ACIM Mentor

…I am in Chapter 27, The Healing of the Dream. In section VII it discusses how to look upon our "brother" in the dream of our creating. If there is only one Son of God, then why is there emphasis on multiples (or dream figures?) of the Son as brothers when in reality there really are no brothers? – RR A Course in Miracles meets you where you are when it first comes into your awareness – experiencing yourself as a personal self in a body in a world with other personal selves in bodies (brothers). Simply reading in a book that there is only One Mind is not going to transform you to an awareness of One Mind. You must have experiences that shift your awareness to Truth. So, the Course teaches you to use your experience as a personal self with many “brothers” to undo this experience and become aware of One Mind. It does this with the Holy relationship. The Holy relationship begins with one other, where you learn to observe your mind and to recognize how, with the personal thoug...

People are probably aghast at the idea of two Danish teenaged girls being held hostages by Somalian pirates. What is going to happen to this family? What would Jesus do if he were the father, unable to keep his daughters from being ravished in front of his eyes?... Does ACIM's teachings have anything that would be of comfort to the father of this Danish hostage family? Also, the quake in Japan where hundreds died -- if a student of ACIM were in that situation where all the familiar landmarks around him where being swept away how would he cope with it? And how do we onlookers safe... miles away look upon this tragedy? Surely, with pity, but what comfort is there in ACIM's assurance that all this is illusory and we are all safe (even the ones who drowned) in God's bosom? – DH I cannot answer for what Jesus would do in any situation, but as a student and teacher of A Course in Miracles , I can answer both of these questions from my own experience. ...

What is one to make of those folks who claim to vibrate at a high frequency because they are connected to the light? Some offer to transmit the new "ascension codes" to the rest of us (for a fee), so we can vibrate at the right frequency as earth is making a shift. I've read testimonials on these types of websites of how these services have changed a person's life for the better. Do we all receive these "codes " so we're not left behind ? – Anonymous What you make of those who teach what you describe is up to you, but let me explain to you your relationship to God: There is no time, no place, no state where God is absent. (T-29.I.1) God is Formless Being extending everywhere, always. God is All that is. Being All, God must also contain the idea of Its own opposite, but, since God is All, God cannot have an opposite. The-opposite-of-God, then, can never be more than an idea, and this idea is undone by God’s ...

I have a problem reconciling ACIM teachings with doing daily tasks making living in Commerce. Say, I am a salesperson. I need to be aggressive, persuasive, not take NO for an answer, follow up on my competition to know what they are doing to counter it to my advantage, maximize my profits by up- and cross-selling, etc, etc, etc. I do it honestly, delivering what’s promised, don’t lie and cheat etc, etc. Say, this is not coming from my greed or wanting to live a decadent life, but because I need to do it to stay in business and earn physical living i.e. pay the mortgage, taxes and the whole slew of other bills you are aware of, and the family/society is expecting/demanding me to deliver. But this feels and sounds like I am coming from LACK, or WORRY (FEAR) of not being able to make my living and fulfill the expectations of my family or society. ACIM tells us to be/live in the Mind of abundance, but, as I mentioned before, it is hard for me to make that switch, from LACK ...

I have just been dropped by a friend. She’s no longer talking to me. She thinks I “dissed” her – I can understand her interpretation of events but it's an interpretation and not a fact. It’s interesting how she just stopped communicating without even telling me she was angry so I was just left hanging. I could go back and ask her for her side of the story, beg her forgiveness, etc but it's hard work - and I don’t think I've done anything wrong. I'm familiar with this place and have fallen on my sword many times in this kind of situation. Usually, I would rather take the fall than lose the friendship. But I'm sick of doing it and to be honest, my instinct is to just leave it. Still, it's hard to think that a friendship is over. Any advice? Thanks. – SD What stands out to me in your story is that you think that to maintain a friendship you have to be a martyr. It was never a friendship to begin with if you can only maintain it by “falli...

I am glad some are asking about the discrepancies between the Bible and the Course . I have just finished reading the Law of Attraction channeled by Abraham through Esther Hicks. Here also there is a wide discrepancy between the descriptions of who we are in physical bodies as described by Abraham, being a definite and determined decision to come "here" as the forefront of thought and extend All-That-Is, and the Course which states that we have no choice but to come "here" until we are healed and no longer need to. Another major discrepancy is the advice on how to live: LOA suggests we focus our thoughts as far as possible on what we want whereas the Course suggests the exact opposite: do NOT formulate and ask for anything. If you are familiar with the above writings would you please give us your thoughts on these issues …– RC I, too, like it when students bring up discrepancies between other spiritual teachings and A Course in Miracles . Bringing these discrepan...

I have been feeling so much the sense of oneness with all I see and it is most pleasing when I see good things happen to people, animals, plants, world, environment, etc. because it brings such joy because I know I am them they are me. But what really brings pain is when I have this sense of oneness with people, animals, environment when horrible things happen to them and I truly feel horrible and a sense of helplessness and grief that doesn't leave me, for the same reason I see them as me and me as them. For example, wish everyone was a vegan so billions of animals don't have to be tortured and then horribly be murdered in slaughter houses, when the earth is being poisoned daily with all the chemicals and trash and deforesting done to it, when I see children and animals abused and big pharma, and corporations destroying everything for the almighty dollar, and its endless the victim victimizer scenarios that plague my mind. I truly want all to be well and happy, so...

I 'm submitting a couple questions to Ask ACIM Mentor. Thanks for your time. a) The Bible says God created man out of the dust from the ground and breathed life into him and made him a living soul. This gives the impression the Bible is speaking of the physical body as well as the soul. ACIM states the body is not a creation of God but an illusion of personal self of our own making. Can you please clarify the discrepancy? b) If all of us are many expressions of the One and share one Mind and we have no private thoughts and our seeming differences of form and our seeming separateness from one another are really illusions concealing our shared Source and oneness, then why are all thoughts and beliefs not in harmony? – RR God is the One Being that is, without form, extending infinitely and eternally. Being All-that-is, God also contains the idea of Its own opposite, which can only ever be an idea, because All cannot have an opposite. The nature of All-ness undoes the ide...

I have just recently found and begun to study the Course (about 6-9 months ago). I find myself so impatient to develop a feeling of connection to the Holy Spirit/God. It seems that the harder I try, the more it eludes me! I am feeling very frustrated. Can you offer any advice to alleviate this sense of pressure that I have imposed upon myself? I also have a dread of having to endure countless future lifetimes if I don’t “get it” during this one...Thanks for your help. – L.D. You will be relieved to know that it does not take many lifetimes to attain inner peace. In fact, it doesn’t even take one lifetime. It only takes an instant. You have never left God, so you always have inner peace. What is missing is your awareness of the inner peace that is always within you, and that only takes a moment to choose. Inner peace results when you are aware of Truth (God) within you, and you can invite Truth into your awareness right now . In fact, only right now can yo...

From June 2, 2007: http://acimmentor.blogspot.com/2007/06/your-teacher-is-within-you.html >>>>> Read The ACIM Mentor Articles for free at www.acimmentor.com under Answers by Topic, or buy them in a bound book here. Learn about The Plain Language A Course in Miracles at www.placim.com . If you have a question that you would like answered in the ACIM Mentor Blog/Newsletter , write me at Liz@acimmentor.com and indicate that you want it answered here.

From May 29, 2007: http://acimmentor.blogspot.com/2007/05/thinking-with-holy-spirit.html >>>>> Read The ACIM Mentor Articles online for free at www.acimmentor.com under "Answers by Topic" or buy them in a bound book here . Learn about The Plain Language A Course in Miracles at www.placim.com . If you have a question that you want answered in the ACIM Mentor Newsletter/Blog, send it to Liz@acimmentor.com and indicate that you want it answered here.

My son, 42, was addicted to heroin. He committed suicide over a year ago using both heroin and carbon monoxide. Some days, guilt overwhelms and haunts me. My “head...brain...right mind" knows better, but somehow the Ego takes over. Help. Thank you. – BA I am very sorry for your loss. No parent expects to outlive their child. I hope you have around you the support that you need as you go through the grieving process. Both the disease of addiction and suicide tend to leave a lot of guilt in their wake, which only adds to the pain of grief. All guilt represents THE guilt at the core of the personal thought system (ego): The belief that you have separated from God. This belief takes the form of you believing that the personal self and its world are your reality. This is why the personal experience is so painful. You cannot escape guilt when you identify with a personal self; the only way out of pain and guilt is to release the personal thought system from ...

From May 26, 2007: For a long time, one of my obstacles to accepting what A Course in Miracles was teaching was that I thought it was trying to make us all into goody-two-shoes. I thought what it is saying is that we are supposed to look at “bad” situations and simply choose to see them in a “nice” way. I couldn’t see that in every situation I was interpreting what was occurring. I thought that the way that I saw the world was fact, and that changing how I see the world was repression, when in fact the world itself, and the events in it, are neutral. I learned that the world is neutral through my absorption in politics, and by watching the talking heads on television. At first, I noticed how an event was interpreted differently by different people, depending on their political point of view, each claiming that the way that they saw things was the truth. Then I saw the “spin doctors” after political events, like debates, deliberately “spinning” the event toward their particular politic...

Can you talk about what the Course says about love and removing blocks to love (guilt/projection)? – Anonymous A Course in Miracles teaches that you do not have to learn Love, earn Love, or attain Love, because Love is always within you. So, if you are not aware of Love always, you must have obstacles to this awareness. To be at peace, then, you must seek for and remove your obstacles to your awareness of Love’s Presence within you. God is an experience of Formless, Boundless Love, Peace, and Joy. This is your natural State of Being. “Love”, then, is another word for God. Your obstacle to being aware of your natural State of Being is your belief that you are something else, which takes the form of you thinking that a personal self in a body in a world is your reality. Underlying this belief is the belief that you have “attacked” God to make this separate “reality”, so at the heart of your identification with a personal self is guilt, and fear of punishment fr...

Thank you for your recent blog entry (December 10, 2010). It is very helpful and rings true with what I understand the Course to be saying about the mind/body 'split'. I have one question - and others may have the same question as well - does the same thinking also apply to medications that address problems such as ADHD and depression? At the end of the day, if I feel peaceful about my decision to take psychoactive medication isn't that all that matters? Then again, I can see that maybe some Course 'purists' would consider that a cop out and just show that we haven't been going to God often enough. As you can see, I have conflict about this issue… -MP Of course, psychoactive drugs are no different from other drugs which you take to ease your suffering or discomfort. There is no reason for you to suffer, not just physically, but psychically, or with the chaos of ADHD. Just as with physical illness, you can trust that, as you center your mind in God, you will ...

...I am friends with, and see so many people on this planet now, who are so striving to be in a healthy, committed spiritual partnership. They have drawn to them people who seem perfect for this dance of love and yet the feeling isn't mutual and has all the additions of "I love you, but, not in the way you love me", etc. Then the victim comes out, why am I not good enough? On and on the inner ego screams. And we feel alone and know that we aren't. Can you comment on how we can keep our inner balance and peace in the d ays where the person we think is the most wonderful for us as our beloved spiritual partner really isn't the one? – Anonymous Your real “spiritual partner” is the Holy Spirit (the Truth in your mind). If you want inner peace, which is a state of mind, this is the relationship that you must make your primary relationship. When you do this, relationships in the world then become extensions of your relationsh...

I have a point on which I would love some clarity. When one’s newborn is sick and needs antibiotics for pneumonia, wouldn't the most recent message from the Course concede that one not identify with the illness as the ill body is not God Consciousness? Therefore, leading one not to treat the sick infant? When a woman bleeds every month she must take care of her body? The mind/body split has me perplexed… I can be in full loving consciousness, living out of the Love Consciousness not the fear consciousness and have a back spasm that necessitates a focus. Is one to deny this? – Anonymous I’m not sure what you mean by “most recent message from the Course ”, but A Course in Miracles is quite clear on your first question about treating an illness or not: You (or anyone that you are caring for) do not need to suffer. Take whatever is necessary to ease your discomfort or pain. The appropriate course of treatment to pursue will come into your mind as a manifestat...

Ask ACIM Mentor: Would you please comment on disease - how our thoughts create it and how we heal again. Thank you. – AM You are mind. Diseases of the body are no different than any other appearance. The world, the body, diseases of the body – all of these are thoughts in your mind. They are the effect of your mind, which is their cause, but they are not you. They are “illusions”, because they are not your Reality. God is your Cause and Reality. God is Limitless, Formless Being, or Mind, extending infinitely and eternally. The experience of God is boundless love, peace, and joy. God extends only God, so as God’s Effect, you extend God infinitely and eternally. In God, then, Cause and Effect are One and the Same, but in your belief that not-God is possible, you are cause of effects unlike God. When you identify with (give your attention to) a personal self in a body in a world, then, you believe that you are limited, time-bound form. This is not true, so it is p...

In your October 29th newsletter, there was a question about forgiving and how the person had trouble forgiving an “abusive” person. In your answer, you suggested that “forgiveness” can take different forms, and that choosing not to speak to someone might be “a miracle, not a failure”. This perspective helped me a lot, after I felt into it for a while. I agree that this might be a way of letting go, and free myself and the other person from grievances and other attachments. However, there is one thing that is still puzzling me. It seems to me that there are people where choosing not to speak/interact is not an option. Close family members, for instance. What about my 4-year-old-son? What about my mother? It seems to me I can’t just choose to not to speak to them, or stop taking care of my son, although I must admit that I sometimes feel like it. On the other hand it seems that not having all options would contradict the idea of forgiveness and miracle...

Ask ACIM Mentor: How can I choose not to suffer? In my head I can, but I still feel the pain of rejection. - AM In Truth, you cannot suffer, but you need to be in touch with the Truth in you to be able to turn toward It, away from suffering. So, before you can stop suffering, you must cultivate your awareness of God within you. In your mind, you have two thought systems. One comes from God – what A Course in Miracles calls the “Christ Mind” or “Holy Spirit” in you. This is the Part of your mind that knows that you are One with God (eternal, limitless love, peace, and joy). The other thought system is what the Course calls “ego”, and I have translated as “personal mind” or “personal thought system”. This thought system is the opposite of God in every way. Its foundation is guilt, therefore fear-of-God, which manifests as anxiety, anger, insecurity, irritation, worry, etc. It is your identification with this thought system that leads to your suffering, so the ob...