Death, Reincarnation, and Guilt

“In the ultimate sense, reincarnation is impossible. There is no past or future, and the idea of birth into a body has no meaning either once or many times. Reincarnation cannot, then, be true in any real sense. Our only question should be, ‘Is the concept helpful?’” (M-24.1)

The belief in reincarnation is one that bafflingly persists in the A Course in Miracles community. It’s baffling because ACIM states that it cannot be real. And it’s baffling because in the experience of the Holy Instant, the experience central to understanding ACIM, you know that it cannot be real. Yes, ACIM also says it may be a helpful concept if looked at the right way. It goes on to say that if it’s comforting to the believer its helpfulness is obvious. And that you can emphasize the aspect of the concept that leads one to understand that there is more to existence than this passing life. But those are very slim aspects of the concept to find helpful. They could only be temporarily helpful at best.

I have yet to run across a student who looks at the concept of reincarnation in a way that is comforting or helpful. Always they speak of it with guilt and fear. Either they are unhappy and fear having to repeat life in a body. Or they feel that they will never see the end of guilt. How many lifetimes of guilt do they have to undo? How many lifetimes will it take to undo the guilt? How can they stop from making more guilt in this lifetime? Guilt is built into the concept of reincarnation.

One of the most difficult questions for students of ACIM to answer is “What happens to me when I die?” It is difficult to answer because that which asks does not exist! “Eternity”, as ACIM uses the word, is not “endless time” but “timelessness”. Eternity is outside of time. It has no beginning and no ending. It simply is. That Which is eternal within you is not touched by the story that you have for yourself in time. Peace is attained by becoming aware of the Eternal within you and focusing on It as you let go of the story that you have for yourself in time. When you do that you stop having questions about death. That which would be concerned with death has already fallen away from you when you are aware of the Eternal within you.

“Reincarnation would not, under any circumstances, be the problem to be dealt with now. If it were responsible for some of the difficulties the individual faces now, his task would still be only to escape from them now.” (M-24.2)

The trap is the belief that there is something out there in the future to be attained. The Eternal is within you now. You are only unaware of It. Your obstacles to peace are beliefs in your mind now. If you are unhappy now the source of your unhappiness are thoughts and beliefs in your mind now even if they seem to be about the past, of this life or of another life. This is why you can undo them now. If the source of the thoughts truly was in the past then you would not be able to undo them. The source of anything you feel now is a belief in your mind now.

“The ego teaches thus: Death is the end as far as hope of Heaven goes. Yet because you and the ego cannot be separated, and because it cannot conceive of its own death, it will pursue you still, because guilt is eternal. Such is the ego's version of immortality.” (T-15.I.4)


Reincarnation is a very comfortable belief for the ego (personal thought system) because it is the belief that guilt is real. Though students may say that they understand that guilt is not real and that the problem is that believe in it, there is no way to avoid feeling punished as they contemplate an indefinite number of future lifetimes to undo an indefinite number of past lifetimes of the belief in guilt. This is just guilt and punishment in disguise. In fact, all you have to do is deal with the feelings of guilt that come up now. Feelings always reveal your true beliefs. So look at them with the Holy Spirit and undo them. In time you will realize that you always come back to a single core belief – that there is a power over you (a god) that judges you and that you have to live up to. As you correct this illusion again and again in its many forms you will eventually undo it. The ego will always tell you that you are guilty. But you will no longer believe it so the idea will have no power over you. This is something that you can accomplish in this lifetime.

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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.

Comments

will said…
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will said…
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Sally Dubel said…
I was introduced to your writing many years ago by Nouk Sanchez. You are the highlight of my Friday mornings. There is so much stuff out there on ACIM, but I am so happy to be have been pointed in your direction. You are clear and concise and make my heart happy. Thank you so much. Sally Dubel
Anonymous said…
Liz, what came through loud and clear is "now", which is all there is in Truth.

I would like to share this . . . When I first met my husband who has since awakened from the dream, the first greeting card we exchanged with one another was the exact same card and the sentiment said, "it is if I've known you in another lifetime" and I have to admit, it provided me comfort for many years. To this day, I cherish the holy blessing he shined in me. Another insightful post.
Suzechat said…
Thanks for subject of reincarnation.
I have had flashbacks all my life of different lives. I've always judged myself for not being prettier, more successful, more. Wanting my life to be different than what it was. Traced it back to the cradle. And them I realized I came into this world with an expectation of continuing on with what I had before. But no, this is Gods show. His direction. And I was born into this personality and this life situation and it wasn't wrong or a mistake. I was wrong for thinking it should be what I thought I should be.
Unknown said…
I have difficulty understanding your position, Liz. To me the idea that reincarnation isn't "real" is identical to the idea that this life we're dreaming now isn't real. We may (or may not) come back to try again in this dream until we finally see past the separation. I agree that all we have is NOW, and I have no interest in past life exploration, but reincarnation still makes sense to me. Can't reincarnation just be another facet of the dream?
nicci said…
liz, simply awesome and awesomely simple. the guilt that keeps us falsely identified cleverly using the idea of reincarnation to keep the remembering of our One Shared Self somewhere out there, anywhere but now. and that the source of my unhappiness is the thoughts i am having now and not any circumstances that appear to have been from the past ~ this is such a subtle but powerful distinction. when i came to this sentence i stopped reading and applied it immediately to a disturbance that was occurring for me, and with Inner Help received immediate healing. i now (!) have a much deeper understanding of the power of the Holy Instant: not just as the access to the Source for healing, but as the place where the need for healing arises. it is all happening now . . .

like my sweet sister sally, i am deeply grateful for your continued help with this journey home. as the days move forward, your words continue to bring me more fully into this practice. there is no way to measure the help your teachings are giving me.
in gratitude, nicci
Manu said…
There is no world, there are no bodies being born or dying. Reincarnation is merely another idea , a film happening within the dream.

However , as ACIM says, Reincarnation can be a helpful concept if used as a means of accepting eternal life. As opposed to the concept of eternal damnation and hellfire.
ACIM Mentor said…
Elizabeth, my concern with the concept is that it perpetuates guilt. It implies that there is something to be attained; that there is a perfection to seek. It keeps Truth away by putting it in the future. There is no place to go, there is nothing to seek. You are in God right now. You are only unaware of this. You can be aware of this right now (Holy Instant). This does not require lifetimes.
The question you have to ask yourself if what would go on? As ACIM points out in the quote in the article, this is a concept of the ego pursuing you even after death. There are no separate souls or spirits. There is only one Spirit, whole and complete and perfect. Separation and imperfection are the illusion. The illusion does not need to be perfected. You just need to release yourself from it and accept Perfection. Reincarnation is a concept that gives meaning to the illusion. It puts off Truth. It leads people to despair that they can be free of guilt and fear because it makes it seem that it takes forever. I have never heard from anyone that the concept sets them free from guilt. It's always the opposite - more guilt and fear.
will said…
Li,
Could Reincarnation be taking place in the dream?
will said…
What I see going on, and I may be wrong, is that 99% of the people doing the Course have not experienced Truth. You have experienced Truth many times in many ways so you have a different paradigm for Truth than most students. You have experienced it so it is very real to you. Most people have not and can only understand Truth as an intellectual concept. People are desparite to experience Truth as you have. But it's not happening.
The only reality for these folks is the dream. "Truth" is an idea to be talked about. The Course has said these spiritual experiences as you have had are a prerequisite to doing the Course. It seems like you want people to only relate to Truth when it is not possible for them to do so. A person can pretend they understand Truth but that's all it is, pretending.
Anonymous said…
Isn't experiencing miracles experiencing Truth. When the peace of God is awakened and you know what you are experiencing is not of this world, isn't that Truth?
will said…
I don't know the answer anonymous. When a Miracle takes place in my life I am not having an 'experience' just an intellectual awareness that something might have happened that we call a miracle.
will said…
Anonymous, it may very well be that everyone is having spiritual experiences like Liz or as you have when the Peace of God is awakened. That sounds like Truth but I have never had that experience and I guess I assumed others hadn't either. My thing is that we don't, as students, pretend we have had these experiences so we feel like we are making progress Spiritually but that we demand these experiences as is our right to do so as the Son's of God. But I'm aware that isn't going to work. People trying to be in contact with God or the Holy Spirit has been going on for a long time without much results. Nothing that I say or think is going to make any difference.
ACIM Mentor said…
Will, first, could reincarnation be going on in the dream? Again, I don't see how. There's only one mind having a dream. What you think of as "you" in the dream is only a figure in the dream. It is not apart from the dream having its own dream. Each of our seemingly separate dreams is actually part of one dream. So what's being recycled? There are no individual souls or spirits. There are many stories, however, and perhaps some minds tap into past stories. But they did not personally live those stories. Only one mind dreamt those stories. It's like a figure in a dream I have tonight remembering a figure in a dream I had last night. It's just something going on in my mind, not actually happening to the dream figures.
As to experiencing Truth: most of the people I speak with experience Truth. Most know this. Some come to see this after speaking with me. They did not realize they were experiencing Truth.
Here are two examples: most students report feeling peace when they read ACIM or other spiritual material. That's the Holy Spirit or a miracle or however you want to characterize that experience of Truth.
Here's one that's universal: your experience of "I am" or "I exist". That pure experience of Beingness, Which is really apart from the story that you have for you as a self. That's what is real and eternal within you. That's the Truth. What you have to sort out is that pure experience from the story. That's really all we're doing.
will said…
What I'm trying to clarify in my own mind (this mind)is it possible for the "only one mind dreaming those stories" to have the dream of an afterlife for the "figures in the dream?"
will said…
I think we have to keep in mind that the mind that is dreaming is as powerful as the mind that isn't dreaming which is essentially as powerful as God. It can dream whatever it wants to.
will said…
A number of times you have said when people question your knowledge of the Course or spirituality you have referenced having experiences such as revelations. Those are the type of experiences that give the first hand knowledge of what the Course is talking about. Reading the text and feeling peace is a long way from the experiences you have had or that give you the "pure experience of Beingness (and I can only speak for myself. It may be everyone else has the equivalent experience of a revelation when reading that allows them to be in a place that they recognize God.) This may very well be the case. This mind of mine is a hard case.
will said…
I get off center after a while talking about this and I can tell it's time to give it a rest. Maybe we'll pick it up another time.
ACIM Mentor said…
Revelation is not necessary, Will. I've met only a couple of students who've experienced one. Others are aware of Truth without one. They see It working in them and in their lives. Honestly, I wouldn't wish a Revelation on anyone. They're shattering. Each one got easier than the last but after the first ones I felt I barely held onto my sanity.
It's a Course in "Miracles" rather than Revelation because miracles meet you where you are. You need the gentle reminder that Truth is here with you. You need the repetition, which you couldn't take with Revelations. Miracles are how you get to know and trust Truth. Are you sure that you're not rejecting miracles because you're attached to being a hard case?
As for your question about reincarnation: Actually, since there's only one dream it cannot be just anything or suddenly become something else. It is what it is. But I'm not going to continue to try to make my point. We're talking about nothingness. If reincarnation is a concept that sets you free from fear and guilt then I say use it!
Anonymous said…
Whoa! Revelations . . . I'll wait until A Course in Revelations comes out thank you very much. Ha!
will said…
It is always a great help to write out on the blog what I a thinking. It gets it out of my head and puts it out in front of me where I can see it. As I have said in the past when I do this I ALWAYS get spiritual answers which more than make up for the risk in doing it. In trying to bend truth to the way this mind wants to experience it I come out of this with a reminder of all I have to be grateful for. Which is a lot.
Christine said…
"I wouldn't want to wish a Revelation on anyone!" Liz - that made me laugh out loud, so thank you!! We need a break from taking everything so seriously - Dr. Wapnik mentioned that a number of times. I love Will's continuous Princess-and-the-Pea attitude, though! If something doesn't make sense to you, keep digging, asking, until you've gotten your answer and feel comfortable with it. Your answer may come when you least expect it, sometimes many years, sometimes right away.
Anonymous said…
I received an interesting insight from a dream I had. The characters in the dream were my late husband Jose, Tony Dinozzo of the show NCIS and the voice of my former work director Jay. In the dream, Jose and Tony were the same person but my mind shifted between the two, but they were one man. In one scene I was seductively kissing Tony in the front of a car but thinking it was Jose because that is the way Jose kissed. Then the scene shifted to Jose receiving a phone call and I heard the person on the line say, this is Jay. I knew it to be my former director I use to work with. In my mind I thought Jose was being secretive about scheduling a time to play double's tennis with Jay. I was then suspicious of Jose/Tony of having an affair with a long haired auburn red haired woman. She was beautiful as I pictured her in my mind, dreaming of course. End of dream.

So as I went about my morning, I got thinking about the dream and the Tony character in the actual television show NCIS and realized, he in many ways is like Jose was and then an insight struck me. We are all playing a character in the greatest show on earth and that none of it is real, we are just following script after script after script, that's all. We may like or not like all the characters that enter our lives in the show but it matters not because it is all a crazy silly show. Easy to forgive right? So as I go about my day, I find it so much easier to just observe it as if I am just watching a program and the role I play is a widow living alone in the country with 3 dogs who had a dream about her late husband and Tony Dinozzo. Forgive any and every projection of thought that reacts to any scene as if it is real.

Here's a thought - My husband died off as one of the characters in the greatest show on earth so hey, maybe Tony is Jose reincarnated. He can be, it is just a dream. Ha!
Anonymous said…
Reminding this mind - the dream is dreamt by one dreamer, dreaming a dream regardless if it is a sleeping dream or waking dream and this one dreamer is projecting the characters starring the widow of Jose and her three dogs, Jose who comes back but in the body of Tony Dinozzo, the voice of Jay, the tennis player, and the mystery red haired woman. To be continued.
Dorothy Gayhart-Kunz said…
I started remembering lifetimes many years ago during Reiki treatments. I continue remembering them as I meet people.
I have found that that I am healing the past lifetimes, one of the purposes of this lifetime.
Many people that I am with now were present in the past. The past can show the trauma and the present the healing. All is interrelated. At one level there are no lifetimes, but in 3D you are one with all of them.
hannah said…
i am finding life very strange since my experience of one song. i simply do not know what to do when theres nothing that NEEDS doing. even following my joy seems, intangible and unreal, yet still desirable, and pointless?? i feel very uncomfortable, like i need a rule book but there isnt one. i feel so many conflicting things. and an underlying steady quiet, it makes no SENSE.

i feel so joyful, and then intensely guilty about that. i had clear goals re the study of the course that i now cant make fit. i dont know what truly helpful IS. i dont know how to be with myself or anyone, i cant seem to get a grip on how to be when theres nothing to fix. i am afraid that my nephew will suicide, though i had the experience of one perfect song, the experience of oneness that showed that nothing could really die, or be left behind, because nothing here, nothing separate actually existed, and that was GOOD, WONDERFUL, directly after leaving him in deep despair that he couldnt/didnt want to? shift. i miss the feeling of being 100% free of fear, which i only felt for a few seconds, then guilty for wanting to live in that space of acceptance and joy, when other parts of this dream believe they are trapped in this world, in themselves, as reality and will not experience the freedom, those parts of the onemind will spend all the experience not knowing themSelf. this selfs complete acceptance of a joyful dream seems like it would be unkind, unfair. and i know im still believing in the self that feels like its experiencing all these contradicting things.

a little while after i started studying the course, i had a dream that i was standing on a desert plain, then i climbed down a very tall cliff face into a dark, dark kind of marshy/misty place. i bent down to look at a snail like creature made of blue light, and it started bulging and wobbling, then it kind of.. popped into two creatures, identical, yet undefined, like amorphous amoeba, i heard the words 'primordial slime' and 'eye dropper'. I turned to climb back up the ladder, it had turned from rope into the same electric blue light the creatures were made of, and had changed shape to like.. a saftey netting stretching up the cliff face. i started climbing, and when i was a long way up the sections of the netting stared popping into each other, disappearing from many smaller sections joined together, into bigger, less numerous sections, like the bubbles in a bubble bath do. i was a long way up and knew i couldnt make it back to the ground before the netting dissapeared entirely and as the netting kept popping into itself, i started to really panic as i knew id fall and die, and that my only option was to stop looking at where i was climbing, at what my hands were holding on to even, and focus on the cliff top and just climb as fast as i could, focusing on the golden light that was all i could see. i was so afraid, but i stuck to the plan and i made it to the top as i woke up, knowing everything was perfectly ok. in meditation three nights ago, i saw myself hanging from a cliff top by my fingers. so i know this is possible, that i can know okay-ness, but i dont know how. im not as afraid of my current terror as i would have been without the dream, but i still dont know how to focus on god. i feel so uncomfortable, displaced. i feel like meditation is not enough.. is that not so?? is meditating on god really all i can do? all i need if i want to choose peace instead of this weird afraid inbetweenness?
hannah said…
oh damn, i know the answer but i dont like it. letting go of the safety net of something to do in the world of separation feels impossible and insane and i guess i just want to keep existing as i identify myself now. i want that AND the joy of onemind. i guess, its just i dont really trust true being yet right? and thats ok, right? how do do nothing?! i wont hold on to needing separation to keep existing as an important self for ever. i want the golden one light, one answer that is very knowable, and to not seek many answers from outside so i can keep god outside of my awareness, outside of my Being. ah, just moved back into joy. solid ground NOW.
will said…
Princess and the Pea:) I just read it in Wikipedia. I'll have to remember that.
hannah said…
this was on facebook this morning

'the bodys uncomfortable emotions happen only to remind you that theres a thought available for questioning'

thanks for the discussion forum here, and the reminder to trust that any questions asked will be answered, from some aspect of oneSelf, not necessarily where you think it will come from! learning to trust God, not specialness xxx
patricia said…
Liz, you wrote, "Reincarnation... NEVER sets... them free from guilt." Could that be that the therapist worked from fear rather than from Spirit? To do this work, it is essential for the therapist to know his/her Self and therefore knows who and what the client truly is, beyond the body - otherwise, fear will enter and healing will not occur.

I was for a few years, a "past-lives therapist". I never doubted that what my clients saw was helpful to them and would result in healing. It never failed to release the client from fear and guilt.

I know the eternal in me - and therefore I know the eternal in my clients, PLUS I had read ACIM. My clients taught me how the ACIM healing principles worked in “real life”. I never told them to go to a past life; I asked them to ask their Inner Wisdom (Holy Spirit) to show them the source or origin of the problem they had came to see me for.

When someone was relaxed to the point that they felt perfectly SAFE, they could remember and reevaluate - see differently - any memory, and see it from a higher perspective, where they were NOT a body a personality or their history. They could see themselves as I saw them, which was a pure, innocent, powerful spiritual being having a temporary human experience.

My clients made ACIM come alive for me. They proved all the claims about healing that are made in the book, such as:

"All healing is essentially the release from fear." SO true!

From Lesson 135: [In your ordinary waking consciousness] "You will not see the mind as separate from bodily conditions. And you will impose upon the body all the pain that comes from the conception of the mind as limited and fragile, and apart from other minds and separate from its Source... These are the thoughts in need of healing, and the body will respond with health when they have been corrected and replaced with Truth." Absolutely true.

"It is not necessary to follow fear through all the circuitous routes by which it burrows underground and hides in darkness, to emerge in forms quite different from what it is. Yet it is necessary to examine each one as long as you would retain the principle that governs all of them. When you are willing to regard them, not as separate, but as different manifestations of the same idea, and one you do not want, they go together." Yes, again.

My clients saw their “pivotal events” in the privacy of their own minds and the Holy Spirit (Inner Wisdom), helped them see them clearly and release the fear. When they opened their eyes after a session, they could breathe again.

I believe our work here is to release the trauma that has clung to us through the years and lifetimes. At times, we were unable to release the fear because we died before we processed the event. TO SERVE US and ENCOURAGE US TO RELEASE the past, uncomfortable emotions play themselves out over and over again on this planet. When we release uncomfortable feelings, we are no longer slave to them. We truly are free.
will said…
There has been a lot of fear on the blog this week. Liz brought up the topic of reincarnation and then had to retreat. I brought up the word revelation and poor anonymous had a melt down. What's that all about? We absolutely believe the Course in Miracles as scribed by Helen as dictated by Jesus but will not discuss what Jesus was saying as scribed by Helen in Absence from Felicity. Talk about fear! To me this weeks blog began to feel like a shout down. I don't know what's going on. Myself I have no interest in reincarnation but the evidence for past lives is becoming overwhelming in my opinion. Not talking about it, fear of it, pooh poohing it as not "real," an aversion to talking about the dream because it is not "real" seems like fear to me. I'm not in the same place as Liz, she has been at this longer than I have, I am perfectly willing to admit I cannot see things as she does. But I still want to talk about it.
ACIM Mentor said…
One of the things I let go of when I began putting out my writing was a desire to be understood. It's impossible for any one other to fully understand what I mean to say because they are looking through their own filters. Sometimes I can clarify - if there is a true openness. But usually there is not.
This blog has been unusual in that all the the comments have indicated to me that the commentors do not get the point of what I was saying. Oh, well. I could write a clarification but I would only be repeating myself. And that would be misunderstood, too! Everyone reads into my writing what they need to read into it. Trying to be understood is like yelling into the wind. So I just put the words out there and let people do with them what they will. I hope they read it with the Holy Spirit and get something useful for themselves where they are right now.
will said…
Fair enough. I will print out what you wrote so I can sit in my 'favorite chair' and take my time with it, as much as I need. Like sobriety you can only be as far along as you are. Thank God for 12 step. You grow from a child to an adult and the understanding of the growing pains can be easily transferred to the Course.
Anonymous said…
Thank you Liz for your last comment. I know my comments are comments to myself and sometimes I find, damn, I have no clue and so it is a gentle reminder to just keep studying. Then other times my comments affirm my progress and I see the fruits of my daily study. I no longer take anything personal and that has been freeing (more progress). I also, don't compare my progress with others because with acceptance of where I am, I accept all and that is peace.
will said…
I was out back taking care of my rose garden and got to remembering I spent a good part of my life "helping" the mentally ill, criminals and the addicted. My BS radar is always on at a fairly high level. At least compared to most people. I'm working on it.
Anonymous said…
My re-read but this time with the Holy Spirit . . .

Chapter 17 I 5: "Think you that you can bring truth to fantasy and learn what truth means from the perspective of illusion?"

You can only understand from the perspective above the battleground where there is no time and you realize everything is in the mind.

This post helped me in ways I did not expect. Blessings!

will said…
Liz
If you read T-15.I.9 about the Holy Instant the only person I have ever read in the 10+ years on this blog who is EXPERIENCING this is you. No one else. The only two people I have ever read that I believe have EXPERIENCED it is you and Helen. There must be others but the only person I can sense that has had the full experience of A Course in Miracles is you. A lot of people experience the "feelings" of miracles taking place in their lives, me included, but I never have read a comment that gave me the feeling that the person was speaking from anywhere but a firm foundation in the dream 'talking about' Truth. This is a problem. This is not what the Course is saying will happen. I wrote two comments this week that I erased where it seems to me that the bar to experiencing the Course is too high. That's something that Jesus will have to address if it is true. But the bar has been too high since spirituality or religion began. So many people trying to experience what the Course says but virtually no-one getting there.
As it says in the preface "God has provided the Answer, the only Way out, the true Helper...It is the Holy Spirit's goal to help us escape from the dream world..." I'm sorry Jesus, I'm sorry Holy Spirit, but from here it looks like we need some additional help getting this thing off the ground.
will said…
Liz,
The point I wanted to make is that you and the people commenting on the blog are coming from two different paradigms. When we start talking about things like life after death, this is as good as it's going to get.
Christine said…
If this helps, and I don't know everything - but I know some, we are already 'awake', it is already 'asked and answered' - remember the "tiny tick of time" quote? There's no fixing or going anywhere and nothing to "do" or to "undo"(in a physical or material way) - there is only an awareness that has to be developed/ or realized in our own seemingly individual consciousness...our awareness of Oneness with God. But these steps in the fog are a necessity for now. I recall Dr. Wapnick's saying that it's like you're going 65 MPH on the highway - and you can't just turn your car around and go the polar opposite! You have to do it gradually. I had the thought last night as I was going to sleep that we are not dealing with anyone out there (clarified in my mind) but a bunch of Yous! We're dealing with our one Self 'out there'...I don't know what that has to do with anything, just thought I'd mention it.
Anonymous said…
I've been studying the Course for almost two years now and I can say that before I accepted the Course in my mind, I did not have a practice where I would spend any part of my day looking at my thoughts, identifying made up, silly grievances and letting them go. How peaceful is it to not occupy this mind with illusion, all due to accepting the Course in my mind. I judge less, forgive more, sing with joy, and with love, I offer from the Manual For Teachers, "VIII. Patience 1. Those who are certain of the outcome can afford to wait, and wait without anxiety. Patience is natural to the teacher of God. All he sees is certain outcome, at a time perhaps unknown to him as yet, but not in doubt. The time will be as right as is the answer. And this is true for everything that happens now or in the future. The past as well held no mistakes; nothing that did not serve to benefit the world, as well as him to whom it seemed to happen. Perhaps it was not understood at the time. Even so, the teacher of God is willing to reconsider all his past decisions, if they are causing pain to anyone. Patience is natural to those who trust. Sure of the ultimate interpretation of all things in time, no outcome already seen or yet to come can cause them fear."
ACIM Mentor said…
Will, many of my clients have experienced the Holy Instant to varying degrees. Some all the way up to a direct Revelation, but, yes, that is very rare and, as I wrote earlier, also not necessary. Do not underestimate the value of the experience of the miracle. This is a cumulative process. Every experience builds on every other experience.
Do you see the guilt in the belief that there is a "bar" that must be attained to have the experience you desire? Worthiness is not the issue. Willingness is. And so is the ability to tolerate and accept the experience. Do not underestimate how shattering a Revelation is. Every miracle you experience prepares you for higher miracles and for Revelation. Do not push away the Holy Spirit because It does not seem like enough for you. You are pushing away the very Thing that will help you prepare for the experience you want. Therefore, you are pushing away the very experience you want!
will said…
OK
will said…
I got lazy. Earlier on I was trying to think of the word that describes the spiritual experience that is below revelation. When I couldn't come up with it I just used revelation in my laziness and things got a little off track. I should have just said 'spiritual experience.' Anyway no big deal, I got the information I needed. Thanks All.
Sage Starfield said…
Typo in last paragraph, second sentence: "that the problem is that believe in it... "
Whole issue of reincarnation is of self vs. Self. Spirit obviously continually "reincarnates" into new bodies and forms - the personal thought system doesn't pass directly into a new person, but is absorbed by the culture and reintroduced to newcomers via collective consciousness, so in that sense, even egos influence future generations and so what we do in this life is important for evolutions progress.
Sage Starfield said…
Hannalily - love the dreamtime!
What is the "one song" which leaves you feeling strange?
hannah said…
Sage Starfield :)

i about the experience on Liz's post called One Story, a blog or two back. My mind has been in turmoil since then, after a wee while of relative peace, because i havent really wanted to let go of my old sense of self, to let go of the world and myself as i knew (and mistrusted) them ;) but it has all been part of a truly magnificent orchestration, i railed and wailed and desperately tried to keep making god outside of myself, including here on this blog.

but ultimately i want peace more than anything else, and i want it now, where it exists, not in some unattainable other time!

last night i heard the voice, which said you are letting go of magic, which i must say the understanding of had still remained elusive, but then 'how do the teachers of god spend their days' came up on my ipod, which brought clarity, and the message ties in with the experience of one song. and with the topic of this blog as well, as it is my belief in a will separate from gods (which leads to an experience in which individual existence and death can seem real) that i have been and still am, struggling to let go of. am practising letting go of. it is very easy for me to loose sight of the truth right now, as my nephew is in the greatest pain ive ever seen in someone i love, i was the first to hold him after his 'birth', and he now only 17 years later wishes to 'die'. and ive felt very guilty that this pain and my attachment to him has been the perfect place for me to really start choosing peace. but as i said, i do see that the orchestration in my own seemingly individual and separate climb up the ladder is 100% perfect. there is only One Son, its just i havent fully accepted it yet.

its up to me whether i use this situation to know god, the truth, or strengthen belief in separation, in individual selves.

this morning in an email from a teeshirt company, one shirt presented was called 'down the rabbit hole' and the other shirt was called 'wonderlands'.

to my individual self, this feels like a big important crossroads im at, though the one song showed me that this isnt an accurate experience in reality, as this experience of awakening isnt REALLY happening. i still identify in the dream, but im learning to =be lucid.
hannah said…
sage starfield - that should read 'i wrote about' :)
Sage Starfield said…
Hannahlily :)
OK, thanks for referring me back to where you mention "One Song" - I like it! Isn't it interesting what challenges Being trusts us with for our own growth, the growth of others and It's own growth! There is so much stigma around suicide, isn't there? I remember smiling reading Alberto Villodo (shaman) talking about how in his lineage shamanic healing doesn't necessarily even imply preserving life if it's in the soul's higner good to move on. Taran is blessed to have you in his life. All you can do is love him, right? Sending you heartfelt wishes for a positive outcome... <3 Sage

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