guided to a small house in 1996. It became a place of quiet and meditation between travels, but also a place where he could welcome those desiring to step back from the world and to go deeply within the mind to discover the Christ within. David's time at the PeaceHouse opened a new phase of his ministry as Holy Spirit guided him to acquire computers and use internet technology. The result was the making of a number of websites. His main website, (Foundation for theAwakening Mind), today offers a huge array of resources related to A Course in Miracles and the metaphysics of Christ.Spiritual truth-seekers can subscribe to David's e-group, Awakeninginchrist, where for several years he answered the questions sent in to him from all over the world. Thisonline group now serves as a global mailing list to announce foundation events and newresources as well as Kirsten and David's travel schedule.
Always a lover of music, and seeing it as a path to God in its own right, David has set up a number of Music Pavilions on his website highlighting a variety of artists who share spiritual ideas through music. Also available on the site are video clips of television interviews he has done, audio recordings of gatherings and teaching sessions, searchable archives, and writings such as Mind Overhaul, Purpose Is The Only Choice, and The Movie Watcher's Guide To Enlightenment. (David sees movies as another helpful path to God.)
While the computer ministry was unfolding a friend was inspired to establish a non-profit organization, the Foundation For The Awakening Mind, which now serves as a framework for coordinating all aspects of the ministry and for handling larger donations.
All donations help David continue to share the experience of:
Christ's Divine Love or Perfect Oneness.
You can write to David at: david@awakening-mind.org
You can contact him at:
608-268-7746

google.comPigdin Bible

Now if only A Course in Miracles were to come out in Pigdin!
from Benni's blog --http://dabbycool.blogspot.com/

Wen we neva have power notting, Christ wen mahke fo all us guys dat wen ack jalike God no matta. Dass da time God wen pick. Eh you know, nobody goin mahke fo one guy dat ony do right kine stuff! If get one guy dat everytime get good heart, maybe bumbye somebody go mahke fo help dat kine guy. But den God wen show how plenny love an aloha he get fo us, cuz same time we was doing bad kine stuff, Christ still yet wen go mahke fo us."
(Fo da Rome Peopo 5:6-8)
Make click hea fo check out odda tings da Bible say

Interview with William Thetford

from the Awakening in Christ Yahoo Groups site

Bill Thetford worked with Helen Schucman, the scribe of A Course In Miracles. He was her supervisor in the Medical Psychology Department at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, and was the individual who hired her.
He also was the one to whom she came when she began to hear the Voice of the Course. As such, he was the first student of the Course, if you discount Helen, who was struggling to get the messages down correctly.
The Interview continues. This is Part Five. Please see the links at the bottom of this posting.

NR: You say the Course is ecumenical, yet the Course is decidedly Christian in nature, using the Christian framework of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
WT: That's true. The Course does use Christian terminology butat the same time it conveys universal spiritual truths, which is perhaps why people of all faiths can find it of value. I think the course states it very well when it says, "A universal theology is impossible, but a universal experience is not only possible but necessary." Shortly after we began transcribing the material, I started reading rather widely in the mystical literature of the world. One of the early writers who made a deep impression on me was Vivekananda, in his exposition of the Vedanta philosophy of India. He was a disciple of Ramakrishna who in the late 1800's and in the earlypart of this century founded a number of Ramakrishna ashrams and teaching centers in this country. The Vedanta Advaita philosophy as expounded by Vivekananda seemed to have some striking similarities to the teachings of the Course, even though the context and the language are different. At the time I remember thinking that the Course could be described as a form of Christian Vedanta.
Students of Buddhism tell me that the similarities between the Course and Buddhist teachings are very striking.
Interestingly too, is the fact that many people associated with the Course have come from Jewish backgrounds, and have found it extraordinarily meaningful and helpful despite the Christian terminology.
So I've been impressed with how ecumenical the Course is, andthat its purpose is not to increase our sense of separation but to bring people together. And I see this happening all over with hundreds of study groups that are made up of people from all walks and
more
Part 4 of the Interview, Part 3, Part 2, Beginning

Detaching from the Battle

The good news is we have no control over the world!
Our only responsibility in the world is to accept the Atonement--the correction of error, or the correction of our mistaken beliefs--for ourselves.
Change your mind about the world. Stop thinking how it should be or could be, just release yourself from it.
In the present moment is the only time and place that you can be in direct communication with the Spirit within.
You will be guided as to what to say, or do, if anything, as you go about your daily life.
You will act from a place of peace, of certainty, with a feeling of detachment.
--Kirsten

Posting by David and Kirsten

The Gospels are a symbol representing God's Love expressed through the Christ Mind.
You will find in them what you are looking for - for everything in form is a reflection of what the mind desires and believes and thinks and feels.
Ask and you shall receive.
Knock and the door shall be opened.
Recently Regina Akers, our new foundation caretaker, was Guided to readthrough the Gospels with an open mind and allow the inspiration of the Gospels to flow through her.
She has begun this task and will be sharing what she hears of the Holy Spirit with anyone who is interested.
You can write to her at: regina@awakening-mind.org if you would like to be included on her mailing list for these sharings.
Below is the first of her sharings. Enjoy!
Please contact her if you would like to receive those sharings which will follow from her.

Love & Blessings,
David & Kirsten-

Matthew, Chapter 1
Joseph had a question in his mind, and he was unsure about what he should do. He did have a thought regarding what he should do, but Joseph did not consider that thought to be decided. By not considering the thought to be decided, Joseph left his mind open. It was through this opening that wisdom was given him. Joseph recognized the wisdom and did as it asked.
Matthew, Chapter 2
The Truth is found through guidance. The route you are to follow is not revealed from beginning to end all at once. It is revealed to you step-by-step. Trust your Lord, the God within, which guides you. It guides you now. Do not question, “Where is this taking me?” Have faith it is for the good of all and the purpose of oneness, and it will certainly bring you great joy!
Matthew Chapter 3
The story of John the Baptist as given in Matthew Chapter 3 is not to be read as a story of form. It is a story of mind. John is the thought within the mind that comes first. It is the thought that recognizes there must be another way. It is the thought that guides you to seek the other way, and that way is the way of Truth.
Matthew Chapter 4
Seek with the Holy Spirit. It is your True Spirit, and it will guide you to choose truly. Once the choice is made, the time of service will begin, for you are to be a Teacher of God until the time that teachers are no longer needed. The beginning will be a time of gathering. You will gather around you that which is needed to serve according to your path of service. The gathering shall be effortless and without planning or thought. Once the mind has been cleansed, following one’s path is effortless. First focus on the cleansing. Then in peace, you shall know that you are led truly. Peace is the end of doubt.
Matthew, Chapter 5
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they are already one with God.
(verse 3)
Blessed are those who have tired of this world, for they will be comforted.
(verse 4)
Blessed are the peaceful and joyous, for they will see the real world.
(verse 5)
Blessed are those who seek Truth above all else, for it will be given them.
(verse 6)
Blessed are those who forgive their separate thoughts, for they will find the Light that is their true Source.
(verse 7)
Blessed are the enlightened, for they know.
(verse 8)
Blessed are they who share My word in Love, for they shall shine like beacons for all men to see, and they shall be recognized as the Son that Is.
(verse 9)
Blessed are those who see only Love in their brothers, for they know what they have found. (verse 10)
Blessed are you when you place no value or concern in the world of illusion, for then you know where your Treasure Is.
(verses 11 – 12)
The world is meaningless, and all that brings meaning to the world is you, for you are all there is.
(verse 13)
Your Truth is your light. It is your Truth that shall shine and be known, that all men may see their Truth within you and know it is within them too.
(verses 14-16)
The laws of men are based on the laws of God, but the laws of men are a reflection of truth and not truth itself. One cannot find truth by following the laws of men if there is hatred or fear in his heart.
The laws of men must be followed in true love and intent for a witness to occur unto you. For when you have discovered the law within your Heart and you follow the guidance of true law that is shared from within, you follow the path of righteousness that will lead you from a focus on this world to the Light of the Kingdom of Heaven.
(verses 17-20)
The law of men is written to protect men and to teach them to behave, but the law of the Heart is beyond this world. It is like a path that you shall follow to higher ground. Its purpose is not to protect man from man, but to lead a man from his manhood to his True Self, which is beyond the self he knows when he limits righteousness to the laws of men.
(verses 21-22)
Your brother is one with you in the Heart, and so it is the heart that must be healed. Do not carry a grievance against your brother within your heart regardless of what he may have seemed to do.
Righteousness does not abide in the laws or customs of men. Righteousness abides beyond the laws and customs of men. Forgive your brother that you may love him again in the joy and happiness of the Heart, and in your dance with him, you will find what righteousness is.
(verses 23, 24)
The one that judges the hatred you leave in your heart is but yourself. You cannot find joy within the hatred of the heard, for hatred is like a prison and the jailer is but yourself. Free yourself from your prison of pain.
Let go of that which you think your brother has done to you. [What he has done] is not important. It but keeps you imprisoned within a limited mind and away from the unlimited which is but your Self.
(verse 25)
Let go of all your grievances against your brother, no matter how large or small they seem. They are all the same, and each one has the power to keep you imprisoned from your Self.
(verse 26)
The law of men is but a symbol for those who are not ready to accept the law of the Heart, for the law of the Heart is Love. One who loves his brother will not think a hurtful thought about his brother.
When hurtful thoughts come into his mind, he will let them go, for he does not want any thought in his mind that is not the thought of Love. In this way, his mind shall live in accordance with the law of the Heart and the prison doors shall be opened, and he shall be freed, joined and dancing in celebration with his brother.
(verses 27, 28)
Letting go of your grievances towards your brother may seem to be letting go of yourself, for your own thoughts may tell you that you are justified in your anger or your caution for what your brother has done or may do to you.
But I tell you that thoughts of justification are like poisonous prison food. Their purpose is to keep you sick and weak within the prison walls. Rise up within the Health of your heart and let these thoughts go. Your goal now is freedom, and you will succeed in your goal by letting go of every thought that would keep you imprisoned.
For the hellish thoughts within your mind are your prison, and only by letting them go can you be free. Listen to Me. I am sharing the secrets of your imprisonment and your freedom. It is not My Will that you be imprisoned. It is My Will that you be free. Listen to Me. Accept My Will as yours and open your prison doors.
(verses 29, 30)
Let not the law be confusing to you. To follow the law without understanding it is useless. The law is not a law of behavior. What you do or do not do in itself is not important. The law of God is written on the Heart, and it is a law that teaches there cannot be separateness. Only by joining with one Will will you know God, and only by knowing God will you know your Self. So do not go your separate ways within your heart.
That is the way of the world. Walk together in your heart, joined and holding hands. In this way you shall walk into the Light and welcome yourselves into the Kingdom of Heaven.
(verses 31, 32)
It is not what you say or what you do that is important. It is what you mean by what you say or what you do [that matters]. Do you give to your brother because you love him and see him to be the same as you, or do you give because you believe that by your giving you will be made good? I tell you, there is nothing that you can do or say that will make you good within your own mind.
Only by following the guidance within your Heart can you discover your Self, and the discovering will show you that you Are. With this vision, you will see your brother and the world with new eyes, and you will know that Love is all there is.
(verses 33-37)
With your eyes of judgment, you see many brothers doing different things, and you judge the things they do as good things or bad things. And based on the judgments you have given to what they do, you judge your brothers as good or as bad. In your judgments of them, you separate them from one another and from yourself. So you see many sons where the Father of Heaven sees only one.
For the Father of Heaven has declared that He has only one Son, and that Son is but an extension of Himself. Stop judging your brothers as good or bad or different. Ask God within your Heart to show Himself to you. He will answer you by showing you that your brother’s Heart is the same as yours, and so you and your brother must be the same and one.
(verses 38-45)
For only by exceeding the laws of men to follow the law of the Heart can you find the truth that lies hidden there. God is Spirit, and Spirit is all there is. So you and your brother must be Spirit too. It is your Heart that knows this truth, so it is by following your Heart that you will be led to see the Truth is true.
(verses 46-48)
Matthew, Chapter 6
If you are to walk the path of righteousness, all things [must be] done for the reason of the Heart. To do anything for a purpose other than the purpose of the Heart (regardless of how righteous the act may seem to be), [is to] stray from your path. And you could become lost there. Listen. Let the Heart that whispers Truth lead you in all things. Ask of It, and do as It guides. Let not actions blind you. It is not the action that matters, but the purpose that is given it.
(verses 1-4)
Your time with your Father is precious and holy, so seek for this time in quiet. Search your Heart for what you would say to Him or for what you would ask. Be not afraid of what you find there. Your Father knows your Heart, my Son, and He leads you according to your Heart. But you may not know your own Heart, so it is useful to seek there in quiet as you pray. For if you do not know the prayers of your Heart, you may not recognize that they are answered. But when you seek out your prayers in quiet and ask of the Father based on what you find, you will see that your prayers are answered quickly. For the Father does not delay in answering the prayers of his Son’s Heart. The Father knows that it is the Heart that leads His Son to Him.
(verses 5-8)
Pray like this according to what you find in your Heart: “Father, let me know you.
(verse 9)
Let your Kingdom dawn upon my mind, that I may be led by Your Will and become as one with It.
(verse 10)
Let me hear Your Word within my mind. Let my lessons be given me, that I may be closer to You through the actions of my day.
(verse 11)
Let me forgive myself, as I know You have [forgiven me]. Let me see my brothers as innocent, as they truly Are.
(verse 12)
Let me watch my mind for evil thoughts that would trick me and blind me to the Light within. May I let those evil thoughts go, so they do not cloud my mind from knowing the Truth. Amen.”
(verse 13)
For in our sight within the Light, we shall see the innocence of the Lamb. It is within our brothers’ hearts that he rests, as he rests also within our own.
(verse 14)
But if the clouds block the Light within, our sight is limited by a darkened vision. We cannot see what is there while our eyes rest surely on the dark.
(verse 15)
And so remember your purpose in all things. Follow the guidance that comes from Within. It leads you not so your brother will see how holy you are. It leads you that you may discover the Holiness within, and that you may bow down at the altar there and let the Heart be your loving master whom you do not question.
(verses 16-18)
Let your purpose guide you in all things, and let it be the True Purpose of the Heart. For the purposes of the world are like smoke screens that deceive you, promising rewards and happiness, but delivering not.
For every purpose of the world brings forth yet another purpose to seek, and so you shall spend your life seeking and finding not. Empty, you shall die. But the purpose of the Heart fills up your treasure chest quickly with joy, peace and hope. And you shall follow the twinkle within your own eye, and since it is with you always, you shall always be satisfied beyond measure.
(verses 19-21)
For it is the Light within the Heart that shines to show you your joy. Since it shines from within, you shall see your joy wherever you look. But if you do not trust your Heart and you try to find your own way to happiness, you shall be lost. For who can find their way without the Light? Who can be happy stumbling lost and aimless in the dark?
(verses 22, 23)
No one can stand in both the Light and the darkness, for he will stand in the darkness and cannot see or he will stand in the Light and see clearly. But I say to you, he who stands in the dark may not know he is lost, because he cannot see. So do not decide for yourself where to stand. For you may think you stand on the path of righteousness when your feet are surely lost. Ask for the Light and let It lead you without questioning where it takes you. Remember that until you see [the entire] world within the Light, you may be lost and letting the darkness lead your way.
(verse 24)
Therefore, do not worry about which way you should go or what you should do next. Instead, ask now for the surety of the Light to light the way for your next step. Listen in quiet to the guidance of the Heart as it tells you where to place your step. Be concerned only with letting your steps be led.
By following the guidance of the Light, you will surely be walking the way of Life, for the Light and Life are one. But if you let your mind be distracted by other concerns, and you begin to worry about troubles within the world, you will forget to step carefully with the Light and you will run frantically into the dark. Then you shall look around and realize that once more you are lost.
You cannot find the path of Life without the guidance of the Light, for the Light and Life are one. If you have lost one, you are lost from the other.
(verses 25-34)
Matthew, Chapter 7
Judgment is like a knife that cuts the Son of God into pieces, for what you judge as separate from you is seen as separate, and so it cannot be seen as one. I say to you, lay your judgment aside. Trust the guidance of the Heart by trusting God and His Word. I tell you that God is Love and Love is Whole.
Therefore, you cannot know God if you separate your brothers from yourself. Do not place them above you or below you in your mind, and do not place them above or below one another. For to separate them in your mind is to split your own heart, and a split heart cannot know love because it is split and not whole. Look after your own heart that it may be healed. Lay down your judgments. Ask only for Love now.
(verses 1-5)
Do not take My words lightly without practice. For to listen and to agree but not to practice is not to have heard. One who will not hear cannot be healed.
(verse 6)
Seek out the prayers of your Heart. Ask your Father to make it whole again, for your Father knows that your heart seeks to be made whole and he awaits only your willingness to give what you ask.
(verses 7, 8)
Trust your Father to give as you ask truly, but know it is the healthy Heart He listens to. If your heart is sick and it asks the Father to grant it its sickness, the Father does not listen. He waits until His Son asks that he be healed, and then the Father reveals His gifts that they may be used for the purpose they were intended.
The Father will not assist the son in maintaining his sickness, but the Father will point the willing son in the direction of his Health that he may be made whole through his own willingness.
(verses 9-11)
Therefore, see your brothers as yourself. Know that their Heart is the same as yours. Although they may seem to ask for sickness, their heart knows it wants its Health. So do not answer their cry for sickness by returning anger for anger or hurt for hurt. Answer their heart’s quiet cry for health by giving as the Father would give. Give health for health, and it is Health you will receive.
(verse 12)
I ask you for your help because leaders are needed among men. For a man who does not know that his heart yearns to be healed is lost indeed, and [he] needs someone to help him see that Health is his heart’s desire. Let yourself be healed that your brother may see your Health and recognize it is but his own. Then he will ask for healing, and it will be given him.
(verses 13,14)
Concentrate first on your healing that you may be used to lead your brothers to Health. An unhealed heart cannot lead its brothers to healing, for it knows not what Health is. The sick must be healed before they can heal. The lost must be found before they can lead. Be not confused by those who say they can lead when you can see that they are lost. Hold not a grievance against them. Remember that a sick brother does not know he is sick. Forgive him his confusion, and pray to your Father that your sight may be made clear.
(verses 15-20)
One who practices his own will is not practicing the Will of the Father, and it is the Father’s Will that brings healing. For it is your will that has made you sick. Lay down your will and ask only for the Father’s. By knowing and practicing His Will, you shall be healed.
(verses 21-23)
Listen to My words and let My words reach into your heart. The Health of your heart may seem small [to you now], but its Will is complete. It wills with God. Listen to the Health in the heart, and the Health will extend Itself making your heart new.
Your strength will be rewarded with unshakableness that brings eternal joy and knowledge. But listen not unto my words and you shall hear the cries of your sickness, and sickness cannot lead to health, so you shall not know strength. In your weakness you will suffer, for weakness is not the will of your Heart.
(verse 24-27)
Authority comes from God because God is all that is.
One who knows his own Authority knows God. Amen.
(verse 28, 29)