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-consciousnes...

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...

           "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 ...

          “ 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...