The Holy Spirit Works in You
A Course in Miracles
teaches that God (Truth) did not make the universe of form and does not come
into it. Yet some students make comments to me about how the Holy Spirit made
certain things happen in their lives in the world. Well, actually It didn’t.
The Holy Spirit is in your mind. It affects your perception of the world and
your interaction with the world but It does not leave you (or anyone else) and
go out into the universe of form and make things happen. If you attribute
“good” things in the world as coming from the Holy Spirit, wouldn’t you have to
attribute “bad” things to the Holy Spirit as well? Or, perhaps, just that It is
indifferent to the things that you deem as “bad” and so doesn’t intervene?
The universe of form works on cause and effect at the level
of form. These causes and effects are a very complex, interwoven tapestry. What
you think of as “you” in the world – the self (body/personality) – is part of
the universe of form. The self is the product (effect) of various causes in the
world as well as of your mind. And it causes effects at the level of form. Its
attitudes, behaviors, choices, and energy all interconnect with the universe of
form. When you allow the Holy Spirit into your awareness It changes your mind,
and therefore the attitudes, behaviors, choices, and energy of the self. These changes ripple out into the universe of
form and cause different effects than if you were still almost wholly ego
(personal thought system) identified. And the universe of form in turn responds
to the changes in the self.
Here are some examples:
Attitude:
Nancy has spent many
years growing her awareness of the Holy Spirit. It has become her Constant
Companion. Her trust in It to always bring her the answers she needs has
resulted in her having the confidence to handle anything that she encounters in
the world. Her confidence shows and she is looked to as a leader by her family,
employer, and co-workers. This has led to new responsibilities and positions in
the family and at work.
Behavior:
Jorge comes from a
large family that gathers often for birthdays and holidays. But he has social
anxiety and used to drink heavily in social situations to deal with it. When he
was drunk he was a bully and verbally abusive and no one wanted him around. The
family asked him to stay away if he couldn’t remain sober. He eventually turned
to spirituality and as he became aware of the Holy Spirit within he took
responsibility for his social anxiety. He got into therapy and was prescribed a
low dose of an anti-anxiety medicine to take while he and his therapist worked
on techniques to lessen his anxiety in social situations. His family and
friends are happy to see the changes in his behavior and he has found his
social life with his family resuming.
Choices:
Cassandra has met a nice
guy who treats her with respect and that she likes a lot. She doesn’t realize
it but her self-respect and self-confidence were what attracted him. Soon after
she met him an old boyfriend came back into her life. He was the “bad boy” type
that she always found hot and sexy. But actually it was more complicated than
that. She used to feel bad about herself and she was unconsciously attracted to
him, and he to her, because of her lack of self-respect. He saw someone he
could selfishly neglect and verbally abuse and she saw someone who treated her
the way that she felt she deserved. However, when he re-entered her life,
Cassandra had been on a spiritual path for a while and had become aware of the
Holy Spirit within herself. She now has self-respect. She has quickly found the
physical attraction to the old boyfriend empty and has no desire to get
involved with him again. She chooses the new guy whose behavior toward her
mirrors her self-respect.
Energy:
Carl was a very angry
person. He didn’t realize it but for years his angry energy was taking an
unseen toll on the cells in his body. After embarking on a spiritual path he
found with the Holy Spirit the sources of his anger and worked them out. He
didn’t know it but the positive changes in his energy had a positive, healthy
effect on the cells in his body. If he had continued on as angry he would’ve
experienced a grave illness when he was older. But his new attitude changed his
energy in a positive way and halted the damage to the cells in his body. What
he did see, however, was that his change in energy had an effect on those
around him. His relationships became more harmonious and positive opportunities
showed up at work and in his personal life.
Sometimes there is confusion about the cause for what shows
up in the world because you may have a spiritual break-through at the same time
something you need shows up. For example, you may hit bottom in a situation and
be finally open for help. You may call out to the Holy Spirit, consciously or unconsciously.
Then the help you need shows up in form. It can seem that the Holy Spirit
supplied the help but what shows up in form is caused at the level of form. Where
the Holy Spirit comes into it is in your recognition of the answer for your
call for help. For example:
Hernanda was a
compulsive over-eater and was grossly overweight. She had been on and off diets
and food plans all of her adult life but she could not manage her eating. For
years those around her have suggested she get help and she tried different
things but she was not yet willing. When she reached middle-age she was
diagnosed with diabetes. This terrified her and she hit bottom. She cried out
to the Holy Spirit for help and this time she meant it. She remembered a therapist/life-coach/personal
trainer she had worked with briefly years before. She recognized that this was
the help she needed to get back her health. She got off to a rocky start but
she stuck with it and in time lost the weight to reverse the diabetes and has
been able to maintain a healthy diet with rare slips.
Help at the level of form was always there for Hernanda, but
when she was truly willing the Holy Spirit was able to guide her to the form of
help that would work for her at that time.
>>>>>
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Comments
i will go back and read this again. i seem to be missing something. now that i look at this again, i notice further confusion about form effects being caused in form. i have perceived all form effects as being traced back to mind - with the misperceptions of the ego mind, or the corrected perceptions from joining with Holy Spirit in Unified Mind - either mind or Mind as always the causal element. the idea that form can be causal is a new one for me. oh, maybe you are saying there can be effects of effects. whew. endless L
You ask an excellent question, a key question, one I have asked myself and continue to ask. I have discussed this with Liz personally and it has also come up in past telephone study groups which Liz has archived and are available on her website. You may also want to use the search engine she has provided under "answers by topic". Here are some key ways to distinguish the HS from your ego voice:
If it is critical and punishing it's not the HS. If it focusses on minutiae or gives you the "pros and cons" of the situation it is not the HS. It is clear, quiet and matter of fact. Geez, I sound like an expert which I assure you I am not. Don't look for that "burning bush" moment either.
It may come when least expected - as words, an image, an insight. Good luck, be willing, stay open, says I to myself as I prepare to follow my own advice.
I am going to correct something ES said: When I have a decision to make the Holy Spirit actually leads me through pros and cons. That helps me to clarify what I really want or what is really at stake in the decision. It clears my mind to release the decision and wait for guidance.
Liz you once made it very clear that the HS was unequivocal. My own limited experience bears this out. Weighing the pros and cons intelligently as you did in the last blog re. choices, to me is the job of logic which any calm intelligent person can muster.
I'll admit it's a bit disconcerting for me to hear a "new version" of an older teaching but I find the original more helpful. (Even as I write this I hear a "voice" saying, "No need to go through all of this but if you must...) I'm going to stick with that one because my own experience of sorting out pros and cons of an issue before making a choice is always fraught with some degree of anxiety because my ego is taking each choice seriously and fears that if I make one choice I'll lose the benefits of the other. This fray is a hallmark of the ego and surely not the domain of the HS. When I'm finally at peace with a choice however, I know the HS is somehow involved. WTF, we're probably saying the same darn thing.
Lest we forget my good man Lionel and his excellent question - How to discern the "voice" of the HS amidst the cacophony of the ego's jabbering?, I'll defer to the US Supreme Court's test for pornography: "You'll know it when you see [hear/feel] it".
I'm going to leave it this way: The ego makes the decision-making process an excruciating
battle between competing choices. It will lay out these choices like it's doing us some kind of favor. With the help of a bit of logic and the HS, we can make the choice that is in our best interest which is always - peace.
Gosh darnit, I'm done!
The relationship between thought, energy, and matter is just beginning to be studied. I think it's called "noetics".
These changes ripple out into the universe of form and cause different effects than if you were still almost wholly ego (personal thought system) identified.
I think what is throwing me off is the "than" is you were.....
thank you, Anna
You can see this in all of the examples I gave.
I have found this article to be a fascinating topic ie. How the HS works in us, how to recognize it etc. Here is another question:
Would you say that a hallmark of the HS is when a person is working through some kind of problem that is perceived in a fearful way, whether it's something mundane like what to eat for breakfast or some major life choice - and "somehow" the fear goes away and the issue becomes charge-neutral - opening a path to peace and a choice without fear?
How about this as a "corollary" to what I just wrote above:
One good way to access the Holy Spirit is to reach a point of honesty whereby one can look at a problem and the fear that it engenders and see that it's all coming from within. There is nothing and no one to blame. We then ask for a new charge-neutral way of seeing the issue. The answer - if we are willing to hear it - is the cause, the solution is the effect, whether it shows up as peace or a Cadillac in the driveway.
Once again I thank you for your response, and once again I'm going to say that everything I wrote in my last comment was synthesized from the current article and your responses to some of the comments. Also, years of study, mentoring, and much thinking about the concepts as well as practice over the years have all contributed to a basic understanding
of this key topic. While most of my understanding is intellectual I'm confident I have a handle on it. It's a start - to be built upon.