What is the meaning of forgiveness? What is the meaning of the Atonement? Join David Hoffmeister on a walk into the canyons of Utah, symbolically descending deeper and deeper into the mind—questioning and letting go of illusions and concepts that stand in the way of remembering Truth. #ACIM
Today we are going to descend down a beautiful canyon and explore some ideas. I am glad you can join us! It does not matter what your background is, what religion, what socioeconomic or ethnic background that you may seem to have had, and it does not matter what culture you come from. The Truth is One, and it is very joyful!
Through the Shadows to the Sinlessness Within
As we journey down the spirals of this canyon toward the bottom, it reminds me of the journey into the mind. You really need to spiral down into the thoughts and the beliefs and the desires that lie underneath the surface. The journey to God is removing all of the concepts and beliefs that stand in the way of remembrance of God. So we begin the journey by going down and questioning who we think we are.
“As the miracles increase and grow, our consciousness expands and becomes inclusive of everything that we perceive; every sound, every sight becomes a part of who we are, and our perception becomes whole.”
Uncovering Beliefs
We look at our concepts of ourselves as we perceive ourselves in this world. We seem to be people, we seem to have families, occupations, status, positions in the world, and as we begin to uncover these beliefs—desiring the Peace of God above all else—these beliefs begin to fall away. They begin to become unveiled and raised to the light of truth, and there they dissolve.
All of our beliefs are based in time and space—as if we have left the Kingdom of Heaven and are somehow occupying a position in the cosmos. As the meditation experiences deepen, as the miracles increase and grow, our consciousness expands and becomes inclusive of everything that we perceive; every sound, every sight becomes a part of who we are, and our perception becomes whole—it is all-inclusive. We do not see anything, anybody, any particular apart from our mind.
So as we continue this descent down this beautiful canyon, we ponder that idea of bringing the false, the illusions, to the light of truth; of questioning who we are and opening our mind to an experience that is beyond this world—an experience that comes from our Source, from God.
“As we move along, we have vast experiences that leave us so happy and so full of joy, that we loosen the grip of what we think we know and on who we think we are, and allow who we are to return to awareness.”
Willingness to Question Everything
The journey does not have to be difficult, and the journey does not have to be stressful and full of fear. We must go through the fear, but we can learn to be happy learners. To be a happy learner is to be very, very willing to question everything we believe—to be taken by the Spirit within to the experience of not knowing anything about the world that we perceive.
So to be a happy learner is to be a very willing learner. It is to be a learner who is willing to let go of the grip that we seem to have on our knowings, on our beliefs, on our firm, solid perceptions, which really are not so firm at all. To be a happy learner is to let go and surrender into the flow of the movement of the undoing. It allows us the freedom to allow our trust in God, our trust in that which is beyond this world, to guide us, to lead us.
All of the things that we have put security in—the money, the possessions, the relationships, the jobs, the things that we think we need to survive, the things that we think we need to keep the body alive—, are part of a distraction away from the undoing of the tinyness that we have believed in, the small self-concept that we have made. This is being undone, gradually. It can be quite gentle, if we allow the process to unfold, without trying to grab hold onto concepts and images of the world.
We think we may want something in the future, we may want something of the world, but as we move along, we have vast experiences that leave us so happy and so full of joy, that we loosen the grip of what we think we know and on who we think we are, and allow who we are to come to return to awareness.
“Forgiveness undoes the world and leaves an instant—a sparkling instant—before perception disappears entirely, and the Love of God is remembered.”
There is a kind of hush all over the world tonight, right now. It is so still. What a beautiful, still perspective on the world.
Forgiveness of Illusions
Forgiveness is the way beyond perception. Forgiveness is the keyhole, our opportunity to go beyond the perceptual world of time and space. All of the many varied images that seem to surround us all the time, whether it is a canyon, or bodies, families, friends, workers, co-workers, or the hustle and bustle of the city, the world of perception can be transcended in the Love of God, through forgiveness.
What is #forgiveness? Forgiveness is a perspective, a looking on this world with calm eyes. Forgiveness is still, quiet—it looks and watches and judges not. Forgiveness simply does nothing. It sees that what you thought your brother did to you has not occurred, and what you thought you did to your brother has not occurred.
So forgiveness is a perspective of non-judgement in which all the images can come together into one, whole, unified perception—like a giant tapestry in which no particulars are pulled out. Nothing is judged, no distinctions are made, it just looks upon it with calm eyes.
It is so still... It is so wonderful! Forgiveness undoes the world and leaves an instant—a sparkling instant—before perception disappears entirely, and the Love of God is remembered.
Our descent down into the canyon is really unveiling all of the beliefs and all of the concepts and thoughts that obstruct the awareness of the light within each of us. As we move down today, we are going to move down towards an experience of vastness and Awakening.
Acceptance of the Atonement
The Kingdom of Heaven is within, it is not of this world. As you begin descending the depths of the mind, you approach a portal to eternity within your own mind. This is the gateway from time and space to eternity. As you approach this portal, and your mind becomes very bright, you have removed most of the obstacles to God.
You approach the borderland—a seeming bridge between this world and eternity—in which you see that every decision is already made, every road is already taken, and you seem to be in a place where you are watching things happen as if decisions are still occurring, but from an inner Knowing you know that the script is written, and that you are merely watching a pre-arranged plan that was over long ago.
All things that occur within the world are the past. As you approach the portal to eternity, you begin to see that you do not have the power to sequence events and happenings, that everything that seems to be occurring in your perception has already happened. There is no one to blame, there is no one that is guilty, there is nothing to fear, for your perspective has shifted from being a figure in the dream of the world to the dreamer of the dream.
From this lofty perspective, you see that nothing was done to you. All things occurred in the context of the dream that you are dreaming, and from this place of empowerment, you approach the final decision that needs to be made: the acceptance of the #Atonement; the acceptance of what is; the relinquishment of any thought that you could have a will apart from God or make a world apart from God.
The Peace of God is upon us. Reaching the bottom of the canyon is symbolic of reaching the bottom of your mind; reaching that point where all else is laid aside. The last judgment to be made, is not a judgment that we make. It is the judgment of Knowledge on perception and a judgment of Reality on illusion, and it is this: It is not real and it does not exist.
The might and glory of God descend on us, and the Holy Spirit gives us the last judgment, and it circles round this entire perceptual world in joyous gratitude. Holy are you—eternal, free, and whole, at peace forever in the Heart of God. Where is the world and where is sorrow now?
The Full Descend with Beautiful Images & Music:
Find more metaphysical talks with David on a-course-in-miracles.org/ and his YouTube channel.
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