Feeling God’s Presence

Spiritual Practice | Disillusionment, Feelings of Lack, Forgiven World, Guidance, Knoxville Tennessee, Listen and Follow, Littleness, Meaninglessness, Practical Steps, Purpose, Spiritual Journey, Suffering, Worthiness

David explores the concept of lack as he addresses one participant’s feelings of loneliness. How does one feel God’s Presence? Once again he artfully traces everything back to faulty, upside-down thinking and provides clarity in the solution. Feeling lonely is a prompt or a prayer for opportunities to give, to extend God’s Love. The deeper you go you open to a stillness, a purification of mind where you want to have nothing but God on your altar.

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Gold Nugget:

“Something that helped me was a line I read in the Course one time that says, ‘Only what you have not given can be lacking in any situation.’ T-17.VII.4 I thought, ‘Oh my God, you mean I have never been lacking in any situation ever in my whole life, but I just had this reluctance to give?’ We have all heard things such as, ‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,’ and, ‘Always save for a rainy day.’ We have been taught to withhold; that it is prudent to withhold. Even in relationships: Don’t give it all away, string them along a bit, make them work for it, make them chase and make them pursue. Who taught us this stuff when God is a giver? Why wouldn’t we want to be givers, unconditional givers? So really when we are praying, we are praying for opportunities to give, we are praying for opportunities to extend. That is why I started getting happier and happier, and I started getting all of these invitations. I thought, Oh isn’t this wonderful, look at all these chances to give it away. There was an eagerness with wanting to give it away. It washes away the lack.”

Recorded on January 8, 2014 in Knoxville, Tennessee

I Taught the World to Teach Me

I Taught the World to Teach Me – In this session, David Hoffmeister emphasizes the importance of loyalty to the Spirit, the inner teacher, over personal desires and external opinions. This loyalty stems from truth and a deep connection with the Holy Spirit, not the ego’s demands. David shares parables of taking full responsibility for our state of mind by recognizing that we taught the world to teach us. By keeping this empowering thought in mind, it’s possible to remember that we don’t need to wait for externals to choose to be happy.

Coming Together with the Purpose of Healing

Coming Together with the Purpose of Healing – David Hoffmeister explores the perceptual problem, which pertains to the belief that the subject and the object are different, that the observer is different from the observed, and that the personality-self is different from the world that surrounds it. When we see an issue in the world, it really is just a split in the mind. This belief can result in significant problems such as conflict, climate change, and hunger, all of which can be traced back to the division within the mind. “Let me recognize the problem so it can be solved,” (W-79) and “Let me recognize my problems have been solved.” W-80 By examining the projected world, we often fail to identify the core problem because it manifests in many forms. You may resolve a few problems today, only to encounter more tomorrow. Therefore, the key lies in our perspective, which stems from our interpretation.

Relax, Step Back, and Unwind from the World

Relax, Step Back, and Unwind from the World – David Hoffmeister shares about the importance of placing the future in God’s hands, a concept that requires enormous trust. This trust is crucial as we have been conditioned to learn the past and plan the future. Trust is the foundation of a teacher of God and allows us to relax and feel divine ease. During this profound talk, David also gives an overview of the very first Strawberry Fields Festival in 2009. Jesus tells us to go from nightmares to waking with a transition between happy dreams and gentle waking. This process helps us feel softer and gentler, making the struggle and challenge easier. Enjoy this deep discussion with the participants that goes deep and yet fun.

Opening to Deeper Prayer

Opening to Deeper Prayer – David Hoffmeister begins this 4-day Japan retreat by exploring the concept of undoing the self-concept—a conditioned expectation that obstructs our understanding of the world. The ego arises from the mind’s pursuit of self-improvement, crafting illusory goals that keep the mind preoccupied and detached from its boundless nature. The ego’s game is endless, as it neither begins nor concludes. The purpose of our practice is to abandon the pursuit of temporal goals and relinquish the false identity—the mask of the ego. In doing so, we experience the mind’s all-encompassing nature, recognizing that the world, society, and everything once perceived as external are within the mind. As the mind reaches a state of rest, the external world reflects this peace, becoming more harmonious.

A Path of Gentle Letting Go

A Path of Gentle Letting Go – In this session, David Hoffmeister speaks about Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, focusing on self-actualization as the top goal. This concept is based on the Greek belief that ‘know thyself’ is the ultimate goal of human development. The ego attempts to deny this through hypnotism, mesmerism and imagination, covering the truth with unreal images. Atonement, the correction, is the awareness that the separation never happened.

Teaching the Holy Instant

Teaching the Holy Instant – At the beginning of this talk, David Hoffmeister discusses the concept of choice and the duality of life. We seem to live in a world of duality, where one of the primary goals is to find a life partner. We can see even that is dualistic because even a successful life match involves two, while reality involves only one.