Ask: How do I know which teachers to follow?


I’m new to A Course in Miracles. There seem to be so many books about and teachers of ACIM and often what they teach seems to conflict. How do I know who to follow?

            The only Perfect Teacher is the Holy Spirit within you. Teachers in the world are imperfect. We teach because we are still learning. Teachers are at various stages in their awareness of Truth. This can make it seem like we contradict each other when it is just that some are more aware of Truth than others. If we are truly open to the Holy Spirit then our teaching evolves as we grow more aware of God (Truth). And this can make it seem like what we teach now contradicts some of our own past teachings.
Teachers in the world are instruments of the Holy Spirit for you only when you follow the Holy Spirit within you. So be sure to first invite the Holy Spirit into your awareness when you choose to read or to listen to teachers in the world. Otherwise you will only reinforce the ego (personal thought system) in your mind. You will know that you are learning from the Holy Spirit when you experience clarity and liberation from guilt and fear.
            You are automatically drawn to teachers who model what you want. If you want to intellectually understand ACIM you will be attracted to teachers who have a deep intellectual understanding of it. If you are looking for a spiritualized life in the world then you will be drawn to teachers who spiritualize the ego. If you want inner peace you will be drawn to teachers who have inner peace. As you grow aware of Truth your goal for yourself may change. You will find your attraction to teachers of your old goal falling away to make room for teachers of your new goal.
            Only the Holy Spirit knows what you need right now to move you toward your goal. But you may not yet be confident in your ability to hear the Holy Spirit. Or you may feel blocked in your awareness of the Holy Spirit. So until you are more certain of the Holy Spirit in yourself bring your confusion and questions to a teacher who teaches from the Holy Spirit. Find someone who models what you want. And be sure that they help you to hear the Holy Spirit in yourself.
           In time you will be able to bring your questions directly to the Holy Spirit. This practice will not only result in you having the answers that you need at the time but it will also strengthen your awareness of the Holy Spirit. And this is the real value in any spiritual study. In time, as the Holy Spirit becomes a real Presence for you, studying will fall away. You will learn directly from the Holy Spirit within you.

 >>>>>
Learn about the books The ACIM Mentor Articles, The Plain Language A Course in Miracles, and 4 Habits for Inner Peace at www.acimmentor.com.
If you have a question the answer to which you think will help others send it to Liz@acimmentor.com and indicate that you want it answered in the ACIM Mentor Newsletter/Blog.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Committed to the Spiritual Process

If you’ve been reading my blog/newsletter for the past few weeks then you know significant things have occurred in the life of this mind. Four years ago the ego (personal thought system) fell away. I didn’t realize it fully and I spent three and a half years personally in a rather barren place in this mind, though there was peace in the rest of my mind. I did feel done with the world, but I didn’t know what that meant. I just stayed with the feeling, wondering what would come next. The next thing arrived in this mind last summer with a subtle shift from emptiness to a delicious Spaciousness. This was followed by beautiful Golden Light, Love, and Joy filling the Space. Bewilderingly, an effect of this was a romance novel! From there, the Light and the shifts continued. During this time a client in Australia whom I have called Zelda in these articles, but whose real name is Hannah, became a friend as well. We grew closer over several months and began to experience a lot of sync...
Read more

Ask: What is meant by "extend Love"?

I wonder exactly what is meant by "extend love" or how one extends love. Is it a loving intention toward the person, or a wish for them, or what? Can you give an example? – JO “Extending love” means replacing unloving thoughts in your mind with the awareness of Love in your mind. For example, your peace of mind is disturbed while watching something on television. Your peace is gone because you believe that what you see is reality. You extend Love in this situation by turning inward to Truth (God), feeling Love’s Presence within you, and remembering that It, not the images appearing, is What is Real. It may take you a while to accept that only your own thoughts cause you pain. So at first you may feel that you need to extend Love “out there” to the images that seem to be causing you pain. Or you may extend Love to another who is sharing their painful story with you. You can do this by imagining the situation or the person in a Loving Light. Or you may use some other image to ...
Read more

Evolving Practice with ACIM

           The Course was dictated to two who had a sense of Spirit working in their lives. After all, they were taking down the Course itself! The Universal Christ Mind sought to develop and grow their awareness of Spirit through the lessons in the Workbook as well as simply in discussion with them, privately and through the Course . And for those who find the Course and already have an awareness of Spirit, even if only dimly, the Course functions in the same way. Through the practice suggested, they develop their trust in Spirit. But for many who come to the Course , the discernment of Spirit within has not yet occurred. For them, practice is the means of opening to the awareness and experience of Spirit. Those who do not understand this often feel frustrated and even angry with the Course for suggesting that they should be having experiences that they do not yet have. They feel that they fall short when they read the instructions and descriptions ...
Read more