ACIM Journal

[Bodigger]

I want to thank you @Anderz  for working the ACIM journal.  I have been working the ACIM program since the beginning of the year and reading your material gives me more comprehension and awareness to the program.

[Anderz]

I have a feeling of fatigue at the moment. That sucks. I'm using the situation to be more mindful of the tensions in my body and mind. I discovered that I even have tensions inside my head.

The situation may be beneficial even though it feels bad. There is a sense of more peace behind the bad feelings. I will continue to observe my feelings and thoughts to see what happens.

[Anderz]

@Bodigger Great. I still haven't done most of the lessons in ACIM yet. But I often find passages from the lessons that I can use.

[Anderz]

I found that A Course in Miracles says that fatigue is a result of attack:

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"Remember that in every attack you call upon your own weakness, while each time you forgive you call upon the strength of Christ in you. 2 Do you not then begin to understand what forgiveness will do for you? 3 It will remove all sense of weakness, strain and fatigue from your mind. 4 It will take away all fear and guilt and pain. 5 It will restore the invulnerability and power God gave His Son to your awareness." - ACIM W-pI.62.3. 

And here is another passage about fatigue:

Quote

"Sickness is not an accident. 2 Like all defenses, it is an insane device for self-deception. 3 And like all the rest, its purpose is to hide reality, attack it, change it, render it inept, distort it, twist it, or reduce it to a little pile of unassembled parts. 4 The aim of all defenses is to keep the truth from being whole. 5 The parts are seen as if each one were whole within itself. ...

Every defense takes fragments of the whole, assembles them without regard to all their true relationships, and thus constructs illusions of a whole that is not there. ...

Perhaps you do not realize that this removes the limits you had placed upon the body by the purposes you gave to it. 2 As these are laid aside, the strength the body has will always be enough to serve all truly useful purposes. 3 The body's health is fully guaranteed, because it is not limited by time, by weather or fatigue, by food and drink, or any laws you made it serve before. 4 You need do nothing now to make it well, for sickness has become impossible." - ACIM W-pI.136.

That makes sense. Fatigue is a result of tensions which in turn are caused by the belief in defense and attack, the division of reality into separate parts opposing each other. Healing is a result of removing that false belief.

[Anderz]

In ego consciousness we need defense, all kinds of defenses. Defenselessness is full protection according to A Course in Miracles.

Quote

"Defenselessness can never be attacked, because it recognizes strength so great attack is folly, or a silly game a tired child might play, when he becomes too sleepy to remember what he wants." - W-pI.153.6:4

If we try to be defenseless in ego consciousness that will not work for the ego is itself defense. Therefore any kind of ego defenselessness is a false protection. The ego will still be attacked by itself and by other egos.

So how to achieve true defenselessness? My approach is to become aware of life as a wholeness. That's just an idea yet if true then it's possible that a genuine sense of wholeness develops and fear dissolves which leads to a state of true defenselessness.

[Anderz]

The whole world is still in ego consciousness. I have called it the global ego. The world ego wants to hurt and destroy people. Why? Because it needs to make people age, get sick and die in order to perpetuate itself.

And we are parts of the world ego, so we too want to hurt and destroy people, including ourselves, at least subconsciously. At the same time the ego is about self-preservation and survival. So that's a tremendous inner conflict in the ego between survival and destruction. As ACIM says, the ego is totally confused about everything.

The insane and destructive drive of the ego needs to be moderated through fear, which adds even more inner conflict to the ego psyche. This means that fear needs to dissolve along with the destructive ego drive, or else people will become dangerous monsters if the fear is removed without removing the destructive tendency within the ego.

[Anderz]

Reward and punishment is a huge principle in ego consciousness. And it's often taken for granted as the natural way of conditioning the ego. I came to realize that punishment is not only to prevent the ego from consciously being naughty. Punishment is also a tool for keeping the subconscious mischief of the ego in check!

We can take a meta perspective above the ego and then it's important to not fall into a trap such as thinking: "Haha, look at that stupid reward and punishment of the ego, like mindless training of animals." The mistake here is to miss the subconscious aspect of the ego. And in order to keep the subconscious destructive tendencies of the ego in line, punishment is an effective tool.

So unless it's completely clear what the holistic mechanism of the ego is, reward and punishment need to remain as a major method for ego development. It's when transcending the ego reward and punishment can be converted into an additional principle instead of being something used for the foundation of the self.

This is related to fear. ACIM says that fear is a false ego trait. But look at what would happen if fear was removed prematurely from the ego. Then the whole reward and punishment mechanism would lose its power as a developmental tool. Without fear there is also no fear of punishment! Not good when it comes to ego consciousness. So the fear and the ego need to be transcended together.

[Anderz]

I need to remind myself of focusing on suffering directly instead of letting worrisome thoughts carry me away. I have found the practice of intentional suffering by bypassing thinking to be useful for dissolving inner conflicts, but ego habit tricks me back into worrisome thinking.

I found this passage about worry in ACIM:

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"Depression is an inevitable consequence of separation. So are anxiety, worry, a deep sense of helplessness, misery, suffering and intense fear of loss.

The separated ones have invented many "cures" for what they believe to be "the ills of the world." But the one thing they do not do is to question the reality of the problem. Yet its effects cannot be cured because the problem is not real." - ACIM Lesson 41

The worry is caused by fear-based thinking which ACIM says is a false view. So intentional suffering that bypasses thinking is consistent with what ACIM says. Worrisome thoughts seem very valid and that's why there is a tendency to get trapped in them.

[Anderz]

And also, I forgot, after intentional suffering I find it useful to go into intentional pleasant feelings. Even when there is a lack of nice and calm feelings one can fake them until some actual pleasant feelings start to emerge.

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"Peace is an attribute in you. You cannot find it outside. Illness is some form of external searching. Health is inner peace. It enables you to remain unshaken by lack of love from without and capable, through your acceptance of miracles, of correcting the conditions proceeding from lack of love in others." - ACIM T-2.I.5

 

[Anderz]

My impression of A Course in Miracles is that it says that the body can be completely healed! Simply through inner peace. Here I found a new video with ACIM expert David Hoffmeister. I haven't watched it yet and I suspect that he will have some lukewarm explanation about healing. My idea is that ACIM is pointing to a fourth density body! Today our body is third density according to the Law of One.

 

[Anderz]

I'm surprised, David Hoffmeister actually made a really hardcore explanation in the previous video. So my suspicion was wrong. Here is a shorter video where David explains miracles:

 

[Anderz]

Leo pointed out in a video that relaxing tensions needs to be done both in the body and in the mind. I have found that very useful. Now I came to think of an even broader relaxation practice. The body, the mind and the outside world are all one! So - and this is extreme - the new practice is to consciously relax all that.

Of course I cannot relax, or at least should not attempt to out of integrity, other people's tensions, haha. That's not my business. Yet, the outside environment I'm aware of, the practice is to relax my relation to also what is outside my body.

The idea is to heal the conflicts between myself and the outside world. That's the opposite of Wilhelm Reich's body armor. It's a dismantling of the body armor. ACIM says:

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"Defense is frightening. 2 It stems from fear, increasing fear as each defense is made. 3 You think it offers safety. 4 Yet it speaks of fear made real and terror justified. 5 Is it not strange you do not pause to ask, as you elaborate your plans and make your armor thicker and your locks more tight, what you defend, and how, and against what?" - ACIM W-pI.135.3.

 

Edited August 20, 2020 by Anderz

[Anderz]

Forgiveness in A Course in Miracles is to realize that there is nothing to forgive! My own simple take on that is that life is an automatic process so there is no need to forgive. That's sounds almost arrogant, but there is logic to it. Aaron Abke has this new video about forgiveness in ACIM where he explains it in more detail than my boiled down take on it.

 

[Anderz]

David Hoffmeister said that according to A Course in Miracles, the body is a result of the mind. Does this mean that we can change the body through the mind? In principle yes, but there is only God's will so the ego cannot change the body.

When the ego goes to the gym and through body building changes the body, then that too is God's will. There was a scientific experiment where they tested the building of muscles for three groups of people. One group went to the gym repeatedly. Another group sat like couch potatoes all day. And the third group sat like coach potatoes and repeatedly visualized being at the gym and building muscles. The third group got something like 30% of the result of the group that actually went to the gym! The group who didn't even visualize gained 0%.

So just by thinking, the third group was able to change the body and increase muscle mass. Bruce Lipton has talked about what he calls the Biology of Belief and that by changing beliefs people can do miraculous things. So, yes there may be truth to what ACIM says that the body is a result of the mind.

[Anderz]

But then what is mind? A Course in Miracles defines mind as:

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"The term mind is used to represent the activating agent of spirit, supplying its creative energy. 2 When the term is capitalized it refers to God or Christ (i.e., the Mind of God or the Mind of Christ). 3 Spirit is the Thought of God which He created like Himself. 4 The unified spirit is God's one Son, or Christ.

In this world, because the mind is split, the Sons of God appear to be separate. 2 Nor do their minds seem to be joined. 3 In this illusory state, the concept of an "individual mind" seems to be meaningful. 4 It is therefore described in the course as if it has two parts; spirit and ego." - ACIM C-1:1-2

I have defined mind as the content in consciousness. And consciousness is a no-thing. I have defined consciousness as a state of being aware as a self. So my current view is that the mind is everything that we experience, including our thoughts, our physical body and the external world. This seems to be consistent with ACIM.

The mainstream belief, and yes as Leo has pointed out it is a belief, is that the material world is the foundation and consciousness a product of the material world in the form of the brain and the nervous system.

Then how do we know which belief is true? Is physical reality the foundation or is mind and consciousness the foundation? To me the idea that everything is mind and consciousness seems more correct. In science such idea if it can be tested is called a hypothesis.

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"A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous observations that cannot satisfactorily be explained with the available scientific theories. Even though the words "hypothesis" and "theory" are often used synonymously, a scientific hypothesis is not the same as a scientific theory. A working hypothesis is a provisionally accepted hypothesis proposed for further research,[1] in a process beginning with an educated guess or thought.[2]" - Wikipedia

And as Leo has pointed out, subjective experience is more fundamental than objective results. So it's valid to test the reality as mind  hypothesis subjectively which is basically what is done in spiritual practices.

[Anderz]

If reality is an automatic process as I believe, and indeed, The Wolfram Physics Project describes physical reality as a single graph expanding automatically, then what is the purpose of consciousness and individual selves?

I have already described something similar earlier, that there is a huge difference between a zombie without consciousness and a person with consciousness performing the same task. With consciousness there is a vast amount of feedback in the form of experiences. And also, with individual consciousness the feedback gets even richer, with personal experiences that are meaningful to the conscious individual.

I think of manifested reality as an expansion of complexity which is information structured as holons by infinite intelligence. When reality reaches higher levels of complexity it results in conscious individuals because that kind of advanced feedback it provides is necessary in order to expand complexity further.

Edited August 21, 2020 by Anderz

[Anderz]

What are miracles? My explanation is that miracles are a result of manifested reality reaching higher levels of complexity. That may sound lame but that includes the miracles performed in the Bible! This video presents what miracles mean in ACIM:

 

[Anderz]

Anna has a new video where she talks about how reality is an appearance that is just happening. That's what I think is the correct view compared to the usual mainstream view. I haven't heard Anna quoting from A Course in Miracles but it's the exact same message from another similar perspective.

 

[Anderz]

If reality is an automatic process, then why is it so difficult to notice that experientially? The ordinary everyday experience in ego consciousness is that we are separate doers and thinkers who need to make things happen, by volition and personal effort. What has been pointed out in spirituality (and maybe even in philosophy and psychology etc) is that reality as oneness cannot experience relationships with others without seemingly dividing itself into separate entities.

And the primary role of the ego is to be a vehicle for oneness separating itself into individual beings. And for evolution to reach the level of experience where a human being can develop an ego and experience relationships with others is a huge process. So the sense of individual doership is enormous in the ego. But if time is only now as I propose, then reality appears instantly! So there is no actual past stretching back from the now. Then how to explain the vast history of the universe and the process of evolution leading up to present human life? A Course in Miracles says:

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"The time is set already. 2 It appears to be quite arbitrary. 3 Yet there is no step along the road that anyone takes but by chance. 4 It has already been taken by him, although he has not yet embarked on it. 5 For time but seems to go in one direction. 6 We but undertake a journey that is over. 7 Yet it seems to have a future still unknown to us.

Time is a trick, a sleight of hand, a vast illusion in which figures come and go as if by magic. 2 Yet there is a plan behind appearances that does not change. 3 The script is written. 4 When experience will come to end your doubting has been set. 5 For we but see the journey from the point at which it ended, looking back on it, imagining we make it once again; reviewing mentally what has gone by." - ACIM W-pI.158:3-4

My explanation of time is that reality manifests instantly in the now. And as ACIM says in the first section, time is set already. Time started now and goes on forever. And in the next section ACIM says that there is a plan that does not change and that the script is written. According to my interpretation that plan is the Word of God. And I interpret "from a point at which it ended" as infinity! Consciousness as infinity is observing God's plan unfolding.

What needs to happen for us to experientially experience nonduality is that from our ego state we integrate back into oneness, not as undifferentiated oneness, but as individuals integrated as oneness. And in my view, evolution is exponential, meaning accelerating faster and faster, so what took billions of years of evolution in the past can be done within a few years today, and even faster than that. ACIM explains it as:

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"This lesson takes no time. 2 For what is time without a past and future? 3 It has taken time to misguide you so completely, but it takes no time at all to be what you are. 4 Begin to practice the Holy Spirit's use of time as a teaching aid to happiness and peace. 5 Take this very instant, now, and think of it as all there is of time. 6 Nothing can reach you here out of the past, and it is here that you are completely absolved, completely free and wholly without condemnation. 7 From this holy instant wherein holiness was born again you will go forth in time without fear, and with no sense of change with time.

Time is inconceivable without change, yet holiness does not change. 2 Learn from this instant more than merely that hell does not exist. 3 In this redeeming instant lies Heaven. 4 And Heaven will not change, for the birth into the holy present is salvation from change. 5 Change is an illusion, taught by those who cannot see themselves as guiltless. 6 There is no change in Heaven because there is no change in God. 7 In the holy instant, in which you see yourself as bright with freedom, you will remember God. 8 For remembering Him is to remember freedom." - ACIM T-15.I:9-10

 

[Anderz]

I find it fun sometimes to make predictions about what will happen in the world. Western (and maybe even Eastern) experts claim that Trump recently dealt a deadly blow to the Chinese tech giant Huawei. And Financial Times recently wrote:

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"“I feel that everyone is quite calm because we still have a lot of projects on hand which are not finished yet, and governmental projects are also coming,” says an employee at Huawei Cloud, adding that the division remains viable. But experts challenge such claims." - FT.com, Aug 21, 2020

Well, in my option those experts are either ignorant or are lying. It's naive to believe that China now has to respond in a knee-jerk fashion to Trump's whims. China has thousands of years of political experience and uses extremely long-term planning. And as one video (I don't have the link) from China pointed out, the semiconductor industry is extremely important for China to secure and especially CPUs. From the same article:

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"The prospect that British chip design company Arm will be taken over by Nvidia of the US has added to Huawei’s predicament."

Does anyone really believe that China today is completely dependent on the x86 (Intel) and ARM CPU architectures? And that in the case of semiconductors Taiwan (which a Chinese official called a province b.t.w. haha) has the world's leading microchip manufacturing while Chine still only has stone age microchip technology in comparison? Not likely. It's more likely that China owns and controls Taiwan, including their large microchip manufacturers such as TSMC. The dependence on U.S. equipment is just a smokescreen I believe, to fool the western powers.

In short, what the Huawei employee said is as I see it the truth, and even an understatement! The part about projects on hand probably means that Huawei already has superior microchips available, and the part about government projects coming I believe refers to China's investment of over a trillion dollars in semiconductor research and development. So then what the Huawei employee did was to reveal the actual situation officially.

The Chinese microchips including CPUs that are available publicly are in my estimation decoys, technology that looks really old and inferior as a diversion to hide the true Chinese state of the art semiconductor technologies today. As I mentioned earlier, it seems that China waits with playing their strongest cards as a part of long-term strategies. Western tech companies cannot afford to do that and always have to deliver their most recent technologies to the public market as soon as possible.