How Do I Listen and Follow?
Closing Session – Tabula Rasa October Online Retreat—How Do I Listen and Follow?
Enjoy this session as David shares about being shown everyday opportunities to listen and follow and that how we treat each other is how we praise God!
Gold Nugget:
“And Jesus is saying in another part of the Course, do not raise ‘body thoughts to the level of mind.’ T-2.VI.1:6 And what he means by that is he’s saying the level of mind is causation, and that’s where the Spirit is. But if you raise body thoughts to the level of mind, you give causation to bodies, and you give causation to form. And you give causation to the world, which it doesn’t have. There is no causation in form; it’s all in the mind. And so he says, If you have body thoughts, give them to me! So you can think of all the future body thoughts of Andrea, which is really the projection of all the past body that have been dry or projected off to an unreal future, and if you just say, I quit! I’m actually giving them over to Spirit. I’m not going to claim responsibility over the body of Andrea anymore. Now, this is pretty metaphysical.
But let me put it in real simple terms for everyone. There was a point in the parable of David where I thought, I can’t do this anymore. Same thing, you were thinking, I can not do this anymore. And so Jesus was saying, Well, all you’re really doing is giving up fear of consequences. If you give the puppet of David or Andrea over to me, I’ll have it sparkle, I’ll use it because I can use it for my purpose of forgiveness. I’ll use it alright. But if you have fear of consequences: if I don’t do this, something disastrous will happen. Like about the appointments and everything. If all you’re really doing is you’re saying yes to I want to live a life without fear of future consequences, that’s all you’re saying, you’re basically handing the puppet over to Jesus and Spirit and saying, It’s yours now. I’m not going to take that on anymore. I felt miserable, pressure, huge anxiety trying to take that on. I’m giving it to you. And that’s all that Jesus is asking us to do with the ego. He’s just saying, Give it back!”
Recorded at the Tabula Rasa Online Retreat on October 3, 2021
Recent Posts
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.