Does A Course in Miracles Teach That I Need a Holy Relationship in Order to Awaken?
I do want to ask you about what A Course in Miracles means by Holy Relationship. In a single the main book it talks about “entering the ark” together, and it almost sounds as though you will 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 relationship that reflects enlightenment in my experience, and I in their mind! 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 many thanks for your help in my experience and others. I many thanks and I thank God for you. Namaste.
David Hoffmeister: Thanks for your openness and your willingness to appear deeply at what is 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're brought together, only One remains.
The body and the planet are usually the focus of ego's perspective, for this seeks to make real problems and struggles on the planet and to prevent the inner Healing Correction of the Holy Spirit. The ego's distorted world is the merchandise of identity confusion, an outpicturing of the belief that it's possible to make an identity which God didn't create. The ego is this identity problem and it absolutely was Answered or forgiven by the Holy Spirit the instant it appeared to arise. This one problem could be described as an authority problem or perhaps a confusion in who is the writer of Reality. Your brain that believes in the fact of the time-space cosmos has a get a handle on issue, for this believes that it can produce itself. This ego mind also thinks it's in competition with God, although this 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 a great example of the unveiling:
“A meaningless world engenders fear because I do believe I'm in competition with God.”
This really is the beginning of training your head to forgive, for the focus is brought back to your head, back once again to thinking, and removed from the human body and the world. Anorexia, weight issues, body image issues, and interpersonal relationship issues are types of projection, of seeing the situation where it's not: in the world. Your brain cannot tolerate the belief in a battle with God, and this belief is pushed out of awareness. The deep-seated control issue such a belief entails is then projected to the human body and the world. Weight control, like any attempt to control the script or the human body, is an effort to control the past. acim videos The Holy Spirit teaches that the past 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 repair or change a person or perhaps a self-image. Personal relationships might seem to sail happily along for awhile, the make-believe self-concept IS the non-public perspective and thus is definitely on shaky ground. Decisions are continuous. The Holy Spirit is really a decision. The ego is really 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 your head could be separate from God. Once your head believed that it had separated and built this time-space world, this time-space world of bodies became its substitute identity, as it believed it'd discarded the Kingdom of Heaven. The world was created up as a substitute identity. The sleeping mind is split on your choice of identity. The Holy Spirit says, “This world isn't Identity. This world is an illusion.” And thus the Holy Spirit reminds your head constantly, “This world isn't your Home. This world isn't your Identity. This world isn't real.” Whilst the mind is split it's 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 recognize with. You can never return back for God will punish you.”
Thought-form associations seem to become a substitute identity. The ego mind appears to be identified with the human body, with family, with environments that seem 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 typical part of the construction. Your brain is extremely shaky relating to this small identity, this small self, this little me. So the little me is shaky, and it seems 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 be seemingly telling this little me be seemingly really important. Praise thus seems very important (i.e., you're a person and you're a good 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 a fine intellect, you've such a heart, you help serve so many other folks, you're a good team-player, on and on). This aspect of the self-concept says that you will be a person and you've all of these positive attributes that basically cause you to a valuable and worthy person, which make you be noticeable above the crowd. You're not merely anyone—you're somebody special. The flip side is criticism, which directly reflects the shaky sense of self. Criticism could be: you're never as great as you think you're, you're not such a good team player, such a good provider, so good in bed—all the stuff which can be taken as insults to the non-public self-concept). That's the flip side of the strokes. To this 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 contributes to the experience of forgiveness or the realization that none of the tiny images perceived as separate have any reality.
When the criticism seems ahead, 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 will avoid those negative influences on the planet and those negative people. I'll find someone else or join a group where people are like-minded and neglect the remaining portion of the world. These new people will require to me and stroke me and praise me.” The attempt at substitution is an effort to keep a feeling of specialness, a feeling of separation, a feeling of individuality (a private mind with private thoughts). Those attempts are special love relationships. They appear to bolster worth and value and to validate personhood. And they provide a false witness for clinging to the ego as identity. To the ego, past associations serve to offer personhood some sense of stability and consistency and value. Yet, the Holy Spirit demonstrates past associations offer nothing of value, for they certainly were made by the ego to deny the reality of God's Love.
Holy relationship emphasizes and reflects Content (right-minded thinking) and posseses an awareness of the meaninglessness of form. Whilst the ego's believed relationships will be seemingly specific, yet each one will present a chance to release the belief in specifics. Divine Mind is Abstract and Universal. Forgiveness may be the bridge to the remembrance of Christ and God, Divine Abstraction. Thus the Holy Spirit teaches in A Course in Miracles:
“Whenever you meet anyone, remember it is really a holy encounter. As you see him you might find yourself. As you treat him you will treat yourself. As you think of him you will think of yourself. Never forget this, for in him you will see yourself or lose yourself. Whenever two Sons of God meet, they're 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.