Enjoy the following excerpt from a transcribed talk given by
A Course in Miracles teacher David Hoffmeister.
I’m looking at all the flags of the different religions and spiritualities in the back of the room. You might wonder, Which path is it I should take? It does seem to be a pretty significant decision, right? No! Jesus says in the introduction to A Course in Miracles, “This is a required course”. He’s really meaning forgiveness is required. It’s not meaning that you have to study A Course in Miracles or else. He’s just saying forgiveness is a required course. It is a self-study course, not a religion. You will have to forgive at some point or another.
He also says, “Free will does not mean that you can establish the curriculum. It only means that you can decide what you want to take at a given time”. Later on in the teacher’s manual, he even adds more to it. You can’t even decide the form. Well, that’s great! Now the curriculum is required, I have to forgive if I’m going to know my true self and know God and be happy. That’s required, and the form is not up for you to decide. Oh the ego is insulted by that one. It likes the idea that you pick the forms, but it’s all part of a prearranged plan, your destiny.
Basically it comes back to this: You can control the direction of your thinking. Your main thing is to align your thoughts with the Holy Spirit. Everything you think you’re deciding; that you think is a personal, unique, individual choice; your will as a human being. No, no, no. According to A Course in MIracles, none of it is true! And that means that once you start to get to these decisions like, ‘Do I stay or go in a relationship? Do I move or stay here? Do I stay at this job? Do I go for treatment in the hospital? Do I...’ All the things that seem like those big decisions. In the end, it’s not about big decisions and small decisions. It’s about lining up the Holy Spirit and saying, “Holy Spirit, decide for God for me”. You see how that will get you out of the conflict of a split mind? “Holy Spirit, decide for God for me. Today I will make no decisions by myself.”
These are the rules for decision. I want to be in total alignment. I want to feel that swirl of joy. You give me the guidance. I feel the joy, and then I follow. If I think that you are saying, ‘I don’t want to follow that guidance,’ then that sets up a conflict in the mind. The ego’s going, ‘No, no, no. Put the brakes on there. That’s too big of a decision. You could really be sorry if you make that decision.’ You can feel the struggle start. The guidance is given. There’s a swirl of joy, and then the ego comes in and tries to justify all reasons why not to make that decision.
To learn more about the teachings of A Course in Miracles and David Hoffmeister, please visit his website at https://acim.biz/a-course-in-miracles-book-acim/
I’m looking at all the flags of the different religions and spiritualities in the back of the room. You might wonder, Which path is it I should take? It does seem to be a pretty significant decision, right? No! Jesus says in the introduction to A Course in Miracles, “This is a required course”. He’s really meaning forgiveness is required. It’s not meaning that you have to study A Course in Miracles or else. He’s just saying forgiveness is a required course. It is a self-study course, not a religion. You will have to forgive at some point or another.
He also says, “Free will does not mean that you can establish the curriculum. It only means that you can decide what you want to take at a given time”. Later on in the teacher’s manual, he even adds more to it. You can’t even decide the form. Well, that’s great! Now the curriculum is required, I have to forgive if I’m going to know my true self and know God and be happy. That’s required, and the form is not up for you to decide. Oh the ego is insulted by that one. It likes the idea that you pick the forms, but it’s all part of a prearranged plan, your destiny.
Basically it comes back to this: You can control the direction of your thinking. Your main thing is to align your thoughts with the Holy Spirit. Everything you think you’re deciding; that you think is a personal, unique, individual choice; your will as a human being. No, no, no. According to A Course in MIracles, none of it is true! And that means that once you start to get to these decisions like, ‘Do I stay or go in a relationship? Do I move or stay here? Do I stay at this job? Do I go for treatment in the hospital? Do I...’ All the things that seem like those big decisions. In the end, it’s not about big decisions and small decisions. It’s about lining up the Holy Spirit and saying, “Holy Spirit, decide for God for me”. You see how that will get you out of the conflict of a split mind? “Holy Spirit, decide for God for me. Today I will make no decisions by myself.”
These are the rules for decision. I want to be in total alignment. I want to feel that swirl of joy. You give me the guidance. I feel the joy, and then I follow. If I think that you are saying, ‘I don’t want to follow that guidance,’ then that sets up a conflict in the mind. The ego’s going, ‘No, no, no. Put the brakes on there. That’s too big of a decision. You could really be sorry if you make that decision.’ You can feel the struggle start. The guidance is given. There’s a swirl of joy, and then the ego comes in and tries to justify all reasons why not to make that decision.
To learn more about the teachings of A Course in Miracles and David Hoffmeister, please visit his website at https://acim.biz/a-course-in-miracles-book-acim/
