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Study of Text, C 15: V. The Holy Instant and Special Relationships, P 1. 1-8-18

V. The Holy Instant and Special Relationships, P 1
1 The holy instant is the Holy Spirit’s most useful learning device for teaching you love’s meaning. For its purpose is to suspend judgment entirely. Judgment always rests on the past, for past experience is the basis on which you judge. Judgment becomes impossible without the past, for without it you do not understand anything. You would make no attempt to judge, because it would be quite apparent to you that you do not understand what anything means. You are afraid of this because you believe that without the ego, all would be chaos. Yet I assure you that without the ego, all would be love.

Journal
This is a perfect paragraph for me this morning as I am doing the lessons again and am on Lesson 8, “My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.” Because of this practice, I am keenly aware of this phenomenon. A few moments ago, I noticed my tub was slow to drain, and immediately, I had a cascade of thoughts about this, which led me to make a decision about calling the plumber this morning. I had worry thoughts, anger thoughts, and resentment thoughts.

Here are some of the thoughts I had. The plumbers were supposed to have come out already and given me an estimate on fixing this problem once and for all and they didn’t. Now I might have to get them out to unclog things before they do the job. I already paid them $500.00 last month to come out repeatedly and maybe this is going to start all over again this month. What if the cost for the job is more than I have? Should I try a different plumbing company?

All of these are judgments and all of them are a preoccupation with the past. And I can’t have peace of mind and have these judgments. I notice that it is hard for me to take my mind off of possible scenarios, all of which are based on past thoughts and all of which are judgments. But I want the holy instant, and I know that worry and irritability are not going to get that for me. I know that nothing good is going to come from dwelling on past thoughts and getting irritated because I am not getting my way.

So I am looking at this paragraph carefully. Jesus says that the holy instant is the Holy Spirit’s most useful learning device for teaching you love’s meaning. Ok. I want this and I am willing to do what is required in order to have it. Jesus says that in order to have it, I must suspend judgment entirely and that judgment rests on past experience. That was how I judged, looking at what happened before and letting that experience guide my thoughts about the present.

So, I will let go of all thoughts about my past experience with this plumbing problem. I will empty my mind of those thoughts and begin with a blank slate. Right now, what is happening? Nothing. What might happen? I don’t know. If something happens with my plumbing what will I do about it? I don’t know. What I feel right now is peace. The ego doesn’t like this and keeps suggesting possibilities, but I keep turning away from that.

I have done this before, where I let go of deciding for myself and it has worked out very well. It flies in the face of what we think of as common sense, and the ego mind becomes frantic to find solutions. But I have seen that it is possible to stay calm and unaffected by the ego mind. I have had experiences where the solution fell easily into my mind at the moment I needed it.

I don’t know what all of these plumbing problems mean, and I am not using my ego mind to figure it out. Jesus says that I am afraid to let go of past thoughts and to let go of ego thinking about the problem because I believe that without the ego, all would be chaos. Oh yes, that is exactly what the ego mind thinks. But Jesus assures me that without the ego all would be love. I am willing to trust my elder brother on this.

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Manual for Teachers: X. Open-Mindedness, P 3. 1-5-18

X. Open-Mindedness, P 3
3 You may have noticed that the list of attributes of God’s teachers does not include things that are the Son of God’s inheritance. Terms like love, sinlessness, perfection, knowledge and eternal truth do not appear in this context. They would be most inappropriate here. What God has given is so far beyond our curriculum that learning but disappears in its presence. Yet while its presence is obscured, the focus properly belongs on the curriculum. It is the function of God’s teachers to bring true learning to the world. Properly speaking it is unlearning that they bring, for that is “true learning” in the world. It is given to the teachers of God to bring the glad tidings of complete forgiveness to the world. Blessed indeed are they, for they are the bringers of salvation.

Journal

I can accurately say that I am sinless and perfect and already awakened, and while that is all true, it may not be the most helpful thing in the moment. I am here in this fantasy because regardless of how true those attributes are I don’t really believe them. I am wrong about that but as Jesus says, what I believe is true for me.

Right now the focus properly belongs on the curriculum of forgiveness, that is, the undoing of all that I do believe right now. This is my part in bringing salvation to me and to all the world. Then, I can say with complete honesty that I am sinless and perfect and awakened, only there will be no reason to say it because there will be no thought of a possible opposite.

Unlearning is our goal now and it is pretty simple to tell what needs to be unlearned. I only need to notice what is going on in the world to see that there is unlearning to be done and to notice my reaction to what I see to know my part in the unlearning process. If I have an emotional response to what I see then I have something to forgive.

If I am wishing I had done better in the past there is forgiveness work to be done. If I am worried about something that might happen there is forgiveness work to be done. If I am sad or depressed, if I am angry or fearful or if I feel guilty, then there is forgiveness work to be done. These emotional responses to specific incidences point to unforgiveness and let me know that I still have some belief that needs to be undone.

This work is “true learning” in the world. Once this is done or rather undone, the truth will be revealed. It does not need our help and we do not need to learn anything about the truth. The truth did not go anywhere because we chose to believe something else. As soon as we unlearn the false the truth is simply apparent.

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Study of Text, C 15: IV. Practicing the Holy Instant, P 9, 1-4-18

IV. Practicing the Holy Instant, P 9
9 The necessary condition for the holy instant does not require that you have no thoughts that are not pure. But it does require that you have none that you would keep. Innocence is not of your making. It is given you the instant you would have it. Atonement would not be if there were no need for it. You will not be able to accept perfect communication as long as you would hide it from yourself. For what you would hide is hidden from you. In your practice, then, try only to be vigilant against deception, and seek not to protect the thoughts you would keep to yourself. Let the Holy Spirit’s purity shine them away, and bring all your awareness to the readiness for purity He offers you. Thus will He make you ready to acknowledge that you are host to God, and hostage to no one and to nothing.

Journal

There are two important messages in this paragraph. This is the first.

The necessary condition for the holy instant does not require that you have no thoughts that are not pure. But it does require that you have none that you would keep.

As long as my mind is split, and if I still see myself as part of this illusion, then my mind is split, I will have thoughts that are not pure. That is to be expected. My part in this is to be willing to let them go. I must notice when I am deliberately defending them from the Holy Spirit. One way we do this is to pretend that we are not aware of some of these untrue thoughts. We hide them from ourselves.

I have been practicing mind-watching for a long time now. I have gotten to be pretty proficient at noticing thoughts and letting them be corrected. Because of this practice, I am a lot more peaceful than I used to be. What I am discovering as I make a fearless and searching moral inventory of myself is that I have some beliefs that needed to be seen. Since these beliefs are in my mind and therefore available to me, it must be that I was hiding it even from myself. Ah well, as Jesus says, there would be no Atonement if there was not a need for it.

Here is the second important idea in this lesson.

Innocence is not of your making.

I don’t have to do anything to become innocent. I am that, already. There is absolutely nothing I can do to destroy my innocence, though I can act and think in a way that keeps it from my awareness. I only need to be vigilant for all in my mind that is not innocence and allow it to be purified.

This very act of hiding thoughts that I would keep to myself breaks communication. Without full communication with the Holy Spirit, I feel orphaned though I may not be consciously aware of why I feel that way. I used to be so thoroughly caught up in my story that most of my efforts were directed toward improving the story; even my spiritual work was for that purpose.

What I came to realize is that my life is not about my life. It is about using this life to undo the illusion altogether. Now I understand why I do this work. I do it so that I can finally return my full awareness to God. A Course in Miracles offers us only one thing, forgiveness. But, as Jesus says, that is enough. I search out the hidden places in my mind and let the light of purity shine them away and this is forgiveness. It will lead me past forgiveness and into God.

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Manual for Teachers: X. Open-Mindedness, P 2. 1-3-18

X. Open-Mindedness, P 2
2 How do the open-minded forgive? They have let go all things that would prevent forgiveness. They have in truth abandoned the world, and let it be restored to them in newness and in joy so glorious they could never have conceived of such a change. Nothing is now as it was formerly. Nothing but sparkles now which seemed so dull and lifeless before. And above all are all things welcoming, for threat is gone. No clouds remain to hide the face of Christ. Now is the goal achieved. Forgiveness is the final goal of the curriculum. It paves the way for what goes far beyond all learning. The curriculum makes no effort to exceed its legitimate goal. Forgiveness is its single aim, at which all learning ultimately converges. It is indeed enough.

Journal

Jesus says that the open-minded have forgiven as they let go of all things that would prevent forgiveness. So I ask myself, “What is in the way of total forgiveness in my mind?” I can find a few images in my life that indicate to me that I have not forgiven. For instance, there is a guy who drops by my page once in a while to make a snide remark about my post, and I often feel an emotional reaction toward this. So I see something in my life that is preventing forgiveness.

And no, it is not the offending guy, but the belief that I can be offended, that is preventing forgiveness. The guy is just offering me another chance to move closer to forgiveness and thus to open-mindedness. There are not many of these images for me to look at, but there are some. Often they are directed at myself, things I wish I had not done.

But, I have come to realize that the images, while helpful to let me see that there is still unforgiveness in my heart, are not the problem. If I ask myself why it is I am upset by this image, I come closer to knowing what it is that is preventing forgiveness. For instance, if I ask myself why it is that I am upset with this guy who keeps poking at me, I find that I don’t know. Haha. Well, I can ask the Holy Spirit to help me see what is going on here.

When I asked for His help, I received the word, insecure. I feel insecure when this happens. That’s a surprise! I never think of myself as insecure, especially when it comes to my spiritual understanding. I know that I am not always right, but I also know that my understanding will grow as I keep opening to my Teacher’s help.

Webster says that insecure means not confident, not certain, not safe. Ah! I see now. There is a place in my mind that is not certain of anything and this makes me feel unsafe. Following the process of asking why I am upset, this insecurity, this uncertainty, opens the possibility that the truth is not true. This is why I feel unsafe.

What if my ego mind is right and the other mind, the part I think of as my holy mind and my true self is just a delusion. This is what ego would have me believe. This belief is what must be forgiven and thus healed. It is maybe the ultimate forgiveness. As I forgive this in my mind, I am open to accepting the truth wholeheartedly.

I know that forgiveness is my desire and the path to peace and happiness. I give the Holy Spirit everything in my mind that opposes the desire for forgiveness. I have no need for any of it and I find no value in retaining it. This is why I practice A Course in Miracles. Jesus says this about the Course. “Forgiveness is the final goal of the curriculum. It paves the way for what goes far beyond all learning.” It also says that this is enough to accomplish the rest.

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Study of Text, C 15: IV. Practicing the Holy Instant, P 8, 1-2-18

IV. Practicing the Holy Instant, P 8
8 Every thought you would keep hidden shuts communication off, because you would have it so. It is impossible to recognize perfect communication while breaking communication holds value to you. Ask yourself honestly, “Would I want to have perfect communication, and am I wholly willing to let everything that interferes with it go forever?” If the answer is no, then the Holy Spirit’s readiness to give it to you is not enough to make it yours, for you are not ready to share it with Him. And it cannot come into a mind that has decided to oppose it. For the holy instant is given and received with equal willingness, being the acceptance of the single Will that governs all thought.

Journal

Recently, I became part of an Al Anon group and I have been doing the steps. I am on step 4 right now. This one says to make a fearless and searching moral inventory of myself. This has been an interesting experience for me. I am using a book called Paths to Recovery. It asks questions to help me do the steps, and I am doing my best to answer them as honestly as I can.

This morning as I read this paragraph, I find myself wondering if I am being honest. Am I hiding any embarrassing or shameful thoughts? I notice that I am getting frustrated with the process and that increases my suspicions that I am not being in full communication even with myself. Later today I am going back to this project and this time I am beginning the process again, but with the Holy Spirit as my guide.

I am asking Him to help me see what needs to be seen. I am going to trust Him completely. I am willing to let go of anything that interferes with our communication. I do want full and open communication because anything less is not really communication at all. To be in true communication is to be in the holy instant and this will be given to me if I do not oppose it.

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Manual for Teachers: X. Open-Mindedness, P 1. 1-1-18

X. Open-Mindedness

1 The centrality of open-mindedness, perhaps the last of the attributes the teacher of God acquires, is easily understood when its relation to forgiveness is recognized. Open-mindedness comes with lack of judgment. As judgment shuts the mind against God’s Teacher, so open-mindedness invites Him to come in. As condemnation judges the Son of God as evil, so open-mindedness permits him to be judged by the Voice for God on His behalf. As the projection of guilt upon him would send him to hell, so open-mindedness lets Christ’s image be extended to him. Only the open-minded can be at peace, for they alone see reason for it.

Journal
What I understand from this paragraph is that I am open-minded when I open my mind to the Holy Spirit. Instead of judging the circumstance, I ask the Holy Spirit what it means. Instead of judging my brother, I ask the Holy Spirit who he is. This is the same thing as forgiving.

Let’s say that someone offended me. That would be the ego version of me as that is the only part of myself that could be offended. I recognize that I am not at peace and so I open my mind and heart to the Holy Spirit and ask for another way to see. The resentment falls away and my mind is at peace. I am happy.

You could say that I have forgiven this one who seemed to have offended me and that I have forgiven my projections onto him. And you could say that I have forgiven myself for believing such insane things about myself and my brothers. This is how open-mindedness relates to forgiveness. I could not achieve forgiveness without this openness to the Holy Spirit. As a result of a consistent practice of being open the Holy Spirit and willing to receive His correction, it is very hard to offend me. And if I feel offended, I know what to do.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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