"What could you not accept...?"
The level of form is one great story; one tapestry of
interconnection. Nothing at the level of form lives in isolation from the rest
of the level of form. Everything that happens affects everything else. When
something happens at the level of form there are multiple contributing factors.
There are causes and effects and effects which became causes themselves all
playing on each other. The attitudes, behaviors, choices, and energy of the
self with which you identify all play into this one grand story. And everything
else happening at the level of form plays into the self’s seemingly-singular
little story within the grand story.
All of this happens apart from Truth (God). It is the
opposite of Truth, so it is without meaning because Truth cannot have an
opposite. Therefore it is an “illusion” or “dream”. Its interconnectedness is not
the Oneness of Truth, Which is not made up of discrete parts joining, but is
the same throughout.
When you (mind) change, the self’s attitudes, behavior,
choices, and energy change, thereby affecting the self’s relationship to the
rest of the universe of form. In response, the universe of form changes in
relationship to the self. These changes of mind can be within the self’s
thought system (personal thought system/ego). These would be changes of mind in
the context of the self-as-reality. Or they can be caused by an awareness of
Truth. These changes would be the process of self (form)-identification falling
away.
So Truth never enters into form directly to change it. Your
awareness of Truth indirectly has an effect on form. And this is, again, always
without meaning in itself. Any meaning you see in it comes from you. And you
only have two choices of perspective: the ego/personal thought system or the
Holy Spirit, Which comes from your awareness of Truth.
“What could you not
accept, if you but knew that everything that happens, all events, past, present
and to come, are gently planned by One Whose only purpose is your good?”
(W-135.18)
So this quote does not mean that the Holy Spirit goes out
into the world and makes things happen “for your good”. The Holy Spirit’s
“plan” is an interpretation. The Holy
Spirit lovingly interprets what happens in the universe of form for the peace of
your mind. The personal thought system in your mind may not like what happens
in the universe of form. It may judge things as “wrong” or “bad”. But the Holy
Spirit in your mind sees everything as a lesson. It will always interpret what
happens in a way that leads to your lasting peace and happiness. And its
interpretation will always make sense to you where you are right now.
>>>>>
Learn about the books The ACIM Mentor Articles, The Plain Language A Course in Miracles, 4 Habits for Inner Peace, and Releasing Guilt for Inner Peace at www.acimmentor.com.
Comments
but i have this niggle still. um. so.. here goes!
is every occurrence in the dream part of a seeming interconnected flawless plan/story of awakening in the world, because of the nature of reality, even though holy spirit doesnt actually play a part in occurrences in the world!? i mean.. is there a kind of.. crossover here?? of the timeless plan of holy spirits loving and peaceful interpretation of not truth as not true, and truth as true. into the way the worlds happenings seem to play out?
the following passage from lesson 42 came to mind,
'This means that you can receive it any time and anywhere, wherever you are, and in whatever circumstance you find yourself. Your passage through time and space is not at random. You cannot but be in the right place at the right time. Such is the strength of God. Such are His gifts.'
and i wonder about the 'not at random' part, how that ties in with things in the world happening "for our good".. not as we want, as in making our egos happy, but "for our good" as in moving toward our eventually choosing truth?
There is no crossover between Truth and the universe of form. In fact, sorting not-Truth from Truth is necessary to undo guilt. As long as any of not-Truth seems true to you, you will believe in guilt. This is why for those who prefer to spiritualize form rather than to transcend it there will always be a vestige of guilt. The joy and freedom of true forgiveness is in the recognition that there is no relationship between the experience of form and Truth.
and there being no relationship between the experience of form and truth, means that you cannot use (for example) the wellness or illness of bodies to gauge a seemingly individual minds awareness of truth. but you could maybe gauge a minds awareness of truth by the meaning an individual tried to give to the health or ill health of a body?
this has not been the understanding i had come to from my own study, and i had one experience of intense quite lengthy illness (near the beginning of this ill time you posted the blog 'a different approach to the body') during which i felt totally happy, connected to love, meditation time took on a deeper feeling of connection and communion, it didnt matter that my body was sick, it didnt feel like it meant anything, or had any power to take away my peace of mind. (i became aware via your blog that my attachment to others interpretation of the course could take away my peace of mind.. and i was greatful for the learning!)
im no longer sure how to respond in group, as i enjoy the company and sharing but feel awkward, like i should keep my perceptions to my self, as the facilitator is teaching something different. im finally recognising that it is only ever the egos job to think it needs to fix anyone elses perceptions.. so im not sure if to just go along and stay silent, speak and annoy the teacher, or if its time to leave and just catch up with the girls socially!
"Once when I was thinking about sickness the Holy Spirit explained to me that when a lion takes down a gazelle it is not personal. The lion is only trying to survive. It’s the same with a virus, like a cancer or a ‘flu. The virus is only another organism in the world. It is not personal when it attacks a body. It’s only doing what viruses do to survive. So a virus is not “wrong” or “bad”. It’s neutral. It has no meaning in itself. It’s just part of the experience of the world. The whole experience of the world is one of guilt and fear. Illness is not a special case of this. The body does not have a neutral state of perfection. The whole of the universe of form, as the opposite of Perfect Truth, is inherently dysfunctional. This dysfunction is not wrong or bad. It is just the way that the opposite-of-Truth is."
ok.. i feel like ive given birth.. enough from me ;)
The connection with these women have involved many discussions about our individual paths that have resulted in miracles and insights throughout however over the past few weeks, they seem to have both “fallen away.” My calls, text messages or emails have gone unanswered. My personal mind initially interprets this as total disregard, being unfairly treated feeling (oh no) and how can they use me like an on and off switch. When they want something, they turn the switch on and when they don't, they turn the switch off. So with forgiveness, the thoughts leave but then they roll back in and I forgive again and this goes on for awhile until I finally hear and recognize, oh, it is me poised at the on and off switch, the switch I use in my mind with the Holy Spirit and I get it and I let go the idea of these women or so I think.
While journaling this morning I pondered, did these women fall away because they got scared of the awareness of Truth and are “ignoring” me because of the fear in their minds and then I immediately realized there still existed an emotional charge with the thoughts of these women and then I told myself, with gentle laughter I add, enough already and after letting it go I got up to fold my laundry, and heard, “who is scared of the Truth in whose mind?”
What is it for? What is it's purpose? Separation of course. Letting go of the self identity is a hard thing to do but I remain poised at the switch. It's On.
'The joy and freedom of true forgiveness is in the recognition that there is no relationship between the experience of form and Truth.'
so a need for external circumstances of peaceful egos, is trying to bring truth to not truth.. that is ME trying to spiritualize form!! and what im seeing in the group facilitator, (her spiritualising of form) is a reflection/projection of my inner world, which i can know because it was effecting my state of mind. the form might have appeared different, but the basic content of trying to bring truth to not truth was occurring.
'Eventually I gave more and more of the self’s life to the Holy Spirit (Teacher of Truth in my mind). It has become clear to me recently that some of what I thought was guidance from the Holy Spirit over the years was really my tuning into the flow of the universe. Where the Holy Spirit came into it was in my willingness to be rational, open, and without judgment. This opened my mind to the flow of the universe of form. So the Holy Spirit was not so much my guide as my mind-set. But even though I sought the flow, rather than to manifest what I wanted, I still lived through the self. I sought through it for happiness and peace. But when I undid guilt I let go of a need for a story – for a self. I let the self go into the flow of the universe – where it always was, anyway. It was always just a character in a story, though I selfishly thought it was there for me to live through! Now I simply watch it, without judgment. Since I don’t identify with it I am not concerned with controlling its life. It is only part of a meaningless story that has nothing to do with Truth.'
and
'Keep in mind that the ego thought system gets caught up in the details of what is or is not occurring in the unfolding story. It cannot see beyond what is right in front of it, or its own desires, so it is always in lack. But the thought system of the Holy Spirit (your awareness of God) in your mind sees the larger unfolding story. It sees the whole picture. Where the ego sees minutiae the Holy Spirit sees the larger unfolding theme. The ego sees what is not yet done in time. The Holy Spirit sees that time is over.
So you can relax and trust your unfolding awareness. You don’t have to nitpick the details of your every thought and mood and choice every moment of the day. The arc of your life has changed. The outcome is inevitable.'
Even when they have the "story boards" displayed with lovely old family photos stretching out through the decades - all the "happiest" moments (who knows what was really going on!) I am not devastated anymore. This is a start for me...towards the Inner Peace thing.
Remembering there is another choice, I share a joke. I was watching some stand up comedians last night and one comedian I enjoyed said this insightful joke. It goes something like . . what was Noah thinking when he called in all animals onto the arc. I would have called in all the beavers to built a mighty damn.
Mighty companions go with us now.
i understood that phrase to mean that once we had 'got our heads around' the truth of oneness, we would see everyone as part of that one, and so we would know mighty companions in everyone from that 'point' forward. my dear friend who is also committed to a peaceful mind is sure that 'mighty companions' means that once we reach a certain point of trust, we will find there are others who are knowingly on the same path to peace around who will be there for us to grow with, consciously.
things like the message in this post, re identification with individual self falling away, makes me think im on the right track, but im not sure.
im thinking.. 'might' is in oneness, unity. and what selves perceptions of these things mean is going to evolve with selves experience. where we see unity or joining or oneness is where we will see 'mighty companions'. as our self identity shifts, so will our perception of the meaning of this. thanks liz.
endless Love, n