ACIM Mentor

Lately I’ve received some questions about the terms “unconscious” and “subconscious”. Students want to know what we are talking about when we talk about unconscious thoughts and beliefs. Unconscious thoughts and beliefs are thoughts and beliefs in your mind but out of your conscious awareness. We refer to them as being in your “subconscious”, or below your level of conscious awareness. You can only hold a limited amount of what is in your mind in your conscious awareness. The rest is in your subconscious. Some of what is in your mind that you are not conscious of is there through your denial. These are thoughts and beliefs that you find frightening or painful. These include, but are not limited to, memories. Beyond specific memories there are beliefs that you have internalized and find too painful to look at, like the belief in intrinsic guilt, fear of a god outside of you that is going to punish you, unworthiness, the belief that you are “bad”, etc. Some people repress these thou...

I knew my last article was on a loaded topic: reincarnation. I did receive some positive emails. But I felt that many of the comments on the article at my blogsite, via email, and in discussion with clients missed the central points of the article. This is a common phenomenon! I learned a long time ago that everyone reads through their own filters. But I want to clear up some of the issues that came up in the comments and then I’ll be done with it. When I write an article all I can hope is that the readers read it with the Holy Spirit and get something useful out of it for where they are now in their process, even if it’s not what I intend for them to get. The point of the article was how the belief in guilt persists through the concept of reincarnation. As long as you believe in guilt the ego (personal thought system in your mind) will provide stories for your guilt, whether they are from this lifetime or from another. As long as you want to go in search of guilt in your mind i...

“In the ultimate sense, reincarnation is impossible. There is no past or future, and the idea of birth into a body has no meaning either once or many times. Reincarnation cannot, then, be true in any real sense. Our only question should be, ‘Is the concept helpful?’” (M-24.1) The belief in reincarnation is one that bafflingly persists in the A Course in Miracles community. It’s baffling because ACIM states that it cannot be real. And it’s baffling because in the experience of the Holy Instant, the experience central to understanding ACIM, you know that it cannot be real. Yes, ACIM also says it may be a helpful concept if looked at the right way. It goes on to say that if it’s comforting to the believer its helpfulness is obvious. And that you can emphasize the aspect of the concept that leads one to understand that there is more to existence than this passing life. But those are very slim aspects of the concept to find helpful. They could only be temporarily helpful at best. ...

I used to intellectually understand that the ego was insane. Now I experience it as such. I get what I call the “falling down the rabbit hole” sensation of disorientation when I try to understand an ego (personal thought system). This includes the one in my mind. What I experience is the chaos of a multitude of possible interpretations and responses without any criteria to establish which is the best to choose. The mere fact that there is choice indicates that there is no absolute correct interpretation or response except to acknowledge it is insane and not engage with it. Not engaging with the ego is easy now that I experience it as insane. While I still thought it made some sense I couldn’t let it go. “Whoever is saner at the time the threat is perceived should remember how deep is his indebtedness to the other and how much gratitude is due him, and be glad that he can pay his debt by bringing happiness to both. Let him remember this, and say: I desire this holy instant for ...

I have come to a higher vision where I see the universe of form as a tapestry; a unitary, unified story where once I saw it as a collective (macro story) of independent stories (micro stories) all playing on each other. The choices for this self have not been independent choices influenced by and influencing the larger macro story as I thought they were. The choices for this self have all been part of one whole unfolding story . I experienced those choices, and still experience the choices for this self now, as though they were made by a singular independent split-mind among many independent split-minds. But now I know they are simply the singular unfolding of one larger story. Every choice is the effect of only one split mind. And none of the choices have any real effects. The Truth goes on untouched by any of it. It is just a story . I knew back when I studied A Course in Miracles that the “you” it was speaking to was not what I experienced as the individual “me”. For example...

Many years ago I met a woman who told me that as soon as she wanted something for the self it manifested for her. This had never been my experience. In fact, I was confused about the whole manifesting thing. (This has since become popularly known as the “Law of Attraction” because of the book that brought together long held ideas behind manifesting what you want). I was left wondering if she truly did manifest what she wanted or if the desire for something grew in her just before it showed up. Maybe she was just in tune with the universe of form. I first learned about manifesting when I was a new student of A Course in Miracles . The theory, as I understood it anyway, was that what did or did not show up in the self’s life was determined by my own thoughts. If I didn’t have what I wanted for the self it must be because of obstacles within me. For example, maybe I felt unworthy of or afraid of what I wanted. I was supposed to dig around in my mind for those obstacles and, if I remo...

I often tell students that much of this path has not unfolded in the way that I expected. I had ideas about how it was going to look and feel. So I often missed shifts in my experience because I was looking elsewhere for a shift. Or I simply didn’t recognize them for what they were. Eventually I learned I have no idea how this will unfold! I learned to release expectations, to trust the process,  and to keep an open mind. One of the first examples of this is with the awareness that the world isn’t real. It’s hard to know how I expected this would show up. I think I expected a wholesale shift in my perception and that the world would disappear. But the shift in awareness began almost immediately after I became a student of A Course in Miracles with a shift in my values.             A Course in Miracles tells us that we believe in what we value: “Remember that where your heart is, there is your treasure also. You b...

“I have a question I hope you will consider answering for me and others.  In your most recent post; “All A Mind Needs Is Willingness,” you speak a little about the meaning of “the script is written,” and mention “it does not mean that every detail of the self’s story in time is pre-ordained.”  As I understand this to be true, being that our choices can alter our course in time, I still have so many questions the rotate around this one statement.  I was wondering if you could go into more detail about what “The Script Is Written,” actually means. When I think of this I believe it is saying that everything that seems to come our way we have asked for being that we chose to listen to the ego’s voice instead of the Holy Spirit’s—which was the detour into fear.  And from that choice, we set into motion everything we think is happening.  Also, Gods Will is done, meaning that the separation never happened, just the desire to listen to another voice which caused us t...

For a mind to be aware of Truth and at peace it really is all about willingness and nothing else . Looking back to when peace began for this mind so much time and energy were wasted trying to make peace happen when “my” part was over as soon as Peace came into the awareness of this mind. This awareness could not be sustained so this mind thought “I” had to make it happen again. But in hindsight it is clear that for this mind time has been about undoing the obstacles that stood in the way of this mind keeping Peace in its awareness. All of this was done within this mind as the natural unfolding in time of the awareness of Truth that came to it all those years ago. For this mind this is the meaning of “the script is written”. It does not mean that every detail of the self’s story in time was pre-ordained. It simply means that the outcome of this mind’s experience in time was inevitable once Truth came into its awareness. This awareness changed the trajectory of this mind’s story i...

“I know this world/body is not real it something I created out of my vane imaging {ego}. I understand that but What comfort can you share with an eight year old child whose father just died. I know the usual "He's in heaven with God ", etc.  Confused on how to counsel My Great Grandaughter  from an ACIM VIEW POINT. I GET TEARS EYES THINKING WHAT SHE IS GOING THRU.” – JP It is the same comforting a child as it is comforting an adult. First, get yourself out of the way. Put aside your own need to comfort and ask what the other needs. Most people just want to be heard and understood. So listen to your great-granddaughter and validate what you hear. “I see you are missing your Dad. I know it’s very painful”, etc. And you may want to give a lot of hugs! But make sure she actually wants the hugs and that you are not just satisfying your own urge to “fix” her. Loss is a part of life in the world. Grief is not bad or wrong. It is the normal response that the body an...

“I notice that despite all of my work with the Holy Spirit and using correct perception of my ego's thoughts that PMS time still gives me a difficult time.  It seems that a hormone shift just changes my ability to deny the ego its "voice".  I know Eckhart Tolle addressed this as a manifestation of our collective experience here....I was wondering what your understanding is.” – MB Mood-swings are just part of the experience of female selves. The degree varies from woman to woman and month to month. If you know your cycle you know that negative emotions can be chemically induced or exaggerated when you are pre-menstrual and when you are ovulating. You know not to take them seriously and to ride out the episodes each month. Sometimes, if it’s bad enough, it does make it seem like you cannot get past the ego. Irritability, depression, foreboding, and/or sadness are its playground and if you aren’t aware of what is going on it can have a field day with you! But if you pa...

(To clarify: The boundaries discussed here are about boundaries for the self at the level of form. They are the practical result at the level of form of being aware of your wholeness in Truth. Discussions in spiritual teachings about the dropping away of the boundary of the self refer to a an experience that transcends the level of form.) Sometimes students tell me that they feel that setting boundaries is an attack on others. This is because in the past they didn’t set boundaries until they felt so violated that they felt they had to become angry and aggressive to protect themselves. They would blow up at others or cut them out of their life for not respecting boundaries that they never clarified. Their anger seemed to be about others. But really they were angry with themselves for allowing others to abuse or to manipulate them. When you are confused about your worth you feel uncertain about where to set your boundaries. You feel that you do not have the right to expect respe...

To follow up on the last article about “Love”, when you enter into relationships from the awareness that “I am whole and you are whole” you change the dynamic of personal relationships. Personal relationships usually start from “I lack, please fill me”. In an attempt to feel whole you drop the boundaries between you and another. This shows up as you demanding that another meet your needs. If they don’t you feel abandoned or attacked. You also may insist that the other change to meet your needs or change because you are uncomfortable with how they show up. Without boundaries you feel that how they show up reflects on you. Or you may be uncomfortable with how they show up and think that they are responsible for your discomfort. You also experience the other side of this in personal relationships. Others demand that you fill their needs or that you change to make them happy or comfortable. You can see why personal relationships are so contentious! Everyone is pulling against everyone...

“Love” is one of those words that I wish was not used in spirituality. We use the word in two ways when discussing human love and only one of them describes the experience of True Love. This leads to confusion as the two ideas become conflated. As humans when we say “I love you” we mean “I like you a lot”, “I enjoy you”, “I enjoy being with you”, “I like how I feel about myself when I am with you”, “I enjoy the role that I play in our relationship”, “I am grateful to you for the role that you play in our relationship” and/or “I’m obligated to you through a family connection”. In these contexts “I love you” really means “I am attached to you in some way”. We feel attachment-love only when we love others not when others love us. When others attachment-love us what we experience is a safe place to be ourselves. Others’ attachment-love for us brings emotional and practical support to our lives in the world. But their experience of attachment-love for us does not leave them and the...

“Let's say I'm embroiled in some struggle with another person. They 'appear' as some kind of threat and the usual defend/attack scenario plays out - mostly in my head but sometimes spilling out into acting out behavior. Suddenly, a realization comes to me that the perceived threat is all made up (by me) ie. I had been attaching certain meaning to their behavior while in fact this person that I had demonized now appears as weak, clueless, ignorant or just can't help themselves or simply has another point of view. Now that the drama has been drained from the story, and all the meaning neutralized, I then realize that I need simply state my needs to that person, work out some compromise or move on. Peace at last. But then, a couple of hours later, much to my chagrin, the whole thing starts up all over again, sometimes with an even greater intensity than before! What happened?” – ES             You are simply experiencing the proc...

Acceptance is one of those ideas that I see students resisting, largely because they confuse “acceptance” with “embracing” or “liking” or “condoning”. So when I say “Accept that growing your awareness of Truth is a process” or “Accept that your boss is unfair” or “Accept that you have a chronic illness” they think I am suggesting that they try to like or approve of these things. But what I mean by “acceptance” is “acknowledge a situation the way it is without resisting it or judging it”. Resisting or judging a situation is the way that you keep it in mind. It is the way that you hold onto it. Acceptance is the way that you let it go. Resisting and judging close your mind. And a closed mind cannot hear the Holy Spirit (Teacher of Truth) in your mind. So acceptance is the way to open your mind to solutions to problems or to another way of looking at a situation. Judgment and resistance also add to the discomfort or pain of a situation. With acceptance you do not add to the discomf...

“I now see clearly my attachment to various false idols - the so-called special relationships - those things of the world that appear as sources of peace but which I know intellectually, intuitively, and through endless disappointing experience can never deliver lasting peace. Nevertheless, they feel so real and appealing as I covet and pursue them on a daily basis. As bright as these golden calves seem to be, worshiping them is fraught with fear, and a gnawing sense of lack. Obsessing over them leads me down a distracting, dead end path. How best to deal with these obstacles to peace and ultimately get past them?” – ES             The mind is always looking for relief from lack. You won’t let go of idols until you have something to replace them even though you recognize that ultimately they do not work.             Only your awareness of Truth will bring the lasting se...

 “In my defenselessness my safety lies.” (W-153)             You have two thought systems in your mind. The ego is the thought system that teaches you that you are a self in a body in a world. Because this isn’t true when you identify with the self you experience lack and vulnerability. You spend your time defining and defending the self’s identity in an attempt to undo your sense of lack and to feel safe.             The “defenselessness” referred to in this lesson is the other thought system in your mind, what A Course in Miracles calls the Holy Spirit. This thought system comes from the part of your mind that is always aware of God, or True Being. In this awareness you feel whole and complete. You feel safe so you have nothing to defend.             So this lesson is not asking you to be defenseless in th...

“….Last week I was reading Jon Mundy's magazine on the Course ….  In his mag, there was an advertisement notice that there was a new book out, A Course of Love ,  www.acourseoflove.com ...Have you heard of this book?  Will you read it?  If you will not read it, why not?  I am curious to get your opinion about its close similarity to only knowing the Truth and meditating just on the Truth...” – SS I heard of this book many years ago and I continue to get advertisements for it. But, no, I will not be reading it. The need to study fell away from me naturally many years ago. Since then I find reading spiritual material to be superfluous and, frankly, rather tedious. I can only liken this to reading a recipe for a dish I make every day. After a while the recipe becomes unnecessary and turning to it actually gets in the way of making the dish quickly and efficiently. So when I read spiritual material now I feel, “too many words”.  They are not neces...

“Let's say I'm going about my business feeling no stress, conflict or pain and suddenly, "out of the blue" comes some disturbing thought about a person/incident from the past which feels like I'm under attack, requiring me to defend and counterattack etc. I haven't seen this person for years, they're not in my life but there they are. While I believe that circumstances and people don't create feelings in us but rather we project our feelings onto them (it's entirely my movie), what I don't get is the suddenness, and absence of current context for these thoughts. Why now?...” – ES What you describe is when something of which you are not conscious, or not fully conscious, triggers a memory of a person or circumstance. It may be some object your eyes light upon, a snatch of music or another sound, a body memory, or a train of thought that you had not been consciously following. It may also be that if the ego (personal thought system) in your...