ACIM Mentor

…I am a married man with a very good female friend who I feel very close to. She is also a student of ACIM and we frequently discuss it. I find myself wondering...what is she really? Is she really just a vain imagining of my real self? Perhaps a reflection or projection of what my ego self believes itself to be? – MW Who anyone is to you depends on whether you choose to identify with a personal self or with Truth. Truth (God) is formless being. The experience of Truth is boundless love and peace and joy. It is an experience of wholeness. When you are identified with a personal self you are out of touch with your natural state of being. So you feel conflict and lack. You seek to supply this lack through the personal self and you see relationships as the way to do this. The personal thought system (ego) teaches you that others are your source. It projects the cause of your unhappiness onto them. It also tells you that in others you will find the peace and happiness that you seek. Th...

I wonder about insurances. Oddly, I have homeowner's and car insurance because they are required and they don't seem to concern me. I recently changed professions and now am without health insurance. I want to be open to guidance but find I am unsure. I know ACIM talks about not making plans for uncertainties. What are your thoughts regarding this? – PB You are unsure what to do because you are concerned with acting in a way that is “right” or “good” or in line with Truth. This is a common mistake for new students of A Course in Miracles because you are used to thinking that the personal self is you and that the goal is for you to “fix” the personal self to be “right” in the eyes of a separate, authoritarian god. But that god does not exist. It is only a projection of guilt. As the Course uses the word, God is the one Being that is, not something separate with authority over you. And the goal for you is not to be “right” but to return to your natural state of peace. The...

Is prayer for physical things based on fear? I’m a fifty year old man with a very struggling business. I have been studying the Course for about nineteen months now with regular meditations. I’m in debt that I accumulated over the years and they have gone to such an extent that I am now receiving threats. I normally pray for love and peace but deep down there is strong yearnings to pray for money and good fortune for my business so that I can pay these people, get my business in shape and focus on my spiritual path. Is prayer for money intervention in order to pay my debts based on fear? -HPWS Fear certainly leads you to feel that you need to pray for anything. And your strong desire to pray for money and good fortune reveals that you still believe that your fear is caused by the personal self’s lack of money. The flip-side of this is that you feel that the personal self having enough money will release you from fear. It’s true that if the personal self had enough money to pay its ...

Lesson # 183 of the workbook for students for ACIM call upon God's Name, and to repeat HIS Name while sitting silently. My question to you is this: DO I NEED TO HAVE A NAME OF GOD TO DO THIS LESSON? Being raised in the Eastern culture, I know that Muslims call God's Name by Allah, Hindus call God's Name by Bagwan and in the West, I've heard some Christians call God's Name by Jehovah…I often call God's Name by Love because it has all the attributes of what God Is…Can you please share your thoughts about calling upon God's Name? – JJ No, you do not have to have a name for God to do Lesson 183 because God does not have a name. The word God is the label given in A Course in Miracles to the experience of formless being. This experience is boundless love and peace and joy. What this lesson means to bring into focus for you is that God’s being is your being. So you can use the word God for this lesson or you can use any other word that evokes the experience o...

I have been studying spiritual paths for several years now and there is one question that nags me most often. How do I distinguish between setting healthy boundaries for what I think I need and setting boundaries out of fear instead of love? I understand when it comes to things like not accepting physical abuse. My struggle comes from less obvious situations. For example, my ex, after 2 years of dating, decided she wanted to be able to date other people. I knew that what I wanted was a monogamous commitment from a partner, but I attempted to stay in the relationship because I loved her and I thought not being willing to open the relationship to include others was fear based. Eventually, I decided that, fear based or not, it wasn’t what I wanted and lovingly exited the relationship. I still don’t know, however, if this was loving or fear based boundary setting. Any insights you have would be greatly appreciated. ‑VLB A fear-based decision for the personal self means one that comes from ...