Ask: (#2) By making people your clients aren't you reinforcing separation?

(This is a continuation of a conversation that began in the March 21 article).
“Thank you very much for answering. I'm so happy that at least one spiritual teacher answered instead of ignoring…I'm also a student of A Course in Miracles, I've recently started studying of my own accord. Jesus says there's really only one of Us in reality and that this world is a dream, a hallucination of the One Mind. The belief that we are separate from Him and God is the only belief that needs healing. We are all the Sonship. Therefore answer me this, would you ask for money from your family? By making people as your 'clients' instead of brothers and sisters of the One Family, aren't you reinforcing the idea of separation? Therefore contradicting your 'teachings'? People may assume that you're a con artist instead of a 'spiritual teacher' in that case, making millions off 'spirituality' when in reality Truth is abundant and available to anyone at anytime. I am slightly aware of the Holy Spirit within me since I started studying the Course. It is not my place to judge or condemn you in any manner, but these questions are genuine and have been in my mind for a long time…Also, please do me a favor and ask your readers to question everything and not take things for granted. Ask them to read the Course to learn directly from the Holy Spirit and not from their projections. Thank you.” – KR

            We are one in Truth (God), meaning the Truth in each mind is the same Truth. But we are not one as people. One formless Being (God) is reality. The illusion is the idea that there are separate minds in separate bodies in a world. So the goal is not to make the illusion like Truth, but to let it go to be aware of the one and only Being-that-is. The goal is to become aware that the universe of form is not Reality, but that the one Being that is the Truth in your mind is Reality.
And yes, I would take money from my siblings for my professional services. I used to clean houses for a living and my parents, one of my sisters, and my nephew were all clients of mine at some point. They all paid me full price for my professional services. The fact that the work that I do in the world now is spiritual in nature does not make it somehow different from any other work I would do in the world. It is no different to me than housecleaning was. It is just a job that I enjoy and that comes naturally to me.
The reason I do not feel guilty for taking money for my services is that I do not judge money, or needing to earn money to live in the world, as “wrong” or “bad”. This is simply the way that the world works. I accept this without judgment because the world is not my reality. Judging the world is what made it real to me. But I have learned that Truth is my Reality. This is not just theory for me. It has become my experience.
I am not conning anyone. I’m very open about what I do. Also, I do not make millions! That would be nice, but it is not necessary to me. My income from mentoring, the donations people send me for my newsletter, and the royalties off my books came to a grand total of $30,000 (gross) last year. (And it was only that high because one of my royalty checks from O-Books for 2012 came in 2013). This is the most I have earned in a year since I started mentoring in 2006.
I think you may be locked in the old, religious habit of spiritualizing the ego. That’s when you think that there is a connection between the Truth and what you do or do not do as a person. There is none. The Truth is untouched by anything that happens in the universe of form. Being aware of this is what A Course in Miracles teaches is true forgiveness. The Truth in you is already whole and perfect and untouched by the personal experience. You do not have to make the self be “good” or “right”. You do not have to perfect it and make it Truth-like. If you want peace you only have to be willing to release the personal as your reality so that you can become aware of your Reality in Truth.

There is no god outside of you holding the self accountable so there is no reason to judge what the self does in the world. It has no meaning in Reality, and judging it is what makes it real to you and causes any sense of separation.

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

Comments

Christine said…
I seem to have had to catch myself thinking the very opposite to this fact: thinking that Liz, and people whose work is "special" because it is of a "spiritual nature" and therefore she deserves much more in compensation than other people! Since we have uncovered in the Course the sameness in content of everything (simplifying here) her job is like my paying the plumber, or my dentist, or a lawyer, etc. for their services. In the story of our personal thought system (PTSD: personal thought system disorder) we so want to make someone special/ different, alas, separate from us! At least I am finally aware of this now.
5:47 AM
will said…
Here is part of a Mentor Article from February 24, 2007 "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...You cannot force yourself to accept something is unreal until you have experienced it as unreal."

This is one of the reasons the Course is so difficult and so tricky. We cannot understand Reality by using the ego and it is our primary tool for learning. You cannot experience the Course using the ego. The whole Course is about long term GOALS not immediate change. Apparently the amount of earth time that it takes is years and years to reach these goals. Meanwhile the ego is doing everything it can to stop the process by using its logic. We are reliant on the Holy Spirit for change so when issues of money (and others) come up, go to the Holy Instant and ask for healing. Over and over and over again see these issues as a call for Healing and go to the Holy Instant and ask for help.
6:50 AM
will said…
When you go to the Holy Instant and ask the Holy Spirit to help you with just about any difficulty (money or anger or seeing the world is an illusion)you are not going to come away from that with any conscious change. The world will still be just like it was, there's a good chance you'll still be angry or resentful. Basically you won't experience anything. The ego will tell you that it's a waste of time, it's stupid to be doing this when there is no payoff and on and on. I always practice the Course with no expectations of short term change. But I remember what brought me to this point and just know it is a process and this is how it works.
8:36 AM
Aleta said…
I find these comments very helpful. I really like your comment, Will, about practicing the Course with no expectations of short term change. When I first started the course, I found myself waiting for "bolts of lightning" to hit me and wham, I'd be a realized person. I have finally learned to slow down and let the HS take my hand, guiding me gently, in each moment, knowing the end is certain.
9:32 AM
www.worldtravelagency.com said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
12:21 PM
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