ACIM Mentor

           There is an idea in some nonduality circles, including in A Course in Miracles , that everyone must and will awaken. But seeing consciousness as I do now, as a depiction of the Atonement, or the moment of the idea of not-God arising and simultaneously being undone by God’s Onlyness unfolding over time, I understand this to mean not that every expression of consciousness must awaken, but that every expression of consciousness has a part to play in the awakening of the one consciousness. Therefore, everyone is playing their part perfectly, from those whose lives depict almost pure ego to those that depict realization of Spirit. (At this point in the Atonement, most are going to fall somewhere between these extremes.) This means that to some, consciousness—the Atonement—can seem inherently unfair. Perhaps this is what gives rise to ideas like reincarnation in some cases so that it can seem that each expression of consciousness can have as many chances as needed to awaken, w

            Last week I wrote that it does not always appear peaceful and gentle when you respond to others from Spirit. The question I get from readers and clients is, if you don’t judge by appearances, how do you know if you came from Spirit or ego? The answer is in how you feel. Sometimes clients say, “I know I appeared upset but I wasn’t really feeling upset.” There’s the indication that you were coming from Spirit rather than ego. You act and speak as you are moved but you are not charged up. And when you are done, you quickly come out of the heightened energy you displayed. Putting aside attacking judgments from ego about how you appeared , if you came from Spirit, you will not churn on the issue you addressed in the seeming confrontation. Often, though not always right away, there is a positive outcome involving the other. They will have “gotten the message.” But, it does not matter anyway whether you come from ego or Spirit. Oh, you care because of how you feel. But as ever

           Recently, in a conversation with a friend who is on the path, she wondered how she could accept someone close to her who is clearly steeped in guilt and acting in ways from that guilt that is harmful to their relationships, without feeling she is giving up on any hope that this person will change and grow. During our discussion, she suggested I use this question for this article. Specifically, she was concerned with how to go forward with this person with boundaries that protect herself when necessary but without leaving the relationship, which she feels would be abandoning the other. As she is a Spirit-centered person, she recognizes that she will at some point let go of outcomes and attachments, but also that for now she is still triggered by others’ pain. So, I suggested that she refrain from deciding about the relationship as a whole and instead take each encounter with this person as it comes, responding authentically in that moment, trusting whatever that is, and—thi

  (The “I” in this article is the expression of consciousness called Liz.)   When The Golden Light of Love came to this mind in 2017, a few months before I fully shifted to Spirit-consciousness, I recognized it was the Vision I had first experienced in a mystical holy relationship when I was twenty and a new student of A Course in Miracles . But because it came to this mind alone, it was not yet the shift to Spirit-consciousness. It simply hailed the imminent arrival of the shift. I was still, as I had been for many years, aware of Spirit within, but still seeing meaning in the material world that seemed outside of me. When the shift to Spirit-consciousness occurs, what was once one’s inner world with Spirit becomes one’s only world, the real world. In other words, meaning is found only in Spirit. The Shift happened in the spring of the following year and resulted in the recognition that I am not in the material world but the material world is in me and it is meaningless. Meaning

             Last week as I lay down for a nap one afternoon I was thinking about consciousness—I don’t remember what—when things shifted and instead of thinking I received a sort of “download” of information. The download was more experiential than informational, so it is hard to convey. But first I saw the split nature of consciousness, ego and Spirit, or dark and Light, a reinforcement of what I have been seeing for a long while. I dozed off and the download continued, even as I dreamt nonsense dreams in a shallow sleep. When I awoke, the download was still going, and I found the idea of the essence of the Atonement had come again after I had not thought about it in months. God, being All, must contain the idea of Its Own opposite. But being All, God cannot have an opposite. So as soon as the idea of not-God arises it is simultaneously undone. But, as not-God contains the idea of time , in time it seems as though the idea of not-God arose long ago and will be undone in some inde