Love and fear in A Course in Miracles

Love is Reality and fear is illusion.

A Course in Miracles makes this clear distinction in the Introduction, which is only half a page long but it summarises the meaning of the course. Here is the second half of the Introduction:

“The Course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence, which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite.

This course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way:

Nothing real can be threatened.

Nothing unreal exists.

Herein lies the peace of God”

When we think too much about the idea of love being the only thing that is real, it is easy to come up with objections to why this is clearly not the case. However, I urge you to think about what is really meaningful in your life, beyond the problems you might be worrying about on a normal day. We usually realise that the moments that really mattered are the ones filled with love, compassion and joy.

We usually don’t remember what started that argument we had a year ago, which seemed so important at the time, but we do remember how it felt when we shared a moment of joy and love with someone or received acts of compassion.  Those are the moments when we experience what is real, and it cannot be threatened.

A Course in Miracles refers to these moments as The Holy Instant. If we remember how we felt in those moments and consciously bring that state of mind into the present more often we can train our minds into extending the holy instant and make it a more frequent occurrence in our lives.

The Course is not often encouraging you to delve into the past or future, because this can bring despair if we remember bad things that have happened or anticipate bad things that can happen in the future. It can still be useful to go into the past to remember the ‘real’ moments so that we can be reminded to recreate them in the present.

Or in my interpretation it can be useful to look back in order to process unhealed trauma which, although it seems very real, is a result of fearful thoughts, either our own or other’s. There is one line that can be useful in relation to this and that’s: “Look at the cross, but do not dwell on it.” But more on that in another post…

Perfect love casts out fear

A Course in Miracles says:

“Perfect love casts out fear,

If fear exists

Then there is not perfect love.

But:

Only perfect love exists.

If there is fear,

It produces a state that does not exist.”

So what does this mean? When we are in a loving mindset, everything that is not aligned with that (like fearful thoughts and old emotional patterns), get released. But if there is anything I have learned in my training to become a hypnotherapist, it’s that when the releasing of repressed emotions and memories happen, they also come up from our subconscious to be felt again.

Love or healing (which is a state of love) basically brings up everything that is not of love.

That is why when we heal and release old patterns and fears, we go through phases of feeling them. But of course in hypnotherapy, and in many other types of therapy and healing modalities, we are aware that these feelings do not derive from our reality now. Nevertheless, they feel real.

This releasing of old patterns and fears can also happen when we fall in love romantically, if it’s mutual true love. All of these old fears that we thought we had left behind can appear again, although it really has nothing to do with the actual reality we are experiencing.

This is “the state that does not exist” in that it is not true but it is a stage of the healing process. The only thing that is ultimately true is the love that made these fears come up.

Healing the past

When I was recently in a period of having emotional flashbacks to past events, triggered by new situations that has nothing to do with the original cause, I opened A Course in Miracles and landed on these words:

“The Holy Spirit’s use of memory is quite apart from time. He does not seek to use it as a means to keep the past, but rather as a way to let is go.”

“When ancient memories of hate appear, remember that their cause is gone. And so you cannot understand what they are for. Let not the cause that you would give them now be what it was that made them what they were, or seemed to be.” (A Course in Miracles, p 590)

Even just reading the words made my nervous system calm down and come to the realisation that these are feelings from the past resurfacing. I realised I cannot let the past dictate my current reactions and feelings. They come up to be released.

The Holy Spirit could be seen as another word for, or a bridge to, the Higher Self or what is also called the Subconscious in Hypnotherapy. That larger part of ourselves that sees the bigger picture and holds all memories and insights that we don’t always access with our conscious mind.

In Hypnotherapy we can actually reach the repressed memories themselves, not just the residual feelings of them, and slowly untangle, process and release the influence it has on our lives now.

Click here to book a Hypnotherapy session with me.

The message of the crucifixion...

When Yeshua went through the most gruesome, horrible human trial that anyone can go through, he found peace, love and forgiveness in the middle of it. For me the lesson is this, if he could do that in the face of violent death, and as the story (or myth if you like) goes, even overcame physical death, then we can find love, peace and forgiveness in every little ego death and less severe human trials that we face every day. He was here to show us this through the most extreme example.

Simply put:

"The message of the crucifixion is perfectly clear: Teach only love, for that is what you are. If you interpret the crucifixion in any other way, you are using it as a weapon for assault rather than as the call for peace for which it was intended."

~ A Course in Miracles

You are as God created you...

"You are as God created you. These words dispel the night, and darkness is no more. The light is come today to bless the world. For you have recognized the Son of God, and in that recognition is the world's." (A Course in Miracles)

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I have studied ACIM for six years but the words take on deeper meanings the more my spiritual journey progresses. When we realise our divinity and that God dwells within us, the world also wakes up. Gaia wakes up and starts becoming aware of herself.

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This is the core of lightwork, recognising our own divinity and that we are the 'Son of God', the anointed 'one', as a collective. Everyone has this within them because nothing exists without it. The only difference is that we are blessed to have consciously realised this.

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Artist Unknown

The crucifixion

"The message of the crucifixion is perfectly clear: Teach only love, for that is what you are. If you interpret the crucifixion in any other way, you are using it as a weapon for assault rather than as the call for peace for which it was intended."

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"There is no death. The Son of God is free."

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~ A Course in Miracles

Seek first the kingdom of God...

When I first started being conscious about my spiritual path around 6 years ago I didn't have any Tarot decks or Oracle cards. I didn't set up an altar or call in any particular deities or angels. I didn’t spend money on courses or join online spiritual communities. I didn’t have countless books on spirituality yet or burn incense every day.

The one thing I did do, and what I attribute me being led to all of these other things to, was meditate.

I had started following some holistic health bloggers because I was really interested in nutrition and holistic health. One of them mentioned that she meditates every morning. I had never tried and and thought I would give it a go.

All I did was to regularly sit down on the floor or on my sofa or bed, close my eyes and be quiet for about 10-15 minutes at first. I didn't follow any particular technique. Since then I have learnt Transcendental Meditation but I still sometimes use my own quiet meditation.

It didn’t take long for me to realise why meditation is a good idea. Not only did it clear my mind and made me more calm and much less stressed in my daily activities, which is reason enough to do it. I also often found myself in moments of complete bliss during meditation and felt a light, floating sensation and experienced that I am so much more than my physical body. I felt a sense of complete love and safety, hard to find in the physical ‘reality’.

As time went by and I continued to meditate every day, I found that I sometimes had this feeling even while going about activities and being around other people. I started noticing synchronicities and came across things that would become useful spiritual tools for me. One of those things was A Course in Miracles.

Fast forward a few years, I am now practising Tarot, spell-work and magic, learning Astrology, reading a lot of books on different spiritual topics and I’m continuing to study and also teach A Course in Miracles. I am following several spiritual coaches and teachers and have become one myself. I have also tried different meditation techniques and learnt Reiki healing and I communicate with my guides and angels daily.

I have been led to all of these things from connecting with my inner being, what can be called the kingdom of God if we want to get biblical.

What has always been consistent through all of this is my meditation practise. Without it, I can forget about any of these divination tools, techniques or books and I can certainly forget about trying to guide or help others in their spiritual work. Without going inwards in meditation and connecting to my ‘right mind’ or true being, all of these other things are distractions and paraphernalia.

So if I would give any advice for someone starting out and wondering where they should look and what they should read or do, look no further than yourself. Sit down on a chair, sofa, bed or floor and be still.

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)