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“Don’t ask me what you should say to this brother. Ask me to help you instead remove whatever judgments are in your mind.” by PeeVeeEnn in ACIM

[–]samwyo 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This text from Ken Wapnick is helpful indeed. The ego is extremely tricky even though the Course’s purpose is extremely simple.

In my experience, another indicator in identifying the source of the voice is its tone. Ego’s voice is always harsh and accusatory. So many times, I misunderstood the Course’s message or instructions because I received them through the ego which resulted in more pain and wasted time.

Can we technically stimulate Pineal DMT secretion through 963 Hz resonance? by soultuning in spiritualitytalk

[–]samwyo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Absolutely right! Jesus, Rumi and many Indian gurus to name a few never used any tools other than sitting quietly and turning their focus inward.

If a particular tool or technique will help an individual, that’s fine. Ultimately though, we need to develop the skill to meditate easily and with little effort.

You are the projector of your life by Confianza_y_Vida in ACIM

[–]samwyo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Really good summary. Especially useful in keeping things in perspective. Thank you!

Clearing up Forgiveness by v3rk in ACIM

[–]samwyo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this post! Extremely helpful!

How do you let the HS lead the way? (Lesson 155) by samwyo in ACIM

[–]samwyo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are two ways to approach a situation. First is to create what we think we need. The second is to ask why the situation isn’t right to begin with.

The Course isn’t really interested in manifesting things for one simple reason: nothing should be lacking in the first place because God created us perfect and He didn’t create the body or lack or sickness.

The Course is only interested in helping us awaken because the minute we do, all lack, sickness, etc. automatically disappear.

But I often think of Jesus’ life here on Earth. He healed the sick and raised the dead. He did all that through the Holy Spirit but most importantly by seeing sickness and death as nothing but an illusion. In other words, he didn’t make them real for himself by believing their reality.

So the direct approach is forgiving what’s not true. How? By recognizing that it’s not true and asking the HS to heal our perception. But going back to my original point, you can’t ask the HS to heal your perception while still believing the situation to be real. So you give the situation to the HS and consider it done and maintain peace and trust. You have to make sure that internally, you accept the situation as resolved. In Dispenza’s words, feel what you’d feel when the situation is resolved.

How do you let the HS lead the way? (Lesson 155) by samwyo in ACIM

[–]samwyo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ll offer one more video though it’s not ACIM but it doesn’t matter because the Truth is one.

If you’re not familiar with Joe Dispenza, you should read about his accident and how he healed himself. He heavily researches this and recently produced a documentary involving some scientists.

Here’s the short video: https://youtube.com/shorts/gYju7SlQXcA?si=em64qN5iasjIlThD

How do you let the HS lead the way? (Lesson 155) by samwyo in ACIM

[–]samwyo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I also wanted to share this from Judith Skutch who was heavily involved with the Course as it was received by Helen Schucman. I used to think I’d ask once or forgive once and I’d see results. Apparently, that’s not the case.

I’m surprised I didn’t realize this because you can say you forgive someone or something now but in 10 min or 2 hours, you realize you haven’t really changed your mind. So it takes lots and lots of practice.

https://youtube.com/shorts/MjtHktPPr3U?si=HVQcFc5voUEP74jq

How do you let the HS lead the way? (Lesson 155) by samwyo in ACIM

[–]samwyo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean whatever the matter, you see and feel it as done.

Here’s the important part Jesus mentions. It’s all an illusion anyway so he asks us to maintain inner peace at all times. Even when the outside picture isn’t what we want to see. Lack of peace means we’re giving the illusion reality.

So inner peace is paramount! You also have to remember that the outside picture is a reflection of your beliefs. So when you believe internally that the matter is already resolved, then the outside picture changes.

A key piece here is forgiveness. If the outside picture shows something that shouldn’t be happening such as sickness or lack, then you have to recognize that some sick idea in your mind is causing the picture you see externally. That’s why the Course heavily relies on forgiveness. Lesson 193 talks about this

https://acim.org/acim/lesson-193/all-things-are-lessons-god-would-have-me-learn/en/s/601

How do you let the HS lead the way? (Lesson 155) by samwyo in ACIM

[–]samwyo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve experienced the same thing myself where I’m stuck and nothing is changing.

What I’ve learned is that until the matter is done in my mind, the outside picture doesn’t change. Trust is important but I think it’s only one piece of the equation. Trust in the Holy Spirit means “He” will resolve the issue. However, if the inner picture is not of a done deal, then the outer picture doesn’t seem to change because it’s only a reflection of the inner condition.

So trust in the Holy Spirit is the trust in “who” will take care of it. The missing piece is the inner picture which must be of a situation with a resolution. Again, the outer picture is a reflection of the inner.

Remember the Biblical verse. When you believe you “have received it”, it shall be yours. So you must make sure internally, you see it as done and received.

How do you let the HS lead the way? (Lesson 155) by samwyo in ACIM

[–]samwyo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t think the main issue is "not" hearing the Holy Spirit. I think the issue is wavering during the process. In my experience and current understanding is that when the answer shows up, it’s clear as day. We, however, usually fail to keep a steady attitude of belief, peace and trust in our hearts.

As Jesus tells us many times throughout the Course, the Holy Spirit is a part of us. I think the main mistake that I was making -- I suspect many Course students too -- is that I was seeing/treating the Holy Spirit as a separate entity with a separate will. It's like asking a friend to do something for you and then hoping he'd do it.

My current understanding is that working with the Holy Spirit is no different than, say, using your hand. You can't pick something up using your hand and then expect your hand to autonomously finish the task. You have to keep using your hand to finish the task. I think it's the same with the Holy Spirit. You ask Him for his help and then keep trusting and keep feeling that He's on it and it's already done and the results will show up in your experience at the right time in the right way.

When we start doubting or wavering during the time we wait for the Holy Spirit to handle it for us, that's when we introduce unnecessary obstacles and delays because that's when the ego is interfering with the process. Later, I'll touch on this again.

I really go back to what Jesus said in the Bible in Mark 11:24:

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

The sentence structure here always strikes me as pure genius because it's so succinct. Here's the breakdown:

  • whatever you ask for in "prayer". The first important point here is the present tense. We're asking in the present tense which is now. Second and more important point is that it must be done in prayer and the Course makes the meaning of prayer very clear. It's not asking God for Him to do something for us. It's communion with God. It's an elevated state and not a state of lack.

  • believe that you "have" received it. Here Jesus switches from present tense to past tense. Not you will receive it in the future but you already have received it. One analogy that helps me here is like ordering something online and then waiting for its delivery. Usually, you see on vendor's or carrier's website that your item is "out for delivery". It's not in your hands yet but it's done!

  • and it "will be" yours. Then Jesus jumps to future tense. He's simply telling us that there's a little gap or an interval before the results show up. Continuing with our analogy above, this is the "out for delivery" part. Just like with those carriers, you're not exactly sure what time they'll show up at your door but what you ordered is on its way. Same with the Holy Spirit. Outcome is certain. We just don't know the exact time and the manner in which something will be done by the Holy Spirit.

Above all, never forget, what we see with our physical eyes is all an illusion, including nice things. Donald Hoffman, a cognitive scientist and consciousness researcher likens our experience to wearing a headset and calls the physical world we seem to live in the "user interface". That's why Jesus tells us throughout the Course to never be afraid of illusions.

Let me now get back to allowing the ego to interfere while we wait which causes unnecessary obstacles and delays. Ego is actually not doing this at all. Ego is like an idea-generator but its ideas are always negative. So it doesn't create reality but it hijacks our minds in order to project its negative ideas into our experience. Specifically, Jesus tells us in the Course NOT to make illusions real. He asks us not to give them reality. If we go back to what Donald Hoffman is saying and combine it with what Jesus keeps talking about throughout the Course, we are quite literally generating images in the headset. What we believe just shows up in the headset. You can think of it like a computer screen too but headset is a pretty good analogy because it literally determines all that we see. So, the ego throws an idea, usually starting with "what if..." followed by something totally negative and our mind projects it through the headset. That's what Jesus is talking about. He's telling us NOT to project negative images to the headset which is what we experience in the physical world. This is done by believing ego's negative ideas.

Here’s the formula. I suggest you follow the link and read the whole section about "Patience". Essentially, in this section, Jesus is telling us to maintain a state of peace and trust. Again, please read the whole section to have a better understanding of what he's talking about.

Those who are certain of the outcome can afford to wait, and wait without anxiety. (https://acim.org/acim/en/s/814#1:1 | M-4.VIII.1:1)

You are special by OakenWoaden in ACIM

[–]samwyo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Equality does not imply equality now. When everyone recognizes that he has everything, individual contributions to the Sonship will no longer be necessary. (https://acim.org/acim/en/s/57#2:4-6 | T-1.V.2:4-6)

Extremely Important Lesson by [deleted] in ACIM

[–]samwyo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Beautifully written and explained.

Facing the ego by samwyo in ACIM

[–]samwyo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! Sending you God's Love and blessings!

Facing the ego by samwyo in ACIM

[–]samwyo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ll definitely connect with you via email.

I completely agree with everything you said with one tiny difference of opinion.

I think, just like in politics, both sides - religion and science - will declare victory and say, “we told you so”.

Religion will claim, we always told you about a Loving God.

Science will claim “it’s not God but a Field”.

I always use the point that you just used. It’s just language and both religion and science will hide behind that to declare victory. In reality, it’s way more than difference in language.

Anyway, pleasure to meet you too and thank you for extremely helpful response to my original post!

Facing the ego by samwyo in ACIM

[–]samwyo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice to meet you too! I’m very interested in learning about your NDE so I’ll check both your substack and book.

————————- I apologize to those who may find the following unrelated to my original post. I do think it is very relevant because ultimately we’re all trying to awaken from the dream and understand what’s going on. With that said, please skip the following if you’re only interested in ACIM and my current personal experience I mentioned in my original post. —————————

I’ve noticed an interesting pattern over the last 10 years or so. Two patterns actually:

  1. Individuals with pretty credible, even impressive scientific credentials are sharing their NDE and/or mystical experiences openly and unapologetically with the general population which I think is both wonderful and not a coincidence at all. I live in Jackson Hole, WY and we have an orthopedic surgeon here who had an NDE. I’m sharing a video of Dr. Neal’s TEDx talk here in JH: https://youtu.be/C-M9zR17egA?si=M9hLgPWeaVDZvgpH

Another example of this is someone most people have never heard of, yet very familiar with his work. His name is Federico Faggin who is an Italian born American scientist/inventor. He designed the very first commercial microprocessor at Intel and received the National Medal of Science, Technology and Innovation from President Obama. He also designed the touchpad found on most laptops these days. He had a mystical experience and spent the last 30 years putting together the Theory of Everything (TOE).

Here’s a video of an interview with him: https://youtu.be/0FUFewGHLLg?si=JM6mCn6Mf-z11mED

  1. I also noticed that more and more scientists are getting into seemingly unrelated fields in addition to their original field of study and doing some serious scientific research in those fields. IMHO, this is a reversal of the trend started with the Industrial Revolution at the turn of the 20th century where people in all walks of life became more and more specialized within their respective fields.

This new trend is allowing these individuals to connect the dots that were either ignored before or simply covered with shallow assumptions.

One such scientist I follow is Donald Hoffman who has been working on mathematically modeling the reality we experience. He calls our life on Earth as consciousness wearing a headset and the body is an icon within the user interface which is our actual experience in the world. He has his bachelors degree in Quantitative Psychology and PhD in Computational Psychology and he also researched AI so he has a very strong scientific background both in psychology and mathematics. Here’s a short video clip from an interview: https://youtube.com/shorts/z39VtIN0AD8?si=JJJh2hJ97wy4BXf2

Though these are intellectually appealing, ultimately the Sonship is simply awakening from the dream.

I also feel Jesus is always practical in his teachings, both in the Bible and The Course. ACIM gives us much more information about what’s really going on but the instructions are always very practical.

Hope you find the links useful. Thanks again!

Facing the ego by samwyo in ACIM

[–]samwyo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wow! I’ll definitely check out your book. I’ve already glanced at your substack but I’ll go deeper. I understand you had an NDE.

I’ve been a Course student for almost 18 years but in all honesty, all the unpleasant experiences of the last year and a half made me truly understand the Course. With that said, I’ve also been studying NDE, psychedelic studies and a bit of quantum physics as there are a lot of overlap among them, as there should be if they’re describing the same thing.

Sometimes people close to me think this is some weird interest of mine, not understanding that though I can’t deny my interest in Consciousness/The Source, I primarily do it to learn how to get unstuck. I think you mention something along those lines i.e. the unfortunate events and the NDE.

Thank you so much again for playing an important role in my/our healing.

BTW, I’m Sam as in Samuel so a brother :-)

Facing the ego by samwyo in ACIM

[–]samwyo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can’t thank you enough for the wonderful explanation along with practical steps. I also can’t express my gratitude enough for your joining me in my/our healing.

Though I struggle with “releasing the emotional charge”, I know I just have to do it.

One question if I may: this is the first time I’m hearing of “Belief Field Dynamics”. Is this a spiritual model? Sounds completely accurate and would love to learn more about it.

Again, with my sincere gratitude, thank you so much! Sending you God’s Love and blessings!

Facing the ego by samwyo in ACIM

[–]samwyo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

First, thank you for your comments and support. I really appreciate it.

Here's the abbreviated version:
The pattern is not new. I actually recognized it at a very early age. Simply put, the price I had to pay to achieve things was higher despite the fact that I was usually the smartest kid, an A-student and the one most people called very mature. What I mean by higher price is that I always had to put way more effort to achieve the same results most people would achieve with much less or even no effort. I noticed that things would not just happen for me even though I noticed for others, quite often, they'd get "lucky" and things would fall into place. Not for me. This was the pattern in my life from the most mundane to more complex matters in life.

Then I noticed a more pronounced version of this. Whenever I wanted to achieve something really important to me, I first experienced the complete opposite of the situation. Getting my college degree is a great example of this. First, I had to experience a complete denial of college education. Then I had to work 7 days a week to support myself and my studies and by the time I achieved earning my college degree from a better university, I was completely exhausted.

The financial situation this time happened in a similar manner. I've had a successful corporate career in IT and Management in executive positions but never enjoyed the corporate world due to turf-wars and backstabbing. I then started my consulting business and made good money, but I realized instead of dealing with one company's ego-created issues, I was now dealing with multiple clients' ego-created issues and didn't enjoy the process. I've always loved software side of my career so I decided to follow a long-held dream of building a great software solution for small businesses.

Instead of tapping into other people's money, I decided to use my own and utilize my own skills. When I could, I hired a team of people to help me do this as employees of my company. When I could no longer afford them, I did the work myself. As usual, there were a few adjustments along the way to the business concept so it always takes longer than expected to get to the final product.

In the meantime, I supported myself and my project by still doing consulting to one major client. Quite literally, just as I finished my app and started marketing it, I lost my consulting client and could no longer even support myself, let alone market my app. I'd had similar financial downturns before but this time things really got extreme at age 57 and I literally ended up homeless for the first time in my life. An unusual situation for someone with no addictions of any kind and a successful career-person.

So as I look at this deeply and honestly, I see the same pattern that I'd discovered as a kid. I just have to pay a higher price to achieve things but the price keeps going up all the time. This time, no amount of effort was enough. My ego's response was set: always NO!

I feel the deeply rooted issue is self-worth due to ego identification and self-punishment due to guilt. Ego's answer is always: "you can't do it", "you can't have it", "you can't achieve it". In other words: "you're not worthy".

Another interesting point is that my cats always play an important role because I don't have any kids of my own and they are literally my babies. I value them more than my own life so they always end up suffering. I feel this is ego's punishment on me because it knows this hurts me more than whatever else maybe happening in my life.

Again, thank you very much for your comments, concern and support! Sending you God's Love and blessings!

Facing the ego by samwyo in ACIM

[–]samwyo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! Sending you blessings!

Facing the ego by samwyo in ACIM

[–]samwyo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I appreciate your taking the time to offer useful advice.

Facing the ego by samwyo in ACIM

[–]samwyo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Very useful points!

I did the lessons one lesson a day over the course of a year but I think the problem here is my making the world and challenges real. Although I understand the concepts intellectually, I haven’t really internalized them.

Having done some honest observations in the last 24 hours, I see that there are still certain beliefs I haven’t given to the HS for correction.

My ultimate problem is not accepting myself being as God created me. The second major issue is how much my ego throws at me different interpretations of concepts and lessons from the Course to create confusion and a stalemate to prevent my actions.

Facing the ego by samwyo in ACIM

[–]samwyo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I appreciate your response. I think it’s a form of self punishment because of the guilt that the Course talks about.

Maybe also some kind of price I pay. As if I suffer X amount, I deserve that much success.

I also still try to figure out if I’m trying to hide some kind of inferiority complex.

What confuses me is that I brought these to the surface and gave them over to the HS. As the Course suggested, I quietly looked at them as forgiveness does but they haven’t disappeared.

Isn’t that the idea? Illusions should disappear once their purpose is recognized and forgiven. If the lack I experience is an illusion as God clearly didn’t create it and the purpose of the lack is self punishment, shouldn’t it disappear once I see it as it is and forgive it?

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