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Study of Manual for Teachers 5-29-12

5-29-12

3 The seemingly new abilities that may be gathered on the way can be very helpful. Given to the Holy Spirit, and used under His direction, they are valuable teaching aids. To this, the question of how they arise is irrelevant. The only important consideration is how they are used. Taking them as ends in themselves, no matter how this is done, will delay progress. Nor does their value lie in proving anything; achievements from the past, unusual attunement with the “unseen,” or “special” favors from God. God gives no special favors, and no one has any powers that are not available to everyone. Only by tricks of magic are special powers “demonstrated.”

My ability to write and to teach are the abilities I was guided to develop because these are the abilities Holy Spirit would have me use for His purposes. They have nothing to do with the “me” self. I have always wanted to write, but the reason I wanted to write was so that I could be famous and make lots of money. That was the ego’s reason. But every time I tried to write it was just horrible. Still, the desire was there and I would try from time to time with the same discouraging results.

The desire to write was there because Holy Spirit had use for it, but it was not time. I had to get to a place in my mind where I was willing to use that skill for a higher purpose. I think that if I had been an established author earlier in my life, I would have interfered with the Holy Spirit’s message. I would have thought I knew something about writing and would have listened to my thinking mind. I can only hear one voice at a time and to effectively hear Holy Spirit, I must stop listening to ego.

I wonder what use the Holy Spirit has for other forms of communication. For instance what about a gift such as mediums have? I try to imagine what that would be like and how I could be used if that were a gift of mine. I can see how a person might use it as a parlor trick, or to make themselves feel special, to impress people, or to make money. Evidently really good mediums can make a great deal of money, and there is nothing wrong with making money, but I can see how any of these uses would be a really major distraction and delay if any of them were the chosen purpose.

On the other hand, that gift could be given to the Holy Spirit for His use and I imagine that it could be very helpful. It might be useful to encourage the belief that death does not affect life, that we continue as before with or without a body. Whatever use it has, if it is used by the Holy Spirit, only good could come of it.

Because I don’t have any of these psychic gifts I have been imagining that one of them would develop. I am doing this so that I can understand what Jesus is telling me. I imagined possible uses and also imagined pitfalls and thought I was through. Then Holy Spirit caught my attention and pointed out that to be helpful, any gift should be used by Holy Spirit, rather than for Holy Spirit.

I thought about that for a moment and realized that it might be easy to fall into the ego habit of deciding for myself how an unusual ability should be used. It would be easy to fool myself if I seemed to be using it for spiritual purposes, but all things, to be truly useful, must be placed under Holy Spirit’s direction. I see what You mean, Holy Spirit; by You, rather than for You.

Once again, I see that I must become empty of self-will if I want to experience Self-Will. The ego would want to use unusual abilities to glorify Myron. A different choice would be to set aside that idle wish and look within the Heart for my True desire. I would find that I want to become empty of self so that I could be lived by Self.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 5-28-12

5-28-12
2 Certainly there are many “psychic” powers that are clearly in line with this course. Communication is not limited to the small range of channels the world recognizes. If it were, there would be little point in trying to teach salvation. It would be impossible to do so. The limits the world places on communication are the chief barriers to direct experience of the Holy Spirit, Whose Presence is always there and Whose Voice is available but for the hearing. These limits are placed out of fear, for without them the walls that surround all the separate places of the world would fall at the holy sound of His Voice. Who transcends these limits in any way is merely becoming more natural. He is doing nothing special, and there is no magic in his accomplishments.

I’ve never experienced most psychic abilities, but I have noticed that as I am “tuned in” to Holy Spirit, my life flows more smoothly. I hear disturbing news about a friend’s health and I realize I don’t believe it. I don’t worry about that person or think in terms of what will happen next and whether she will survive it. I just know that the problem will resolve itself or something. It is never clear-cut or in words, just a knowing.

I drive a lot and often this in rural areas, sometimes so rural that even my GPS becomes confused. If I relax and ask for guidance, I am inevitably “led” to the right place. I thought about this because it happened again recently. I was going to a wedding, and though I know they can’t start without their minister, I don’t like to be late. Brides are nerved up enough without me adding to their stress level.

The wedding was taking place out in the country at their home and even though I had been there for the rehearsal, I was coming from a different direction this time. I put the address into my GPS and wound up on a dead end road. I felt a moment of panic because I had not allowed time to get lost when I headed out. I stopped a moment to allow myself to relax and to rest the thinking mind. I turned off the GPS and asked Holy Spirit which way to go. I turned around and went straight to the house.

Another way this kind of intuitive knowing is helpful is when I am facilitating a student or doing some spiritual counseling. I always ask the Holy Spirit to guide my words. Sometimes I will say something that is absolutely perfect without even knowing it until afterwards when the person tells me. Sometimes I will say things that don’t even make sense to me and yet, they are perfect. Sometimes I am as surprised by what comes from my mouth as is the person I am speaking to.

Most of the time this is not very dramatic. I say what I am led to say and it just feels like a helpful conversation. But I know what a conversation coming from the ego thinking mind sounds like, and I know that when it comes from Spirit it is an entirely different thing. If this connection with Holy Spirit were not available to me, I guarantee you that I would not be a minister at all. I certainly would not be teaching and facilitating and counseling people. I am under no delusions that I am a gifted, or even skilled, communicator.

One of the most dramatic differences shows up in my writing. I have tried to write something without Spirit guidance and believe me when I say that I am not a gifted writer either. I am not any kind of writer. But from the day I started listening to Holy Spirit as I write, the words have flowed easily and helpfully.

I don’t think of this intuitive speaking and thinking or even writing as being psychic, but it is something out of the ordinary. It is not the way we usually think of communication. It is communicating without the involvement of the thinking mind, and that is always a good thing.

The thinking mind only recycles the bits of information I have stuffed into it in the past. Guidance comes from an All-Knowing Source and does not depend on, nor is limited to, information gathered from past experiences. It is not even limited to this little sliver of mind I call my own. It is from the whole Mind and so is relevant to any and all involved.

This ability to hear Holy Spirit is certainly not limited to a few “special” people. Anyone can do this and everyone is meant to do it. All that is required is the desire to do so and the willingness to put aside the self if only for the moments needed to hear Spirit. Holy Spirit will not out-shout the ego voice.

He speaks clearly and quietly and does so whether we are actively listening or not. But to hear Him, we have to stop listening to the ego voice, the voice of the self. That is all we have to do, and eventually we all will do it. The Course tells us that it is possible to hear only this Voice. Even though I am not there, I am getting closer and closer to that day.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 5-27-12

5-27-12
25. ARE “PSYCHIC” POWERS DESIRABLE?

1 The answer to this question is much like the preceding one. There are, of course, no “unnatural” powers, and it is obviously merely an appeal to magic to make up a power that does not exist. It is equally obvious, however, that each individual has many abilities of which he is unaware. As his awareness increases, he may well develop abilities that seem quite startling to him. Yet nothing he can do can compare even in the slightest with the glorious surprise of remembering Who he is. Let all his learning and all his efforts be directed toward this one great final surprise, and he will not be content to be delayed by the little ones that may come to him on the way.

I used to be enamored of the idea of being psychic. I really wanted this mysterious ability for myself. Of course the reason I wanted it was to be special and to have something others didn’t. This is the way we misuse ideas and is typical of ego thinking. Later I kicked the baby out with the bathwater and decided that it was the desire for the ability that was the problem and so I gave myself a new identity. I am one who has no psychic ability. I have been very determined to be that one.

I still like the idea of psychics and have always totally believed in them, though as time went on I noticed that many were not very good at it, and this became just another way in which I used judgment to create more separation; there are good psychics and bad psychics and all of them are different from me.

I also realized that I really wanted to know what was coming and this desire often stemmed from fear of the future, and a desire to be in control. Even wanting to know if I would meet a tall dark stranger took me out of the moment and put me into the ego desire to make another story and to distract myself from the only purpose I have.

And yet, there is nothing the Holy Spirit will not use for my good if that is my true Heart’s desire. One day I had a strong feeling to call a particular psychic. I didn’t know why but I didn’t question it. It was tempting to get distracted by all the fun stuff she said, but I also recognized the reason I was to call. She said some things that helped me to get on track with a part of my ministry that I had been ignoring. Once I recognized this, I realized that I had been getting this same message from Holy Spirit, but had not been paying attention. This more dramatic message caught my attention.

I think there is no restriction on what I am able to do if I am open to it. I am no longer interested in doing anything for the purpose of being special, being different, being admired. The ego mind wants and wants and wants and it mostly wants to be in control, to decide what everything is for, and to use everything to reinforce the separation idea. I want to always use whatever the Holy Spirit would have me use for His healing purposes. I would be psychic or not psychic according to what would be helpful, and I would not decide what that is

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 5-26-12

5-26-12
6 The emphasis of this course always remains the same;-it is at this moment that complete salvation is offered you, and it is at this moment that you can accept it. This is still your one responsibility. Atonement might be equated with total escape from the past and total lack of interest in the future. Heaven is here. There is nowhere else. Heaven is now. There is no other time. No teaching that does not lead to this is of concern to God’s teachers. All beliefs will point to this if properly interpreted. In this sense, it can be said that their truth lies in their usefulness. All beliefs that lead to progress should be honored. This is the sole criterion this course requires. No more than this is necessary.

It has been in this study of the Manual for Teachers that I have finally understood that awakening is not an escape from my life. I had begun to understand this, but now I really get it. There is nowhere to go and no time to be. There is only now. I awaken now. I awaken here. Heaven is now. Heaven is here. I lack nothing. There is nothing for me to do, nowhere for me to go. All this work I do is for the purpose of reaching a decision to be what I am. With that decision all is done. However, it must be a decision with no exceptions. It must be wholly desired.

I have come to terms with the fact that from this limited experience I have decided on there is only so much that I will understand. I have made a world of very narrow focus in which I allow myself only a bit of awareness. It seems that I will be limited in this way as long as I continue to choose separation, and so I must trust what I cannot at this moment see and understand. But all is awaiting a new decision on my part. Truth goes nowhere and does not change because I have decided not to acknowledge it. I will know what I am willing to know and eventually I will know all.

Concepts like reincarnation are helpful to the extent that I use them to bring me closer to my true desire. And all concepts can be reinterpreted to accommodate this choice if that is my desire. It seems that is the function of the Holy Spirit in my mind. The Holy Spirit has been showing me this lately as it applies to different religions and different spiritual paths. There were ideas that I had thought were wrong and something to be avoided, that He has reinterpreted for me and the truth at their core has been exposed.

It makes me laugh to think how confused I was that in my search for truth I was going deeper into separation as I judged and rejected. That is what happens when I try to use the ego thinking mind. Judging and separating is all the ego knows so that is all it gives me. Holy Spirit, I set my thoughts aside and wait patiently for your words. 

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 5-25-12

5 Does this mean that the teacher of God should not believe in reincarnation himself, or discuss it with others who do? The answer is, certainly not! If he does believe in reincarnation, it would be a mistake for him to renounce the belief unless his internal Teacher so advised. And this is most unlikely. He might be advised that he is misusing the belief in some way that is detrimental to his pupil’s advance or his own. Reinterpretation would then be recommended, because it is necessary. All that must be recognized, however, is that birth was not the beginning, and death is not the end. Yet even this much is not required of the beginner. He need merely accept the idea that what he knows is not necessarily all there is to learn. His journey has begun.

When I first read the Course I was one of the very few people I knew who believed in reincarnation. It made so much sense to me that I couldn’t believe my friends thought I was the weird one. When I saw the title of this section I was both excited and nervous. I was excited to see if I was right and nervous that I wasn’t. I had a lot invested in my belief in this concept. And that’s the problem with concepts. The best concept we can devise is going to fall short of the truth and if we become attached to it we will limit ourselves.

Frankly, I was disappointed with the explanation given here. I wanted a definitive yes and I wasn’t getting it. I was surprised at how much I wanted to be right and that should have told me something right there. It was a long time before I stopped protecting my beliefs. Eventually I was able to drop my defenses and to let go, first some of my concepts, and finally the idea that I know anything. This surrender of self has made room for new ideas, but now I hold them lightly knowing that they will be replaced or expanded upon as I am ready.

For instance, I now understand that it is possible to move my awareness from this body to another at will. I have even had that experience, albeit while I was sleeping and my defenses were completely down. I know that it wasn’t a dream because I woke up during the process and felt the movement of Love and it was the most astonishing thing I have ever experienced. By the way, astonishing doesn’t even begin to cover it. It’s like saying Everest is a really big mountain. I’m looking through all the synonyms for extraordinary and astonishing and the word I need doesn’t seem to exist.

From this experience came a new understanding of what I am but I hold that understanding lightly as well because I know that it is just a taste and not the whole thing. As unbelievable as that experience was, you would think it would change everything, and it has, but not as completely or as permanently as I would like. I find it hard to hold onto that feeling and as it fades I long to have it back. I notice how easy it is to fall back acting like I am separate from everyone else. Sigh.

The Holy Spirit was very patient with me and allowed me all the time I needed to loosen my hold on what I believed so that He could begin to reinterpret for me, but only as I was ready and only as it was helpful. The Holy Spirit is my Teacher and is my model. I try to be like Him. I try to remember that I can’t tell someone else what that person should believe.

I try never to tell someone else they are wrong and don’t understand because that is not what my Teacher does. I try very hard to be as empty as I can be and to listen for what the Holy Spirit knows is the right words to share with each student that is sent to me. When I fail in that, I forgive myself and try again.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 5-24-12

Day 143
4 It cannot be too strongly emphasized that this course aims at a complete reversal of thought. When this is finally accomplished, issues such as the validity of reincarnation become meaningless. Until then, they are likely to be merely controversial. The teacher of God is, therefore, wise to step away from all such questions, for he has much to teach and learn apart from them. He should both learn and teach that theoretical issues but waste time, draining it away from its appointed purpose. If there are aspects to any concept or belief that will be helpful, he will be told about it. He will also be told how to use it. What more need he know?

Just as I suspected, there is much for me to know but I will not know it through picking apart concepts designed by the thinking mind. As Jesus says, this is just a waste of time, time I can instead use to prepare my mind to be used as a conduit for knowledge. This knowledge does not come from me, but through me. I choose to spend my time letting go of ideas that block the flow of this knowledge.

If there are concepts that can be temporarily useful in part or in whole, I will be told and will be directed in how to use them. Other than that, there is no value in them. It’s a trick that took me awhile to master, this allowing theoretical issues to just be, neither rejecting nor accepting them. Well, maybe not master, but I did become more comfortable with it. My mind wanted answers and wanted concrete answers.

I see now that this is ego. Ego wants to name things and thus make them discreet and different from the other thing. God is evidently abstract. I say evidently because I don’t remember God, but this is the idea I get from ACIM. Ego wants the opposite of truth in all things, because this is what ego is. It is idea of being the opposite of God.

So ego wants reincarnation and other concepts to be or not be, and is uncomfortable with the idea that I should let it be neither or both according to its usefulness. I think this is because ego recognizes that this is just another way of saying concepts are meaningless and so can be used or not used, and meaninglessness is frightening to the ego.

Meaninglessness may be frightening to the ego, but it is key to my return Home. As I recognize more and more ideas and beliefs as not good or bad but simply meaningless, I more easily let them go. The more I let go, the more effortlessly I receive and accept what the Holy Spirit would have me know. I become an empty shell, a clear and perfect conduit through which God would live me. It is so odd to think that I am pushing against God, trying to keep Him out.

But that is what’s happening, really, when I say I am, and the I am is less than God. I am pretty. I am ugly. I am guilty. I am afraid. I am smart. I go on and on filling myself with I ams in an attempt to keep God out. Why do I do this? Why am I afraid of God? This is like asking why am I afraid of my Self. It is not a frightening or foolish or mysterious question. It is a meaningless question.

I was talking to Nouk Sanchez one day and she said that she received a message from Spirit that she should set aside everything she thought she knew. She felt resistance to that idea. After all, she had spent years getting to the place she was, how could she just set it all aside? Holy Spirit asked her if she wanted to know about God, or did she want to know God? I want to know God. Holy Spirit, I want to set aside all that I believe defines me. I want to set aside all concepts I have attached to. Please help me to do this.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 5-23-12

Day 142
3 For our purposes, it would not be helpful to take any definite stand on reincarnation. A teacher of God should be as helpful to those who believe in it as to those who do not. If a definite stand were required of him, it would merely limit his usefulness, as well as his own decision-making. Our course is not concerned with any concept that is not acceptable to anyone, regardless of his formal beliefs. His ego will be enough for him to cope with, and it is not the part of wisdom to add sectarian controversies to his burdens. Nor would there be an advantage in his premature acceptance of the course merely because it advocates a long-held belief of his own.

Its obvious that it does not matter if someone believes in reincarnation or not. The only thing that matters is if the person uses it to help him reach his goal of awakening, and not to delay his goal. As a teacher of God I would neither encourage nor discourage because the concept itself is not important. If someone believes in reincarnation it can be used to help him understand that life has nothing to do with the body. I believe that this was very important to me at one time.

When I discovered the concept of reincarnation and then read up on it and some of the studies done which seemed to prove that we live many lives, I lost all belief in death after death. Before that time I had the idea of something living on in heaven or hell but no real feeling for it. I saw it as a body, maybe a little different, but definitely a body, because something had to burn for its sins.

I only concerned myself with my many sins because God would torture this other body for eternity if I didn’t find absolution for my sins before I died. It sounds so crazy to me now that its as if I’m joking when I say this, but it was my belief at the time. I don’t know how we humans live with this belief. There is virtually no way one can go their lives without “sinning” and the only hope as far as I could see was to get lucky enough to die immediately after confession. ~smile~

I loved the idea of reincarnation because it gave me hope that I had more chances. Even if I died with all these sins on my soul, that soul got a chance to atone for them in another life. I still had a strong belief in the body though, because when I imagined meeting myself from a past life I thought I would have, not just the same personality, but I would look like myself.

It took a lot longer for me to go any further in my beliefs. But at that time, the belief in reincarnation gave me hope. I still believed in guilt and punishment, but at least with reincarnation there was hope the punishment would end when I finally got it right. I would do something wrong to someone in this life and I would have to make up for it in another life, or someone would do the same thing to me and that would even the score, cancelling out my sin. This would obviously never end because I was so far from living a perfect life that I would be lucky if I got it right before the earth went nova. But at least it would keep me away from God’s judgment and hell until that happened.

The concept of reincarnation, in my experience, can be a helpful stepping stone, a bridge to a deeper understanding of a mystery that may forever be just out of my reach, at least as long as I am dreaming a dream of separation. Would I ever tell someone they are wrong for their beliefs? No. That would be foolishly arrogant of me. That would be like a child making fun of his friend for believing in Santa while he dreamed of being just like his hero, Spider Man. I don’t know the truth of things, and only have metaphors to help me bridge my ignorance until complete enlightenment. Its enough for me.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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