ACIM Mentor

            Since the shift in consciousness here, there has been a 180-degree turn in understanding what is unfolding in consciousness—what the experience of a person and a world is. It used to be seen as an aspirational journey, an attempt for an “I” (ego) to get somewhere or to attain something, either personally or spiritually. Now it is seen that what is appearing in consciousness is an expression of ideas that have already occurred. What look like personal journeys and attainments are how these ideas are expressed. There is no one here who needs to get anywhere, to make anything, or to attain anything. The idea that that was real is an illusion. What is an expression ? It is a process of revealing , representing or depicting ideas. A painting is an expression of ideas in the painter’s mind. A novel is an expression of ideas in a writer’s mind. A movie is an expression of ideas in the minds of writers, producers, directors, and actors. Ideas oc...

              Last week’s article had this paragraph:   “There is a difference between the illusions of ego and the illusion that is ego. If you become aware that ego is an illusion, you will become aware of ego’s illusions as well. But becoming aware of ego’s illusions does not lead to becoming aware that ego is an illusion. Ego can be taught to see its illusions. But ego cannot be taught to see that it is an illusion. That awareness comes only when truth (pure consciousness) rises to conscious awareness, which it does of itself. This is not something that ego can make happen. And the awareness does not come to ego. Ego only senses that there is something else in consciousness and claims it for itself, which is how it makes its religions and spiritualities.”   Let’s unpack this. What are the illusions of ego that ego can come to see? These illusions are what one faces throughout life to some degree. These are not just opinions and...

          When Liz here was first a student of A Course in Miracles in 1984, no one in the Course community was talking about awakening or enlightenment. If someone had come across Eastern nonduality teachings, they saw the similarity in that they, too, teach the apparent world is an illusion. But no one thought the Course was meant to lead one to enlightenment. Liz here very quickly had mystical experiences that showed the apparent world is not real and she glimpsed what enlightenment could be, but no one she knew seemed to have these experiences themselves. Because of these experiences, when she began to write in 2006, what she taught was different from the typical Course teacher. She read things into the Course that others did not seem to see. She saw that there were two ways to read the Course : A better way to be in the world (dream a better dream) and validation for perception that showed what the Course teaches is forgiveness, the awareness that not...

            L ast week the article here was about discovering that power is an illusion. Some have asked what is meant by power . Power refers to the force, the energy behind an experience, or how strong it seems to be. Specifically, the article was about the power of ego and personal experiences in ego, in fact, the whole world ego seems to make. If you’ve ever experienced pure consciousness (truth), then when ego returns it can feel quite powerful—powerful enough to override the experience of pure consciousness, which had been revealed to be truth. The power of ego seems to imply that the experience of truth, which you knew to be true when you experienced it, is not real—even though you know it is. You cannot do anything about this, ego is too strong, it just returns to take over your conscious awareness. For ego, this proves it is real. To ego, power = truth. (Yes, it’s a bully.) A common example with newer students of A Course in Miracles is ho...

             The article two weeks ago was about dealing with fear. An episode of over-the-top fear was passing here and there was a sense that this was more of ego’s conditioning falling away and truth would emerge further from behind it. And this is what happened. This is the pattern that has been observed here for the past few years. Before ego fell away ( The Break ), the pattern was truth would briefly rise to conscious awareness as an insight or an answer or a shift toward peace and this was followed by what Liz here called ego backlash . This would feel like an “ego attack”, meaning darkness, lack, guilt, and fear in their various forms would seem to take over Liz’s mind. Liz learned to deal with this by simply allowing it and letting it pass. Over time, as Liz’s awareness of truth grew, these episodes were shorter and less intense. But they were sure to follow any experience of truth, no matter how brief or mild. Ego seemed powerful, maybe n...

        “How can one differentiate between an egoic experience of what seems to be Truth or Love or Peace and an authentic awareness of Truth? All I can sense is that authentic Love feels so ‘other’, and cannot be described…but if something is ‘experienced’ at all, is this, by definition an egoic interpretation?” – MG   You may have heard that all experiences are illusions. This is ultimately true. The absolute—the absolute truth —is not an experience . There are no words for what it is. All experiences occur in and are registered by consciousness, which is ultimately an illusion, too. But consciousness is all we are dealing with here. And in terms of consciousness, there is pure consciousness, or the truth of consciousness, and there is ego, or illusion appearing in consciousness. So not all experiences are ego. Some are pure consciousness, or the truth of consciousness. What it seems you are trying to sort out here is ego’s versions of love and peace ...