Posts

It Is a Different World

            A question I had after the shift in consciousness was, “Am I really seeing a different world? Or just the same old world differently? Or is this the same thing?” The answer is the latter: A different way of seeing a world is a different world. Because the world one lives in is perceptual and is not the material world. The material world is simply a screen onto which one’s perceptions are projected. Or not, when the screen is seen to be just a screen. I thought I knew that world really meant consciousness , but the Shift showed this to me in a way I could not understand until consciousness shifted. Another question was: Given that it is so different, is there any value for others in my sharing what I now know and see? For some who have experienced the Shift themselves or are nearing it, the answer is sometimes yes. What I share may validate, illuminate, or describe their experience. But they are a tiny minority. For most, it seems what I now share is generally not helpf
Post a Comment
Read more

Ask: What are your thoughts on the idea of a "healthy ego"?

  “Over the years, I’ve heard the term ‘healthy ego’ what are your thoughts about this? Is there such a thing?” – ESA   Ego is not real, so from Spirit’s perspective, there is no answer to this. But within the framework of its false reality, an ego’s state of health ranges from extreme mental illness up to spiritual self-realization, Bill Thetford being a good example of the latter for students of A Course in Miracles . So, in short, yes there is such a thing as a “healthy ego”, but it’s a relative, never an absolute, thing. Psychologically speaking, a healthy ego is one that has a sound sense of self-worth without being overblown and adjusts to the world as it is. A healthy ego deals with the stresses of life without falling apart. In fact, a healthy ego grows through crises. A well-adjusted adult ego holds a job, takes care of their self, and has functional, balanced relationships. When thrown off balance, a well-adjusted ego eventually rebalances and will ask for help in this i
Post a Comment
Read more

Identity is Mortal

             It seems so obvious now, but only recently did I see, as I wrote a few weeks ago , that identity is not necessary . The constant search for “What am I?” or, later, “What is real and true and where do I fit into that?” was an obstacle to seeing Truth. It was the primary obstacle to seeing Truth because it was always ego straining and striving to find out how it fit into Truth and it doesn’t because it’s an illusion. How simple to just see that there is no need for identity of any kind! Truth is here, whole and complete, and quite apart from identity . I used to say, correctly, that the Truth is here in consciousness and always has been. Truth meaning God’s (Reality’s) Spirit . But I thought—without question—that identity was neutral and could be ego or Spirit. In other words, I thought consciousness = identity but it turns out only ego = identity. So, I kept waiting for Spirit identity to take over and it never did, although Spirit’s Presence grew in conscious awaren
Post a Comment
Read more

What Do You Mean by "God"?

            The word God is a loaded word because it can mean many things to many people. The meaning of the word has evolved for me, which is why in writing I often put in parenthesis what I mean by God or I write what I mean and put the word God in parenthesis. With my life-coaching mentorees in the A Course in Miracles community, I typically run into God meaning one of three things primarily —often what a client means by God is a mishmash of two or more of these three things:   The Christian Father-God : An anthropomorphized, distant judge, usually stated to be benevolent, but often still feared. No one ever experiences this God, it’s really only a concept. For these students, what occurs in the world is intimately tied to God, so they feel there are right and wrong thoughts and actions, if not morally, at least in terms of what is in line with God. They generally do not think in terms of Truth and illusion or are confused about what is supposed to be an illusion.  
2 comments
Read more

No, We Are Not All "Supposed to" Love One Another

             To continue with the theme of acceptance from last week … Sometimes, people have a mystical experience of some kind that shows them that the world (consciousness) is out of accord with the wholeness and peace and love of Reality (God) They may come out of it saying, “This isn’t how things are supposed to be!” or “We’re supposed to love one another!” But of course, what is unfolding in consciousness is exactly what is to unfold in consciousness. It is not wrong or bad to not be loving. If this is occurring, this is meant to occur. It is just what is unfolding in consciousness right now.   Consciousness is the illusion of a reality opposed to Reality (God), and it depicts the Atonement (correction) over time . So much of it is out of accord with Reality for now and depicts what is to be corrected, not yet the correction. What those who have mystical experiences feel is that Spirit is also here in consciousness and that Spirit reflects Reality (God). This results in that
Post a Comment
Read more

Accepting What Happens

             What is unfolding in time and consciousness depicts the moment the idea of not-God arose and was simultaneously undone by God’s All-encompassing nature. It depicts, over time, the Atonement , or the correction of the idea that God can have an opposite. In time, there can appear to be a gap between the idea of not-God arising and its being undone. So, at any given moment, you might not be able to see the Atonement. But you would if you could see the whole story.     “It is necessary for the teacher of God to realize, not that he should not judge, but that he cannot…In order to judge anything rightly, one would have to be fully aware of an inconceivably wide range of things; past, present and to come. One would have to recognize in advance all the effects of his judgments on everyone and everything involved in them in any way. And one would have to be certain there is no distortion in his perception, so that his judgment would be wholly fair to everyone on whom it rests
2 comments
Read more

The Value of the Psychological Approach to ACIM

             A Course in Miracles can be read on two levels, from the psychological or the ontological perspective. ( See last week’s article. ) “Seeing differently” from the psychological perspective means a different view from ego. Asking for and accepting another way of seeing a person, situation, or yourself is something that you can practice. From the ontological perspective, “seeing differently” means a wholesale change of perception. It means Spiritual Sight, or the Vision of Spirit. You can be open to this, but you cannot practice it or make it happen.             “Do you prefer that you be right or happy?” (T-29.VII.1) This question in the Course exemplifies the psychological approach of the Course . It is saying that the psychological ego insists on its way of seeing, but if it is not making you happy, are you willing to see differently? This approach encompasses both ego’s larger world view as well as specific situations in which you find yourself upset.   In my pract
Post a Comment
Read more