Finding a Life of Freedom

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Weekend Retreat in Tepoztlán, Mexico – Saturday Morning—Finding a Life of Freedom

The Spirit’s purpose for this life is for freedom, to wake up from the dream of the world, not to attain and achieve. The ego‘s use of the body, of family and education, is for reinforcing a personal separate identity. But you are Spirit and must unlearn everything the ego has taught you.

Your only responsibility is accepting the correction. It is not about dropping worldly responsibilities, but having them all handed to Spirit who would address them through a path of miracles.

David says the Course can be summed up in the Serenity Prayer, recognizing what you can and cannot control and the wisdom to know the difference. What you can control is your state of mind. What you cannot control is the world, and everything associated with the world.

Have gratitude and appreciation for everybody, because they are helping you to forgive.

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Gold Nugget:

“True wealth is peace of mind. And that is how you find freedom and escape this world; you become so peaceful that you can no longer be bound to this world. So the Spirit will have you invest in peace of mind. The ego always has you investing in future goals and so you have to open to a new idea of a present goal. And that is the power of now. The peace of the present moment. It goes against all of the ego’s teachings. The ego will call you names if you start to meditate and pray. It will say ‘You are lazy, wasting your time, good for nothing.’ It will be very hard on your mind when you let go of this future goal. I started letting go of the future when I was in my twenties. For most of us when we are in our twenties we are planning for the future. And if you don’t you are wasting your life. But it is all part of taking early retirement. Which is retiring from the stress of always striving for the future. And then when you do give up this pursuit of the future the Spirit will give you everything that you need.”

Recorded at the Weekend Retreat on August 5, 2017 at Hotel Atuaraa El Valle de los Milagros in Tepoztlán, Mexico (with Spanish translation)

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.