The Time Saving Tools of the Course

You may be attempting to follow a very long road to the goal you have accepted. It is extremely difficult to reach Atonement by fighting against sin. Enormous effort is expended in the attempt to make holy what is hated and despised. Nor is a lifetime of contemplation and long periods of meditation aimed at detachment from the body necessary. All such attempts will ultimately succeed because of their purpose. Yet the means are tedious and very time consuming, for all of them look to the future for release from a state of present unworthiness and inadequacy. (T-18.VII.4)

Your way will be different, not in purpose but in means. A holy relationship is a means of saving time. One instant spent together with your brother restores the universe to both of you. You are prepared. Now you need but to remember you need do nothing. (T-18.VII.5)

What makes the Course different from other paths to God is its two tools to help save time: The holy instant and the holy relationship. They are intended to be used in time, in day to day life by ordinary people. You are not required to abandon a typical life and go live with monks in the mountain or to fight against your desire for the perceived pleasures of the body/ego. Instead, by using the holy instant and the holy relationship you will achieve, faster, the same goals as those who spend their lives fighting against separation.

By using the tools the Course offers detachment from the body and ego comes naturally. It is not something you have to fight to achieve or make happen. As you experience Oneness the valuelessness of the body and ego become apparent and you naturally lose interest in them.

When you give in to seeking the pleasures of the world you do not have to feel guilty. Nor do you have to fight against it and pretend they do not have value for you when they clearly still do. Instead, use the tools the Course gives you to experience your Self as you are. From there, the giving up of what you are not is easy.

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Comments

wondering said…
"Now you need but to remember you need do nothing."

This statement "you need do nothing" is repeated several times in the paragraph cited. The paragraph ends italicizing it again: "I need do nothing"

I believe that ACIM fails here. I need to eat. Unless ACIM is advocating starving to death as a way to god.

To eat, I need to go to where food is. Now I've done two things, followed the biological imperative to survive and thought about where food might be.

This says nothing about earning money to afford food and the complex efforts required to do that, but assumes that the food will be free when I find it.

Liz, can you please explain this conundrum? Before I starve to death?
2:38 PM
ACIM Mentor said…
You are reading 'I need do nothing out of context'. The paragraph is talking about awakening to God - you need do nothing, as in, you do not have to 'earn' or 'attain' God. This is a realization that you have in the Holy Instant - you are already in God right now. The 'I' in this statement is the presonal 'I'.
Also, in time, you will come to realize this statement in another way: the Holy Spirit supplies all of your needs. You (decision-maker you) only need to be present to the Holy Spirit's guidance, and you will know what to do, and when to do it, to have your needs fulfilled.
3:17 PM
still wondering said…
Yes, I realize that I am in God right now. This is beautiful. As you say, I did nothing to attain this. It is what I am.

You seem to imply a separation between that experience and the experience of physical survival. You proscribe one set of actions for the realization of God and another set for the survival of the body. But isn't separation an illusion?

I do wonder about the body that my consciousness seems to be attached to. You say that Spirit will provide all, but that is not my experience, unless Spirit thinks I need destitution and starvation.

Of course with your argument, you could even say that Spirit thinks I need death and once that happens (wish it was faster actually) you will not be reading any more of my challenges to your theories.
4:37 PM
ACIM Mentor said…
Let me take these ideas one at a time:

There is no separation at all, that's why, in the realization of the Holy Instant, "I need do nothing", you realize that all of your needs are met, no matter that you perceive yourself as a personal self in a world.

The Holy Spirit is always within you, but It can only guide you when you are have built a conscious awareness of It. It takes time to discern which is the Holy Spirit and which is ego in your mind. And, often, you first have to undo your obstacles to hearing the Holy Spirit (fear, unworthiness, etc).

I'm not quite sure why you would think that the Holy Spirit would want your death. Death is an erroneous concept of the personal mind, not of the Holy Spirit. If you think that death sounds inviting, then I advise you to go to your nearest community mental health center as soon as possible (which will often treat you for free. You are depressed, which is a very treatable illness, if you are willing to accept help.
6:28 PM
not convinced said…
Of course the Holy Spirit wants my death. It wants everyone's, including yours. Yes, Liz, your body will die and that idea seems to scare you. Myself, being comfortable with the idea, am recommended for mental counseling. I can tell you that most mental health professionals have a name for your theories that "everything will be provided for". They call it "magical thinking" and consider it a mental deviancy. They treat it as they do all ailments, with drugs. Is that what you think the Holy Spirit wants?
12:10 PM
ACIM Mentor said…
I share my experiences for those who are interested in them, not to argue or convince.
I wish you happiness on your chosen path.
12:35 PM
R U Hypocrite? said…
That's quite a cop out Liz.

What you are now admitting is that you took your personal experiences and made them into a set of guidelines that you profess will apply to anyone, but when the facts demonstrate otherwise you claim that those who disagree need mental counseling even when the mental counseling that you recommend actually says that your guidelines are in fact delusional.

What kind of mentor does that?
2:27 PM
carrie genevachild said…
After years of extensive meditation, it was a relief to learn that was the slow boat home.

I do my part in awakening the Son of God but Miriam carries the heavy load. That is a figure of speech. It's not really a "heavy load."
2:17 PM
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