May 1, 2010 Raj, ACIM Study Group Transcript www. nwffacim.org.

May 1, 2010 ©NWFFACIM

RAJ. Good evening. … … And welcome to Every One Who’s joining Us on the Internet. … … Tonight will be a … departure from the usual, and I … won’t be reading from the Course.

There are some things I need to … share. … And so, before We do that, let’s still take some … time to be together, quietly. … …
[Quiet Time]

O-kay. Good evening again. … … … It’s really a rather simple … lesson … that We’re all … in the middle of, … and that We’ve been discussing.

We’ve called it different things: the two-step, … … hesitation, … going into the Stillness, … going into the Void, … abandoning thinking. …

One of the things … Paul has become aware of, … more clearly than ever before, … in the last three weeks since We were together, is that … … when He is thinking, … He’s not speaking with Me. … He’s not consciously, let’s say, connected with the Holy Spirit either. … And He’s not reaching out … to the Father. He is self-sufficiently … attending to … … figuring things out, … … attending to … saving His ass, … protecting Himself. … Ensuring Himself that He won’t be vulnerable. … …

Now, here’s the simplicity of it: … … When one is thinking, and is unJoined, in other words, not engaged in … active companionship … with the Holy Spirit, or with Me, or with the Father, … one is … no different from a toaster that’s not plugged in … to the socket. …

It sits there. … It looks like a toaster. … If You put the toast in and push it down, … it looks like it must be toasting … the bread. But nothing is happening, … and nothing can actually happen. … …

There have been things requiring Paul’s attention, … … just as there are things that require … Your attention, and have, let’s say, during the past three weeks. And in many instances Paul immediately began to engage in … figuring out how to cope with … those issues, those things.

And He could come up with different scenarios and different solutions, … and be concerned about whether they would really work and which one was the right one, and so on, … … and He suddenly realized: My God! … I’m thinking. I’m not Joined. I’m not Listening. Therefore, … all that’s going on in My mind … … is meaningless. … …

He came up with a little phrase, … which He would use whenever He realized He was beginning to think, … of had been thinking. He would say, quote: ‘But I still don’t have the answer.’ Unquote … … ‘But I don’t have the answer.’ … …

A fear would come up. He would be attracted to it. He would think it- … He would think about it, and, maybe spend half an hour, seriously … considering it. … And then, … remember and say: … ‘But I don’t have the answer.’

Not only did He realize He didn’t have the answer, … He realized that He couldn’t possibly have the answer … as a result of thinking, and that it was futile … for Him to do this thinking process that His whole life had taught Him to do … rather well. Intelligently. Reasonably.

And, therefore, … the only solution … was to take whatever the question was – whatever the need was – to Me, … or to the Holy Spirit, and ask for the answer.

You know what? … … You all love the mystery. … You all love the not-knowing. … You all love … the process of … discovering. … You all love the anticipation … of the answer that will come to You. … … And … the fact is, You feel it would be utterly dull to immediately have the answer, … and immediately know… exactly what to do, or exactly what the Truth about the situation … is.

Where would the fun of dis- discovery be? Where would the … mysteriousness be. Where would the wondering be. Then, of course, … then You could play on words: the wonder … of the answer. The wonder, the awesomeness of it. … ..

Well, wondering and wonder are two different words, with two- do- two different meanings.

Wondering is not knowing. wondering is being ignorant. And to enjoy wondering because of the mystery of it is to make ignorance valuable, and worth embracing and engaging in. … And all the time, You still don’t have the answer.

And You still don’t have the answer because You haven’t gone to the Place where the answer is available, which is not … in the midst of Your thinking processes.

It’s in the Silence, … when You abandon all of Your best reasoning and judgment, … and You ask: … ‘What’s the Truth here?’ … … … of That Which Knows the Truth. … The Holy Spirit, That Which is nothing more than Your Right Mind. The Father, … … or the Christ,
That Which Knows the answer which has been from the beginning. And … which has … involved no variableness whatsoever. … And … the Knowledge of Which … brings You Peace, … and not … the mystery … of not-knowing, and the supposed pleasure of discovering. … …

All of this goes on in the orphan mindset, which is the unplugged toaster. … … …

So You see, the simplicity of the lesson here … is: … If You’re thinking, … nothing is happening.

If You are reasoning- if You are going through logical deductions, nothing is happening. You still … don’t have the answer.

And I promise You something. If … – suddenly – apparently in the midst of all of Your mystery and wondering, the answer comes to You, it will be because You were momentarily undefended … against the answer. You were momentarily not invested … in Your coming up with the answer. ... You were momentarily innocent … … of trying to be something You cannot be. … And the Holy Spirit … answered.

And You had the answer. And the answer … … was … Peace embodied. And the answer was … Wholeness … experienced. … And the answer was … … the capacity to be … utterly appropriate in whatever the circumstance … was that You were in at that moment.

Now, You want to be plugged in. You want to wake up. … … The simple fact is … that as long as You are thinking and not Joined, … You are unconscious! …

You say: ‘Well how could I be unconscious? I’m driving the car. I’m interacting with people. I’m conscious! … …

Are You conscious of the Truth, though? Are You conscious of … Reality … in which … sickness … is non-existent? And, … which, because You’re in the middle of it, constituted a healing for You. An instantaneous healing, in which illness disappeared! … ...

If that hasn’t happened, You are not yet conscious … of the Truth. … … You are … unconscious and nothing meaningful … is happening, except You enjoying this … fantastic experience of … the mystery of life. Ah sweet mystery of life. A beautiful song. … … You enshrine the mystery of life, and … the concept of … beauty. ... Stop it!

… … Stop enshrining … and embodying … … unconsciousness, … ignorance, … meaninglessness. …

If You don’t have the answer, … and You’re doing a lot of thinking, … remind Yourself: ‘But I don’t- I still don’t have the answer.’ … And in the reminding of Yourself of that fact, … … abandon Your independence and say: ‘Father, what is the Truth here?’ … …

Ask: ‘Holy Spirit, what is the Truth here?’

Say: ‘Jesus, … show Me the Truth. Show Me the way. … … … Share with Me the experience of Truth, not the idea of it. … I want to experience what You’re … experiencing, when You, Jesus, are not holding Yourself separate from Your Father, … … and thus You, in Your full capacity of the Christ, are able … to be Co-Creators with the Father. Help Me have that experience, so that I – in the fullness of the Christ that I am – can Co-Create with My Father, and … … Be in that Place where the Laws of God prevail! … … (And) where the sense of mystery … is no more. … … …

The boredom … of not having … … answers to discover … doesn’t constitute a loss of any kind, because … it puts You … in direct communion with … unseparated … Oneness with God. …

And You therefore, stand with God … in the Movement of Creation that God is Be-ing, so that You discover and experience what God is Be-ing, brand-new in every moment; and are free to acknowledge It as What It Is. And not be confused about It, and not need to go through a- a process of mystery in order to arrive … … at an experience of What It Is.

And so, (small laugh) it’s far from boring. … … …‘

But of course … it doesn’t involve any ego processes of becoming … … which actually constitute an absence of meaning; toast not getting toasted, actually. … … … And You being … unconscious when ... what You want is to be conscious.

So, … … You know You … have situations in Your life, … and … You think: ‘Oh, well a miracle is a sudden shift of perception.’ And You think: ‘Oh! Well it’ll be a shift of perception from this kind of experience to this kind of experience in the world; from a- a lesser situation to a better situation.

No! The shift is from being unconscious to being conscious. … The shift is from … … thinking … to Listening. The shift is from isolation … to … Unity – Joining, … Togetherness. … … The shift is from emptiness … … to Fullness or Wholeness. … …

The Simplicity … escapes Every One … … because there is great faith in the power of thought. The- You have great faith in Your capacity to think. … … You know what? … None of the great discoveries … in history were the result of thought. They were always the result – or presence of insight. Nothing else. … …

Insight is what You need to be valuing, not thought-processes! … … An innocent mind, … … unconditioned … needs to be valued, … more than an educated mind that has taught how to be very specifically orderly in very specific ways; bound, … not free! … Not available for Revelation. And I promise You, Revelation … goes beyond concepts.

The Movement of God goes beyond thoughts! … It goes beyond orderlinesses, … intellectual orderlinesses. … …

It’s utterly … original. It doesn’t fit in anywhere. … … … You see? … …

The lesson is simple. … … The place where We are, … in the process – You might say – of Awakening, is a place of great simplicity now. It’s like being at the last step. There’s only one more thing to do … now. We can read … through the rest of the Course, … and We probably will, or We might not. … …

But the point is … … that You’re at the step of being able to recognize what the issue is, the simplicity of it … … … and doing it. … …

When You learn how to do meditation, … You have … something to give Your attention to: a mantra, the flame of a candle, a mandala, … Your breath. …

And when You find Yourself what? Beginning to think, You remind Yourself to come back to … the breath, … or the flame, … or the mandala, or the mantra.

Well, … You at a point in Life … where Life Itself is this choice, this same … … meditational choice I might say, … … … where You have to notice when You’ve started thinking, so that You might say: ‘No! I still don’t have the answer and never will have it this way. I’m gonna go back to what? Thinking more? Better? No. The Silence and … attentiveness called Listening.’ … … …

And actually … allowing for engagement in Communion, communication, dialogue with the Holy Spirit, or Me, or the Father!

It’s not just a matter of being still. … … It’s not just a matter of not thinking. It’s a matter … of … stopping the thinking, which preoccupies You from … being attentive to Something outside Yourself, beyond Your thinking. And there- And thereby, … positioning You … so that You might … experience … the loss of … independence … and the experience of Brotherhood … … and Communion with That Which can … share the Truth with You, so that You no longer … … indulge in the mystery of life. … …

Every One loves a mystery. … Well stop … loving … a mystery. … … … Be uh … Be willing to be grounded, … and stable enough, to want to know the answer that ends the mystery, ends the wondering, … and which might, therefore, seem … boring to You, … or uninteresting. … … …

You’ve all got to get past the desire for stimulation, … even the stimulation of fear, which is part and parcel … of the mystery.

You want to discover it, but what if You don’t discover it? What if You don’t discover it in time. Oh, You need the mystery to end! It’s fantastic to have the mystery, but, you know, how’re You gonna pay the bill … … on the twenty-second, and it’s only th- and it’s the eighteenth today?

Oh boy! The mystery’s getting really interesting! … … … …

Hey! … Why not listen for the answer on the first? … … … No mystery, but ease and peace, … and the capacity to be joyful. … … because You’re not engaged … in the … details of the mystery.

Remember, if You’re thinking, You’re unconscious. … … You’re unconscious because You’re not Joined with That Which holds the Answer. And ultimately that means that You’re not joined with the Holy Spirit, Which has the answer; Which is nothing more than Your Right Mind. … And so You are disjointed from Your Right Mind. … You’re unjoined with … Your Right Mind You’re therefore, … experiencing some form of insanity.

This is the simplicity … of where We are … in the learning. … … This is the point where We are in … … … the discovery of real meaning, … that means something … significantly enough … to warrant risking the chance that if You stop thinking, … … You might come back into Your Right Mind, … … … and for It to seem practically realistic enough to do it, to do it. … … …

There is a point … You will all come to … … where it will no longer be fun to be engaged in the mystery, … … where the mystery will … feel exhausting, … where the ignorance … will be so depressing … that You’re going to finally say: ‘Uncle!’ and Listen.

Don’t … wait for that. … … There’s no need. … …But You are going to have to … dare to … get up in the morning and … go through … Your day, … as You have for many, many days, year in and year out, let Us say; and all of Your Friends have been doing every day, day in and day out … for years, … and- and Be … in the Flow … from a new vantage point. Not doing it the old way. Not doing it the way Every One else is, because today: now, now, now, now, You are choosing to Listen. … You are choosing to be Joined and in dialogue with Your Guide. In dialogue with the Holy Spirit Whose … whole intent … is to cause You to remember Yourself … in Your Wholeness, as the Holy Son or Daughter of God that You are.

The Holy Spirit is nothing more than Your Right Mind. And Your Right Mind has one intent, and that is to bring You consciously into It, … so that You’re not trying to operate from a fragmented tiny part that You are imagining imaginatively to hold separate … from the Totality of Your Right Mind.

Your Right Mind … is intent upon … breaking down the boundary around this fragmented little part, … that You’re trying to hold in place … because of the mystery of life, … … and how involving … and exciting and interesting … … and beautiful it is! …

You see? … … …

You need to be able to get up every day, … … and as You’re driving … to work, and You see everything, You say: ‘But I still don’t have the answer!’ You see, meaning: ‘But I’m still not seeing ... this movement: … traffic, people, … etc., … as the Movement of Creation. I’m not seeing it … the way God is seeing it. Therefore, I don’t have the answer!

‘Therefore, I’m not … conscious right now, even though I’m quite capable of maneuvering … in and out of this traffic safely, … without injuring Myself or Anyone else. And I can manage to get to work, and punch in on time, … not be late, … … take care of business, and on and on.’

When You … punch in, … are You doing it by Yourself? … … Or … did You and the Holy Spirit do it together, … with maybe a certain Grace and Beauty, because all Movement is the Movement of Life, which is the Movement of Love, which is … Art … in action. … …

When You walk down the stairs, … … is it methodical and mechanical? Is it … strict and careful, or is it there Grace to it, … like a ballet? … … Because it is a Movement of Life. It is a Movement of Be-ing. It is … a Movement of Art, if You are connected, if You are Joined.

And if You’re not having that experience, You’re unconscious … … … of the Truth. You’re unconscious of … the Kingdom of Heaven, right there in the stairwell, right there on the Freeway. … … …

So, … … … let there be this … constant impulse to listen … in the middle of a business conference, … in the middle of a telephone conversation, … whether it’s a business conversation or a personal conversation with a Friend.

Don’t just assume that You know Who You are and You know Who Your Friend is, and therefore, … You don’t have to be conscious, because the two of You can just rattle off together and do the most … marvelous processes of- of friendship without ever being conscious … of the Holy Son or Daughter of God You’re talking to and that You are. … … Where there’s … no consciousness of Glory … in it.

If there isn’t, You’re unconscious of what is there to be experienced. … … … …

‘But I don’t have the answer yet. … … I don’t have the Fullness of the Experience yet. And I want It, so I will not settle for being unconscious. I will not settle for continuing to think this thing through. And I will shut up … and become … curiously … attentive.

And I will ask … for clarity to be provided. … …

And That of You which has the answer will provide it, and bring You, therefore, into … the Wholeness of Your Be-ing, … by reminding You of what You already know, but which You forgot, in the great attraction to the mystery of life, … and the wondering, … and the pleasure … … of figuring out the answers for Yourself. … … … … …

So, this week, watch it. If You find Yourself ... beginning to get flowery ... in Your spiritual concepts and Your language with Your Friends when it comes to talking about the Truth. Or even … the resolving problems; … .. and You’re relying upon past memories and- and ways of presenting ideas, which You have come to the conclusion are excellent ways of stimulating … spiritual discovery, … catch Yourself! Because You are unconscious. You’re not Joined. You’re not Listening. You’re not letting what You’re saying come from Someplace other than … Your conditioning and Your memory.

You’re not letting it come from the Freshness of the Communication of God, or the Freshness of the Communication of the Holy Spirit, Which is revealing to You what God is Be-ing, in that moment, so that what You say is really inspired, because You are plugged in, and the Current is there: the Current of Reality, the Current of Creation. … … … … …

… Now, … … a- as You come close to this … realization … of the Simplicity, and it is simply a matter of stopping this and starting that: becoming still … and stopping thinking, and starting Listening, You will seem to find that there are more occasions to be concerned. There will be more issues.

Now it isn’t because there truly are more issues, … but it will be because – in the process … of, for lack of better words, turning things over to the Holy Spirit – in other words, …turning to the Holy Spirit – asking of the Holy Spirit with the intent of being consciously present Listening in order to hear the Holy Spirit, … … You put Yourself in the position of having many more answers than You ever dreamed of.

You will take more needs, more issues … to the Holy Spirit for answers. And … pretty soon You’ll run out – I mean really quick – … You will run out of little things to want to know the Truth about, and You will want to know the big things; the things You are positive there are not answers to. … Or answers that will be impossible for You.

And so You will find Yourself reluctant to ask … all the questions. … And You will begin to worry about the bigger things that You hadn’t looked at before, because You kept busy with the little tiny ones that it was easy to deal with.

And … … … rather than asking and Listening as though the impossible were possible, You will confirm to Yourself that it is impossible, but since You now see thought it’s on Your plate, You will feel confronted with … serious … problems, … even danger.

And it will seem totally justifiable to You to worry, to become … thoroughly engrossed … in fear, … because You know here is something, but it’s going to be impossible to deal with.

And, … when that happens, You’re in the ugly part of the mystery. And You are completely distracted … from Listening. … And You have emotional justification for staying as far away from Listening as possible, because You are called upon to what? Solve the problem Yourself.

And yet, … We’ve just been talking about the fact … that the solution comes … in the awareness that You can’t solve anything. And it’s not Your responsibility … to solve anything. … … … …

As I’ve said before, … the closer You get to the gates to the Kingdom of Heaven, the ego throws up gargoyles around … the gate, You see, to distract You and scare You off. … The gargoyles aren’t real. … They don’t represent anything valid. … But they would if they could … distract You from simply moving forward … through the gates, or across the bridge. … … Moving forward … … by virtue of the simple step of stopping thinking … … and Listening instead.

Listening with the demand, I’m going to say, for an answer. Listening with … a firm, unyielding … receptivity to and expectation of … dialogue, … communication.

Oh, I know You say: ‘Paul’s in touch with His Guide. I’m not in touch with My Guide. I listen, and I listen, and I don’t hear anything.’

Well, … I’ll tell You something. The time will come when the situation is serious enough, and You don’t feel like You have any alternative. And You will Listen. And You will hear, because You will give permission!

Why? Because when there’s no alternative, it means that You’ve given up faith in Your own capacity … to think Your way through it, successfully and experience the wonder of the mystery!

Now, … again, You don’t have to wait until … You seem to have no choice. You can make that commitment when there isn’t a dire circumstance; when You’re not at the end of Your rope.

If You’re not hearing Your Guide, … You’re simply … … not committed to hearing Your Guide. … You still feel … that You have some capacity to cope with life on the basis of Your own best judgments, and Your own thinking. And You’re going to opt for that, … thank You very much.

And You’ll listen for Your Guide at another time. …

The only thing is that the other time that You will do it is one in which it will be very uncomfortable, because circumstances will be equal to Your stubbornness. … … …

You see? One way or another, correction is going to occur. One way or another, the Holy Son … or Daughter of God that You are is going to … come forth; is going to pop into view! …

Salvation will occur! Because … this illusion … cannot endure. … It’s a fantasy. And Reality will undo it. … … But it’s no fun to be coerced … … because it always involves … a struggle with Your stubbornness; a struggle … between Your stubbornness and the Movement of God, That would have You discover that You do not have a will of Your own, truly, that can stand up against God successfully.

That is bound … to be discovered by You! And My task is to encourage You … to Let that discovery happen … voluntarily now, with curiosity! Bring to the Listening … and the desire to be Joined in everything You do. …

Let that be as interesting to You as the mystery of life, … … … and the attempt to solve it … on Your own. … … …

This week I encourage You to read … from where We left off last time, to the end of this section. … … … …

The things I’ve shared tonight have been very consistent with what’s there. … … What I shared tonight … didn’t come out of … abiding by a string of words in a certain order, ... but out of … the very nature of Life Itself, and the experience Each of You has, and the experiences Each of You will encounter; … … and the way to deal with them in a sober way, rather than … … attempting to do it in a way that constitutes unconscious behavior, which accomplishes nothing, … while at the same time believing that You are accomplishing something. … …

That illusion … has to be abandoned, willingly, gratefully, happily. … …

You know, not a One of You has to- has to read another sentence … out of the Course. I mean, … You can decide … to stop thinking, … and be Joined, and stay that way … NOW.

If You don’t do it now, You’d better read the rest of the pages. … But it’s not required. … Your Salvation … is not … at the end of a process … in time.

It lies in shifting from thinking … to Listening.

And that will always happen in the instant You’re in when it happens! It’s always going to be NOW when it happens! … …

Simplicity Itself. … … …

I Love You. … … … And I look forward to being with You next time. … … … … And value … … the recognition … that You don’t have the answer yet, … when You’re thinking, so that You can immediately … stop the thinking and get back to Listening; and reach out, in Joining, with the intent to be in … Communion. … Comradeship. …

Okay.