Subject: Does My Brother’s Pain Exist?
Dear David,
I have a philosophical issue that has kept me from progressing in my path back to God. It has come up again in my life, so I will illustrate it with the current situation.
Last night, my boyfriend of four years and I broke up. He has had an unusually troubled childhood with a lot of violence and a mother who abused him and then committed suicide when he was a teenager. Because of this, he is a very needy person once you get past his hard exterior. Throughout the relationship I kept believing that I could create a miracle and show him that life is not so sad and scary as he believes. At times it seemed to work, and there were some truly sacred moments. In the end, however, the ego took control, and I felt incapable of seeing past the ugliness and darkness-especially when he seemed to think I was the only bright thing in his life and clung to me for dear life.
Although I’ve not told anyone yet about the break-up, I’m sure my friends and family will be happy that I “got away” from such a cynical, childish person. But now all I can think is that the things that disgusted me in the end (the dirty house, the dark clinging attitude, the irresponsible behavior, etc.) were really just his belief in the lack of love. And sadly, it was that belief that drove me away (realizing his own fears once again). I’ve failed.
Many months ago, I wrote to you about my concerns about abandoning this person. You said that the falsehood is my belief that I am capable of abandoning another. I have contemplated this idea many times, and I do understand that this person is in God always, as am I, but I also cannot deny the “seeming” pain that he is experiencing by my pulling away from him.
Why is the “seemingness” of things always dismissed in ACIM? If he experiences a “seemingness” of pain, then I don’t care if it’s not real-it’s still cause for my concern! It seems that if I followed the Course principles, I could just go do my lessons and feel happy and loving while he rots in his own self-created hell. Or maybe his pain really doesn’t exist on ANY level, and therefore I should just not give a crap about other people’s suffering.
I hope you understand the issue I’m trying to get at. Or maybe this is all just ego talk, and I don’t even know what I’m saying? I don’t know any more. Perhaps you can see through all this better than me.
Thank you so much for your love and patience!
Beloved One,
Thanks for sharing what is on your heart. Your question about the perception of pain is a good starting point in clearing the mirror of the mind. This mirror must be cleared of false beliefs and concepts and thoughts if you are to radiate the Light that is ever Present. Pain is always a misperception, for God has nothing to do with pain. If God is real there is no pain. If pain is real there is no God. The illusion of pain always stems from wrong-minded thinking, and this is what must be exposed and released to experience lasting peace and happiness.
Concern is another word for worry, and this emotion has nothing to do with compassion or true empathy. Concern is an emotion that is painful and arises from a desire to be right about a particular person, situation, or event. One aspect of such concern is the belief that something false has already happened. Another aspect is the belief that past events caused the fear and pain. This misperception gives reality to the past and denies the Present Solution offered by the Holy Spirit. When you pray for a miracle you are praying for a change in your perception. Even when you seem to pray for “another” this is still the case. If you seem to have continuing concern for a brother after asking for a miracle you are not allowing the miracle to be as it is. Miracles do not create or really change, they simply look calmly upon the false and see that it has no consequence. Miracles offer only Joy, and when Joy has come all pain is over now.
The concept of leaving someone behind is a strange belief, for in God’s Love there is no such thing as leaving. The ego is the belief in possession, and what seems capable of being possessed also seems capable of being lost. Loss is the ego’s story and originated with the belief that it is possible to separate or “fall” from God’s Eternal Love. This error seems to be acted out and repeated in human relationships, just as the past seems to repeat. The miracle Awakens the mind to the awareness that the past is over and only a blessing remains.
Pain is correctly perceived as a Call for Love, and this is always one’s own Call to release the false perception of pain. Looking through a glass darkly never brings peace, happiness, love, or joy, so any seeming upset is a Call to empty the mind of false concepts and thus clean the mirror. This is the mind training that is required to accept the Atonement and remember God. Atonement is the awareness that the separation never happened. Until this Correction is accepted the world will seem real and the unreal emotions of the ego that are one with the world will seem to persist in awareness.
Let the feelings come up into awareness. Then, with deep honesty and sincerity, give the thoughts and judgments and interpretations and feelings over to the Spirit. When darkness is raised to Light the darkness is gone. Do not protect the darkness, for the Spirit will not dissolve what has not been willingly offered for release. You have the Answer within but have been unwilling to let go of the ego definition of the problem. The Holy Spirit must wait until you see that you have had a perception problem based on belief in the ego. Until this point is reached the “problems” will seem to be projected to the world and to brothers that seem apart from the mind. They are not. There are no problems apart from the mind. Healed perception will spring to awareness the instant the misperception is seen exactly as it is and not concealed or projected as “something else.”
All illness was mental illness, and all perceived pain was nothing but a faulty formulation of Reality. Reality is Love, and Love is created Eternally Perfect. Love has no opposite.
Glory to God for creating Love as One forever and ever!
Love & Blessings,
David
Subject: Can I Simply Drop It All, or Do I Need to Make It in the World?
Dear Holy Brother,
According to ACIM (or “Jesus”) the ego or the world that is seen outside is all false and unreal, because it never happened. In other words, the Son of God never “fell asleep” and “had a dream” or never been separated from God. Then how is it this seeming world outside that is a projection from within our minds which is all unreal and has no existence appear?
I understand that we made it (the world outside) to appear real based on error. Also, in ACIM, it mentioned that every time a problem arises we do not look at the problem itself (which will make it “more real”) instead we look within. It is like saying if the worldly things including obligations are all unreal, then, we can simply “drop it” or “let go” (let God). It is like saying forget about taxes or bills or the whole world because they are not real. However, in ACIM Jesus teaches or at least mentions how to look (outside or inside) without judgment (because there is nothing to judge). Please share your kind guidance to clarify this delusion.
E-mail #2:
Dear David,
I think I know the answer before I pose the question, but just to clarify my thoughts. I am a student of ACIM. I also have gotten sober over 8 years ago and have been on a spiritual path with inventory process; removal of character defects; making amends ; etc. all the work necessary for me to become a functioning member of the world. And therein lies my dilemma.
I have been struggling so to become a functioning member of the world because I failed so miserably in it. I threw away money on alcohol and other addictions; I ran through an earthly inheritance from my father; I ran up credit card bills and basically couldn’t make a living for myself. I have been working for the past few years with jobs and stand to be able to make a great deal of money in this one particular job; enough to pay off my debts and get me “clear”. However, the stress and the physical strain is great on me.
My question is: the reason I am still struggling with this is the fact that I am trying to make it “in this world.”? Otherwise I think I would be relaxed and joyful all the time. The fact is I am not as spiritual as I profess to be to the people who know me. I really am still very much on this material realm and don’t fully trust as yet. I need any insights you can give. I have gotten much from you over the past few months, David, and really appreciate the time and energy you give.
thanks
Dear Beloved One,
Thanks for writing. You are beginning to understand why you cannot judge your “advances” or “retreats” with regard to this world, your seeming “successes” and “failures.” This world is backwards and upside down, and nothing in distorted perception is as it seems. I am Calling you out of this upside down world. I am saying that the Kingdom is not of this world. I am not asking you to “be in the world but not of it.” Nothing of this world will ever satisfy your holy mind, for this world was made as an attack on God and made to be a place where God could not enter. This world was made to deny the Truth of Divine Love. Now the core of Awakening is becoming clear: It is impossible to see two worlds and therefore it is impossible to make it “in the world.” You were not created to function in a world of images that God did not create. When you forgive the cosmos you let go of the attempt to reconcile Truth with illusions, Spirit with matter, or Eternity with time. Allow the Holy Spirit to work through and in your mind and it becomes apparent that you have no competing “parts.” Forgive and see that all is whole and nothing is apart from mind. From on High there is nothing to do but Observe. This is the meaning of “Above the battleground.” There is no stress or concern or confusion from Above.
Appearances deceive. Nothing of the five senses will lead to Awakening. The five senses serve the ego and were made report differences. As long as the illusion of judgment persists in awareness, the five senses bring witness to illusory categories that have no meaning and no reality. As judgment fragments perception, forgiveness unifies it. Yet this unification of perception, seeing the wholeness, is a Perspective of mind and not a function of the body. Beyond unified perception is the Vision of Christ, Which is not perceptual at all. This Abstract Light can literally be called Seeing or Sight, yet It does not involve the body at all.
The Holy Spirit instructs the mind very directly to drop ego thinking and belief. As you listen to the Holy Spirit you will find that taxes and bills get paid as long as you believe in them. The body is fed as long as you believe in it. Obligations and duties get met as long as you believe in them. Nothing is ripped away, yet everything is retranslated until the belief in specifics is dissolved forever. This is why I have asked you to question everything you believe. Only false belief seems to limit your awareness. Truth is Abstract, and when the fear of Truth has gone all pain and striving is over. Nothing is simpler than Being as God created One Self. Give your mind permission to BE Still and Know, and It is already accomplished. Give your mind permission to drop the pursuit, and you discover what has always and forever been so. The wheel of time was made to distract from the Still Center. Let go into this Center and peace is obvious.
Trust in the Holy Spirit will continue to grow. No one can accept forgiveness without trust. Trust is the basis on which miracles are founded. Trust is the way to open the mind and release false concepts and idols. Future planning can be laid aside, for Present trust directs the way. Confidence and Surety come with trust, and this is how you become aware that you are truly a miracle worker. Time is in your hands, so to speak, as you trust the Holy Spirit. Aligned with the Holy Spirit you no longer have an enemy to “overcome.” For the Light has come!
I offer you this idea from A Course in Miracles. Let your mind be open to the release it brings right Now:
Trust would settle every problem Now.
Be still, and be blessed in this Moment.
I love You forever and ever!!!
David
Subject: Forgiving Feelings of Betrayal
David-
I feel betrayed by God…..
As strange as that is to say, if I’m being completely honest, that is how I feel. I am new to your site and I truly believe there is a reason our paths crossed. I’m 32 and I was raised in a Baptist church. I bought into what I was taught about God and Christ. I believed that Jesus was raised from the dead and I believed that I was forgiven for all of my sins. I asked God to come into my life and to direct my path. For doing so, I expected to have peace of mind and happiness.
The older I get and the more disenchanted I become with my own life and the hope or possibility of me finding happiness and peace of mind, I feel as though I made a bad “deal”. I feel as though I have been betrayed. Even though I have tried to be the best Christian I can be, God hasn’t rewarded. Worst yet, it doesn’t even feel as though God is there. I can’t begin to tell you how awfully lonely that feels.
I have a counselor that I see regularly and we have discussed this in some depth. He tells me that my current view of God will only lead to more anger and resentment for me and that I need to change the paradigm in which I view God and faith. I agree with this completely but my problem is that I don’t feel as though I can trust or put faith in God anymore.
I do believe that all the emptiness, loneliness, anger and resentment I feel could be resolved if only I could resolve this crisis of faith that I am experiencing. I’m reading this and I keep thinking what right do I have to feel betrayed by God. I know that I have been blessed and that there are those who are much less fortunate than I. Intellectually, I know this but in my heart, I feel so hurt and I just don’t know what to do or where to begin.
I would sincerely appreciate any insight you could provide me.
Thank you for your time.
Dear Beloved One,
Thanks for sharing what is on your heart. You are so precious and deserve to feel the Love that is buried beneath the hurt. Love is our Inheritance or Birthright. The ego (Satan in Christian terms) is a false identification, a mistaken identity, and the Purpose of our work with the Holy Spirit is to realize that the real Self is not the ego and remains forever the Perfect, Innocent Child of God in Spirit. The ego’s feelings of betrayal run very, very deep as do the feelings of abandonment, loneliness, hurt, anger, emptiness and loss. The world was made by error so that God would NOT be discovered. It is indeed a profound step to ask God to come into one’s life and direct one’s path, yet as profound as this step is it is only the beginning. The entire cosmos was made from the belief that it is possible to be separate from God or “fall” from Grace. Forgiveness is the undoing or release of the original error and all the errors that seemed to follow.
Jesus was raised from the dead to demonstrate that sin or error has no power. You have received the reminder of our Sinless ness and Perfect Innocence, the Holy Spirit, and now you are Called upon to release every spot of error to the Light of the Holy Spirit within your Heart. Satan was the error that it was possible to leave God, and feelings of betrayal and resentment and anger arise from this unconscious error. Your counselor is offering a helpful suggestion by saying that you need to change the paradigm in which you view God and faith, for such is forgiveness. God is Perfect Love and Christ is a Perfect Creation. What needs to be forgiven is the belief that God had anything to do with the time-space cosmos of duality and multiplicity, of sickness, pain, suffering, and death. What God creates Eternal Spirit remains Eternal Spirit, and that which seems fleeting and temporal and transitory will fade and disappear.
The disenchantment and disillusionment you feel can be viewed in two ways. The ego would blame the feelings onto its “version” of God, an anthropomorphic view of a “god” of human concepts and traits who is “capable” of betrayal and abandonment. The Holy Spirit ever gently reminds that God is Spirit and Identity in God is Spirit. The Holy Spirit lovingly offers forgiveness as a replacement or Correction for dreams of anger and of pain. The mind is very powerful and the issue is never really an issue of faith or lack of faith – for what you put your faith in is the central decision. And every decision you make is a conclusion based on everything you believe, regardless if you are fully aware of what you believe. Satan is an unreal belief and while the mind invests in this belief then “sin” or error APPEARS to have reality and existence. Who You are in Truth is far beyond the “need” for forgiveness, yet the illusion of false identity must be forgiven or released that True Identity may be remembered.
Be happy and glad that you are beginning to see that there is no hope of peace or happiness in the appearances and forms of this world. Happiness and peace of mind are real and are found within as Christ teaches: “The Kingdom of Heaven is within.” We are embarking together on what seems to be a journey within, and I assure you that happiness and peace of mind are inevitable and certain. I speak from the Perspective and the experience that this is the Truth right now. What is true for the One must be Totally Inclusive, for the Spirit God creates Includes Everything and therefore there is nothing apart from this Spirit. As you continue to explore this web site and the audio and video materials it will become apparent that forgiveness applies to that which is false. That Which is forever True (Spirit) is far beyond the need for forgiveness. God does not forgive, for God has never condemned, and yet there must have been an illusion of condemnation before forgiveness was necessary. The world is in need of forgiveness as long as you believe in its reality, for a world apart from God could never be. Awakening to Truth is the dawning of the realization that it is impossible to leave the Mind of God. Such is Salvation or Enlightenment.
I am joined with you in the Great Awakening. We cannot fail to remember Identity in God for illusions cannot veil the Truth. Please feel free to call or write or visit or meet anytime. We shall rejoice together in God’s Love, and in this experience of complete Rapture there is only Joy! God knows Spirit as One and there can be no “body” that is “more” or “less” fortunate in the Perspective of the Holy Spirit. Let Us give thanks to God for creating Spirit as One forever. Amen.
I Love You forever and ever,
David
Subject: Getting to the Bottom of Belief
Hi David,
I have a resurging question—
If I believe that I am the only one, that there is no one out there, it’s all a movie screen, then why do I believe in being helpful to the characters in the script??? Who is there to be awakened? Why do some figures seem to have awakened when others seem to have not to. How can some of the mind be asleep and some of the mind be awake. When I lay the body aside and the dream is ended… what about the other dream figures? I think you know what I am getting at. There is something here I haven’t resolved, can’t explain. Whenever you have time.
Love
Beloved One,
Thanks for your devotion to Awakening. Being helpful is being tuned in to the Spirit, and this helpfulness is in a Purpose of mind that offers only benefit. Your happy, joyful, peaceful, free-flowing state of mind is the gift, for it is our beatitude. This state of mind comes from being in Purpose and thus not taking anything personally. In the joy of the Living Moment there is no concern or worry for any of the characters of the script, for one has stepped back and is identified with mind – not body. There is only one mind to be Awakened, and one mind Awake sees all the characters as the same. No character is ahead or behind, and no character is awake or asleep. All of the characters were constructs or symbols of the wish to have private thoughts and private minds. Awakening sees the impossibility of such an attempt, for one mind is unified and cannot be divided and alone and separate. The happy dream brings an end to dreaming, because forgiveness is a dream of nonjudgment. Then, as the Mind remembers It is Creation, Self, the illusion of dreaming is over and never was. When the body is laid aside in Atonement the cosmos is laid aside as well. Eternity remains as God creates, and there is no time in what is Forever Spirit.
Love always,
David
Subject: Is It Ever Right to Give up on a Relationship?
David,
This is a difficult question to ask. Is it ever right to give up on a relationship? Is it always the ego that is seeking for love and not finding it? I seem to see some couples that seem to have “loving” relationships, and yet, this eludes me, although I have been in the same relationship for over 35 years. I have struggled so often with the feeling that I am flogging a dead horse. Yet, because I have studied the Course for several years, I am deeply aware that the Son of God (my partner), always deserves my love, and honor.
When I get depressed about my relationship, I remind myself not to focus on what I want, but to refocus on how much I can give to the relationship – knowing that giving is receiving. Occasionally, there is a glimmer of light, but for the most part, it’s cloudy.
I don’t want to give up on this person, or relationship – but it sure doesn’t feel good.
Your loving insight is greatly appreciated.
Namaste
Beloved One,
Thanks for writing. In ACIM Christ teaches that the one right use of judgment is “how do you feel?” Yes, it is always the ego that is seeking for love and not finding it. And yes the Son of God always deserves our love and honor, for Christ is our Self. You have written: “When I get depressed about my relationship, I remind myself not to focus on what I want, but to refocus on how much I can give to the relationship – knowing that giving is receiving.” Focus on the state of mind that you truly want, peace, and see that your peace of mind is the gift you give. It is true that giving is receiving, for Christ extends peace and experiences the peace that is extended. Just remember that gifts are not made through bodies if they be truly given. Your beatitude of peace is the gift, and if you seem to be depressed it is because you are attempting to deprive yourself of giving/receiving the gift.
As a metaphor for Awakening in ACIM Christ describes three seeming “levels” of teaching. These are stepping stones to learning that giving and receiving are one, for in Truth there are no levels of Love and this is a Course in Teaching Only Love:
“The teachers of God have no set teaching level. Each teaching-learning situation involves a different relationship at the beginning, although the ultimate goal is always the same; to make of the relationship a holy relationship, in which both can look upon the Son of God as sinless. There is no one from whom a teacher of God cannot learn, so there is no one whom he cannot teach. However, from a practical point of view he cannot meet everyone, nor can everyone find him. Therefore, the plan includes very specific contacts to be made for each teacher of God. There are no accidents in salvation. Those who are to meet will meet, because together they have the potential for a holy relationship. 8 They are ready for each other.
The simplest level of teaching appears to be quite superficial. It consists of what seem to be very casual encounters; a “chance” meeting of two apparent strangers in an elevator, a child who is not looking where he is going running into an adult “by chance,” two students “happening” to walk home together. These are not chance encounters. Each of them has the potential for becoming a teaching-learning situation. Perhaps the seeming strangers in the elevator will smile to one another, perhaps the adult will not scold the child for bumping into him; perhaps the students will become friends. Even at the level of the most casual encounter, it is possible for two people to lose sight of separate interests, if only for a moment. That moment will be enough. Salvation has come.
It is difficult to understand that levels of teaching the universal course is a concept as meaningless in reality as is time. The illusion of one permits the illusion of the other. In time, the teacher of God seems to begin to change his mind about the world with a single decision, and then learns more and more about the new direction as he teaches it. We have covered the illusion of time already, but the illusion of levels of teaching seems to be something different. Perhaps the best way to demonstrate that these levels cannot exist is simply to say that any level of the teaching-learning situation is part of God’s plan for Atonement, and His plan can have no levels, being a reflection of His Will. Salvation is always ready and always there. God’s teachers work at different levels, but the result is always the same.
Each teaching-learning situation is maximal in the sense that each person involved will learn the most that he can from the other person at that time. In this sense, and in this sense only, we can speak of levels of teaching. Using the term in this way, the second level of teaching is a more sustained relationship, in which, for a time, two people enter into a fairly intense teaching-learning situation and then appear to separate. As with the first level, these meetings are not accidental, nor is what appears to be the end of the relationship a real end. Again, each has learned the most he can at the time. Yet all who meet will someday meet again, for it is the destiny of all relationships to become holy. God is not mistaken in His Son.
The third level of teaching occurs in relationships which, once they are formed, are lifelong. These are teaching-learning situations in which each person is given a chosen learning partner who presents him with unlimited opportunities for learning. These relationships are generally few, because their existence implies that those involved have reached a stage simultaneously in which the teaching-learning balance is actually perfect. This does not mean that they necessarily recognize this; in fact, they generally do not. They may even be quite hostile to each other for some time, and perhaps for life. Yet should they decide to learn it, the perfect lesson is before them and can be learned. And if they decide to learn that lesson, they become the saviors of the teachers who falter and may even seem to fail. No teacher of God can fail to find the Help he needs.” (A Course in Miracles, Manual, 3.1)
Your relationship with your partner is similar to most interpersonal, “couple” relationships and has been “…a more sustained relationship, in which, for a time, two people enter into a fairly intense teaching-learning situation and then appear to separate. As with the first level, these meetings are not accidental, nor is what appears to be the end of the relationship a real end. Again, each has learned the most he can at the time. Yet all who meet will someday meet again, for it is the destiny of all relationships to become holy. God is not mistaken in His Son.” Very few “couple” relationships are third level teaching-learning situations “…because their existence implies that those involved have reached a stage simultaneously in which the teaching-learning balance is actually perfect.” In third “level” teaching-learning situations there is always an inner experience of rapid spiritual growth or ego undoing. If you are experiencing sustained depression or a feeling of sustained stagnation in your relationship this is a Call to go within and listen carefully to the instructions of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit needs happy learners and this requires the willingness to be flexible and trusting and follow the prompts that are given to you. The illusion of depression comes from a sense of being deprived of something that you want and do not have. Remember that you are deprived of nothing except by your own decision, and be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to decide for God for you by aligning with the Holy Spirit.
Let the Holy Spirit Guide you with all seeming decisions, including the “to stay or to go decisions” involving relationships, jobs, locations, etc. You will seem to go through many changes as you Awaken, yet these changes are as temporary as is the forgiveness to which they lead. An experience will come that will end all doubting, and this experience touches the Changelessness of Spirit. Be willing to follow all the prompts of the Holy Spirit, and you will know you have by the light-heartedness, peace, and joy you feel within. This is the one right use of judgment and this discernment will lead you into the forgiven world and on to Waking from the dream of separation entirely.
We are joined in this Awakening, and Joy and Happiness are inevitable for God’s Will is for Perfect Happiness. It is impossible that God’s Love remain unrecognized.
I love You forever and ever!
David
Subject: God Is a Pure Idea as Is Christ
Hi David,
I live in Australia. I continue to read from your awakening site with great interest, often it is so helpful and much appreciated. I notice that you don’t seem to judge the ego, or at least the ego takes a back seat in your writings. Other sites emphasis it all differently. In a recent post, this point was made: If you believe that you know what Love is, and that you can of yourself forgive, or you have something that others do not have and you can give it to them (like love) you are believing that you are God. As long as you think that the world is real and that the body is alive, you believe that you are God. It would seem to me that we cannot go past this false idea of God because we cannot see without the ego. When I first read the Course, God completely disappeared. I found myself saying there is no God. So as long as we are here we cannot know God. So do we see God as completely made up? The Course does say that even God is an idea. The ancient Gnostics used to be of the opinion that when one has transcended then one sees that you are THAT. To my way of thinking, THAT is our very essence. We become God. “Love is what your are.” First we go through various stages till we grasp THAT. But we are always THAT (when the ego is out of the way). According to the above post, one is just being arrogant to think this way? Like a no win situation. The dog chasing its own tail.
Bless you for all your encouragements
Beloved One,
I hope to visit Australia next year early in the year or for a “Way of the Heart” conference near the end of August. It would be a Joy to meet you.
Forgiveness clears the way for remembrance of God, so that is always the focus. Until the mind releases the error of ego, the fear of a make-believe “god” is buried deep in the unconscious mind. In this respect it takes forgiveness or release of the entire ego belief system before the Memory of God’s Love can return fully into awareness.
God is a Pure Idea as is Christ. When the mind is emptied of false concepts and beliefs, the Pure Idea remains – Eternal and Perfect.
“I am as God created Me” is another way of saying Love is What You are.
I am grateful that the web site has been helpful for you. Thanks for writing and I hope to see you soon.
Love always,
David
Subject: Flowing in Gratitude
Dearest Davidji,
Gratefulness flows from this one towards your answers of the Holy Spirit. So much is made by the ego only to be undone again! It has reached levels of great humor and laughter is inevitable when one sees the futility of all those so called beliefs. one is beginning to become so aware of the greatness of God as myself and how this truth had never left myself!!! What to say of the “shelling” of this dust-like body that is not in any case. it is such a beauteous experience to be in alignment with Him who has never begun, continued or will never end. The Peace is almost unbearable if one may say so and the smokescreen of one’s false ego just evaporates into nothingness….lolololololololol
Yours in love with HIM who is the ONLY truth……………..
One has been ‘doing’ the lessons of the ACIM since the last 34 days. The ACIM says that salvation is available in an instant….. One attended the gathering at Plano, Texas. At that time one felt that salvation was already here with myself. Moments of awakening seemed like they would never go away. here one returns to Dubai and finds that same salvation waxing and waning. the power of the “insight” does not fade but that ability to BE that ONE again seems somewhat tested from time to time. Every lesson uplifts one a little bit more and at times one feels one is literally flying… …..Is enlightenment like this? Up one day and slightly less the next?…. Underneath it all one feels a Peace hard to describe….It is with a fair amount of vigilance on one’s mind of thought and ego that one returns to what I always have been…the “ I – I”, then the beauty of the Light shines again. Flip-flopping is what one awakened one called it….Why flip-flopping?
In love and Oneness with Him who is forever the Only truth
Beloved One,
Thanks for sharing your heart! In our joining of Purpose the seeming flip-flopping ceases. This is the final lesson: The Truth is true and only the Truth is true. Truth is beyond a shred or scrap of doubt, and what was the seeming flip-flopping but doubt of Identity. Certainty takes the place of flip-flopping as surely as Love is Real. One seems to undergo a stage of vigilance until it dawns that there is only One and nothing to “oppose.” First one shall seem to unplug the ego, and then it seems as if the ego never was. I rejoice with You as the Spirit Now! Nothing can change Eternal Love.
Glory to the One Who Creates in Perfect Love Eternally!
Love,
David
Subject: Gratitude
Hello David,
Firstly, I would like to thank you so much for your love and devotion. You have been such an inspiration for me and many others. Your work, as well as Kathy’s and Resta’s, is greatly appreciated. It is such a blessing to have the online tools that you guys provide, as they always serve to deepen my understanding and bring God’s Love into awareness.
I have been a student of the Course for about sixteen months now, and It has completely changed my life. It seems to have been a long and difficult road to get here but all that begins to fade and not matter as my mind is healed.
The Holy Spirit has used my transformation as a witness to His healing power and we have a small group now, which is so wonderful. It is the greatest thing, to see someone heal and experience the joy with them. I am at times filled with Love so intensely I weep tears of joy. God loves us so much!
I have been in correspondence with Kathy, and we are setting up a gathering here in Lafayette, LA in February. I am looking forward to meeting and sharing with you all. Thanks again for everything.
Peace and Love
Beloved One,
Thanks for your expression of love and gratitude. I rejoice in coming together with you and your group. Yes, the tears of joy flow so easily in such intense Love. Thank You God for your Gift of Eternal Life. All Glory to the One!
Blessings abound,
David
Subject: Gratitude
Dear Loving Dave,
I have truly been moved and spiritually charged by the messages you have been so thoughtful and generous to share by email. Your responses are uniquely insightful and imbued with visions virtually devoid of thoughts of the world allowing separation of the heedless
corporal world to the purposeful spiritual world of eternal love and acceptance shining and radiating infectiously in our spiritual essence into our conscious minds and expressions, truly a miracle. This conscious awareness of his presence and purpose rescues our perfectly-imperfect human essence from oblivion of the spiraling willfulness of our worldly choices and impressions, all driven by selfishness, ego, anger, fear shame, guilt and preconceived impressions derived from our primordial state of survival of the fittest, territorialism, dominance and claims of supremacy politically conceived. All of these worldly fixations have caused a blinding and deafness of the spirit, causing most of humanity decisions based on expediency rather than the slow and methodical eternal beat of our maker who continues to give us our will to do his will and be in synchronization with his eternal and enduring essence now and forever and ever.
Loving Eternally All Things Of His Will
Beloved One of God,
Thanks for the gratitude you so eloquently express! It is a Great Joy to serve the Will of the One.
Forever grateful and in deep appreciation,
David
Subject: Forgiving Feelings of Betrayal
David-
I feel betrayed by God…..
As strange as that is to say, if I’m being completely honest, that is how I feel. I am new to your site and I truly believe there is a reason our paths crossed. I’m 32 and I was raised in a Baptist church. I bought into what I was taught about God and Christ. I believed that Jesus was raised from the dead and I believed that I was forgiven for all of my sins. I asked God to come into my life and to direct my path. For doing so, I expected to have peace of mind and happiness.
The older I get and the more disenchanted I become with my own life and the hope or possibility of me finding happiness and peace of mind, I feel as though I made a bad “deal”. I feel as though I have been betrayed. Even though I have tried to be the best Christian I can be, God hasn’t rewarded. Worst yet, it doesn’t even feel as though God is there. I can’t begin to tell you how awfully lonely that feels.
I have a counselor that I see regularly and we have discussed this in some depth. He tells me that my current view of God will only lead to more anger and resentment for me and that I need to change the paradigm in which I view God and faith. I agree with this completely but my problem is that I don’t feel as though I can trust or put faith in God anymore.
I do believe that all the emptiness, loneliness, anger and resentment I feel could be resolved if only I could resolve this crisis of faith that I am experiencing. I’m reading this and I keep thinking what right do I have to feel betrayed by God. I know that I have been blessed and that there are those who are much less fortunate than I. Intellectually, I know this but in my heart, I feel so hurt and I just don’t know what to do or where to begin.
I would sincerely appreciate any insight you could provide me.
Thank you for your time.
Dear Beloved One,
Thanks for sharing what is on your heart. You are so precious and deserve to feel the Love that is buried beneath the hurt. Love is our Inheritance or Birthright. The ego (Satan in Christian terms) is a false identification, a mistaken identity, and the Purpose of our work with the Holy Spirit is to realize that the real Self is not the ego and remains forever the Perfect, Innocent Child of God in Spirit. The ego’s feelings of betrayal run very, very deep as do the feelings of abandonment, loneliness, hurt, anger, emptiness and loss. The world was made by error so that God would NOT be discovered. It is indeed a profound step to ask God to come into one’s life and direct one’s path, yet as profound as this step is it is only the beginning. The entire cosmos was made from the belief that it is possible to be separate from God or “fall” from Grace. Forgiveness is the undoing or release of the original error and all the errors that seemed to follow.
Jesus was raised from the dead to demonstrate that sin or error has no power. You have received the reminder of our Sinless ness and Perfect Innocence, the Holy Spirit, and now you are Called upon to release every spot of error to the Light of the Holy Spirit within your Heart. Satan was the error that it was possible to leave God, and feelings of betrayal and resentment and anger arise from this unconscious error. Your counselor is offering a helpful suggestion by saying that you need to change the paradigm in which you view God and faith, for such is forgiveness. God is Perfect Love and Christ is a Perfect Creation. What needs to be forgiven is the belief that God had anything to do with the time-space cosmos of duality and multiplicity, of sickness, pain, suffering, and death. What God creates Eternal Spirit remains Eternal Spirit, and that which seems fleeting and temporal and transitory will fade and disappear.
The disenchantment and disillusionment you feel can be viewed in two ways. The ego would blame the feelings onto its “version” of God, an anthropomorphic view of a “god” of human concepts and traits who is “capable” of betrayal and abandonment. The Holy Spirit ever gently reminds that God is Spirit and Identity in God is Spirit. The Holy Spirit lovingly offers forgiveness as a replacement or Correction for dreams of anger and of pain. The mind is very powerful and the issue is never really an issue of faith or lack of faith – for what you put your faith in is the central decision. And every decision you make is a conclusion based on everything you believe, regardless if you are fully aware of what you believe. Satan is an unreal belief and while the mind invests in this belief then “sin” or error APPEARS to have reality and existence. Who You are in Truth is far beyond the “need” for forgiveness, yet the illusion of false identity must be forgiven or released that True Identity may be remembered.
Be happy and glad that you are beginning to see that there is no hope of peace or happiness in the appearances and forms of this world. Happiness and peace of mind are real and are found within as Christ teaches: “The Kingdom of Heaven is within.” We are embarking together on what seems to be a journey within, and I assure you that happiness and peace of mind are inevitable and certain. I speak from the Perspective and the experience that this is the Truth right now. What is true for the One must be Totally Inclusive, for the Spirit God creates Includes Everything and therefore there is nothing apart from this Spirit. As you continue to explore this web site and the audio and video materials it will become apparent that forgiveness applies to that which is false. That Which is forever True (Spirit) is far beyond the need for forgiveness. God does not forgive, for God has never condemned, and yet there must have been an illusion of condemnation before forgiveness was necessary. The world is in need of forgiveness as long as you believe in its reality, for a world apart from God could never be. Awakening to Truth is the dawning of the realization that it is impossible to leave the Mind of God. Such is Salvation or Enlightenment.
I am joined with you in the Great Awakening. We cannot fail to remember Identity in God for illusions cannot veil the Truth. Please feel free to call or write or visit or meet anytime. We shall rejoice together in God’s Love, and in this experience of complete Rapture there is only Joy! God knows Spirit as One and there can be no “body” that is “more” or “less” fortunate in the Perspective of the Holy Spirit. Let Us give thanks to God for creating Spirit as One forever. Amen.
I Love You forever and ever,
David
Subject: Help with Lesson 25
David,
Lesson 25 says that all goals are of the ego and asks me to relinquish them. Does this mean that I should not have any goals in my life? Should I then not even plan my day? How am I to survive in the business world where everything is goals and quotas?
Hello Beloved One,
ACIM gives the goal of forgiveness to replace the ego’s goals of form outcomes that maintain the belief in separation from God. The Holy Spirit works with the mind, whatever and wherever it believes itself to be, and Helps loosen the self-concept that the ego made to take the place of Christ.
I held a gathering many years ago in which the following q & a dialogue took place:
“Q: I have to go back to work today and do some computer work and some other things before tomorrow morning. I’d rather stay right here. You talk about intuition and Spirit leading you. Now how do I do that?
D: The Holy Spirit starts from where and what the mind believes it is. Suppose you believe you’re a woman who has a particular job, and tonight that looks like having to do work at a computer. Let’s suppose that this scenario is all just a motion picture of a belief system that you have, and that this is simply the way that you perceive yourself at this moment. The Holy Spirit doesn’t try to yank this web of beliefs apart. The Holy Spirit will use those things that you believe in, to help you realize that you are much more than the self-concepts in which you believe. This discussion, for example, is bringing witness to your mind’s desire to wake up and remember your reality as the Son of God. All one has to have is the willingness, and the Holy Spirit will undo the false self-concepts and replace them with forgiveness. Start with this prayer: “Abide with me, Holy Spirit. Guide me in what to say and do and where to go.” If you welcome and trust Him, you will experience immediate results.
Q: I’m having some trouble with the description of duality and that it’s our perception that’s the problem. I work in a business where I have to see things exactly as they are happening, not as I might like them to happen. So, the problem for me is understanding how to get to that place that you’re talking about.
D: It certainly seems that when one has identified one’s self, for example, as an employee in a business, that there are “external” constraints and restrictions to abide by. For example, let’s say one is identified as a manager. As a manager, one seemingly has to hold other people accountable for doing certain things. A manager monitors and evaluates employees, directs them, conducts performance reviews, and so forth. Also, every manager has a “boss” whose job it is to make sure the manager is accountable. What one must do is look closely and go deeper into the belief system that is producing the faulty perception, that is producing the scenario I have just described. One must be willing to examine what one’s priorities are, what is most important in one’s life. Is peace of mind one’s only priority?
I’ve had to take a good look at everything I believed, turn inward for strength and support, and realize with certainty that the Holy Spirit is my only “Boss” and forgiveness my only function. One may say, “How practical is that? What do you do when you have two bosses, if you have the Holy Spirit and your employer telling you two different things?” Again, the Holy Spirit meets the mind where it believes it is. He works with the mind, helping it to exchange accepted self-concepts for the more expansive self-concepts that approach true forgiveness.
As you lay aside judgment and change your mind about the world, what happens on the screen of the world will be a symbolic representation of that mind shift and of your perception of relationships. So really we’re back to just saying, “Okay, Holy Spirit, work with me right now where I believe I am and help me loosen my mind from these false beliefs. Help me let go of the ego and my perception will be healed.” Trust in the Holy Spirit for everything and He will take care of you in ways you can’t even envision.”
Let the Holy Spirit Guide you in all things and everything will work out for the best. The inner journey goes very deep, but the Holy Spirit Guides surely and there are many free resources available for the asking. I am joined with you in the Awakening. You are dearly loved.
Blessings of Peace,
David
Subject: How Did You Turn Your Ego Off?
Hi David,
I wanted to say god bless you for all your love that you give. my friend in Denver who has emailed you a lot is helping me along my journey with A Course in Miracles. my problem since I was even like 2-3 years old has been fear and always thinking the worse. I wish I could just turn off my ego fear but it has always been my downfall. I know I have to look within and read more and meditate more. how did you turn your ego off? is it just constantly being aware and rejecting it at all times. I worry so much it drives me crazy. god bless you and thanks again for being such a wonderful spirit. we would love to meet you sometime? you have inspired us both so much.
Beloved One,
Thanks for your question and for writing what is on your heart. One does not turn the ego off, one unplugs it by withdrawing faith in it. First you begin by paying attention to thoughts and feelings and perceptions. The chatter and emotional roller coaster ride and distorted, unstable perceptions attest to an insane ego belief system that dictates these swings. The ego must be exposed and brought to Light before the swings will give way to a consistent, stabilized perception. Until faith is withdrawn from the ego the mind will seem to swing between darkness and Light. You made the ego by believing in it and can dispel it by withdrawing all belief from it. Without the power the mind seems to give it the ego will seem to cease to be. Right Now Christ is Present. The ego was an illusion of past/future, but the Light has come and in this Light the error has vanished.
Be willing to move inward and question all assumptions. Fear is an assumption and thus dissolves in the Presence of Light. Protect no belief from the healing Light of the Holy Spirit and you will see that there is nothing to cling to. Yield and merge with the Will of God, for it is our Will as well. Miracles come from trust in God, and as this trust increases fear disappears. Your willingness will seem to open into readiness, and your readiness will seem to open into mastery. All Glory to God and thanks to the Holy Spirit for Guiding past the illusion of fear to the forgiven world and on to the Memory of God.
Love,
David