ACIM Mentor

No matter a person’s spiritual path there are only two possible goals: To spiritualize the self’s life in the world or to transcend the self. The vast majority of people choose to spiritualize the self’s life in the world. Even if they’ve had higher miracles in which they perceive that the Truth is true and that the world is not they do not feel called to transcend the self. Being aware of Truth improves their life in the world and this is enough for them. But a few feel called to transcend the self usually because they’ve experienced the reality of Truth in either a direct Revelation (only Truth) or a higher miracle. They feel called to Truth because It is the Truth and nothing else will satisfy them. They are willing to be wholly free from guilt. Even those who feel called to transcend the self will go through a stage of spiritualizing the self’s life in the world. It is an inevitable stage when embarking on a spiritual path because when you start out all you know is the se...

For a long time after I became a student of A Course in Miracles when things were hard or dark I felt I’d “fallen off the path”. I kept thinking I had to choose peace again and again. Why couldn’t I just make the choice and mean it? Why did I keep losing my way? What I didn’t know was that I had meant the choice for peace the first time that I allowed myself to experience Truth. I didn’t have to make the choice again. Once I let Truth into my awareness my path to peace was set. I wasn’t lost; I was in an unfolding process. The times that I saw as hard or dark or lost were part of that process to attaining peace. But I only saw this in hindsight many, many years later.             What unfolded after the moment that I let Truth into my awareness was that moment manifesting in the story of time. So any choice for peace that I made after that moment was not to choose the whole path all over again. It was a choice for peace now . I...

In my early years as a student of A Course in Miracles (I began in 1984) I didn’t really have anyone I trusted to speak to about my experiences. Very early on I experienced a direct Revelation and the higher miracle of the mystical Holy Relationship. No one in the initial study group I attended was discussing ACIM on the level on which I seemed to experience it. And I just didn’t know anyone else who was a student. (There was no internet yet!) So I went off on my own with the Holy Spirit. This was great in that it meant I had to work right away at building my trust in the Holy Spirit. And as ACIM points out, the whole process is the “Development of Trust” (Manual for Teachers) in Truth. But the process would have been smoother and I suspect gone a little faster for me if I had someone in the world to validate some of my experiences. Because I had no one to speak to I had to live with a lot of doubts. And doubts kept me spinning in place and not moving onto the next lesson. Fo...

If you’ve been reading my stuff for a while please bear with me because I am returning again to an idea that I’ve visited many times before in many ways. But it is something that comes up often with clients and with people who write to me, even those whom I know have read all my stuff. So here I revisit it: You do not have to give up the people, things, activities, etc. that you love to have inner peace. You simply want to give them to the Holy Spirit so It can use them as classrooms in which to teach you peace. So often I hear from students of A Course in Miracles who judge against themselves for being too attached to their families, their friends, their animals. They try to force themselves to give up their interests and activities. If they love someone or enjoy or get pleasure from something they are certain that it is “wrong”. Somehow they think ACIM asks them to give up these things. But in fact it is the ego with its belief in guilt and punishment that leads them to fee...

“The more I read the July 27 blog ( http://acimmentor.blogspot.com/2016/07/learning-beyond-whats-in-acim.html ) along with the comments and your responses, the muddier the waters seemed to get (for me) until I read your statement:  ‘ACIM led me to the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit led me past my obstacles to being aware of Truth, many of which were not specifically mentioned in ACIM.’ You have always made the point that studying the Course was simply a means to an end; that it was even possible to reach an understanding of the Course and still not have inner peace. After getting almost nothing from the Course per se, the various teachers, authors, books, speakers, and students - I came across 4HIP , Releasing Guilt , the Mentor Articles and your personal mentoring. Now that I have established a relationship with my inner Teacher of Truth - which I find to be fairly accessible, simple, quiet and tailor-made, I feel like a phony to consider myself a student of ACIM. Why...

Sometimes I write about topics that are not mentioned in A Course in Miracles but which come out of my experiences with the Holy Spirit (Awareness of Truth in my mind). Sometimes this prompts emails from readers who want to know where they can read about that topic in ACIM. Some seem to be genuinely interested in reading ACIM’s take on the topic. Others seem to imply that because it is not mentioned in ACIM it is not really appropriate for me to write about as part of spiritual practice. For example, I write a lot about setting boundaries in relationships. I find that boundaries are a very common need among ACIM students. Many seem to feel that being spiritual means taking inappropriate responsibility for others and/or being a doormat.  They think that if they just forgive enough another’s inappropriate or dysfunctional behavior will change. Or they feel that if they had truly forgiven they would no longer see the other’s behavior as inappropriate or dysfunctional. Undoing th...

“I live - by choice - in a very quiet rural area. Every summer the house next to mine is used by a family of brothers from New York City… I can always tell when the youngest brother is around by the level of noise coming from the house - yelling, non-stop talking, and extremely loud music… For four summers now I have experienced an intense emotional charge in reaction to this "barbarian" intrusion…I have essentially demonized these people in my mind, making them bad, wrong etc. My anger knows no bounds when I think about them. Whenever I think about talking to them about the situation however, I dissuade myself… The other day their music was so loud and lasted so long (hours) that I suddenly found myself transported to what I can only describe as The Land of Matter-of-Fact. All anger and fear vanished along with any sense of self-righteous importance…So when I arrived home one afternoon and the music was blasting, I simply parked in front of their house and with my new-found...

“ The other day was for me one of those high energy days where I found myself engaged in one project after another, mostly home improvement and maintenance type things. I felt no resistance and at the end of the day I experienced what is typically referred to as "the satisfaction of accomplishment" - a type of high that most people regard as oh so healthy. While there is nothing wrong in taking care of business, being creative etc., there can be a negative flip side if, on those languid days when we feel no motivation or energy, we feel guilt as though "We've let someone down". (Who?) Being busy as a way of earning peace is a trap because it is only a facsimile of peace. It is no different than the Buddhist concept of "earning merits" for this or another life or any form of "righteous behavior" called for by other religions, or ideologies. They all perpetuate and reinforce guilt.” – ES Yes, temporary satisfaction, for whatever reason, i...

“I was wondering if you could open up or shed some light and clarity on the following statement Jesus makes . . . . ‘When you correct a brother, you are telling him that he is wrong. He may be making no sense at the time, and it is certain that, if he is speaking from the ego, he will not be making sense. But your task is still to tell him he is right.’ ( A Course in Miracles, T-9.III.2) I'm not sure what he means when he says ‘But your task is still to tell him he is right’ and how this would sort of look in a practical way.” – Anonymous You increase fear in others when you make them wrong. So instead just let them know that they are understood. For example, a friend has what you consider really wacked-out political views. Instead of arguing with them look at where they are coming from. Usually it's fear. So just say things like, "You seem really afraid." Or, "I'm sorry that you are so afraid." Something that validates what underlies their st...

You Don’t Have to Go It Alone When I was a new student of A Course in Miracle s going through the long and uncomfortable (sometimes downright painful) “period of sorting out” it would have been so nice to speak every now and then with someone who had been through what I was going through and who had actually attained the inner peace I wanted. But there was no one around then who offered a professional relationship like that. So I muddled through in more discomfort and pain than was necessary. And, eventually, when I was ready I became a mentor for others so that they could have an easier time than I did as they made their way to inner peace. Obviously I do have clients so some people have taken me up on this offer.  But it is frustrating for me to hear of others who are still trying to go it alone. Clients tell me of friends who have questions or blocks to peace that they need help working out. They tell them, “Call Liz!” But they rarely do. Sometimes I can tell from comme...

One of the things I help my clients sort out is what is the neutral personality of the self and what is the ego (personal thought system). They are confused because the ego is the thought system in their mind that tells them that the self is their reality and that they need to measure themselves by the self. So it’s hard for them to see that the self – the body and personality – is neutral and that it is the ego that is not neutral. For example, clients will say something like, “I know it’s ego but…” “…I like mountain biking…” “…I want to study medicine…” “…I enjoy horror stories…” “…I prefer to be alone…” Etc. First, you can see by the “but” that what they mean is, “I want this even though I know it’s bad.” They judge the ego as “bad” so what they see as expressions of ego are therefore “bad”. But actually the ego is not wrong or bad. It is nothing. Second, all of those traits that come after the “but” are just neutral expressions of a neutral personality. They ha...

When I was a young child sometimes when I played alone I would experience a reassuring, comforting Presence with me. I felt in those experiences that everything would always be okay. These experiences were very rare. I had a happy, secure childhood and I had no conscious need to seek reassurance. But of course I was still having the human experience of everyday lack and insecurity. I was unconsciously open to Truth at those times. These experiences seemed very natural so I didn’t question them. Nor did I think of them beyond their occurrences. As a teenager I would in times of desperate adolescent angst turn to what I thought of as my “inner Therapist”. These were very rare occurrences, too. But you can see how a shift had unconsciously occurred for me: The Presence was no longer with me; It was within me. It was still Other, but I knew It was in my own mind. I thought of It as my “inner adult” the way as adults people speak of their “inner child” left-over from their childhood....

Each time I read A Course in Miracles different concepts stood out for me. Concepts would sink in, I’d move past them, and I was ready to learn new ones. The last time I read ACIM for myself was as I translated it into plain language. Then one lesson was driven home to me over and over again: This whole process to peace was between me and me. My sense of conflict was not between me and a world outside of me. It was not between me and a god outside of me. All of my conflict was occurring only within me. All of the reconciliation I needed was between a part of my mind (the split-mind) that was alienated from the Totality of my mind (Truth). There was nothing else and no one else involved. Each time this realization hit me with the force of a thunder clap. I was already aware that I made my own world by projecting meaning onto a meaningless universe of form. I was used to bringing my conflicts with the world or the concept of a god back to what I was doing in my own mind. But actuall...

“I just finished reading over your 3/23/16 blog ( http://acimmentor.blogspot.com/2016/03/love-peace-and-joy-as-effects.html ) in which you mentioned having a terrifying experience of the ‘fear of not existing’. I was recently thinking about a former friend who had created a persona which expressed itself as an obnoxious role he was compelled to play in all his interactions with others. I thought that he was so invested in this fake identity that if he was prevented from playing it, he would not know ‘who he was’ and would be terrified of not existing (not consciously of course). Is this what you were talking about? I have experienced a horrible foreboding of impending doom a few times when I traced back some fear, through guilt etc. I also experience pre-dawn anxiety every day which always seems to be about various trivial things in my life. Do you think that the ‘fear of not existing’ is actually the ‘mother of all fears’? And most important of all - what to do, especially while it...

“Dreams are perceptual temper tantrums, in which you literally scream, "I want it thus!" And thus it seems to be. And yet the dream cannot escape its origin. Anger and fear pervade it, and in an instant the illusion of satisfaction is invaded by the illusion of terror. For the dream of your ability to control reality by substituting a world that you prefer is terrifying. Your attempts to blot out reality are very fearful, but this you are not willing to accept. And so you substitute the fantasy that reality is fearful, not what you would do to it. And thus is guilt made real.” (T-18.II.4) A Course in Miracles likens the experience of the universe of form to a dream that is a temper tantrum against Reality (Truth/God). The dreamer is the “Son of God” (split-mind) and the self with which you identify is a figure in the dream, one of billions of projections of the Son of God. (To be clear: This dream is only a meaningless idea of the opposite-of-God that has no intention...

A reoccurring theme with many serious students of A Course in Miracles is how they have felt different all of their lives. Some are okay with this; others still want to be accepted and to fit in. The difference can show up as having been more perceptive than the average person; having a psychological orientation; never accepting what the religion of their family of origin taught; being more sensitive and intuitive; always sensing that there was something more than the world had to offer, etc. The question they often have is, are they different because they were always headed toward a spiritual path (or really already on one)? Or did their being different lead them to seek relief in a spiritual path? The answer is both. Because you are on a spiritual path you were always headed toward one. But in the unfolding story how you end up on a spiritual path could show up as looking for relief from the pain of being different. In any case, the spiritual path resonates or you would not rem...

Apparently my last article ( http://acimmentor.blogspot.com/2016/05/your-itch-to-share-is-your-own-desire.html ) was not clear because I received several questions and comments about it. So I will attempt to clarify and answer some questions here. The point of the article was that one’s urgency, or “itch”, to share what they learn while studying A Course in Miracles is their own desire to “get” what they are studying. You read something in ACIM that you get at a shallow intellectual level and you find yourself with a strong urge for others to get it, too. What occurs is that you, as the split-mind (decision-maker), want the lesson to go deeper for yourself. But the ego (personal though system) in your mind projects this desire outward and sees the lack in others. They need this; you already have it. The ego pushes away your desire for the lesson to go deeper by seeing it “out there”. It does not want you to get the idea more deeply. But doesn’t ACIM teach “what you give you ...

When I began as a student of A Course in Miracles over 3 decades ago I was itching to share what I learned with everyone. I didn’t, though, because I knew how much I hated it when others proselytized. Even if I didn’t mean to convert anyone I knew that’s how my sharing would be perceived. I also knew that if I shared what ACIM really teaches others would think I was nuts. I knew how radical it was and I only trusted it myself because I’d experienced Revelation and miracles early on. In fact once in my excitement I took a chance and shared with some acquaintances something I heard from the Holy Spirit and one of them, a nurse, asked, “Was this Voice inside your mind or outside of you?” I reassured her that I was not psychotic; the Voice was in my mind. The experienced reinforced for me how it was best to keep my new experiences private. I only discussed some of them with other ACIM students. I also suspected, correctly, that my itch to share was not from the Holy Spirit. The feeli...

Once I was in conversation with a client and mentioned something about “being present to Truth”. Suddenly he exclaimed, “Ohhhhh. Present to Truth .” He explained that he had read over and over again in spiritual teachings about the importance of being mindful, or present to what he was doing, whatever it was, as a way to peace. He practiced this for years but he did not experience anything remarkable. It had never been explained to him that he needed to make the conscious effort to be open to Truth in the present. He thought that merely being present was supposed to be enough. And once he did practice being present to Truth his experience was transformed. This is another example of how cause and effect in spiritual practice are not always adequately explained (see last week’s article (http://acimmentor.blogspot.com/2016/04/theres-no-need-to-put-cart-behavior.html) . Someone has a moment of being present and they experience Truth (a transcendent experience of peace or joy, the awar...

If I was Queen of All Things Spiritual I would decree that no one could have access to spiritual teachings that were more advanced than they were ready to understand, practice, or accept. I say this because students (and this once included me) do so much harm to themselves reading things that they are not ready to understand or attempting practices that do not come naturally to them. In their guilt they judge themselves as failing because they do not measure up to what they study. And what they study they can only try to understand through the limitations of what they’ve already experienced and this leads to distortions. I spend a lot of time reassuring readers and clients that they are not failing because they have not yet attained in understanding or practice what someone more advanced has attained. They are in a process and judge against themselves for being in a process. I also spend a lot of time clarifying experiences that they have not yet had but that the ego has distorted or ...