Spiritual mind training, miracles, and mysticism: As David Hoffmeister has demonstrated through his way of being, it is quite possible to be in a state of perfect peace regardless of what seems to be happening externally, and this requires a willingness to let the mind be trained by the Holy Spirit. Miracles are the result of a dedicated mind training practice, and mysticism is an awareness of the overall purpose: to remember our union with God. Over the past two decades of working with thousands of students around the world, David Hoffmeister has shared many practical means of mind training to make this state of consistent peace possible. These means include practical guidelines we’ve used at our mind training centers, such as “no private thoughts” and “no people-pleasing,” as well as teachings on meditation, behavior, and following inner guidance.
In the video below, David speaks to the importance of mind training; that it is, in fact, the most important thing you will ever seem to do in this imaginary life.
After watching the video, you will find many subtopics below to explore within our Q&A directory!
Spiritual Answers to Modern-Day Problems:
Spiritual Mind Training for Happiness
Click on any of the topics below for a list of questions and answers and additional resources within our Q&A directory about spiritual mind training, miracles, and mysticism. You can also click on the Q&A image above to explore this section of the Q&A directory in general.
Behavior, Doing vs. Not-Doing, Being Done Through
Communication, Honesty, Integrity, Responsibility
Defenselessness
Forgiveness, Right Mindedness, Healing
General Process of Awakening, Stepping Stones
Guidance, Prompts, Discernment
Meditation, Mind Watching, Allowing Emotions
No People Pleasing
No Private Thoughts
Prayer
Projects/Assignments
Teaching/Demonstrating
Trust, Divine Providence, Stewardship, Giving/Receiving
Unlearning (Beliefs, Opinions, Preferences, etc..)
The Three Steps of Forgiveness
Our only function is forgiveness. To forgive the world we made, we need be willing to take the following three steps each time a grievance arises in our mind of any size:
1. Expose and welcome the darkness when it comes, instead of pushing it down.
2. Accept and allow it, no matter what it looks or feels like, without judging yourself.
3. Finally, hand it over to Spirit for release.
Watch David’s video below for clarity on this process:
Retraining the Mind Is Essential for True Happiness
The Holy Spirit meets the mind at the state of consciousness it currently holds, and this is the context of mind training. Perception seems distorted because the sleeping mind is attempting to serve two masters simultaneously (love and fear), and thus consciousness initially seems very body-based. Application of miracle principles, or transfer of training in mind, is the way from an apparent “intellectual understanding” of the Course to an experience of true freedom beyond the body-based consciousness.
Very simply, the application which is referred to involves relinquishing the ego’s purposes for the body (pride, pleasure, and attack) and embracing the Holy Spirit’s purpose for the body, which is communication. This is a change of mind, and because behaviors come from mental motivation, your behaviors will seem to change as well as you come to purity of heart. This application seems to be a process and may seem to take a lot of time, yet be assured that your willingness is most essential—not time. Time is neutral and thus can be used to heal perception or to delay. Resistance to Awakening can make the “process” seem slow, yet as the trust within grows, then the “process” of collapsing time seems to accelerate.
Allow your mind the time to meditate and relax, making no attempt to organize or structure the practice. Let the mind soar to the state that deep down it longs to experience. During your day allow yourself the time for the activities that come with a feeling of inner glee. These activities have for years been given less priority than those of body survival activities the ego deems “prudent.” Many hobbies and interests and activities such as dining and exercise will begin to fade into the outskirts of consciousness as the purpose of communication becomes the focus.
That is how Awakening seems to happen: with a change of purpose. The body is seen as a means which serves the end of Awakening. The body is thus no longer seen as a “receiver” of pleasure, affection, and attention, but as an “instrument” for extending true ideas. As the mind embraces this new purpose it begins to open to the experience that giving and receiving are identical. The mind outgrows the desire to get, possess, and accumulate. It relaxes into its natural state of rest and peace.
As you meditate, start with a simple thought to focus your attention on: “I am not a body, I am free. I am still as God created Me.” Let go of all the swirls of body thoughts that flicker through your mind and sink below them. Frequent shorter practice periods are good at first, and later you will be drawn into the silence when resistance has subsided. Whatever you do, do not force it. Proceed gently and without a feeling of resentment or coercion. If you notice your mind hopping onto various trains of thought, just hop off. It is good to notice and to hop off. Being attentive to mind watching cannot be overemphasized.
With regards to cravings and desires that seem to be body-based, remember that the ego uses the body to perpetuate the belief in itself, in private minds, and private thoughts. The Holy Spirit will teach you to use your mind and body to go beyond a private, personal sense of self that is body-based. Letting the Voice for God speak, write, smile, and hug through your mind, so to speak, is the only purpose that will bring ceaseless joy! This purpose removes resistance to the inner silence, and in this silence the mind transcends all awareness of the world and the body.
Thanks for your willingness to focus your mind and to embrace the Love within. You are as God created You, and happily God’s Will is an Eternal State of Peace and Bliss. All Glory to God!!!
Love always,
David
Willingness to Expose Private Thoughts
Exposing private thoughts is the first step in forgiveness. When we see the cause of our upset as outside of our mind, it is always because we want to keep thoughts private and thus the illusion of separation as real. We can’t forgive something that we have refused to acknowledge, and so these unhappy thoughts must be looked at. When we expose the private thoughts (either with the Spirit, or with a trusted brother who represents the Spirit to us), we are freeing our mind. Open your mind to the possibility of true freedom, for in truth, you are completely innocent.
Cravings for Sex and Food
In heaven, or oneness, there are no needs or cravings. But in the dream of this world, sexuality and hunger appear to be basic human needs, and there can seem to be many problems that arise from these cravings. The guilt from which they arise comes from the underlying identification with ego, and it is the Holy Spirit’s job to convince us that the ego is not who we are.
The Holy Spirit also knows that, in truth, we have no ego preferences. When you give yourself over to Him however, He will use what you believe to be your preferences to unwind you from them. But if you try to control your sexual or food cravings at the form level, it will be very frustrating. They must be healed at the level of mind; at the level of identification.
Practice forgiveness and your mind will be purified. This is purification from the inside, and your behavior will gradually shift accordingly; cravings and ego preferences fall away naturally, leaving the mind in a state of perfect peace and joy. There is no sacrifice at all in the giving up of one’s belief in lack.
Mysticism and Miracles: Bringing Illusions to Truth
In the following video, David Hoffmeister shares about the miracle-working function that is necessary to enter into mysticism. A Course in Miracles is a pointer towards non-dual awareness, yet we must allow the Spirit’s use of dualistic symbols to come to this experience. We cannot bring truth into the illusion, but we can (and must) bring illusions to the truth.
What does it mean to bring illusions to the truth and not the other way around? It means that you cannot bring Spirit into your workplace, into your relationships, or even into your Course groups! If you try to use ACIM to make the world a better place, you will end up frustrated, for such an endeavor is impossible.
The world holds nothing of value; pass it by, for again, you can’t bring the truth into illusion. You can’t bring spirit into matter. In the 11th century, the Cathars in France (a spiritual community of mystics) rightly believed that the Son of God could never incarnate into form. Along the same lines, Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter.”
Everything you think is important in this world is actually nothing. There is no “mind and matter” for it is all mind. You are 100% mind. Jesus says you are wholly mind, purely mind, and nothing but mind. And only mind/spirit is real. This realization is a cause for freedom, joy, and happiness.
Whatever you thought you had to do, make, or change in this world to accomplish happiness or achieve worthiness, you don’t. It is purely an acceptance of what is already perfect. Once you taste the stillness of the mystical experience, once the “monkey-mind” and chatter are gone, it’s so wonderful! It changes everything. Your mind is free of shoulds, musts, ought tos, and have tos. You are suddenly free of everything you do out of fear.
You may have a flash of awareness that you are not the body. This awareness will change the whole trajectory of your life. The means for coming to Enlightenment are miracles, which are flashes of perception that show us the glory, the potential. As a stepping stone, we seemingly have to take on the role of being a miracle worker, one who allows miracles to be worked through him or her.
It is humble to accept that one can be used as a miracle worker. Everything you need to fulfill this role in the world will be given. The Holy Spirit will rush in with everything that you need to do your part perfectly. All we have to do is have the faith to say “yes” to that. Once we have that one non-dual moment, that experience of oneness, then we begin to apply it without exception by bringing all illusory thoughts to that truth within. It is an experience of mind. You can realize that you are perfect just as you are, right now in the heart of God.
Mysticism: Transitioning into Abstract Oneness
The mystical transition happens prior to mystical oneness. Resurrection is when Christ is recognized. This is the completion called the mystical state, the gateway to eternity. No longer is there a person, for Spirit is forever one with God. Before the mystical union is the gift of contemplation. It is the invitation to this higher life to be unfolded. This gift is like a trumpet call, which begins the final journey to God.
Forgiveness points the way. It should be defined here what it is. It is the ability to perceive wholeness at once:
The subject ceases to perceive himself in the multiplicity and division of his general consciousness. He is raised above himself. A pure thought substituted itself for the normal self. In this state, in which consciousness of I-hood and consciousness of the world disappear, the mystic is conscious of being in immediate relation with god.
One sees instantly that the only way one could remove the taint was to still the mind and release all attachments with people. It is at the point of people—wanting their love, wanting involvement—that one falls short. It is always applause, recognition on an earthly level, that trips one up. Stillness is the way. Withdrawal from the thinking of the world is the only answer. Distraction from God saps your energy, confuses, and distorts awareness.
You can do more by praying than by talking. The Lord will say “drop everything and forget all.”
What you do want to do is to be open to the eternal realm of God; to think about truths and to receive impressions from the divine mind. It isn’t any use to tell the mystic not to focus on those things; for this was the mystic born, for this the mystic is talented. You might as well tell someone like Mozart not to compose music.
The state of mystical life is a type of cocoon. It is an atmosphere, a world wherein the mystic soars. It is not a delusional world, but it is intuned to another dimension—higher. In this mystical cocoon you are developing, but in another way than the typical life. You are learning to use faculties that have previously been dormant or inactive, or you are learning to use full force those talents you already used in part. When you enter the cocoon you release all about you. The world of time and space, people, friends, and relatives fades into the background of consciousness and disappears. You live in the Heart of God.
Release All Stress and Worry Now: Grace vs. Control
The ego seeks to demonstrate that it is the author of itself by working, planning, and controlling as many “personal” aspects of life as possible. But doing each “must” and “have to” is highly stressful. The alternative to attempting to control things is to relax into divine grace. When you let go of control and listen instead to guidance and prompts from the Holy Spirit, everything is done for you or easily through you. You deserve the peace of God now.
