If I share someones joy for worldly success, is that choosing for the ego or the Holy Spirit? Q #1063: If I feel joy with someone for something he or she has received, I used to think this is a good thing, in that I feel with that person. But lately, through working with the Course, I had a sense of, maybe this is only fostering the illusion that we are all living in. Is this really real? Why would I want someone special to me to receive a certain award or be knighted etc.? I feel that idols stand decidedly for special relationships serving our egos sometimes too well as means to project on good and bad things. I dont know any more which is the egos voice, the one which feels joy with that -- special -- person or the one that says, it all means nothing. What is the Courses stance on this issue? Certainly the Holy Spirit would just go with me and say, okay, feel joy and idolatry and admiration? But then I might never let go of the illusion and projection because that person would then stand for something I would like to do/ live? Or is it just my ego trying to use the Course to get me away from feeling joy? A: Nothing in the Course asks that you not feel happiness for someones good fortune. In fact, the Course tells us we should not only feel our emotions, but should pay attention to them as well as to the thoughts that accompany them. That is how we become aware of the minds choice for separation. The feelings are not the cause of attachment to specialness; they are its effect. The minds choice for separation gives rise to specialness that is then expressed in all the emotions experienced in our lives. Paying attention to your feelings and questioning them as you are is precisely what we are asked to do, for behind them are the values and beliefs that sustain the ego. Jesus directive in this regard is very clear: “To learn this course requires willingness to question every value that you hold” (T.24.In.2:1). Another very important step in the learning process of the Course is to become aware of the two voices that express mutually exclusive interpretations of everything in the dream. Correctly identifying the two voices, as you have, is a significant accomplishment in itself. It means recognizing that every external situation is nothing but the reflection of the minds choice to listen to one of the two voices. This is the foundation of the forgiveness process. The next step is to evaluate the feelings, thoughts, and judgments that are associated with every situation in this light, rather than be deceived by the specifics. You are fulfilling your part in the Atonement if you are willing to be honest with yourself about how you perceive the attainment of an award, without guessing at what the Holy Spirits perspective would be, or thinking that you should be feeling differently. When Jesus tells us “…seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world”(T.21.in.1:7) , he is not only referring to the planet, but to the tiny world of our experiences. Changing our minds about it means seeing beyond the form to the content (the two voices). This opens the mind to the possibility of change, which is an invitation to the Holy Spirit. That is all we are asked to do. In this process of forgiveness the egos perspective is not given full credit or credence, which weakens it. Questioning its interpretation gradually reduces the egos hold on the emotions that flood our lives, thereby loosening their grip. They are gently changed by the simple process of questioning them, rather than by trying not to have them. This will eventually lead to the true happiness that is the goal of the Course. In contrast to the egos roller coaster of feelings, the Holy Spirits happiness is constant, not bound by the specialness of specific situations or relationships. Jesus distinguishes true happiness from pseudo happiness for us: “Elusive happiness, or happiness in changing form that shifts with time and place, is an illusion that has no meaning. Happiness must be constant, because it is attained by giving up the wish for the inconstant . Joy cannot be perceived except through constant vision. And constant vision can be given only those who wish for constancy” (T.21.VII.13:1,2,3,4). When we are ready, this happiness will be ours. Meanwhile, knowing that the learning process leads us gradually to true joy is itself a source of happiness. facimoutreach.org/qa/questions/questions219.htm#Q1063
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 14:43:02 +0000
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