A Course In Miracles – San Jose Karl J Vidt, ACIM Student/Teacher

ACIM T-7.VI From Vigilance to Peace – 2

March 18, 2014abstract background withe sea sunrise

We have given up the awareness of our power.  We are created with the power of our Source; God if that is how you identify Source.  We are One with that Source.  And we somehow have decided to not believe that about ourselves.  The Mind of God, of Source is the only real thought system.  However, we have used the power of our mind to make up another thought system we have chosen to believe.  This thought system is based on the premise that we are not One with Source, that we are a separate entity that lacks what it needs to exist and therefore must take what it needs from others.  The simple belief in this idea of lack and separation gives it power in our mind to make us unaware if our true power and Oneness in unity.  The two ideas cannot coexist and when we try to make them coexist they make conflict in our mind.

 

Peace and Love are the natural condition of our true and real thought system.  Conflict cannot exist in the presence of peace and love.  If we choose to believe the idea of separation and therefore lack, we will experience conflict, for lack and separation are not consistent with who we really are.  Thus we will not be fully aware of peace and love.  There is no room for conflict in peace and love.  The egoic mind, the separated mind, feeds on this conflict and uses it to preoccupy our mind to keep us distracted from that within us that knows who we really are.  The Holy Spirit, the Higher Holy Self, is ever present within our True mind gently reminding us of who we really are, while knowing that we cannot be anything other than our true essence and cannot possibly hurt who we really are.  Our Higher Holy Spirit Self doesn’t fight with that which is merely an illusion and a mistaken belief that has no real power.  Any conflict we experience is simply made up in our made up thought system.  Spirit recognizes that we have chosen to mistakenly believe there is conflict in our life and therefore holds our true nature for us, waiting for us to relinquish our attachment to conflict we made and choose to be guided to see differently.

 

We need not search and find the reality of who we are by ourselves, but merely ask for guidance from Spirit in reawakening to this reality.  We are still who we really are.  This essence is always within us.  We never lose the peace and love that is the core of our being.  We simply allow Spirit to guide us to the awareness of who we really are.  We simply relinquish our attachment to this made up thought system and reawaken to our real essence.  Peace will be our foundation and love will flow from within us in an ever flowing stream.  And this flow will fill us with the joy of our Source within and around us.  So where do we begin?  Spirit asks us to be vigilant for any conflict we experience and use that as a reminder to look to Spirit for guidance in changing our perception which will result in bringing us to the awareness of peace within us.  We need not be vigilant for peace, for we already have peace.  We simply need to recognize and let go of the blocks to our awareness of peace that keep us believing in a mistaken thought system.  Choose now to follow Spirit’s guidance and open to the joy of the awareness of who we really are.  Peace tells us we are there.  And we know we are One with Source and all of creation.  This is where our true power lies.

ACIM T-7.VI From Vigilance to Peace

March 11, 2014abstract background withe sea sunrise

We have denied ourselves the awareness of who we really are.  We have denied ourselves the awareness of our true power.  And, we have denied ourselves the awareness of the presence of Love in our lives and our being.  All this denying is our choice, though we may not even be aware that we made that choice.  But even with all that denying we cannot destroy any of what we are created with.  It’s just impossible.  We can lose our awareness of who we really are, but we cannot change the who we really are that Source created.  The essence of our being is eternal and it is so powerful we cannot even come close to destroying who and what we are.

 

What we have done is make up another identity for ourselves that seems to be independent from anything else we perceive in this world and our lives.  We use the power of our Source given minds to make up this identity and then we believe it is who we are.  However, the thought system we believe is who we are very carefully convinces us we are this separate identity and that any thought that we are One with Source and each other threatens our identity.  This thought system, called the ego, is bent on making sure we are not aware of our true identity to preserve our belief in our separate identity.  And this keeps us in a state of some form of fear that our existence is threatened.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

 

As we embark on this journey to reawaken to the awareness of who we really are, we have a guide in Spirit to show us the way.  The journey is a journey in retraining our mind to think with the Mind of God, our true and higher mind.  This higher Mind is a collective mind, One with Source and all of creation.  When we allow Spirit to guide our Mind, we perceive the world we live in differently.  Spirit asks us to allow ourselves to be guided in our perception and our thoughts by being vigilant for Spirit as we go about our daily lives.  Being vigilant for how we feel about every thought and every experience, knowing there is a correct and incorrect perception for everything we experience and everyone we encounter shows us where our mind is at.  Do we experience fear or peace?  Once we begin to realize that nothing real can be threatened, we become increasingly assured that we are never truly in any danger.  We begin to understand that while our body can be threatened in this space time continuum, we are not this body we have identified as us.  Our true essence is Spirit, and that can’t be threatened.

 

Each step we take on this journey guided by Spirit moves us into the experience of deep inner peace.  We realize that we are filled with Love beyond measure.  And we find that love is so powerful within us we transcend this world of form, walking with our feet in this world, but our Mind in Heaven.  Heaven on earth is the natural state of being we are meant to be in.  And, it is ours for the asking.  Spirit asks us only to be willing to let It guide our minds.  Whatever else is needed will follow.  The Miracle Workers’ Prayer tells us we do not need to worry about what to say or what to do, for the One who sent us will direct us.  Isn’t it time to let go of all we are so attached to and let Spirit guide us?  Truth and Love will never fail us.  Let go today, and begin the journey back to the awareness of who we really are.  Be vigilant for Spirit and Peace will fill us with Love.

ACIM T-7.V Healing and the Changelessness of Mind

March 4, 2014abstract background withe sea sunrise

True healing is of the mind.  Healing is the Holy Spirit’s form of communication in this world, and the only form of communication Spirit accepts.  In our attempt to identify ourselves as separate, we have cut ourselves off from the awareness of our wholeness and our higher mind.  Thus we have severed our awareness of communication within the Mind of God; our higher mind.  Our world now seems to consist of ever changing ideas and values, few which bring us any sense of happiness, peace or love.  Most of what we experience seems to bring us some sort of conflict or confusion.  It certainly doesn’t bring about consistency and lasting wholeness.

 

When we begin to allow Spirit to guide us in our thoughts and thus in our lives, we begin the healing process.  Healing brings our mind back in touch with our true mind, the higher mind, the Mind of God.  We have never left that mind, but we have severed ourselves from the awareness of our true mind by thinking we are separate.  Healing brings us back in touch with the awareness of who we really are.  Healing moves us from identifying with the body and our lower mind as our identity to the awareness of our Oneness with God and Creation and the One Mind of God.  We ate complete as we are.  We are whole as we are.  We lack nothing as we are.  We are limitless as we are.  But unless we allow or beliefs about who we are shift to the ideas of wholeness, peace, ad abundance, we will continue to believe that we are less than we really are.  Healing is the shift in our awareness to the Truth about who we are.  Spirit teaches us who we really are.  And as we learn what Spirit is teaching us, we teach who we really are to each other. Shifting our beliefs and awareness about who we are is what healing is all about.

 

As we thoughtfully and diligently embark on this journey with Spirit, our perception of the world changes and we see the world in a different light.  The light of wholeness that shines from within us changes how we see and perceive in this world.  We come to a deeper understanding of the world and ourselves and each other.  Peace, Love, and Joy become evident in our lives.  Our mind is at peace.  Life now flows on in grace, and joy flows from deep within our being. Spirit has been given us to guide us on our journey back to the awareness of who we really are.  This journey is the healing of the mind.  We realize we are and have always been whole.  And this awareness shines as a light in the world to, in turn, guide others to their own awareness of who they really are.  Peace, love, and joy are reflected everywhere.  Even where we perceived darkness before, we will see light there again.  Turn to Spirit and allow its guiding thoughts to bring healing to all our minds.  Our true mind is changeless.  Only our awareness of our true mind can be changed or healed.  Be healed, restore your awareness of communication, for we already are.

ACIM T-7.IV Healing As the Recognition of Truth

February 25, abstract background withe sea sunrise2014

God knows all of us, God’s creations, as perfectly whole.  This is irrefutable.  This is a certainty.  No amount of forgetting or misperception can change this immutable fact.  No matter how broken we may feel, no matter how far we may think we have strayed, no matter how alone and separated we may think ourselves, God always knows us perfectly whole.  This is a certainty we can bank on.  We can forget we are whole, and remove the awareness of our wholeness from our minds, but we can never change the reality of our wholeness.

 

Healing is the reawakening in our mind to the certainty that we are whole.  It is a remembering of the laws of God and a forgetting of the laws of the ego, separation.  Healing is a way of undoing our belief in differences.  Our belief in differences is the mistaken belief that we are separate from God and each other.  In this world of form we all appear to be unique.  We all appear to have differing abilities and differing identities.  But these apparent differences are all translatable to one common thought; that we are perfectly whole.  Spirit works within our minds to use all our differing abilities to transform our awareness and remember who we really are.  Healing is replacing the laws of the ego in our minds with the laws of God.  Forgetting in this application is simply remembering better.  As we allow Spirit to guide our minds in healing, we are replacing our misperception with a perception that is better.  Thus we move toward remembering the laws of God and the truth about who we really are.  We are perfectly whole.

 

The laws of God are within us.  They are truth and they are a part of who we really are in our perfect wholeness.  They are the laws placed in us in our creation.  The Course tells us to seek first the Realm of Heaven within us.  This is our home.  This is the state of mind and being we have forgotten by believing we are something other than that which we really are.  Peace, Love, and Joy are abundant here.  We are the Divine Presence of God in this world.  Allowing ourselves to wake from the dream of separation and see the reality of our perfect wholeness is the Light of the Divine within us and the Light of the Divine within each other.  This Truth about our wholeness is not new.  When we choose to allow ourselves to see it we will recognize ourselves in an instant and know it is the Truth about who we really are.  Be willing to change your mind and recognize the Truth about who you really are.

ACIM T-7.III The Reality of the Realm (Kingdom)

abstract background withe sea sunriseFebruary 18, 2014

To be in the Realm of God is to simply focus your full attention on the Realm of God.  This is not a physical place.  This is not a destination.  This is simply the process of paying attention to our thoughts, to where our mind is at.  This is the process of keeping vigilant for the Thought of God, the Mind of God, the Divine state of who we really are.  When we are in touch with this higher state of mind and being, we are in reality.  This reality has no form, but it does have the experience of peace and joy.  The reality of the Realm of God is pure unconditional Love.  And this is who we really are, no matter who we think we are at any given moment.

 

What we believe about who we are determines our state of mind.  Though our life and our world may seem out of our control, it is our belief about who we are that sets the tone for our experience of life.  If we believe we are separate from each other or unequal in our creation, we set up a belief in limitation and inequality.  A belief in inequality and limitation blocks our awareness of who we really are and thus the awareness of our limitlessness and creative power.  To see ourselves separate from our reality, we must perceive ourselves as unreal.  Therefore the world we perceive from this separated state of mind is also unreal, for it is seen and perceived through a distorted lens rather than the Divine Mind.  As long as we believe we can see what is not real, we choose conflict as our choice.  The result of choosing to believe we are other than who we really are creates conflict in our mind and thus is the root of our unhappiness and dissatisfaction.

 

This choice seems to be a choice, but choosing to believe in a state of mind that isn’t real is not really a choice at all.  The Realm is not concerned with “seeming” choices for reality is ours because we are reality.  Once we realize and believe that we are the Realm and therefore reality, having and being are reconciled and there is no longer any conflict in our mind.  God lit our mind and keeps our mind lit with God’s light, because God’s light is what we all are.  We all are Divine.  We all are Holy.  We all are Love.  We all are joy and peace.  This is who we really are.  To believe anything less than that is to allow our mind to be in conflict.  So when we question who we are, Spirit is there to undo the questioning.  Spirit is here to guide us to undo our choice to believe in anything other than reality.  Resting in this guidance brings us the serenity of knowing who we really are and what we share; the awareness and the reality of the Realm.  Let it be so.

ACIM T-7.II The Law of the Realm (Kingdom)

abstract background withe sea sunriseFebruary 11, 2014

“What you project or extend is real for you.  This is an immutable law of the mind in this world as well as in the realm of God.  However, the content is different in this world, because the thoughts it governs are very different from the Thoughts in the Realm of God.” (T-7.II.2.4-6)  We are responsible for our thoughts and so our thoughts determine the world we see and experience.  Whether we have chosen to align with a thought system based on separation or based on Oneness and the Thoughts of God, this law applies to us and we see the results of our thinking.  There is nothing inherently good or bad in this, it just is.  The Course tells us again and again that we are responsible for the world we see, and we are.  But there is no lasting harm in our perceiving.  The Course is teaching us to heal our perception and thus our way of thinking.  And God has given us Spirit to guide our way in learning to change our thinking and perceiving.

 

Healing thoughts are the only kind of thinking in this world that resemble the Thought of God, and easily translate to it.  When one perceives themselves as sick or separate, they are really seeing themselves as not whole, or in need.  If we also see that one the same way, we are seeing that one absent and separated from the Realm of God, thus making the Realm obscure to both of us.  Sickness and separation are not of the Realm, but wholeness and Oneness are.  We each live in this world with our own set of circumstances, experiences, and perceptions, thus our own thoughts.  And because of the law of the mind we either experience separation or wholeness based on how we think.  This law is adapted to whatever situation we are in at the moment and the health of our perception determines our experience.  If we are perceiving in a healthy manner, we will experience infinite peace and joy.  If we are perceiving in an unhealthy manner, we will experience something less.

 

One immutable thing we must remember; we are Whole and One with our Source, each other, and all of Creation.  This has always been, is now, and always will be.  Only our awareness of this fact can be obscured by our own mistaken thought system.  When our thinking is outside the Mind of God, the law of mind adapts to “What we project, we believe.”  And so every thought we think outside the Realm teaches us separation.  But, as we allow healing to come to our mind and our thoughts as guided by Spirit, we relearn correct or healed thinking.  Our healed thoughts will take on many different forms all perfectly adapted to our unique situations to provide the ideal lessons for us to learn.  The lessons are all the same at their core, for there is only one problem; that we are thinking and perceiving outside the Mind of God.  The one solution is to return our thinking to the Mind of God.  There will still appear to be many forms as we continue to live in this world, but we will see and experience this world differently and will be filled with the abundant peace and joy of the Realm.  Choose to let Spirit guide your thinking and return to the awareness of who you really are.

ACIM T-7.I The Last Step

abstract background withe sea sunriseFebruary 4 2014

Creation extends outward from its Source.  To create is to love.  God’s love flows outward to us, God’s creations, and love flows outward from us to our creations.  The Source of love is limitless, therefore the Source of creation is limitless.  In this thought system is creation and love ever increasing.  This is the eternal limitless abundance of creation.  Our mind extends from the Mind of God and so our mind extends to the mind of our creations.  To create is to love, so creation is thought.  Our only real creations are our wholly true thoughts.  All else are reflections of our thoughts.  If our thoughts or creations flow from the Mind of God through us they are real.  If our thoughts or creations flow from our lower or separate mind, they are not real and merely mistaken thoughts.

 

We have used our creative power in our separate mind to make thoughts that are mis-thoughts and misperceptions.  And so we have made a world for ourselves based on these thoughts projecting form our separate mind rather than the Mind of God.  Since these thoughts originate in our separate or egoic mind, they do not extend from our Source, the Mind of God.  Therefore they are not real, they are mistaken.  As we allow Spirit to guide us in our thoughts, our creations, we are guided to think with the Mind of God, our true mind.  Nothing breaks our communication with the Mind of God, for it is impossible to break, but we do turn away from the awareness of our true mind when we think with the lower egoic mind.  Miscreation is the thought we make with our lower mind.  These thoughts do no harm, but they do keep us distracted form the awareness of who we really are.

 

The Course has told us that God takes the last step to full awareness of who we really are.  This appears so from the perspective of separation, but it is really our reawakening to the realization that we have always been and always will be who we really are; One with God and creation.  Because we have believed we were separate, we were blind to the truth about who we really are.  We have taken the steps given us by Spirit to guide us in shifting our belief and thought system to a higher level, making it possible to see again who we really are.  As we awaken to our true function as co-creators with God, we create by extending Love and thereby increase Joy.  Only joy increases forever, for joy and eternity are inseparable.  Let the Love and Joy that extends from our Source extend through us to our true creations.  Peace, Love, and Joy naturally radiate from our Source and in turn from us.  Be the abundance of our limitless creation.  Be who you really are.

ACIM T-6.V The Lessons of the Holy Spirit C. Be Vigilant Only for God and God’s Realm

abstract background withe sea sunriseJanuary 28, 2014

Our wholeness is beyond question.  Our wholeness is a certainty, it is our true state of being.  We are created Whole and Divine.  Nothing can change, destroy, or deny this.  Our true home where we exist is the realm of Heaven.  Its condition and ours is peace.  Our true Mind, the Mind of God, is in peace and joy, for no other state of mind is possible.  Though it is impossible to not be in our true mind, we have found a way using the creative power if our mind to believe we are something else, something separate.  Though it is impossible to be something separate from the whole, we have believed we can wall off a tiny corner of our mind and believe we are that corner we believe is separate.  As long as we believe we are that tiny walled off corner, we are blind to the reality of who we really are. And we are unaware of our wholeness.

 

The three lessons of Spirit we have been discussing are the steps to changing our belief about who we are.  We have spent a lifetime building and reinforcing our mistaken beliefs about who we are.  Those beliefs are deeply embedded in our walled off or split mind.  Because these beliefs are so deeply held, we experience fear, anxiety, and a multitude of other emotions rather than the peace and joy that is our true state of mind.  Spirit’s lessons take us step by step patiently and lovingly to a shift in thinking and a shift in our belief system that guides us to an opening awareness of who we really are.  There are ups and downs, successes and mistakes along the journey, but Spirit quietly and gently guides our mind to a higher and higher level.  We end up turning many of our held beliefs about ourselves on their heads, but Spirit guides us each and every step of the way.

 

The first lesson Spirit guides us in is that to have, give all to all.  What is real is completely shared by all, the whole of creation.  All is shared and cannot be divided.  To have peace and joy, we must give peace and joy to all because it is always shared.  The second lesson Spirit guides us in is that to have peace and joy, we must teach peace and joy to learn peace and joy.  What we teach we learn and what we learn we teach.  Inevitably, what we believe about ourselves is what others see in us and so that is what we teach.  This is the school of life; we teach by example.  There is no more productive teaching method.  The third lesson Spirit teaches us is to be vigilant for God and the Realm of Heaven, our true home.  This is the process of shifting our belief system.  The shift we are making is our belief about who we are.  Our walled off corner of our mind we believe is separate is deeply embedded in our belief system.  We want to change that belief, but that old belief that “we are separate” will keep coming up until we believe more that we are whole and One rather than separate.  To keep this vigilance for the belief that we are whole and One takes effort as long as the old belief is still held.  But as the old belief fades away, the effort needed to maintain this vigilance for God and the awareness of who we really are will lessen.  The truth is that nothing can shake the truth about who we really are.  So take the first step and ask Spirit for guidance in these lessons.  We are never alone on this journey.  Spirit guides us every moment of every hour.  The destination on this journey is inevitable.  We can only delay our arrival and be miserable in the delaying.  Walk with Spirit in these lessons and be the peace and joy you really are.

ACIM T-6.V The Lessons of the Holy Spirit C. Be Vigilant Only for God and God’s Realm

abstract background withe sea sunriseJanuary 21, 2014

The third lesson Spirit teaches is Vigilance.  Spirit asks us to be vigilant only for God and God’s Realm; Heaven.  This is not a vigilance in the outside world.  This is a vigilance regarding every thought we allow into our mind.  We are not asked to judge others.  We are asked to judge every thought that enters our mind.  And, the only appropriate judgment to be made is whether the present thought holds up in the light of what God put in our mind.  Spirit guides us in this judgment if we allow It.  Whatever thoughts hold up in the light of Spirit are retained.  When a thought is in partial accord with our true Mind, Spirit retains and purifies or corrects it.  If a thought is not in accord with our true mind, Spirit discards it.  Our vigilance involves us desiring to shift our minds into the awareness of who we really are and then allowing Sprit to guide us.  This cannot be accomplished in a thought system rooted in separation.  We must be open to the idea that we are of One Mind; One with God and each other.  We must recognize that we are all One in Spirit, our true state of being.

 

We are created to be whole.  We are created to be of One Mind, the Mind of God.  This is our true nature; our natural state of being.  We start with a desire to be who we really are and a willingness to allow Spirit to guide us there.  We begin by recognizing we must give all to have all.  Then we recognize that we believe what we learn and in turn teach what we learn because we have believed it.  So we allow Spirit to guide our learning so we can teach correctly what is true.  Next, we remain vigilant for God in every thought that enters our mind, allowing Spirit to guide us in judging whether it is in accord with Truth or if it is in error, retaining and discarding as appropriate.  Aligning our thoughts with the Mind of God places our consciousness in the Realm of Heaven, our natural state of being.  What permeates our being then is the only mood possible within the One Mind, our true Mind; Joy.  As we rely on Spirit to guide us, every guidance Spirit gives fosters joy.  In that joy we experience the peace of Mind we are seeking.  We realize that what we seek is already within us and is not found outside of us in the world.

 

As we continue on thus journey without distance, we will at first need to put our effort towards being vigilant for God or Source.  What we will find, however, is that being vigilant for God takes much less effort than maintaining the idea and belief in separation.  As we align our thoughts with the One Mind, the effort needed lessens as we find the truth that we are abundant in Spirit.  Remaining attached to the idea that we are separate is a constant fight to maintain a thought and belief system that is contrary to anything real.  We are essentially maintaining a constant fight against the awareness of who we really are.  So now turn your effort toward being the reality of who you really are.  The infinite resources of Spirit are there to assist you.  The only possible outcome is the infinite Joy of being who you really are.  Perfect Peace, Joy, and Happiness are yours.  Let it be so.

ACIM T-6.V The Lessons of the Holy Spirit C. Be Vigilant Only for God and God’s Realm

abstract background withe sea sunriseJanuary 14, 2014

In the past few weeks we have been learning and discussing the lessons the Holy Spirit teaches us.  The goal of these lessons is to reverse the thought systems we have taught ourselves and return to our natural thought system we share with God.  We are returning to the awareness of who we really are.  We are so attached to the way we have been thinking that it brings great conflict to our minds as we begin this change.  Spirit asks us to recognize this conflict and bear with it for just awhile as we undergo the shift in thought systems that must occur. We have decided we want to live and experience peace of mind in our lives.  We want this shift ad Spirit will lead us there if we allow It.

 

The third lesson Spirit guides us in is, Be Vigilant for God and God’s Realm.  God’s Realm is Heaven, or the Mind of God.  The thought system Spirit is guiding us toward is the Mind of God, or the higher thought system.  This is the thought system we were given by God in our creation, but we have turned our minds elsewhere and made up a lower thought system based on our belief that we are separate.  Our fundamental belief in who we are is the key to realizing and being aware of our true nature and being.  We say we want to have peace, so we must get peace.  Spirit teaches us in the first two lessons we must give peace to have it and that we must teach peace to learn it.  In this third lesson, Spirit asks us to be vigilant for God and God’s Realm; in other words, peace.  Being vigilant for anything implies it is already there and we simply be alert and vigilant to its presence.  We are already peace.  Peace is created in us in our creation.  Spirit asks us to now begin being aware of peace within and around us.  Peace is already in our mind and so we need look no further than our true being to become aware of it.

 

We shift our belief in who we are.  We begin to believe we are peace.  We begin to believe we are the One Holy Child of God.  We begin to believe that we are the Higher Holy Spirit Self we are rather that the separate limited self we have come to believe we are.  We cannot be both of these selves.  They contradict each other.  We are either limited or limitless.  We are separate and on our own, or we are One with God and each other.  We are peace or we are chaos.  Which would anyone choose in their right mind?  The choice to see ourselves as separate was simply a mistaken belief.  The truth never went away.  We never ceased being the One creation of God as we are created.  The mistaken thought can be changed.  Spirit is within us to guide us in changing what we believe about ourselves and who we are.  Be willing to allow Spirit to guide you in this journey.  It is a journey without distance.  It is a journey that is as difficult or as easy as we make it.  Today, be vigilant for God, God’s Realm, and Peace.  It is within each One of us and guides us to the awareness of who we really are.  Be Peace today.