Question: Hi again Nick, greetings from Venezuela:). In most of the videos I've seen where you explain very well your current practice of A Course in Miracles, reminding us that you were part of the self-help movement, hence my question is: how can we reconcile what the Course says about "not knowing what we want, leave the future in the hands of God, etc.." which is very nice and requires a faith that I have not yet mustered, with the message of people I respect very much like Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Neale D. Walsch, etc., who say they have put into practice what they preach in their books and works for them.

Because despite the fact that A Course in Miracles is to me, the ultimate, also I feel that it would not be a bad idea to apply such techniques to in our lives in order to be a little more comfortable in this illusion (more abundance, prosperity, etc.).. Any advise on this subject?

Comment: Well, obviously I never give advice, but I can share an observation, and you can decide whether it resonates with you or not, always remembering that all answers are within you, and that only the Holy Spirit is your True Guide, and not illusions, like myself. ;o)

First of all, the world of self-help and A Course in Miracles are two very different paths. Although all roads lead to truth, the Course is one path out of many. However, if you decide to opt for A Course in Miracles, you then have to be consistent with it, otherwise you are going to end up being confused, and here is why.

One of the reasons why the Course has been so confusing for many students is that like everything else, many teachers in self-help and spiritual teachers who teach different philosophies, use excerpts from the Course in order to fit their personal agendas, or their teachings. I'm not saying this is right or wrong, but what they do, without realizing and without any malicious intentions, is distort the message of A Course in Miracles al together.

The goal of A Course in Miracles is to wake us up from this dream, which we call our world; our physical experience. The goal of the self-help movement is not to wake us up from this dream but to fix it so that it is more beautiful. Something that is completely impossible because the world we live in is dual, and in duality there will always be opposites. But in the Real world, the Kingdom; our real Home in God, the only thing that exists is love, which is what we truly are.

And that love that we are, is not of this world, and cannot be taught. That's why A Course in Miracles reminds us; "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. In-1;6-7

In regards to the self help movement wanting to make this illusion better (save the world), in other words, rearranging the dream, here is what A Course in Miracles reminds me: "The dreams you think you like would hold you back as much as those in which the fear is seen. For every dream is but a dream of fear, no matter what the form it seems to take. The fear is seen within, without, or both. Or it can be disguised in pleasant form. But never is it absent from the dream, for fear is the material of dreams, from which they all are made." T-29.IV.2 :1-5

So trying to fix the dream to make it more beautiful is to try to exchange fear for fear. Also something that A Course in Miracles reminds me is that the ego's mantra is "Seek and do not find." T-12.IV.1: 4

In other words, although many of the teachers you mentioned appear to have the life you wish you have, if you knew them personally, you'd realize they face the same problems we all confront just at a much bigger stage, since that is the nature of the ego . The ego gives you something, and takes it away, or takes something else away.

The Course is not interested in give and taking away, the Course is only interested in giving you everything! The problem is that the Course is not talking about form, is talking about content. Form is our physical world; the world of illusions. Content on the other hand is our mind. When our mind is transformed, we experience our love, peace, happiness, joy, regardless of our circumstances.

That's how we experience true freedom, since we're not at the effect of our circumstances. The paradox is that when our mind is transformed, the world will reflect back to us the condition of our mind. The world of self-help is the opposite. It uses our mind to try to manipulate our dreams so that we can be happy. Because of that error, we spend our whole life seeking for happiness, prosperity, love outside of ourselves, which is exactly what the ego wants us to do, to keep our attention away from Truth (within) and on illusions (fear, outside).

That reinforces in our subconscious the believe that the love that we are is outside of us, and therefore, never being able to recognize the fact that perfect love, happiness, joy, health, abundance is not something we seek is who we are.

If we continue putting our attention in the world (illusions) we are sacrificing our unlimited abundance by the limitations of this world. It's like Kenneth Wapnick says, "God gave us the ocean full of water (love, perfect health, unlimited prosperity, joy, peace, etc..), however, what we do is, we go to that ocean with a thimble, believing that it is the most we can obtained (deserve) from the ocean of love that is really ours to do as we please.

That is the ignorance of the teachings that try to teach us how to manifest what we want. And that is why the Course tells us that we do not know what we want. "Your function here is only to decide against deciding what you want, in recognition that you do not know." T-14.IV.5: 2

What is it that we don't know? The fact that no matter how big we think our goals may be, our goals and intentions are nothing more and nothing less than our thimbles!

But if we turn our attention inward, gradually the Holy Spirit will guide us to Truth. That's why it says: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added on to you." [Matthew 6:33] And where is the Kingdom? Within us. Even according to the Course the kingdom is us. Therefore, the Course reminds us: "It is hard to understand what "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you" really means. This is because it is not understandable to the ego, which interprets it as if something outside is inside, and this does not mean anything. The word 'within' is unnecessary. The Kingdom of Heaven is you. " T-4.III.1 :1-4

And remember that love has it all! When you make love the most important thing in your life, it is manifested in friendships, relationships, money, success and everything you can imagine. The difference is that everything that may manifest in your life, you no longer need it to impress anyone or to give you a sense of superiority, but for a larger purpose.

Let me share a message I received from someone who was deeply involved in the world of self-help, especially the law of attraction. This is an excerpt from my book What Happens When You Let God:

Dear Nick, I just wanted to say that I am so pleased I found your site. I feel that this law of attraction fever, is two far away from the truth. I listened to (name undisclosed) tele-seminar last night on attracting wealth and it left me cold.

The questions were all from people wanting money. Not enough emphasis is being put on internal peace and strength. It took me a long time to realize this and forty years of searching, but mainly plumbing the depths. I gave up almost everything I had, ran my businesses down to virtually nothing and basically jumped empty handed into a void.

What I found astounded me. Peace, happiness and a totally new way of life. It mended not just my broken spirit, but all my relationships with family and my beautiful child who had become separate from me spiritually. I am now in a position to retain the beauty I have found in my new life, while attracting to me exactly what I need.

I found it interesting from my new perspective, that when you have peace and strength, there is little else you want, and attracting your needs is enjoyable, fun and effortless. You are a wonderful inspiration, and I believe that the world really needs you, now more than ever. With love, Sue. W.

So the question is, do you want to awaken from this dream, or staying asleep? A Course in Miracles is about awakening from the dream (world) while the self-help is to keep us from awakening. That is why A Course in Miracles reminds me: "The choice is not between which dreams to keep, but only if you want to live in dreams or to awaken from them. Thus it is the miracle does not select some dreams to leave untouched by its beneficence. You cannot dream some dreams and wake from some, for you are either sleeping or awake. And dreaming goes with only one of these.. " T-29.IV.1 :5-8

After all that has been said, the world of self-help has a very important purpose, and that is to help those who feel like victims to take full responsibility, and to realize that their thoughts have creative power. And in some cases, to introduce them to spirituality away from dogma so that they can begin to start recognizing their oneness with the Creator. But after they manifest what they want, and then have to go for the next thing, realizing that nothing of this world can bring them permanent happiness, that's when they are prepared to take the next step. That's when A Course in Miracles comes into play.

Remember that I was part of that world of self help for nearly twenty years, and was introduced to A Course in Miracles in 1994, then in 2000, but still was not ready for its teachings until November 2007.

So I understand that not everyone is ready to let go of their illusions; to awaken. That I have it very clear. My purpose is not to convince anyone to become a Course's student or to recruit anyone. I do this work to heal my own mind, and those who are attracted to the Course, I am simply here to remind them that all they are seeking is within.

What you need now is to develop the courage to recognize that in you. And that is out of my reach. That's between you and the Holy Spirit.

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