Subject: Questions on Physical Pain, Enlightenment, Killing, and Vegetarianism
Dear David,
I have so much enjoyed the news from your gatherings in Argentina. I could feel the joy all the way out in Los Angeles! It is a beautiful, warm day here, and birds are chirping outside the window of my little studio apartment. My two hairy children (cats!) are content and lazy. As for me, I am letting God creep into my day, and He/We feel wonderful!
I have a couple questions that I could not find answers to in the archives. They are rather peculiar, but the ego keeps bringing them to me for some reason. If you have the time, I would love to hear your thoughts on these questions!
1) When one is enlightened, does one still experience physical pain as unpleasant? Does one experience pain or displeasure about ANYTHING? Another aspect of this question is: Once you awaken completely, are you still vulnerable to falling back into ways of the ego, or is it ALL gone for good?
2) Do you think the Holy Spirit would EVER guide one to harm or take the life of another being? (ex: meat eating, killing ants in your kitchen, using violent force to stop a murderer, etc.). And, by the way, do you eat meat, and if so would you personally take an animal’s life?
Once again, thank you so much for your guidance (and patience with our silly ego questions)!
Dear Beloved One,
Thanks for asking the questions that come to your mind, even if they seem rather peculiar? to you. In Enlightenment all perceived pain has vanished, for what but wrong-mindedness seemed to produce the misperception called pain. Pain was the illusion that Christ could leave a Loving Creator’s Mind. If pain is real there is no God. If God is real there is no pain. The latter is true because God has no opposite. Enlightenment entails no pain or displeasure about ANYTHING, for Enlightenment is Pure, Constant Happiness, Peace, Freedom, and Joy. Being Constant, Enlightenment knows not of change. The illusion of vulnerability and fluctuating emotions has gone as well. There is no ego to fall back into. Spirit Abides …in gentle Love. All pain is over Now and nothing remains but a blessing of Stillness.
The Holy Spirit is the reminder that Life is Eternal. The Present Moment is the gateway to Eternity. The world of images was a world of illusion. Images are therefore neutral to the Holy Spirit. They were neutralized the instant they seemed to arise. What does this mean in relation to your second question: You cannot kill what has never lived, and in the Holy Spirit’s Perspective of forgiveness harm is impossible. Bodies were never born and never die because the world of images is the past. It is impossible to find beginnings and endings in a script that is already written and over long ago. There is no life in images. This is the meaning of Hold no graven images before the Lord Thy God. All images were made to obscure the Truth from awareness, and they can only be forgiven as one illusion. If illusions could be divided up into living and dead, organic and inorganic, animate and inanimate Enlightenment would be impossible. For what is Enlightenment but Pure Oneness, far beyond the possibility of division of any kind. The split mind was the illusion. Seek not to project the split mind to forms and call some forms alive and some forms dead. God knows not form. The split mind seemed to be the killer illusion, yet the Holy Spirit reminds the sleeping mind that what is whole and unified can never BE split. In Heaven Mind is One Spirit, and even with regard to this world forgiveness reflects this Oneness. The forgiven world recognizes the unity of the healed mind and sees that there is nothing outside of this single mind which dreams softly a happy, gentle dream. The goal of ACIM is to dream softly of a sinless world. This goal is more than possible, it is inevitable!
As for my seeming diet, eat what is served? Is the Guidance I was given from the Holy Spirit many years ago. Join with your brother and let no concept come between the Love you share. This Guidance has not changed. Dinner is always a backdrop for sharing the Joy of the Living Moment. What the world calls breathing and eating and drinking and sleeping are really all the same in the Enlightened State. The Healed Perspective sees the sameness of all things because they all share the same Purpose: forgiveness. This Perspective is not personal, for in unified perception nothing is personal. God is no respecter of persons. I literally cannot take an animal’s life because Life is Spirit and can only be extended or Given as God Gives. Take has no meaning in my mind and since animals have never lived it is impossible that they could die. The belief expressed in the thought personally take an animal’s life? has many underlying assumptions that are false. In right-mindedness it is obvious that ideas are strengthened as they are given away or shared, and taking a life or anything at all has no meaning. All that I give is given to mySelf, and in giving there is no loss, no sacrifice, and nothing is ever taken away from wholeness and unity. The teacher of God does not want anything that cannot be given away. Such is the Joy of miracles! The thought seeds seem to be flung everywhere, yet there is never even a glance back to see where the seeds land. The seeds are never for an other, and since giving and receiving are the same the mind receives the gifts it gives. This is truly the feast you seek for underneath the ego’s questions.
The only question that need be asked is a question that is not really silly at all: Am I ready to know that God’s Will and My Own are the Same? God’s Will for Me is for Perfect Happiness. And what but this Will is the Will of Christ? Happily, nothing can change Eternal Love. Thank You God!
Blessings of Love Abound!
Loving You Holy One,
David
Subject: How Should I Practice the Workbook Lessons?
Dear David,
As always thank you very much for giving your wisdom. I have a few questions that have been nagging me.
I am not able to understand clearly how I should practice from Lesson 170 forward. Should I follow the recommendation given in Lesson 153?
In some lessons it is written that we will experience something not of this world. In lesson 129 it says …and in the silent darkness watch the lights that are not of this world light one by one until where one begins another ends loses all meaning as they blend in one. Today the lights of Heaven bend to you, to shine upon your eyelids as you rest beyond the world of darkness. Here is the light your eyes cannot behold. And yet your mind can see it plainly and can understand. Firstly I did not quite understand this. Secondly I had no such experience. Other experiences are also described in other lessons which we are supposed to experience. I think I am doing the lessons diligently. But I have not had one such experience. Did you get those experiences described on the same day that you practiced? Is there something I need to do differently?
It is said that the script is already written. The time when the experience comes has also been decided. This means what ever has to happen happens. If that is the case where is choice? This also means everything is working perfectly. Even the mistakes that we make are supposed to happen. But at the same time ACIM says that by practicing some lesson (I do not remember the lesson number), we can save a thousand years or more. If the script is written and the time is already set how can we save time? This is really extremely puzzling to me. And what is there for us to do than just wait for that time to come? Yet Lesson 169 says …you have work to do to play your part. Elsewhere in the text it also says You need do nothing. These seem like contradictions and I am totally confused and in dark about the meaning of these statements. Would you please enlighten us?
Thank you very much
Beloved One,
Thanks for your sincere questions. The Workbook is designed as a tool to help Guide you to an experience that has been called transfer of training. In the Workbook are guided imagery exercises, meditations, visualizations, and very specific instructions to be adhered to as closely as possible. Some will seem to experience the lessons from a verbal predisposition, some from a visual imagery disposition, some from a silent predisposition, and some from a very emotionally sensitive disposition. None of this matters because the Holy Spirit meets the mind wherever and however it perceives itself. The lesson to be grasped is always the lesson of nonjudgment: I do not know. Whenever judgments or comparisons arise they are suitable opportunities to remember the lesson of the day, release, and re-center on Purpose. The visual imagery used is always symbolic and intended to Guide the mind toward a transcendent experience. As best you can, do not attempt to judge anything which seems to occur, for this Workbook and Course and Manual is a curriculum in the relinquishment of all judgment.
The script is written? means the cosmos is past. The choice is the miracle, to see the past as over and gone, instead of believing that the future is different from the past. The images are past, and this experience is pointed to in lesson #7, in which this new time idea? is introduced. The deceived mind, asleep and dreaming, believes that it lives in the past. Yet Life is Eternal and the closest approximation to Eternity is Now. The Workbook lessons are designed to help release everything you think you think, and everything you think you see, to behold the Light beyond the veil – the Present – and See with the Vision of Christ. Miracles seem to prepare the way for Revelation, Pure Light, the Holy Instant, in which the Great Rays are experienced directly.
Apply each lesson with such overflowing passion, as if there is nothing else but enlightenment to experience this very moment. Desire is the key, and this is the meaning of I Need Do Nothing. Doing is always a body thought. As you proceed you will find the lessons are but starting points to go beyond the words to the experience of Divine Silence.
All Glory to the Living God of Pure Light and Love. Amen.
David
Subject: Pregnancy and Parenting
Hello David,
Welcome back from your trip to Argentina. It is wonderful to get your emails again. They always seem to come at the right time. I have had several new developments in my life recently one being that I am expecting a baby. At this moment I am in my 7th month. As you can imagine this has been a very exciting and challenging time in my life on many levels. After reading your transcripts of the gatherings in Argentina I would definitely say that many of my unconscious belief systems are coming up to be unlearned. It has been painful to be quite honest but joyful also. When the fears and pain come up I continually pray and ask for guidance from the spirit within. I guess I would like your thoughts on the experience of motherhood/parenthood and how the Course sees it. And also how to continue to deepen my walk with spirit while also raising a child.
Thank you. I look forward to your insights.
In love & peace
Beloved One of God,
Thanks for sharing what is on your heart and for your willingness to use everything for Awakening. Everything that seems to happen in this world is truly just a backdrop to allow the ego’s unconscious belief system to come up and be unlearned. Rest assured that all things work together for good and chance plays no part in salvation from illusions. While some spiritual traditions emphasize going off to a monastery or a convent or to the woods or mountains, the Course is a path that involves releasing judgments and grievances in the context of mind including what appears in awareness as perceived interpersonal relationships. Motherhood and parenthood are aspects of personhood, and this is the construct one is freed of in Enlightenment. The Holy Spirit uses the symbols of the little make- believe self and gently Guides the mind into broadening vistas of consciousness. You are far more than a mother or parent, yet this backdrop of parenting will be a rich opportunity for the undoing of the Authority problem. You will behold the forgiven world.
This world was the belief that it is possible to author a self different from the Christ Self God creates Eternally in Spirit. The simple word for this insane belief is pride. Pride is false authorship. God is the only True Parent or Author, the Creator of Reality. And so it can be said that parenting with relation to bodies and body thoughts is the opportunity for the undoing of pride. The path before you is filled with many, many seeming opportunities to release the belief in self-authorship and control, the belief that a body can be a separate self that can be a separate, unique individual? The body symbolizes the belief in private minds with private thoughts, which IS the ego. Yet given over to the Holy Spirit the path before you is a rapid undoing of every scrap of ego pride and control and resistance.
A child is a mirror of what you believe you are, as long as the belief in differences persists in awareness. A child is an ancient unconscious belief system coming up into awareness to be unlearned. To love as God Loves, unconditionally, the obstacles to the awareness of Love’s Presence must be exposed and released. A child presents the opportunities to forgive every seeming grievance in the sleeping mind, so that Divine Love can be expressed without doubt or reservation or limit. This is a moment of gratitude and Joy, for Now can the lesson be learned that there is no concept to hide and no concept to protect from the Healing Light of the Holy Spirit. Now can the mind be emptied of every opinion and judgment it sought to lay upon itself. For Innocence is real, and the Christ Child within is ever Innocent of error. Accept the Christ Child within by becoming willing to behold the Perfect One and completely unwilling to behold error of any kind. When you see that the Child abides in You and literally is You, the Spiritual Self, the need for time and lessons is no more.
May Blessings of Love shower upon You and Bless You, Holy One. I rejoice with You in this precious opportunity. I am with You every seeming step on the road to our Home, and because of the One Who goes with Us there is Great Joy! Angels hover over and keep watch, for the time of Awakening is nearer than a breath. There is a sparkle in the eyes of the one who knows of the many miracles that will be bestowed in this happy dream. There is a playfulness and lightness everywhere, for Christ has come to behold the Eternal Innocence that is the Heavenly Inheritance of everyone who seemed to go their way separate and alone. The illusion of separation cannot continue to seem to last, for the Light has come. Let our Light shine, and be the Beacon to light the way that once seemed dark and alone. Now the Christ Child can be no longer hidden from awareness. And we give thanks that this is so!
In overflowing Love,
David
Subject: The Frustration of Pretending to Be Human
Dear David,
I am always glad to get the letters you have answered to others. I file them for reference and study. I have another question if you should be so kind to answer.
In 1976 I had an experience that lasted over several months wherein nothing seemed real, and I was asking what is real. It seemed to begin when I read a book an acquaintance gave me, a story about a Guru Nanak, wherein he said something like, Even though you carry around a cart load of books, unless you know Him, you have no knowledge. I believe he was talking to various religious groups indigenous to his homeland. Around that time, a voice within me seemed to tell me several things, and my life has never been the same.
The first message I heard was, If you are busy pretending you are something you are not, you will never know who you really are. I kept asking what was real, looking around and saying, Is this real, is this real. And the voice within me would say no, that it was an illusion, here today, gone tomorrow, now you see it now you don’t. Up to this point I had no spiritual knowledge except through protestant churches, Presbyterian, Baptist, Christian.
One day after work I was sitting on my bed. (I had come to look forward to rushing home from work, getting situated on my bed and getting quiet, as it was there it seemed, I found a presence of peace, as if a light would be around me and my questions would be answered. At that time, I thought the presence was in my bedroom.) On this particular occasion, after being told that this, then that, was not real, I asked vehemently, Then, What Is Real. The room seemed to fill with light. The light seemed to be coming from the inside of me. The moment was full of peace and a sense of absoluteness, and it said, I am He and there is no other. Well, somewhere on the inside of me, that resonated. I called the entity Spirit.
For the next couple of months it seemed to be the only thing that seemed real to me, and I couldn’t seem to keep from telling everyone, We are One. There is no other, as it resounded on the inside of me, even though I couldn’t seem to explain it beyond that. That particular occasion set me on a spiritual journey searching through all religions, trying to find that surety that I had experienced. The spirit continued talking to me throughout this journey. It was not until I began studying ACIM that I started getting the same message as that initial message, and it hearkened me back to that occurrence, which I had pretty much chalked up to my being Looney and desperate to feel special, so I had concocted it myself.
Before that happened, I could not find my niche in this world, but since that happened, I have had absolutely no interest in anything except searching for what I called the truth. Nothing else seemed or seems to have purpose, and it is so hard for me to get out of the vicious circle of thinking I should get busy with this or that, dreading it, feeling guilty for my feelings etc. I could make myself do the things I had to do, such as raising my family, keeping my home orderly and clean, but I have such a difficult time in wanting to do anything.
I told you about my shop before previously. The shop is just a refuge in which I can be alone to meditate, study, listen to ACIM tapes, music etc. However, when I have an arrangement to create for someone, I put it off to the last minute, seemingly dreading it. Once I get started, I peacefully, neither enjoy it or otherwise. I just do it, as if I am not doing it, and I am always surprised that it turns out to be more wonderful than the customer dreamed, because, when I look at it, I seem to have no judgment of it at all. All I seem to know is that it is finished and I can do no more. I found some fabric in my sewing box the other day, and thought to make my granddaughter a dress out of it. I purchased the pattern and notions, and now have no desire to do it, and am absolutely having to make myself do it. It seems to have no purpose. When I get like that, I seem to be paralyzed about everything, even studying the course and workbook. When I think of the things that are waiting for me to do, I cannot seem to let go of thinking I ought to do them, I get confused about which I should do first. When I let go of thinking about them at all, asking the Holy Spirit to give me unction, I find it hard to be at peace not doing until then. Then I just get tired, and seem to want to sleep. I know that shoulds and ought to’s, have echoed in my head all my life, but I haven’t seemed to be able to extricate myself from them. All truly does seem to be vanity, to serve no purpose. Everything I would do, just seems to serve this illusion, and I have wanted to escape it ever since that experience in 1976. Help! This is beyond explaining. What do I forgive to find release? How do I return to peace?
Beloved One,
Thanks for pouring out your stream of thoughts and for your willingness to forgive and Awaken. It is wonderful! You have heard the Voice for God reminding you of the illusory nature of the world. With A Course In Miracles you have a tool to train your mind to hear ONLY the Holy Spirit’s Voice and release the ego’s voice of doubt forever. In using and practicing the lessons of ACIM you will be forgiving the belief in separation, the belief in time-space, the belief in a linear sequence of separate events. You will experience many miracles which will collapse time and leave your mind at peace. You will grasp and experience the Holy Spirit’s Purpose, which is the replacement for the ego’s purpose of death, guilt, fear, and separation.
You first glimpse the new Purpose of forgiveness, of seeing the illusory nature of the cosmos, yet until the ego’s purpose is completely unlearned or undone you will seem to wander. It can seem during this wandering that the world will have no purpose at all. This is the approach to the point in mind in which you see that the roadways of the world lead nowhere. As the mind approaches this point everything will seem pointless, yet beyond the point of utter meaninglessness is the Light of the Holy Spirit. As you join with this Light the Light will shine through you and radiate to everything and everyone. The Holy Spirit shines through you, shining away every scrap of darkness, and this experience is one of effortless Ease. There is no struggle or conflict in being shone through. It is as though you are transparent, for there are no personal goals or agendas to intrude.
The Holy Spirit Guides surely. In every seeming situation the judgment of the Holy Spirit directs. This is judgment through you rather than by you, and under the Holy Spirit’s judgment there is never any loss to anyone. In the Holy Spirit’s Purpose there are never any commands or demands, only suggestions and instructions and reminders. You can seem to resist the Holy Spirit’s Call, yet delay is always temporary and Atonement or Correction is inevitable. That is why this is a required course. Forgiveness is unavoidable, and though there seem to be many forms and pathways for coming to forgiveness, in content they are all the same. Forgiveness simply sees the false as false, and quietly rests in peace.
The voice of shoulds and ought to’s? is the ego. These guilt-ridden expectations arise from a false sense of self, a self-concept that God did not create. This concept was make-believe, for it sought to replace the Self God created in Eternal Perfection. All frustration arises in consciousness from pretending to be human, and all human roles are constructs that perpetuate this pretense of identity. In the Present, free from the distortions of the past, You are free in Spirit as God created You.
You have been inspired by Resta’s music, now you can be inspired by Resta’s release of the story of mother. You have identified as daughter and mother and grandmother, and these roles have limited your awareness of the Christ. Christ has no limits, Being Eternal. Forgiveness offers you an expansive self-concept in which everyone and everything is included, a Perspective that leads to Waking from the dream and remembering Christ and God. You will discover that Christ is Reality and not a concept at all. Make believe self-concepts need defense only because they are shaky, unstable, and unreal. Spirit is always defenseless for in truth there is nothing real that can be threatened and nothing unreal that exists. Herein lies the Peace of God.
Resta recently forwarded this email to me that she had sent to her biological son:
I woke this morning realizing that I must have a heart to heart? communication with you. My life now is all about being in purpose: forgiving the illusion of the world and remembering my true identity – with you and everyone – as Christ: pure abstraction, spirit, light, love. My task at the moment is the complete undoing of personhood, the construct of body, personality, private mind and set of masks made up to replace my true Self. And that includes all the roles I devised, such as wife and mother. Last year as I was working through the separation from Bob, I received a song, I Release You, and I share it with you now because it applies equally to my relationship with you:
I Release You
“He who was enemy is more than friend when he is freed to take the holy role the Holy Spirit has assigned to him. Let him be savior unto you today. Such is his role in God your Father’s plan.” ACIM
You don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not,
a puppet who moves on the strings of my thoughts.
The role I’ve assigned you has cheated us both
of the light and the glory that lives in the soul,
but patiently yields to each mask we put on
that proclaims we’re not children of God.
Refrain
I release you, my brother, to be who you are,
my savior, the Christ who abides in God’s heart.
And I’ll be there with you, for we’re truly one,
beloved of the Father, His Son.
You don’t have to be little, unloved and unknown,
clothed in a body that you call your own.
You’re not a husband (son) and I’m not a wife (mother),
for mind has no gender and form has no life.
It’s time to remember what we always knew,
that God has one Son, and not two. Refrain
You are not a person and neither am I.
We forgot we were dreaming and living a lie.
Now Spirit is calling, My dear child, awake,
let God’s sweet love heal you, correct your mistakes.
Be married to all, for the all is just One,
God’s holy and blessed Christ Son. Refrain
When you were about 8 years old you made me a Mother’s Day card that I found recently. On one side it said To The Very Best Mother? – and on the other side you wrote, Mother is my brother. We have come full circle, back to that recognition you had then. I am your brother and only your brother. My motherhood is done. I love you as a dear brother in Christ, as I love Bob, as I love everyone. Everyone IS myself, and I exclude no one, make no one special. That does not diminish your value but makes you infinitely precious, to me and to God.
I bless you on your journey that has no distance, back to the home we never left. I am always here for you when you want to connect heart to heart.
Dearest one, I love you forever and ever.
Resta
Forgiveness is giving up nothing to accept Everything. Mind is unified, and peace and wholeness go together. You have asked: What do I forgive to find release? How do I return to peace? To forgive the belief in time-space is to say to God: Show me Eternity!? To forgive the belief in separation is to say to God: Show me the Union of Eternity. The Holy Spirit will convince you that time is unreal and Eternity is real if you will let Him. Nothing is asked of you in truth, for You are already and forever Perfect, Whole, and Complete as God created You. Forgiveness opens the way to remember this Truth.
Love & Blessings,
David
Subject: Is It Possible to Reconcile Evil & Abuse with Innocence?
Hello David,
I have a couple of questions. I have studied and went through the workbook once eight years ago, although I read the book on a regular basis. I have found myself resisting some of the principals so I am studying the text and going through the workbook again. I have been attending Renaissance Unity for the past 5 years and Marianne Williamson was the full time Minister. Now she is there every other week. So I still attend services. All of her lectures are ACIM inspired.
Suddenly, ACIM teachings are affecting me differently. However, I understand that we must see the innocence in our brother, and evil is only of this world. Although I understand it, I find it hard to truly accept it. How can you see the innocence in a man who has beaten and raped you? How can you give tough love? to an individual who is hopelessly addicted to drugs and alcohol without being an enabler. You see, these are the areas where I feel blocked. Could you help me understand why there is no opposite to God, to Love? I believe that. However, the devil is the evil that men do on earth. In the Course there is no evil, no devil …or is the devil merely a synonym of perception of the ego? God does not see evil. …If God does not see evil does that mean we have to accept rapists, pedophiles and murderers without judgment? Please help me understand this.
Do you ever plan to come to Michigan for a gathering? I would love to meet you.
Eternal Love
Blessings
Beloved One,
Thanks for sharing your inner ponderings. I have been up to the church you mention in Michigan and would be happy to come and have a gathering at the church. Everything I share is based on invitations, so if there is a strong interest at Renaissance Unity and you would like to set up a gathering with me at the church contact us at:
Your questions go to the heart of the matter called forgiveness. I have been told by the Holy Spirit that God is All-Loving, All-Knowing, and All-Powerful. God is a God of Pure Love. This description of God is an expression of the idea: God is Love and Love has no opposite. What God creates is like God. Spirit comes from Spirit. God is Spirit. Christ is Spirit. Creation is Spirit. Innocence is an attribute of Spirit, just as Perfection and Eternity are attributes of Spirit. If evil or error were possible, Divine Innocence would be impossible. Yet because Divine Innocence is Reality, evil or error cannot be at all.
Forgiveness is for illusion, not for the Truth. Love does not need to be forgiven. In the Oneness of God there is nothing to forgive. Nothing God creates needs forgiveness, for Creation and Christ are like God in Spirit and extend God’s Perfection. Forgiveness recognizes that what you think your brother has done has in Fact never happened. In ACIM it is stated this way: If God is real there is no pain. If pain is real there is no God. God is the Source of All and pain is therefore causeless and impossible. If there were an imposter cause, a claim made against the Fact of the Allness of God’s Love, that cause error? would need to be released BECAUSE the error would be the denial of Divine Love.
This is why you are drawn to A Course In Miracles: you have not been able to reconcile Love with fear, Truth with illusion, or Innocence with guilt. These seeming opposites can NEVER be reconciled. To forgive is simply to accept the happy Fact that truth is true and nothing else is true. To forgive is to happily release the belief in an opposite to Love. To forgive is to find the Innocence of Spirit. You humbly accept: I am still as God created Me? as the error of separation has been forgiven.
You asked: …is the devil merely a synonym of perception of the ego? Yes. The ego/error/devil was Corrected by the Holy Spirit the instant the error seemed to arise. And now your only responsibility is to accept this Correction. What you believe you will perceive, as long as perception seems to last. Believe the error and you will seem to perceive abuse and addiction. Accept the Correction and you will seem to perceive a forgiven world shining in the Light of the Holy Spirit. Accept the Correction and you have given up the attempt to reconcile opposites. Accept the Correction and lasting peace is the only possible result. Accept the Correction and see the impossibility of concepts such as …rapists, pedophiles and murderers. This is the Last Judgment: Holy are You, Eternal, Free, & Whole, at Peace forever in the Heart of God. Where is the world in this Loving Judgment? The world has ended in Laughter, for what seemed to be a world apart from God was attempting to take serious a silly, mad idea of separation. Once the past is released it is as if it never was, BECAUSE it never was.
You are not alone and Help is Given you. This message and the Awakening Mind web site and the many Awakeninginchrist messages ND the travels and gatherings are just some of the many witnesses to the Love you have Called forth in your awareness. The Joy I share heralds the end of illusion! The peace I experience is the peace that comes from acknowledging that Love is real and has no opposite. The Bible said to have no graven images before God. This is because God knows no images, Being Pure Spirit. Forgive the images that never were, and experience indescribable Happiness! The dreamer of a dream first realizes the dreaming. Nothing can hurt the dreamer once the Holy Spirit has revealed the dream as unreal. Without judgment all dream figures are the same, for it was only the ego that made up the categories of victim and victimizer, abused and abuser, enabled and enabler to perpetuate itself. Once the ego is released perception has been healed, and nothing blocks the way to the experience of God’s Divine Love.
All Glory to the Living God!
Love Always,
David
Subject: Releasing the Fear & Mystery of a Special Love Relationship with a Teacher
Dear David,
Thank you for your response to my message. I have tried to follow your suggestions and I have talked to several others about this. None of them have helped me to see how this was really for my greatest good. I have also let some time pass by hoping that time would be a great healer. In this case it hasn’t because even today I was still driven to more tears over all of this.
I AM NOW AFRAID TO:
1) Trust any teacher of God that they will act in my best interests.
2) Enter into any kind of relationship Holy or otherwise for fear that the Holy Spirit (God) will reject me.
3) Open myself up to a vulnerable state like I did for fear that I will be crushed again.
4) Trust anyone’s guidance including my own that it is actually the Holy Spirit that is guiding them.
5) Trust that the CIM principles will be followed by apparent teachers of God.
…So far your answers are helpful in a general way but do not enable
me to solve this mystery. Solving mysteries may be an ego quality but
the main thing here is the following. If the holy spirit was in
control of this relationship why did it result in fear not love?
Blessings
Beloved One,
Thanks for your email and your little willingness for healing. God Wills Perfect Happiness and the ego is the belief in mysteries and questions and secrets. In Light is everything openly revealed, and thus it must be that to the ego Revelation is fearful. Fear but seems to be about persons places and things, but fear of God’s Love is the strange belief that must be exposed and seen as false.
Your relationship with your brother was a step in facing the fear within, for nothing of this world of images is fearful. Your brief encounter with your brother was a way of bringing to awareness what lies beneath. This fear of God must come up to be released, and the contact with your brother served that Purpose. Healing is the goal of all mind training, and one cannot release what is kept in unawareness.
Hurt and loss seem real only because of the belief in a break in communication. I faced this illusion and with the Guidance of the Holy Spirit came to see that communication from God cannot be broken. No body or worldly event or situation or circumstance can break the Love God offers always. Love must come through the mind to be experienced by the mind, and the only seeming experience of pain results from the belief that Love can be withheld. It cannot. In the world of form love and communication can seem to be broken, but nothing of the world is true. Forgiveness releases, the ego binds. All seeming relationships mirror the need to release the ego until it is apparent that the ego was never real. This points to the Atonement, the awareness that God and Christ are the only real Relationship. Union is of the Christ Mind, Which is Communion – the Communication of Creator and Creation.
Jesus devotes 9 chapters to special relationships? in ACIM and says that the special love relationship is the ego’s most boasted gift. The undoing of the guilt and fear and pain of specialness is only painful to the ego, which is being undone. Yet you are opening to the awareness that you ARE NOT the ego. You are Holy. The Holy bless and offer only blessing, so nothing can be lost in extending the Self God creates Perfect.
The Holy Spirit leads through the darkness to the Light. The journey inward? may seem dark to the ego, for the ego is being undone and resents and fears each step. I am joined with you in coming through the perceived fear. No body can increase fear, yet while you give faith to the ego you will value bodies and the communication from bodies. I share with you a Communication that can never be broken off, for I offer what the Holy Spirit shares with you. This inner blessing is not dependent on words, yet I use them now to encourage you to go through the fear within to the Love that is Still Deeper within.
If the Holy Spirit’s Purpose is held firmly as the only goal, I assure you that only Love can be the experience. An experience of fear is a Call for Love, a Call to extend what was believed to be lacking. This extension can never be blocked. Relationships only reflect belief, and if a relationship with your brother? seemed to be broken it only reflected the belief that the Relationship with God had been broken. Love is unbreakable and indivisible. Ask if the ego’s belief and misperception could ever satisfy your holy mind, and realize You have the Answer.
Do not look to another for Guidance. The external seeking was the seeming sickness of mind. You have the Truth within our Mind. Seek within and you shall find What is forever true. The ego teaches that relationships begin and end, rejoicing in the former and lamenting the latter. Nothing that is True has a beginning or an end. Glory be to the Living One for creating Love Eternal!!!
I love You forever and ever!
David
Subject: Sexual Abuse Issues
Hi David,
In my meditative state I sometimes am drawn to do forgiveness exercises using the lesson God is the love in which I forgive ______ . In these exercises my grandfather and uncle have come up in relation to sexual abuse. I proceed as usual in forgiving them and myself. I have no specific memories of abuse. I also have very little memories of life before about 6 years old. So if these events occurred they may have been very early.
So how can I work in removing these blocks to love’s presence?
I also have a memory of around 12 years old when I witnessed my brother and his friends having sexual relations with a young girl. I presume I felt some guilt from this even though I did not participate.
I also have some vague memory of some sexual contact with my sister, probably at about 8 years old.
Is there anything specific I can do about these memories?
Thanks
Beloved One,
Thanks for writing. Sexual attraction and sexual abuse seem very different to the mind asleep and dreaming, and to the ego attraction is often judged as positive and abuse as negative. Yet anything that is used to reinforce the reality of the body in awareness is an attempt to deny the Reality of Spirit. Memories are interpretations from the past that are called forth and experienced as if they are still present. Past associations can seem to offer pleasure or pain, and the sameness of these seemingly different experiences must be recognized before they can be released as one error. In forgiveness the misperception of abuse is gone, for there is no longer a belief in opposites. The perception of a grievance requires a victim and a victimizer, and this perception forgiveness cannot perceive. The projection of attack thoughts produced the illusory interpretation of abuse. Once the projection is seen as the attempt to keep the attack thoughts this defense will no longer seem helpful. Peace comes from the release of attack thoughts, and thus all ego attempts to repress or project attack thoughts are only ways of blocking inner peace from awareness.
There is a Perspective of the body and world that offers only blessings. This is holy relationship. The body is seen as a symbol of communication and has no value in and of itself. What is the body for? Does it serve the Light? is the only helpful question in any situation in which the thought of bodies has entered. Let the Spirit smile and laugh and hug through the body, and you will see the body in the Light of forgiveness. In this Light there is neither attraction or repulsion, for what is wholly neutral can merely serve the One Who brings healing. In this Purpose is the experience of Joy. Joy is ever fulfilling and offers the Perspective that all things work together for good.
Glory to God!
Love,
David
Subject: Confusion around Sexuality
Greetings David,
I have been reading a course in miracles for 6 months and am also doing the lessons in the workbook. When I received this book I knew that the words within its covers were meant to be read by me, and its message resounds clearly with the light within.
I know that the words in this course speak the truth and more important to my happiness than anything else is that I fulfill my part in Gods plan for salvation.
However I am particularly confused about the area of sexuality at the moment. I find myself in a situation where I am being offered a sexual relationship with a married man who is also sexually involved with a friend who lives in the same house as me. This appears to be a particularly complicated situation.
Recently I admitted to this man that I was attempting to avoid the physical pain I experienced in sex by not getting involved in a sexual relationship. He offered me the chance to be with him- as someone who trusted that I could have a pain-free experience and who was willing to be patient in looking for that experience with me.
I accepted his offer and found that I was willing to express the pain in front of him instead of trying to hide it (which I had done in previous relationships,) and that once we talked openly about it I was able to have a sexual experience that was pain free. This was quite an intense experience for me and when he spent the following night with my house mate I found fear coming to the surface. I doubted that there had actually been a meeting of anything other than two egos when we were together and that he was simply out to get whatever he could.’
I am confused by the fact that I am being offered this experience with a man who is now sexually involved with 3 different women and married to one of them. It is very hard to believe that there is no judgment placed upon me for getting involved in such a situation. I am also finding it difficult to maintain a friendship with my house mate when we are both involved with the same man.
It seems that I have just opened a part of my mind that I had sought to keep firmly apart from the rest until recently and it appears to have resulted in much confusion!
As the course is all about relationships I am sure that this is a gift to all of us involved in this strange situation, but at the same time I consider the possibility that I am just deluding myself into believing that I want something other than the truth.
I would be so grateful to hear some words from you brother.
Beloved One,
Thanks for sharing what is on your heart. The ego is flushed up and exposed in relationships, and aligning with the ego brings illusory experiences of pleasure and pain. Distorted miracle impulses reach awareness as cravings, and in this regard sexual cravings are the same as cravings for food, drink, temperature, stimulation, etc. Cravings always involve lack and preferences, and the miracle leads past this distorted perception of the world. As the ego belief system is questioned and exposed and released the lens of lack? is cleared of all obstacles to peace. When this happens miracle impulses are experienced directly in awareness as Love and Calls for Love. Wholeness and completion are the natural characteristics of the mind, and the miracle returns these characteristics to awareness. Complexity is always of the ego. The ego uses relationships for gratification and the ego, being impulsive and unstable, has no conception of commitment. Commitment to a monogamous interpersonal relationship is a step that the Holy Spirit can use (as with any commitment or discipline) to open the mind to the sole or ultimate commitment that one can make: accepting the Atonement or Awakening to God’s Love. I have referred to the ego’s purpose for relationships as Dixie cup relationships. The ego seems to throw its relationships away once it seems to get what it thinks it wants and moves on to the next relationship for another drink. Simultaneous sexual relationships or open relationships as they have been called seem to add to the complexity. A monogamous interpersonal relationship can offer a full plate of opportunities to expose and forgive the ego, and the undoing of the ego (forgiveness) is the only Purpose for all relationships. The ultimate realization (Self-realization) is the recognition that Creator and Creation share the same Spirit of Love. At best all perceptual relationships reflect the Love of God, and this Agape Love inspires forgiveness and miracles.
The Holy Spirit Guides surely. Simplicity is of God, and the illusion of complexity is the error to be forgiven.
Love always,
David
Subject: Sexuality
Dear David:
The Course doesn’t say anything about sex, as if it didn’t exist. But it very much exists for me. I’m gay (though not presently in a relationship) and I’ve been interested in Sacred Sexuality? for some time.
Having no sexual partner, I arouse myself to orgasm on my own a few times a week and thanks to the books I’ve read I consider it to be a sacred act.
As I move deeper into the heart of ACIM I’m noticing that more and more often I simply have lost interest in sex. It doesn’t bother me-usually my thought is, Oh, good, I’ll have more time for other things now.
My questions are:
1. should sex just be ignored as apparently ACIM does?
2. Should students like me enjoy it until its attractiveness evaporates away?
3. Is there anything really sacred in the sex act, and should I use it, as one
Sacred Sex book puts it, as a springboard to transcendence?
4. And finally, if I decide to ignore my sex drives and live a life of abstinence and celibacy, will the repression of those sex drives cause any problems? I’m inclined towards celibacy but that’s because my Catholic upbringing made sex a mortal sin punishable by eternity in Hell. That clearly is not the right motivation to take a vow of celibacy.
Thanks for your help with this, David.
Much Love
Beloved One,
Thanks for your direct questions about sexuality. What you do comes from what you think, and that is why Awakening is a purification of thought. Behavior modification is therefore never the goal, for behavior but follows the guide the mind chooses to listen to and follow. Sexual desire is not better or worse than any desire for the world, yet Awakening is a state of contentment that is desireless. This is the peace that passeth the understanding of the world.
All appetites are ego getting mechanisms, and fantasy is the attempt to make false associations and obtain pleasure from them. As the miracle expands and becomes consistently experienced these appetites fade, grow dim, and disappear. The ego was the belief in lack, and all apparent appetites reflected this belief. The ego attempted to put various behaviors into moral and ethical systems of judgment, yet in the healed Perspective only wholeness is experienced and the past is gone. There is no hierarchy of illusions, no order of difficulty in miracles, and no preferences in the Atonement. The ego was one error and cannot be broken into enjoyable error and punishable error, moral error and immoral error, ethical error and unethical error. Celibacy and monogamy and masturbation are all stepping-stone concepts along the path of emptying the mind of all concepts, forgiving the illusion, and Awakening to Pure Oneness. Sacred sexuality is a contradiction in terms because Spirit transcends form entirely and it is impossible to mix Spirit and matter.
Pleasure and pain are the same error. The miracle transcends the error by showing its falsity, its impossibility. It is impossible to seek for pleasure without finding pain, for both are the same error: the attempt to reinforce the reality of the body and world. Christ is Spirit, not a body, and to experience Divine Mind is to forget the body entirely. At no single instant does the body exist at all. It is always remembered (past) or anticipated (future) in dreaming. This is the error of linear time. As one experiences the Holy Instant the experience of bodies and time are no more.
Awakening involves mind training. Pay attention to the thoughts that come into awareness. Detach. Desire healing. Preferences are judgments, and as the mind yields to the Nonjudgmental Perspective of the Holy Spirit the Awakening is obvious. You will observe that as long as appetites seem to exist there are the ego defenses of indulgence and repression. Neither is better or worse than the other, for they are the same illusion. The miracle offers a real alternative and when one is consistently miracle-minded defenses are no longer needed.
Let the Holy Spirit Guide you in the moment to the experience of the Holy Instant. In the Holy Instant God is Known, Christ is Known, and sexuality is unknown and unknowable. The perceptual world disappears in the Thought of God. The Thought of God is Sacred. Christ is Spirit. God is Spirit. That Which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Such is the simple Truth.
Love & Blessings,
David
Subject: Stepping Stones in ACIM
Dear David,
I just cannot understand these statements in ACIM. Would please throw some light on these? You might say that words are symbols twice removed from reality. But what other choice do I have other than to request that you answer them in something that I can relate to? I do not know of any other experience other than mundane worldly experience.
Lesson 135
…Yet it is not the body that can fear nor be a thing of fear. It has no needs but those which you assign to it. It needs no complicated structures of defense, no health inducing medicine, no care and no concern at all….
But we still have to feed it water, food for sustaining it is it not? No matter how I think, I cannot understand this.
Lesson 132
…There is no world. This is the central thought the course attempts to teach. Not everyone is ready to accept it, and each one must go as far as he can let himself be led along the road to truth. He will return and go still further, or perhaps step back a while and then return again….
Does this not point to re-incarnation? It says not every one is ready to accept it. Yet ACIM says Heaven cannot be reached alone and you have to take everyone with you. Does it mean that those who are ready will only enter heaven and others will have to remain here and work towards it? If Jesus or Buddha attained heaven how come we are still here? How could they reach without me for example? This also is beyond comprehension because it is contradictory.
I am immensely grateful for all your help,
Thanking you
Beloved One,
Thanks for writing and sharing your sincere questions. The first quotation points to the teaching that the seeming source of fear and need is the false cause -the belief in separation in the mind, and has nothing to do with the body. The ego belief is a wrong-minded decision to project the fear and needs to the body, as if the body and the environment that seems to surround the body can be causes of fear. Needs and fears arise from the sense of lack that the belief in separation induces. You might say that the only need the sleeping mind has is to accept the Atonement or Correction for the belief in separation. The ego attempts to protect itself by making it seem as if the fears and needs are in the cosmos and the body, yet images are neutral to the Holy Spirit and images can neither fear or have needs.
Until the mind is Awakened through retraining via the Holy Spirit it will seem as if there are causes in the world. Hunger, thirst, sexual desire, and the desire for stimulation seem to be based in the body and brain, yet they arise from distorted miracle impulses that pass through the lens of lack. All fears and cravings and needs are wrong-minded perceptions, yet answering the Call to be a miracle worker will yield many miracles and dissolve the lens of lack. Until the lens of lack is dissolved completely the sleeping mind will experience cravings, and cravings are either acted upon and temporarily satisfied or pushed down and denied from awareness. Neither approach will satisfy in a lasting way, yet miracles open the door to lasting peace and joy and freedom and happiness. In miracles are all seeming human needs met without effort. And the final miracle of Atonement brings an end to the belief in need and lack and fear forever.
The second quotation points toward the realization that there is no objective world/cosmos apart from the sleeping mind (ego), and since the ego does not exist neither does the world/cosmos it seemed to produce. Mind Awake is Christ, Eternally in the Mind of God. The Mind of God is Reality and there is nothing outside of the All-encompassing Mind of God. Spirit is Eternal and the time-space cosmos is but an illusory dream that has no existence or reality.
The perceived world/cosmos was made by the ego, yet the ego is nothing. It is subjective in that everything which appears as the dream is given pseudo meaning by the ego that made it. The Holy Spirit offers the Perspective of a forgiven world in which all distortions have been straightened out or neutralized. This Perspective is the gateway to Eternity, for this Perspective is one of nonjudgment. Judgment makes the world/cosmos hallucination seem real to the perceiver, while forgiveness shows the falsity of the world/cosmos. Everyone Wakes Up as One because the realization dawns that there are no private thoughts or private minds, no individual persons or separate individual souls, nothing that comes to? or leaves a cosmos that never was. The Vision of Christ is Pure Light and in this Light the veil of images that seemed to be the world/cosmos has vanished.
Jesus is a symbol of a man who saw the face of Christ and remembered the Eternal Oneness of Heaven or Nirvana. Now is the time to accept that You are that same One and realize that it is impossible to be even a spiritual person, for God is no respecter of persons. Mind cannot be broken into separate bits of consciousness and given separate names and roles and meanings. The role model of an awakened master? is helpful only to a certain step, and then it finally dawns that OneSelf IS the Living One. You are included in the Awakening because forgiveness is unified mind. In the forgiven world it is apparent that there is nothing outside the mind. The world/cosmos was a mind of ideas, and all of mind is included in forgiveness.
Stay devoted to the experience of Awakening through forgiveness, and push off and lay aside the stepping stones which are naturally released as higher awareness dawns. Your desire for God will bring the remembrance of God, and nothing is capable of preventing this inevitable Realization.
I love You dearly Beloved Child of God. We are the same One.
Love always,
David
Subject: Stewardship (Part 1)
Beloved One,
Blessings of Joy and Love! Glory to the One Who is the Giver of Life Eternal. I have been asked to speak on the topic of Stewardship by my sisters and brothers, and so I shall.
Stewardship has its Source in God, Who is the Giver of Life. In relation to this world, the mind believes it has forgotten God and is imagining a sense of incompletion and lack. The sleeping mind believes in needs and wants and seeks for abilities and things and people to satisfy these desires. The Holy Spirit meets these perceived desires as the mind Awakens, teaching the mind to release all false beliefs and concepts that made up the perceived needs and desires. Such is Stewardship. It is stepping back and allowing the Holy Spirit to take care of all the details of Awakening. The Holy Spirit leads to an experience of Wholeness and Completion in which there is no lack. As the sleeping mind begins to trust the Holy Spirit miracles light the way, for they show the truth of the idea I am sustained by the Love of God.
Stewardship is always voluntary, just as Awakening is voluntary. Unless the use of mind effort (time and skills and resources and funds and energy) is entirely voluntary there will be a sense of coercion and a host of shoulds ought to’s? musts and have to’s. A steward uses what is available in the service of the Holy Spirit’s Purpose and comes to experience that Giving and Receiving are the same. The Purpose channelizes all effort in one direction, Atonement or Complete Forgiveness, and this is how perception is integrated and healed of every distortion.
Those who are Called to Stewardship have been Asked to step into their function. Whatever they seemed to possess in this world is given over to a new Purpose that will show them that it is God Which Provides and Sustains, and ultimately that there is nothing apart from Life in God. From deep within, one is Called to this holy function. The only question is whether one will choose to listen to, answer, follow, and fulfill this Call. I am Calling you out of the world? is the same Call that has remained constant under the shifting world of conflict and scarcity.
Here are some parables about the blocks to Stewardship taken from the back of the Urantia Book. A steward is one who is willing to volunteer for the opportunity to serve God by forgiving and thus releasing all attachments to the world. As a context for these parables, Jesus and his apostles are training disciples to share the teachings and good news of the Heavenly Kingdom:
One earnest disciple came to Jesus, saying: Master, I would be one of your new apostles, but my father is very old and near death; could I be permitted to return home to bury him? To this man Jesus said: My son, the foxes have holes, and the birds of heaven have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. You are a faithful disciple, and you can remain such while you return home to minister to your loved ones, but not so with my gospel messengers. They have forsaken all to follow me and proclaim the kingdom. If you would be an ordained teacher, you must let others bury the dead while you go forth to publish the good news. And this man went away in great disappointment.
Another disciple came to the Master and said: I would become an ordained messenger, but I would like to go to my home for a short while to comfort my family. And Jesus replied: If you would be ordained, you must be willing to forsake all. The gospel messengers cannot have divided affections. No man, having put his hand to the plough, if he turns back, is worthy to become a messenger of the kingdom.
Then Andrew brought to Jesus a certain rich young man who was a devout believer, and who desired to receive ordination. This young man, Matadormus, was a member of the Jerusalem Sanhedrin; he had heard Jesus teach and had been subsequently instructed in the gospel of the kingdom by Peter and the other apostles. Jesus talked with Matadormus concerning the requirements of ordination and requested that he defer decision until after he had thought more fully about the matter. Early the next morning, as Jesus was going for a walk, this young man accosted him and said: Master, I would know from you the assurances of eternal life. Seeing that I have observed all the commandments from my youth, I would like to know what more I must do to gain eternal life? In answer to this question Jesus said: If you keep all the commandments-do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your parents-you do well, but salvation is the reward of faith, not merely of works. Do you believe this gospel of the kingdom? And Matadormus answered: Yes, Master, I do believe everything you and your apostles have taught me. And Jesus said, Then are you indeed my disciple and a child of the kingdom.
Then said the young man: But, Master, I am not content to be your disciple; I would be one of your new messengers. When Jesus heard this, he looked down upon him with a great love and said: I will have you to be one of my messengers if you are willing to pay the price, if you will supply the one thing which you lack. Matadormus replied: Master, I will do anything if I may be allowed to follow you. Jesus, kissing the kneeling young man on the forehead, said: If you would be my messenger, go and sell all that you have and, when you have bestowed the proceeds upon the poor or upon your brethren, come and follow me, and you shall have treasure in the kingdom of heaven.
When Matadormus heard this, his countenance fell. He arose and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. This wealthy young Pharisee had been raised to believe that wealth was the token of God’s favor. Jesus knew that he was not free from the love of himself and his riches. The Master wanted to deliver him from the love of wealth, not necessarily from the wealth. While the disciples of Jesus did not part with all their worldly goods, the apostles and the seventy did. Matadormus desired to be one of the seventy new messengers, and that was the reason for Jesus’ requiring him to part with all of his temporal possessions.
Almost every human being has some one thing which is held on to as a pet evil, and which the entrance into the kingdom of heaven requires as a part of the price of admission. If Matadormus had parted with his wealth, it probably would have been put right back into his hands for administration as treasurer of the seventy. For later on, after the establishment of the church at Jerusalem, he did obey the Master’s injunction, although it was then too late to enjoy membership in the seventy, and he became the treasurer of the Jerusalem church, of which James the Lord’s brother in the flesh was the head.
Thus always it was and forever will be: Men must arrive at their own decisions. There is a certain range of the freedom of choice which mortals may exercise. The forces of the spiritual world will not coerce man; they allow him to go the way of his own choosing.
Jesus foresaw that Matadormus, with his riches, could not possibly become an ordained associate of men who had forsaken all for the gospel; at the same time, he saw that, without his riches, he would become the ultimate leader of all of them. …Riches have nothing directly to do with entrance into the kingdom of heaven, but the love of wealth does. The spiritual loyalties of the kingdom are incompatible with servility to materialistic mammon. Man may not share his supreme loyalty to a spiritual ideal with a material devotion.
Stewardship has its basis in Divine Providence and can be summarized as God takes Care. Over the years this idea has been expressed in many ways. Jesus said Take no thought for tomorrow, Take no thought for what you should wear or eat, and Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven, and all else shall be added unto you. In A Course In Miracles Christ expresses the idea this way:
You may wonder how you can be at peace when, while you are in time, there is so much that must be done before the way to peace is open. Perhaps this seems impossible to you. But ask yourself if it is possible that God would have a plan for your salvation that does not work. Once you accept His plan as the one function that you would fulfill, there will be nothing else the Holy Spirit will not arrange for you without your effort. He will go before you making straight your path, and leaving in your way no stones to trip on, and no obstacles to bar your way. Nothing you need will be denied you. Not one seeming difficulty but will melt away before you reach it. You need take thought for nothing, careless of everything except the only purpose that you would fulfill. As that was given you, so will its fulfillment be. God’s guarantee will hold against all obstacles, for it rests on certainty and not contingency. (T-20.IV.1-10)
This is a Promise that, when sincerely followed, bears much fruit.
In the Psychotherapy Pamphlet it is expressed like this:
No one can pay for therapy, for healing is of God and He asks for nothing. It is, however, part of His plan that everything in this world be used by the Holy Spirit to help in carrying out the plan. Even an advanced therapist has some earthly needs while he is here. Should he need money it will be given him, not in payment, but to help him better serve the plan. Money is not evil. It is nothing. But no one here can live with no illusions, for he must yet strive to have the last illusion be accepted by everyone everywhere. He has a mighty part in this one purpose, for which he came. He stays here but for this. And while he stays he will be given what he needs to stay.
Only an unhealed healer would try to heal for money, and he will not succeed to the extent to which he values it. Nor will he find his healing in the process. There will be those of whom the Holy Spirit asks some payment for His purpose. There will be those from whom He does not ask. It should not be the therapist who makes these decisions. There is a difference between payment and cost. To give money where God’s plan allots it has no cost. To withhold it from where it rightfully belongs has enormous cost. The therapist who would do this loses the name of healer, for he could never understand what healing is. He cannot give it, and so he does not have it.
The therapists of this world are indeed useless to the world’s salvation. They make demands, and so they cannot give. Patients can pay only for the exchange of illusions. This, indeed, must demand payment, and the cost is great. A bought relationship cannot offer the only gift whereby all healing is accomplished. Forgiveness, the Holy Spirit’s only dream, must have no cost. For if it does, it merely crucifies God’s Son again. Can this be how he is forgiven? Can this be how the dream of sin will end?
The right to live is something no one need fight for. It is promised him, and guaranteed by God. Therefore it is a right the therapist and patient share alike. If their relationship is to be holy, whatever one needs is given by the other; whatever one lacks the other supplies. Herein is the relationship made holy, for herein both are healed. The therapist repays the patient in gratitude, as does the patient repay him. There is no cost to either. But thanks are due to both, for the release from long imprisonment and doubt. Who would not be grateful for such a gift? Yet who could possibly imagine that it could be bought?
It has well been said that to him who hath shall be given. Because he has, he can give. And because he gives, he shall be given. This is the law of God, and not of the world. So it is with God’s healers. They give because they have heard His Word and understood it. All that they need will thus be given them. But they will lose this understanding unless they remember that all they have comes only from God. If they believe they need anything from a brother, they will recognize him as a brother no longer. And if they do this, a light goes out even in Heaven. Where God’s Son turns against himself, he can look only upon darkness. He has himself denied the light, and cannot see.
One rule should always be observed: No one should be turned away because he cannot pay. No one is sent by accident to anyone. Relationships are always purposeful. Whatever their purpose may have been before the Holy Spirit entered them, they are always His potential temple; the resting place of Christ and home of God Himself. Whoever comes has been sent. Perhaps he was sent to give his brother the money he needed. Both will be blessed thereby. Perhaps he was sent to teach the therapist how much he needs forgiveness, and how valueless is money in comparison. Again will both be blessed. Only in terms of cost could one have more. In sharing, everyone must gain a blessing without cost.
This view of payment may well seem impractical, and in the eyes of the world it would be so. Yet not one worldly thought is really practical. How much is gained by striving for illusions? How much is lost by throwing God away? And is it possible to do so? Surely it is impractical to strive for nothing, and to attempt to do what is impossible. Then stop a while, long enough to think of this: You have perhaps been seeking for salvation without recognizing where to look. Whoever asks your help can show you where. What greater gift than this could you be given? What greater gift is there that you would give?
Physician, healer, therapist, teacher, heal thyself. Many will come to you carrying the gift of healing, if you so elect. The Holy Spirit never refuses an invitation to enter and abide with you. He will give you endless opportunities to open the door to your salvation, for such is His function. He will also tell you exactly what your function is in every circumstance and at all times. Whoever He sends you will reach you, holding out his hand to his Friend. Let the Christ in you bid him welcome, for that same Christ is in him as well. Deny him entrance, and you have denied the Christ in you. Remember the sorrowful story of the world, and the glad tidings of salvation. Remember the plan of God for the restoration of joy and peace. And do not forget how very simple are the ways of God:
You were lost in the darkness of the world until you asked for light.
And then God sent His Son to give it to you. (Psychotherapy Pamphlet 3.III.1-8)
The message of Awakening I share has unfolded under the names Messengers of Peace? and Foundation for the Awakening Mind. In the 1990’s the Messengers of Peace were a nonprofit unincorporated organization dedicated to sharing the teaching materials that point to a State of Enlightenment. Since 1999 the Messengers of Peace have functioned under the 501©3 nonprofit status of the Foundation for the Awakening Mind. All of the financial records of the foundation are available publicly online at:
Through the Grace of God and in the Name of God I, and those who have been Guided to join in, are honored to serve and reflect the One in offering writings, audio & video clips, cds, mp3 cds, tapes, gatherings, and retreats which help shed light on the experience of forgiveness. These offerings are available without charge to those who request them. Awakening to Who You Are has no price or cost. Love offering gifts and donations are gratefully accepted. We welcome all inquiries and requests from anyone with a deep, sincere desire to Awaken to Eternal Love. Always feel free to send a letter or an email and feel free to call and speak with one of us or leave a voice message.
Email [email protected] and your request will be answered as soon as possible.
Divine Providence is the Source of Sustenance in serving the Plan of Awakening to Joy. I see that the travels and gatherings and work with brothers and sisters from all over the world have all been orchestrated by the Holy Spirit in the Plan of Awakening. I attribute all earthly forms? of support to the Holy Spirit, for truly the Miracle is the means to Awakening and the Miracle encompasses all. The forms have seemed to be many and varied. The gatherings, the cassette tape/cd/video tape/journal offerings, the video-gatherings, the counseling sessions, the phone sessions, the quiet retreats, and the Internet ministry have always been offered freely. There is never any expectation of compensation. Freely I have received of God, and freely I give what I have received.
The mission continues Now, inspired by the Holy Spirit’s Purpose. Jesus of Nazareth lives in our hearts. Freely Christ has given the Gospel to live and to give, and freely I extend the Gift. It is an honor and a joy to share the Love of God, and as Jesus once said: The messenger is worth his keep. Everything I have ever thought I needed in serving God’s Plan has been provided. Holy Spirit watches over the Plan, and I am assured that this Watchful Care continues as long as any need is experienced. He has been with us always as we carry on our simple mission. Whatever we have seemed to need, be it a car, a meal, a place to stay, or a calm, gentle reminder, all our needs have been met by Him. There is a calmness of heart in turning all perceived problems and needs over to Him and listening for His sure Guidance. The resurrection of Christ is the risen Christ, Awakened in God’s Love.
The Foundation for the Awakening Mind, which oversees all operations and distributes the teaching materials, offers everything freely and extends the materials far and wide across the earth. We receive and answer requests from countries all over the planet. The foundation has always accepted donations offered in loving support of Christ’s mission. Recently several people have expressed an interest in organizing Stewardship support for the foundation’s mission. The most often asked question about this task is: What is the foundation and what are the stated purpose and activities of the foundation?
These questions are answered simply in the foundation’s by-laws:
The Foundation for the Awakening Mind is a non-membership organization. Anyone and everyone with a desire to teach and learn true forgiveness, lay aside grievances and judgments, and to live and extend inner peace may consider themselves a member of our corporation. All contributions of time , resources, skills, and service to the goal of inner peace are welcome and gratefully received. We are organized for religious and educational purposes, for we understand forgiveness is Divinely inspired and must be thoroughly taught and learned to be experienced. We are not, however, affiliated with any religious denomination or educational institution. Our organization aims at a transformation of consciousness to inner peace, and thus we seek to remove all mental blocks and barriers that prevent the awareness of love. All are included in the experience of inner peace. We teach and learn that we all hold membership in the Family of God, the Family of Peace.
Purpose: The Foundation for the Awakening Mind is a nonprofit Educational Foundation established for the purpose of teaching and learning true forgiveness, laying aside all grievances, and living and extending inner peace. First and foremost, we shall encourage prayer, meditation, and miracles-the laying aside of judgment-as the means of achieving the learning goal.
Activities: All teaching and learning materials produced and offered by the Foundation as well as gatherings and retreats sponsored by the Foundation will be made available to the public free of charge, and donations will be accepted to offset the costs of these publications and activities. Our Foundation will Sponsor talks and discussions, an Internet Ministry, and also produce and make available printed, audio, and audio-visual materials that promote true forgiveness. These materials may include but not be limited to audio tapes, video tapes, articles, books, pamphlets, and compact discs. In addition we will make use of advancing Internet and communication technologies. And finally, the Foundation will oversee the establishment of a Retreat Center and an Administrative Base of Operations …to further promote our purpose of forgiveness and the remembrance of our Eternal Oneness in God.
Another important question with regard to Stewardship is: How can I contribute and what is expected of me? Nothing is expected for all contributions are completely voluntary. Contributions of time, skills, abilities, resources, and funds all are helpful for sharing the Purpose of forgiveness and extending inner peace. Houses can be repaired and remodeled to serve the Purpose for travel missions and restful retreats, web sites can be developed and promoted to share the ideas via print, audio, and video formats. Musical, artistic, and technical skills are very helpful for the Travel ministry and Internet ministry, while building and mechanical skills are helpful for remodeling the houses and maintaining the vehicles. Recently three people have offered to lend their time and effort and skills to organize and implement a Stewardship program for the foundation that will offer donors easy access to make contributions in all of these areas. The program will also help raise funds in support of the many foundation ministries.
In a recent gathering in Florida a woman named Nancy wanted to support bringing Spanish A Course In Miracles books and foundation publications to South America. Others I have met recently offered to help build and remodel the Retreat Center in Kentucky. Many requests for gatherings have come in from the United States, Canada, and other parts of the world. These are examples of the specific requests that are being received. A Stewardship program will help coordinate and support these aspects and activities of the ministry as they seem to develop. Everything is simply a backdrop for Awakening for those that are attracted to the Divine Purpose of the Holy Spirit. Every seeming holy encounter is an opportunity to accept complete forgiveness and extend inner peace. Everyone who joins this mighty Purpose serves the Holy Spirit and is served by the Holy Spirit.
My Purpose I share with All: Teach only Love, for that is What You are.
Kathy, Resta, and Kerri Graciously and with Divine Ease extend the Living Moment as they are intuitively Guided.
Subject: Re: Stewardship (Part 2)
Dear Davidji,
Thank you, the answer to my question on stewardship has been answered in Part 1 of Stewardship. One has been drawn towards the Awakening Mind Organization. We have spoken of this. Nothing seems to be happening towards this manifesting. There seem to be road blocks? on the way. Is this my own ego mind and its shenanigans? One doesn’t want to lose like some of the seekers who wanted to join Jesus’ messenger group. When this feeling of loss appears before one,….it feels like one is losing out on the kingdom of heaven. At this point some illusion seems to be getting mixed up? with the Reality. Its a very strange paradox occurring. Yet underneath it all there is a wisdom that what is to occur will occur. But then how much longer to wait before the wings of the Dove pick this form up and take it to where it belongs? Flummoxed and calm at the same time yet so wanting to remain true to Purpose and the Holy Spirit…..
Help!!!!
In Love and Oneness with Him who is the only truth……….
I love you forever
Beloved One,
Thanks for your deep devotion to Awakening! If you hold the Holy Spirit’s Purpose out front as the top priority everything will unfold in a very easy, obvious manner. You will watch it all unfold effortlessly and in Joy, because you have no investment in outcome and are voluntarily taking every step with the Holy Spirit. You are always welcome in my heart and I feel you may someday come and live at the Journey’s End Retreat Center.
It is a Joy to watch all those who come forward to witness to Divine Love as they trust and take the steps that are Given to them by the Holy Spirit. The invitations come so easily, and it is a Joy to accept each one. There is no reciprocity or bargaining or exchange in Divine Providence, and this trust dissolves the ego entirely. In Awakening there is no loss or sacrifice. The ego was the belief in sacrifice, yet its nothingness cannot be a real roadblock to Awakening because Awakening shows that there is no ego. Love is real and has no opposite. All Glory to the One for creating Love as It is forevermore!
Love,
David