But It's Not Real, Right?
You cannot know that your ego and the world are unreal until you experience Reality. A direct revelation of God, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the holy instant and the holy relationship are the experiences that lead you to this awareness. You must experience your Real Self and you must experience Oneness to know that what you have been experiencing is not true.
Many students reach a point where they try to accept the intellectual idea that the world is not real without having experienced Reality. They end up deeply conflicted because they still value the world. Sometimes they use this idea as a form of denial so as not to deal with painful issues in their life. They will say things like, “I shouldn’t feel this grief/depression/anger because it’s over something that isn’t real, right?” or “I shouldn’t want a special relationship/money/material objects/recognition because they aren’t real, right?” But you wouldn’t feel these emotions or desires except that they are for things that have value for you – which means they are very real to you. No one values what they know is not real. And you cannot force yourself to accept something is unreal until you have experienced it as unreal.
You are not asked to give up your values but to invite the Holy Spirit in to “purify” your values. They will not be taken from you, but rather used by the Holy Spirit to teach you what parts of them have real value and what parts do not. When you learn what does not have value it will naturally fall away from you. You cannot force this.
You have regarded the separation as a means for breaking your communication with your Father. The Holy Spirit reinterprets it as a means of re-establishing what was not broken, but has been made obscure. All things you made have use to Him, for His most holy purpose. He knows you are not separate from God, but He perceives much in your mind that lets you think you are. All this and nothing else would He separate from you. (T-14.VI.5)
A Course in Miracles is meant to be used in the course of an ordinary life. You are not asked to live a life of deprivation and denial. You are not asked to hide away from the world but to live right in the middle of it with an awakening mind. You are not asked to be a hypocrite pretending to not value what you do value. You are asked to invite the Holy Spirit to help you sort of what has real value and what does not. This is not something you can do without the Voice for Truth guiding you. If you decide for yourself what is real and what isn’t, what has value and what doesn’t, you are doing the Holy Spirit’s job.
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Now available at www.acimmentor.com: Understanding A Course in Miracles: A Quick Reference for Students.
Many students reach a point where they try to accept the intellectual idea that the world is not real without having experienced Reality. They end up deeply conflicted because they still value the world. Sometimes they use this idea as a form of denial so as not to deal with painful issues in their life. They will say things like, “I shouldn’t feel this grief/depression/anger because it’s over something that isn’t real, right?” or “I shouldn’t want a special relationship/money/material objects/recognition because they aren’t real, right?” But you wouldn’t feel these emotions or desires except that they are for things that have value for you – which means they are very real to you. No one values what they know is not real. And you cannot force yourself to accept something is unreal until you have experienced it as unreal.
You are not asked to give up your values but to invite the Holy Spirit in to “purify” your values. They will not be taken from you, but rather used by the Holy Spirit to teach you what parts of them have real value and what parts do not. When you learn what does not have value it will naturally fall away from you. You cannot force this.
You have regarded the separation as a means for breaking your communication with your Father. The Holy Spirit reinterprets it as a means of re-establishing what was not broken, but has been made obscure. All things you made have use to Him, for His most holy purpose. He knows you are not separate from God, but He perceives much in your mind that lets you think you are. All this and nothing else would He separate from you. (T-14.VI.5)
A Course in Miracles is meant to be used in the course of an ordinary life. You are not asked to live a life of deprivation and denial. You are not asked to hide away from the world but to live right in the middle of it with an awakening mind. You are not asked to be a hypocrite pretending to not value what you do value. You are asked to invite the Holy Spirit to help you sort of what has real value and what does not. This is not something you can do without the Voice for Truth guiding you. If you decide for yourself what is real and what isn’t, what has value and what doesn’t, you are doing the Holy Spirit’s job.
>>>>
Receive this bi-weekly blog directly in your email by contacting Liz@acimmentor.com.
Now available at www.acimmentor.com: Understanding A Course in Miracles: A Quick Reference for Students.
Comments
Can you expand a little on this excerpt from your response and maybe throw in an example to help clarify this idea?
How does the HS use/purify my values?
Thanks
For example, let's say you want someone with whom to spend your life. The personal thought system (ego) sees the relationship as an end in itself. The relationship is supposed to be the source of your happiness. But the Holy Spirit knows that the Source of your happiness is within you. Relationships, then, become classrooms where you bump into your obstacles to going inward for peace and work through them.
You can apply this to any relationship, as well as any situation, like work and other activities in which you engage.