You can keep this letter , share
it with a trusted friend, or if you feel like a symbolic act of letting
these old thoughts go, you can even burn it. These though ts have
no effect on your worth. What matters is that you allow ed your
private thoughts to surface , acknowledged them, and then
released them. Take plenty of time to nurtu re yourself and rest after this
exercise. Let any remaining emotions, thoughts, or self-jud gments
pass; let them not hinder the peace that is your birthright. If you
were able to fully give yourself to this exercise, you will feel a
deeper acceptance of yourself and appreciation of the healing you
are experiencing. Part 2:  Venturing into the Open
Slowly go through the following questions one at a time. In your
journal, praye rfully write down your thoughts and responses
without reading ahead to the next question. 1. Choose an intimate relationship or a friendship where you
notice that you hold back from expressing your thoughts
and feelings. 2. Inquire about why you think you hold back from expressin g
your thoughts in this relationship. 3. How do you feel when you are holding back? How do you
react? 4. What are you afraid will happen if you are authentic and
transparent with your thoughts? 5. How would your life be different if you allowed yourself to
express what you are thinking and feeling to those closest
to you?In the Light of Love, Communication Washes
Ego Away
Once you have exposed everyth ing, the Spirit in you will want to extend,
but the ego is afraid of that, so it may be another obstacle to overcome. The ego will want you to hold back, to keep your love, your joy, and
your happiness bottled up. Allow yourself to share, to just let it pour out
so you can start to realize that you don’t need to be afraid of that love. Love pours through us, expresses through us, like a cleansing, washing,
purifying experience, and it’s only the ego that gets terrified. Keep in
awareness that the ego knows that if love keeps pouring out, then it will
be washed away . The ego wants to exist, so for it, hiding becomes a
matter of survival. Choosing ego through keeping private thoughts is often an
unconscious decision. It is the belief that you can harbor thoughts that
you would not share and that your safety lies in keeping thoughts to
yourself alone. For with priva te thoughts, you share only what you
would decide to share. This shuts off the potential for full
communication with those around you and with God, who surrounds all
of you together . Every thought  you keep hidden shuts communication
off. So, continue to open up to sharing and extending love, and the ego
obstacles and fear will fall away . As long as you give in to ego’s preference to have private thoughts
and keep them, you cannot experience the holy instant. The holy instant
happens in the present moment without the ego thoughts of the past and
the future. The holy instant is a time in which you receive and give
perfect communication. It is a moment in time when your mind  is open
both to receive and give. The holy instant is the acceptance of the single
will that govern s all thought. This is how you come to experience the
miracles that you have been unconscious of. In the sacred and holy
experience of this moment, the mind seeks to change nothing, but merely
to accept everything. This holy instant, this moment, is the recognition
that all minds are in communication.Part II
Miracles WithinChapter 6
Finding True Guidance
Have you ever heard about athletes who get “in the zone”? How they can
get into a state while exercising or during a match that is completely
intuitive and inner directed, which allows them to respond with perfect
grace to the external world? In that moment, they are not thinki ng about
reaching a goal but are fully aligned with and rested in the present. We
can get in a similar “holy zone” by opening to being guided. As humans, we focus a lot on “doing” rather than “being”: What am
I going to do today? What do I do next? What are you going to do? Is
what you are going to do going to jive with what I am going to do? None
of these questions are truly helpful since they’re not directed to the Holy
Spirit nor open for guidance. They lead to a scattered experience of our
day where nothing seems to really make sense. Things seem to happen
without a clear feeling of purpose behind them. It is a common  problem
to, out of habit, decide what to do before we ask for guidance. It is a
habit of a mind that believes it is a human being—a mind that believes it
is a “doer .” We should call it a human “doing” instead of a human being. Peace of mind can only come when we have reversed this habit of
deciding first what to do and then asking for guidance. We have to get
into the habit of truly asking Holy Spirit what He would have us do and
say. Being open to ask for guidance undoes the independe nce and
autonomy of  separation and opens us up to a healthy experience of God-
dependency . Being in a childlike state of not knowing is one of the most
important steps toward learning to hear the inner voice of Spirit and
beginning to live a life witho ut fear. Children are such wonderful
examples in their great trust. Young children walking with their parents
are amazing to watch because they put their hand up and ask to be led. Their minds are open and recep tive to discover and learn because they
trust that they are safely led and shown the way. A first step toward thisstate of “I don’t know” and being guided is opening your mind and being
willing to loosen your definiti ons about what everything means. The
goal is to be so inner -directed by this voice that you no longer take any
of your “cues” from the external world unless you recognize  them as
Spirit within. My friend Jenny shares:
I felt as if my mind and my life were like a maze that I couldn’ t
make sense of, and where else could I go other than toward God? I felt like I had to have clarit y from Spirit or God because I
couldn’ t rely on myself. I felt like I didn’ t have the big picture
and therefore couldn’ t decide what was best in every situation. I
needed a capital  H help. True help. I realized that this world had
no answers and no guidance to give me. Learning to hear and follow guidance, I went through a lot of
cleansing and clearing, a lot of tears for many years, and a lot of praying,
discernment lessons, and asking . Sometimes I would just ask and ask,
and I would hear this gentle wisdom inside me. It would say: “It is good
that you are starting to ask Me for guidance, but don’t become obsessive. There is no need to ask for every single decision during a day.” Should I
take my shoes off? Should I go out the door? Don’ t become obsessive
with it. Just trust in the Holy Spirit. Feel an opening to the guidance and
trust that you are going to do just great, that Spirit has got it. The Holy
Spirit is saying:  “I will direct you; just be willing to come in My
direction, and you will see that it is going to get easier and easier for
you. It will be more like a flow when you start to align your mind with
Me.”
Many years ago, I sensed that I needed and wanted better
discernment betw een the ego and the Holy Spirit. I asked the Holy Spirit
for guidance. Me: Can Y ou give me something practical that can help me? Even
if it’s going to take time, I’m willing to work on it.Holy Spirit: Look at your life and start to consider how many of
your everyday actions are based on a fear of
consequences. T ake for instance your job. W ould you go
to that job every day unless you had a fear of
consequences? Me: Of course not. I would not be going to work every day if I
had no fear of consequences, if I didn’ t want some idea of
security for my future. Holy Spirit: This fear blocks a sense of being guided. Now go
through all the nuances that seem to be part of each day ,
including the very subtle aspects, such as not wanting to
let people down, not wanting to hurt people’ s feelings, and
not wanting to step on anyone’ s toes. See what else is
based on the fear of consequences. I started  to do that with my life, to pay attention as I went through
my days. Something profound started to happen because I realized that
the opposite of fearing conseque nces is to be motivated by love. Imagine
if you were motivated only by love and nothing else. Imagine how
different it would be if there was no sense of fear pushing you. How
would your life go? You’d start to investigate what you do things for. Being motivated  by love helps you discern ego guidance from God’ s
guidance. When I started following love, I was amazed at the practicality and
ease that came with starting to hear this true guidance. If we need a word
of cheer  or comfort, it is there. If we need specific instruction, it is there. If we believe we need anything, that voice, that one voice, is always the
practical answer . And for me, that’s where the simplicity came in. I
found out that tuning into my inner voice, tuning into the Holy Spirit,
was really the only goal worth having. Life became very simple in that. Trying to listen to the ego is where the complexity seems to come in. But
once you understand how the ego works, you can lay it aside! Turning Away from Ego GuidanceThe ego is very ingenious. It even wants to come along on the spiritual
path. The ego can make you a polished spiritual self-concept. It can take
over any concept  just to preserve itself. It can be very sneaky . To get in
touch with whether you are follo wing the Holy Spirit or ego, you need to
discern how you truly feel. If you’re feeling happy , light, and peaceful,
that’s when the guidance is coming. If you try to listen to and follow
guidance and don’ t feel joy , you may have a discernment lesson going on
because the Holy Spirit always inspires a true sense of joy . A classi c exam ple of the sneak iness of the ego is when it starts
saying things like, “I kind of like this guidance thing. I can do anything
I’m pleased doing, and I’ll just call it guidance.” Take a domestic
situation when you live with someone as an example. One party says: “If
you don’t take the garbage out…” and the other party says: “I was not
guided to take the garbage out.” And the first one says: “I’m not guided
to take the garbage out either .” You’ve got to watch this ego; it’s very
clever: “Well, my holy spirit told me…” “Well, actually , my holy spirit
told me… .” You can tell that you’re listening to the ego when you start
using the word “my.” This is the ego trying to use the idea of guidance
for its own purposes. The ego does not want you to have anything to do with guida nce
unless it is its own guidance—a nd it wants you to be a slave to it. The
ego likes that, but it is of fended by the Holy Spirit’ s guidance. It wants to
protect itself since the Spirit’ s guidance will undo it. Therefore, it wants
you to be dependent on it for everything. It does not want you to realize
that the mind is causative and that nothing can happen that the mind has
not asked for, that nothing comes from the “outside.” When you realize
that nothing is external and that there are no external causes or effects,
the game is over for the ego. You have effectively ended its tyranny, this
false rulership, and you have accepted the strength and power exactly as
it is, in mind and as mind. One of the deep  truths that isn’t really known in the world is that if
you have a wrong-minded perception, a misguided behavior will always
follow . This is because thought s and images of forms are one and the
same. If you have wrong-minded thoughts, you will inevitably be
misguided. Actions and behaviors are not autonomous or separ ate from
your thoughts and beliefs. What you do comes from what you think.Without exception, this is so. What you do is determined by your
perception of a situation. There is great relief in knowing that what you
do comes only from what you think and believe and that there is nothing
outside of your mind. This is why you need guidance from a wisdom
beyond your own thoughts and belief system. You can relax and ease
your way into this alignment with the guidance of the Holy Spirit within. The difficulty is not really in finding out which voice is the Holy
Spirit’ s and which one is the ego’s. When you have fear in the mind, the
ego will actively  attack the Holy Spirit’ s guidance. So, there could be a
lot of attack thoughts or doubt thoughts coming up with certain
guidance. There fore, rather than asking whether it’s Spirit or ego, an
important step is to question what you are afraid of when you want to
know the guidance in a specific situation. And you can decide to be very
honest with yourself and look at what you’re afraid to lose. When what
you’re afraid to lose is not hidden, your mind is open to all possibilities
and all options. You will be in a space to tell the Holy Spirit, “Just show
me if it is Your will.” Then you can feel the joy and peace that comes
with feeling the Holy Spirit’ s guidance. You will be able to see a lot of
signs and symbols. Symbols and metaphors of harmony and union align
the mind with the Holy Spirit. When you open your mind to guidance, you can see that guida nce
always offers a very obvious and easy option. The question of whether it
comes from the ego or the Spirit becomes unnecessary after you have
faced your specific fears. True guidance is always from the Spirit, and
the ego is only providing fears  and doubts that you need to heal and
clear , but never true guidance. Merging into a Glorious Flow
The experience of listening for true guidance is like being in a constant
state of prayer . All of a sudden , you feel how natural this is, and you
understand that you will need to make no decisions by yourself. You will
let Spirit decide for you. Be You in charge, Spirit! You know the way. You know the way out of the dream of separation. There is a shift
happening when you surrender  to Spirit this way. You come from anautonomous separate sense of self in a world apart and merge into a
glorious flow that has always been your natural state. It is absolutely
delightful to move into a day with an open mind that does not have a to-
do list and is not set on outcomes—being wide open to let the day be like
a blank canvas that can be painte d with all the beautiful splashin g colors. How free and how wonderful! “What is going to happen today? Oh, a
splash of green,  some red, some yellow .” You can sit and behold the
painting as it appears right before you and really be in the glory of it,
without trying to control it, without trying to be the artist. Just be the
witness Self, the observer . It is delightful. Following guidance is a pathway to this ultimate experience. You
come without preconceptions, you come without ideas of outcomes, but
you come with a willingness to be shown, to receive that which is given,
and to trust that everything is for your awakening. That is what carries
you higher and higher to this ultimate experience. Spirituality must be practical. This is why it comes down to really
opening up to guidance day to day, to letting Holy Spirit go before you
and lead you in the decisions of your life. You are making decisions to
unwind from the ego-thought system. The only way you authentically
unwind is to decide with God, to decide with Spirit, as you move
forward. It is beautiful and very, very practical. It can almost become
like the song of your heart: “Today I will make no decisions by myself. Instead, I want to be led. I am ready to be led.” As you get into the joy of
joining, it becomes obvious that this is truly the way because there is
lightness and happiness with it. We can get to an experience of this gentle presence and guidance
together with others. If two individuals are deeply attuned to each other
and to the Holy Spirit, they can actually hear the same guidance
simultaneously . This is a glorious experience. It’s like becoming one
with another being. This is an experience apart from time, a holy instant
when you see no difference between yourself and the other . In that
moment, there are no bodies or persons. It is a true moment of being one
mind. You can experience great harmony when you have synchronicities
like this. You look into each other ’s eyes and say: “Are you hearing what
I’m hearing?” “Mmm mmm…” You don’t even have to finish a sentence
because you are both feeling the intuitive yes.Exercise: Opening to Spirit’ s Guidance
To listen to a recorded version of this exercise, go to
http://www .newharbinger .com/41870 . Before you begin this exercis e, take a few breaths and relax
your mind. Close your eyes and take as much time as you need to
feel present and focused. As you move through this assignment, I
encourage you to allow any reactions or emotions to come up
freely . Don’t restrict or censor yourself. Think of an area in your life where you feel you need some
direction right now, big or small. Close your eyes and relax into a
space where you feel attentive, clear , and calm. Bring the area to
mind and hold it in awareness as you prepare to offer it to the
Holy Spirit. Allow any images to appear in your mind that
represent the essence of this issue for you. Take your time. Now,
imagine a large round golden platter in front of you, and see
yourself placing your issue on this golden platter and offering it to
Spirit. Think of Spirit as a vast, warm light. Then let it go. Don’t
think about it. Try not to think of anything at all. You have  brought
your issue to the Spirit; now relax! Imagine giving yourself over to the Holy Spirit completely in
this moment. Stay in this place of communion with the Holy Spirit
for as long as it feels helpful. Just be in the moment without
expectation. Now, exercise your willingness and present capacity
to trust. If you find yourself reverting back to worrying about the
situation and taking it back into your mind, that’s okay. Relax and
forgive yoursel f, and just begin again by placing the issue on the
platter and offering it to Spirit . And let it go! Take your time. Know
that whether you get a spec ific answer or not now, you can feel
calm and reassured because you have handed it over to Spirit. He
will guide you. Drop any desire for a particular outcome but
remain alert—and expect miracles! A Prayer for GuidanceI open my heart to Y ou, Holy Spirit. I am willing to ask Y ou to guide my every step and to follow
You,
For I know this is my way Home. Help me to be in a consistent state of peace,
to let go of all my resistance, my fears, and
the conflicting wishes that stop me
from knowing Y our peace and guidance. Amen. As you come out of the medit ation and prayer , try to stay with
this sense of calm and connection and know that divine guidance
has you. Allow yourself to be open as to what to do next. Be alert
to feeling or hearing from within an answer or a direction to take. It
can come from external signs or symbols, through what someone
says, or just as a feeling from within. There can be a yes or a no if
this applies. Watch out for any tendency to use the ego intellect. Instead, allow your intuition (Holy Spirit) to lead you. No matter
what the guidance is, trust that it will be what makes you happy—
if you follow it. For God’ s will for you is happiness. Sweet Humility
It is the response to the inner question, How do I feel?, along  with the
commitment to follow the voice of the Holy Spirit, that ultimately will
make it possible to discern between the two opposite thought systems. The more you heal and becom e present, the more you will be able to
identify how the ego’s direction  is always based on fear, while the Holy
Spirit’ s direction always comes with peace, like an all-embracing divine
wave of love. You may now start to realize that if you open your heart up to this
ultimate experience, what you really want and need is true humbleness,
the humbleness of beginning to see that “I do not know .” When youthink you alread y know , you will never ask for guidance. This is why
being in the I-don’ t-know state of mind is so powerful when it comes to
learning to hear and follow the inner voice of God. Allowing yourself to
not know is relaxing, and this is where you can begin to practice your
trust, something  that we will explore and go deeply into in the next
chapter . When you move  toward a life of guidance, you become like a child
who easily lays their old toys aside for a much more fulfilling and all-
inclusive purpo se. Following guidance leads to peace. It leads to
everything that is best for the whole universe. With any decision that
flows very easily , you can trust that Holy Spirit is guiding. You are
meant to have an easy life. It’s the ego that wants to give you challenges
and make things complicated and difficult. The ease and simplicity of
the Spirit are always available, and you can feel them when you are in a
humble state of willingness to follow . With practice, trusting and
following inner guidance becomes very natural.Chapter 7
Trust
Trust is the primary characterist ic we need to cultivate when we start our
spiritual journey . Then other characteristics will follow , such as honesty ,
gentleness, and joy. They all rest on trust. This is why trust in the Holy
Spirit is very important. A singer -songwriter friend in Nashville, Tennessee was not finding
any more singin g jobs. The doors were closing. I shared with her that
sometimes we are tempted to ask ourselves or the Holy Spirit, “How can
I keep my job?” even though this is presuming that we should keep our
job. Are we open to widening our view? Maybe there are other prayers
or other questions that we can ask, such as, “Is this the job I should
keep? Is this the job You would want for me, Holy Spirit? Is me working
at this job the best for the whole universe, or do Y ou have something else
for me?” This woman found out that the Holy Spirit had a whole new
life to offer her, a life that would truly get her in touch with her heart’ s
calling, and that is why she could no longer find any singing jobs. She
was ready to trust her next big step in life. The Holy Spirit’s Greater Plan
It seems like when it comes to jobs, careers, relationships, and houses,
we put a lot of importance on these decisions. It is as if we want to
handle it all on our own. We say to the Holy Spirit, “You just help me be
peaceful, and I will handle all the rest myself. I will handle the children,
the job, the house, and the people.” It is as if we are saying, “You give
me the peace, and I will run my life.” We do not realize that these goals
do not go togeth er. When we try to run some aspects of our life, we are
putting our personality first and the Holy Spirit second.Everything is constantly changing in this world. With some of the
changes, we think, Hmm…I like this, and sometimes we think, This is a
threat, and it could be very, very danger ous or risky . When we study or
watch our mind,  we can see that the sense of threat must be coming from
some kind of interpretation or meaning that we give to situations. When
I would have a situation where I could lose my job, I would start paying
close attention to my thoughts and feelings, and I noticed that I was
afraid of the outcome of losing the job. This was because of the certain
meaning and importance I had given to that job. 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? There came a point in my journe y when I realized that I had to trust
that all of my needs would be met. That’ s when I made the decision to
trust that I would be taken care of. And looking back, I see that my needs
have never not been met since. It’s been a beautiful journey of trust and
opening in awareness, and it inspired me to write this poem. Be gentle with yourself on this inwar d journey . Accept the symbols that come to you with gladness and
appreciation. Let the Holy Spirit use the symbols to r emind you of the inner
beauty that is far beyond appearances. Let the colors and the sights and smells and sounds wash thr ough
your mind as r eminders of the vastness and glory of being! Discover the beauty of the Holy Spirit’ s purpose. I Surrendered to Trust and Found Joy
For me, opening to trust starte d with reading. I read everyth ing from
Maslow to Mother Teresa. Like most people, I was searching for a sense
of purpose and meaning, and even a way of somehow understan ding the
human condition. I was searching in philosophy , psychology , and
religion. I felt that there must be something beyond what the world and
society presente d. But I had no clue how to reach it. I explored andinvestigated. Psychologist Abra ham Maslow created the helpful theory
of a hierarchy of needs, which states that we need to meet our basic
survival needs first, before moving on to higher order needs . Mother
Teresa demonstrated the same thing. If someone is sick, hungry , or ill in
some way, their most basic needs must be taken care of first. You
wouldn’ t try to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to a starving child. You
would pick the child off the street, take him in, and then feed the child
and clothe the child. And so, in my developing of trust, reading books about these values
was very helpful. I felt a tickle in my heart, a glee, and joy when I would
come across ideas that really resonated and that I could really recognize
as coming from God. While reading books was a very safe way of
developing trust, starting to follow the Holy Spirit’ s guidance in daily
tasks and movements brought about feelings of trepidation. Fear and
doubt arose because asking where to go and whom to talk to or call was
so coun ter to the way I had been living my life. And yet, I pushed
through my fear and doubt and started following the guidance I was
hearing. And it was amazing. I felt bursts of joy after I got off the phone
and after I visited somebody in the hospital or paid a visit to their house. I was just swell ing with joy because I listened and followed even when
the ego was scared or telling me not to do it. The ego voice in my mind
was saying things like: “You are going to lose your autonomy . You are
going to lose your individuality  if you keep following that voice.” But I
just kept at it. I liked that feelin g of joy! I wanted more of it. I began to
lose myself in that joy , and I started to discover my true Self. I found that
I could trust the little prompts from the Holy Spirit in everythi ng I did. And the more I trusted, the clearer the guidance became, and the more
joyful I got. From Survival to Divine Providence
One morning, I woke up with the Bee Gees’ song “Stayin’ Alive” in my
mind. With it was the uncomfortable feeling that everyone is just trying
to survive in this world, trying to stay alive. Think about how much
energy people devote to this. It’s all about survival, security , safety , and
planning for the future. So much effort is put into keeping the bodyalive. We need to shift our consciousness from putting all that effort and
energy into maintaining the body to putting that same effort and energy
into forgiving our illusory thoughts, feelings, and beliefs, and
remembering Spirit, our natural spiritual reality . We need trust to shift from staying alive and going nowher e to
being alive, to the joy, happiness, and vitality of our Christ being, our
true Self. As we deepen in trust, we see that everything we need will be
provided, withou t our own effort; we won’ t even have to think of it. This
is new and big. You can treat it like an experiment but not like a test
where you, for example, travel to a far-off town with no money to see if
you will be provided for. It’s more than that. It’s saying, “Start ing right
now, right here in this moment, what if I decide to trust that if I’m being
authentic, if I’m being transparent, and if I’m open to healing and
happiness, that everything that I would need for healing and happiness
will be provide d?” This is the promise of oneness, of love, that
everything you need to experience happiness will be provided. A Divine Trust
What complicat es life and impedes trust are the ambitions of wanting
“more” or wanting something to be different. Whenever we get away
from the simplicity of this mom ent, it gets very complicated. Any wants
can start to torture us if they start looping in our minds becaus e we are
confused by thinking that these wants bring anything of value. The key
is to begin to relax and to trust. And I am not talking about trusting the
monetary system, trusting in governments, or even trusting a human
being. I am talking about a divin e trust, trusting that the Holy Spirit will
offer us everything that we need to find happiness. Here is how Jenny arrived at the importance of practicing trust. I used to be very fearful of life in this world. I thought that
there were threats around every corner and in each turn of
events, threats of ending up alone and isolated. I didn’ t feel
at home  in this world, and the future was just this big
unknown. Even simple things seemed to be complicated, sofiguring out what I was going to do with my life felt
impossible. What did I want to do and become? I didn’ t
know , and I didn’ t want to make something up or just figure
something out. I wanted to know that there was a purpose for
it; I was extrem ely uncomfortable with just “getting on with
life” in some job. I wanted it to be purposeful and not at
random. I felt I needed to find something else, something
other than the conventional way, something that I could trust
would truly sustain me, my mind, my heart, and my being. It
didn’ t seem like that was going to be anything that this world
could of fer. I needed to be led by Holy Spirit. It dawned on me that this was the way to learn to trust
life—by staying  connected with God or the Holy Spirit. I felt
that it wasn’ t worth doing anything without an experience of
that connection. It was as if I suddenly realized that God had
to do everything through me for me to know who I am and
what the purpose for my life was. It was daunting, but from
that mom ent, it has been a journ ey; there have been a lot of
tears, doubts, and hesitations because how do you learn to
open up to and always feel the presence of God in all that
you do? Well, I saw no other option than to try it out, to
practice trust. Daring to Trust Paves the Way for Miracles
Faith and trust, which are syno nymous, are not quantifiable. Either we
trust or we don’t. Either we have faith or we don’t. We can’t say that we
have a little or a lot of trust. In order to accept the shift from our ordinary
experience of life to experiencing the glory of the present moment, we
need to strength en our trust in the Divine. The divine trust we are talking
about involves letting go of our attraction to a personal perspec tive and
gradually creatin g the space to embrace a wholly unified perspe ctive. To
trust and live a truly devoted life, we need a step-by-step process, like
children do as they grow . It takes a lot of trust for children to learn. They
must trust their caregivers. This kind of trust is the key to the whole
spiritual journey .Trust depends on whose hand is guiding us. That is why we work
on discernment between our true Self and the imposter self, the ego. The
extent to which we give faith and trust to the imposter is the extent that
we do not know our true identity . We learn to discern between the
imposter and our true Self through becoming aware of how we feel. At
any moment, we can ask, How do I feel? and the answer will allow us to
discern where the guidance comes from. We are strengthened in our
ability to discern as we practice this more and more, and as our divine
trust increase, fear dissolves. The more trusting you become, the more relaxed you become. Then
when you notice a reaction or an emotion arising, you can see it is a
good thing because it helps you see where the ego still has a hold on the
mind. You are here to welcome what’ s unconscious so you can release it. You are not here to try to put on a performance. You are not even here to
get things right because trying to get things right in form was part of the
game to cover your feelings of unworthiness. Developing trust in the Holy Spirit can be experienced as
challenging, disconcerting, and uncomfortable. If some people knew this
ahead of time, they might be afraid and look for something they think is
a little more gentle. A lot of people would say, “Turn this off,” or “Let’ s
switch to another program. Let’s try ballet or something a little softer .”
But when you go deeper , the rewards in terms of an experi ence are
immense. The Holy Spirit’ s plan is to help loosen the mind from what it
thinks it needs without a feeling of sacrifice. Because the egoic
interpretation of following the Holy Spirit is through the lens of loss, it is
rarely experienced as gentle, but it is good to know that gentle ness and
lack of sacrifice is what’ s available. The belief in sacrifice can play out in many different ways. Since
this is a world of apparent choices, it seems that to choose one thing
means that we miss out on other  things. The possibility of “mis sing out”
this way makes us feel like we are always lacking in one way or another . Developing a state of trust requires letting go of the importance of trying
to choose the right form and instead seeing that the real choice is for ahappy state of mind. The outcome in form is not so important, yet
feeling the importance of our purpose is where our happiness lies. Following inspiration and being guided with all the daily choices
will build trust and pave the way for a miraculous state of mind. Because
when you go deeper , you will see that you haven’ t lost anything. There is
no sacri fice involved, and the rewards in terms of peace of mind are
immeasurable. When you develop the ability to accept things as they
come into your life, doors of happiness seem to open in front of you, one
after another . Stressors Reveal Our Level of Trust
There can be challenges in life that help us see where we are with our
trust. We can use them as barometers for how much we trust when it
comes down to something like the death of a loved one, the death of a
pet, a break-up,  a natural catas trophe, or other psychological stressors. How well do we react? Does it move us into faith, trust, and a deeper
prayer? Do we grow stronger through those trials and tribulations, or do
we buckle and feel crushed? Does it feel like there is no hope? These
experiences can become opportunities. We can open up to allow them to
spur us into a much deeper trust where we rely on Spirit much more than
on circumstances. This is a very straightforward pathway; it is really an experiential
pathway . We need experiences to show us that we are on the right track
and that we can continue to trust. If we took steps and we didn’ t feel any
lightness, lighthe artedness, or bursts of joy and happiness, then we might
even feel suspicion, “Okay , I took that step, and…?” It needs to be an
experiential journey . We need experiences to replace the past
conditioning. We need some bright experiences that lead us on, like a
child who is led: “Good, good, good, now come, take another step. Keep
coming, keep coming!”
There came a point when Jesus  said to me that I had finished my
last job working for a paycheck and reciprocity . He said. “You will now
be used in ways you can’t even imagine. You’re mine  now, and I’m
going to use you.” That’ s how my life has been since 1990. During thefirst five years, I traveled around the United States and Canada with no
home or apartme nt, not even a tent. I would watch the sun come up, and
when evening came and I didn’ t have a place to sleep, I would just wait
and see what would be given. There were no hotels or motels. I had an
attitude of, “What is offered?”  I was taken into many different homes
and had many miraculous holy encounters. That was like a miraculous
five-year period of “the son of man has no place to lay his head.” The
Holy Spirit told me to get used to it and that through trust, I would feel
that He would take care of me; that He would lead me and guide me in
everything that I do. The first months of those five years were the most difficult only
because I had so much pride, past learning, and conditioning, and I was
thinking a lot about how I could take care of myself. Because of this, I
realized I just had to be willing to take my hands off the steering wheel. When I would try to grab it back, Jesus reminded me, “Trust Me.” And
little by little, I started to trust in the Spirit and Jesus. Sometimes  I would
go to A Course in Miracles  groups while traveling, not knowing where I
would sleep the next night, and then three different people at the group
would say, “Come and stay at my home.” So, it wouldn’ t be a question
of whether I would have a place to sleep, but about which friend I was
supposed to stay with. It was like the Holy Spirit wanted to show me
another angle, that I was going to be taken care of. I needed only to pay
attention, and He would direct the plan moment by moment. These experiences built up a lot of trust and also launched me into
seeing that I was perfectly taken care of wherever I would go. I got to
see that I didn’ t have to use my lifetime of past learning and ten years of
full-time univers ity. Instead, I had a lot to unlearn. Jesus said, “We have
some big boulders we’ve got to knock off your shoulders in order for
you to be truly helpful.” I couldn’ t continue to hold onto the arrogance of
thinking that I could direct my own way in this world and of believing
that I knew enough to navigate time and space. To let go into trust and let the Holy Spirit lead the way reverses  the
ego mentality that says that if we want to do something, we have to
come up with the means. God knows the prayer of our heart before we
even utter a word. We are invited to a place of silence deep inside the
mind, to find an experience of purpose and intention. Purpose andintention are all about an inner connection with the Holy Spirit. It is an
experience of a strength and clarity that shows the way . Trust is the willingness to dive into presence and authentically “go
for it.” You come to a state of not planning anything; you follow the
strong inner compass that is the Holy Spirit, moment by moment. You
may not know where this is leading you, but one thing is certain, it will
be miraculous! I am sure that as children, we did not express to Mum and Dad that
we didn’ t care or plan for ourselves. We did not want the consequences,
the reactions. “What are you going to do with your day?” “Noth ing!” Or
better yet, “I will see how it unfolds.” “What about your chores? ” “I will
see how they unfold.” We would think those thoughts when we were
children; we just would not say them. But now it is like a new day, a new
start, a new heart, and a happy day filled with joy. Isn’t it great? That is
our theme: God’ s will for us is perfect happiness, and we are just like
children opening up to that experience. The prayer of our heart is “Show
me, show me!” This is how we trust and learn to becom e God-
dependent. “Except ye become as little children” means that unless you
fully recognize your complete dependence on God, you cannot know the
real power of your true relationship with Him. I have always loved the curiosity of children because curiosity is a
reflection of openness. If you are curious, you don’t think you already
know . That is so important; that is one of those things you cultivate, just
staying curious and open to being shown. It’s very much like when you
are on a trust-walk where they blindfold you, and you put your arms out
and trust your guide to lead you and show you. I have done a number of
those experienti al trust-walks over the years, and it is just fantastic
because you really have to let go of what you think you know with your
senses. You are blindfolded, you have your hand out, and your guide is
with you in every step. It is intuitive trust, moment by moment,  that gets
us to a place of deep peace and joy . This journey with the Holy Spirit requires trust and gentleness, and
by patting yourself on the back and being grateful for every little
willingness that you can muster , you will naturally grow in trust andopen up to miracles. When you start to live in the miracle, your concerns
and struggles disappear not to come back again.Exercise: Leap of T rust
Take some time now to look inward. Invite the Holy Spirit to join
you in preparation for this assignment. Reminding yourself of the miracles that you have
experienced and then sharing them is a very helpful way to
reinforce the truth in your mind and to build trust. Allow a time
when you were guided to take a “leap of trust” to arise  in your
mind. It could be when you felt compelled to contact someone or
had a feeling that it was time to change jobs. In your journal, write
down your responses to these questions. 1. Describe the situation when you were being called to make
a decision or take action. 2. Do you recall what you feared you could lose if you took
that leap? Describe any thoughts and feelings of hesitation. 3. What compelle d you to take that leap of faith, even though
you couldn’t be sure of the outcome? 4. What was your experience afterward? How did you and
everyone else in the situation benefit from your willingness
to trust? 5. Are there any other steps on your horizon that you are
fearing to take? Explore all your thoughts and feelings in
your journal so that they may be dispelled. In prayer and trust, know that peace and love are your
desired outcomes. Let this notion support your intention to move
forward with clarity! Prayer:  Spirit, Here I Am
A very short prayer that can open you up to trust is “Spirit, here I
am.” Say this prayer and wait quietly with an open mind. Stay
attentive and relaxed. Watch what comes. Use this prayer toconnect to the deep quiet experience of the Holy Spirit in your
mind. Your focus is finding the quiet center within where the light
in your mind can be welcomed and revealed. Let go of any sense
of a need to do something . Instead, just be and witness this
moment. When you are able to find the place of alert stillness in
your mind, notice how it feels completely natural to trust. Spirit,
here I am. When you feel ready , take your pen and journal and make
some notes of how this time of prayer has been for you. Then, if
you’re inspired to, write a poem about your current experience of
trust in the Holy Spirit or maybe a prayer springs forth from your
heart’ s desire to strengthen your level of trust. Be still and know that trust settles every problem now! Trusting What Is Given
When we practice trust, things coming our way will be seen as truly
given gifts rather than threats or problems. We all have miracles waiting
for us in the present. Miracles want to come through in a very beautiful
way, but we have to allow for them. If we freeze into “shoul d I” and
“could I,” then we are gettin g locked into the ego’s doubts and
comparisons, and we close ourselves of f from trust. There can surely be periods of disorientation. These come because
we are loosening from the ego’s hold on how we live, and its laws of
scarcity , lack, defenses, and reciprocity . You’re going to have a lot of
reactions and reflexes coming from a fear of the light. But the good news
is that from these disorientati on periods, you’re going to come out
sailing and soaring in the most glorious state of mind that you could ever
want. At first, miracles can seem a little strange because you are not used
to them. You are not used to arriving on time to a meeting that seemed
impossible to make. You are not used to the Holy Spirit arrang ing time
and space for you and life being  like a wonderful flow. The ego may try
to dismiss the miracles and push  these experiences out of aware ness, butthe more  you hang with it, the more consistent is the experience of peace
of mind and joy . I was guided from one job to another in a series. I was not guided to
just quit all jobs because I had debts, and it doesn’ t work very well to
quit all your jobs when you have debts. So, I was guided to work to pay
off my debts. I saw that the jobs were used to help me heal certain
aspects of my mind and become more dependent on the Holy Spirit. I
asked to be shown which jobs I should take. Once I was at the job, it was
just as importan t to understand what was guided, and so I would ask
Holy Spirit, “How can I be most helpful here?” It was very practical, and
this experience showed me that I just need to trust Him. I need nothing
but this trust. Because with jobs and relationships, we cannot always
judge what is most beneficial for our healing. Sometimes people who have lost their jobs say it was the best thing
that ever happened. Sometimes I have even heard people say when they
have lost their husband or wife that it was the best thing that happened in
their life. So, whenever you feel frightened about outcomes like losing a
job or certain relationship, it is a time to go within, release the fear, and
open to a deep trust that can only lead to miracles. Living a life of devotion doesn’ t mean dropping responsibilities. The practice is to trust that you can be guided within your
responsibilities in ways that unwind fear and control. If your beliefs are
strong, they need to be seen through and handed over completel y or else
they will still be there percolat ing in the back of your consciousness,
directing your thoughts and actions. And yes, devotion to God will
ultimately free you complete ly from worldly responsibili ties and
concerns. You want to live your life with such devotion that you actually
allow the concerns of this world  to fade away . As things flow, there will
be flexibility if you have trust, for example in your daily respon sibilities
and schedules. This is because  your perception has changed, and you
have opened to see things from the Holy Spirit’ s perspective, from deep
acceptance and peace. You begin to let everything be used for this goal,
for this experience of trust. Once this link with your inner teacher is made, your way is set. You
experience a clear pathway . In trust, you feel that the Holy Spirit goesbefore you, leading, guiding, and giving you everything to say and do,
every person you are to meet, and every place you are to move. You
experience your direction in life as if there is a very specific plan already
available and you don’ t have to figure it out. Y ou don’ t have to weigh the
pros and cons or try to anticipate the future, and there is no need to fear
it either . You move in the direction of dropping the need for personal
control because you’re going for an experience of letting the Holy Spirit
plan and organize all things for you, relieving you from the belief that
you must plan for yourself. You are relieved from this heavy burden of
control, planning, and management of your life. Every second that you
spend trusting will give you huge rewards: contentment and
peacefulness. Accepting every thing with the Holy Spirit in your mind allows
everything to be used for peace and healing. You will realize that you are
not able to judge which activitie s and relationships are most helpful for
your opening to the present. You no longer wish to play the game of pick
and choose. When you trust and accept that your whole life is being
given by the Holy Spirit, you enter into such receptivity and flow that
you see everything as perfect support, as given just for you!Chapter 8
Acceptance
When you trust with a willingness in your heart to be healed,  you are
open to accept anything that comes your way. But do you have to accept
everything as it is in this world? After all, this world was born, quite
literally , in the refusal to accept things as they are, the perfection of
Heaven. There seem to be so many problems. Humanity seems to
complain a lot. For example, it’s very common to complain about the
environment. It seems normal and reasonable to complain about loud
noises, pollution, hot or cold weather , or gray skies. Because of this, it’s
also considered valuable and important to be an activist, to take a stand
to save the environment and so forth. Apart from trying to change
everything and be an activist, is the only other option to just withdraw
and accept thing s as they are perceived, or is there a third option? Does
the Holy Spirit give us another way? The first time I was in Beijing, the person who was driving
apologized for the smog and the pollution. He said, “I am so sorry that
our skies are so grey,” and I said, “Oh, they are beautiful. I am loving
your grey skies.” When peopl e apologize for something, they wish
something could be better , while I join in acceptance with what is. I
joined with the grey skies. I enjoy grey skies actually , and when people
ask me about pollution, I join with pollution. In my mind, I join with
everything because it is all unified in my awareness. When you become
all-inclusive in your wanting God or wanting peace, you have an
experience that there is nothing outside, there is nothing else, and
therefore, there is nothing to judge. Pollution is entirely neutral. But when you take that concept and
judge it, for example stating, “Polluted is the opposite of clean,” then
you project that belief, and you find evidence for your judgment. You
must have judged something for any anger , irritation, and anno yance to
appear . Then you see evidence  of what you judged. It is simply bydeciding that you do not like something that it appears on your mental
screen. If your acceptan ce only centers around the positives of the world,
you’ll be happy  for a while, then the heartbreak will come in, and pain
will come back. You go back and forth between heartbreak and
happiness, and life is like an emotional yo-yo. But there is something
inside that knows we are entitled to more than that, that we are entitled
to a sense of consistency as a state of mind, peace of mind. If we live
from a state of Spirit-inspired acceptance, this will unify our perception
and stabilize our emotions. Conscious accep tance therefore  becomes our pathway . Conscious
acceptance is a practice that leads to joy as certain as refusal to accept
things as they are leads to pain and misery . In order to really understand
conscious acceptance, we must understand the problem of judgment. Judgment is the birth of all perception. We have judged against God
metaphysically in our belief in separation, and multiplicity and choices
in form were born. That is why perception is always selective, and we
seem to be able to accept what we want and reject what we do not want,
usually based on the pain-and-p leasure mechanism—on subjective and
personal “likes” and “dislikes.” But do we really know what we want? Can we recogni ze that in a state of believed separation, we don’t really
know what we want? The foundation of our thought system is made
from an original opposition against what is, and thus accepta nce and
awareness of That Which Is—God—has become an alien concept. Acceptance, in the true spiritual sense, is to go within and
relinquish projection and judgm ent by allowing external conditions to be
the way they are. They are not the real problem. In this state of
awareness, there is no point in complaining about pollution or bad
weather . Being in this state of trust and acceptance is not a passive
experience. It is very much a state of actively being present with what
life presents. By living your life from a state of Spirit-inspired
acceptance, you get deeper into your purpose. You realize that you will
only be content with a happiness that is everlasting. The feeling of acceptance is of a receptive mind, an open mind. It’s
a key characteristic for experiencing the miracle within. The miracle isbasically a shift of perception from the ego’s opposition to true life, to
perceive everything as given for your highest good. Merging with Everything Through Conscious
Acceptance
It’s wonderful when we realize that we can join in mind with anything in
this universe: a sight, a sound, a memory , an object. The practice is to
come back to the mind, to come to a deeper point of not knowin g how or
what to judge, to the place inside where we actually don’t know what is
good or bad. This takes you back to I-am-ness, which is prior to
judgment. In that acceptance is your strength. Your invulnerabi lity is in
that being-ness, in that I-am-ness. When we don’t know the way out of our judgment, the way to our
own healing is through conscious acceptance. Conscious accepta nce is to
step back, tune in, and let yours elf be guided. Not because it is good or
right, but because it is the only way that will work. You will ultimately
come to a resona nce with the inner guidance because that is what will set
you free. It will take you back to true freedom. It is an undeniable fact that everything works together for our good. For most of us, this is not how we experience our daily life because all
ego goals—goals that are related to form, appearances, outcomes, and
preferences—have nothing to do with truth or reality . We can’t perceive
what is in our own best interests while we go for goals and outcomes of
form generated in a world of opposites and conflicts. As ment ioned in chapter 1, A Course in Miracles states that “in no
situation that arises do you realize the outcome that would make you
happy .” In no situation. None! And here it is: There is never a specific
outcome that would make you consistently happy—ever—because there
is not one that exists. You are asked to be very sincere, to concede to this
crucial realization that your general goals aren’ t really in your best
interest. You are pursuing goals that are about survival, comfort, material
gain, interperso nal love, and situations, people, places, and events to
satisfy your expectations: “I will be happy when the world looks thisway, when my personal life looks this way.” You are simply putting your
own limitations on the Divine. God is so much bigger , vaster , richer ,
freer, and happier than you can imagine, so wouldn’ t it be better to
accept all that He gives, which can always only be coming from divine
love?Exercise: I Do Not Perceive My Own Best Interests
Take some time now to look inward, breathe, and relax, and invite
the Holy Spirit to join you in preparation for your next assignment. This exercise requires much more honesty than you may be
accustomed to using. We will directly address your form- and
time-based goals. They may be goals that you have given a lot of
value to. Although in the light and perspective of the Spirit, they
are very likely to lose a lot of their former importance. You may
have noticed that you have a bunch of goals that result from ideas
about how the world should work out. Pick a couple of unresolved situations or conflicts in your life. In your journal, write down several desired outcomes that you
think would help you solve those situations. The emphasis should
be on uncove ring the outcome that you hope for. You can, for
example, use this format: “In the situation involving  
, I would like 
  and 
 to happen,” and so on. You may discover that
some of your desired outcomes may even  conflict. The purpose of
writing them down is solely to relinquish the idea that your
happiness will come from your own desired outcomes. When you
have searched your mind for several minutes and can’t find any
more desired outcomes, pause and reflect on this lesson from A
Course in Miracles :
I do not perceive my own best interests. In no situation that arises do you realize the outcome that
would make you happy . Therefore, you have no guide to
appropriate action, and no way of judging the result. What you
do is determined by your perception of the situation, and that
perception is wrong. Now go through the following questions. Use your journal to
write down your answers.1. Did you find conflicting personal or form goals in your
journal inquiry? 2. Are you able to recognize that the emphasis on outcomes is
a distraction from the goal of peace of mind? 3. Are you willing to loosen from the idea that you think you
know what is in your own best interest so you can learn
what your best interest is? As you explore your vario us goals this way, you may
recognize that you are making a large number of demands of
situations. You will also recognize that many of your goals are
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. Now, open up to surrendering from striving to achieve these
goals and satisfying your ideas about how your life should work
out. The Holy Spirit is constantly inviting you to surrender this way
and to accept peace of mind as your goal and sole outcome in
any situation. As a symbol of your letting go of outcomes, you could rip
these pages from your journal and crumple them up. You could
get a glass bowl and safely burn the pages, watching them
disappear into smoke. It takes  trust to realize that you don’t have to, nor can you
control outcom es. Relax into the acceptance that in no situation
do you know the outcome that would make you happy . Let the
Holy Spirit’ s guidance lead you, and in acceptance, you see that
you have what you always wanted—peace. The Ease of Miraculous Flow
“What could you not accept if you but knew that everything that
happens, all events, past, present, and to come, are gently planned by
One Whose only purpose is your good? Perhaps you have misun derstoodHis 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.”
We’ve all been through times where we cry and feel like we want to
pull our hair out. But we reach a point where we can just really laugh. It
just starts to get funnier and funnier . That’ s acceptance. That’ s being
aligned with the Holy Spirit. You know that you are in acceptance when you become surrend ered
in your life: surrendered away from opinions; surrendered away from
agendas; surrendered away from trying to control the world, events, and
situations. Acce ptance promote s an exquisite experience of effortless
flow. You can tell that you have let go of control and that you are in
acceptance when you experience your life and the world with ease. If
everything just seems to be in a rhythm, if everything just drops in and
falls into place easily , and if you’re gliding through the world, then you
know that you are in acceptance. As the trust in guidance builds, your capacity for acceptance grows,
which ultimately leads to an experience that all things are equally
acceptable. This state of nonjudgment means that you see and accept all
things and appearances as truly helpful for your healing. This doesn’ t
mean that you have some sort of obligation to every situation that comes
your way. But your attitude becomes welcoming and open rather than
suspicious to things that happen. You are developing your intuition to
use discernment as you learn that everything comes your way for
healing. This state of mind leads to experiences of more and more mirac les. Acceptance combined with trust is the recipe for miracles. It’s inevitable
that you will experience miracles once you begin to trust the flow and
orchestration of all events. You have opened up to a whole different
perception. You are coming to know that there is a real purpose for
everything. It’ s like the movie August Rush , which is a beautiful example
of how everythin g is orchestrated perfectly . Even when things don’t look
good, August stays committed to his calling and inner certainty . As for
August, a genuine flow of all things becomes your natural and peacefulperception. You have met the conditions for your miracle-minded life,
and love wins the day!Chapter 9
Peace of Mind
When unconscious beliefs are not brought to the forefront of our minds
to be looked at and released, the past replays itself over and over. This is
no life. It is like being a robot— getting up in the morning, brushing your
teeth, getting ready for work, and just going through the motions. How
many of us get up in the morning, sit up in bed, and ask: “What is the
nature of reality ? I do not even want to brush my teeth until I get a
handle on this!”
Later , you click into gear, and maybe during your lunch hour or
sometime at work, you will have questions like, “What am I doing here? What is the purpose of any of this?”  Often these questions get brushed
aside by all the things you think you have to do, the so-called “practical
things” that get in the way of investigating more deeply . But you can’t
get to a state of peace until you let go of the beliefs that are blocking
your awareness and experience of it. All We Need Is Willingness
We need a willingness to heal our mind. We need to be willing to see
where we say no to peace. In fact, we only need willingness. We do not
need intelligence, we do not need lots of money , and we do not need lots
of skills and abilities—all the things that the world says are essential. In
my life, I did not have a lot of money , and I did not feel like I had a lot of
skills, but I know I was very, very willing to be shown, to let the doors
be opened. If you come to God with willingness and sincer ity, then
watch out: it will knock your socks off! You will arrive at an experience
of peace , freedom, and clarity that you had never imagined  or ever
thought was possible. Y ou will truly know who you are.Like I mentione d previously , the ego is bent on outcomes in form,
on settin g specific external goals and then striving to achieve them. In
doing that, we’re still not happy. Then the quest becomes, “What is
next?” The game of “I will be happy when …” goes on and on. Eventually , we realize how powerful it is that peace is just a decision. Why not have peace of mind be our goal? What We Are Really Asking For
It’s not in our conscious awaren ess that peace is always there, rather it is
buried deep within our minds, covered over by beliefs and attachments. Therefore, our way to peace must always involve the very rewarding
undertaking of uncovering of beliefs. Someone once asked me: “You say we all get what we want. I have
a friend who would not agree with you. She is forty-five years  old, she
has always wanted a husband and a child, and she has not gotten them. She is praying, and we say to her, ‘Leave it up to God,’ but you say that
we get things even if it’s our ego that wishes it. So, what would  you say
to her?”
No matter what seems to be going on in specifics, on the surface , or
in our hearts, we never really ask for “things.” What we are really
always asking for is an experien ce or a state of mind. You could  ask your
friend questions like, “What is your experience?” and if she said, “Well,
I’m lonely . I want a husband and a child because I want something to fill
my life up. I want a feeling of joining, of connection. I want to share my
life with someon e. I want to share the joys of being a parent.” She could
start to see that there is a belief  of lack in her mind. It is this belief that
leads to the experience of loneliness, feeling isolated, or feeling empty
and unfulfilled. She may express  things like, “Okay , I’m feeling empty , a
bit alone , and unfulfilled.” The way her life and the world look for her is
a reflection of those feelings. When we feel this emptiness, isolation, and loneliness, it is not the
way it looks in the world that is causing us to feel this way. It is not our
circumstances of being single or married, for example. We are feeling it
because that is our state of consciousness. We are feeling that waybecause of our desire to follow ego beliefs that tell us we are capable of
feeling lonely , empty , or isolated. W e always get what we ask or pray for . That means we are always getting exactly what we are aligning our mind
with. The form of our life is simply an out-picturing of our inner beliefs
and desires, bringing witness  to an inner state of mind, without
exception. So, this woman who does not want to feel lonely could start
working more inwardly to cultiv ate the experience of a relations hip with
the Holy Spirit within: releasing the feelings, looking at the beliefs,
looking at the thoughts that are running through her mind on a daily
basis. And she eventually would say, “The good news is that I’m not a
victim. I’m not powerless based  on those thoughts.” In fact, we are never
powerless in the face of our beliefs because we can change them. We can
change our minds in an instant. She could look at how this is demonstrated in others. All of us have
known or met people who are very , very happy and joyful. Some of them
are what  we would call single, and some of them are what we would call
married. Some of them have children; some of them don’t. This shows
us that happiness, joy, and love are not circumstance dependent. Nothing
is really dependent on the circumstances. Sometimes people can feel
very lonely in a crowd, but when they are on a walk in the forest all by
themselves, they feel joy and a connection to the whole universe and
everyone in it. Sometimes peop le say to me, “Yes, David, we see that you are very
happy , but that’s just because  of your circumstances.
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:

        You can keep this letter, share
it with a trusted friend, or if you feel like a symbolic act of letting
these old thoughts go, you can even burn it. These though ts have
no effect on your worth. What matters is that you allow ed your
private thoughts to surface, acknowledged them, and then
released them. Take plenty of time to nurtu re yourself and rest after this
exercise. Let any remaining emotions, thoughts, or self-jud gments
pass; let them not hinder the peace that is your birthright. If you
were able to fully give yourself to this exercise, you will feel a
deeper acceptance of yourself and appreciation of the healing you
are experiencing. Part 2:  Venturing into the Open
Slowly go through the following questions one at a time. In your
journal, praye rfully write down your thoughts and responses
without reading ahead to the next question. 1. Choose an intimate relationship or a friendship where you
notice that you hold back from expressing your thoughts
and feelings. 2. Inquire about why you think you hold back from expressin g
your thoughts in this relationship. 3. How do you feel when you are holding back. How do you
react. 4. What are you afraid will happen if you are authentic and
transparent with your thoughts. 5. How would your life be different if you allowed yourself to
express what you are thinking and feeling to those closest
to you. In the Light of Love, Communication Washes
Ego Away
Once you have exposed everyth ing, the Spirit in you will want to extend,
but the ego is afraid of that, so it may be another obstacle to overcome. The ego will want you to hold back, to keep your love, your joy, and
your happiness bottled up. Allow yourself to share, to just let it pour out
so you can start to realize that you don’t need to be afraid of that love. Love pours through us, expresses through us, like a cleansing, washing,
purifying experience, and it’s only the ego that gets terrified. Keep in
awareness that the ego knows that if love keeps pouring out, then it will
be washed away. The ego wants to exist, so for it, hiding becomes a
matter of survival. Choosing ego through keeping private thoughts is often an
unconscious decision. It is the belief that you can harbor thoughts that
you would not share and that your safety lies in keeping thoughts to
yourself alone. For with priva te thoughts, you share only what you
would decide to share. This shuts off the potential for full
communication with those around you and with God, who surrounds all
of you together. Every thought  you keep hidden shuts communication
off. So, continue to open up to sharing and extending love, and the ego
obstacles and fear will fall away. As long as you give in to ego’s preference to have private thoughts
and keep them, you cannot experience the holy instant. The holy instant
happens in the present moment without the ego thoughts of the past and
the future. The holy instant is a time in which you receive and give
perfect communication. It is a moment in time when your mind  is open
both to receive and give. The holy instant is the acceptance of the single
will that govern s all thought. This is how you come to experience the
miracles that you have been unconscious of. In the sacred and holy
experience of this moment, the mind seeks to change nothing, but merely
to accept everything. This holy instant, this moment, is the recognition
that all minds are in communication. Part II
Miracles WithinChapter 6
Finding True Guidance
Have you ever heard about athletes who get “in the zone”. How they can
get into a state while exercising or during a match that is completely
intuitive and inner directed, which allows them to respond with perfect
grace to the external world. In that moment, they are not thinki ng about
reaching a goal but are fully aligned with and rested in the present. We
can get in a similar “holy zone” by opening to being guided. As humans, we focus a lot on “doing” rather than “being”: What am
I going to do today. What do I do next. What are you going to do. Is
what you are going to do going to jive with what I am going to do. None
of these questions are truly helpful since they’re not directed to the Holy
Spirit nor open for guidance. They lead to a scattered experience of our
day where nothing seems to really make sense. Things seem to happen
without a clear feeling of purpose behind them. It is a common  problem
to, out of habit, decide what to do before we ask for guidance. It is a
habit of a mind that believes it is a human being—a mind that believes it
is a “doer. ” We should call it a human “doing” instead of a human being. Peace of mind can only come when we have reversed this habit of
deciding first what to do and then asking for guidance. We have to get
into the habit of truly asking Holy Spirit what He would have us do and
say. Being open to ask for guidance undoes the independe nce and
autonomy of  separation and opens us up to a healthy experience of God-
dependency. Being in a childlike state of not knowing is one of the most
important steps toward learning to hear the inner voice of Spirit and
beginning to live a life witho ut fear. Children are such wonderful
examples in their great trust. Young children walking with their parents
are amazing to watch because they put their hand up and ask to be led. Their minds are open and recep tive to discover and learn because they
trust that they are safely led and shown the way. A first step toward thisstate of “I don’t know” and being guided is opening your mind and being
willing to loosen your definiti ons about what everything means. The
goal is to be so inner -directed by this voice that you no longer take any
of your “cues” from the external world unless you recognize  them as
Spirit within. My friend Jenny shares:
I felt as if my mind and my life were like a maze that I couldn’ t
make sense of, and where else could I go other than toward God. I felt like I had to have clarit y from Spirit or God because I
couldn’ t rely on myself. I felt like I didn’ t have the big picture
and therefore couldn’ t decide what was best in every situation. I
needed a capital  H help. True help. I realized that this world had
no answers and no guidance to give me. Learning to hear and follow guidance, I went through a lot of
cleansing and clearing, a lot of tears for many years, and a lot of praying,
discernment lessons, and asking. Sometimes I would just ask and ask,
and I would hear this gentle wisdom inside me. It would say: “It is good
that you are starting to ask Me for guidance, but don’t become obsessive. There is no need to ask for every single decision during a day. ” Should I
take my shoes off. Should I go out the door. Don’ t become obsessive
with it. Just trust in the Holy Spirit. Feel an opening to the guidance and
trust that you are going to do just great, that Spirit has got it. The Holy
Spirit is saying:  “I will direct you; just be willing to come in My
direction, and you will see that it is going to get easier and easier for
you. It will be more like a flow when you start to align your mind with
Me. ”
Many years ago, I sensed that I needed and wanted better
discernment betw een the ego and the Holy Spirit. I asked the Holy Spirit
for guidance. Me: Can Y ou give me something practical that can help me. Even
if it’s going to take time, I’m willing to work on it. Holy Spirit: Look at your life and start to consider how many of
your everyday actions are based on a fear of
consequences. T ake for instance your job. W ould you go
to that job every day unless you had a fear of
consequences. Me: Of course not. I would not be going to work every day if I
had no fear of consequences, if I didn’ t want some idea of
security for my future. Holy Spirit: This fear blocks a sense of being guided. Now go
through all the nuances that seem to be part of each day,
including the very subtle aspects, such as not wanting to
let people down, not wanting to hurt people’ s feelings, and
not wanting to step on anyone’ s toes. See what else is
based on the fear of consequences. I started  to do that with my life, to pay attention as I went through
my days. Something profound started to happen because I realized that
the opposite of fearing conseque nces is to be motivated by love. Imagine
if you were motivated only by love and nothing else. Imagine how
different it would be if there was no sense of fear pushing you. How
would your life go. You’d start to investigate what you do things for. Being motivated  by love helps you discern ego guidance from God’ s
guidance. When I started following love, I was amazed at the practicality and
ease that came with starting to hear this true guidance. If we need a word
of cheer  or comfort, it is there. If we need specific instruction, it is there. If we believe we need anything, that voice, that one voice, is always the
practical answer. And for me, that’s where the simplicity came in. I
found out that tuning into my inner voice, tuning into the Holy Spirit,
was really the only goal worth having. Life became very simple in that. Trying to listen to the ego is where the complexity seems to come in. But
once you understand how the ego works, you can lay it aside. Turning Away from Ego GuidanceThe ego is very ingenious. It even wants to come along on the spiritual
path. The ego can make you a polished spiritual self-concept. It can take
over any concept  just to preserve itself. It can be very sneaky. To get in
touch with whether you are follo wing the Holy Spirit or ego, you need to
discern how you truly feel. If you’re feeling happy, light, and peaceful,
that’s when the guidance is coming. If you try to listen to and follow
guidance and don’ t feel joy, you may have a discernment lesson going on
because the Holy Spirit always inspires a true sense of joy. A classi c exam ple of the sneak iness of the ego is when it starts
saying things like, “I kind of like this guidance thing. I can do anything
I’m pleased doing, and I’ll just call it guidance. ” Take a domestic
situation when you live with someone as an example. One party says: “If
you don’t take the garbage out…” and the other party says: “I was not
guided to take the garbage out. ” And the first one says: “I’m not guided
to take the garbage out either. ” You’ve got to watch this ego; it’s very
clever: “Well, my holy spirit told me…” “Well, actually, my holy spirit
told me…. ” You can tell that you’re listening to the ego when you start
using the word “my. ” This is the ego trying to use the idea of guidance
for its own purposes. The ego does not want you to have anything to do with guida nce
unless it is its own guidance—a nd it wants you to be a slave to it. The
ego likes that, but it is of fended by the Holy Spirit’ s guidance. It wants to
protect itself since the Spirit’ s guidance will undo it. Therefore, it wants
you to be dependent on it for everything. It does not want you to realize
that the mind is causative and that nothing can happen that the mind has
not asked for, that nothing comes from the “outside. ” When you realize
that nothing is external and that there are no external causes or effects,
the game is over for the ego. You have effectively ended its tyranny, this
false rulership, and you have accepted the strength and power exactly as
it is, in mind and as mind. One of the deep  truths that isn’t really known in the world is that if
you have a wrong-minded perception, a misguided behavior will always
follow. This is because thought s and images of forms are one and the
same. If you have wrong-minded thoughts, you will inevitably be
misguided. Actions and behaviors are not autonomous or separ ate from
your thoughts and beliefs. What you do comes from what you think. Without exception, this is so. What you do is determined by your
perception of a situation. There is great relief in knowing that what you
do comes only from what you think and believe and that there is nothing
outside of your mind. This is why you need guidance from a wisdom
beyond your own thoughts and belief system. You can relax and ease
your way into this alignment with the guidance of the Holy Spirit within. The difficulty is not really in finding out which voice is the Holy
Spirit’ s and which one is the ego’s. When you have fear in the mind, the
ego will actively  attack the Holy Spirit’ s guidance. So, there could be a
lot of attack thoughts or doubt thoughts coming up with certain
guidance. There fore, rather than asking whether it’s Spirit or ego, an
important step is to question what you are afraid of when you want to
know the guidance in a specific situation. And you can decide to be very
honest with yourself and look at what you’re afraid to lose. When what
you’re afraid to lose is not hidden, your mind is open to all possibilities
and all options. You will be in a space to tell the Holy Spirit, “Just show
me if it is Your will. ” Then you can feel the joy and peace that comes
with feeling the Holy Spirit’ s guidance. You will be able to see a lot of
signs and symbols. Symbols and metaphors of harmony and union align
the mind with the Holy Spirit. When you open your mind to guidance, you can see that guida nce
always offers a very obvious and easy option. The question of whether it
comes from the ego or the Spirit becomes unnecessary after you have
faced your specific fears. True guidance is always from the Spirit, and
the ego is only providing fears  and doubts that you need to heal and
clear, but never true guidance. Merging into a Glorious Flow
The experience of listening for true guidance is like being in a constant
state of prayer. All of a sudden, you feel how natural this is, and you
understand that you will need to make no decisions by yourself. You will
let Spirit decide for you. Be You in charge, Spirit. You know the way. You know the way out of the dream of separation. There is a shift
happening when you surrender  to Spirit this way. You come from anautonomous separate sense of self in a world apart and merge into a
glorious flow that has always been your natural state. It is absolutely
delightful to move into a day with an open mind that does not have a to-
do list and is not set on outcomes—being wide open to let the day be like
a blank canvas that can be painte d with all the beautiful splashin g colors. How free and how wonderful. “What is going to happen today. Oh, a
splash of green,  some red, some yellow. ” You can sit and behold the
painting as it appears right before you and really be in the glory of it,
without trying to control it, without trying to be the artist. Just be the
witness Self, the observer. It is delightful. Following guidance is a pathway to this ultimate experience. You
come without preconceptions, you come without ideas of outcomes, but
you come with a willingness to be shown, to receive that which is given,
and to trust that everything is for your awakening. That is what carries
you higher and higher to this ultimate experience. Spirituality must be practical. This is why it comes down to really
opening up to guidance day to day, to letting Holy Spirit go before you
and lead you in the decisions of your life. You are making decisions to
unwind from the ego-thought system. The only way you authentically
unwind is to decide with God, to decide with Spirit, as you move
forward. It is beautiful and very, very practical. It can almost become
like the song of your heart: “Today I will make no decisions by myself. Instead, I want to be led. I am ready to be led. ” As you get into the joy of
joining, it becomes obvious that this is truly the way because there is
lightness and happiness with it. We can get to an experience of this gentle presence and guidance
together with others. If two individuals are deeply attuned to each other
and to the Holy Spirit, they can actually hear the same guidance
simultaneously. This is a glorious experience. It’s like becoming one
with another being. This is an experience apart from time, a holy instant
when you see no difference between yourself and the other. In that
moment, there are no bodies or persons. It is a true moment of being one
mind. You can experience great harmony when you have synchronicities
like this. You look into each other ’s eyes and say: “Are you hearing what
I’m hearing. ” “Mmm mmm…” You don’t even have to finish a sentence
because you are both feeling the intuitive yes. Exercise: Opening to Spirit’ s Guidance
To listen to a recorded version of this exercise, go to
http://www. newharbinger. com/41870. Before you begin this exercis e, take a few breaths and relax
your mind. Close your eyes and take as much time as you need to
feel present and focused. As you move through this assignment, I
encourage you to allow any reactions or emotions to come up
freely. Don’t restrict or censor yourself. Think of an area in your life where you feel you need some
direction right now, big or small. Close your eyes and relax into a
space where you feel attentive, clear, and calm. Bring the area to
mind and hold it in awareness as you prepare to offer it to the
Holy Spirit. Allow any images to appear in your mind that
represent the essence of this issue for you. Take your time. Now,
imagine a large round golden platter in front of you, and see
yourself placing your issue on this golden platter and offering it to
Spirit. Think of Spirit as a vast, warm light. Then let it go. Don’t
think about it. Try not to think of anything at all. You have  brought
your issue to the Spirit; now relax. Imagine giving yourself over to the Holy Spirit completely in
this moment. Stay in this place of communion with the Holy Spirit
for as long as it feels helpful. Just be in the moment without
expectation. Now, exercise your willingness and present capacity
to trust. If you find yourself reverting back to worrying about the
situation and taking it back into your mind, that’s okay. Relax and
forgive yoursel f, and just begin again by placing the issue on the
platter and offering it to Spirit. And let it go.
Let them not hinder the peace that is your birthright.
What is the author's advice on what to do with thoughts and emotions after the exercise?
Trust is the key to experiencing the ultimate experience and is a state of being that requires letting go of the ego's influence.
What is the author's perspective on the importance of trust in the Holy Spirit?
The ego wants to control and manipulate, but it is important to recognize that the ego's guidance is based on fear and will lead to unhappiness.
What is the author's view on the role of the ego in decision-making?
The author advises to focus on how one feels, as the Holy Spirit's guidance is always accompanied by feelings of peace and joy, while the ego's guidance is accompanied by fear and doubt.
What is the author's advice on how to discern whether one is following the ego or the Holy Spirit?
The author emphasizes the importance of acceptance and trust in the Holy Spirit, as it allows for a state of inner guidance and peace, and ultimately leads to the experience of miracles and a life of purpose and fulfillment.
What is the author's perspective on the importance of acceptance and trust in the Holy Spirit?