Let Jesus Work with Your Thoughts and Feelings to Help Free Your Mind

Emotions and Stress | Anger, Contentment and Happiness, Ego, Fear, Guilt, Holy Instant, Memory, Mind Training, Money, Prayer, Projection, Sacrifice, Separation, Series Monterrey Full-Day Workshop 2017, Sickness, State of Mind, True Forgiveness, True Peace, Trust

Do You Believe in Sacrifice?—Let Jesus Work with Your Thoughts and Feelings to Help Free Your Mind

Jesus and the Holy Spirit want us to be happy and can use anything in our lives to help lead us to this experience; any thought or feeling that is not of supreme joy can be used. David describes in this talk some of the dialogues that he had with Jesus years ago when he was unwinding from the ego thought system. The workbook lessons of A Course in Miracles are extremely practical and are a powerful tool to help you experience consistent peace of mind.

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Gold Nugget:

“Jesus must work with the feelings that you are experiencing. A Course in Miracles is not to be used to suppress feelings. In fact I would say in order for A Course in Miracles to work you must allow all your feelings to come from the unconscious mind to the surface. Jesus never tells us not to get angry. But he does say anger is never justified, and pardon or forgiveness is always justified. That is a very simple idea but it’s an extremely important one. So let’s look at it in a very practical way.

First you notice anger arising in your awareness and you do not shut off these feelings. You don’t say, ‘I’m A Course in Miracles student and I should not feel angry,’ because that is not going to help anything. Of course we have to get to the root of that anger, and the Holy Spirit and Jesus use whatever we are feeling to help. I did the Workbook of A Course in Miracles, but that was pretty early on in my practice with the Course. I continued to practice the Workbook in my mind with Jesus’ help for many years.

When I would notice myself getting angry or upset Jesus would always remind me of lesson 5: ‘I am never upset for the reason I think.’ This was very helpful. Every time I would get angry I would be reminded: ‘I’m not upset for the reason I think.’ This would allow me to take a pause for a moment about the thoughts in my mind. Then lesson 6 is: ‘I am upset because I see something that is not there.’ And then number 7: ‘I see only the past.’ And number 8: ‘My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.’ So this would reorient me to, Ahh the reason I’m upset is because I’m still in this pathway of ego thinking. And then Jesus would talk to me. He would say, It’s not about this person. It’s not about these words. It’s not about these actions. He would say, You have a thinking addiction. You’re still thinking with the ego. And then he would remind me of another lesson: ‘I can be hurt by nothing but my thoughts.’ W-281

And then he would remind me that I could change my thoughts. He would say this will take a lot of work and determination; just like anything in this world requires an effort. He said, It will take an effort to let go of these ego thoughts. But he would add, This is a good use of time and this will lead to a true experience of forgiveness. So we have to be convinced that it’s these ego thoughts that are the problem.”

Recorded on January 19, 2017 at a full-day workshop in Monterrey, 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.