Realizing Forgiveness


Since guilt has fallen away from this mind I find it thinking of certain things in the past that apparently need to be released (forgiven). But rather than needing to do anything, I find I am instead realizing forgiveness has occurred. I just watch as something from the past arises, I see it in a new light without effort, and I watch any emotional charge I had around it fall away.

For example, one of the big stories I carried around for years had to do with the Holy Relationship that I experienced with E. Over the years I learned many lessons from this experience, primarily that the Holy Relationship was really with the Holy Spirit (Awareness of Truth in my mind) rather than with E. Our relationship was simply the doorway through which I became aware of the Holy Spirit and True Vision. But on the personal side, I still apparently carried around a story about what happened with E, who left my life after being in it for only a few months. In fact, it seemed to have defined much of the story I had about this self’s life in the world. But lately I’ve come to see, and really feel, that thirty-four years ago a woman came into my life and then she left it. Those are the facts. The rest, as in, why it happened and what it meant, was completely made up by me!

This has happened with a few things that have come up naturally in the course of things. I have not sought out things to forgive. I have not sought forgiveness. I have just realized forgiveness

>>>>> 
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Comments

JontheArtist said…
Great message. I follow!
nicci said…
yes. this sharing helped bring about a deepening.
thank you Liz. n
Unknown said…
Hi Liz - and everyONE,

I feel like commenting on 'facts'...
I guess there ARE no 'facts'in this dream-world...
To separate what we 'see'(eg. facts, events) from our perceptions of it is not exactly the purpose (profundly) acording to ACIM ??
What we 'see' happening at all was connected to its purpose - invented by the ego thought system as part of the SEPARATION and fx SPECIAL LOVE - with the PURPOSE of pushing the love of God away !!
But the FORGIVENESS is experienced when we LOOK at it with the 'eyes' of the Holy Spirit and see that there are only TWO GROUPS OF THOUGHTS: LOVE (oneness) or CALL FOR LOVE (separation, leaving...). I guess the only 'facts' are what is of God...

Peace and blessings to everyOne (here in the dream of separation)
hannah said…
hi bente :)

i'd like to discuss the ideas around the purpose of the course that you presented, re separating out our perceptions from facts at the level of the dream.

i understand that what you are talking about is trying to avoid level confusion in one way. in truth, or god, as you say.. there is only truth, and what goes on here cannot be called factual. but, as ken wapnick always said, it is important to understand the metaphysics of the course.. and then forget them, and get down to the business of applying the practical side of the course, which totally meets us at the level of the dream.

so, on the level of the dream, ACIM is actually designed for teaching us how to sort out the facts of what we see from our perceptions of them, and helping us do this *is* its main focus. a large part of the text and i guess you could say most of the workbook are designed/intended to do just this! it teaches us that only from that place (having sorted out how to see factually at this dream level, ie.. in learning to truly see beyond our personal perceptions, interpretations and emotions, and not though denying them) can we truly rest in the Actual ONE fact you described above; that only the truth is true! otherwise we will be using those ideas, the truth you mentioned, to hide our pain and discomfort, and avoid facing and dealing with our thoughts and our beliefs. sure you *do* end up finding out that you were 'dealing with' nothing, but you CANNOT know this until you have applied the practical PURPOSE of the course.

so.. remembering that there are only two thought systems with diametrically opposed purposes, is part of the framework you rest in *while* you go about the business of sorting it all out.. "understand he metaphysics, then forget them and get down to business!"

ok, i just thought of another, clearer way to explain how this sorting out and dealing with facts on the level of the dream IS the main purpose of the course, rather than simply focusing on the metaphysical truths, in this direct quote from it.

"This course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. it does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of loves presence, which is your natural inheritance".

peace to you too bente, and thanks :)

Unknown said…
Hi again,

I've been pondering what to answer you, Liz - and by 'synchronicities' the following was mailed to me (it describes some things better than I could myself, I think...).
All my love and sincerity...
Bente

Accepting Holy Spirit’s Help
Apr 13, 2018 09:19 am
Read in browser: https://pathwaysoflight.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e7651f6baeec7f23ba44fe41e&id=760b9ffc39&e=8d8b562e19
nicci said…
gosh hannah. thank you so much for your writing here. God provides.
endless L, n
ACIM Mentor said…
Bente, I hadn't commented. Perhaps you mean Hannah?
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
Yes, I'm sorry - I was obviously a bit inattentive.. It was a reply for Hannah...

Love,
Bente

hannah said…
youre welcome nicci.. though i see my reply was not 100% clear, reading back over it now.

it would probably be clearer to say that the course has as much purpose as we individually can accept in Realising Love/Truths reality! so yes its ultimate purpose is to help us to know that only the Truth is True, though most people who study the course are interested instead in being a happier self than in knowing Truth... which is just fine! But if you are drawn to knowing Truth only.. (knowing only innocence and letting ALL guilt/conflict go), ACIM teaches *does this* via a series of steps that simply cannot be avoided if you wish the Truth to be actually Known within you rather than be another set of metaphysical tools in the world used to hide from guilt, rather than actually undo the belief in guilt. the course is very clear on this. we must look at the workings of our mind to sort them out, otherwise we are all just pretending to ourselves that the guilt and conflict in our minds is not there.. in other words (to quote ken wapnick again), we are being bliss ninnies!

i had too much to say, so ive had to divide my post up a little ;)
hannah said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
hannah said…
i deleted my comment as it had some confusing bits where i needed to add a comma or two or a word to be clear ;) edited version following..
hannah said…
Hi bente :)

the writing you shared is lovely, isnt it! id like to say that in my experience it could be read in more than one way though. (all this i am saying to you is based on my own experience.. i could turn out to be very wrong.. but the growing peace i experience would suggest not.. we'll see ;) ) for simplicity i'll just use this paragraph of the writing as it gives good examples i feel:

"When we act as if the body and what we see happen in the world is real, we have judged against the oneness of Love. We are believing that it is possible to limit Love by separating from It. But to separate from Love is to make ourselves totally unaware of It. Partial or selective love is impossible."

it has two layers of lessons that i am aware of.. and god knows how many ego interpretations!

2) the final lesson, the one you mention.. the end game so to speak, where you are no longer doing anything (applying forgiveness lessons) .. that which the 'advance teacher of god' rests in. the non-reality of the dream is not a lovey idea, a sometimes-glimpsed Truth reached for when the mind is in conflict.. it KNOWS that only truth is true.. it knows itself and thus it Sees that Truth everywhere it looks. But before that can become an accepted/known reality for mind 'in the dream' the other layer of lesson in this writing you shared must be experienced.. it cant be skipped, and it is what the course actually *teaches*.. not Love (which it states cannot be taught.. and being a course of study, ACIM teaches..) but how to remove the blocks to the awareness of Truth/Love.

but this is what i see as the layer that acim encourages us to focus on in this.. its actual purpose that involves actual teaching..

1) acim teaches us to sort out what is real and what isnt, via learning to understand (as much as you can understand the insane!) recognise and undo the ego.. the thought system in our minds of sin/guilt/fear, thinks, and learning how the Holy Spirit thinks, how to recognise that. the thing is.. regarding this bit of the writing 'We are believing that it is possible to limit Love by separating from It. But to separate from Love is to make ourselves totally unaware of It. Partial or selective love is impossible.' that we tend to interpret that via the ego, in a way that seems helpful but is not! the holy spirit is the TEACHER of real perception.. it is the bridge in our mind that is impartial, (looks at both) between love and fear..it does not push anything away or repress it ever. it holds the ego in love and slowly and gently *corrects its perceptions*, not ignore them or as ken would say "try and shout them down with 'love'".. until the scales in the mind have tipped, and Love just DOES what love does in your mind.. extends with no reaching for it.. as Liz described in this blog.

but the ego (personal thought system) takes the idea "When we act as if the body and what we see happen in the world is real, we have judged against the oneness of Love. We are believing that it is possible to limit Love by separating from It. But to separate from Love is to make ourselves totally unaware of It. Partial or selective love is impossible." and uses it to keep hiding from its own undoing, so to speak. it seems to say oh you dont need to look at me to be free of me, just look at the metaphysicas instead.. but what it is secretly doing with this idea is actually being partially loving. its saying 'let us ignore (which is fear, not love at this level of learning.. what the course calls something like 'the unworthy form of denial') this awfulness going on inside us and focus instead on pretending that we are not feeling fear/guilt/attack/conflict.
hannah said…
to sum up, acim does not teach us to deny the world, the ego, or the work we need to do in our own minds to be free of judgement, but rather to accpet the idea of the worlds non-reality, to accpet that maybe the ego doesnt have the ability to effect the Truth in our minds... and then get on with the sorting out while we are still feeling the self, the world, and the ego thought system as real.

im interested to hear your thoughts on this if you want to share them Bente, or anyone else of course.

also interested to know if you see any errors in my perception of all this liz.
Unknown said…
Hi Hannah and Liz,

The comment was a bit long, but I'll try and 'sum up' too...

As a whole, I don't disagree with you, Hannah...
"to accpet that maybe the ego doesnt have the ability to effect the Truth in our minds..." is definitely what ACIM says (and neither to effect or affect ;-) !!)
And yes, we are not asked to deny the world (we think is real) - but to ask HS for help to 'go above the battlefield'(e.g. in the mind) to be reminded of the Truth (and experience the holy instant), that only LOVE is real, and the separation (and its CALL FOR LOVE-pictures) amongst other 'pictures' in SPECIAL LOVE RELATIONSHIPS (when Liz experienced 'E' come and go, maybe) from God never occurred ! And then we go about our day - till we leave the body...
Kenneth Wapnick cleverly reminded us that even these discussions of ACIM (and who's right and wrong) serve the ego's purpose of - still - seeing ourselves as separate and different, as persons in a body...
And we will till we don't value that any more...
To sum up: the Course, to me, is a course in LOOKING at the world (what it represents and what it was made for) - not in DOING anything in behaviour - but our days seem to continue 'for a while'...
Love and peace,
Bente
Unknown said…
Interesting ! Synchronicity again..
After my post I got this email and the link below - theme: Freeing Ourselves from Limitation, that 'this world is not our home'..very beautiful...

The link: Freeing Ourselves from Limitation
https://pathwaysoflight.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e7651f6baeec7f23ba44fe41e&id=1ad25fabbd&e=8d8b562e19

love..
hannah said…
love and peace to you too xx
ACIM Mentor said…
Hannah, I have no comment.
nicci said…
hannah,

this has been very helpful. when i look at the world with the personal self, i see a very different one than when i look with the HS. the difference cannot begin to be underestimated. this is teaching, motivating, impelling me forward to engage deeper with the very work you describe. i am learning greater consistency of practicing and extending fully with no exceptions, and this is effecting my perception of the world, myself, and my engagement in it.

i have been hungry for a dialogue about the Course teachings that goes beyond its wonderful metaphysics (which i do enjoy) and to the inner work. my study group stays nearly entirely inside the former. this exchange has answered that hunger, and reassured me greatly.

in endless gratitude and Love, n
hannah said…
thats wonderful nicci :) i know what you mean.. its why i was drawn here too! the perfect blend of met and prac!

laugh, i have the zip-a-dee-doo-dah tune going in my head now.. ive got a bluebird on my shoulder!

oh HAHAHAHA..i just looked it up on youtube.. id always sung 'its a fact', but its "its the Truth, its actual, everything is satisfactual!" perfect! it really is one of those zip-a-dee-doo-dah days :D

nicci said…
well hannah, this is for you. i read your comment here yesterday evening, enjoyed it and thought it a lovely ending note to a sweet connection. then this:

i was in my morning quiet time with the HS, first reading my lesson for today followed by one section of the text, and then a period of inner quiet to allow His Presence to take me deeper, asking in particular for help with the happy learner teaching.

as i rested there with Him, an image of a "blue bird on my shoulder" kept breaking in, singing a song of Warmth and Love quietly into my mind, and filling me with a mirth, a joy, a zip a dee doo dah feeling of extraordinary well being and happiness, along with my Inner Teacher's Gentle Amusement.

i still feel that Blue Bird there, and am going into my day with a smile both inside and outside. we just never know what form the miracle is going to take, and Where we are going to find God.

endless Love, nicci
hannah said…
oh nicci.. you too?! how awesome! :D

it has been a glorious, joyful and yet calm few days. ive been seeing miracles all around, its been really quite funny! ive been experiencing a shift in identity. there are seemingly many subtle layers, on the personal level, of how this shows up.. in how 'hannah experiences herself and her world/relationships'. in a nutshell id say im letting go of the belief in specialness.. judgement, lack, victimhood.

funny thing is ive expereinced many small waves of depression, but what this has shown me is that.. that experience isnt me.. it isnt anyone! i dont have to do anything with that.. if i WANT to i can just 'let my mind go'.. um.. maybe better to say, let my thoughts go.. but thats not really accurate either, cos sometimes the thoughts continue for some time in the quiet space. let the.. self go/be. hmm. thats closest to the feeling. and it becomes apparent that this happens in the same.. um again! field/space/embrace/eternal wash of wholeness that it all 'happens' in. that 'we' all happen in!

hey! i just saw something.. thanks for prompting this exchange nicci! this self may talk a little or a lot depending on its gut, or its whim! but i dont *need* to be SEEN (understood) anymore. i looked for years very honestly, and for ten or so years i was appalled at the selfish beast i saw, i self harmed and all sorts of crazy. but i trusted my gut and kept looking.. and when i learned (cheers y'all) that it was truly justified to look without shame, the golden heart of Truth that id always known was Here but blamed and raged against for not 'magic-ing away' the beast.. well, it turns out that thats the only bit of 'me' with any substance.. 'this self is but a dream, sweetheart' (sha boom sha boom !) haha, nicci.. not only 'zip-ah-dee-doo-dah', but also "hey nonny ding dong, aling aling alang, boom bah-doh, ba-doo ba-doo ba-bay"

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