Surrendering to the One Plan Now
This joyful session with David Hoffmeister contains the following topics: how do I continue expressing when I return to my regular life? How do I surrender my opinions about how grandchildren are raised? How can I continue to live in the miracle and go beyond perceiving specialness?
Gold Nugget:
“Some of you have asked about surrender. How do I surrender expectations and opinions about how children or grandchildren should be raised? How to surrender the strong opinions of the ‘I know’ mind? How to surrender thinking that you are right … ever? Try that one out in relationships.
‘I do not perceive my own best interests’ (W-24) ever. In no situation do I perceive my own best interests, zero, zilch, nada. And it takes a lot of trust to step aside from the temptation and just be still and listen for guidance. It takes trust to begin to open up to the idea that people are just reflecting thoughts. So if you see a granddaughter or grandson who is getting no attention and seems to be just running loose all the time, and if you feel they need some guidelines or some control that someone else should be administering, then this is the control mechanism of the ego in the mind. In A Course in Miracles, Jesus teaches ‘you have no control over the world you made,’ (T-12.III.9:4) and in terms of family relationships, this gets tested all the time. The very family system has a lot of different spoken or unspoken rules, so when you perceive that rules are being broken and you have irritation or upset, this is where you ask the Holy Spirit to see the whole situation differently.
Recently I did a teaching session called, ‘Do only that.’ T-6.V.3:4 This is a beautiful way to live your life, but you have to be very, very clear in your mind. Typically people live by ‘Don’t do this. Don’t do this. Don’t do that!’ We have a whole society of rules and laws that result in punishment, and if you live life by saying ‘don’t do this’ and ‘don’t do that’ or ‘here are the consequences and punishment,’ then that is what is in your mind. Imagine how your life would be if you were just tuned into guidance and just flowing in inspiration all the time? The words ‘do not’ or ‘don’t do’ would not be in your vocabulary. You would simply speak and act from guidance and be joyful and happy. And in that sense, you are not in an interactive world any more. You are just in guidance. But the ego wants you to believe there is a world outside your mind that you constantly have to interact with.”
Recorded at the Why Wait for Heaven Retreat on January 30, 2014 at La Casa de Milagros in Chapala, Mexico (with Spanish translation)
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.