I wondered how people
could go for healing while at the same time functioning in the world. How do you keep it together? Are you supposed to, on top of the
challenges of keeping a career going and keeping families and
interpersonal relationships together , go inward and work on the healing
of your mind? It does seem to be that certain things fall apart, melt away ,
break down, and crumble. But remember , the ego is the one that’s
interpreting the process every step of the way. It’s usually a negative
interpretation, “This hurts too much. It’s too painful. If God is love, why
does it hurt so much in my heart?” The ego gets stirred by these first
glimpses of acceptance in your mind because they are pinpricks in its
façade. But once  you start the forgiveness process with the Holy Spirit, the
more you open up, the more miracles you will start to have. What in the
beginning seem like little glimmers of acceptance here and there —which
are very important—will start to become more stabilized. First there is
an allowance: I allow; I allow; I allow it to look and feel just as it is. I’m
not going to judge it. Then after all of that allowance, you come into a
true state of acceptance. Anothe r word for that is recognition. It is here
that you begin to recognize: “This is really who I am, who I have always
been, the One, the One Spirit.” The ego is the belief that there is no God. Awakening is the experience that there is only God. You can see that
there is zero meeting point between “There is no God” and “There is
only God”! The most difficult phase is the beginning of the turn, but when you
really get into the full swing of the turn of the tables and of the mind,
everything stabi lizes. It feels so natural, so effortless! At that point you
don’t even need  vigilance; it is like being carried along down a peaceful
stream. How dif ficult can that be?At Heart, We Are Just Forgiving Ourselves
Things that have been difficult to deal with keep coming back at us until
we start to realize that the peop le in our lives were just acting out our
beliefs. So, if we seem to be victimized or mistreated or we didn’ t get the
treatment that we felt we deserved, they were simply acting out our
unconscious guilt—everything that we have repressed and denied. They
were doing a great job of it too; Academy Awards go to your mom and
dad for those performances! But the fact is, we weren’ t reme mbering
them as they truly are; we were just remembering the past grievances
that we’ve kept in our mind and they acted them out. We are never actually upset by behavior . We are upset by our
interpretation of behavior , and we are always responding emotionally to
our interpretations. We just perceive what we still have unresolved
within our own consciousness or what we still have a grievance on. So,
people in our lives are actually doing us a favor . The ones we think are
the biggest jerks and the most insensitive people are helping us go past
our repression and denial mechanisms. They’re acting it out right in front
of us so we can allow all of our emotions into awareness. Once  they are
up in awareness, we can give them over to the Holy Spirit—an d have a
miraculous experience. Even just thinking  of your mom or dad, or whoever it is that you
have a grievan ce with, activates the memories and the emotions. Working this through is part of the clearing, even if they’re not
physically in your life. When we dream of them and when we think of
them, we can process what they bring up for us. It’ s part of the healing. We may not always be aware that whenever we hold a grieva nce,
we are actually holding it against our self. This is because projection
makes us see outside what we don’t want to see within our own minds
and hearts because we’re afraid that what we’re projecting is actually
true about ourselves. This is why, when we forgive, we are really
releasing our own soul, our own self. It takes a lot of energy to hold on to a grievance, energy that could
be used for loving instead. If we devote our lives to loving, then the fear
and misperceptions of the ego don’t have a chance to grow . If we keepour garden weed ed, clear , and clean, then we have space for the fruits—
and there are plenty of fruits. Give Beliefs Over to the Holy Spirit
Forgiveness is about really seein g what is in our mind and then releasing
it. This is our inner work. You can’t actually say to the Holy Spirit, “I
have a crazy life. Would You please fix it?” Instead you bring everything
that you believe  about your life and this world, about time and space
back to the Holy Spirit. And when you really do this complet ely, your
issues will disappear . So, in true for giveness, you go into it with the Holy
Spirit, to shine the darkness away , and you are brought back to the
experience of this present mom ent. Bring that darkness to the light. Bring all of your crazy beliefs to the light, and you will see they were
just in your imagination. They were just dark dragons, crazy little ideas,
you buried and kept hidden. It was just another trick of the ego. It was
never real! Forgiveness is a moment of choosing to be happy instead of being
right. Forgiveness is an opportunity to decide for reality anew;  it is the
moment when you decide for your true Self rather than for an image of
yourself. Forgiveness is to go inward beneath attack thoughts and come into
the innocence of who you are, to your divinity . Forgiveness quietly does
nothing. It waits and watches, and it doesn’ t judge. It’s just a serene,
profound, still state of mind. When forgiveness is our function, we are
inherently happy . Forgiveness is our key to happiness! Imagine you’re growing up with your parents, and they say, “What
are you going to be when you grow up?” And against all expectations
you say, “Happy , happy… I want to be happy!” This isn’t temporary
happiness associated with specific outcomes. It’s not, “I’m happy
because I got a raise, found my soulmate, or won the lottery .” It’s not a
temporary kind of happiness. So, the forgiveness practice leads to a very
joyful experienc e because there is no agenda with anything. We can
describe the unhappy dream as the misperception, and then the happy ,
forgiven dream is the touchston e, the closest thing to Heaven on Earth.It’s a transformation in mind and in consciousness. It’s so close to
Heaven that your feet no longer touch the ground, so to speak . You’re
just carried and lifted! Forgive and See the World as a Dream
Some people believe that when you start to see the world as a dream or
an illusion, you become disinterested or have no sense of love or
compassion flowing through you. But it’s actually the oppo site. The
Holy Spirit pours through even more from that state since you don’ t have
an investment in the form being  a certain way or looking a certain way. You experience a call for love rather than an attack, and you give what is
asked for; you give the love. You do not fall for perception; you do not
fall for behavior . As you give love away , you strengthen it, and then you
know that you are it, that you are an unlimited extension of divine love. I was visiting a friend one time when I experienced how the power
of forgiveness could transform aggression and rage. This friend and I
would watch metaphysical movies and meditate together for hours. She
had not mention ed to me that she had gone through a divorce about two
years earlier and that her ex-hu sband was insanely jealous if anyone of
the male gender would come near her. One day when we were watching
a movie , all of a sudden, a face appeared in the window . It was like a
Jack Nicholson movie. His eyes were bulging, and it looked like he was
ready to come in with a chainsa w. Then the door blasted open. He was
super raging angry , with saliv a coming out of his mouth. I had an
experience of being in a movie. I didn’ t even move. I didn’ t even get up. I just watched this movie as he came over. He was scream ing and
shouting and grabbed my shirt. I was just observing and noticing. I was
experiencing the lesson, “In my defenselessness, my safety lies.”
Later , I was walking along a road toward a nearby pine fores t to
meditate. A car drove up, and it was this man again. He jumped out of
the car and came over. He threw  my body down on the ground, and my
head hit a metal signpost and was bleeding, but I was not feeling any
discomfort what soever . Then, a car stopped and they said, “Wha t’s going
on here?”The man attacking me said, “No! There’ s no problem.” Then he
took me back to the house. He started to fumble through the medicine
chest, spilling pills all over the place. He was so scared. He was trying to
put gauz e on my head and give me pills. Then he cracked open and
started sharing with me about the pain that he felt about losing his family
and all the hurt, and the whole thing turned into a beautiful healing
experience. Because I had forgiveness in my heart, used in the deepest
way, I could be in true compassion. Forgiveness can feel profound, very deep, and very mystical. My
friend Lisa had a sister who was raped and murdered. After some time,
they found and arrested the murderer . He was in jail for many years. Lisa’ s family and the prosecutor were trying to have him electrocuted for
the crime. Even though years earlier , she had come through  a deep
grieving proces s around the loss of her beloved sister , Lisa had no
grievance agains t the man. Lisa is joined in the teachings of Jesus Christ
on forgiveness and got called to testify in support of the man who
murdered her sister . She wasn’ t condoning any of his actions. Through
the years that this man had been in prison, he had been praying  and had
become very devout. He had been working on his own forgiveness
process. At the courthouse, where her mother , her sister , and the rest of her
family were trying to make sure this man was electrocuted, Lisa was
there to represe nt forgiveness. While she was waiting in the hall, she
prayed with Jesus. She was looking at the wall, and sudden ly Jesus
appeared on the wall for her, in the marble. It was a very mystical
experience. Then when the time came to testify , she stepped into the
elevator , and guess who is in the elevator? The man accused of
murdering her sister . Lisa just gazed at him with love, and the man gazed back. There
was a deep sense of recognition and love. Then she gave an amazing
testimony . She testified for God, for Christ, and did not hold back one
thing. She was not concerned about the outcome of whether they would
keep him on death row or whether they would electrocute him. She was
there to testify for forgiveness and innocence. She was living the state of
forgiveness, she did not mind when she was cross-examined, and she did
not mind what happened in the courtroom. She was testifying forforgiveness for all of us. It was very powerful. She went there and with
the sharpness of a razor blade, she delivered the clear message of truth
and innocence. Examples of forgiveness show us what becomes possible when we
forgive from our hearts. When a friend’ s daughter was murdered, this
friend went into deep prayer . They arrested a man. My friend just kept
praying, “What should I do?” and Jesus said “Go to the prison . Go into
the cell with this man and say that you love him.” This man had
murdered his daughter , and he was to go into the prison, into the cell,
and just be there with the man. When he went to the prison, he loved this
man so thorough ly that this man started writing poetry , doing paintings,
and getting into the teachings of A Course in Miracles . Forgiveness is all
about seeing beyond the error . These are strong examples wher e you can see how your mind might
want to twist into rage and blame. Right away , scenarios like these draw
images of something evil that you would not want to face. But to me,
Lisa, and my other friend, Jesus said, “Take the stranger in.” He instructs
us to go past all of our thoughts and all of our perceptions that something
has been  done wrong and to connect in love. Connecting in love is our
freedom, connec ting in the present. Grievances are always of the past. When we hold a grievance, we remain in prison and so does the whole
world. When we forgive, if we go past the grievance and if we see with
the eyes of Christ and connect in Christ, we free the whole world. An experience of true freedom can only come in the present. It can
only come with forgiveness. Forgiveness is our sole function—our only
gift to the world. We have no life calling other than this. Our life’s
calling is not to “become” something. In fact, it is the opposite. It is to
unwind the false self that we made. And we do that by forgiving it, by
forgiving our belief in it. We are no longer bound by fear, guilt, and
doubt when we have fully looke d at all of our beliefs, down to the core
belief in separation, and release d them. This is the ultimate unlearning
and unwinding of the mind that will lead to a life of blissful freedom and
joy. Forgiveness sweeps away disto rtion and opens the hidden altar to
the truth . For here, and only here, is peace of mind restored, for this isthe dwelling place of God Hims elf. With complete forgiveness,  you will
see that no one can be hurt, and once you get in touch with the deep
presence, all things are equa lly acceptable. In the perception of
forgiveness, of the gentle grace of love that you are, everything is seen as
whole. And it is so relaxing in that holistic view that you can literally be
carried through the day, letting the wind take you like a feather . Like in
the opening scene of Forrest Gump , the feather is not trying to direct the
wind, and likewise Forrest cluelessly goes with the flow .Exercise: Release and Experience T rue Forgiveness
To listen to a recorded version of this exercise, go to
http://www .newharbinger .com/41870 . Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you now as you get quiet. Allow
your mind to become very silent and still. Take a moment to think
about a person in your life who has been a target of your
judgments and your grievances, someone whom you haven’t yet
forgiven, someone who upsets you or irritates you. This could be
someone near or far, someone related to you, a person that you
engage with frequently , or a person who has passed away . It
could be someone you have had a difficult and unloving
experience with. It is very likely that this person has alread y come
to your mind. This person will be the one you ask Spirit to help
you to see through loving eyes. Part 1. Journaling for Forgiveness
1. Describe a situation involving this person in which a
grievance or unforgiving thought obscures the miracle from
you. 2. Observe your mind to see what conclusions you have
drawn about this person that are all based on the past. How
are you judging this person? List everything in your journal. 3. Observe your mind to see what conclusions you have
drawn about yourself in relation to this person. Are you still
judging yourself this way? List the ways. 4. Imagine meeting this person again and spend a few
minutes with them in your mind. Use your journal to explo re
any additional thoughts, judgments, or emotions about them
and yourself, being very honest to allow subtle and hidde n
thoughts to arise into awareness. Take your time in your
reflections. Get them all down on paper , and when you feelcomplete, offer all your thoughts to the Spirit and move on
to part 2. Part 2. Reflecting on Forgiveness
Reflect on this for a while: The miracle enables you to see your
friend without his or her past. Let no dark cloud out of your past
obscure him or her from you, for truth lies only in the present, and
you will find it there if you seek it there. This person is not your
enemy; rather , they will help you experience the miracle of
forgiveness. In truth, this is always someone you wish to love
peacefully , yet are hindered from doing so by holding onto your
existing judgments, grievances, upsets, and regrets. “Now” has no meaning to the ego. This is why you heal as
you release the investment in past and future. Today , give no
heed to the shadowy figures from the past. Now is the time when
you are absolv ed of all past. Turn to the Holy Spirit to let Him
guide you in this practice. Today forgiveness is your function. Forgive the past and the belief in the future. Today , have a change
of interpretation about time and its function. Open up to the
present moment! Part 3. Meditating to W elcome Forgiveness
Practicing forgiveness has the potential to completely transform
your relationships. For this meditation, begin by allowing your
mind to become very silent and still. Think about the importance
of what you are about to do and the healing and peace that you
are welcoming. Witness your hurts and grieva nces as you bring them to mind
once more. Hold this person again in your mind, as you now
currently see them. Review the difficulties you have had, the pain
and suffering you thought they caused you, any neglect, and all
the little and larger hurts you believe they inflicted. You will regard
this person’s body with its flaws and better points as well, and you
will think of their mistakes or even of their “sins.”Now, begin to open to the possibility that your faulty
perception can be transformed. Practice seeing this person in a
new light, try to find some light in them, and allow this light to grow
in the picture that you see before you. Ask the Holy Spirit to help
you see beyon d the fixed image you hold. As you allow yourself to
open your mind and be guided to see this person differently , you
will begin to see the light from behind the illusion. In doing  so, you
free this person and yourself  of the dark images you have placed
upon them. Take some time to truly allow the light in. In gratitude,
allow yourself to accept this new perception and to see this
person in their true identity , in the light and without any reference
from the past. As you do this, you also see the truth in yourself,
which is light, and it become s evident to you that changing your
perception about the other person sets you free along with them. This person has given you the opportunity to see the power and
the release that comes from transforming your judgments to a
loving, accepti ng witness of the truth that is in you and everyone
else. Take some time to rest in the quiet resolution that you’ve
found. Take all the time you need and bask in the light of the
miracle. And now, meditate on this poem. Read it slowly , you may
read it aloud, copy it in your journal, or post it on your refrigerator . Do anything that brings its message deeply into your mind. Use no relationship to hold you to the past,
but with each one, each day , be born again. A minute, even less, will be enough to free you from the past,
and give your mind in peace to the present moment. When everyone is welcome to you as you would have yourself
be welcome to God and your Self, you will feel no guilt. For you will have forgiven.Forgiveness Is the Love that Calls Forth
Happiness
Wouldn’ t it be wonderful to experience gliding through your life like it’s
a peaceful dream, where you are just delighted and fully accepting of
yourself and others? In this world of dreams, your goal can become the
transformational forgiveness of your perception from a nightm are to a
happy dream. The happy dream in simple terms is a dream of
nonjudgment. Human beings organize the world they see and their lives
on Earth based on many beliefs . Forgiveness, which is what the happy
dream is about, is like a giant, all-encompassing belief. In fact, it’s such
a large belief that, like Jonah and the whale, it literally swallow s up all
the other ones. This means that with forgiveness, you have the
experience that all specific belie fs are completely untrue. So, forgiveness
puts you in a state of complete open-mindedness, acceptance,  and all-
inclusiveness. Practically , this means that you won’ t ever get into an argument
again because you know that there are no specific beliefs that are truer
than others; they are all equally false. All the labels and all the things
that people seem to defend, such as different cultures, religions, and
beliefs associated with different ethnicities, will have zero significant
differences to you. You will have an experience of the unified awareness
in which everything is one. Everything is mind, and you’re identified as
that. You’ve completely transcended arguments, debates, the belief in
right and wrong, and opinions. When you come  from a place of forgiveness, you come to see that
all meaning is in your heart, and you will bring that beautiful meaning to
everything that you look upon. You take that love in your heart, and you
let it pour out on absolutely everything. Beauty is in the eye of the
beholder , and when you’re beholding with the eyes of love, you can’t
help but to see and extend that love. Many witnesses are called forth. This is the way the dream lights
up. Witnesses of love, peace, and harmony begin to flood the mind. Witnesses of love replace witnesses of fear, guilt, shame, and pain.Witnesses of happiness, joy, and freedom sprinkle throughout the mind
and the dreamscape. My frien d had an experience of this as he was walking down  the
street right after the Twin Towers fell on 9/11 in New York. He was
walking along and was very happy , doing his Course in Miracles  lesson
of the day. All of a sudden, he had a doubt thought, What if my joy
disturbs these people’ s sorrow? This doubt thought brought about
witnesses of fear, and all of a sudden, he could smell the stank  and see
all the misery . He perceived the mourning of a particular man who was
walking across the street. He caught himself and thought, I’d better
continue on with my lesson of the day. Then, remembering his Course
lesson for the day, his percep tion shifted, and the man who looked
sorrowful, now looked bright, clear , and happy . He went over , looked my
friend right in the eyes, and started rapping the following powerful
words: “I can see…by the way that you feel…that you know…that none
of this is real!” He became a witness of joy and lightness. Through forgiveness, you just emanate and radiate the truth. This is
where the miracle appears in awareness. You stay in the truth of
innocence and refuse to see your brother or sister as something they are
not. And when you hold this presence and vision of innocence, they are
lifted up to remember who they are too. It’s the most loving and
compassionate experience ever . And it’ s truly shared!Chapter 17
Extending from Within
True giving and true service is with the Holy Spirit; it is an experience
not in form. It is a state of mind where you experience what you truly
give. It is so different from the world’ s concept of giving, where the gift
is somet hing in form that you would lose as a consequence of giving it. If you give it away , it’s gone, it’s used up, kiss it good-bye, and you’ll
never see it again. And if you keep giving that way, they’ll have more,
and you’ll have less. Y ou can see how the ego finds giving very strange. True Giving
There is a powerful teaching in A Course in Miracles : “To have, give all
to all.” This teaching contradicts  the entire ego belief system. So, what is
true giving, true extending? The Holy Spirit says just give me your mind,
and I will take care of everythi ng else. If you’re worried, sad, or tired,
you are not really giving. But if you are inspired and connected  to your
Divine Source, you give true and amazing inspiration; you share joy,
peace, and love. There is no tiredness or loss, only extension . This is
because it is by sharing God’ s gifts of joy and love that you keep them. This can only be understood through experience. “All that I give is given
to myself.” This teaching of the Holy Spirit is a very strange notion to
the ego. But to us, it’s the perfect answer . “All that I give is given to
myself” is a divine principle. It’s the experience of having a relationship
with God. Withholding something in the present is not the way of the Spirit. Planning for the future is not the way of the Spirit. We’ve all been into
withholding in one way or another . “Don’ t put all your eggs in one
basket.” “Alwa ys save for a rainy day.” We have been taught to
withhold, that it is prudent to withhold, even in relationships . “Don’ tgive it all away , string them along a little bit, make them work for it,
make them chase, and make them pursue.”  Who taught us this stuff? If
God gives His love unconditionally , then why wouldn’ t we want to give
it too? We associate giving with loss and sacrifice. But from a miracle-
minded perspec tive, giving is completely different; giving in form is
irrelevant. It comes down to not actually knowing your best interest and
opening up to being guided in terms of form. When you give miracles
away , the giver and the receiver both have more! We know that about
love: when you extend love to somebody , you feel more love in your
heart. This is the way that we were created by God: to give love just like
He does. As soon as the ego tries to put a price on this, it is not love
anymore. It is just another exchange. Developing trust is to learn to give as God gives: give love and
grow in trust. As you extend love, you will experience that the universe
is giving  you everything back, and you will naturally grow in trust. In
the end, from trusting and allowing the support that’s given by the Holy
Spirit from moment to moment,  you will come to experience that giving
and receiving are the same. T rue receiving is true giving. That realization
is nothin g less than the awakening itself. When you are receiving Spirit
from moment to moment, you are also giving Spirit. That is the nature of
Spirit. It is not personal, and it is always extending. The expe rience of
trust, joy, contentment, and peace is a sign that you are in touch with
Spirit, and being  in touch with Spirit is true giving. Receiving and giving
become one. When your dreams become happy , you know that you’re just at the
point of getting your final lesson. This final insight is learning that what
you have is what you are. This means that “having” is an experience of
your divine Self—safe, free, and at home. Remember that in oneness,
there is no difference between having and being as there is in the dream. In the state of being, the mind gives everything always. To have is no
longer associate d with an ownership of things or of having self-
importance. Without attachments, you become free. That’ s why Buddha
taught to empty your mind of everything you think that you think and
everything you think you are. He was saying let go of the false
identifications that relate to this world and come into a still, tranquilmind, which is beyond this world. That’ s what Jesus was teaching as
well. Whereas Buddha might have called it the void, Jesus would have
said, “Yes, go into the void and come through the void to the Kingdom
of Heaven, to full joy, to full happiness, to the fullness of Holy Spirit.”
That’ s what this journey is all about! How to Be Truly Helpful
We all want to do good. And we all do what we believe makes us happy . Kahlil Gibran wrote a beautiful little book called The Prophet . He said
that when you work, you should work with joy and love. True service
can be an opportunity to let the personality be washed away . There are
many volunteer s of service all over the world. Millions of people are
involved in service, but many of them experience burnout. They burn out
in their volunteerism. How does this happen? The ego must be involved. The ego will try to hijack service for its own purposes: “Save the hungry ,
save the poor, save Mother Earth, save the dolphins, save the whales for
God’ s sake, save the tuna! Save the environment. Save your country .”
They get very angry about the obstacles in the way and eventually angry
at themselves for not being able to cure the problems. This is not going
to work. The ego has hijacked the concept of service. If service  does not
lead to joy , you are following the imposter , the ego. When I was growing up, people told me to always look out for
number one. And I said, “Who is number one?” They said, “It is you. It
is yourself, David.” They mean t the personality self. But when  you go
into true service , you are turning  that advice around. Always look out for
the One—the One Source. As you give yourself over to this devotion,
the Holy Spirit will give you every step so as to serve in the best way to
heal and undo the blocks to love’ s awareness in your mind. Everything that we do in forgiveness is so that we can remove those
blocks to love, so we can love God and our neighbor as our self. Literally , as our self, not like we are loving somebody else— we just
radiate this Self-love. The more we are able to for give illusions, the more
love can pour through our consciousness and the more aware we become
of how powerful that love is. We cannot be conduits for Christ, conduitsfor Spirit, when we are fearful. This means a moment-to -moment
practice of suspending our judgments, doubt, and fear. The light will
wait until we are clear and calm. A Course in Miracles  offers this prayer: “I am here only to be truly
helpful. I am here to represent Him Who sent me. I do not have to worry
about what to say or what to do, because He Who sent me will direct me. I am content to be wherever He wishes, knowing He goes there with me. I will be healed as I let Him teach me to heal.” That is such a beautiful
prayer . I used that prayer every time I would go through a doorway ,
entering a situation. Whether I was going to the grocery store, to the
laundromat, to A Course in Miracles  group, to visit my grandmother , to
pick up cat food, or wherever , I would just pause and silently let the
Spirit give me that prayer becau se it would orient my mind to what I was
really going through the door for. I oriented my mind to being there to be
truly helpful rather than to just accomplishing tasks. I wasn’ t there to get in and out of the grocery store as fast as I could
with the best prices and with the best ingredients. That was the old
pattern. I missed a lot of holy encounters and wasted a lot of time when I
was rushing through, jumping from line to line, trying to save time,
reading ingredi ents on packages, and comparing prices. Grocery
shopping was a long, tedious thing before the Holy Spirit got a hold of
me. Then I woul d pray the praye r. I would go in, usually get some items,
but I would be smiling, meeting people in the aisles, and talking to
people. If the Holy Spirit guided me to a long line, I would go in the long
line and have a wonderful discussion. Even if the cashier was new and
she rang up the wrong price or she dropped the change, I had all the time
in the world, and I could tell her everything is okay . You become patient and lovin g when you say this prayer . You
become helpful and you’re there  to extend the attitude. You’re not really
there to buy the groceries; that’s secondary . Then you start to apply this
true helpfulness to everything, even at work and with your relationships. You start saying, “Oh, this is the healing in my mind; this is what my
body is suppose d to be used for.” You get your mind turned around the
right way , and then life gets really gentle, graceful, and flowing.When I was in Bali, I was paying for some groceries, and the
cashier gave me a piece of cand y shaped like a heart. It had the words “I
love you” on it, and the cashier  did the namaste  (a greet ing of love and
respect that inclu des a slight bow with the hands pressed togethe r) to me. I thought, This is the way to go grocery shopping, instead of “Have a
nice day,” and boom, on to the next one. It was presence; it was so
beautiful. That gives us an idea how we can live our lives with presence,
with grace, with love, and with kindness coming from our heart. Everything Comes from Devotion; You Don’t
Need to Figure it Out! In the process of waking up, everyone is given a part to play. But it’s
given from the inside. You don’t even have to figure it out. You can trust
and relax. You can start right now; you can just take some deep  breaths
and say, “I don’t have to figure my life out.” And another deep breath, “I
don’t have to fix my life.” Anot her deep breath, “I don’t have to fix my
body .” Another deep breath, “I don’t even have to figure out how to
maintain this body because when I let go of the ego, everything is given,
everything that the body could need or use is given freely .” Breathe. A
very difficult question that we ponder on Earth is What am I going  to do
for a living? Your living can be given to you moment by moment. All
you need to do is turn your life over to the presence of the Holy Spirit,
and if there’ s a word to say or if there’ s a smile to give, it will happen. Whatever you need will be given! Let your life be a life of devotion, with integrity , so you can—in a
friendly way—say , “Come along, come and see, come in closer .” It’s
about transparency . The way you live your life can be extremely
transparent because when your mind holds only what you think with
God, you have nothing to hide or protect. You can afford to be a really
open book when you live a devoted life. You can say to people, come,
come closer , come as close as you want. Just Extend the Joy Regardless of DifferencesI love traveling around the world meeting so many different people. At
times somebody will come up to me and say, “I’m an atheist.” And we
just have the most wonderful time together . We don’t even have to go
into the issue of belief or unbe lief. We just share the joy and the love. And the Spirit uses whatever words are needed—if I’m talking to a
scientist, I just zoom right into quantum physics, and they love it. They
light up. And if I’m with somebody who identifies as a Christian, it’s so
biblical. And they’re like, “Yeah! Praise God!” When I’m with
Buddhists, it comes out in the Buddhist way. They say, “Yeah!” We’re
meant to connect and join and rejoice with everybody , not to split hairs
over illusory beliefs. In the end, who cares if they believe in God or they
don’t? I just rejoice in love no matter what they believe. In this sense,
service is the same as nonjudgm ent and true complete open-mindedness. So, we can be truly helpful and connect with everyone and feel
connected without any barriers. One time, I went to an Americ an Indian reservation, and I met a
teenager along with his mother and father . The father was totally into the
Native American tradition. The mother had been raised Catholic. She
was totally into Jesus and had no interest at all in the Native American
tradition. I could feel a big disconnect between the parents and the
teenager . I went on a walk with the father , and the Holy Spirit poured
through me completely using Native American symbols. It was all about
no boundaries, everything is connected, and everything is the Spirit. Then, I went with the mother , I spoke using Christian terms, and she was
just so happy . Her love of Jesus was so strong; I had such a connection
with her. Then I went with the teenage son, and he was not interested in
Native American culture or Jesus at all. He was into The Matrix . And we
shared a deep connection because it was all spoken in Matri x terms:
Neo, Morpheus, Trinity , the sentinels, and so forth. Everybody has their
own perceptions, they relate to Source in their own way, and they have
deep experiences, but the semantics are completely different. The Holy
Spirit is not bothered by the semantics or the seeming beliefs. And that’s
why we train our minds: so we can be fully present, complet ely, with
whomever we are with. Because it’s really our self, and all we really
desire is love and connection. And the Spirit knows the way. The Spirit
will inspire us and show us. It could be through music; it could be
through anything.When you realize that the body is a communication device, you see
that you’re meant to smile through it, laugh through it, hug through it,
and speak kind and gentle words through it. You’re meant to let the
wisdom of the whole universe pour through the body . This way you’re
going to teach exactly what you would learn. Just like when you learn to
ride a bike; you need practice. Nobody just hops on the bike and goes
riding the first time. There is a need for practice, sometimes with training
wheels. You have to be gentle with yourself when you start to teach what
you would learn. If you have love inside and you bottled it up for some
reason, maybe you’ve been afraid and asking, “What will it mean if I am
loving? What will the world say? What will people expect of me if I’m
loving? Maybe they will get the wrong idea about me.” But if you had it
bottled up, you’ve got to let it out because that extension of love is your
purpose. Your happiness depends on extending love. You want to be
inspired by what is inside of you. You want it to come out and extend
through you. Then your perception starts to expand, and you start to have
experiences that you are more than the body . You realize that the body is
not who you are, that it is just an instrument that is being used in your
awakening. And then as you go even deeper , you’ll start to have
communion experiences and mystical experiences that actually start to
transcend the body entirely . You may start to have lucid dream
experiences where during your nighttime dreams, you are so lucid and
aware that you’re dreaming that even when there is a monster , a dragon,
or a tsunami, you’re just smiling and laughing because you know it’s a
dream. You’re grateful as you know that you’re dreaming, and you’re
not at the mercy  of whatever seems to be going on. And then it will start
to transfer to your daily life as well, where you have this sense of being,
the sense that you’re watching or observing life.Meditation: Diving Under This W orld to the Light
To listen to a recorded version of this meditation, go to
http://www .newharbinger .com/41870 . To be able to extend Spirit from within, you need to turn all
your attention inward to an experience of being connected to
Source. Make  sure you have a space where you will not be
disturbed for a while. Take a moment to get in touch with your
thoughts. Get in touch with your emotions, invite them into full
awareness. Let this meditatio n take you deep into your heart and
your being. Take a moment now to just watch what is in your
consciousness. Watch the passing panorama. Observe the
thoughts. This is your arena for healing. You are looking into
the mind. You are observing consciousness. Open up to a
purification of consciousness. Look at the contents of your consciousness very
directly . You are looking at your life, your mind. It is not
about an environment; it is not about people, places, events,
or situations. It is about beginni ng to be very, very aware of
the contents of consciousness. Imagine your consciousness
as a radio station ; you must pay attention, you must be aware
of what is coming through in the broadcast. Just for a little while, turn away from being so plugged
in to the thinkin g of the world. Turn away from just reacting
and responding to people, places, and events. This moment,
right now, is all there is. For just a moment, allow yourself to
see that all reme mbrances of the past, and all projections and
anticipations of the future, are but a game of folly, a ruse, to
keep you distracted from this very moment. I invite you to sink deep, deep within your mind, to sink
beneath these layers of thoughts, relaxing very deeply . I
invite you to open to the stillness and the presence that isyour very identity . For a momen t now, you need not put your
attention on the things of this world, the sights and sounds. Give yourself permission to let all this go. You don’t have to be a partic ipant in the world of
events, you can just observe; watch. No longer are you in the
rat race, in the busyness, the hurriedness, or the hustle and
bustle of time and space, people, and places. Now , very gentl y, stop, drop, and watch. Feel the deep
peace that’s there when there is no forcing, no pushing, and
no striving. Just sink down into a state of mind in which
there is no effort, only pure acceptance. Acceptance and rest. Accept everything as it is, right now . Just watch your thoughts as if they are a parade going
by. You are not in the parade, you just watch. Sink into deep, deep peace. You are with the Holy
Spirit. Sink beneath the belief in parts and particulars and
situations and specifics. Deep, deep, deep into the mind,
until you feel very light. And feel the light that’s there. There
is a light beyond thoughts, emotions and beliefs. Be a passerby . That is your contribution and your
sacred purpose. The truth of your spiritual identity is abiding
in grace  in the Kingdom of Heaven or oneness forever . I am
calling you out of the world of perception; I am calling you
to rest deep within, beloved child of God. Today embrace one purpose. Today, experience it. Rest
in peace. Rest in the present moment. Rejoice in happiness
and in being as God created you. Amen. Let this experience direct you to your inner space of healing
and quiet and take a little time purely for yourself. Realize that no
time could ever be spent better. In quiet rest, allow yourself the
gift of release.Love Extends by Its Nature
We want to have an attitude of being so focused on the presenc e of love
that everything and everyone is touched by that love. We call on and
welcome the Holy Spirit to flood our life, and love and blessing will
flow through us. This is what we want our whole life to be. We want
everything to be lit up around us, reflecting all the love and blessings of
the Holy Spirit! All of us are being called as miracle workers, and we cannot turn
away in embarrassment thinking that we must have been chosen
wrongly . We will be content with nothing less than being miracle
workers. We are all saints in training, and even though the training can
seem pretty rough at times, we will succeed because God’ s plan for
salvation must succeed. God’ s plan for salvation does not require egos. But the presence  of love is so strong inside of us that we are assured of
success. So, we support each other in releasing any dark emotions, in
laughing together , singing together, and praying together . This is the
calling of our heart, and we are joined hand in hand! Eventually , as you step back from the ego and share an allowa nce
for the Holy Spirit, you hold a space of love and nonjudgment in your
communication: no criticism, no crosstalk, no advice-giving. There’ s a
feeling of love and acceptance, which is fundamental in clearing out
your consciousness of all judgments and grievances. This allowance and
acceptance of everything to be as it is leads to constant happiness. When
you’re always happy , there’ s also openness to say, “Okay Spirit, what
would you have me do?” And it’s a feeling of “Give it away to everyone
in the whole universe. Help make spirituality fun for everyone.”  What
does that look like? We dance, and we sing. We watch amazing  movies
that open up our hearts. We have beautiful experiential gathe rings. It
involves deep heart-to-heart talks. It involves seeing friends in every
direction that you look; even the snowflakes become your friends. You
feel connected to the plants, animals, and people. And you laugh a lot. Every day there’ s laughter . Not one single day goes by without laughter . And it all comes from inside of your heart.During this last phase, there is a lot of extending the gift because
once you experience the gift of love, it automatically gives itself away . So, there are many collaborative encounters that are part of giving this
gift. And your words can be of quantum physics, of poetry , or of song
lyrics. It comes in so many different ways that you never know  what it
will be. This is a way of living; it’s a state of mind! And the form is not
important anymore. Even the words are not important. You just sparkle
and shine. It’s time to give gratitude to what’s real, what’ s true, and all the
reflections of this love that are all around. You’ll find that, as you open
your heart and open your mind, the love of God is reflected in everything
and everyone that you perceive. In every direction that you look, it is
sanctified in your heart; it is a deep, unspeakable love. If you are not
experiencing this love, this boundless vast love, then stay open, stay
open to the laughter, to the peace, and to the signs and symbols that are
calling you each moment and this day forever to awake and be glad. Love is always either in your heart or on its way!Conclusion
Living in Freedom
When it comes to healing, you aren’ t limited by anything. You can use
whatever opens your heart—poetry , music, dance, or deep heart-to-heart
conversations. You don’t need to let things like conditioning and
opinions stop you from coming  into an experience once you open your
mind to overlook and undo your patterns and fears. You are here to have
an experience of your connectedness. There are pathways to God that
don’t use words, where you sink deeply inward beneath the thoughts and
the word s and come into a direc t experience of Source. We can all drop
into this experience, where we’re totally connected; there’ s no separation
at all. Peace is an experience of communion with Spirit, our true Self. Communion goes beyond and must transcend the body . Communion is
the light of love. It is perfect oneness and eternal tranquil peace. It is the
return to what is real. And this is the unity and purity of heart that Christ,
your true, awake Self, radiates forever . There is an endless freedom that
comes from pulling back your projections from the world and owning
your mind’ s power as the cause of all that you perceive and experience. As such, peace comes from transcending the body , the world,  and the
whole cosmos—the dream that was made in projection. This is freedom. This freedom is the only thing in the world that can bring joy. It is
given by the Holy Spirit. It encompasses the entire cosmos —all the
galaxies, black holes, stars, and planets; it’s healed perception and the
result of a forgiven mind. This is a happy , perfect answer to a very crazy
problem. There may appear to be many steps to reach this freedom, but
when you do, you realize that there were no steps at all. When you arrive
at the end of dreams, at the end of all illusions, God wakes you gently
from this last and happiest of dreams, to your true Self. Thoughts of the
ego can’t even enter your pristine, holy mind here. The light becomes sostrong and so bright that thoughts of temptation to be otherwise can’t
even enter! The healing of the mind is an ongoing adventure. It is a journe y of
releasing false images, identity associations, and self-c oncepts. Situations and encounters in your life will act out anything that you have
pushed out of awareness, but you are opening up to and approaching a
state of all-inclusion, a state of nonattachment and nonaf filiation, a state
of stillness. The Holy Spirit flows through you with loving acceptance for the
whole universe in this state. This communion with Spirit can still involve
words, but mostly you will know it as a presence of love that casts out all
fear. It is an experience that leads you to say that you’ve never met a
stranger . All the things that seem to be sticking points become irrelevant
—including those around religion. The experience of religion becomes
an experience of peace of mind. Hindu, Muslim, or Christian—it doesn’ t
matter because peace is an experience that literally transcend s all the
theologies and all the concepts. In this freedom is a feeling of Home. It’s a presence of being Home. It’s a state where Heaven and Earth cease to exist as separate states. Heaven is here, and it is now. That’ s what makes it a happy state; it’s not
a future  state. It’s not somethi ng that you hope and wish for. It’s an
actual state. Traveling around the world and meeting people from
different cultures with different languages and traditions has been a treat
for me. It’s a divine fiesta. It’s an ongoing party because there is no point
to be made or proven. That’ s the fun of it! There is absolutely no point. When people say
to me, “What’ s the point of this world?” I say , “Really , there is no point.”
God’ s will for us is perfect happiness, so if you really had to come up
with something like a point or a purpose, it would have to be happiness. We align our mind to the purpose of the Holy Spirit and that brings
peace and happiness. The light of the Holy Spirit simply is. When the
resistance to peace has been removed, the light shines unobstructed in
awareness.When we take this journey with the Holy Spirit, we are not lacking
at all and therefo re don’t want for anything. The first line of the twenty-
third Psalm is “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” This line
seems to contain everything because it explains the feeling of fulfilment
where in every moment, every thing is given. Everything is in divine
order . Everything is perfect. Nothing is lacking. So, there is no sense of
ambition, of trying to strive for something, and you don’t have any
future goals. Contentment is the pervasive feeling of fulfilment where
the world need be no different than it is. No situation that you perceive
need be dif ferent than it is. The whole journey of healing and awakening is contained in the
forgiveness process. Enlightenment, or to know thyself, is the
completion of this process. Enlightenment is at the top of the mountain;
it is at the pinnacle of this whole effort. At this point, the Holy Spirit
ceases to be a messenger or a bridge. The Holy Spirit is no longer an
agent or a necessary communication link, as we are one. We are Spirit,
one with God. After reading this book and doing the exercises, you may have now
found that you can trust that there is one real purpose for everything,
which results in pure joy and peace of mind. This is the mystical
experience of healing and awakening. There are no consequences to
letting go of illusions, only a glorious experience of what is real and
what is natural in this very moment. Go through the void and come into
the allness of being! The means is the miracle! Now , you are free to arise in joy for dramas and games have ended! Never need they be summoned  again into awareness. Be glad for their
passing and remember the gift that forgiveness offered. The blanket of
peace softly spreads across the Earth, and you rest in a tranquil mind that
remains invulnerable forever . For a miracle is now . It stands alr eady her e,
in pr esent grace,
within the only interval of timethat sin and fear have overlooked,
but which is all ther e is to time. Gratitude and Acknowledgments
This book, like every aspect of the nonprofit Foundation for the
Awakening Mind, is the fruit of love. I offer my deep appreciation to the
Holy Spirit and New Harbinger Publications and everyone whose
passion made this material available in book form so that many can
benefit from this inner wisdom . I wish to acknowledge the countless
hours of effort contributed by the Foundation for the Awakening Mind
publishing team. Your inspired contributions made this book possible. Thanks to Jenny and Greg Donner for putting the team together and for
your steadfast leadership and continuous collaborations. I am forever
grateful.Resources
Levels of Mind:  http://levelsofmind.com . Details the levels of mind
process using both text and video. Spiri , Your Spiritual Assistant: http://www .facebook.com/Y our.Spiri/ . This “bot” has been developed out of the Instrument for Peace and
Levels of Mind and is an interac tive guide to release upsets (which were
explored throughout the book). It is the modern version of the instrument
for peace! For more on Spiri, visit http://spiri.ai/ . Living Miracles:  http://livingmiracles.or g. This free webs ite allows an
interested individual to sign up for a monthly newsletter , explore
volunteering opportunities, and link in more closely with Living
Miracles. It includes a free online listing of events (both local and
online) taking place within the Living Miracles community . A Course in Miracles Online:  http://acourseinmiraclesnow .com . This
free, valuable resource contains A Course in Miracles  in its entirety , in
both a text versi on and an audio  version (read by me). There is a useful
search tool for those looking to identify specific content and ideas
presented in the Course. 30 Day UYM Experience:
http://circle.livingmiraclescenter .org/uym30day . We call this program
the Unwind Your Mind Experience. Subscribers receive thirty days of
emails, resources, songs, prayers, and meditations, and have access to a
private online support group, along with online movies every Saturday . All of this is of fered for free and is Course-based. Home in Christ:  http://the-christ.net . This free website warmly
welcomes individuals with Christian upbringing into the ACIM
community by of fering Sunday Services and a range of resources that are
less metaphysical and more devotional.Non-Dual T eacher David Hoffmeister:  http://nondualteacher .com . This
free website has a collection of my talks on video that omit the concepts
of religion in ACIM yet emphasize the metaphysical and modern
nonduality concepts of ACIM. David Hoffmeister ’s YouTube Channel :
http://www .youtube.com/user/DavidHof fmeister . This free YouTube
channel has hundreds of hours of video footage of my recorded talks and
teachings, and a large number of videos have been subtitled in foreign
languages as well.Notes
4 It is only in this moment that we are truly able to perform the miracle of for giveness. Forgiveness of illusion is our one-way track out of fear and into freedom. See chapter
16. 5 The Holy Spirit’ s thought system, on the other hand, is something we are relearning to think
and operate from, bridging the gap of separation in our disconnected hearts and minds
and allowing us to remember our true identity as Divine Spirit. For a thorough
description of mind versus Spirit the way it is used in this book, see “Mind—Spirit” C-1
in A Course in Miracles (ACIM) , Third Edition Combined V olume. Mill V alley , CA:
Foundation for Inner Peace, 2007. 12 In no situation that arises do you r ealize the outcome that would make you happy . ACIM ,
W-pI.24.1:1. 12 Everything is for your own best inter ests. ACIM , W-pI.25.1:5. 12 All things work together for good with no exceptions except in the ego’ s judgment. ACIM ,
T-4.V.1:1–2. 13 Into eternity , wher e all is one, ther e crept a tiny , mad idea, at which the Son of God
remember ed not to laugh. In his for getting did the thought become a serious idea, and
possible of both accomplishment and r eal effects. T ogether , we can laugh them both
away , and understand that time cannot intrude upon eternity . It is a joke to think that
time can come to cir cumvent eternity , which means ther e is no time. ACIM , T-27.VIII.6. 13 It is r easonable to ask how the mind could ever have made the ego. In fact, it is the best
question you could ask. Ther e is, however , no point in giving an answer in terms of the
past because the past does not matter , and history would not exist if the same err ors wer e
not being r epeated in the pr esent. ACIM,  T-4.II.1:1–3. 15 W e can’ t solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them. This
popular saying has been widely attributed to Einstein, but its exact origin is unknown. 17 Exercise: Moving from Opinions to Prayer . Prayer  simply means intention or desire. Here
it refers to the desire for truth, Spirit. 18 It states that if you find resistance strong and dedication weak, you should not fight
yourself. ACIM, T-30.I.1:6–7. 22 Lesson 2 of A Course in Miracles  teaches that  you have given everything you see all the
meaning that it has for you. ACIM , W-pI.2. 23 My thoughts ar e images that I have made. ACIM , W-pI.15. 24 A Course in Miracles  teaches us that without attack thoughts in our mind, we cannot see a
world of attack. ACIM,  W-pI.55.3. (23):3.26 W ith the help of the miracle, the mind is turned right side up, away from its former upside-
down way of being, experiencing, and operating. The Levels of Mind Diagram,
Foundation for the A wakening Mind,
https://livingmiraclescenter .org/doc/levelsofmind.pdf. 28 That’ s not the r eason why . The pr oblem’ s not out ther e; you have to look inside. Resta
Burnham. 2000–2002. “That’ s Not the Reason Why .” Music of Christ. Cincinnati, OH:
Foundation for the A wakening Mind. http://livingmiracles.or g/thats-not-the-reason-why . 30 W atch the Disney movie, The Kid . Jon T urteltaub, director . 2000. The Kid, Walt Disney
Pictures. 32 It is fr om your peace of mind that a peaceful per ception of the world arises. ACIM,  W-
pI.34.1:4. 32 The miracle is a lesson in total per ception. ACIM,  T-7.IX.7:4. 41 This means that the experience of guilt is solely a result of the purpose the ego gives to
things. The ego’ s purpose for the body is pride, pleasure, and attack. ACIM , T-6.V.A.5. 46 For you must learn that guilt is always totally insane, and has no r eason. ACIM , T-
13.X.6:3. 46 All anger is nothing mor e than an attempt to make someone feel guilty . ACIM , T-
15.VII.10:3. 46 A Course in Miracles states that guilt feelings are just a sign that we don’ t know that God
Himself orders our thoughts and also that we believe we can think apart from Him. ACIM , T-5.V.7:1–6. 48 Jesus told the parable of the prodigal son, where the one son left after asking for his
inheritance. The Holy Bible , New King James V ersion. 1979. Luke 15:1 1–32. Nashville,
TN: Thomas Nelson Publishing. 49 Whenever the pain of guilt or the desire to be right arises, remember that if you yield to it,
you are deciding against your happiness, and you will not learn how to be happy . ACIM,
T-14.III.3. 51 I am the work of God, and His work is wholly lovable and wholly loving. This is how a
man must think of himself in his heart because this is what he is. ACIM , T-1.III.2:3. 54 But the need to be defensive can only come when we have identified with an illusion of
our self. ACIM , T-22.V .6:1. 55 When the Self is realized and there is an experience of pure oneness, there are no longer
any experiences of private thoughts, yet the condition of being in this world is to believe
in those thoughts. In fact, they are believed to be the only reality . ACIM , W-
pI52.5(10):2–3. 56 If we had to give a definition of God’ s will for us, it would be perfect happiness. ACIM ,
W-pI.101. 57 And yet it is only the hidden that can terrify , not for what it is, but for its hiddenness . ACIM , T-14.VI.1:4.61 Every thought you keep hidden shuts communication of f. ACIM , T-15.IV .7–8. 62 This holy instant, this moment, is the recognition that all minds are in communication. ACIM , T-15.IV .6. 67 This is because thoughts and images of forms are one and the same. ACIM , W-pI.15. 68 You will let Spirit decide for you. ACIM , T-5.VII.6:1 1. 69 Today I will make no decisions by myself. ACIM , T-30.I.2:2. 74 The question becomes, Can I shift my perception and come to the trust that leads to an
experience of literally being sustained by the love of God? ACIM , W-pI.50. 79 There came a point when Jesus said to me, “Okay , that’ s the last job you will have working
for a paycheck and reciprocity .” “Reciprocity” is the practice of exchanging things with
others for mutual benefit. It occurs when the contribution of each party meets the
expectation of the other party . It stems from an idea of lack; that there is only so much
money , time and other means to go around. A belief in risking loss is behind reciprocity . But God’ s unlimited love is free and is what truly sustains us. 80 the son of man has no place to lay his head. The Holy Bible , NKJV , Luke 9:58. 81 “Except ye become as little childr en…” ACIM, T-1.V.3:4. 88 The practice is to come back to the mind, to come to a deeper point of not knowing how or
what to judge, to the place inside where we actually don’ t know what is good or bad. See
the “Moving from Opinions to Prayer”  exercise in chapter 1. 88 …In no situation that arises do you r ealize the outcome that would make you happy . ACIM , W-pI.24:1. 89 I do not per ceive my own best inter ests. In no situation that arises do you r ealize the
outcome that would make you happy . Ther efore, you have no guide to appr opriate
action, and no way of judging the r esult. What you do is determined by your per ception
of the situation, and that per ception is wr ong. ACIM , W-pI.24.1:1–3. 90 You will also r ecognize that many of your goals ar e contradictory , that you have no unified
outcome in mind, and that you must experience disappointment in connection with some
of your goals however the situation turns out . ACIM, W-pI.24.6:2. 91 What could you not accept, if you but knew that everything that happens, all events, past,
present and to come, ar e gently planned by One Whose only purpose is your good? Perhaps you have misunderstood His plan, for He would never offer pain to you. But
your defenses did not let you see His loving blessing shine in every step you ever took. While you made plans for death, He led you gently to eternal life. ACIM , W-pI.135.18. 91 It’ s like the movie August Rush , which is a beautiful example of how everything is
orchestrated perfectly even when things don’ t look good. August stays committed to his
calling and inner certainty . David Hof fmeister . 2017. Movie W atcher ’s Guide to
Enlightenment. Kamas, UT : Living Miracles Publications. See also https://mwge.or g.
97 To say the words, “I want peace,” actually means nothing. But to mean them is everything. ACIM , W-pI.185.1:1–2.97 Like Dorothy in The W izard of Oz , all that she had to do is click her heels together , the
little ruby red slippers, three times, and say the words, “There’ s no place like home,” to
go home! V ictor Fleming and King V idor, directors. 1939. The W izard of Oz . Metro-
Goldwyn-Mayer . 98 One thing you must learn about the goals the ego has given you, is that when you have
achieved them they have not satisfied you. ACIM , T-8.VIII.2:5–6. 101 There is a section in A Course in Miracles  called “Setting the Goal” that explains that if
you put the goal of peace out in front in each situation, you will perceive everything and
everyone as supporting this goal. ACIM , T-17.VI. 112 A Course in Miracles  has nine chapters dedicated to special relationships! ACIM , T-15–
24. 113 Each teaching-learning situation is maximal in the sense that each person involved will
learn the most that he can fr om the other person at that time. ACIM , M-3.4:1. 116 The Holy Spirit’ s temple is not a body , but a r elationship. ACIM, T-20.VI.5:1. 117 I let Y our vision take the place of my perception, which is just a presentation of the past,
appearing once again as if it’ s still occurring. ACIM , T-31.VIII.3:1 Trials ar e but lessons
that you failed to learn pr esented once again, so wher e you made a faulty choice befor e
you now can make a better one, and thus escape all pain that what you chose befor e has
brought to you . ACIM , T-31.VIII.3:1
119 Let your yea be yea and your nay be nay . The Holy Bible , NKJV , Matthew 5:37. 124 The story of Jesus shows us how to do this. Jesus had an attitude of love and respect
without people pleasing at all. He had only true empathy and true compassion. The
Urantia Book. Part IV . “The Life and T eachings of Jesus.” 1955. Chicago, IL: Urantia
Foundation. 124 W e are all touched by how he treated the Samaritan woman at the well… The Holy Bible ,
NKJV , John 4. (At this time Jews were not supposed to talk with Samaritans.) 124 …and the prostitute that they caught and were ready to stone. The Holy Bible , NKJV ,
John 8:7 “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her .”
126 Jim Carrey’ s character in the movie Yes Man  had to learn this! Peyton Reed, director . 2008. Yes Man . Warner Bros. Pictures. 131 The mind is very powerful, and never loses its cr eative for ce. It never sleeps. Every
instant, it is cr eating. It is har d to r ecognize that thought and belief combine into a
power sur ge that can literally move mountains . ACIM, T-2.VI.9:5–8. 137 And, if you decide to learn it, the perfect lesson is laid before you and can be learned. ACIM , M-3.5:6. 143 Holy relationship is a means to save time for yourself and the whole universe. ACIM , T-
18.VII.5:2–3. 144 Christ is God’ s Son as He cr eated Him. He is the Self we shar e, uniting us with one
another , and with God as well. He is the Thought which still abides within the Mind thatis His Sour ce. He has not left His holy home, nor lost the innocence in which He was
created. He abides unchanged for ever in the Mind of God . ACIM, W-pII.6.1. 144 Mother T eresa taught this. Jeanette Petire and Ann Petrie, directors. 1986. Mother T eresa. Burlingame, CA: Red Rose Gallerie. 145 There is a tremendous release and deep peace that comes from meeting yourself and your
brothers totally without judgment. ACIM,  T-3.VI.3:1. 146 Wher e two or mor e are gather ed, ther e I AM. The Holy Bible , NKJV , Matthew 18:20. 147 Even at the level of the most casual encounter it is possible for two people to lose sight of
separate inter ests if only for a moment. That moment will be enough.
This-Moment-is-Your-Miracle_by_David_Hoffmeister.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        I wondered how people
could go for healing while at the same time functioning in the world. How do you keep it together. Are you supposed to, on top of the
challenges of keeping a career going and keeping families and
interpersonal relationships together, go inward and work on the healing
of your mind. It does seem to be that certain things fall apart, melt away,
break down, and crumble. But remember, the ego is the one that’s
interpreting the process every step of the way. It’s usually a negative
interpretation, “This hurts too much. It’s too painful. If God is love, why
does it hurt so much in my heart. ” The ego gets stirred by these first
glimpses of acceptance in your mind because they are pinpricks in its
façade. But once  you start the forgiveness process with the Holy Spirit, the
more you open up, the more miracles you will start to have. What in the
beginning seem like little glimmers of acceptance here and there —which
are very important—will start to become more stabilized. First there is
an allowance: I allow; I allow; I allow it to look and feel just as it is. I’m
not going to judge it. Then after all of that allowance, you come into a
true state of acceptance. Anothe r word for that is recognition. It is here
that you begin to recognize: “This is really who I am, who I have always
been, the One, the One Spirit. ” The ego is the belief that there is no God. Awakening is the experience that there is only God. You can see that
there is zero meeting point between “There is no God” and “There is
only God”. The most difficult phase is the beginning of the turn, but when you
really get into the full swing of the turn of the tables and of the mind,
everything stabi lizes. It feels so natural, so effortless. At that point you
don’t even need  vigilance; it is like being carried along down a peaceful
stream. How dif ficult can that be. At Heart, We Are Just Forgiving Ourselves
Things that have been difficult to deal with keep coming back at us until
we start to realize that the peop le in our lives were just acting out our
beliefs. So, if we seem to be victimized or mistreated or we didn’ t get the
treatment that we felt we deserved, they were simply acting out our
unconscious guilt—everything that we have repressed and denied. They
were doing a great job of it too; Academy Awards go to your mom and
dad for those performances. But the fact is, we weren’ t reme mbering
them as they truly are; we were just remembering the past grievances
that we’ve kept in our mind and they acted them out. We are never actually upset by behavior. We are upset by our
interpretation of behavior, and we are always responding emotionally to
our interpretations. We just perceive what we still have unresolved
within our own consciousness or what we still have a grievance on. So,
people in our lives are actually doing us a favor. The ones we think are
the biggest jerks and the most insensitive people are helping us go past
our repression and denial mechanisms. They’re acting it out right in front
of us so we can allow all of our emotions into awareness. Once  they are
up in awareness, we can give them over to the Holy Spirit—an d have a
miraculous experience. Even just thinking  of your mom or dad, or whoever it is that you
have a grievan ce with, activates the memories and the emotions. Working this through is part of the clearing, even if they’re not
physically in your life. When we dream of them and when we think of
them, we can process what they bring up for us. It’ s part of the healing. We may not always be aware that whenever we hold a grieva nce,
we are actually holding it against our self. This is because projection
makes us see outside what we don’t want to see within our own minds
and hearts because we’re afraid that what we’re projecting is actually
true about ourselves. This is why, when we forgive, we are really
releasing our own soul, our own self. It takes a lot of energy to hold on to a grievance, energy that could
be used for loving instead. If we devote our lives to loving, then the fear
and misperceptions of the ego don’t have a chance to grow. If we keepour garden weed ed, clear, and clean, then we have space for the fruits—
and there are plenty of fruits. Give Beliefs Over to the Holy Spirit
Forgiveness is about really seein g what is in our mind and then releasing
it. This is our inner work. You can’t actually say to the Holy Spirit, “I
have a crazy life. Would You please fix it. ” Instead you bring everything
that you believe  about your life and this world, about time and space
back to the Holy Spirit. And when you really do this complet ely, your
issues will disappear. So, in true for giveness, you go into it with the Holy
Spirit, to shine the darkness away, and you are brought back to the
experience of this present mom ent. Bring that darkness to the light. Bring all of your crazy beliefs to the light, and you will see they were
just in your imagination. They were just dark dragons, crazy little ideas,
you buried and kept hidden. It was just another trick of the ego. It was
never real. Forgiveness is a moment of choosing to be happy instead of being
right. Forgiveness is an opportunity to decide for reality anew;  it is the
moment when you decide for your true Self rather than for an image of
yourself. Forgiveness is to go inward beneath attack thoughts and come into
the innocence of who you are, to your divinity. Forgiveness quietly does
nothing. It waits and watches, and it doesn’ t judge. It’s just a serene,
profound, still state of mind. When forgiveness is our function, we are
inherently happy. Forgiveness is our key to happiness. Imagine you’re growing up with your parents, and they say, “What
are you going to be when you grow up. ” And against all expectations
you say, “Happy, happy… I want to be happy. ” This isn’t temporary
happiness associated with specific outcomes. It’s not, “I’m happy
because I got a raise, found my soulmate, or won the lottery. ” It’s not a
temporary kind of happiness. So, the forgiveness practice leads to a very
joyful experienc e because there is no agenda with anything. We can
describe the unhappy dream as the misperception, and then the happy,
forgiven dream is the touchston e, the closest thing to Heaven on Earth. It’s a transformation in mind and in consciousness. It’s so close to
Heaven that your feet no longer touch the ground, so to speak. You’re
just carried and lifted. Forgive and See the World as a Dream
Some people believe that when you start to see the world as a dream or
an illusion, you become disinterested or have no sense of love or
compassion flowing through you. But it’s actually the oppo site. The
Holy Spirit pours through even more from that state since you don’ t have
an investment in the form being  a certain way or looking a certain way. You experience a call for love rather than an attack, and you give what is
asked for; you give the love. You do not fall for perception; you do not
fall for behavior. As you give love away, you strengthen it, and then you
know that you are it, that you are an unlimited extension of divine love. I was visiting a friend one time when I experienced how the power
of forgiveness could transform aggression and rage. This friend and I
would watch metaphysical movies and meditate together for hours. She
had not mention ed to me that she had gone through a divorce about two
years earlier and that her ex-hu sband was insanely jealous if anyone of
the male gender would come near her. One day when we were watching
a movie, all of a sudden, a face appeared in the window. It was like a
Jack Nicholson movie. His eyes were bulging, and it looked like he was
ready to come in with a chainsa w. Then the door blasted open. He was
super raging angry, with saliv a coming out of his mouth. I had an
experience of being in a movie. I didn’ t even move. I didn’ t even get up. I just watched this movie as he came over. He was scream ing and
shouting and grabbed my shirt. I was just observing and noticing. I was
experiencing the lesson, “In my defenselessness, my safety lies. ”
Later, I was walking along a road toward a nearby pine fores t to
meditate. A car drove up, and it was this man again. He jumped out of
the car and came over. He threw  my body down on the ground, and my
head hit a metal signpost and was bleeding, but I was not feeling any
discomfort what soever. Then, a car stopped and they said, “Wha t’s going
on here. ”The man attacking me said, “No. There’ s no problem. ” Then he
took me back to the house. He started to fumble through the medicine
chest, spilling pills all over the place. He was so scared. He was trying to
put gauz e on my head and give me pills. Then he cracked open and
started sharing with me about the pain that he felt about losing his family
and all the hurt, and the whole thing turned into a beautiful healing
experience. Because I had forgiveness in my heart, used in the deepest
way, I could be in true compassion. Forgiveness can feel profound, very deep, and very mystical. My
friend Lisa had a sister who was raped and murdered. After some time,
they found and arrested the murderer. He was in jail for many years. Lisa’ s family and the prosecutor were trying to have him electrocuted for
the crime. Even though years earlier, she had come through  a deep
grieving proces s around the loss of her beloved sister, Lisa had no
grievance agains t the man. Lisa is joined in the teachings of Jesus Christ
on forgiveness and got called to testify in support of the man who
murdered her sister. She wasn’ t condoning any of his actions. Through
the years that this man had been in prison, he had been praying  and had
become very devout. He had been working on his own forgiveness
process. At the courthouse, where her mother, her sister, and the rest of her
family were trying to make sure this man was electrocuted, Lisa was
there to represe nt forgiveness. While she was waiting in the hall, she
prayed with Jesus. She was looking at the wall, and sudden ly Jesus
appeared on the wall for her, in the marble. It was a very mystical
experience. Then when the time came to testify, she stepped into the
elevator, and guess who is in the elevator. The man accused of
murdering her sister. Lisa just gazed at him with love, and the man gazed back. There
was a deep sense of recognition and love. Then she gave an amazing
testimony. She testified for God, for Christ, and did not hold back one
thing. She was not concerned about the outcome of whether they would
keep him on death row or whether they would electrocute him. She was
there to testify for forgiveness and innocence. She was living the state of
forgiveness, she did not mind when she was cross-examined, and she did
not mind what happened in the courtroom. She was testifying forforgiveness for all of us. It was very powerful. She went there and with
the sharpness of a razor blade, she delivered the clear message of truth
and innocence. Examples of forgiveness show us what becomes possible when we
forgive from our hearts. When a friend’ s daughter was murdered, this
friend went into deep prayer. They arrested a man. My friend just kept
praying, “What should I do. ” and Jesus said “Go to the prison. Go into
the cell with this man and say that you love him. ” This man had
murdered his daughter, and he was to go into the prison, into the cell,
and just be there with the man. When he went to the prison, he loved this
man so thorough ly that this man started writing poetry, doing paintings,
and getting into the teachings of A Course in Miracles. Forgiveness is all
about seeing beyond the error. These are strong examples wher e you can see how your mind might
want to twist into rage and blame. Right away, scenarios like these draw
images of something evil that you would not want to face. But to me,
Lisa, and my other friend, Jesus said, “Take the stranger in. ” He instructs
us to go past all of our thoughts and all of our perceptions that something
has been  done wrong and to connect in love. Connecting in love is our
freedom, connec ting in the present. Grievances are always of the past. When we hold a grievance, we remain in prison and so does the whole
world. When we forgive, if we go past the grievance and if we see with
the eyes of Christ and connect in Christ, we free the whole world. An experience of true freedom can only come in the present. It can
only come with forgiveness. Forgiveness is our sole function—our only
gift to the world. We have no life calling other than this. Our life’s
calling is not to “become” something. In fact, it is the opposite. It is to
unwind the false self that we made. And we do that by forgiving it, by
forgiving our belief in it. We are no longer bound by fear, guilt, and
doubt when we have fully looke d at all of our beliefs, down to the core
belief in separation, and release d them. This is the ultimate unlearning
and unwinding of the mind that will lead to a life of blissful freedom and
joy. Forgiveness sweeps away disto rtion and opens the hidden altar to
the truth. For here, and only here, is peace of mind restored, for this isthe dwelling place of God Hims elf. With complete forgiveness,  you will
see that no one can be hurt, and once you get in touch with the deep
presence, all things are equa lly acceptable. In the perception of
forgiveness, of the gentle grace of love that you are, everything is seen as
whole. And it is so relaxing in that holistic view that you can literally be
carried through the day, letting the wind take you like a feather. Like in
the opening scene of Forrest Gump, the feather is not trying to direct the
wind, and likewise Forrest cluelessly goes with the flow. Exercise: Release and Experience T rue Forgiveness
To listen to a recorded version of this exercise, go to
http://www. newharbinger. com/41870. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you now as you get quiet. Allow
your mind to become very silent and still. Take a moment to think
about a person in your life who has been a target of your
judgments and your grievances, someone whom you haven’t yet
forgiven, someone who upsets you or irritates you. This could be
someone near or far, someone related to you, a person that you
engage with frequently, or a person who has passed away. It
could be someone you have had a difficult and unloving
experience with. It is very likely that this person has alread y come
to your mind. This person will be the one you ask Spirit to help
you to see through loving eyes. Part 1. Journaling for Forgiveness
1. Describe a situation involving this person in which a
grievance or unforgiving thought obscures the miracle from
you. 2. Observe your mind to see what conclusions you have
drawn about this person that are all based on the past. How
are you judging this person. List everything in your journal. 3. Observe your mind to see what conclusions you have
drawn about yourself in relation to this person. Are you still
judging yourself this way. List the ways. 4. Imagine meeting this person again and spend a few
minutes with them in your mind. Use your journal to explo re
any additional thoughts, judgments, or emotions about them
and yourself, being very honest to allow subtle and hidde n
thoughts to arise into awareness. Take your time in your
reflections. Get them all down on paper, and when you feelcomplete, offer all your thoughts to the Spirit and move on
to part 2. Part 2. Reflecting on Forgiveness
Reflect on this for a while: The miracle enables you to see your
friend without his or her past. Let no dark cloud out of your past
obscure him or her from you, for truth lies only in the present, and
you will find it there if you seek it there. This person is not your
enemy; rather, they will help you experience the miracle of
forgiveness. In truth, this is always someone you wish to love
peacefully, yet are hindered from doing so by holding onto your
existing judgments, grievances, upsets, and regrets. “Now” has no meaning to the ego. This is why you heal as
you release the investment in past and future. Today, give no
heed to the shadowy figures from the past. Now is the time when
you are absolv ed of all past. Turn to the Holy Spirit to let Him
guide you in this practice. Today forgiveness is your function. Forgive the past and the belief in the future. Today, have a change
of interpretation about time and its function. Open up to the
present moment. Part 3. Meditating to W elcome Forgiveness
Practicing forgiveness has the potential to completely transform
your relationships. For this meditation, begin by allowing your
mind to become very silent and still. Think about the importance
of what you are about to do and the healing and peace that you
are welcoming. Witness your hurts and grieva nces as you bring them to mind
once more. Hold this person again in your mind, as you now
currently see them. Review the difficulties you have had, the pain
and suffering you thought they caused you, any neglect, and all
the little and larger hurts you believe they inflicted. You will regard
this person’s body with its flaws and better points as well, and you
will think of their mistakes or even of their “sins. ”Now, begin to open to the possibility that your faulty
perception can be transformed. Practice seeing this person in a
new light, try to find some light in them, and allow this light to grow
in the picture that you see before you. Ask the Holy Spirit to help
you see beyon d the fixed image you hold. As you allow yourself to
open your mind and be guided to see this person differently, you
will begin to see the light from behind the illusion. In doing  so, you
free this person and yourself  of the dark images you have placed
upon them. Take some time to truly allow the light in. In gratitude,
allow yourself to accept this new perception and to see this
person in their true identity, in the light and without any reference
from the past. As you do this, you also see the truth in yourself,
which is light, and it become s evident to you that changing your
perception about the other person sets you free along with them. This person has given you the opportunity to see the power and
the release that comes from transforming your judgments to a
loving, accepti ng witness of the truth that is in you and everyone
else. Take some time to rest in the quiet resolution that you’ve
found. Take all the time you need and bask in the light of the
miracle. And now, meditate on this poem. Read it slowly, you may
read it aloud, copy it in your journal, or post it on your refrigerator. Do anything that brings its message deeply into your mind. Use no relationship to hold you to the past,
but with each one, each day, be born again. A minute, even less, will be enough to free you from the past,
and give your mind in peace to the present moment. When everyone is welcome to you as you would have yourself
be welcome to God and your Self, you will feel no guilt. For you will have forgiven. Forgiveness Is the Love that Calls Forth
Happiness
Wouldn’ t it be wonderful to experience gliding through your life like it’s
a peaceful dream, where you are just delighted and fully accepting of
yourself and others. In this world of dreams, your goal can become the
transformational forgiveness of your perception from a nightm are to a
happy dream. The happy dream in simple terms is a dream of
nonjudgment. Human beings organize the world they see and their lives
on Earth based on many beliefs. Forgiveness, which is what the happy
dream is about, is like a giant, all-encompassing belief. In fact, it’s such
a large belief that, like Jonah and the whale, it literally swallow s up all
the other ones. This means that with forgiveness, you have the
experience that all specific belie fs are completely untrue. So, forgiveness
puts you in a state of complete open-mindedness, acceptance,  and all-
inclusiveness. Practically, this means that you won’ t ever get into an argument
again because you know that there are no specific beliefs that are truer
than others; they are all equally false. All the labels and all the things
that people seem to defend, such as different cultures, religions, and
beliefs associated with different ethnicities, will have zero significant
differences to you. You will have an experience of the unified awareness
in which everything is one. Everything is mind, and you’re identified as
that. You’ve completely transcended arguments, debates, the belief in
right and wrong, and opinions. When you come  from a place of forgiveness, you come to see that
all meaning is in your heart, and you will bring that beautiful meaning to
everything that you look upon. You take that love in your heart, and you
let it pour out on absolutely everything. Beauty is in the eye of the
beholder, and when you’re beholding with the eyes of love, you can’t
help but to see and extend that love. Many witnesses are called forth. This is the way the dream lights
up. Witnesses of love, peace, and harmony begin to flood the mind. Witnesses of love replace witnesses of fear, guilt, shame, and pain. Witnesses of happiness, joy, and freedom sprinkle throughout the mind
and the dreamscape. My frien d had an experience of this as he was walking down  the
street right after the Twin Towers fell on 9/11 in New York. He was
walking along and was very happy, doing his Course in Miracles  lesson
of the day. All of a sudden, he had a doubt thought, What if my joy
disturbs these people’ s sorrow. This doubt thought brought about
witnesses of fear, and all of a sudden, he could smell the stank  and see
all the misery. He perceived the mourning of a particular man who was
walking across the street. He caught himself and thought, I’d better
continue on with my lesson of the day. Then, remembering his Course
lesson for the day, his percep tion shifted, and the man who looked
sorrowful, now looked bright, clear, and happy. He went over, looked my
friend right in the eyes, and started rapping the following powerful
words: “I can see…by the way that you feel…that you know…that none
of this is real. ” He became a witness of joy and lightness. Through forgiveness, you just emanate and radiate the truth. This is
where the miracle appears in awareness. You stay in the truth of
innocence and refuse to see your brother or sister as something they are
not. And when you hold this presence and vision of innocence, they are
lifted up to remember who they are too. It’s the most loving and
compassionate experience ever. And it’ s truly shared. Chapter 17
Extending from Within
True giving and true service is with the Holy Spirit; it is an experience
not in form. It is a state of mind where you experience what you truly
give. It is so different from the world’ s concept of giving, where the gift
is somet hing in form that you would lose as a consequence of giving it. If you give it away, it’s gone, it’s used up, kiss it good-bye, and you’ll
never see it again. And if you keep giving that way, they’ll have more,
and you’ll have less. Y ou can see how the ego finds giving very strange. True Giving
There is a powerful teaching in A Course in Miracles : “To have, give all
to all. ” This teaching contradicts  the entire ego belief system. So, what is
true giving, true extending. The Holy Spirit says just give me your mind,
and I will take care of everythi ng else. If you’re worried, sad, or tired,
you are not really giving. But if you are inspired and connected  to your
Divine Source, you give true and amazing inspiration; you share joy,
peace, and love. There is no tiredness or loss, only extension. This is
because it is by sharing God’ s gifts of joy and love that you keep them. This can only be understood through experience. “All that I give is given
to myself. ” This teaching of the Holy Spirit is a very strange notion to
the ego. But to us, it’s the perfect answer. “All that I give is given to
myself” is a divine principle. It’s the experience of having a relationship
with God. Withholding something in the present is not the way of the Spirit. Planning for the future is not the way of the Spirit. We’ve all been into
withholding in one way or another. “Don’ t put all your eggs in one
basket. ” “Alwa ys save for a rainy day. ” We have been taught to
withhold, that it is prudent to withhold, even in relationships. “Don’ tgive it all away, string them along a little bit, make them work for it,
make them chase, and make them pursue. ”  Who taught us this stuff. If
God gives His love unconditionally, then why wouldn’ t we want to give
it too. We associate giving with loss and sacrifice. But from a miracle-
minded perspec tive, giving is completely different; giving in form is
irrelevant. It comes down to not actually knowing your best interest and
opening up to being guided in terms of form. When you give miracles
away, the giver and the receiver both have more. We know that about
love: when you extend love to somebody, you feel more love in your
heart. This is the way that we were created by God: to give love just like
He does. As soon as the ego tries to put a price on this, it is not love
anymore. It is just another exchange. Developing trust is to learn to give as God gives: give love and
grow in trust. As you extend love, you will experience that the universe
is giving  you everything back, and you will naturally grow in trust. In
the end, from trusting and allowing the support that’s given by the Holy
Spirit from moment to moment,  you will come to experience that giving
and receiving are the same. T rue receiving is true giving. That realization
is nothin g less than the awakening itself. When you are receiving Spirit
from moment to moment, you are also giving Spirit. That is the nature of
Spirit. It is not personal, and it is always extending. The expe rience of
trust, joy, contentment, and peace is a sign that you are in touch with
Spirit, and being  in touch with Spirit is true giving. Receiving and giving
become one. When your dreams become happy, you know that you’re just at the
point of getting your final lesson. This final insight is learning that what
you have is what you are. This means that “having” is an experience of
your divine Self—safe, free, and at home. Remember that in oneness,
there is no difference between having and being as there is in the dream. In the state of being, the mind gives everything always. To have is no
longer associate d with an ownership of things or of having self-
importance. Without attachments, you become free. That’ s why Buddha
taught to empty your mind of everything you think that you think and
everything you think you are. He was saying let go of the false
identifications that relate to this world and come into a still, tranquilmind, which is beyond this world. That’ s what Jesus was teaching as
well. Whereas Buddha might have called it the void, Jesus would have
said, “Yes, go into the void and come through the void to the Kingdom
of Heaven, to full joy, to full happiness, to the fullness of Holy Spirit. ”
That’ s what this journey is all about. How to Be Truly Helpful
We all want to do good. And we all do what we believe makes us happy. Kahlil Gibran wrote a beautiful little book called The Prophet. He said
that when you work, you should work with joy and love. True service
can be an opportunity to let the personality be washed away. There are
many volunteer s of service all over the world. Millions of people are
involved in service, but many of them experience burnout. They burn out
in their volunteerism. How does this happen. The ego must be involved. The ego will try to hijack service for its own purposes: “Save the hungry,
save the poor, save Mother Earth, save the dolphins, save the whales for
God’ s sake, save the tuna. Save the environment. Save your country. ”
They get very angry about the obstacles in the way and eventually angry
at themselves for not being able to cure the problems. This is not going
to work. The ego has hijacked the concept of service. If service  does not
lead to joy, you are following the imposter, the ego. When I was growing up, people told me to always look out for
number one. And I said, “Who is number one. ” They said, “It is you. It
is yourself, David. ” They mean t the personality self. But when  you go
into true service, you are turning  that advice around. Always look out for
the One—the One Source. As you give yourself over to this devotion,
the Holy Spirit will give you every step so as to serve in the best way to
heal and undo the blocks to love’ s awareness in your mind. Everything that we do in forgiveness is so that we can remove those
blocks to love, so we can love God and our neighbor as our self. Literally, as our self, not like we are loving somebody else— we just
radiate this Self-love. The more we are able to for give illusions, the more
love can pour through our consciousness and the more aware we become
of how powerful that love is. We cannot be conduits for Christ, conduitsfor Spirit, when we are fearful. This means a moment-to -moment
practice of suspending our judgments, doubt, and fear. The light will
wait until we are clear and calm. A Course in Miracles  offers this prayer: “I am here only to be truly
helpful. I am here to represent Him Who sent me. I do not have to worry
about what to say or what to do, because He Who sent me will direct me. I am content to be wherever He wishes, knowing He goes there with me. I will be healed as I let Him teach me to heal. ” That is such a beautiful
prayer. I used that prayer every time I would go through a doorway,
entering a situation. Whether I was going to the grocery store, to the
laundromat, to A Course in Miracles  group, to visit my grandmother, to
pick up cat food, or wherever, I would just pause and silently let the
Spirit give me that prayer becau se it would orient my mind to what I was
really going through the door for. I oriented my mind to being there to be
truly helpful rather than to just accomplishing tasks. I wasn’ t there to get in and out of the grocery store as fast as I could
with the best prices and with the best ingredients. That was the old
pattern. I missed a lot of holy encounters and wasted a lot of time when I
was rushing through, jumping from line to line, trying to save time,
reading ingredi ents on packages, and comparing prices. Grocery
shopping was a long, tedious thing before the Holy Spirit got a hold of
me. Then I woul d pray the praye r. I would go in, usually get some items,
but I would be smiling, meeting people in the aisles, and talking to
people. If the Holy Spirit guided me to a long line, I would go in the long
line and have a wonderful discussion. Even if the cashier was new and
she rang up the wrong price or she dropped the change, I had all the time
in the world, and I could tell her everything is okay. You become patient and lovin g when you say this prayer. You
become helpful and you’re there  to extend the attitude. You’re not really
there to buy the groceries; that’s secondary. Then you start to apply this
true helpfulness to everything, even at work and with your relationships. You start saying, “Oh, this is the healing in my mind; this is what my
body is suppose d to be used for. ” You get your mind turned around the
right way, and then life gets really gentle, graceful, and flowing. When I was in Bali, I was paying for some groceries, and the
cashier gave me a piece of cand y shaped like a heart. It had the words “I
love you” on it, and the cashier  did the namaste  (a greet ing of love and
respect that inclu des a slight bow with the hands pressed togethe r) to me. I thought, This is the way to go grocery shopping, instead of “Have a
nice day,” and boom, on to the next one. It was presence; it was so
beautiful. That gives us an idea how we can live our lives with presence,
with grace, with love, and with kindness coming from our heart. Everything Comes from Devotion; You Don’t
Need to Figure it Out. In the process of waking up, everyone is given a part to play. But it’s
given from the inside. You don’t even have to figure it out. You can trust
and relax. You can start right now; you can just take some deep  breaths
and say, “I don’t have to figure my life out. ” And another deep breath, “I
don’t have to fix my life. ” Anot her deep breath, “I don’t have to fix my
body. ” Another deep breath, “I don’t even have to figure out how to
maintain this body because when I let go of the ego, everything is given,
everything that the body could need or use is given freely. ” Breathe. A
very difficult question that we ponder on Earth is What am I going  to do
for a living. Your living can be given to you moment by moment. All
you need to do is turn your life over to the presence of the Holy Spirit,
and if there’ s a word to say or if there’ s a smile to give, it will happen. Whatever you need will be given. Let your life be a life of devotion, with integrity, so you can—in a
friendly way—say, “Come along, come and see, come in closer. ” It’s
about transparency. The way you live your life can be extremely
transparent because when your mind holds only what you think with
God, you have nothing to hide or protect. You can afford to be a really
open book when you live a devoted life. You can say to people, come,
come closer, come as close as you want. Just Extend the Joy Regardless of DifferencesI love traveling around the world meeting so many different people. At
times somebody will come up to me and say, “I’m an atheist. ” And we
just have the most wonderful time together. We don’t even have to go
into the issue of belief or unbe lief. We just share the joy and the love. And the Spirit uses whatever words are needed—if I’m talking to a
scientist, I just zoom right into quantum physics, and they love it. They
light up. And if I’m with somebody who identifies as a Christian, it’s so
biblical. And they’re like, “Yeah. Praise God. ” When I’m with
Buddhists, it comes out in the Buddhist way. They say, “Yeah. ” We’re
meant to connect and join and rejoice with everybody, not to split hairs
over illusory beliefs. In the end, who cares if they believe in God or they
don’t. I just rejoice in love no matter what they believe. In this sense,
service is the same as nonjudgm ent and true complete open-mindedness. So, we can be truly helpful and connect with everyone and feel
connected without any barriers. One time, I went to an Americ an Indian reservation, and I met a
teenager along with his mother and father. The father was totally into the
Native American tradition. The mother had been raised Catholic. She
was totally into Jesus and had no interest at all in the Native American
tradition. I could feel a big disconnect between the parents and the
teenager. I went on a walk with the father, and the Holy Spirit poured
through me completely using Native American symbols. It was all about
no boundaries, everything is connected, and everything is the Spirit. Then, I went with the mother, I spoke using Christian terms, and she was
just so happy. Her love of Jesus was so strong; I had such a connection
with her. Then I went with the teenage son, and he was not interested in
Native American culture or Jesus at all. He was into The Matrix. And we
shared a deep connection because it was all spoken in Matri x terms:
Neo, Morpheus, Trinity, the sentinels, and so forth. Everybody has their
own perceptions, they relate to Source in their own way, and they have
deep experiences, but the semantics are completely different. The Holy
Spirit is not bothered by the semantics or the seeming beliefs. And that’s
why we train our minds: so we can be fully present, complet ely, with
whomever we are with. Because it’s really our self, and all we really
desire is love and connection. And the Spirit knows the way. The Spirit
will inspire us and show us. It could be through music; it could be
through anything. When you realize that the body is a communication device, you see
that you’re meant to smile through it, laugh through it, hug through it,
and speak kind and gentle words through it. You’re meant to let the
wisdom of the whole universe pour through the body. This way you’re
going to teach exactly what you would learn. Just like when you learn to
ride a bike; you need practice. Nobody just hops on the bike and goes
riding the first time. There is a need for practice, sometimes with training
wheels. You have to be gentle with yourself when you start to teach what
you would learn. If you have love inside and you bottled it up for some
reason, maybe you’ve been afraid and asking, “What will it mean if I am
loving. What will the world say. What will people expect of me if I’m
loving. Maybe they will get the wrong idea about me. ” But if you had it
bottled up, you’ve got to let it out because that extension of love is your
purpose. Your happiness depends on extending love. You want to be
inspired by what is inside of you. You want it to come out and extend
through you. Then your perception starts to expand, and you start to have
experiences that you are more than the body. You realize that the body is
not who you are, that it is just an instrument that is being used in your
awakening. And then as you go even deeper, you’ll start to have
communion experiences and mystical experiences that actually start to
transcend the body entirely. You may start to have lucid dream
experiences where during your nighttime dreams, you are so lucid and
aware that you’re dreaming that even when there is a monster, a dragon,
or a tsunami, you’re just smiling and laughing because you know it’s a
dream. You’re grateful as you know that you’re dreaming, and you’re
not at the mercy  of whatever seems to be going on. And then it will start
to transfer to your daily life as well, where you have this sense of being,
the sense that you’re watching or observing life. Meditation: Diving Under This W orld to the Light
To listen to a recorded version of this meditation, go to
http://www.
The ego gets stirred by glimpses of acceptance in your mind because they are pinpricks in its façade.
What is the goal of the ego in the forgiveness process?
Forgiveness is not about judging, but about recognizing and accepting the truth, and it is our sole function.
What is the true purpose of forgiveness?
No, we cannot, as this would be contradictory to the experience of true freedom.
Can we experience true freedom and still hold onto our own judgments and beliefs?
The Holy Spirit guides us to see the truth and helps us to release our judgments and beliefs.
What is the role of the Holy Spirit in the forgiveness process?
No, we cannot, as this would be a contradictory experience.
Can we have a relationship with God and still hold onto our own perceptions and interpretations?