Does A Course in Miracles Teach That I Need a Holy Relationship in Order to Awaken?
I do want to ask you in what A Course in Miracles means by Holy Relationship. In a single the main book it discusses “entering the ark” together, and it almost sounds as though you will need an added specific person in order to awaken. Therefore, I believe I approach each new person with the expectation that maybe THIS might be the relationship that reflects enlightenment to me, and I in their mind! Am I taking this too literally? Or do you really have to have another to assist you awaken?
I appreciate your time so much and thanks for your help to me and others. I thanks and I thank God for you. Namaste.
David Hoffmeister: Thanks for your openness and your willingness to look deeply at what’s underneath these topics and issues a course in miracles videos. A Course in Miracles teaches that the split mind contains both the problem (the ego) and the Solution (the Holy Spirit). When they’re brought together, only One remains.
The human body and the world are always the focus of ego’s perspective, because of it seeks to create 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 item of identity confusion, an outpicturing of the belief it is possible to create an identity which God didn’t create. The ego is this identity problem and it had been Answered or forgiven by the Holy Spirit the instant it seemed to arise. That one problem might be described as an authority problem or perhaps a confusion in who is mcdougal of Reality. The mind that believes in the truth of the time-space cosmos has a get a grip on issue, because of it believes so it can make itself. This ego mind also thinks it is 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 fantastic example of the unveiling:
“A meaningless world engenders fear because I believe I am in competition with God.”
This is the start of training the mind to forgive, for the focus is cut back to the mind, back again to thinking, and recinded from the human body and the world. Anorexia, weight issues, body image issues, and interpersonal relationship issues are types of projection, of seeing the problem where it is not: in the world. The mind cannot tolerate the belief in a war with God, which means this belief is pushed out of awareness. The deep-seated control issue this type of belief entails is then projected to the human body and the world. Weight control, like any attempt to manage the script or the human body, is an attempt to manage the past. The Holy Spirit teaches that days gone by can only just be forgiven or released or viewed 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 an individual or perhaps a self-image. Personal relationships may seem to sail happily along for awhile, the make-believe self-concept IS the non-public perspective and thus is obviously on shaky ground. Decisions are continuous. The Holy Spirit is a decision. The ego is a decision. Atonement is the decision that ends all decisions, an acceptance of the changelessness of Mind. The ego is the decision to think that the mind may 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 had thrown away the Kingdom of Heaven. The world was created up as a substitute identity. The sleeping mind is split on the decision of identity. The Holy Spirit says, “This world isn’t Identity. This world is definitely an illusion.” And thus the Holy Spirit reminds the mind constantly, “This world isn’t your Home. This world isn’t your Identity. This world isn’t real.” Whilst 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 world to recognize with. You can never return for God will punish you.”
Thought-form associations seem becoming 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 wealthy family, from a poor family, I’m Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, etc.) Most of these are thought-form associations. And these seeming other persons and places surrounding the little personal self are typical part of the construction. The mind is very shaky about this 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 issues that these images appear to be telling this little me appear to be really important. Praise thus seems extremely important (i.e., you’re an individual and you’re a good one!).
Praise and acceptance from others SEEM to stabilize this very shaky thing (i.e., you’re a great lover, you’re a great provider, you’re great with the kids, you have a fine intellect, you have this type of heart, you help serve so many other folks, you’re a great team-player, on and on). This aspect of the self-concept says that you will be an individual and you have many of these positive attributes that actually cause you to a valuable and worthy person, that make you stick out 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 believe you’re, you’re not this type of good team player, this type of good provider, so good in bed—all the stuff that are 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 sides (the positive and negative) of thinking are real, the Holy Spirit is perceived as a great threat, for the Holy Spirit results in the knowledge of forgiveness or the realization that none of the tiny images perceived as separate have any reality.
Once 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 will 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 another person or join friends where individuals are like-minded and overlook the rest of the world. These new people should me and stroke me and praise me.” The attempt at substitution is an attempt to steadfastly keep up an expression of specialness, an expression of separation, an expression 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 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 implies that past associations offer nothing of value, for they certainly were created by the ego to deny the truth of God’s Love.
Holy relationship emphasizes and reflects Content (right-minded thinking) and has an awareness of the meaninglessness of form. Whilst the ego’s believed relationships will appear to be 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 a holy encounter. As you see him you might find 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’re given another chance at salvation. Do not leave anyone without giving salvation to him and receiving it yourself. For I am always there with you, in remembrance of you.
