Personal Growth Versus Spiritual Growth

[Nick Arandes]

I was part of the self-help movement for 20 years and all that I was taught was the if I am not growing (personal-growth) I was dying. Yet something deep within me knew that it was all a lie. I could not understand how come I did not feel like pulling through.

As I have let go and let God, my life continue to fall into place more easily, offering me whatever lessons I need to learn in order to continue to undue my ego. Not a bed of roses I have to say, but in hindsight, the suffering had nothing to do with the experiences I was having but in my resistance to what was taking place.

But as I continued to trust that everything is unfolding just as it is supposed to in order to help me detach from my personal self, I experience more peace, which is the ultimate goal, to experience the peace that passeth understanding. And from there, whatever I do in physical form it is what it is. What a peaceful way of living.

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[Chris Anderson/Onefeather]

The beauty of the Course is it's activity in the deeper part of the mind that we are less observant of. As you stated "something within me knew that it was all a lie" ~ a deeper level within us knows truth and is struggling to bring it to the most immediate level of consciousness (where we exist with a 99% investment in ego). As Ernest Holmes noted, "As man begins to turn toward God, God begins to turn toward man" ~ it is all a dance that has one participant... God. God as the greater allness and God within the separated illusion of self. When that understanding begins to bubble up into our awakened thoughts, self-help begins to become a non sequitur ~ personal self begins to fade like the morning dew.

I've observed that there is a small stampede from the self-help community to the "Happy dream" crowd... a migration that affords people to still imagine that personal agendas and "self gratification" is condoned & shored up by the Holy Spirit ~ when, in reality, the "happy dream" is simply the shift of attention away from personal desires toward the truth of being, and the resultant recognition that all the dreams/desires of a separate life are meaningless. The happy dream is the dissolution of desire entirely... regardless of appearances in the material world.

As you stated, trust in the moment, trust in the way things are unfolding, is the road to permanent and lasting peace.

Thanks for introducing an engaging thread of dialogue, Nick...

As the Course states, "To say, 'Of myself I can do nothing' is to gain all power.... As God created you, you have all power. The image you made of yourself has none." [M67/70f]

[Ron Alexander]

Thanks Nick & Christopher, I consider this quote summarizes what you both are pointing out very well

"There is a silence into which the world cannot intrude.
There is an ancient peace you carry in your heart and have not lost.
There is a sense of holiness in you that the thought of sin has never touched.
All this today you will remember." A Course in Miracles

And this ending quote helps me remember I don't have to make it happen - just surrender and allow, Need do nothing, ron

[Marvin Double]

Thanks for sharing your experiences and your insight. I must say that you may have come closest to mirroring my own to anyone I've yet read. Not long ago I had an interesting experience I'd also like to share. I am a Reiki practitioner and have been for 20 years. Generally I do self Reiki each morning before rising. I've also been a student of ACIM for about the same length of time. Several weeks ago I was doing Reiki and thinking about the application of the principals which the course teaches. I became aware of a silent voice which spoke directly to me in a manner which is hard to put into words.

I "heard" and felt not only the words but had an instant understanding which created a resonance that penetrated my being. The message said simply "submit ego". I always thought I understood how to put aside my ego, but the manner in which this message connected with me made it entirely clear that I was wrong. Suddenly I had an understanding which was more than intellectual or academic. People sometimes say I felt it, or I knew it "right down to my bones". The feeling I got from that message was something on that order of magnitude. It's the kind of thing that really gets your attention at 5 AM.

Since that day I really have been trying to remember the lesson you've also expressed here - let go and allow things to fall into place. Thanks again for sharing.

[Nick Arandes]

Thanks Marvin. I appreciate your comment. What I've learned that since we are one, what I say that seems to resonate with others, is really what they said to themselves through the illusion of what appears to be me. And one thing I sure know is that I know nothing. Such a great place to be.

[Ron Alexander]

Nick Arandes said:

Thanks Marvin. I appreciate your comment. What I've learned that since we are one, what I say that seems to resonate with others, is really what they said to themselves through the illusion of what appears to be me. And one thing I sure know is that I know nothing. Such a great place to be.

Wow! "A great place to be indeed" - thanks for the reminder, Nick