Does A Course in Miracles Teach That I Desire a Holy Relationship in Order to Awaken?
I want to ask you about what A Course in Miracles means by Holy Relationship. In one part of the book it covers “entering the ark” together, and it almost sounds like you'll need one other specific person to be able to awaken. Therefore, I do believe I approach each new person with the expectation that maybe THIS could be the connection that reflects enlightenment if you ask me, and I to them! Am I taking this too literally? Or do you really need to have another to assist you awaken?
I appreciate your time so much and thanks for the help if you ask me and others. I thanks and I thank God for you. Namaste.
David Hoffmeister: Thanks for the openness and your willingness to appear deeply at what's underneath these topics and issues. A Course in Miracles teaches that the split mind contains both the situation (the ego) and the Solution (the Holy Spirit). When they are brought together, only One remains.a course in miracles youtube
Your body and the planet are usually the focus of ego's perspective, for this seeks to produce real problems and struggles in the world and to avoid the inner Healing Correction of the Holy Spirit. The ego's distorted world is the product of identity confusion, an outpicturing of the belief that it is possible to produce an identity which God did not create. The ego is this identity problem and it had been Answered or forgiven by the Holy Spirit the instant it appeared to arise. That one problem could be described being an authority problem or even a confusion in who is mcdougal of Reality. The mind that believes in the truth of the time-space cosmos has a get a handle on issue, for this believes so it can create itself. This ego mind also thinks it is in competition with God, although this really is pushed out of conscious awareness. This unconscious ego thought system is exposed in the A Course in Miracles Workbook lessons, and Lesson 13 contains an excellent example of the unveiling:
“A meaningless world engenders fear because I do believe I'm in competition with God.”
This really is the start of training the mind to forgive, for the focus is brought back to the mind, back once again to thinking, and recinded from the body and the world. Anorexia, weight issues, body image issues, and interpersonal relationship issues are samples of projection, of seeing the situation where it is not: in the world. The mind cannot tolerate the belief in a battle with God, and this belief is pushed out of awareness. The deep-seated control issue this kind of belief entails is then projected to the body and the world. Weight control, like any attempt to control the script or the body, is an effort to control the past. The Holy Spirit teaches that days gone by can only be forgiven or released or regarded as false—not fixed or controlled or changed.
The same ego dynamic is underneath interpersonal relationship struggles of power and control, of wanting to correct or change a person or even a self-image. Personal relationships might appear to sail happily along for awhile, the make-believe self-concept IS the non-public perspective and thus is always on shaky ground. Decisions are continuous. The Holy Spirit is just a decision. The ego is just a decision. Atonement is your choice that ends all decisions, an acceptance of the changelessness of Mind. The ego is your choice to think that the mind can be separate from God. Once the mind believed so it had separated and built this time-space world, this time-space world of bodies became its substitute identity, since it believed it'd thrown away the Kingdom of Heaven. The world was made up as a substitute identity. The sleeping mind is split on your choice of identity. The Holy Spirit says, “This world is not Identity. This world is an illusion.” And thus the Holy Spirit reminds the mind constantly, “This world is not your Home. This world is not your Identity. This world is not real.” As the mind is split it is hearing another voice (the ego) that's saying: “You've done it. You've separated from God. You'd better make the best of it and find something of the planet to spot with. You are able to never return for God will punish you.”
Thought-form associations seem to become a substitute identity. The ego mind seems to be identified with the body, with family, with environments that appear to surround it (i.e., I'm an American, Japanese, I'm male, I'm female, I'm from a rich family, from a poor family, I'm Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, etc.) All of these are thought-form associations. And these seeming other persons and places surrounding the little personal self are all part of the construction. The mind is very shaky about any of it small identity, this small self, this little me. So the little me is shaky, and it looks like other persons give the little me reality and importance (i.e., you're my son, my daughter, you're my boss, you're a loving father, etc.) and all the different items that these images appear to be telling this little me appear to be really important. Praise thus seems essential (i.e., you're a person and you're a great one!).
Praise and acceptance from others SEEM to stabilize this very shaky thing (i.e., you're a good lover, you're a good provider, you're great with the youngsters, you've an excellent intellect, you've this kind of heart, you help serve so many other folks, you're a good team-player, on and on). This part of the self-concept says that you are a person and you've all of these positive attributes that actually cause you to an invaluable and worthy person, that produce you be noticeable above the crowd. You're not just anyone—you're somebody special. The flip side is criticism, which directly reflects the shaky sense of self. Criticism will be: you're much less great as you think you're, you're not this kind of good team player, this kind of good provider, so good in bed—everything which can be taken as insults to the non-public self-concept). That's the flip side of the strokes. To the ego self-concept that believes both parties (the positive and negative) of thinking are real, the Holy Spirit is perceived as a good threat, for the Holy Spirit leads to the knowledge of forgiveness or the realization that none of the tiny images perceived as separate have any reality.
Once the criticism seems to come, the ego attempts a substitution. It thinks, “I don't need this. I'll go elsewhere and start other relationships with people who is able to appreciate my talents and skills and abilities, appreciate my personhood. I'll avoid those negative influences in the world and those negative people. I'll find another individual or join a group where individuals are like-minded and neglect the rest of the world. These new people should me and stroke me and praise me.” The attempt at substitution is an effort to keep a sense of specialness, a sense of separation, a sense of individuality (a private mind with private thoughts). Those attempts are special love relationships. They seem to bolster worth and value and to validate personhood. And they give you a false witness for clinging to the ego as identity. To the ego, past associations serve to give personhood some sense of stability and consistency and value. Yet, the Holy Spirit shows that past associations offer nothing of value, for these were produced by the ego to deny the reality of God's Love.
Holy relationship emphasizes and reflects Content (right-minded thinking) and comes with an awareness of the meaninglessness of form. As the ego's believed relationships will appear to be specific, yet each one of these will present a chance to release the belief in specifics. Divine Mind is Abstract and Universal. Forgiveness is the bridge to the remembrance of Christ and God, Divine Abstraction. Thus the Holy Spirit teaches in A Course in Miracles:
“Once you meet anyone, remember it is just a holy encounter. As you see him you will see yourself. As you treat him you'll treat yourself. As you think of him you'll think of yourself. Always remember this, for in him you will discover yourself or lose yourself. Whenever two Sons of God meet, they are given another chance at salvation. Don't leave anyone without giving salvation to him and receiving it yourself. For I'm always there with you, in remembrance of you.