ACIM Mentor

(For Part I , which discusses money and the Holy Spirit’s guidance, click here .) What isn’t love is fear. Love asks the question, “What part of this is helpful in awakening the Part of God that dreams it is not-God?” It is grateful for what is helpful and it disregards what is not helpful. Fear, however, separates out by making judgments of good/bad, right/wrong, valuable/invaluable. Those who fear must see themselves as on the side of good/right/valuable and others as bad/wrong/invaluable to define their separate selves. Certainly the people who write to tell me I am wrong to make my living mentoring students of A Course in Miracles are coming from fear. Their fear is not about my teaching and guiding students who want to learn faster and easier. Their fear has to do with my asking for money. They have decided that money is bad and that it is therefore wrong to use the Course in any way to make money. Money is not evil. It is nothing. But no one here can live with no illusions, for...

Every now and then someone drops me an email to tell by that I am wrong to charge money for mentoring students of A Course in Miracles . Often they do this anonymously so I cannot respond to them. But if I can, I always let them know that I do not turn anyone away; that I work with many pro bono or at a reduced rate; that several people get informal mentoring by me through email free of charge; that if they want my booklets I will send it to them for free; and that many of their questions can be answered at the extensive blog archive-by-topic at my free website. They are never interested in my services or booklets or blogs. So why, I wondered, do they care that I charge for services they don’t even want? Why would they go out of their way to contact a stranger to voice their disapproval? Their concern is genuine and I have given it a lot of thought. There are three issues here: Preconceptions of how the Holy Spirit works in the world; fear of money; and ultimately, a lack of faith. Man...

A few years ago I led a study group which many brand-new students of A Course in Miracles attended. When they began to grasp the idea in the Course that a Part of God has decided to be not-God and that this world and our seeming selves in it are the not-God, many of them would say, “But that doesn’t make sense! How could Part of God be not-God?” And I would reply, “ Exactly . Now you understand what the Course is saying. It doesn’t make sense .” Into eternity, where all is one, there crept a tiny, mad idea, at which the Son of God remembered not to laugh. In his forgetting did the thought become a serious idea, and possible of both accomplishment and real effects. (T-27.VIII.6) God, being Everything, must contain even Its own opposite. But what is the opposite of everything? Nothing! God cannot have an opposite. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite. This course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way: Nothing real can be threate...

When everyone recognizes that he has everything, individual contributions to the Sonship will no longer be necessary. (T-1.V.2) I’ve been asked to respond to the question, “If individuality is an illusion and we do not have individual souls or spirits, why should we bother to awaken individually?” In other words, what is an individual’s motivation for going through the discomfort of giving up individuality -- the ego? And how does a seeming individual’s awakening contribute to anyone else? The individual motivation is always the desire for complete peace. But your individual desire for complete peace is actually our collective desire to be whole again. You cannot be at peace as an individual because being at peace means you recognize that you are not an individual. Making the decision for peace is really all that you have to contribute individually and once you do so, your individuality, though not of God, serves to awaken everyone to God. All that you made can serve salvation easily ...

Your identification is with the Father and with the Son. It cannot be with One and not the Other. If you are part of One you must be part of the Other, because They are One. The Holy Trinity is holy because It is One. (T-8.IV.8) Some students, especially those that do not come from a Christian background, are confused by the dividing up of God into three parts -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit – in A Course in Miracles . Why not just say God ? The Course uses the Trinity of God just as it uses Knowledge and perception -- to distinguish the levels of the mind (see http://acimmentor.blogspot.com/2007/08/essential-distinction-knowledge-vs.html ). Without the perception of separation from God it would not be necessary to speak of God in three parts. In God there is only God, Whole and Complete, not in parts but One. But in the perception of separation from God this awareness of Oneness is lost in a mind that thinks it is split between God and not-God (ego). The part of the mind that is sti...

The very real difference between perception and knowledge becomes quite apparent if you consider this: There is nothing partial about knowledge. Every aspect is whole, and therefore no aspect is separate. You are an aspect of knowledge, being in the Mind of God, Who knows you. All knowledge must be yours, for in you is all knowledge. Perception, at its loftiest, is never complete. Even the perception of the Holy Spirit, as perfect as perception can be, is without meaning in Heaven. Perception can reach everywhere under His guidance, for the vision of Christ beholds everything in light. Yet no perception, however holy, will last forever. (T-13.VIII.2) A Course in Miracles uses a distinction between Knowledge and perception as a means to discuss the seeming levels of the mind -- the level of God and the level of ego. God is. God is pure Being. In God there is only God and what God knows is God. You can experience that level only through revelation, which is a direct experience of God (...

Everyone comes into the world to be separate from God. But you _____ (fill in your name), did not make this choice personally . A part of God seemed to decide to be not-God (ego) and seemed to fragment into many distinct identities (egos) to make it seem that God’s Oneness was overcome. Your seeming individuality is a part of that part that seemed to make the decision to be not-God. But seeming isn’t reality. You are still One and you are still Part of God. The perception of personal or individual is what you are awakening from . In this world, because the mind is split, the Sons of God appear to be separate. Nor do their minds seem to be joined. In this illusory state, the concept of an "individual mind" seems to be meaningful. It is therefore described in the course as if it has two parts; spirit and ego. (C-1.2) There is no “my” ego or “your” ego because all that is not-God is equally unreal. If a blue cup was filled with orange juice and a red cup was filled with ora...

One of the ideas in A Course in Miracles that students seem to latch onto right away is “I need do nothing”. It’s a line that sticks in every student’s mind completely out of the context in which it was written! The ego seems to universally play havoc with it. Some student’s panic (“But I have to work! I have a family to raise! I can’t do nothing !”); others are merely confused (“But if ‘I need do nothing’ am I just supposed to let this situation that is bothering me continue?”) or even facetious (“If ‘I need do nothing’ why are there lessons in the Course to do ? Why am I awakening? Isn’t that ‘doing’ something?”). The ego is obviously very threatened by those four words! If you read the section in the Text called “I Need Do Nothing” (T-18.VII) in context , it is about the holy instant: There is one thing that you have never done; you have not utterly forgotten the body. It has perhaps faded at times from your sight, but it has not yet completely disappeared. You are not asked to let...

There is some confusion about the difference between true perception, denial and being a “Pollyanna”. Denial and Pollyannishness both start from the premise that how you perceive what the body’s eyes show you is fact, and that your experience (your feelings about it) comes from the person, thing, situation or event you are looking upon. In denial, you pretend you are not seeing and experiencing what you really do believe is fact. If you are a Pollyanna, you believe the situation is “bad” but that you are going to make the best of it. You are going to make lemonade from lemons. True perception, however, first recognizes that what the body’s eyes show you is neutral and that how you experience it is determined by your own learning goal, not the person, thing, situation or event itself. True perception recognizes that the world’s only value is as a classroom and that you get to choose what you want to learn in it. True perception interprets the world as a means for remembering that you ar...

Knowledge is not the remedy for false perception since, being another level, they can never meet. The one correction possible for false perception must be true perception . (C-4.3) In God, you Know and what you know is God. In God your Knowledge is complete and you have nothing to learn. In the decision to be not-God, however, you gave up Knowledge and learning was made to fill this lack. Perception was made as the means to learn who you are and the world, which is the opposite of God in every way (material form, finite, time-bound, diverse) was made to teach you that you are not-God. There has been much confusion about what perception means, because the word is used both for awareness and for the interpretation of awareness. Yet you cannot be aware without interpretation, for what you perceive is your interpretation. (T-11.VI.2) But like any classroom, the world itself is neutral and perception, being interpretation, is a choice. What you learn in the world depends on the teacher y...

The knowledge that illuminates not only sets you free, but also shows you clearly that you are free. (T-2.I.4) Somewhere in the beginning of my spiritual searching, in a book about Buddhism or Hinduism, I read that the world is an illusion that is the source of all pain and that the only way to peace was to let go of all attachment to this illusion. I realized the Truth of this idea and it set me free. I felt the uplifting peace and joy that always attends true freedom. This freedom and peace and joy became the experience that helped me recognize the Truth when I embarked on my study of A Course in Miracles and other spiritual teachings. I knew a concept pointed to Truth when I felt this freedom. I knew I finally grasped an idea when I felt this freedom. Should I wait in chains which have been severed for release, when God is offering me freedom now? (W-279.1) This is not to say that I personally liked an idea that set me free. In fact, I was always personally threatened by it. I ...

Some students tell me that they go around looking at the world thinking, “This isn’t real.” Then they wonder why they are depressed! You cannot fill your mind with thoughts of unreality and experience anything but emptiness. What is seen as "reality" is simply what the mind prefers . (M-8.3) In the world, the experience of “real” and “unreal” is one of “valuable” and “not valuable”. What you value is more real to you. At first, the ego and its world seem more real to you because you value them more. Then you go through a long phase of valuing both the Presence of the Holy Spirit and the ego/world. You vacillate between peace and conflict because both seem to be equally real to you. Finally, as you value the Holy Spirit more and more the ego/world starts to fade from your values and therefore your attention. It seems less important and therefore less real to you. You see the world you value. (T-16.VI.5) You cannot force yourself to not value what you do value. You cannot forc...

The holy relationship A Course in Miracles most often refers to – especially in the Text – is one where both people in the relationship have asked to see their holiness reflected in the other. They have decided together to change the goal of the relationship: You undertook, together, to invite the Holy Spirit into your relationship. (T-17.V.11) In the Course , the Holy Spirit is speaking directly to Helen Schucman and Bill Thetford, who together accepted the Holy Spirit into their often contentious working relationship and who together brought A Course in Miracles into the world. What the Holy Spirit had to teach them about their specific relationship can be generalized to all of us. Of course, you can look upon another’s holiness at any time, even in the most casual circumstances. But for most students the first time they invite the Holy Spirit into a relationship it is with someone they know well. Often, they find the relationship conflicted in some way or they recognize it as a...

Peace is not a material object or a thought or way of being or form of any kind, but an internal experience – a feeling. What you are seeking is within you. So are all the experiences of perceived separation from God: Irritation, anger, depression, fear, emptiness, loneliness – all of these are internal experiences. It is always an interpretation that gives rise to negative emotions, regardless of their seeming justification by what appears as facts. (M-17.4) The ego tells you that the external world causes your feelings. You are angry, depressed, fearful, lonely, etc. because the world is a crappy place or because someone has treated you in a bad way. But what really happens is you decide to feel separated from God and then you look outward and interpret the world in such a way as to justify your feelings of separation. You can just as easily decide to feel peace and look outward and interpret the world in such a way as to justify your feelings of Oneness. Perception follows judgment...

As you perceive more and more common elements in all situations, the transfer of training under the Holy Spirit's guidance increases and becomes generalized. Gradually you learn to apply it to everyone and everything, for its applicability is universal. When this has been accomplished, perception and knowledge have become so similar that they share the unification of the laws of God. (T-12.VI.6) A Course in Miracles tells us that we need to generalize the lessons of the Holy Spirit. This means that we need to take what we learn in a specific situation and learn that that lesson can be applied to every other situation as well. For example, while the first time you see your holiness reflected it is in a specific person, that experience of holiness must be applied to every relationship and situation for you to understand what holiness is. This is generalizing the lesson that holiness is everywhere. If it wasn’t, holiness would be specialness. If you exclude one person or situation f...

The Holy Spirit will answer every specific problem as long as you believe that problems are specific. His answer is both many and one, as long as you believe that the one is many. (T-11.VIII.5) Students will say, “I read the Holy Spirit told him…” or “My friend said the Holy Spirit told her…” If there is a limit to what guidance from the Holy Spirit you should follow it is the specific guidance the Holy Spirit gives others. The Holy Spirit will always give specific answers to specific questions and these answers are meant for the specific person asking the question at the specific time at which they are asking. Though the answers come from Truth, they are not Truth. The world is never your reality. But as long as you believe in it, the Holy Spirit will use it to remind you that you are Part of God by teaching you to trust the Holy Spirit – the Voice for your True Self. When I was a teenager and having a rough time I would write down questions and then the answers that came to me. The ...

If you would keep a little space between you and your brother still, you then would want a little time in which forgiveness is withheld a little while. And this but makes the interval between the time in which forgiveness is withheld from you and given seem dangerous, with terror justified. (T-26.VIII.3) Sometimes students tell me they think the world is going to hell in a hand-basket. They point to various convolutions going on in the world as proof of this. These students often preface their comments about the world with, “I know it’s an illusion, but…” Obviously they don’t know it’s an illusion or they would not be in the least concerned. Their real issue isn’t the world, but their lack of faith in God. The instant the idea of separation entered the mind of God's Son, in that same instant was God's Answer given. In time this happened very long ago. In reality it never happened at all. (M-2.2) The “separation” from God never happened. The instant separation was thought of ...

In my blog of June 9, Learning Not to Judge the Holy Spirit’s Guidance ( http://acimmentor.blogspot.com/2007/06/learning-not-to-judge-holy-spirits.html ), I mentioned that both my life-partner and roommate are disabled. Students want to know how I see them and live with them. Some want to know why I haven’t healed them. The mind always sees itself. If I look outward and see a need for healing, what really needs to be healed? My own mind, of course. A healthy body is no more real than an unhealthy body. What would need to be healed is my perception that anything I see “out there” represents something real. What would need to be healed is my belief that appearances need to change for me to be whole and happy. Awareness of dreaming is the real function of God's teachers. They watch the dream figures come and go, shift and change, suffer and die. Yet they are not deceived by what they see. They recognize that to behold a dream figure as sick and separate is no more real than to regar...

All questions asked within this world are but a way of looking, not a question asked. A question asked in hate cannot be answered, because it is an answer in itself. A double question asks and answers, both attesting the same thing in different form. The world asks but one question. It is this: "Of these illusions, which of them is true? Which ones establish peace and offer joy? And which can bring escape from all the pain of which this world is made?" Whatever form the question takes, its purpose is the same. It asks but to establish sin is real, and answers in the form of preference. "Which sin do you prefer? That is the one that you should choose. The others are not true. What can the body get that you would want the most of all? It is your servant and also your friend. But tell it what you want, and it will serve you lovingly and well." And this is not a question, for it tells you what you want and where to go for it. It leaves no room to question its beliefs, e...

When you turn over your life to the Holy Spirit you have to let go of judging how you are guided and judging how your life unfolds. Judging only gets in the way and makes you miserable. You have to trust that everything happens for a reason. Often, you won’t see why something has happened until later. Sometimes you won’t see it at all. But your life is no longer your own. You are part of a much larger plan and the One in charge of it can see the whole plan. You can only see a small part at a time. Sometimes students write to tell me they don’t like that I am mentoring students of A Course in Miracles or they are uncomfortable with the way I have set up my mentoring practice. I used to doubt and wonder and question, too. But what was that but ego blather making me unhappy? When I decided to not judge what I was asked to do and let go and let things unfold I became so much more at peace. But it isn’t just with mentoring that I have to get out of the way. It’s my whole life. The Holy Spi...