ACIM Mentor

I have been a student of A Course in Miracles for many years but I have to admit I still fear death. How do I overcome this?             What you experience as fear of death is really not your fear but the personal thought system’s (ego’s) fear of ceasing to exist. So you will overcome the fear of death when you release yourself from the limitation of identifying with a self and you identify with Truth instead.             There is no death. The Truth within you is eternal. It has no beginning and no ending. It just is. Growing your awareness of the Truth within you brings you peace of mind precisely because It is eternal and never changing.             There is no death for the self, either, because it doesn’t really exist. It was never really “born” so it never “dies”. It is just a mistaken way of thinking abou...

Some teachers say to not bring worldly problems to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not come into the world and fix them. But you seem to suggest that we do so. I’m confused…             I do not suggest that you use the Holy Spirit (Teacher of Truth in your mind) as a problem solver. I suggest that you use your perceived problems as opportunities to grow your awareness of the Holy Spirit.             Whatever you perceive as a problem is never the real problem. The real problem is that you feel that you are not your True Being (“separate from God”) but that you are a self in a body in a world. All of your perceived problems are an expression of this one problem. You overcome your real problem by becoming aware of your True Being (God) through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the thought system in your mind that replaces the personal thought system (ego) when you ...

In an earlier article you said something about things not standing out to you anymore and that the world has “flattened out” for you. Can you explain what you meant? (May 16, 2014)             One of the first things that even new students report to me is that when a “crisis” occurs they find that they are not as upset as they once would have been. They are disturbed by this even though peace is what they want! This is the beginning of the “flattening out”. Things in the world that once stood out as significant and to which you once had a strong positive or negative reaction now evoke much less of an emotional response. Very dimly you have accepted that peace is real and that the world is not so the ego’s responses to the world no longer have the meaning for you that they once did. It takes a long time, but this awareness does grow to a point where you live in peace and are not much affected by the world. This has happened f...

“I read somewhere in your story, or a blog post, that at some point in your journey with the Course , you experienced heavy ego "rebounding." I am 1/3 through the workbook. I find there's strong correlations for me between a day or few days of inner peace, much less ego chatter, etc, followed by very persistent, loud, insistent(!) ego noise and demands. Some mornings after a previous day of consistent meditation are particularly noisy. How did you deal with ego rebounding, and what do you recommend for those periods when my ego's voice, and its resistance to any of my meditative work, is strong?” – M             Yes, you have described the ego’s rebounding very well. This is the process. You experience peace or an insight and as soon as you even so much as glance (usually unconsciously) in the ego’s direction it does whatever it needs to do to hold your attention. And it’s usually not something nice! This will go on as long as...

“...I have always felt a tremendous affinity to the Native American ways and their utter respect for a great Spirit and as keepers of the earth planet. So, here is the "angst" for me...I am clear that ACIM is my primary path, but the connection to the earth, animal totems, etc really speak to me. Yet, I know from the ACIM perspective, there is no world and the emphasis isn't on saving something that isn't "there". Natives saw "spirit" in everything...trees, mountains, streams, corn, buffalo. Is it compatible to have and tend the "love and respect of natural beauty" and be a serious student of ACIM?  I remember Ken W saying that frustration with inanimate things was as significant as anything else. Clearly, I'm confusing some things here...” – KL             Your desire to love and to respect the natural world would only be incompatible with your study of A Course in Miracles if it prevented you from being aware that the T...

“ I am continually confused by most everything about the meanings in ACIM of the concept of guilt. I was brought up in a home that taught that God loves us unconditionally and is present everywhere; that we reflect Him and all his qualities; that we are already "perfect" in reality.  Being "perfect" as a young person took time to take in however, being a good person did not.   Where and when do folks buy into guilt?  Human guilt is another thing.  Most of us feel human guilt easily which impedes our human and spiritual growth but can be a teaching tool, I think. Is there a time when we ‘should’ feel guilt?” – LK             Very simply, when you identify with limited form (the self) you are aware on a deep, unconscious level that your mind is not in its natural state of limitless, formless Being (what A Course in Miracles calls “God”). So you are uncomfortable. To preserve itself in your mind the...

“…I understand that everything is an illusion, just as Einstein discovered with his telescope, no matter just energy. But what I'm having a problem understanding is, since my body is an illusion, what's the point in trying to eat properly and taking supplements and curing disease naturally that enters my body, all of which are illusions?...” – AM                         Before I get to your question, let me clarify that Truth is formless so the universe of form is the illusion. There is no relationship between Truth (Formlessness) and illusion (form); they are diametrically opposed. What Einstein discerned and then proved with math (not a telescope) about matter being made up of energy (form, too, though invisible) is an explanation for how the universe of form works. He did not reveal what A Course in Miracles means by “illusion”. This will never be revealed through scie...

(This is the conclusion of a conversation published as the March 21, 28, and April 4 articles).  “ So what you're saying is I shouldn't derive my sense of self from this world because it's not real? Why does it feel real to me? I've realized I misunderstood my readings of the Course , so now I'm doubting whether to continue studying the Course or not. How do I know if I've misunderstood something or not?” – KR It feels real to you because you were born into this consciousness and you don’t question its reality until something happens to make you question it.  Workbook Lesson #132 discusses this a bit: “There is no world! This is the central thought the course attempts to teach. Not everyone is ready to accept it, and each one must go as far as he can let himself be led along the road to truth…But healing is the gift of those who are prepared to learn there is no world, and can accept the lesson now. Their readiness will bring the lesson to them in so...

(This is a continuation of a conversation published as the March 21 and 28 articles).  “… You have said, ‘I think you may be locked in the old, religious habit of spiritualizing the ego. That’s when you think that there is a connection between the Truth and what you do or do not do as a person’. By judging me as thinking from 'old religious habit of spiritualizing the ego' haven't you contradicted yourself and judged me from the ego?             Also, how can there not be a connection between the Truth and what you do or do not do as a person? That's clearly separation thinking because WE ARE TRUTH. How then am I so calm and less stressed out since I started studying the Course ? As I study the Course and Jesus points me gently towards the Truth I feel peaceful even for a little bit, why is that? If there is no connection between Truth and what I do as a person?         ...

(This is a continuation of a conversation that began in the March 21 article). “Thank you very much for answering. I'm so happy that at least one spiritual teacher answered instead of ignoring…I'm also a student of A Course in Miracles , I've recently started studying of my own accord. Jesus says there's really only one of Us in reality and that this world is a dream, a hallucination of the One Mind. The belief that we are separate from Him and God is the only belief that needs healing. We are all the Sonship. Therefore answer me this, would you ask for money from your family? By making people as your 'clients' instead of brothers and sisters of the One Family, aren't you reinforcing the idea of separation? Therefore contradicting your 'teachings'? People may assume that you're a con artist instead of a 'spiritual teacher' in that case, making millions off 'spirituality' when in reality Truth is abundant and available to anyone...

(This article is the first of four in a dialogue with the same questioner that will be published here today and through the next 3 weeks). “ I would really like to know why all spiritual teachers I've come across including yourself ask for money in return for teaching people about God. No one has ever answered me this question, so please answer me. Why are you making the Truth corporate? Jesus didn't ask for money or anything in return to teach people about God.” – KR I cannot speak for others, but I offer a service that no one needs but that some may want. Obviously God (True Being) is in every mind so no one needs me to bring God to them. But some want to grow their awareness of God and I offer assistance with that. And just as everyone brings to their work, I offer my time, energy, attention, education, and experience. I ask for money in exchange for all of this because money is required to exchange for things that facilitate living in the world. So my business is jus...

“…What are your favourite Workbook lessons?  Which ones have you personally found to be the most useful for bringing your awareness back to Truth?  Are there any which you found yourself repeating more frequently than others, as you trained your mind?” – OT This June it will be 30 years since I started A Course in Miracles . I did the Workbook right away, at the same time that I also dove into the Text and Manual for Teachers (I was hungry for it all!). So it has been a very long time since I’ve done the Workbook. I do not remember which lessons resonated with me back then. I do know that I thought I did a lousy job of it. But a lot more of it sunk in than I was aware of at the time. I can say that the idea in one of them which says something like, “We say God is and then we cease to speak” was one I was brought back to again and again in many different forms by the Holy Spirit (Teacher of Truth in my mind). The most transformative practice for me has been to simply o...

“… If we are not really individuals once we leave this illusional world how was Jesus able to communicate as a former individual self to dictate the course?  Is there a memory of who we once were (which would explain near death experiences where people meet loved ones) that remains with us when we return to our oneness?  Is all of who we thought we were here in this illusion forgotten?  If that is the case, it makes Jesus claim of being a former body confusing to me…”             The story of Jesus is one of a man who became so aware of God (True Being) that he stopped identifying as a man and identified with God instead. In A Course in Miracles this awareness is called “Christ”. The potential for this awareness is in every mind because God is in every mind. But for some “Christ” is too abstract an idea so they need a concrete symbol. “Jesus” can b...

“When Jesus says in the Text: ‘Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all of the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. It is not necessary to seek for what is true, but it is necessary to seek for what is false’ (T.16.IV.6:1,2). What does this mean?  Is Jesus saying that love is our true reality and that we cannot ever lose that true nature?  Yet, our training is incomplete--isn’t it --if we let our fears, misgivings and regrets over our three-dimensional linear existence get in the way of seeing our true inheritance of being eternally one with love? So would the practical application of this Text section be to study what negative thoughts or habits I have?  Any non-loving thoughts or actions are the barriers to knowing oneness with the eternal, right?  I know that you have written in your 4 Habits book that peace can be uncovered or developed by focusing on Truth exclusively, which seems different from ...

“ I am re-reading again your Four Habits for Inner Peace and something struck me. On page 70, you write, “You do not feel a need to change others or the world so that you can be at peace.” Could it be stated that perhaps Hitler, and others like him in history, subconsciously were really seeking inner peace and thought that the only way for him to attain it was to mistreat, control, and kill millions of other people?” – CS             Yes, exactly.  I began 4HIP with the Introduction: … If you pay attention you will notice that you seek for peace all of the time in everything that you direct the personal self to do. Your desire for peace is behind every goal that you set. You believe, sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously. that in the next thing that you get, in the next place that you go, in the next goal that you attain, or in the next person that you meet you will find the peace that will not leave...

“What is exactly meant in the ACIM introduction that this is a ‘required’ course? Please expand on ‘required’.” – H Your mind is not in its natural state when you identify with a self in a body in a world. So you feel limited, incomplete, and in conflict. If you want peace you “require” correction of your perception that you are not True Being (God). In your unnatural state you look ceaselessly to fill your sense of lack and to resolve your conflict. But you look to correct these through the ego (personal thought system) and its world, which will never work because their purpose is to replace True Being. A Course in Miracles is one form of the “required” lesson plan that you need if you want true, lasting peace because it brings Truth back into your awareness. Only a lesson plan that brings Truth into your awareness will bring you the peace that you seek. It goes on to say that if you want peace your choice is not what you have to learn but when you learn it. Some choose...

“ You describe guilt, the source of our troubles, as being intrinsic which also means inherent ie. we are born with it. This sounds similar to the way Christians accept the concept of Original Sin as an article of faith. Are we too to accept intrinsic guilt within the context of the Course as an article of faith or is there some explanation which thus far eludes me?” - ES             It’s important to understand the distinction between what Christians teach and what A Course in Miracles teaches with regard to guilt. Christian’s teach that you, or a distant ancestor or yours, have defied a god outside of you with power over you. This is a sin and your guilt for it is real and you will be punished for it.  A Course in Miracles teaches that you simply have forgotten True Being (which it labels “God”).  This is not a sin, but a mistake which causes your pain. There is no one and nothing outside of you to punish you fo...

 “ It occurred to me today, that the dream(s)/’life’ we imagine ourselves to be in, must also be eternal.  As true reality is eternal, then does it not follow that the illusory opposite of oneness, although not real, must also be eternal?  If so, is the only escape from the bombardment of conflict, etc. is to continually be aware of the Truth throughout all the dreams of separation for all eternity?...” – JR             Truth is Eternal, which means It is timeless, not time without end. So time is the idea of the opposite of Truth (Eternity). Since Truth is One, or the same throughout Itself, time can only ever be an idea. It is an illusion. It has no reality. There is a trap of believing in two realities that students of A Course in Miracles fall into. One reality they call “God” or “Truth”. This is formless Being. The other “reality”, the experience of form, they label “illusion” without thinking what “illu...

 “… Generally, how do Chakras relate to ACIM? They seem to be part of Not Truth, but are they still helpful in pointing us towards Truth itself and where we are trying to compromise its inclusion in our lives? How do they fit into the big picture?...” A.N-G (January 24, 2014)             The concept of “chakras” comes from the Hindu religion. They are the label given to the idea of a nexus of non-material energy with the material body. So you are correct that they are part of not-Truth.             It is hard to see how they could point you toward Truth. Some make the mistake of thinking that anything that is unseen – like energy – is the same as “Spirit”. But energy is form and Spirit is Formlessness. You may find some practice involving chakras helpful to your life in the world, but this would not be a spiritual practice in the truest sense. It also would not be...

“…Can you send one (article) that deals with releasing physical pain, please?” –TN             Physical pain is an inevitable part of the experience of identifying with a body.  But suffering is optional. Suffering is the psychological effect caused by the unconscious or conscious beliefs that you have about the pain. These are usually that you are being punished by a god or that you are a victim of another or of a god. These beliefs make you suffer over the pain and may even prevent you from seeking relief from the pain. If you feel guilty you may feel that you deserve to suffer. And if you want to remain in the role of victim or to make another guilty for your pain you may not be willing to be relieved of pain. You will be completely released from physical pain when you no longer identify with a body. In the meantime, you can ask for guidance in overcoming physical pain. The answer may be a medication or a treatment i...