ACIM Mentor

            Last week, I wrote that after my shift in consciousness I came to see that, for me, A Course in Miracles’ emphasis on choice, while also saying everything is predetermined, lead me to discover not that free will is so, but that I believed it was so . This took me to the deepest levels of my belief in guilt. By the same token, I have come to see that all relationships are holy relationships and only ego says otherwise. In other words, I never actually made special relationships, but in ego-consciousness it was my belief that I had . So, the source of guilt in my relationships was not their forms, but my belief I had twisted Love into something It was not. In ego-consciousness, on the spiritual path of the Course , I came to understand that my identification with a person was not my natural state. But I mistakenly felt this meant I was not in my natural state of Spirit, when really I was always in my natural state of Spirit. Ego-consciousness was simply the idea that I

As I have stated often lately, I have come to see that consciousness is the Atonement, or the moment of the idea of God’s opposite (not-God) arising and simultaneously being undone by God’s All-encompassing nature, unfolding as time. Consciousness/time does not bring about the Atonement, but rather expresses it. Everything in consciousness/time leads to the inevitable outcome of the undoing of the impossible idea of not-God. Therefore, everything in consciousness/time is predetermined. We are only watching the Atonement unfold, not just in the world, but through the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the personal experience passing through our minds. This led me to wonder why A Course in Miracles teaches that we have free will and are responsible for our own experiences, at minimum choosing to which teacher in our minds (ego or Spirit) we choose to listen at any given moment. Of course, it says itself in several ways, most notably “the script is written”, that consciousness is over

            When I first wrote about my shift in consciousness and the discomfort and difficulty I faced (see The ACIM Mentor Articles , Volumes 3 and 4 as well as A Memoir of Christ: A Student of A Course in Miracles Awakens , here ), some readers thanked me in a way that implied I was somehow “taking it for the team.” I took this to mean they felt I would save others the same difficulties, and I could only imagine that would be through sharing my experience as I was. Or perhaps they felt I was serving all by playing my part in the Atonement (as is everyone). I felt, however, that their gratitude was unnecessary, as I did not feel I was going through those experiences and sharing them for anyone, not even for myself. The idea of service of any kind was stripped away in the very process in which I found myself. Since the shift, I have come to understand that consciousness (time, existence, appearances) is what A Course in Miracles calls the Atonement , or the expression of the i

           "I  have been practicing Presence for some time now. I read my lesson for the day and then sit with my eyes open, often just staring at the rug. I 'feel' the Holy Spirit while I am doing this. Basically, it just feels good. Sometimes this can go on for hours with some short breaks in between. The time doesn't matter...Are practicing Presence, Mindfulness and the Holy Instant the same thing? Is practicing Presence a way of practicing the mechanics of the Holy Instant?” – WW   Your way of practicing Presence certainly sounds like one way to practice the holy instant. As for mindfulness , that depends. Years ago, I had a client who told me he practiced mindfulness by being present with whatever he was doing. If he was doing the dishes, he was with the action of dish washing. If he was speaking with someone, he was present with them, etc. He became very disciplined about not letting his mind wander. But where, he asked, was the peace in this? During our di

          “ I have been talking to fellow ACIM students, and we all discuss the following question: H ow can we have relationships in the world (seeming) with people who are not ACIM students, without assuming the persona of the illusory, separate small-s self?  If we do engage at the small-s self level, are we teaching our brothers/sisters that the separation is real, and therefore reinforcing our own learning of this illusion?” – MG   In Spirit-consciousness, you experience a person, but you do not identify with it. So, relationships are experienced as all the same, no matter if their outward forms are different or whether the other is a student of A Course in Miracles . You go through the motions of relationships with detachment, knowing only God is real, and everything in consciousness passes, as does consciousness itself. It is an illusion. This is automatic in Spirit-consciousness and does not require effort or practice. Until you are in Spirit-consciousness, you will id

  Is it necessary to be in the Holy Instant to extend the Atonement to the Son of God…” – WW             Yes. The Atonement , or correction of the perception of separation from God, plays out over time as consciousness or existence. The holy instant is a manifestation in time of the Atonement, as it is anything from a dim awareness of God all the way up to direct Revelation of God. Follow up question: “ So being in the Holy Instant would also be necessary to extend Forgiveness?”   Yes. The holy instant, forgiveness, and the Atonement are all the same >>>>>   If you have a question the answer to which you feel may be helpful to others, send it to Liz@acimmentor.com and I will answer it in this newsletter/blog.

“Are we as little children completely and utterly beholden to God and stuck in the Atonement following  Spirit out, perfectly?” – LK   As Christ, you are God’s Creation, or Extension. There is no you without God, but there is also no God without you. So, you do not owe God anything any more than God owes something to you. Does sunlight owe anything to the sun? Does the sun owe anything to the light it extends? Extension means there is no separation, so ideas like being beholden do not apply. The Atonement (consciousness, existence, time) is the moment of the idea of not-God arising and being undone by God’s All-encompassing nature seeming to unfold over time. It is a passing experience so, no, you are not and cannot be stuck in it. >>>>>   If you have a question the answer to which you feel may be helpful to others, send it to Liz@acimmentor.com and I will answer it in this newsletter/blog.

  “…so in time and form…would the atonement reflect a healed mind by the healing of the world? How is the atonement reflected?” – KD Everything in time is the Atonement, or an expression of the instant of the idea of not-God arising in God’s Mind and being simultaneously undone by God’s All-encompassing nature. Within the Atonement (time, consciousness, existence, appearances) however, there are what I call manifest undoers , or those whose unfolding story manifestly reflects the correction of the perception of separation from God. This shows up as everything from a vague awareness of God all the way up to Christ Consciousness. >>>>>   If you have a question the answer to which you feel may be helpful to others, send it to Liz@acimmentor.com and I will answer it in this newsletter/blog.

  “What is the reason we are watching the Atonement at all? ” - WW Because it is here to see. God, being All, must consider Its Own opposite. But being All, God cannot have an opposite. So, the moment the idea of not-God arises it is undone by God’s All-encompassing nature. However, within the idea there is time , the opposite of Timelessness (Eternity), so within the idea , it seems as though the idea of not-God began long ago and will be undone in some indefinite future. And that, right there, is the origin of the idea of consciousness, also known as existence, time, appearances, or the Atonement. So, what is unfolding in time is the Atonement, or the undoing of the idea of not-God. But as the Atonement is an expression of an idea already over, everything that occurs is already predetermined. You cannot in any way that is helpful to you deny that you are having this experience, so you must find some way to be with it. You can either merely watch it, including your particip

              So, here’s what’s going on: “You are at home in God, dreaming of exile…” (T-10.I.2) You are of God, therefore you are already Perfect. Everything else is a dream. God being All must consider It’s Own opposite. But, being All, God cannot have an opposite. So, the moment the idea of the opposite of God arose, it was undone. But this impossible idea contains time, the opposite of Timelessness (Eternity). So, within the idea, it seems as though the idea of not-God arose long ago and will be undone in some indefinite future. The way A Course in Miracles puts this, the idea was given to Spirit, God’s Extension through Christ in time. So, time—or consciousness, illusion, or dream—is the Atonement , or an expression, or story, of undoing of an impossible idea that was over as soon as it was thought. So, everything that happens in time is predetermined. All thoughts, feelings, and actions are part of a complex tapestry of undoing unfolding. There is nothing to do but wat

            Watching your mind. Seeing through ego. Staying present. These are things that occur naturally in Spirit-consciousness. Until then, in ego-consciousness, you practice these things to mitigate the discomfort of ego. When teachers have shifted consciousness, they share these things, and it is almost as though they are saying, “Here, practice this, and you will attain the consciousness I have.” But Spirit-consciousness is not attained . It happens if it is going to happen. No practice brings it about. Last week, I wrote about being of God. Some want to know how this awareness is practiced , but it is not. This is the realization of Spirit-consciousness. What I have discovered is that ego-consciousness, or identification with the person/ego, was the manifestation of opposition to God. I could not do anything about that opposition in ego-consciousness but experience it and eventually recognize it. For a long time, I felt it as the 15%, or black box in the corner of my mind

             A Course in Miracles makes a distinction between God, Christ, and Spirit, while also explaining they are One. God is Source, and Christ and Spirit are God’s Extension (or Creation in the Course ). This is not merely to use familiar Christian symbols. The distinction is made because it is different to have a Source than to be the Source. Let me use again my analogy of sun and sunlight to illustrate this. If God were the sun, then sunlight would be Christ, Earth would be consciousness, and where sunlight reaches Earth would be Spirit. Sunlight is the sun’s extension as Christ/Spirit are God’s Extension. Sun and sunlight are one because a sun shines (extends) light. God and Christ/Spirit (Love, Wholeness, Peace, Happiness) are One because God’s Glory extends without limit. But cause and effect flow in only one direction. Sunlight establishes the sun’s causation , but it never causes the sun, just as Christ/Spirit establish God’s Causation but they never cause God. Ear

             Last week, I briefly mentioned some of the wonderful experiences I’ve had lately. Since I often write about the difficulty I’ve had, I thought I would elaborate on some of the good stuff. I also said in last week’s article that my awakening was not unfolding as I expected. The unexpected has not been all bad. I ended my memoir ( A Memoir of Christ: A Student of A Course in Miracles Awakens , available here) with a journal entry from this past May. In it, I described a wholly new experience. I was thinking about the darkness I passed through, and I felt a chuckle burble up from someplace within I had never felt before. The chuckle came with a joyful feeling of how silly —referring to the darkness. Those experiences were washed away as my feelings instantly lightened. This was true forgiveness! I felt this experience heralded a “world shift”, by which I meant a shift in my experience of what is real. Since, I have had more experiences of what I call the Cosmic Chuckle .

             A common theme in my writing once I began to shift consciousness was “this is not unfolding as I expected.” I didn’t know that I could not know what to expect. To a large degree, spiritual teachings have come down through contemplatives, who live a unique life away from the world, follow a strict tradition, and therefore have every reason to know from predecessors what to expect. As I said last week, students of A Course in Miracles do not have, and will never have, such a tradition. We follow Spirit and for each of us, our way will unfold uniquely. Keep this in mind as well when you read stories of awakenings and wonder which teacher’s experience is authentic and which is not, as they can sound so varied. I hear and read a lot of judgment from students who say things like, “No one who is awakening would say that, do that, think that…” Oh, you don’t know what they are called to think, say, do! If it is you part to awaken, you don’t know what you will be called to think,

           Clients and readers often express fear about what they will face on their path to peace based on what they have read of others’ experiences, usually on other paths. It can be helpful to read about others’ experiences when you have those experiences yourself. They can be reassuring and validating. But until you have those experiences, keep in mind reading or hearing about them may lead to not just fear, but distorted expectations all around. As a student of A Course in Miracles , you don’t know what to expect, because you are to follow Spirit, not a well-worn path, such as the contemplatives many read about. Contemplatives remove themselves to varying degrees from life in the world. They meditate for many hours a day and live simplified lives outside of formal meditation to help maintain a meditative attitude. Whether in the East or West, each tradition has discovered the internal process a contemplative can expect. Part of this may be what is called among Christian contemp

            My three recent articles about how transcendent consciousness is not God has led to questions about the difference between consciousness and Spirit, as the descriptions of pure consciousness and Spirit often sound the same. Before I get to those experiences, let me explain the difference between consciousness and Spirit. A Course in Miracles says consciousness was the first split in Mind. So, consciousness is the illusion or dream of separation from God. It is also called the Son of God in the Course , as God cannot be wholly absent from any part of Mind. So, consciousness is split between Spirit, God’s Extension, through Christ, in consciousness, and the idea of not-God, or ego. Here is an analogy to illustrate this: If the sun were God, then sunlight would be Christ (God’s Extension or Creation), Earth would be consciousness (one side in sunlight, the other in darkness), and where sunlight touches Earth would be Spirit. So, very simply, the difference between co

            P hysicists know that when their formulas to explain something in the material universe are long, detailed, and difficult, they have not yet landed on the answer. When they’ve hit upon the way the material universe works, the formula is elegant and simple. And so it is with Truth. If you want to know Truth, you simply have to invite Spirit into your awareness and let It lead the way. There is no more to it than that, because in the end, Spirit is all that is real in your experience, and everything else but Spirit falls away. You do not have to attain a perfect state of consciousness. You do not even have to attain a perfectly quiet mind when meditating. You do not have to use only right thinking all the time. You do not have to be ego free. None of those things get in Spirit’s way once you are following It. For a long while you will have two thought systems, ego and Spirit, and Spirit will help you learn how to live with ego. If your spirituality seems difficult or comp

            Two weeks ago, I began a discussion about why it is important that students of A Course in Miracles , or any other form of nonduality, do not confuse transcendent (pure) consciousness with God. I shared Suzanne Segal’s ( Collision With the Infinite ) story the first week, and last week explained consciousness and the difference between oneness experiences of pure consciousness and the Oneness of God. Now I will explain why it is crucial to not confuse them. The Course calls the fundamental issue blocking one’s awareness of God the authority problem , or the belief that you are what you have made of yourself. This “you” refers to the Son of God in its split-mind, the maker of consciousness, and shows up in your individual mind as your identification with a person in a body in a world. (This identification is ego .) Oh, certainly you do not consciously think you made yourself. You may profess belief in a creator (author), but if you are not in touch with Christ in you, yo

Last week I brought up the crucial point for any nonduality student that transcendent consciousness (the experience of limitlessness, oneness, love, joy, ecstasy, bliss, etc.) is not God. I read Suzanne Segal’s Collision With the Infinite , and shared her story to lay the groundwork for a discussion of this, which I now continue.  I did not always know myself that the experiences we consider transcendent consciousness were only an effect on the brain. Early in my study, I confused transcendent consciousness with Christ. So, when I realized those experiences were only effects, I grieved a little and went through a period of adjustment to this idea, but I also felt relieved of a significant illusion. However, it has taken me decades to really sort it all out.   For me, the goal was never to reach a transcendent consciousness, but rather to know Truth. I did, however, expect that a transcendent consciousness, or at least some aspects of it, could be a result of knowing Truth. And inde

Recently, I read Suzanne Segal’s Collision With the Infinite , which was written in the 1990s and republished last year. It brought me full clarity about something I have seen and contemplated for quite a long time: The confusion many on a nondualistic path make between transcendent consciousness (experiences of limitlessness, oneness, love, joy, ecstasy, bliss, etc.) and God. A Course in Miracles makes a distinction between Knowledge (God) and perception (consciousness) for a very good reason: They are not the same thing. This is, in fact, crucial to understanding the forgiveness the Course teaches. As I have shared over the years, I have had direct Revelation of God, which revealed to me that, indeed, God is beyond consciousness, and moreover, only God is real. Therefore, all consciousness, no matter how transcendent, is a false experience. It is an illusion. There is much to say about this, so I am writing about it in three parts. To start, let me briefly tell you Dr. Segal’s

  “…The script is already written, yet isn’t the script an illusion? Our true Self is outside the illusion, so wouldn’t choosing with the Holy Spirit, the voice for God, also be outside the illusion, therefore outside the script?, Yes the script is already written, but we do have 3 minds, the ego mind, the Higher Holy Spirit Mind, and the decision maker mind, what we choose with the decision maker mind is what would keep us in the script/illusion or not, Our challenges are just lessons we have failed to learn presented yet once again, do we not have choice to decide to learn the lesson or not?, or is the choice to decide to release our defences against the truth also part of the script?   ‘What could you not accept, if you but knew that everything that happens, all events, past, present and to come, are gently planned by One Whose only purpose is your good? Perhaps you have misunderstood His plan, for He would never offer pain to you. But your defenses did not let you…’ (W-135.18)” -