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Showing posts from April, 2014

Ask: Can I love and respect nature and still be serious about ACIM?

“...I have always felt a tremendous affinity to the Native American ways and their utter respect for a great Spirit and as keepers of the earth planet. So, here is the "angst" for me...I am clear that ACIM is my primary path, but the connection to the earth, animal totems, etc really speak to me. Yet, I know from the ACIM perspective, there is no world and the emphasis isn't on saving something that isn't "there". Natives saw "spirit" in everything...trees, mountains, streams, corn, buffalo. Is it compatible to have and tend the "love and respect of natural beauty" and be a serious student of ACIM?  I remember Ken W saying that frustration with inanimate things was as significant as anything else. Clearly, I'm confusing some things here...” – KL             Your desire to love and to respect the natural world would only be incompatible with your study of A Course in Miracles if it prevented you from being aware that the Truth is

Ask: Where and when do folks buy into guilt?

“ I am continually confused by most everything about the meanings in ACIM of the concept of guilt. I was brought up in a home that taught that God loves us unconditionally and is present everywhere; that we reflect Him and all his qualities; that we are already "perfect" in reality.  Being "perfect" as a young person took time to take in however, being a good person did not.   Where and when do folks buy into guilt?  Human guilt is another thing.  Most of us feel human guilt easily which impedes our human and spiritual growth but can be a teaching tool, I think. Is there a time when we ‘should’ feel guilt?” – LK             Very simply, when you identify with limited form (the self) you are aware on a deep, unconscious level that your mind is not in its natural state of limitless, formless Being (what A Course in Miracles calls “God”). So you are uncomfortable. To preserve itself in your mind the ego (personal) thought system in your mind tells you that your

Ask: Since my body is an illusion what's the point in taking care of it?

“…I understand that everything is an illusion, just as Einstein discovered with his telescope, no matter just energy. But what I'm having a problem understanding is, since my body is an illusion, what's the point in trying to eat properly and taking supplements and curing disease naturally that enters my body, all of which are illusions?...” – AM                         Before I get to your question, let me clarify that Truth is formless so the universe of form is the illusion. There is no relationship between Truth (Formlessness) and illusion (form); they are diametrically opposed. What Einstein discerned and then proved with math (not a telescope) about matter being made up of energy (form, too, though invisible) is an explanation for how the universe of form works. He did not reveal what A Course in Miracles means by “illusion”. This will never be revealed through science because science always validates form, visible or invisible. Science “proves” that form (illusion

Ask: (#4) How do I know if I've misunderstood something I've read?

(This is the conclusion of a conversation published as the March 21, 28, and April 4 articles).  “ So what you're saying is I shouldn't derive my sense of self from this world because it's not real? Why does it feel real to me? I've realized I misunderstood my readings of the Course , so now I'm doubting whether to continue studying the Course or not. How do I know if I've misunderstood something or not?” – KR It feels real to you because you were born into this consciousness and you don’t question its reality until something happens to make you question it.  Workbook Lesson #132 discusses this a bit: “There is no world! This is the central thought the course attempts to teach. Not everyone is ready to accept it, and each one must go as far as he can let himself be led along the road to truth…But healing is the gift of those who are prepared to learn there is no world, and can accept the lesson now. Their readiness will bring the lesson to them in so

Ask: (#3) How can there not be a connection between Truth and you as a person?

(This is a continuation of a conversation published as the March 21 and 28 articles).  “… You have said, ‘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’. By judging me as thinking from 'old religious habit of spiritualizing the ego' haven't you contradicted yourself and judged me from the ego?             Also, how can there not be a connection between the Truth and what you do or do not do as a person? That's clearly separation thinking because WE ARE TRUTH. How then am I so calm and less stressed out since I started studying the Course ? As I study the Course and Jesus points me gently towards the Truth I feel peaceful even for a little bit, why is that? If there is no connection between Truth and what I do as a person?             You have said you spend your experience, energy and time with your clients in exchange fo