Discovering the World as Extension (Creation)


            Along the way, as much as I loved to get into spiritual theory, in the end I always let experience lead the way. Theory is interesting intellectually, but it never caused an actual shift in my experience. I have been willing to let go of theory if experience taught me something different. However, more often than not my experience would not contradict, but would rather illuminate theory for me. Theory became fact when I experienced it.
In the past several years I became aware of the pseudo-reality we live in as a story. This is how “the world isn’t real” began to show up in my experience. This story is the moment the idea of not-Truth arose in the Mind of Truth (God) and was undone by Truth’s all-encompassing nature unfolding as time. In time, the idea seemed to arise long ago and its undoing seems to be in some indefinite future. We live in a story of correction, or undoing, or, as A Course in Miracles calls it, Atonement.
I became aware that what I felt were my thoughts, feelings, actions, motivations, choices, and decisions were not independent from the story, but part and parcel of it. They were, in fact, the story being expressed through what I felt was me. My will was not free within the story; it was the free expression of a greater will.
In the past couple of years my awareness that the world isn’t real evolved. I became aware of myself as not just a “character” in the story through which the story is expressed, but also as the story being expressed and the author expressing it. There really is no distinction to be made between the source (author) and its expression (story/character). As this awareness has unfolded I have also had experiences that “I am Spirit; I am Immortal”. What I have needed to sort out lately is the relationship between these new ongoing experiences. Spirit I have experienced as the Extension of Truth (“God’s Creation” in ACIM) in my mind. And it has been my understanding, through my experience, that the unfolding pseudo-reality is not the Extension of Truth. I found the Extension of Truth within, but not in the world. I could find passages in ACIM that supported this as well as passages that suggested otherwise. Most other spiritual teachings say the world is the Extension of Truth (in their own words), but, again, I let experience lead the way. But lately I’ve been sure that my experiences as Spirit and as the author are related, if not the same. How could I reconcile this?
I got that my experience of myself as the unfolding story and its author as well as a character in it is the correct way to see this mind. This mind is not limited to a self (character). Yet, isn’t all of that not-Truth in my mind? Spirit is the Truth in my mind. Then one day I was thinking of Spirit as the Correction of not-Truth. It bridges the limited experience of the self and Unlimited Truth. And it dawned on me: Wasn’t that what I was saying about my expanded experience of the author/story/character? The author and Spirit are the same!
I cannot see that I am Spirit (Correction) without also seeing that I am author because they are the split-mind—not-Truth (author) and Correction of not-Truth (Spirit). They occur simultaneously in the Mind of Truth, and so also in my seemingly-individual mind. Spirit wipes out the idea of not-Truth the instant it arises. So though the original author of the story of time would be the idea of not-Truth if it had not been corrected, since it was corrected instantly, Spirit is the Author of the story of time. Time arose and became a story of its own Undoing.
To be aware I am Spirit is to be aware I am the Correction; the Essence of the story of Undoing. As the story of Undoing is the manifestation of Spirit and Spirit is the Extension of Truth, then the story of Undoing in which we all live is the Extension of Truth (“God’s Creation”) after all.
And now I see it. It is my experience; not just something I’ve read in books. In my experience this is all a story. I live the Correction and the Correction is the Extension of Truth. I could not have come at this awareness backwards. I could not convince myself, because of things I’d read, that the world was the Extension of Truth. I tried, for a while, in early days, but it felt forced and false, which it was. Because it is not a world outside of me that convinces me it is the Extension of Truth. It is my experience as the Extension of Truth which corrects my perception of the world, an extension of me.

>>>> 
There are many stages as you prepare to shift consciousness. If you want support and guidance from someone who has been there email me at Liz@acimmentor.com to set up an appointment for mentoring. Learn more at www.acimmentor.com.

Comments

Christine said…
I was just te-reading last night in one of Joel Goldsmiths books, where he writes that the world is real, but our i,terpretation of it is wrong...it's real as a spiritual idea...paraphrasing here. Is this kind of what you are saying?
5:32 PM
ACIM Mentor said…
Christine, only Truth is true. So, actually, no, there is no world. This is why I can have the experience that it is not real and what has resulted is a perception of a different world that reflects this as Correction and reflects the Extension of Truth ("Creation").
5:46 PM
Christine said…
When you wrote, "a perception of a different world" , it's still a world?
6:25 PM
ACIM Mentor said…
Christine, if what you mean by "world" is a collection of perceptions and experiences, then yes.
7:03 PM
Christine said…
Yes! Except the interpretation is spiritual/ with the Holy Spirit as guide.
7:11 PM
ACIM Mentor said…
It is the Vision of the Holy Spirit, Christine. An interpretation, yes, but the correct one. And no guidance; just seeing.
8:04 AM
a sister said…
Liz, am i understanding this:

The "world", being a collection of perceptions and experiences, is not outside the mind. Jesus says in ACIM that both the world of fear and the real world is a symbol. i interpret this to mean and that what we experience as an outer world is a symbol of our inner state. the world of fear that we experience as external to us is not actually external to us - it is a symbol of the seemingly individual mind's belief in otherness and limitation (separation and sin). the forgiven, or real world is not outside us either; it is a symbol of the Mind of Truth that has forgiven what is not true.

here is the critical point of J's teaching i wish to have confirmed by your experience (or have i misunderstood His teaching?): is it correct to say this: we are not interpreting anything external to our mind and therefore perceiving an external world differently. what we are actually perceiving is a symbol that is not outside us in any way. the external world cannot be both real and a symbol. there is no external world. the inner world of our mind and a so called outer world are all a seamless whole. what i am always interpreting, regardless of which inner voice- or Inner Voice - i am being guided by, does not exist outside me.

this path is a deep well indeed. thank you ever for your help.
8:06 AM
ACIM Mentor said…
Sister, yes to all you wrote.
8:12 AM
Christine said…
Thank you both, that splained it!
5:00 PM
Deb Baczewski said…
Guidance received recently on the side of a cardboard box;

"The outside is inside
Everything we make."

I read it as two separate statements.
10:44 AM
Francis said…
We currently have 7.6 billion inner voices interpreting the outer world. Oneness is a tough nut to crack, however sooner or later that nut has to crack open for everyone. For most it will probably be only be short glimpses along their path. Some may never see a glimpse and their inner voice in perpetual distraction while here. What got your attention in the beginning Liz? Can you remember your first glimpse?
1:09 AM
ACIM Mentor said…
Francis, though I had experienced a Presence a few times as a child (which I took for granted, as children do - all experiences are new then), I mark the beginning for me when I was around 15 years old and my friends were debating Jesus and Buddha. I considered myself an atheist then and did not join in the conversation. But as I walked away it came clearly into my mind that what Jesus was we all could be. "Why don't you do that, then?" I heard in a clear Voice in my mind (later I identified it as the Holy Spirit). I answered, "I am not so ambitious!" and slammed the door on the Voice. But it was too late. I'd seen the Truth and my path was set. About 5 years later I discovered ACIM and that was that...
4:59 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