Where Students Get Lost
A question students of A Course in Miracles often ask is if the Holy Spirit makes things happen in the world for them. How could this be so if the world is in your mind, and the Holy Spirit and the world are opposed and cannot meet?
The world that you perceive is an effect of your mind. The Holy Spirit is also in your mind, but the Holy Spirit does not go into the world to make things happen for you. When you are centered in God what you need in the world that you perceive manifests as a reflection of the Wholeness of your mind.
When you first learn this the ego may tempt you to use this awareness to get what it wants. Sometimes student’s get lost trying to manifest or - to use today’s popular term - “attract” a better illusion of separation from God. However, this does not make any sense. If you really understand that the world is only an effect of your mind, why would you care what was showing up in it? If what happens in the world is important to you then you must still believe that the world is your cause – it’s the source of your happiness, peace, and security – and that you are the world’s effect. So how could you think that you could change the world with your mind? You cannot both cause and be an effect of the world. You can only be one or the other. Any time that your focus is on what is showing up in the world you will get lost, you will feel empty, and you will keep seeking for Wholeness until you turn within to find It where It really is. The world is never you; you cannot find yourself there.
“Appearances are deceiving because they are appearances and not reality. Dwell not on them in any form. They but obscure reality, and they bring fear because they hide the Truth.” (T-30.IV.5)
Another place where students get lost is in judging their spiritual progress by what is showing up in the world. A spiritual path is an inward path. Your level of peace is the measure of your spiritual awareness. Only the ego looks outward to find you, so only it is concerned with judging the world. When you are spiritually centered you simply trust that what you need in the world will show up as you need it. You also understand that there are times when things must fall away from you in the world to reflect the shifts within your mind. Your perception of a world is in your mind, so it must be that it is as whole as your mind. When things fall away in your world it is always to make room for something that more appropriately reflects where you are now in your spiritual awareness. But the ego cannot see the whole picture and how your Perfection is manifesting in your perception all the time. It only sees fragments, and it can never be satisfied with what it is seeing because it can never see wholeness.
For a really good understanding of the relationship between your mind and your world read Joel Goldsmith’s Infinite Way. Keep in mind that his theology is slightly different from the Course’s theology, but his explanation of metaphysics is very clear.
The world that you perceive is an effect of your mind. The Holy Spirit is also in your mind, but the Holy Spirit does not go into the world to make things happen for you. When you are centered in God what you need in the world that you perceive manifests as a reflection of the Wholeness of your mind.
When you first learn this the ego may tempt you to use this awareness to get what it wants. Sometimes student’s get lost trying to manifest or - to use today’s popular term - “attract” a better illusion of separation from God. However, this does not make any sense. If you really understand that the world is only an effect of your mind, why would you care what was showing up in it? If what happens in the world is important to you then you must still believe that the world is your cause – it’s the source of your happiness, peace, and security – and that you are the world’s effect. So how could you think that you could change the world with your mind? You cannot both cause and be an effect of the world. You can only be one or the other. Any time that your focus is on what is showing up in the world you will get lost, you will feel empty, and you will keep seeking for Wholeness until you turn within to find It where It really is. The world is never you; you cannot find yourself there.
“Appearances are deceiving because they are appearances and not reality. Dwell not on them in any form. They but obscure reality, and they bring fear because they hide the Truth.” (T-30.IV.5)
Another place where students get lost is in judging their spiritual progress by what is showing up in the world. A spiritual path is an inward path. Your level of peace is the measure of your spiritual awareness. Only the ego looks outward to find you, so only it is concerned with judging the world. When you are spiritually centered you simply trust that what you need in the world will show up as you need it. You also understand that there are times when things must fall away from you in the world to reflect the shifts within your mind. Your perception of a world is in your mind, so it must be that it is as whole as your mind. When things fall away in your world it is always to make room for something that more appropriately reflects where you are now in your spiritual awareness. But the ego cannot see the whole picture and how your Perfection is manifesting in your perception all the time. It only sees fragments, and it can never be satisfied with what it is seeing because it can never see wholeness.
For a really good understanding of the relationship between your mind and your world read Joel Goldsmith’s Infinite Way. Keep in mind that his theology is slightly different from the Course’s theology, but his explanation of metaphysics is very clear.
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