Value What is Forever Free! You have come upon a foundation dedicated to Enlightenment and the Awakening mind. We are a 501(c)3 tax exempt, non-profit, publicly supported foundation devoted to the purpose of experiencing inner peace. Enlightenment is a free gift and so are all the ideas available to use in accepting it. View our bylaws here.
David Hoffmeister and devoted community members live the experience of A Course in Miracles, having discovered it to be a clear, direct path to God. Forgiveness dissolves illusion and restores a state of mind that delights in experiencing the present moment! Our curriculum is learning forgiveness. Our means are miracles. Our end is Enlightenment/salvation now. In God we trust. And in the tranquility of the eternal now we have our being.
“Seek and ye shall find” and “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” are statements of destiny. All of the streams and rivers of consciousness must eventually arrive at the ocean of Self in God!
Throughout this website you will find many resources that we happily share with you in support of Awakening to the truth of who we are. We welcome you to join our large global mailing list for inspirational messages and information about gatherings, and to sign up to receive our newsletter.
A Guide to Spiritual Practice with Awakening Mind
Spiritual practice is the key to Awakening. We practice with vigilance for right-minded thinking. Peace of mind is our one goal.
1. Volunteers
Awakening Mind does not involve the concept of membership, and therefore relies entirely upon volunteers for every aspect of its community. Volunteers receive no financial compensation and no perks or tangible rewards for their devotion to Awakening. The benefits given and received are entirely spiritual and always purely and simply a state of mind.
2. Non-Profit
Awakening Mind is completely non-profit. The purpose for this community is experiencing present inner peace through forgiveness, and thus there is no incentive to grow larger or attain money, power, possessions, or property. Present peace is content with the present moment and therefore unconcerned with the past or future.
3. Intuitive
Awakening Mind encourages everyone to develop intuitive listening to their inner Guide and to trust and depend upon this guidance for decisions in everyday living. How one feels is a barometer for discerning that which is intuitively helpful, and peace is its own reward.
How do I receive guidance from the Holy Spirit?, you might ask. Watch this video to learn all about that:
4. Divine Providence
Awakening Mind nurtures the awareness and experience that trust would settle every problem now. Trust in divine providence, the Holy Spirit, and Christ is the means given by God to answer every seeming problem that arises in perception. Friends in the community are always referred and directed to the Voice for God within and toward the recognition that God is the Creator, Source, and Provider.
5. Non-Judgment
All comparisons, opinions, and assumptions naturally give way to intuitive guidance as a practical alternative to conflict. Guidance is always respected and following inner guidance is always encouraged. The outcome of listening to and following the Holy Spirit and Christ is always peace, Love, happiness, freedom, and joy. There need not be any exceptions to trusting inner guidance and living a life of integrity, non-judgment, honesty, and harmony.
6. Generosity
To give is to receive. Awakening Mind honors the divine law of Love. Freely you have received, now freely give. Generosity flows naturally from trust. Giving is an attitude that extends Love and continuously receives and experiences Love’s extending. Love knows no lack or scarcity or deprivation. Love is an abundant state of mind that is whole and completely shared.
7. No Private Thoughts
Awakening Mind is the experience of union; of a unified mind in which no secret is kept apart from Spirit. There are no private thoughts to protect or keep hidden. Everything is openly revealed in the light of truth. Love has nothing to hide and is forever openly revealed exactly as It is. Only the thoughts of God can be shared; there is nothing else to share.
8. No People-Pleasing
Awakening Mind advocates always following inner guidance and accepting complete responsibility for one’s state of mind. Conformity to external authority or unconscious beliefs is never authentic or helpful on the spiritual journey. “No people-pleasing” becomes an invitation to question motives and beliefs, and let go of roles and identifications. The laws of the land need not be broken if one follows the inner guidance of the Holy Spirit, and impeccable integrity is the certain outcome of yielding to the Holy Spirit for all decisions. “Holy Spirit, decide for God for me” is our constant prayer of gratitude, and it is very practical. This yielding to the Spirit offers immediate results.
9. No Control over the World
With total responsibility for one’s state of mind also comes the realization that there is no control over the world. The observer is one with everything and now all things are perfect exactly as they are. Atonement is a state of perfect acceptance. Such is the happy dream of forgiveness—the forgiven world.
10. Peaceful Experience
Awakening Mind is a peaceful experience that transcends all specific concepts. Divine silence simply is.
“Simply do this: Be still, and lay aside all thoughts of what you are and what God is; all concepts you have learned about the world; all images you hold about yourself. Empty your mind of everything it thinks is either true or false, or good or bad, of every thought it judges worthy, and all the ideas of which it is ashamed. Hold onto nothing. Do not bring with you one thought the past has taught, nor one belief you ever learned before from anything. Forget this world, forget this course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God.” (ACIM, W-pI.189.7)
The Take Me Home documentary, directed by Frances Xu, follows a group of strangers as they enter a monastery in the mountains of Utah for a month-long stay. This monastery has only two guidelines: no private thoughts and no people-pleasing. All who come are offered an opportunity to live by these guidelines and open up to authenticity and trust with each other.
Take Me Home takes you on a journey as its characters break free from repression and avoidance in the face of difficult emotions. It is a song, an experience of love, and a witness to the perfection of the plan for awakening. Every prayer is answered, every tear wiped, and every encounter destined.
Awakening Mind Relies on Prayer
What is prayer? With A Course in Miracles, there were two supplements given: One on psychotherapy and another on prayer. These supplements, Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice and The Song of Prayer: Prayer, Forgiveness, Healing, are extensions of the principles of A Course in Miracles. Both of these supplements are included in the Third Edition of the Course.
The introduction to The Song of Prayer tells us that:
“Prayer is the greatest gift with which God blessed His Son at his creation. It was then what it is to become; the single voice Creator and creation share; the song the Son sings to the Father, Who returns the thanks it offers Him unto the Son. Endless the harmony, and endless, too, the joyous concord of the Love They give forever to Each Other. And in this, creation is extended. God gives thanks to His extension in His Son. His Son gives thanks for his creation, in the song of his creating in his Father’s Name. The Love They share is what all prayer will be throughout eternity, when time is done. For such it was before time seemed to be.
To you who are in time a little while, prayer takes the form that best will suit your need. You have but one. What God created one must recognize its oneness, and rejoice that what illusions seemed to separate is one forever in the Mind of God. Prayer now must be the means by which God’s Son leaves separate goals and separate interests by, and turns in holy gladness to the truth of union in his Father and himself.
Lay down your dreams, you holy Son of God, and rising up as God created you, dispense with idols and remember Him. Prayer will sustain you now, and bless you as you lift your heart to Him in rising song that reaches higher and then higher still, until both high and low have disappeared. Faith in your goal will grow and hold you up as you ascend the shining stairway to the lawns of Heaven and the gate of peace. For this is prayer, and here salvation is. This is the way. It is God’s gift to you.” (ACIM, S-1.in.1-3)
The time for words and concepts is almost over. Now we seek direct experience. We gladly lay aside techniques, repetitions, and rituals, so that we may come to experience the still reality within. We claim the peace, happiness, and Love that is our inheritance, and we come with empty hands and open arms to receive and give the blessed miracles given us to share. As we look around, we see that mighty companions have gathered beside us for this joyous ascent. A friend’s a friend forever in the Spirit of Love. The welcome never ends, for those who walk this way see their brothers and sisters as themselves. The holy relationship has at last come into awareness, blessing everyone and everything. The blanket of peace has spread across the face of the earth. Tranquility and grace are accepted! Prayer is the medium of staying in connection, in communion, and we pray unceasingly.
If you have any questions, we would love to hear from you! The Foundation for the Awakening Mind is supported through donations and the Love offerings we receive. When Enlightenment is deeply desired, the means are always provided.
To put these principles into practice, experience our new Forgiveness AI chatbot and strengthen your practice by releasing upsets and coming back to a peaceful state of mind. Available in multiple languages!