NickArandesBlog.com

Distortion of Ho'oponopono and Truly Letting Go

2011-07-22T09:11:00.000-07:00

Question: "Hey Nick, how are you? Nick I think we are alike in many ways, I also gave up and detached from almost all material things, information, knowledge, beliefs, dreams, illusions, programs, souvenirs, etc.., And you surrendered to the Holy Spirit and I to God (same). I say that I am almost detached because I'm still working in a place I don’t like where there is no love with my wife, where I still do not know what my true talents are, although I am still asleep it still hurts and I still suffer. I'm still reading your book and has much resemblance to the philosophy of Ho'oponopono (which is really true, ¿right Nick?) I'm telling you because Ho'oponopono and a Course in Miracles and serve the same purpose (awakening from illusions, from this dream, there are no idols in Ho'oponopono) Write when you can and that the Holy Spirit or God will continue to guide I inspire you, blessings Nick! "

Comment: Well, before sharing my comments, you say, "... I'm still reading your book and has much resemblance to the philosophy of Ho"oponopono .. " Yes, the course has many similarities with Ho'oponopono until the ego began using the Ho'oponopono and became another tool to try to make changes in the world which distorts the original message of Ho'oponopono, which is to heal the mind and not the form (illusions); heal the cause which is responsible for the world we see (projection) so that we can awaken from the dream. As I shared in my book What Happens When You Let God:

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“Before elaborating on how I apply the process, and to show you how The Course is just one path out of many, I am going to briefly share about a healing modality from Hawaii called Ho’oponopono, which means to make right, just to demonstrate how it compares to the teachings of The Course if used within The Course’s context. The reason I mentioned if used within The Course’s context is because many traditions operate from the belief that the world is real. Although I am not suggesting that is what Ho’oponopono believes, that is the place where most healers and practitioners of different healing modalities appear to be coming from. They see the world of effects (illusions) and use their healing mantras or tools to attempt to fix what their eyes seem to see. The Course on the other hand, is always operating at the level of cause, from the level of the mind. It is not concerned with what we see because The Course clearly states that what we see with our physical eyes are illusions.

“So without deviating from the teachings of The Course, let’s see how Ho’oponopono could be employed as a tool for awakening. According to their practice, the words they use as their healing mantra are:

I love you
I’m sorry
Please forgive me
Thank you

If I use those words within the context of what The Course teaches, the intention behind them would yield the same results. For example:

Ho’oponopono: I love you
ACIM: I love you because you and I are one

Ho’oponopono: I’m sorry
ACIM: I am sorry for having judged you

Ho’oponopono: Please forgive me
ACIM: Please forgive me for having projected you or I forgive myself for having projected you

Ho’oponopono: Thank you
ACIM: Thank you for letting me see what needs to be healed within me so that the Holy Spirit can correct it.”
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Continuing now with your question, when you say, ”…I also gave up and detached from almost all material things, information, knowledge, beliefs, dreams, illusions, programs, souvenirs, etc.., And you surrendered to the Holy Spirit and I to God (same)…” Well, I do not know if it was me the one who truly let go, but I felt inspired to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit through the pursuit of inner peace, and that’s how I found myself letting go of most of my attachments.

But the thing was, it all began to happen naturally and gradually. Even when I was looking for that inner peace, I realized that I still had attachments. However, as I already mentioned, I was not the one who let go of them, I simply offered my attachments to the Holy Spirit so that He can helps me detach myself from them, and as a result, the detachment did not feel like sacrifice.

When we are not ready to detach psychologically from an illusion, what the Holy Spirit does is, He first helps us look at it differently (correction of perception) and then we find ourselves naturally experiencing detachment from whatever it is we were attached to. That’s how gentle the Holy Spirit is. But we, however, have to be willing to offer to him our attachments, our illusions. That’s why this process seems so hard, because we think we want to let go, when in reality, we want an exchange of illusions. For example, if you find yourself arguing or attacking someone, even if you have studied and even taught A Course in Miracles for many years, it is because at a much deeper level, you truly want your drama over your peace. And therefore the ego will remain intact. It’s really that simple! That’s why we have to be very vigilant.

Yes, I would say that when I let go of all the books I had read and all that information from the world of self-help, that's when I was finally ready to hear the Voice from the heart of the Holy Spirit because in truth, what I was doing was setting all distractions aside. But again, that was my process. I’m not here to make any suggestions.

Obviously, I am still experiencing attachments just that at a much deeper level, however, I grabbed them at the moment, therefore finding it much easier to let them go. That’s really how you know if you are advancing on this spiritual journey. Yes, your level of peace is the ultimate barometer, but when you can catch the ego at the starting point without letting him take on speed, that’s how you know that you are truly doing the work because that is where you can choose again the right mind. Otherwise, once the ego pick up speed, it is very hard to stop it.

Using the very same example, if you feel bothered by someone, or feel like having an argument, obviously the reason is because of your attachment to your opinion. But if at that moment you catch yourself, because from the heart you want the peace of God, and here is the key, from the heart, all you want is the peace of God, you have another opportunity to choose again. In that choosing again, all the Holy Spirit is going to teach is how valueless our opinions, ideas and beliefs are so that we no longer have to defend them, and the result is peace.

That’s why the course reminds me, "I want the peace of God: To say these words is nothing. But to mean these words is everything. If you could but mean them for just an instant, there would be no further sorrow possible for you in any form; in any place or time." W-pI.185.1:1-3 Then it goes on to say, "To mean you want the peace of God is to renounce all dreams (beliefs, opinions, ideas, concepts, everything we’ve learned, everything we have taught and we’ve been taught, in other words, everything that our physical senses can see, hear, touch, smell, perceive, imagined, EVERYTHING!). For no one means these words who wants illusions, and who therefore seeks the means which bring illusions." W-pI.185.5:1-2 ¿Can you honestly say that you are truly willing to do that? ;o)

That’s why one of the most overlooked paragraphs, and yet, probably the most clear and important of the course is: "Simply do this: Be still, and lay aside all thoughts of what you are and what God is; all concepts you have learned about the world; all images you hold about yourself. Empty your mind of everything it thinks is either true or false, or good or bad, of every thought it judges worthy, and all the ideas of which it is ashamed. Hold onto nothing. Do not bring with you one thought the past has taught, nor one belief you ever learned before from anything. Forget this world, forget this course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God." W-pI.189.7:1-5

Continuing now with your question, when you say, "...I say that I am almost detached because I'm still working in a place I don’t like where there is no love with my wife, where I still do not know what my true talents are, although I am still asleep it still hurts and I still suffer..." Let’s look at your comment a little closer because it seems to me that you are confusing form with content. Your job, as your wife and your personal circumstances, are all neutral. They don’t have the power to affect you. What affects you is the teacher with whom you are looking at your live experiences, the story you have in your mind about your circumstances. The ego makes up a story, the Holy Spirit liberates you from it, not by replacing it, for that is self help stuff, but by liberating you from it. It’s a bit different.

These circumstances, or rather, projections, can be used for completely opposite purposes. If you see them with the ego they will serve its purpose, which is the perpetuation of fear in your mind, but if you see them with the Holy Spirit your projections will serve another.

As the course reminds us, "The ego has a purpose, just as the Holy Spirit has. The ego's purpose is fear, because only the fearful can be egotistic. The ego's logic is as impeccable as that of the Holy Spirit, because your mind has the means at its disposal to side with Heaven or earth, as it elects. But again, remember that both are in you. ... We have learned, however, that there is an alternative to projection. Every ability of the ego has a better use, because its abilities are directed by the mind, which has a better Voice. The Holy Spirit extends and the ego projects. As their goals are opposed, so is the result." T- 5.V.1 :2-5 .. T-6.II.4 :1-4

The first thing I have learned is to recognize that wherever I am, that's where I’m supposed to be. And if I look at that experience with the Holy Spirit I can use it to heal through letting Him teach me how to perceive love and innocence in all things, remembering that any judgment (attack) is a judgment against me, and what I love is a recognition of what I am.

"The Holy Spirit begins by perceiving you as perfect. Knowing this perfection is shared He recognizes it in others, thus strengthening it in both. Instead of anger this arouses love for both, because it establishes inclusion." T-6.II.5 :1-3

That obviously does not mean I should stay in a situation that for lack of a better word is not healthy or positive (I know these words are judgments but in this world of illusions are the words I can use to convey this message), but while choosing the peace of the Holy Spirit, I can choose to remove myself from any situation. But if for some reason I can not remove myself from a particular situation, then I do not resist anything, for I understand that that is the perfect curriculum for my learning, always remembering what the course says, "All things work together for good. There are no exceptions except in the ego's judgment." T-4.V.1 :1-2

When we are dominated by the ego's thought system, we only see, or I should say, perceive fear, judgment, terror, and we don’t know how to get out of whatever experience we seem to be trapped in, because as the course reminds us, “When you have been caught in the world of perception you are caught in a dream. You cannot escape without help, because everything your senses show merely witnesses to the reality of the dream. " Preface

In your case, you're so trapped in your apparent circumstances, or as I said, your perception of them, that you can not see another way out. However, there is another way of looking at things; another way to perceive, which is the same as to say, there is another way out.

But you are not the one who teaches yourself how to get out of anything as the course reminds us, "You cannot be your guide to miracles, for it is you who made them necessary." T-14.XI.7:1 It is your right mind that can set you free. And that's why when you do not resist anything, and choose inner peace, a change in perception takes place. This change in perception all it does is uses the same illusions that the ego employs to perpetuate fear in your mind to recognize the innocence and love in everything.

That innocence is your innocence, only that has been covered by a veil of unconscious guilt that is being projected outwards by your fearful mind, and now it is the excuse the ego uses to justify your anger, your fear, your suffering. But beware, I'm not suggesting that you are guilty or anything like that. It's just a recognition that nothing is happening outside but inside for everything is a projection. That’s why the course reminds us, "I am not the victim of the world I see." W-pI.31

However, having said that, there is only one solution, the choice of inner peace which is the same as to say, to choose again, or to practice forgiveness. In my case, while I was writing my book, I did not even know what was going on with my life. I was lost and confused, and yet, I learned through the practice of choosing internal peace, that during those three or four years, and obviously the rest of this illusory life, each and every one of my experiences have served and will serve a purpose, the only purpose that there is, forgiveness.

Back to your question, if you keep complaining about your experiences, you're not letting the Holy Spirit teach you. That does not mean you have to stay in uncomfortable circumstances as I mentioned earlier, but you have to take full responsibility for your projections and your experiences, for you are only given the opportunity to undo the internal guilt by choosing the thought system of the Holy Spirit.

That’s why the projections are there, NOT to be fixed, for there is nothing to fix. You are not seeking a change in circumstances (effects, form, world) but a change of mind (cause, content, mind). "Therefore, seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world." T-21.in.1:7

Remember that the Holy Spirit does not share the thought system of the ego (illusions). If anything, all the Holy Spirit is teaching you is not to take this world seriously. As the course reminds us, "He bids you bring each terrible effect to Him that you may look together on its foolish cause and laugh with Him a while. You judge effects, but He has judged their cause. And by His judgment are effects removed." T-27.VIII.9:3-5

Your whole problem, which is everyone’s problem, mine too for my whole life, and even after being sharing A Course in Miracles, aside from the fact that the only problem which is illusory is that we think we are separate from God, but is that you have taken your experiences seriously, and now, instead becoming a happy learner you are now resisting your experiences making it difficult for you to let them go and to be taught.

Remember that once something is healed in the mind, no longer needs to be projected. But we have to be WILLING to look at our fears, and judgments with the Holy Spirit so that He can remove the cause, for as the course reminds us again, "You judge effects, but He has judged their cause. And by His judgment are effects removed." T-27.VIII.9:5

Keep also in mind, that this course is not about exchanging illusions for more pleasant ones, but to undo our false sense of self, and now we use our illusions to recognize our innocence in everyone and everything, so that the mind can heal and can be reverted to its natural state, peace, love.

Once your mind is filled with peace and love, ¿does it matter what you do in the world or who you are with, or what anyone does? Because whatever it is that you end up doing, being with, or watching others doing, you’ll be at peace and filled with love. And that’s the true meaning of the happy dream! But like everything, it takes practice. Just remember, "The way is not hard, but it is different." T-11.III.4

All I can say is this, you are exactly where you need to be, as we are all exactly where need to be for if we needed to be somewhere else, that’s where we would be.

The question now is, ¿with whom you want to look at your experiences, with the ego, which is nothing but a believe in order to continue perpetuating the belief in separation in your mind, or with the Holy Spirit so that He can teach you how to awaken from this dream?

That’s the only freewill you truly have.

Was Jesus Christ Enlightened?

2011-03-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

I found a comment under one of my videos, but I chose that question in order to elaborate on this note. So enjoy it!

Question: "Are you saying then that Jesus was not enlightened when he was on the earth?"

Comment: That's a very good questions, which is very easy to answer, but not necessarily easy to accept unless you are clear about what the Course in Miracles is about.

So, let me briefly elaborate. There is a significant difference between the Jesus of Nazareth and the Christ of the course. And here is it. The Jesus of Nazareth was a story made up by the ego in order to make believe that the world of form is true, while the Jesus of the course is the Voice, the mediator, the one that communicates with us reminding us of Who we really are.

How could this possibly be, that Jesus of Nazareth never existed? Please, before you start throwing tomatoes at me, hehehe, pay close attention. ¿What is the most significant teaching of A Course in Miracles? "There is no world! This is the central thought the course attempts to teach." W-pI.132.6:2-3

That being said, how could it possible be that the world we are saying is not real, was real 2000 years ago? And how could it possibly be, that here we are trying to teach ourselves that we are not bodies, however, 2000 years ago, which we have already establishes that did not exist, there were bodies, and one of them was the body of a "man" called Jesus who walked amongst us, again, amongst people that did not exist, can you see the contradiction?

Now, you may not be ready to accept that, which is why the course says, "Not everyone is ready to accept it, and each one must go as far as he can let himself be led along the road to truth." W-pI.132.6:3

But that's okay, because the Holy Spirit, Jesus, whatever you want to call it does not care if you accept that or not. What He surely ask you through out the whole course is to stop trying to teach yourself and to let Him teach you.

Now, here is an interesting thing. Many people, specially "spiritual teachers" say that they channel Jesus and that Jesus speaks through them in order to convey a message. And the funny thing is, each one has a different message that supposedly came from the same Jesus. Many of them talk about Jesus saving the world, or Jesus wants us to raise our energy for a higher vibration or that Jesus is telling us through them what to do in the world when we have already established that there is no world, and that message came from the same Jesus!

And again, the problem is that all these teachers try to apply the teachings of Jesus to form (world). And when you do so, you take the non dual message from Jesus and turn it into a dual message, which is ego. Because remember that anything that has to do with the world of form is dual. That's why the course is about changing our minds, not the world of form. "Therefore, seek not to change the world (form), but choose to change your mind (content) about the world." T-21.In.1:7

Jesus through out the course never asked us to pay attention to other egos and seek guidance through them, He simply asks us over and over and over and over again in many different forms the same thing, "If you are willing to renounce the role of guardian of your thought system and open it to me, I will correct it very gently and lead you back to God." T-4.I.4:7

So Jesus the man was not enlightened because Jesus the man never existed. But the Christ in you is enlightened and all he is trying to do is to teach you how to be like him, "If you want to be like me I will help you, knowing that we are alike. If you want to be different, I will wait until you change your mind." T-8.IV.6:3-4

The question is, ¿who do you want to listen to, the Christ in you or your illusions?

"I can teach you, but only you can choose to listen to my teaching." T-8.IV.6:5

When Someone Bully You...

2010-08-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine whose in the middle of a family challenge, who also practices A Course in Miracles shared with me about a former partner who has been sending her very negative emials, and how difficult has been for her to deal with the experience.

Although because of her forgiveness process she is being able to experience more peace, that being said, every once in a while she finds herself reacting to her former partner comments and replying to his email.

I was having the same challenge with someone whom I was also involved in a relationship with, and another friend, whom I truly trust with my affairs responded with the following email:

“My feeling is that when I have received an email of this sort (attacking), my lesson/test is to delete it without response and simply focus on my love for the "attacker". ANY response is a sacrifice of power and a distraction. I Love You Nick and we will talk but give this no attention because it needs none. All temptations are nothing more than that.“

That helped me so much, that I shared it with my friend. Then she emailed me the following comment:

“If I allow him to bully me, he will keep bullying me. I can be kind and still stand up and have a voice. A kind, firm, Christ-like voice!”

Below is what I felt moved to share with her, which as always, is really an opportunity for me to remember what I have to learn, or practice:

“Dear friend, With practice, the time comes when he can bully you, without you been affected. That being said, yes, if you need to speak your truth, you simply speak it. This is not about being oppressed, it is about recognizing BOTH of your innocence without judgment, always remembering to bring in the Holy Spirit first!

Because in any situation, when we invite the Holy Spirit, we respond to the situation, ‘if’ a response is needed. But when we bring in the ego, we ‘react’ to the situation.

The thing is, if we try to convince someone of our point of view, is like trying to convince a rattlesnake to stop biting, when that is their nature (yes, it is our projection, but follow me on this thought). The best thing with a rattlesnake would be to instead of trying to negotiate with it, to simply get out of its way, and go on with our life (to not respond to their emails, unless it is absolutely necessary, and again, with the Holy Spirit).

So if you still need to deal with him because of kids, or other responsibilities, the answer is still always the same: bring in the Holy Spirit, and just be present. As long as he is not picking up a chair and try to throw it at you, if it's just words, to let them slide.

Like the old saying, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never kill me."

I did not say it was easy, but again, with practice, you’ll experience that inner transformation, which is nothing but the recognition that love is all that there is, no matter what it look like on the outside.

However, because of your situation, as you have already learned, and continue to do so, you are experiencing healing on a much deeper level, and becoming more loving as a result of that. Specially since he is an outward representation of an inward condition. He, who is really ‘your own’ projection, is giving you an opportunity for you to heal your mind. Don’ you love him? :o)”

So congratulation!!! Continue doing the amazing work that you do, and know that Love Is!”

I hope you enjoyed this post, and, have I told you lately that I love you? :=)

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Do Not Make This Mistake, Otherwise...

2010-07-28T01:44:00.000-07:00

Recently I received a wonderful article by Hugh Prather written back in 1999 entitled: What is the Course? Will it exist in the 21st Century? Although was very extensive, one of the paragraphs that caught my attention was:

"Does this mean those who lecture or write about the Course have turned down a dark side road? Certainly not. Does it mean that anyone who loves discussing metaphysical ideas has lost his or her way? Certainly not. But it does mean that those who coat themselves in spiritual concepts run the risk of thinking that they are the concepts. It's not hard to notice that the people in our culture who are conspicuously devout and talk continuously about God usually begin to take on an all-knowing, all-seeing attitude. In other words, in their own minds they have become the God they profess."

That's why I keep asking myself, why is it that I find myself writing books, and speaking, even when I am still facing my own darkness? Shouldn't I have it altogether before I can teach? And the answers I keep getting is that I am doing it to remind myself of what "I" need to learn.

It is like someone who was born with the innate desire to surf, and is destined to be a great surfer, but in his mind he does not want to get on the surfboard until he thinks he can master it first. Well, that will never happen. He has to get on that surfboard, fall out of it many times, before he can master it. And yes, at the beginning, he may hit people with the surfboard for not having mastered the right balance and control. He also have to ride all kinds of waves until he gets a better feel for them, and eventually, he will reach his destination, which is becoming the great surfer he was meant to be.

This came to mind because since I have written books, and for some reason speaking is something I enjoy doing, and based on the feedback I have received, I guess I must be getting better at it, what I often remind people of, is that I experience the same challenges everybody else does. I do not claim that I talk to Jesus, or that I have achieve some kind of enlightenment, or that I am guru, or pride myself that I have reached some kind of spiritual level of consciousness, or that I know something, because in reality I don't. I may be working towards it, but I guess that when that happens, people will naturally sense it, and at that point my writings and speaking are just stuff that I do.

I don't know if tomorrow I may feel guided to take my facebook profile down, get rid of my websites, move to a little town, get a job and live a happy life there. I don't know what the future holds for me. I just keep writing, and sharing, and trusting that hopefully, what I am doing is what I am supposed to be doing. And like the surfer, before I get to that place of complete unconditional love, for me, writing about it, and talking about it is one way of getting on that surfboard for the first few thousand times. And along the way, some people may experience my ego and may think, "who the hell is this guy teaching A Course in Miracles?"

But as I keep "practicing" and my love keeps flourishing, some people may say, "this guy really walk his talk." But to get to that place, it requires, first and foremost, willingness to choose again, to choose love, over and over and over and over again and again and again, until I have experience all sorts of waves, just like the surfer. Because even if he can master a particular kind of wave, it does not mean he is able to ride every single wave. But the more he is exposed to different kinds of waves, the better he is equipped to maintain a good sense of balance in all circumstances.

I am very grateful for the journey I am on. But I do have to say, I have had to face a lot of darkness, and still do in many different areas. I am becoming better equipped to handle what comes my way, but I am still practicing, and as long as I am in what appears to be a body, the practice will never stop. My sense of balance may be more steady, but that does not mean I will not be faced with experiences that may rock my boat.

So if you like my writings and my speaking, I thank you, and I hope that in some way I am able to serve you through the use of these particular talents and gifts I seemed to have, But do not make the mistake of putting me on a pedestal, because if you do, you are now turning me into what A Course in Miracles refers to a "false idol."

Trust me when is say that YOU are the guru you have been searching for. And my writings are simply pointing you in the direction where you should always look; within your Self!

I love you!

"i want to thank you for letting me be myself again" -Sly and the Family Stone

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Does the Course talk about the darkness in the world...

2010-07-15T11:42:00.000-07:00

Question: Dear Nick, Does the course talks about the darkness in the world, and how to handle it?

Answer: What the Course reminds us is that the darkness is never in the world but in our mind. That's why it says, "seek not to change the world but to change your mind about the world." When we remove the darkness from our mind, we will see the world differently, thought the eyes of love, and not fear.

So what we do is, instead of judging our experiences, we simply offer them to the Holy Spirit, or whatever you want to call it, to help us see things righteously. That is really all we are asked to do. And then trust that the work is being done, and the way we know the process is working is when we are no longer reacting to the world.

Remember that the world is duality so we will always see opposites, but our true nature is Oneness. And that will reveal itself in due time when our mind is healed from our false sense of separation.

So don't worry so much about the world, just keep offering your thoughts to Spirit, and you'll understand that I mean.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Why is The World An Attack on God?

2010-06-29T16:27:00.000-07:00

Question: One of the problems I have with the Course's metaphysics as contrasted with its psychology is the teaching that "the world was created as an attack on God" If that view is correct that would make the Course gnostic as seeing matter as evil or pure error.

Answer: The reason I am projecting this world is because I believe I can create a world separate from God. That is what the ego would make us believe. So words such as "an attack on God" is simply symbolic of my own ignorance. That's all. Ignorance because being one with God I have everything, instead I projected this world of duality where I experience lack and limitation. Even if I had a billion dollars, that is still limitation compared to the Kingdom where I have everything!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Why Is It That People Attack? And what NOT to do?

2010-06-29T10:04:00.000-07:00

The only reason people attack is NOT because they are bad, but because on a much deeper level they feel hurt (fear). When we feel hurt, the automatic response seems to be attack (blame) because we have forgotten that the seeming attacker is in our own mind.

Now, what is an attack? It is either a call for love, or an opportunity to extend love. How does it work? Simple! When someone "seems" to be attacking us, and we react, who is the one calling for love? WE are. We just projected our own guilt outward so that we can react and pretend that we have been done wrong. However, when someone "seems" to attack us, and we do not react, we are now in a position to extend our love. But who are we extending the love to? Ourselves! Because there is no one out there. It is all happening in our mind.

That's why A Course in Miracles is so uncompromising with its teaching. It rattles people's cages by reminding us:

"The secret of salvation is but this: that you are doing this unto yourself. 2 No matter what the form of the attack, this still is true. 3 Whoever takes the role of enemy and of attacker, still is this the truth. 4 Whatever seems to be the cause of any pain and suffering you feel, this is still true. 5 For you would not react at all to figures in a dream you knew that you were dreaming. 6 Let them be as hateful and as vicious as they may, they could have no effect on you unless you failed to recognize it is your dream." T-27.VIII.10:1-6

Now the ego, who's existence is threatened by our new level or understanding, tries to disguise itself as a spiritual teacher and says, "oh, that person is really attacking you, so you need to be compassionate." I know this sounds very spiritual and wonderful. But the issue is not the compassion, the issue here is that we believe that there is someone out there that needs our compassion, and in that sense, the separation is perpetuated. That does not mean we are going to be mean or ignore anyone's plea for help. It simply means that in EVERY decision that we make, we choose to put the Holy Spirit before us FIRST, to ensure that our act of kindness is coming from Truth and not guilt (fear). Otherwise the illusion will manipulate us emotionally and what appears to be kindness, it is really more guilt in disguise.

This is not an easy thing to do, specially when we are dealing with loved one, or if we are just very caring people who wants to give change to every beggar on the street. It takes practice to relinquish our thoughts to the Holy Spirit to ensure that our actions are motivated by love and not fear. Love does not perpetuate fear by judging the behavior of a loved one who seems to be hurting us, or by feeling sorry for the seeming homeless, it simply allows us to recognize the Truth in every situation, regardless of the form it may seem to take.

We are better of seen the Christ in a beggar while offering a smile than seeing them as destitute and offer them some money. In judging them as less than perfect, even if we gave them money we have already crucified them because we unconsciously agreed with the way they see themselves. "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." [Matthew 18:20]

In that same way, back to the "seeming" attacker, we are better of NOT resisting the behavior of others by attempting to defend ourselves, but by asking the Holy Spirit to enter into our mind while the seeming attack takes place. From that place we will know what to do, and we are now giving ourselves an opportunity to truly heal the attacker, maybe not in form, but in Truth, because the attacker is really in our own mind. Same with the beggar. It is all in our imagination.

"This is how all illusions came about. 7 The one who makes them does not see himself as making them, and their reality does not depend on him. 8 Whatever cause they have is something quite apart from him, and what he sees is separate from his mind. 9 He cannot doubt his dreams' reality, because he does not see the part he plays in making them and making them seem real." T-27.VII.7:1-6

Although we know it is all an illusion, we still do not have the power to transform them, however we do have the power to choose with Whom we want to see that illusion so that our mind can be transformed:

"When you have been caught in the world of perception you are caught in a dream. You cannot escape without help, because everything your senses show merely witnesses to the reality of the dream. God has provided the Answer, the only Way out, the true Helper. It is the function of His Voice, His Holy Spirit, to mediate between the two worlds. He can do this because, while on the one hand He knows the truth, on the other He also recognises our illusions, but without believing in them. It is the Holy Spirit's goal to help us escape from the dream world by teaching us how to reverse our thinking and unlearn our mistakes. Forgiveness is the Holy Spirit's great learning aid in bringing this thought reversal about. However, the Course has its own definition of what forgiveness really is just as it defines the world in its own way." Preface

Remember, no one is attacking anyone. It is all happening in our imagination!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

We Don't Have Free will? Not to Take Spirituality Seriously?

2010-06-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

Question: "I just watched your conference video at ft. lauderdale Florida, and I've noticed that you talked about not taking spirituality seriously, but just to instead laugh at it. You also talk abou how the choices that we've made up until this point in our lives, we couldn't do it any differently. What do you mean by this, don't we have a choice? Towards the end of this conference, you talked about us not really having free will. Growing up, I was always taught that free will was a gift, from our Creator. What's your take on this?"

Nick's thoughts: This is something that A Course in Miracles helped me understand. I could not figure out how come most of the choices I made did not leave me to where I wanted. And I did not understand how could it possibly be that things would fall apart in my life at times when I needed them the most. And the reason being was, this world is not of my Creators' for if that was the case, how come God that is love would create a world filled with hatred and anger, in other words, separation?

A Course helped me understand that the world I seem to be living in was my own projection so that I can make myself believe that I could create another world beside God's. In this world I projected, I also projected the script. In other words, if I could create the world I really want, there would be no reason for me to want to return to the Real world, also known as the Kingdom.

So in the divine scheme of things, not being able to have what we want in this world, sooner or later is going to lead us to questioning everything. In that questioning is where we begin to turn within and realize that if we keep choosing the ego as our guide, we will project a world of duality, which sooner or later is going to hurt us. But if we choose the Holy Spirit as our guide, in other words, the voice within us, we can then live a more peaceful life before we can experience the Kingdom, which is "not of this world."

That's why the Course then reminds me:

4 An imprisoned will engenders a situation which, in the extreme, becomes altogether intolerable. 5 Tolerance for pain may be high, but it is not without limit. 6 Eventually everyone begins to recognize, however dimly, that there must be a better way. 7 As this recognition becomes more firmly established, it becomes a turning point. 8 This ultimately reawakens spiritual vision, simultaneously weakening the investment in physical sight. 9 The alternating investment in the two levels of perception is usually experienced as conflict, which can become very acute. 10 But the outcome is as certain as God. T-2.III.3:4-10

So the choice is, do we want to suffer or do we want to be free? If we choose the ego, we will end up suffering no matter what. If we choose the Holy Spirit we will live a more peaceful life, AND, we get to eventually experience the Kingdom, which once again, "it is NOT of this world."

So really, if one choice leads to suffering and the other one to freedom, do we really have a choice? In the end, no. Because nobody wants to suffer. And sooner or later, we are all going to turn within. In regards to free will, A Course in Miracles reminds me:

"The acceptance of the Atonement (meaning our oneness with God) by everyone is only a matter of time. 2 This may appear to contradict free will because of the inevitability of the final decision, but this is not so. 3 You can temporize and you are capable of enormous procrastination, but you cannot depart entirely from your Creator, Who set the limits on your ability to miscreate." T-2.III.3:1-3

In other words, you can project, which seem as if you are making choices. However, if your choices lead you more and more to separation, there are limits to which you will not be able to continue projecting. And that is why we don't have the free will to make all the choices that we want. And sooner or later our frustrations will lead to let go and let God.

Finally, not taking spirituality seriously, is because who we are is pure joy! This world is hell! And the reason why we experience hell in this world is because we are looking at it, and believing in it. How can you take something serious that does not exist? Well, I will be very honest with you, that has, and still is, one of my biggest lessons. However, only practicing offering my thoughts to the Holy Spirit can assists me in seeing Truth instead of illusions. Once we learn to look at the world with vision, not eyesight, we can then laugh it all away!

"In gentle laughter does the Holy Spirit perceive the cause (the mind), and looks not to effects (the world that we see). 2 How else could He correct your error, who have overlooked the cause entirely? 3 He bids you bring each terrible effect to Him that you may look together on its foolish cause and laugh with Him a while. 4 You judge effects, but He has judged their cause. 5 And by His judgment are effects removed." T-27.VIII.9:1-5

Don't expect to make sense or intellectualize what you've just read. When you are ready to let go and let God, it will all make sense, not because you have found an answer but because you have had the direct experience.

"The ego will demand many answers that this course does not give. 2 It does not recognize as questions the mere form of a question to which an answer is impossible. 3 The ego may ask, "How did the impossible occur?", "To what did the impossible happen?", and may ask this in many forms. 4 Yet there is no answer; only an experience. 5 Seek only this, and do not let theology delay you." C-in.4:1-5

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

To Do Or Not To Do?

2010-06-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

Quesion: "I used to be very goal oriented and then I decided not to have any goals and let the Holy Spirit bring me what I needed. But I still was attached to my "wants" and have not been accomplishing anything... Any ways, I think I need to have some kind of a plan for my life now....finding balance in "doing" and "not doing"

Answer: There is nothing wrong with having goals, just make sure you write them in pencil. In other words, do not attach yourself to them. Now, when you are ready to completely let go, you stop becoming goal oriented and instead become internally driven.

A goal is my way of saying I know best. Internally driven is about Spirit using me. The thing is, when we let go and let God, the lesson is in trusting. Can I be okay without having to know where I am going? This is the opposite of what the world teaches.

Someone once said, "Most men's troubles comes from the inability to sit in a room by themselves alone."

> now....finding balance in "doing" and "not doing".

The doing becomes a natural expression of our being. When I am on purpose, I am always doing. Doing something that is in alignment with being of service. When I am on outcome (goal oriented), I am also doing. The difference is, I am doing to accomplish something that I think will make ME happy. It is always thinking about me.

The great paradox is that when I am on purpose, whatever it is I am doing, not only makes me TRULY happy, and fulfilled, but it always serve others as well.

I am very happy sharing this thoughts with you, and I don't do it for me, I just do it to serve you. Interestingly enough, I feel naturally happy in taking the time to share this with you, without any attachments. My attention is always on how can I server you.

From the ego's perspective serving you is sacrificing me. From the Spirit's perspective, serving you is serving me because we are One! It is a win win situation.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Beliefs Are Dangerous!

2010-06-20T10:30:00.001-07:00

"Belief is an ego function, and as long as your origin is open to believe at all, you are regarding it from an ego viewpoint." Urtex.T-4.III:28

The reason is because beliefs are dual. Truth simply is. Anything we believe has an opposite, therefore cannot be true. Many spiritual teachers and therapist attempt to change a belief for another, suggesting it will provide lasting positive changes. In truth, that cannot be because, although a seeming more pleasant change may take place, temporarily I may add, the nature of a world that is dual will bring about the opposite of that experience sooner or later.

The ego will project another illusion (belief) that will need correction, therefore we will spend the rest of our lives correcting one thing after another. Offering our thoughts to the Holy Spirit for reinterpretation will get us out of that roller-coaster of beliefs into the place of complete surrender and peace, accepting things just as they are, therefore no longer being at the effect of illusions (beliefs).

With time, the practice becomes easier, but at first it is very difficult because each belief accompany a physical emotion, and that emotion is what the ego employs in order to make us believe that who we are is a body. As we learn to surrender everything to the Holy Spirit, although at times the emotions may still be present, the healing takes place rather quickly.

Also there is no suffering at all. Not confusing suffering with pain, suffering has to do with resisting what is. However, when a mind is healed, there is no physical pain either for the body is neutral; it cannot feel anything. All the body does is, respond to the present state of the mind.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

To Identify With The Ego...

2010-06-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

"To identify with the ego is to attack yourself and make yourself poor. 2 That is why everyone who identifies with the ego feels deprived. 3 What he experiences then is depression or anger, because what he did was to exchange Self-love for self-hate, making him afraid of himself. 4 He does not realize this. 5 Even if he is fully aware of anxiety he does not perceive its source as his own ego identification, and he always tries to handle it by making some sort of insane "arrangement" with the world. 6 He always perceives this world as outside himself, for this is crucial to his adjustment. 7 He does not realize that he makes this world, for there is no world outside of him." T-12.III.6:1-7

When I see myself as a body in this world, I feel as if thought I am separate from everything, and only my physical senses serve as witness to what I "believe" to be true for me. As I continue practicing letting go and letting God, I notice how all of my needs are met, not necessarily so that I can continue satisfying my ego, but so that I can continue doing the work I am here to do, which is to share that which I have to learn for myself.

The more I detach, the more peaceful I feel. It is a constant practice that seems to get easier and easier. And every projection allows me to only see where I still need to heal. Or I should say, where I think I need to heal because the Son of God is already perfect, whole and complete.

This is a personal journey. I enjoy sharing what I experience, always reminding myself that I need not to change anything or anyone, nor try to recruit. Those who resonate with what I have to share are led by their own inner voice to connect with me.

That being said, I always remind everyone I meet that I do not have any answers. My book does not have any answers. That the answers are found within. I am just a reminder that all answers are found within. In doing so, I remind myself that all answers are found within me.

Besides, why would I bother trying to teach others when the world is really inside me! That would be an oxymoron. LOL

Bottom line, I love you all, and remember that everything you think it is missing in your life is because you are trying to make some kind of " some sort of insane 'arrangement' with the world." T-12.III.6:5

Turn within, and you'll know what to do. But it takes practice.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Stop ANAL-yzing the Course!

2010-04-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

I was asked the following question:

"In ACIM, I'm having some trouble wrapping my brain around the physical aspect of creation. What is he meaning when he is saying our creations, and is he saying I am creating the beautiful and the good of all things with my mind that God created, and the bad and the ugly (meaning my judgments of things) of all things with my ego that I created? The hardest thing for me to grasp is the dream and that my children don't really exist. Some clarity on these questions will be very helpful."

What I felt guided to respond was:

Thanks for the question, and first let's look at the language. But before doing so, I would like to offer the following. One of the biggest pitfalls with students, AND teachers of the Course is that they spend too much time trying to understand everything the course is saying, then taking it literally, not to mention that if they do not understand what the Course is really about, they end up just confusing themselves.

So, let's look at language and your question.

> In ACIM, I'm having some trouble wrapping
> my brain around the physical aspect of creation.

We do not create on earth, we "project." Creation takes place only in Heaven; our Real home. God creates, and we have the power to create for we are created in the image and likeness of God. But again, what we create is infinite. Here on earth (our illusion) everything that we "project" is temporary.

This is the basic concept of A Course in Miracles. We are having an illusion, let's call it a dream. In the dream we believe that we are human beings operating by the laws of our physical universe. That is all a "projection." None of it is real. Even quantum physics tells us that. What the course is aiming at, is to get us to stop putting our attention on illusions (the world) so that the Holy Spirit can undo the unconscious guilt that is projecting the world that we see in the first place.

A great movie to watch, that sort of illustrates that metaphor is The Wizard of Oz. While in the land of Oz, Dorothy experienced fun times, but also scary times. She experienced happiness and sadness, also known as duality. She thought that everything that was happening to her was real, then at the end, when the wizard asked her to tap her shoes and to say that there is no place like home, which would be the equivalent of saying, turn within, by quieting the noise in her head, she was able to hear the subtle voice of her friends asking her to wake up. Everything she was experiencing was just a dream. Same here, we are experiencing a dream, but like Dorothy, we believe it is real.

So don't put too much attention on what it is meant by God creating, or me creating the good the bad, etc. All that is going to do is keep you in your head, which is exactly what the ego wants. I often say to students when I am invited to speak to close the book and forget about it because I am not interested in teaching the Course, I am interesting in helping them apply what the course teaches to every area of their lives. It is really that simple. At least that is what I do for myself.

I'm going to take a look at the last part of your question:

> The hardest thing for me to grasp is the dream and that my children
> don't really exist. Some clarity on these questions will be very helpful.

And that is impossible to grasp with your mind. But if you keep surrendering your thoughts to the Holy Spirit, you'll be able to release much of those thoughts, and clarity will begin to permeate your mind. I love this line from the Course: "If you are willing to renounce the role of guardian of your thought system and open it to me, I will correct it very gently and lead you back to God." T-4.I.4:7

I could elaborate more but what I feel guided to say to you is, don't get too caught up in trying to intellectualize every word the course is saying. That is not going to help you. Just practice your forgiveness process and you'll do fine. Practice the lessons in the workbook without trying to make sense out of them. Just do one at a time, one a day, like the course suggest and take it from there.

For now, keep loving your kids like you have done up to this point. Keep doing whatever it is you are doing, keep showing up to your job or career, etc., and as you keep surrendering your thoughts to the Holy Spirit you'll be led as to what steps to take and you'll start seeing your world differently. That's all. And while everyone around you is freaking out about the world, you'll look at the same things they are looking at except that with a gentle smile on your face, because you know that none of it is real. That's the reason for the smile in the Buddha's face. ;o)

Remember, be gentle with yourself. Patience and trust!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Excerpt from Nick's New Book in Progress

2010-03-03T13:16:00.000-08:00

Chapter Title: 9 – 12 – 63

March 3, 2010

You probably wonder what the title of this chapter means. Well, interestingly enough, it is close to my birthday, which is September (9), 15 (12+3) 1963 (63). Actually is the amount of money I have in my bank accounts. My business account has 9 cents, my Paypal account has 12 cents and my personal checking account has 63 cents. And I am not employed, by the world, of course, I am always employed by God. Talk about being broke!

Interestingly enough, as I went to the park this morning and did my meditation, then my jogging simply allowing things be just as they are, I had an insight. While I was walking the ego started to judge my present circumstances; always trying to make up stories about it such as, “you are worthless, or you are broke, or you should do something about this, and blah, blah, blah.” Always trying to instigate fear in me so that I can pull my attention away from peace (within) and out into the world (without).

As I contemplated those thoughts, I felt moved to ask the Holy Spirit to simply help me see the truth. I was not asking for change for that would be acknowledging the illusions, but rather to help me see my experience with the Holy Spirit’s eyes as opposed to the ego’s perspective. Because somewhere deep within I know I am one with God and that I have it all, even though at that moment it was not my experience.

Then this wonderful insight came through me, it was as if a softly voice said; “Choose peace and patience, choose peace and patience, and you’ll see what happens.” In that moment I felt very tranquil and realized that I did not have to let my bank account be the factor that determines my freedom. In that moment I realized, I AM FREE! There I was, at a wonderful park, doing what I would have been doing, even if there was money in the accounts. Meanwhile there are so many people who have everything they think they want, and still do not feel free. They think that as long as their accounts are full, THEN, they can feel free, and of course, that is never the case because their lives are driven by fear. They have to protect their “gods” i.e. bank accounts, otherwise they would feel insecure. And to make sure their “gods” are safe so they can feel “protected” they have to show up to jobs many of them don’t like, or do whatever they think they need to do to make sure that their source and supply, which in their case is their jobs (gods) being there to provide them with what they need.

Me, since I gave up my life to God, have always received what I needed and even more. And every experience was simply an opportunity for me to grow in faith, and not in illusions. Besides, if I am teaching this stuff, I better live it. I couldn't care less about what my accounts look like. If I want to go to the park and meditate, I do so, and if I need to show up somewhere where money is required, it always shows up in the perfect amount to support me on my journey. And yes, I am not going to deny that my book What Happens When You Let God is getting more attention than the one I had expected, and it is opening doors for me to speak across the globe, but the point is, it all happened because of my willingness to give my life to God, even at the expense of losing it all. And you know something? If I lose it all in physical form, but gain the peace that passes understanding, that’s what the ultimate goal is.

Because if I can develop peace and patience, I need nothing else! As for the rest of the people, let them keep their jobs (gods) while time is ticking away, when they could actually be doing something they truly love. But for that to happen they have to trust more in what they don’t see rather than what they see.

That’s what faith is all about!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Step 3 Is All You Need (AA)

2010-03-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

If people truly understood what step three from alcoholic anonymous entail, and truly practice it, that's the only thing needed to transform their lives. That step states:

Step 3: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

The challenge with that sentence is the line "...as we understand Him."

The reason being is, if I understand God as a dictator, or a vengeful God, my surrender to "him" will be limited to my idea of what God is. If this idea is fearful, my surrendering would fit within the constrains of my religious practice.

But if I understand that I don't know anything about what God is, but I am willing to surrender my personal will to That, which I don't know anything about, just like a child who instead of thinking that he/she knows something, understand that he/she knows nothing, then I am more open to truly experience an inner transformation without the limiting beliefs and ideas I carry within from anything I have been taught by others, and even myself.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

No Worldly Path Will Lead To Freedom!

2010-03-01T07:35:00.000-08:00

"No pathway in the world can lead to Him, nor any worldly goal be one with His. What road in all the world will lead within, when every road was made to separate the journey from the purpose it must have unless it be but futile wandering? All roads that lead away from what you are will lead you to confusion and despair." T-31.IV.9:3-5

How simple. All that is asked of us is to turn within, and that's it! Illusions will never lead us to truth, only to more illusions who claim to know about "truth."

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Am I Doing The Course Right?

2010-02-21T07:50:00.000-08:00

A friend wrote to Nick: "I had another rough night. I feel like things are still being stripped away and I'm not handling it well."

Nick's comment: I don't think you are giving yourself enough credit. I would say you are handling it very well. It is just that at some unconscious level there is still attachment and you are being placed in a positions to surrender it. And really, there is nothing you need to do except to continue offering your experience to the Holy Spirit, and staying with the feelings.

So really, your ego is being undone faster than you think and at a much deeper level you are simply ready for it. So just hang in there, continue to offer your thoughts and feelings to the Holy Spirit, and do whatever you feel moved to do. Just know that what you are experiencing is simply the ego throwing a tantrum attempting to get your attention.

Remember, to the best of your abilities, keep your attention on Truth and not illusions. The Holy Spirit is very happy to remove your illusions from you if you are willing to release them to It. And our unconscious resistance is really what we are dealing with, not the Holy Spirit's willingness to lift the burden of our thoughts.

You are doing fantastic, just continue observing what is without resisting it. And in that place, the suffering stops. Even if for few seconds, that peace is prove of the fact that being with the experience is far more beneficial than trying to fix it, judge it, or wishing it a way for that would simply plant it there more firmly. Also in that moment of peace you will realize that you are not at the effect of anything. Once again, it is not a matter of knowledge or better understanding, it is only a matter of practice!

Just a word of caution, this is the danger in having Course in Miracles' teachers who have not done the work giving advice. They would probably try to tell you what you should do in order to fix whatever illusion you may be experiencing because your experience would probably trigger fears in them, and they simply reflect them back at you.

One thing I know for sure is, you are actually doing the work. And I know that if you feel moved to teach the Course, you are one of these lights who said yes to Spirit, and you will be used as a vehicle for transformation. So keep up the good work! You are doing fantastic!!!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

2012, UFOs and Conspiracy Theories

2010-02-19T07:59:00.000-08:00

Question: "What is your take on 2012, UFOs and conspiracy theories, especially according to A Course in Miracles?"

Nick's comment: All conspiracy theories, 2012, etc., they all fall within the "dream." And since EVERYTHING is my projection anyway, including the galaxies and UFO and everything in between and beyond that I can possibly imagine, I will find ALL the evidence that will support my projections no matter what. Or I should say, I will "project" all the evidence that I need to support my projection, whatever that projection may be.

What the Course is asking me is to let go of all my thoughts and ideas about everything, and hand them over to the Holy Spirit.

"Simply do this: Be still, and lay aside all thoughts of what you are and what God is; all concepts you have learned about the world; all images you hold about yourself. 2 Empty your mind of everything it thinks is either true or false, or good or bad, of every thought it judges worthy, and all the ideas of which it is ashamed. 3 Hold onto nothing. 4 Do not bring with you one thought the past has taught, nor one belief you ever learned before from anything. 5 Forget this world, forget this course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God." W-pI.189.7:1-5

And as far as living in this world of illusion, I still can engage in conversations and act "normal" on the outside, while on the inside I see everything for what it is, just a projection; a dream.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Self Responsibility VS Self Blame

2010-02-15T09:39:00.000-08:00

Question: "I've heard this concept in the self-help and law of attraction community. That I am responsible for everything I create in my reality. This, depending on people's life situation, can be inspiring or negative. That both the positive and negative experiences are both my fault and that I need to change my thoughts in order for the outside world to change. That's how you take back control over your life. Is self-responsibility the same thing as self-blame?"

Nick's comment: Let's brake it down because there is truth in that statement, however, the last part of it you have to be aware of. So let's see:

> I've heard this concept in the self-help and law
> of attraction community. That I am responsible
> for everything I create in my reality.

Yes, you are fully responsible for everything you see happening in your life. However, we are not talking about "creating" we are talking about "projecting." There is a subtle difference. We, as extensions of God do have the power to create, but creation happens only in Truth, in the Kingdom, our Real home. Here on this seeming earth, what we do is, we project illusions. And all these illusions are based on ego. Because this world is not our home.

> This, depending on people's life situation, can be inspiring or negative.
> That both the positive and negative experiences are both my fault
> and that I need to change my thoughts in order for the outside world to change.

Everything we project, whether we call it positive or negative, it is still a projection, therefore if we project something we may label as positive, rest assure that the opposite of that will show up at some point because that is the nature of projections. The flaw in the law of attraction and self help movement is that they focus on having us changing our thought so that we can change our reality. What A Course in Miracles reminds me is to not try to change my thoughts per se, but to simply offer them to the Holy Spirit. In that sense, it could be said that our thought will be changed. The difference is, when we offer our thought system to the Holy Sprit, by looking at life through It's perception, we wont be affected by our circumstances, which is really the ultimate goal. Otherwise we will go through life at the effect of everything that happens out in the world, therefore having to keep changing our thought over and over and over again. That is a very exhausting task, that will give us temporary pleasure at times, but that will never lasting peace.

> That's how you take back control over your life.

That's the illusion, that you can take control of your life, when in reality, all you will do is opening another can or worms inside the one you are already in. Instead of trying to take control of our lives, all we need to do is surrender our lives to Spirit. Then we experience peace, true happiness, joy, and fulfillment.

And finally!

> Is self-responsibility the same thing as self-blame?

This is an ego trap. There is no such a thing as self-blame because in the eyes of God you are always innocent. Just let go and let God, trust that everything is happening in divine order, and your life will continue to transform as you offer your thoughts and concerns to the Holy Spirit. So the only responsibility worth taking, is to offer our thoughts to the Holy Spirit, and that's it!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Nick Arandes on Love & Relationships

2010-02-14T11:02:00.000-08:00

After reading Nick Arandes' book and listen to him talk at a previous engagement, psychotherapist and college professor Patty Oneal, Ph.D., asked him if he would be willing to talk to her students at California State University. Here are 7 minutes of Nick's one hour talk on Love & Relationships.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmhinbd3LqE

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Should I Eat Healthy Foods? NO!

2010-02-06T23:24:00.000-08:00

Question: "I noticed that you said that you eat very healthy and follow a healthy life. I understand that what you are saying is that you are shown to eat those food. I do understand to follow Holy Spirit's guidance on everything. However, here is my question: Since nothing is real and nothing can hurts us, why eat certain things instead of others? If it is a Holy Spirit's guidance then I am not questionning it but why make a difference between the food? I am sorry I am just a bit stuck on this."

Nick Arandes' Comment: I don't really pay attention to what I eat the way I used to with guilt in my mind. During my self-help movement days I used to believe in all that stuff about eating healthy foods, taking supplements, etc. The only thing I learned from that experience is that it cost a lot of money, and that's it!

That being said, I do have to say that as I continue feeling guided by the Holy Spirit, I am moved to eat foods that may fall into what would be considered a healthy category, not because they are any different than others, but because that is what I am naturally moved to do.

I just don't let guilt or judgment stop me from eating something I desire. For example. I start my mornings with fruit smoothies, and lighter stuff. I do enjoy working out, specially jogging just because I enjoy it. Two days ago, however, I was really hungry and I felt like stopping at a Burger King. My body was truly asking for it. So I had two whoppers and I enjoy them!!! I don't feel like eating like that all the time by the way. The bottom line is, eat whatever you feel guided to eat, and as long as you are doing it without guilt or impulse, just enjoy it!

I do have some raw food videos on my site, which used to be called RadicalHealthTips.com dated backed to early 2007 when I was into all that kind of stuff. My Course in Miracles' days started around November of that same year. One thing about me is that I am fully open about my journey. I am like an open book. So yes, your question is very valid, and it may sound like a contradiction if you are looking at my old work back when I used to teach about manifesting your dreams and all that kind of success stuff or how to get what you want crap.

Bottom line is, eat, drink and be merry while offering everything to the Holy Spirit.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Comment About Sex & A Course in Miracles

2010-01-31T22:42:00.000-08:00

Hi Nick, I just wanted to share a report. I realized today that I have no idea how The Course views sex. All I know is that its always created a huge mess in my life and is a big part of my current problems. So, I got to go into my guilt mode today and worked a lot on forgiveness! I decided to do some research and I found an article that spoke of how sex actually creates separation and often anger because of the "false union". I feel so much clearer on what I have been projecting. I understand more how quickly things went downhill in my marriage as well. So much more to learn.....

Nick's comment: I also address sex in my book What Happens When You Let God. Remember, sex is just a function of the body. It is not spiritual, like anything of this world. If you have it fine, if you don't fine too.

Through offering everything to Spirit, as you transform so is your sexual desires. That does not mean you wont have it or that you won't enjoy it, but that you wont be needy or attached to it. You see it for what it is, just a thing bodies do.

Remember, you are not here to try to control your desires, you simply offer them to the Holy Spirit for transformation. Then there is no need to control anything. Sex simply becomes more like a preference. And if the time comes when it is no longer needed, that would be a natural transformative process for you where you feel you are not really giving up anything. No sacrifice, nor you feel deprive. Again, just keep doing your forgiveness process to whatever it is that is coming up, and let the Holy Spirit handle the details for you. It is that simple!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

A dear friend made a comment:

2010-01-28T22:47:00.000-08:00

"Nick, there have been times when I've thought that if you got a job, a roommate, and such, you'd have a lot less stress in your life an could focus on your creativity."

Nick: I truly understand where you are coming from. What I have experienced is having the pieces of the illusion into place had nothing to do with managing stress, it is actually allowing things to be just as they are. In the non resistance there is peace. Because illusions are going to change no matter what, and that is exactly what the ego wants, to keep my attention on illusions.

And truthfully, I am not even stressed at all. Again, all because of my willingness to accept things as they are. And I have everything that I need to continue on with my creativity. Nothing has stopped me in any form. Actually I am even more creative.

Yes, there is a transition process, but once I got used to putting my life in the hands of God, and seeing how I am always fully provided and taken care of, no illusions will stop me from doing what I feel most guided to do. Not too many people will understand it. But that's okay, I know that I have people like you who understand, even when at times even you may think I am insane. And maybe I am! lol

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Do You Ever Get Triggered Nick?

2010-01-21T18:52:00.000-08:00

Question: "My issue at times is that they are not on this path with me. I see more and more how the ego operates in them and how it triggers the ego in me. I get so hurt sometimes. At times it feels the more I give my pure love, the more I open myself up to this incredible sadness. My question to you is, are at a point Nick where you love and don't get triggered or disappointed by others, especially those that aren't on this path?

Nick's Answer: I still do get triggered, and when I do, I simply use that opportunity to practice forgiveness. Now, to the second part of that question:

I have to remind myself that the ego, which turns everything into a special relationship, is the one needing people on the same path, to make believe we are growing, to feel we are both safe. But in reality, this being a personal, individual path, the lesson is always for me. It is to practice being loving and accept everyone, regardless of the path they have chosen. If for some reason there is no need for both people to be together, the Holy Spirit will orchestrate the necessary events for that change to take place. And if you are advanced enough, you wont feel any hurt or sadness. You would release the experience trusting the divine perfection of it all.

That can only be experienced through detachment. So in essence, what the forgiveness process allows us to do on a much deeper level, is to detach from all illusions without being affected by them. Only then are we truly ready to remember who we are, for there is nothing else we would want to draw our attention to.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

So forgivness is not a feeling I have to feel, right?

2010-01-20T12:35:00.000-08:00

Question: "I have worked with the ACIM for some years now, and I love it. So forgivness is not a feeling I have to feel, right? I made it myself, it is not real, so I let it go? How do I forgive my mind?"

Nick's answer:
> So forgiveness is not a feeling I have to feel, right?

Not at all, it is just a process. A willingness. That's all you need to know. You could be practicing your forgiveness process, even if you are still feeling angry or disturbed because the process of undoing the ego is not something we do, it is done through us. As you continue practicing it, the time comes when that very experience which used to trigger anger or disturbance in you no longer has any effect on you. That's what is referred to as the peace that passes understanding. It is really very simple. Not always easy, but the process is simple, and in due time you notice how it is working for you.

> I made it myself,it is not real, so I let it go?

Yes, but that is the intellectual understanding, not your experience. So you willingness is all that matters. And then you trust that the process is working, even when at times, it does not feel that way. I've been there, lol!

> How do i forgive my mind

Undoing is not your task. So just let that go. However you have to welcome it. Welcoming means, you are willing to surrender your thoughts to the Holy Spirit, He is the one in charge of the undoing. "Undoing is not your task, but it is
up to you to welcome it or not." T-21.II8:5

And here is A Course in Miracles summarized:

"When your peace is threatened or disturbed in any way, say to yourself,

I do not know what anything, including this, means. And so I do not know how to respond to it. And I will not use my own past learning as the light to guide me now." T-14.XI.6:6-9

That's all you need to do. A Course in Miracles is VERY SIMPLE! Don't get too caught up in the words because all the Course is doing is looking at the ego from all different angles so that our stubborn mind can finally be willing to release its attachments of illusions.

So if you are okay with not having to know, your awakening process radically accelerates because of your willingness to trust in the Holy Spirit, your True Self. That's all that there is to know. Or you can spend years and years studying it as many people do and continue keeping the guilt inside FOREVER!!!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

A Miracle Does Nothing...

2010-01-20T08:18:00.000-08:00

"The miracle does nothing. All it does is undo." T-28.I.1:1-2

Many people, including Course students, and even teachers think that miracles are about exchanging illusions. In other words, if they have an experience they judge as bad, for them, a miracle would be that the experience or circumstances would change for a "good" one. Yet, according to the Course, all that a miracle does is remove all illusions from our mind so that we can experience the Truth of who we really are. Replacing one illusion, i.e. bad circumstance, for another illusion, i.e good circumstance simply keeps the illusion in place, and in that sense delaying us from having the direct experience of our oneness with God.

We do not ask for a miracle, we simply surrender our thoughts to the Holy Spirit to undo our ego, and in due time, we will experience a miracle, also known as correction of thought. That's how simple the process is. All we need remember is that, as the Course states: "I need do nothing." T-18.VII

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

What Is The Meaning of Life?

2010-01-05T20:35:00.000-08:00

Question:"What is the real meaning of life? Is it what our higher selves decide? Or is it our purpose what we decide it to be?"

Nick's Answer: My answer would be, I don't know. All I know is that as I continue to surrender my thoughts, ideas, opinions, beliefs, concept, and everything else in between to Spirt; God; whatever name suits you best, I experience more peace, and find myself doing what I feel more guided to do.

I feel is if though my life has a sense of purpose, most importantly, I develop faith and trust in knowing that my needs are met by a Power greater than my small self. That's how I experience true freedom. However, this is something than cannot be understood, it has to be experienced.

The faith in knowing that God is taken care of it all happens when we are willing to give up our own individual agendas and offer them to the One that not only can see the whole picture, but that it is always looking for our best interest and the best interest of all concern.

All I can say is, life is really very simple. We have made it so complicated. But we can go back to the simplicity of life by simply being willing to let go and let God!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

All Prophecies Are Lies

2010-01-05T19:07:00.000-08:00

Question: "I've been doing research for months about many events concerning 2012, such as major global disasters, NWO, planet x, the ascension process, and etc. There have been many predictions made by well known people such as the Mayans with there calendar date ending. What is going to happen in 2012? Will it be the end of the world? How come there are so many prophecies made on earth in which many don't come true?"

Nick's Answer: Honestly, I don't get so caught up in prophecies. I just live day by day continuing to trust my inner guidance for that is the only thing I can do. If reading about prophecies and the like brings worry or discomfort, it is not worthy looking into it.

I may do it for entertainment purposes but that would be it. Now the easy answer to your question is that everything is an illusion, but you probably would need a bit more of a foundation to accept it. That is what A Course in Miracles helped me understand. And my book What Happens When You Let God cover every one of those questions and more for the answer to all is the same!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

What Are Demons?

2010-01-03T05:24:00.000-08:00

Someone asked me the following question, "I have a question that I have been trying to find an answer to: to you, what are demons? I mean do they really exist or are they some spirit beings who have agreed to give you that experience??? I have come across this weird theory of the devil not really being bad but an angel who is authorized by god to provide you with this sort of experience...I have difficulties relating to that..."

Here is my answer:

Okay, there is only One Power, One Presence, and that is God. That's why it is said that God Is. And there is nothing else. There is no such thing as a power opposite to God because then God would be a contradiction. God is love, and that's all there is. Everything else is an illusion. If we are created in the image and likeness of God, then there is nothing that can be against us. However, we can pretend that we are not one with God and experience all sorts of what could be labeled unexplainable experiences.

Spirit uses whatever vehicle we need to get us to God. But we are not at the mercy of any evil Spirits or Devils. And the theory of a devil being an angel who is authorized by god, can you imagine your loving Creator authorizing something to scare you? That's not a God that is a barbarian!

All I can say is, I don't have any answers but one thing I know for sure is that God loves me unconditionally and God would never send me any kind of evil or suffering. That's how I feel about the devil business and everything else in between. Hope this might have helped. My book, What Happens When You Let God go into full detail about our experience here, which is based on the teachings of A Course in Miracles, which is only one Path out of many.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Perception is not an attribute of God

2009-12-29T09:48:00.000-08:00

"Perception is not an attribute of God. His is the realm of knowledge. Yet, He has created the Holy Spirit as the mediator between perception and knowledge. Without this link with God, perception would have replaced knowledge forever in our mind." W-43.pI.1:1-4

What is perception? Perception is the way we see the world. Knowledge is the Truth of who we really are. In this world of form, (perception) we may find ourselves experiencing lack, limitation, fear, pain, and so on. In Truth, however, we are already perfect, whole, and complete; eternally joyous lacking nothing. So what is it that stop us from remembering the truth of who we are? Our perceptions. Our ideas, concepts, beliefs we have about ourselves.

By turning within and connecting with the part of ourselves that remembers who we really are, (mediator, a.k.a. Holy Spirit, or whatever name we feel comfortable with) the memory of God within us is restored and we have immediate access to knowledge.

What is that knowledge feels like or look like? That cannot be explained or comprehended intellectually. That is an experience that will reveal itself when we are willing to surrender our perceptions to Spirit. So this year, beginning today, let’s surrender everything to God so what we can have the direct experience of who we really are. All that is required from us is our willingness to be still and know that we are God!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Dangers of Studying A Course in Miracles

2009-12-14T15:41:00.000-08:00

I received the following question from a previous post:

> WHAT?! I don't understand this... The entire Course states
> we aren't separate, yet this statement that God "created
> beings" - separate? "who have everything individually"? We
> have everything "individually"? What am I missing here?
> Help!

This is what A Course was stating:

> "God, who encompasses all being, nevertheless created beings who have
> everything individually but who want to share it to increase their joy.
> Nothing that is real can be increased except by sharing. That's why
> God Himself created you. Divine abstraction takes joy in application,
> and that is what creation means. `How,' `what,' and
> `to whom' are irrelevant because real creation gives everything
> since it can create only like itself." -A Course in Miracles
> (Original Version)

This is the way I responded to the question:

Here is where language gets gets confusion. All that there is is God. In other words "God Is". God did not create anything apart from Itself. There is no such thing. My experience would suggest that I am separate from something but in reality, that is just my unconscious projection that see a world filled with billions and trillions of separate images.

If God would have created beings that are separate, then A Course in Miracles would be contradicting itself. This is the danger of studying A Course in Miracles and trying to ANAL-ize it, because then it allows for the ego to dissect and try to figure out what every word means, etc. That's how the ego manages to keep our attention on illusions, such as A Course in Miracles' text. See the trap? ! ;-)

Remember, the point is, God cannot give something outside of Himself, he can only extend. This is difficult to grasp, or I should say, to intellectually understand. How can I extend myself and give to myself when I see "others" separate from me?

All I can tell you is, I don't have to know the answers to any questions, as a matter of fact, I am not even interested in the answers to every question, all I know is that I don't know, and that I constantly surrender my thoughts to the Holy Spirit for reinterpretation.

Also a lot of times, people try to apply the concept of giving and receiving to form. As if though the more they give to others the more they get back, which comes from manipulative and scarcity consciousness. I know intellectually that when I give I am giving to myself because there is only one of us in the room. However, my experience suggest that what I give away I no longer have. So what I do is, I just give if I feel like and don't if I don't. I just don't make an issue out of it.

My daily practice is to continue offering my thoughts and decisions to the Holy Spirit as I continue on my journey trusting that everything is unfolding perfectly as it will, and that's it. So I would not get too bug down with what anything means on A Course in Miracles because if you do, you'll end up like most people do, teaching it.

"It emphasizes application rather than theory, and experience rather than theology. It specifically states that "a universal theology is impossible, but a universal experience is not only possible but necessary." ACIM (C-in.2:5)

"Without the practical application the Workbook provides, the Text would remain largely a series of abstractions which would hardly suffice to bring about the thought reversal at which the Course aims." ACIM

So the questions is, do you want to experience your oneness with God or do you want to figure out intellectually what everything means? Because that will keep you from having the experience the Course aims at.

"...forget this course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God." W-pI.189.7:7

As for me, I am not interested in the words, I am interested in the experience. And in order for me to open up to that experience all I need to remember is that I do not know. And be happy and okay with that. Who is the giver? Who is the receiver? Who am I giving to? Who am I receiving from? All of these questions have something in common, they are all meaningless!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Bringing Illusions to Truth

2009-12-10T15:09:00.000-08:00

"When you try to bring truth to illusions, you are trying to make illusions real, and keep illusions by justifying your belief in the illusions. But to give illusions to truth is to enable truth to teach that the illusions are unreal, and thus enable you to escape from the illusions." T-17.I.5:4-5

That is a very powerful excerpt from the Course. In the world of form where we seem to live in, we have all sorts of experiences; some could be labeled as good, others bad, and the rest fall somewhere in between. However, these are just judgments we have made about the world that we perceive with our physical senses. According to the Course, the world we see is an outward representation of an inward condition. And what is that inward condition? It is nothing but our idea, or I should say our belief that we are separate from our Source; from Spirit; from God.

So what most of us are taught to do is, we look at the world of form, (illusion), we believe in what we see, and we hope that God somehow make our world look better. So we pray, we do mantras, we try all sorts of techniques to change our experience until we come to the painful realization that most of the time our efforts go unheard. The reason being is, God is not interested in having us continue to perpetuate our illusions, God wants us to remember that we are perfect, whole and complete, lacking nothing, that we are divine extensions of Spirit, God, whatever you want to call it. That is our Truth!

Why in the world God would want to answer a prayer that has nothing to do with who we truly are? If I am in the kingdom, meaning, that is my truth where I have EVERYTHING, and here I am experiencing scarcity and pain, why would God would want to give me what I want in form, when in Truth I have it all? And in the mind of God, which is all that there is anyway, God is asking us to give up our attachments to a world we have made up in order for us to come to that recognition.

So instead of looking at our world of illusion and trying to shine truth to it by telling God our plans and giving him a list of requests, which only perpetuates our belief in illusions, all we need to do is to bring our illusions to Spirit so that It can help us see them for what they are. That's how we bring illusions to truth. And we don't have to work hard at this, all we need to do is have the willingness to say, God, I don't know what anything means, or what this is for. With our willingness to recognize that we know nothing, the Holy Spirit can then transform our experience(s). And regardless of what happens after that, at least, as a result of our transformation we get to experience peace.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Can You Handle This True Story?

2009-11-28T18:44:00.000-08:00

Before sharing my true story I would like to say that the fear of loss is what causes pain and suffering. Notice I did not say that loss is what causes pain and suffering but the fear itself. And the fear is not something that we have to go through in order to experience happiness and peace, is what we are hanging on to that does not allows us to experience happiness and peace, which is who we are. Or in one word, Love, is who we are. And Love encompasses everything, happiness, joy, fulfillment, peace, etc. Just like fear encompasses all that is not love, such as anger, judgment, resentment, sadness, etc.

I would like to share a personal story for I believe that studying the Course and trying to understand it or dissect it is not going to do us any good. It is nice preparation, but the experience does not come as a result of our intellectual understanding of the course but as a result of practicing it.

As of this moment, all of my basics needs have been met, and I mean food, shelter, and whatever money I need to continue on with my path. However, my shelter has come from people who mysteriously have shown up in my life, my bank accounts are in the negative, some of my bills are late, I have applied for work and nothing has come through, it is as if thought I have found myself caught between a rock and a hard place.

From the ego's perspective, it could be said that I am dealing with lots of challenges, however, from the Holy Spirit's perspective, everything that I seem to see are nothing but illusions. Actually it is the same illusion appearing as different ones. The one illusion is my believe in separation while the many illusions are the ego's idea projecting out different forms of the same belief in separation. That's why A Course in Miracles reminds me:

"It is not difficult to understand the reasons why you do not ask the Holy Spirit to solve all problems for you. 2 He has not greater difficulty in resolving some than others. 3 Every problem is the same to Him, because each one is solved in just the same respect and through the same approach." T-26.II.1-7

Let's make a stop right here. What is the difference between a health challenge or a small bank account, or an unpaid bill, or a relationship breakup, or a bankruptcy, etc. See the point? In the world of form it may seem as if though there are many problems and each one has to be solved separately. But the truth is, the root of all these seeming problems is my belief in separation. And the way to solve that ONE single seeming problem is through forgiveness, or you could say, through offering our thoughts to the Holy Spirit for interpretation. That's how SIMPLE A Course in Miracles is. I did not say easy to practice. I said simple for what is required from us, which is to do NOTHING! Meaning, we are not here to solve problems, we are here to let the Holy Spirit guide us. And in many cases we do not even have to do anything physical, just to be willing to look at the illusion without judging it, and it solve itself out. I've seen it happening for me. The key is when I am doing something in order to solve a seeming problem, am I coming from fear or peace. That's the distinction. And it takes practice, but it does get easier.

So going back to my story, or I should say, my illusion. I simply look at the world as if the ego is throwing a temper tantrum at me, asking for my attention. I practice, notice I said "practice", observing my experience while detaching myself completely from it. The result? I feel very peaceful and serene. And if the bank account closes, so be it. If the creditors want to call me I politely say to them that I can't pay. And if I end up sleeping in my car, I call it a luxurious camping experience. And by the way, so far none of those things have happened.

Now, let's get to the practicality of this. Do I sound irresponsible? In the eyes of many you could say yes, but those who have embarked on this journey understand what is really going on, which is this. Worrying, and trying to fix, and struggle to change my circumstances, not only fuels the illusion but it cuts off my connection with Spirit. And still many people have tried to do just that, and all they ended up with was worsening their situation. Others have managed to solve their seeming challenge, temporarily I may add, just to be confronted with another, and then another, and so on. Why? Because the ego's mantra is "Seek and do not find." So it is a never ending battle.

However, from a place of peace regardless of my circumstances, I am more likely to be inspired to take a particular action that could be the answer to all of these seeming challenges. For example, while being blessed by having places to stay and having all my needs met, I have been writing the follow up to my first book. This one is an actual record of these very experiences I am having while applying the principles of A Course in Miracles to my life. Will I apply for work? I have applications out there but I have no control as to what will happen with them. I have been invited to speak at events, and when they come along I get to do what I love and get paid.

What I am saying is, I am not grasping for air. I still do what bodies do, I am just not letting my illusion determine what to do or not to do. And that takes courage because when you are asked to be still, and your heart says make a left turn while the rest of the world says you should make a right turn, it could be a bit scary. From my experience I say everything is going to be fine! So far it has been. Aside from some bumps on the road just remember that if in doubt, listen to Bob Marley:

Don't worry 'bout a thing.
cause every little thing
is gonna be alright!

What will happen with the book I am writing, I don't know. I am not attached to it. I simply take every day and upon waking ask the Holy Spirit the same question:

"What would You have me do?
Where would You have me go?
What would You have me say, and to whom?

Give Him full charge of the rest of the practice period, and let Him tell you what needs to be done by you in His plan for your salvation. He will answer in proportion to your willingness to hear His Voice. Refuse not to hear." W-71.pI.9

Here is the key line, "He will answer in proportion to your willingness to hear His voice." You are not asked to be perfect or get it right, but it is asking for your "willingness." In my case when the ego throws a bigger temper tantrum yelling at me; LOOK AT YOUR WORLD! LOOK AT YOUR FINANCES! DO SOMETHING!

First I think of the Beatles:

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
speaking words of wisdom
Let it Be.

And then I also remember what A Course says:

"When your peace is threatened or disturbed in any way, say to yourself, I do not know what anything, including this, means. And so I do not know how to respond to it. And I will not use my own past learning as the light to guide me now." T-14.XI.6

Do you see how simple A Course in Miracles is? The question is, can you trust it?

Let's see where I'll be a year from now. Meanwhile, Love Ya! And don't forget to laugh, it's all a joke! :o)

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Moving from Place to Place

2009-09-24T12:21:00.000-07:00

I am in the process of writing my new book as I am going through a new experience that is leading me to deepen my faith and trust in Spirit. Below is a copy of one of the chapters.

This happened on: September 15 (my birthday)to September 23, 2009

These last few days have been rather interesting. Just when I wonder where will I rest my head next, or where my next meal is coming from, all that I need continues to show up in my life.

After I moved out of my new friend Bob’s house on Tuesday, I stayed with Gene at his place. Originally I was supposed to stay there for only one night since his roommate would be returning Wednesday morning. The night before however, I was teaching a class on A Course in Miracles, which I call, Practicing A Course in Miracles. The class went very well. It was the first time some people showed up since I just started teaching it and not anyone knew who I was. At the class, I was very open about my situation, and once again, that seems to be what people appreciate the most about me. Although it could be argued that many want to hear about heroes and people who seemed to have it all together, somewhere deep within, many feel alienated. In my case, the response I get is very positive and reassuring. Interestingly enough, I even open myself up for help to continue to come my way.

So as I am staying with Gene, he and his roommate are working on a project that requires graphic design, which they have had a tough time getting their vision across to the one who is doing the graphics for them. Gene shared with me what he wanted to created, I started putting images together for him, to what Gene said, “Oh my gosh, that’s exactly what I have been trying to get my graphic art man to do and I felt as if I was pulling teeth.”

I earned myself few more days at his house, not because of Gene, because he did not mind about me staying at his place, but because of his roommate who did not know me. I also have couple of places that have opened up for me to stay as I continue on this journey of surrendering and trust. Here is some of the feedback I continue to receive as I share my story with friends and Course in Miracles’ community:

“Oh Nick,

I finally read your latest post; it is truly amazing! Thank you on behalf of us all for blazing an experiential pathway - busting through the illusion of doubt and fear.

What a fabulous book (your next book) this section of the pathway will be...TRUST! What the hell is trust...unless it is ALL you're hanging onto? And the outcome of the gift of TRUST cannot be known until then...but who dares to take the risk? You do Nick...thank you.

Much love,”

Nouk Sanchez, co-author of Take Me To Truth

Dearest Nick,

See that everything is perfect exactly as it is. Rest in Awareness not as an anedote but with all the negative feelings. Be at peace with the feelings. Allow them to fully flower and see that they have no power to destroy you. Tremendous power is released in this moment and incredible insight. All of this is only images in a mirage without substance or power and are the dynamic energy of awareness.

All is well, this too shall pass back into the nothingness from whence it came... It is only temporary.

Love & Hugs,

Linda Jean McNabb, author of One Again

Although resources keep showing up from you could say unexpected sources, at least to get me through the day, what I would say that my journey is leading me to, is to keep my focus on the present moment. It is as if though, every seeming challenge I may be faced with, as I stop judging it and continue to surrender my thoughts to the Holy Spirit, I find myself experiencing more and more peace. And from that space, either ideas or opportunities continue to show up that are helping me develop more an more trust in my Higher Self. So even when from an intellectual perspective it could be argued that my life is less than perfect, in the larger scheme of things, the experiences I am drawing to me are nothing but opportunities to develop a more solid spiritual foundation.

The fact is that it is very easy to trust God when things seemed to be going well, but when they don’t we forget about God altogether and find ourselves in a survival mode, trying to change, fix, arrange, and control things, not realizing that all the effort is futile, because, not only our self initiated plans are not going to lead us to peace, they simply add more stress and fear to a mind that is fearful in the first place. It is a loose, loose situation.

As I was meditating at the park, where this book is also being written, and by the way, this is the same park where my first book, What Happens When You Let God was written as well, I felt moved to pick up A Course in Miracles and read lesson 135 titled, If I defend myself I am attacked. I would like to share the lesson here with you while also explaining what the lesson is about. But before doing so, if you are not familiar with A Course in Miracle’s teachings, I would suggest you read my first book What Happens When You Let God so that the full contend in this post, which will become my next book is clearly understood.

If I defend myself I am attacked.

"Who would defend himself unless he thought he were attacked, that the attack were real, and that his own defense could save himself? And herein lies the folly of defense; it gives illusions full reality, and then attempts to handle them as real. It adds illusions to illusions, thus making correction doubly difficult. And it is this you do when you attempt to plan the future, activate the past, or organize the present as you wish." W-pI.135.1:1-4

Notice that what the Course is referring to is that as long as I believe in my own projections, I am attacking myself. And that is because in reality there is really nothing happening out there. Everything is really happening in my mind. So if I stop reacting to images I am making up, then there is no reason for me to defend myself. Would you defend yourself if you were in a movie theater and the protagonist in the movie was calling out names that may seem as if he was looking right at you? How silly would it be to yell back at a movie screen, yet, that’s exactly what we do every time we react to illusions that seem to be taking place in our lives. One of my favorite lines from this lesson’s first paragraph is:

“...it gives illusions full reality, and then attempts to handle them as real. It adds illusions to illusions, thus making correction doubly difficult.” W-pI.135.1:2

Why is making the correction difficult? Because as long as I believe that I am a body, and that the circumstances I am dealing with are real, by me trying to attempt to solve them, all I am doing is solidifying in my unconscious the belief that that which I am trying to solve is really there. That’s why A Course in Miracles simply ask me to hand all of my thoughts and seeming challenges to the Holy Spirit so that the part of my mind that is projecting the illusions in the first place can be healed. Because remember, the ego is the part of the mind that believe in separation. It is not even real it is a mere believe. And to counteract that belief, the Holy Spirit is the part of our mind that remembers who we really are. It is the mediator between the thoughts of fear and the voice of God. And as long as we keep our attention on the Holy Spirit’s message, by choosing peace above all else, we are no longer at the effect of the illusions we seem to be projecting.

That’s pretty much what I am doing as I continue on this journey. I simply take each experience and offer it to the Holy Spirit for reinterpretation. That way I keep my peace, regardless of what’s going on in my seeming challenging experience. Do I get it right all the time? The answer is no. I still have my moment when fear and doubt arises, but as I continue to practice I get better at trusting, and developing faith. The faith that is allowing me to continue writing this book, and the one that allows me to experience peace as I share my story with you. Let us move on to the next paragraph.

"You operate from the belief you must protect yourself from what is happening because it must contain what threatens you. A sense of threat is an acknowledgment of an inherent weakness; a belief that there is danger which has power to call on you to make appropriate defense. The world is based on this insane belief. And all its structures, all its thoughts and doubts, its penalties and heavy armaments, its legal definitions and its codes, its ethics and its leaders and its gods, all serve but to preserve its sense of threat. For no one walks the world in armature but must have terror striking at his heart." W-pI.135.2:1-5

Although the paragraph is self-explanatory, I want you to see if you can guess which two words I would like you to pay close attention to:

“And all its structures, all its thoughts and doubts, its penalties and heavy armaments, its legal definitions and its codes, its ethics and its leaders and its gods, all serve but to preserve its sense of threat.”

The words I am referring to are “its gods.” Notice that gods is not capitalized, but most importantly, if you understand what A Course in Miracles is about, it could be said that the word gods within the context of the paragraph pretty much applies to everything that is not real. And what is not real? The whole world is not real. That includes not only the things we see but also everything that we seem to hear, taste, touch, smell, every thought we hold to be true, every belief, concept, idea, notion that we have about ourselves and everything else in general.

If you really want to know what it is that you consider to be your god simply notice what it is that you are attached too. Anything of this world that if as a result of being taken away would cause you to suffer, it is your god. If for example I let my experience and present circumstances determine how I should feel, or if I make my bank account or my job my source of financial safety, or if I let any relationship become my source of love, these are my substitutes for my Real God. And my present experience is simply giving me an opportunity to remind myself that my source of everything is God. As I said before, by simply doing my best to keep my attention in the present moment, and by choosing peace above all else, I can move through this experience without any suffering or impulse doing.

Have I achieved enlightenment? Have I got it al-together? Can I consider myself a highly evolved being, a guru, a master? I would say that the answer would be no. But at least, I keep doing my best to remember what the Course is always asking me to do. And that is to simply choose again. Remember, this is not a book I am writing from memory. Just like my first book, I am typing these words as I am moving through my present experience, just to help remind you that whatever it is you may be going through, you are exactly where you need to be, and that all I am doing is to serve as an example that there is a power within you that is wiling to take care of all of your needs, if you are willing to relinquish your thoughts to It. As a matter of fact, I told those who attended my Course in Miracles’ practice group last night that if I ever become a well-known speaker and author, they all have witnessed the place where I came from. Next paragraph.

"Defense is frightening. It stems from fear, increasing fear as each defense is made. You think it offers safety. Yet it speaks of fear made real and terror justified. Is it not strange you do not pause to ask, as you elaborate your plans and make your armor thicker and your locks more tight, what you defend, and how, and against what?" W-pI.135.3:1-5

I want you to notice the first ten words of the third sentence where the answers to all of your problems rest. “Is it not strange you do not pause to ask,...” Isn’t that what we’ve been told by every single master in one form or another when we are asked to “be still?”

The purpose of the stillness is so that the voice of the Holy Spirit can reminds us that all that we seem to be afraid of is not real. It is a constant reminder that I am not here to try to fix the world I see, for in doing so, as the paragraph you just read reminds me, is to “make your armor thicker and your locks more tight,...”

"Let us consider first what you defend. It must be something that is very weak and easily assaulted. It must be something made easy prey, unable to protect itself and needing your defense. What but the body has such frailty that constant care and watchful, deep concern are needful to protect its little life? What but the body falters and must fail to serve the Son of God as worthy host?" W-pI.135.4:1-5

"Yet it is not the body that can fear, nor be a thing of fear. It has no needs but those which you assign to it. It needs no complicated structures of defense, no health-inducing medicine, no care and no concern at all. Defend its life, or give it gifts to make it beautiful or walls to make it safe, and you but say your home is open to the thief of time, corruptible and crumbling, so unsafe it must be guarded with your very life." W-pI.135.5:1-4

"Is not this picture fearful? Can you be at peace with such a concept of your home? Yet what endowed the body with the right to serve you thus except your own belief? It is your mind which gave the body all the functions that you see in it, and set its value far beyond a little pile of dust and water. Who would make defense of something that he recognized as this?" W-pI.135.6:1-5

"The body is in need of no defense. This cannot be too often emphasized. It will be strong and healthy if the mind does not abuse it by assigning it to roles it cannot fill, to purposes beyond its scope, and to exalted aims which it cannot accomplish. Such attempts, ridiculous yet deeply cherished, are the sources for the many mad attacks you make upon it. For it seems to fail your hopes, your needs, your values and your dreams." W-pI.135.7;1-5

"The "self" that needs protection is not real. The body, valueless and hardly worth the least defense, need merely be perceived as quite apart from you, and it becomes a healthy, serviceable instrument through which the mind can operate until its usefulness is over. Who would want to keep it when its usefulness is done?" W-pI.135.8:1-3

"Defend the body and you have attacked your mind. For you have seen in it the faults, the weaknesses, the limits and the lacks from which you think the body must be saved. You will not see the mind as separate from bodily conditions. And you will impose upon the body all the pain that comes from the conception of the mind as limited and fragile, and apart from other minds and separate from its Source." W-pI.135.9:1-4

"These are the thoughts in need of healing, and the body will respond with health when they have been corrected and replaced with truth. This is the body's only real defense. Yet is this where you look for its defense? You offer it protection of a kind from which it gains no benefit at all, but merely adds to your distress of mind. You do not heal, but merely take away the hope of healing, for you fail to see where hope must lie if it be meaningful." W-pI.135.10:1-5

In the previous seven paragraphs, what we are reminded of is that since the body is not real, it has no needs and no power in and of itself. However, the mind, which is responsible for projecting the body, and for that matter everything we perceive to be real, is the one that assigns the body whatever it is that it seems to need. That’s why A Course in Miracles is never about fixing the body but about bringing the mind back to its original state, which is one of love; oneness. And although it talks about the body as my defense mechanism against truth, it could be said that it refers to all illusions. As much as the mind can make a body real and try to fulfill its illusory needs, it also projects a world that is not real in order to try to fulfill its illusory responsibilities. It’s really all the same.

Looking at my current state of affairs, the logical thing for me to do would be to panic, or worry, or to try to fix or change my seeming experience. But what if in reality there is a perfection unfolding as I type these words, that even when I am not sure where my life is going, or what am I going to be doing next, in due time I will be able to have an experience far more fulfilling, or even more extraordinary than anything I could have possibly imagine? But for me to allow that experience to unfold I have to do the complete opposite of what the world teaches, I have to develop trust, faith. But trust and faith in who or what, you may ask? In the part of me that remembers Who I really Am. And that part can only be accessed through peace. In other words, by being still.

"A healed mind does not plan. It carries out the plans that it receives through listening to wisdom that is not its own. It waits until it has been taught what should be done, and then proceeds to do it. It does not depend upon itself for anything except its adequacy to fulfill the plans assigned to it. It is secure in certainty that obstacles can not impede its progress to accomplishment of any goal that serves the greater plan established for the good of everyone." W-pI.135.11:1-4

“A healed mind does not plan.” Interesting isn’t it? It reminds me of the old scripture, “Be ye transformed by the renewal of your mind.” The challenge with many spiritual teachers is that they think that controlling the mind is about us taking charge of our thoughts so that we can take charge of our lives. And yet, the fact that we have been trying to take charge of our lives is the reason why we find ourselves striving, struggling, pursuing, fixing, when the reality is, there is nothing to strive for, to struggle for, to pursue, to fix. And that is because everything we think it is missing in our lives, it is within. But since we are projecting all that we see, and regardless whether the projections seem pleasurable at times, they are still projections. So to recognize the kingdom within, we have to let go of everything that is not real. That’s why we offer all of our thoughts to the part of our mind who remembers Who we really are.

You could say that I want my circumstances to change. Well, if I want to exchange one illusion for another that could be true. However, if I want to experience my true Self, I have to trust that every experience I am having is simply leading me to that recognition. And as the lesson suggest, we do so by “listening to wisdom that is not its (our) own (intellect).” The ultimate paradox is that when we let go of wanting to fix our experience, we open ourselves up to experiences that in illusory form may seem more pleasant. But where we have to be careful is that we are not attempting to change our illusions, all we want is the peace of God so that we are never at the effect of any illusions.

"A healed mind is relieved of the belief that it must plan, although it cannot know the outcome which is best, the means by which it is achieved, nor how to recognize the problem that the plan is made to solve. It must misuse the body in its plans until it recognizes this is so. But when it has accepted this as true, then is it healed, and lets the body go." W-pI.135.12;1-3

Noticed that it says that a healed mind is relieved from the belief that it must plan, and not the mind itself. Because the mind, which is only One mind, the mind of God, needs no healing. However, the belief within the mind is the one that we are able to heal from when we allow the Holy Spirit to do the work it is appointed to do, and that work is not our own. We need do nothing except but to surrender our thoughts to the Holy Spirit for reinterpretation. That’s pretty much what I do in each and every moment, to the best of my abilities, as I move through this seeming challenging experience. And yes there are times when I find myself judging my experience. And yes there are times when I feel a bit frustrated. And yes there are times when I question my own journey. And all of these are opportunities for me to practice forgiveness and to simply choose again.

The paragraph also talks about the fact that “it must misuse the body in its plans until it recognizes this is so.” Misusing the body is the same as to make our own plans based on our idea that first, we know something, and second, that what we perceive with our physical senses is true reality. But once we recognize the truth of Who we Are, the mind is healed and there is no reason for us to project another body, and for that matter a world of illusions. Then we get to experience ourselves back to the place we never left, our home in God.

"Enslavement of the body to the plans the unhealed mind sets up to save itself must make the body sick. It is not free to be the means of helping in a plan which far exceeds its own protection, and which needs its service for a little while. In this capacity is health assured. For everything the mind employs for this will function flawlessly, and with the strength that has been given it and cannot fail." W-pI.135.13:1-4

This one I have to be a bit careful because the words may suggest that having a healed mind is synonymous of a healed body. We must understand that the body itself is not real, however, it could be said that when a mind is healed, the body that needs to carry out a plan for Spirit will experience health and strength in physical form. However, a healed mind, meaning, a mind that is very clear that it is not a body would not be disturbed at all, even when the body may be experiencing what could be considered a physical imbalance. That’s what it is often referred to as the peace that passeth understanding.

As I am going through this seeming journey, I have had experiences that many would consider fearful or even painful. Lets’ face it. I don’t know where I’ll be sleeping tonight. And I seemed to be going from couch to couch, with an occasional bed when someone has an extra room to spare. I have been fortunate for the donations I have received because I don’t have any source of income coming in. As a matter of fact, I just put my music studio for sale, and have financial commitments that I don’t know how they’ll be met. And while the world may be screaming at me “DO SOMETHING”, here I am typing these words. I simply trust that this is what I need to be doing, and I’ll be led as to what to do next as I continue to trust, to let go, and let God.

Maybe I am crazy. Maybe I am insane. Interesting enough, here is a little quote I received today from someone who was interested in the studio monitors: “There's a thin line between insanity and genius and that is success!” -Albert Einstein. I am not saying that I am pursuing success, but who knows, maybe I am up to something here.

Another interesting synchronicity I would like to share, this morning as I went to the park, a quick fear-based thought started to creep in. At that very same moment someone walking towards me was listening to a song in his iPhone, the words of the songs, just as he want by were, “speaking words of wisdom, let it be.” If you recall from my book What Happens When You Let God, the words let it be by the Beatles are what I end up every chapter with. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

"It is, perhaps, not easy to perceive that self-initiated plans are but defenses, with the purpose all of them were made to realize. They are the means by which a frightened mind would undertake its own protection, at the cost of truth. This is not difficult to realize in some forms which these self-deceptions take, where the denial of reality is very obvious. Yet planning is not often recognized as a defense." W-pI.135.14:1-4

Let’s look at what you just read. What is a self-initiate plan? It is nothing but an idea the frightened mind comes up with in order to attempt to insure its own protection. But if the world that we see is not real, what is the frightened mind afraid of in the first place? It is afraid of nothing. Right now, I am having an experience that may suggest that I need to make plans to ensure my own survival. Yet, so far, I have had the opportunity to meet incredible people, and to even been a vehicle for healing to them, that would not have happened had it not been for me having this experience. Let’s take it one step further. This whole experience is a huge opportunity for me to look at my own ego, and to notice where I need to heal. However, if I were to judge my experience, I would not be able to make decisions based on truth because my focus would be more on the survival of the form, rather than the healing of my mind. But if I continue to trust that everything is happening in divine order, as it is supposed to, I will be provided with what I need in order to continue doing the work I am here to do. And just for the record, I am open to the possibility of getting a job. I have placed applications and nothing has come back. This reminds me however of a conversation I had with my friend Regina, who is becoming a well-known spiritual teacher, author and lecturer.

She shared with me about a day or so after I had to leave the place I was living in that when she felt guided to quit her six figures salary career to start writing her book, when her savings started to run out, for a moment she started to question whether she should find employment or not. The first thought that came to her mind was that if she go out there and start looking for work from a place of fear, she is really not allowing the Holy Spirit to truly take care of her needs. As she continued bringing herself back to peace, the still voice within was letting her know that it was not necessary for her to do anything, and that as she continued to trust, while doing the work she was appointed to do, all of her financial needs would be met.

Family and friends started to get angry at her thinking she was being insane. Long story short, to this day, she continues doing her spiritual work, being called to facilitate workshops across the country, and all of her needs have been met, while aside from selling her books, and being compensated for her work, people who truly believe in what she does continues to support her financially. And by the way, did I mention that she is a single mother who has a daughter? Talk about faith!

Now let’s say that things were to change and to go my way. That’s when the lesson reminds me, “This is not difficult to realize in some forms which these self-deceptions take, where the denial of reality is very obvious.” The reason being is because although my illusion may appear to be very appealing, it is still an illusion. By the fact that I am sacrificing truth for illusions I am simply setting myself up for changes that will continue to perpetuate the fear in the mind. That does not mean that I cannot enjoy an exchange of illusion. What I am saying is that even as I am writing this book, and my circumstances could dramatically change for something that may appear to be more pleasant, I have to remind myself of what my real and only goal is, which is to remember Who I really Am.

"The mind engaged in planning for itself is occupied in setting up control of future happenings. It does not think that it will be provided for, unless it makes its own provisions. Time becomes a future emphasis, to be controlled by learning and experience obtained from past events and previous beliefs. It overlooks the present, for it rests on the idea the past has taught enough to let the mind direct its future course." W-pI.135.15:1-4

The paragraph you just read in pretty self-explanatory. However, let’s take a look at the next one, which I think you’ll find rather interesting.

"The mind that plans is thus refusing to allow for change. What it has learned before becomes the basis for its future goals. Its past experience directs its choice of what will happen. And it does not see that here and now is everything it needs to guarantee a future quite unlike the past, without a continuity of any old ideas and sick beliefs. Anticipation plays no part at all, for present confidence directs the way." W-pI.135.16:1-5

If I look at my life experiences, you could say that have learned many things that if I were to put them into practice may produce specific results. So I could use those experiences as references in order for me to plan ahead and change my life. But am I really changing my life? Or am I simply operating from old beliefs and memories. And if that is the case, changing is not what I am seeking but security. In doing so, by not giving myself the opportunity to live in the present moment, I would not be giving myself the opportunity to experience true change. The scenery may change a bit, as most people have experienced when they end up making more money, or exchange partners, or purchase new toys. But they are just locked in a never ending loop of constant dissatisfaction, always wanting more, until the more, and the excess and their external distractions no longer fulfill them.

By me surrendering to the moment I am giving myself an opportunity to having new experiences unlike the ones I experienced in the past, which does not exist by the way, and a future, which is also an illusion. In form, the illusions may consists of a better job, more money, a partner that would make me happy, for some, better health and so on. In truth however, a future quite unlike the past means, the permanency or peace, happiness, wealth, love and joy that results in remembering Who you really are.

A quick reminder, if some of what I am sharing here may be a bit challenging for you to grasp, it will become very clear if you read my first book, What Happens When You Let God.

"Defenses are the plans you undertake to make against the truth. Their aim is to select what you approve, and disregard what you consider incompatible with your beliefs of your reality. Yet what remains is meaningless indeed. For it is your reality that is the "threat" which your defenses would attack, obscure, and take apart and crucify." W-pI.135.17:1-4

Remember that your plans are the defenses against the truth of Who you are. They are what you use to attempt to protect yourself from illusions that are not real. In doing so you are exchanging the permanency of your joy and peace for an illusory world that is constantly changing, for one that is always fluctuating from pain to pleasure and back to pain again. Now let’s move on to one of my favorite paragraphs from this lesson.

"What could you not accept, if you but knew that everything that happens, all events, past, present and to come, are gently planned by One Whose only purpose is your good? Perhaps you have misunderstood His plan, for He would never offer pain to you. But your defenses did not let you see His loving blessing shine in every step you ever took. While you made plans for death, He led you gently to eternal life." W-pI.135.18:1-4

I am going to translate that paragraph using my personal experience.

"What can I not accept, if I but knew that everything that is happening, all events, past, present and to come for me, are gently planned by the One Whose only purpose is my good?"

“Do you mean me not having a place to call my home? Not having enough money in my bank account? Not knowing where am I going to sleep? Wondering if I will ever make money or have a wonderful life and on, and on...? Well, although this may be hard for most to accept, that is exactly what the Course is asking me to do. To trust that everything is unfolding exactly as it is supposed to for my highest good. That being said however, it could be said that I am extremely creative, and very inspired to type the words you are reading. Many people go to a job and bring in a paycheck, but they have no life. Their soul is consumed by their false sense of security, one that in due time will change because that is the nature of a world of illusions.

Applying it to myself, then it goes on to say:

“Perhaps I have misunderstood His plan, for He would never offer pain to me. But my judgments did not let me see His loving blessing shine in every step I ever took.”

As I look back in my life, I can honestly see how everything that took place was perfectly orchestrated in order to help me grow, always looking out for my best interest. Had it not been for me sleeping in my car last week, I would not have met Gene, Bob, and the streaming set of events that have taken place since. I am not saying that I am looking forward to sleeping in my car, what I am saying is that I am not resisting what is, for in doing so, I am making myself believe that I know something. The Course always reminds me that I don’t know what anything is for, which I’ll elaborate a bit more after reading this last sentence.

“While I make plans for death, He lead me gently to eternal life.”

The gift my journey is offering me, as I continue to remain open, is that is helping me see how I truly don’t know. The more I keep surrendering to the fact that I don’t know, the more I open myself to true knowledge and wisdom, wisdom not of my own. Paradoxically however, all of my needs are met as I continue to do the work I feel more inspired to do as opposed to the work everyone thinks I should be doing. Where will I be led to? The answer is, I don’t know, and I am okay with it! That’s trust, that true freedom!

I feel that by know you have an understanding for what this lesson is about and how I am applying it to my own experience. I will leave the rest of the lesson for you to read and enjoy before moving on to the next chapter. And if there is any confusion, remember that What Happens When You Let God will be able to bring clarity to what I have shared in this chapter.

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Your present trust in Him is the defense that promises a future undisturbed, without a trace of sorrow, and with joy that constantly increases, as this life becomes a holy instant, set in time, but heeding only immortality. Let no defenses but your present trust direct the future, and this life becomes a meaningful encounter with the truth that only your defenses would conceal. W-pI.135.19:1-2

Without defenses, you become a light which Heaven gratefully acknowledges to be its own. And it will lead you on in ways appointed for your happiness according to the ancient plan, begun when time was born. Your followers will join their light with yours, and it will be increased until the world is lighted up with joy. And gladly will our brothers lay aside their cumbersome defenses, which availed them nothing and could only terrify. W-pI.135.20:1-4

We will anticipate that time today with present confidence, for this is part of what was planned for us. We will be sure that everything we need is given us for our accomplishment of this today. We make no plans for how it will be done, but realize that our defenselessness is all that is required for the truth to dawn upon our minds with certainty. W-pI.135.21:1-3

For fifteen minutes twice today we rest from senseless planning, and from every thought that blocks the truth from entering our minds. Today we will receive instead of plan, that we may give instead of organize. And we are given truly, as we say

If I defend myself I am attacked. But in defenselessness I will be strong, and I will learn what my defenses hide. W-pI.135.22:1-4

Nothing but that. If there are plans to make, you will be told of them. They may not be the plans you thought were needed, nor indeed the answers to the problems which you thought confronted you. But they are answers to another kind of question, which remains unanswered yet in need of answering until the Answer comes to you at last. W-pI.135.23:1-4

All your defenses have been aimed at not receiving what you will receive today. And in the light and joy of simple trust, you will but wonder why you ever thought that you must be defended from release. Heaven asks nothing. It is hell that makes extravagant demands for sacrifice. You give up nothing in these times today when, undefended, you present yourself to your Creator as you really are. W-pI.135.24:1-5

He has remembered you. Today we will remember Him. For this is Eastertime in your salvation. And you rise again from what was seeming death and hopelessness. Now is the light of hope reborn in you, for now you come without defense, to learn the part for you within the plan of God. What little plans or magical beliefs can still have value, when you have received your function from the Voice for God Himself? W-pI.135.25:1-6

Try not to shape this day as you believe would benefit you most. For you can not conceive of all the happiness that comes to you without your planning. Learn today. And all the world will take this giant stride, and celebrate your Eastertime with you. Throughout the day, as foolish little things appear to raise defensiveness in you and tempt you to engage in weaving plans, remind yourself this is a special day for learning, and acknowledge it with this:

This is my Eastertime. And I would keep it holy. I will not defend myself, because the Son of God needs no defense against the truth of his reality. W-pI.135.27:1-8

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Less is More!

2009-07-31T14:05:00.001-07:00

When we look at the world through the perception of the ego, i.e. physical eyes, we are caught in a dream in which we think we are participants in a play that is real, and that things do happen to us, and that we need to do things to fix, change or correct our experiences.

As we practice turning within, and allowing the Holy Spirit's perception to permeate our mind, although we still do things in physical form, our actions are led, not by fear but by love. There is a sense of peace and serenity within, even when our circumstances seem to be chaotic. As we let life unfold as it will, it becomes fascinating as to how every event follow a perfect order, and everything works together for our highest good as well as the good of everything and everyone who may be directly, or indirectly affected by our state of being.

My experience has been, that as I continue to let go and let God, I find myself doing less and less, ironically, I end up accomplishing more and more. And in the meantime, all of my needs are met as I continue on this wonderful path.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Personal Growth Versus Spiritual Growth

2009-06-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

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.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

To judge them individually is pointless. Their tiny differences in form...

2009-06-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

"To judge them individually is pointless. Their tiny differences in form are real no difference at all. None of them matters. That they have in common and nothing else." T-18.I.7:8-10

In life we experience all kinds of seeming challenges, yet what A Course in Miracles reminds us is that even when in form they appear to be different, in truth, every seeming challenge is the same for there is no order of difficulty in miracles.

Whether you are dealing with a financial, health, career, relationship, emotional or whatever the issue may seem to be, all we are asked to do is to offer our challenges to the Holy Spirit to help us see things as they really are; illusions and not truth.
In that sense, our mind is healed and the challenge no longer has an effect on us. As we practice being more peaceful and trusting as a result of surrendering our troubles to Spirit, we experience clarity of thought. From that space we are guided as to what to do, if there is a doing involved, which could be the answer to any seeming challenge we may be faced with.

But if we continue to solve our problems ourselves, all we are doing is perpetuating the illusion of lack and limitation within our own mind. Remember that everything we think is happening to us, is really happening within us and therefore projected out into the world. That's why it is said that as within so without.

So if we want to experience a difference without, we first need to address the within, which caused us to project the without we are experiencing. We address the within by offering our fear-based thoughts to the Holy Spirit, not by us trying to fix or change anything. In doing so, even if the without does not change, at least we are at peace with what is, which is referred to as the peace that passeth understanding. See how simple it is?

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Is it okay to charge money for doing Spiritual work?

2009-05-08T16:08:00.000-07:00

QUESTION: I am so much in the heart and to make money you need a mind. I wished to coach and teach EFT, but I have difficult in charging people in need. Spiritual people have these issues about charging others, do you have an insight for this?

ANSWER: The question is not really about money but about the guilt behind asking for money. When I ask for money am I coming from love or fear? First I am going to share an excerpt from my book, What Happens When You Let God:

"As I am bringing this chapter to and end, another thing I would like you to be aware of, is that after twenty years of following and even teaching self-empowering techniques, getting to meet some of these well-known speakers, even working for one of them, I noticed a concurrent theme. Not for all of them, but for most, all that they want is money for the false sense of power they derive from it. Without it, they feel small. Not because they are, but because they believe they are, even when they are in denial of it. As a result, they even make others feel guilty for not having money. And they must, for that is how they can manipulate, or as they say, “persuade” others into investing in whatever it is they have to offer, especially when most believe, as stated earlier, that you, me and everyone out there is their source and supply.

Here is a disturbing email I received before this book was published by someone who simply came across my website. These are her exact words, without any editing;

----- begin email -----
'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.'
----- end email -----

Am I saying that there is anything wrong with having money? Absolutely not, as a matter of fact, feel free to have as much as you want and enjoy it! I do enjoy it when I have it. There is no reason to feel guilty about having lots of money. What I am saying is, be careful whom you choose as your god. If you were to be honest with yourself right now, unless money is not an issue for you, that’s where most of your attention probably is. And unless you want God more than anything else, meaning choosing peace above all else, if I can come up with a tool or something that can promise you financial freedom, you are most likely to fall prey to what I have to offer. In her book titled, “Oh My God. It’s ME” Dr. Sheryl Valentine states:

'Our true inheritance is not money or things; it is the remembrance that God is the source of all good. Once we remember this—instead of living in a place of isolation and fear, our lives become filled with purpose and meaning.'

The truth is, not having money is not the problem. The real problem is a two-point never-ending loop. The first problem has to do with the way you feel about not having it, and second, the mistake of believing that the way you feel has to do with not having it. In other words, if I feel bad for not having money, that triggers guilt and fear. Now that I am feeling fearful and guilty, and thinking that not having money is the reason I feel the way I do, that puts me in a very vulnerable position because I have introduced a new god (money) into my life. That forces me to keep my attention out into the world as opposed to where my attention should always be, which is within, in other words, on God. Even many people in the spiritual community don’t want to accept that they have bought into the ego’s way of thinking. That’s why you hear titles such as, “spiritual prosperity” or “the law of spiritual abundance” or some other variation of the same premise."

Now let's look at money from A Course in Miracles' perspective. Everything I see in the world is an effect. The Mind is what project all effects I see in the world. However, I am having an experienced, which, although it is not real, it is still an experience. My experience is that I am a body who lives in a world that is real and that I needs financial resources, shelter, food, and so on. So as we heal our mind from our sense of separation from God, all we need to do, is to establish a very intimate connection with our Spirit within, so that every decision we make is rooted in love and not in fear.

From that space, we begin to feel that we are fully taken care of and provided for. As a result, the resource that we need will show up in the form of money, or something else. Using myself as an example, there are times when I feel appropriate to charge for my time and at other times I feel moved to offer my services freely. The key is to not doing service out of guilt because in that sense I am not serving neither one of us, and here is the reason why.

There is only one of us in the room. If I buy into someone's guilt, all I am doing is reflecting back at them their own fear, which in turn solidifies the fear in me. Why? Because the person I am seeing out there is my own projection. Remember, I am the one projecting everything I see. So really, the one who needs healing, is really me. They are the projections I am putting out there in order to make myself belief that they are the ones who need healing, when in reality they are showing the parts of me that need healing.

A world filled with fear is simply a reflection of the fear that resides within me. A world filled with love, on the other hand is simply reflecting back at me the love that is within me. So the work is never on healing others or the world, it is always on healing the dark spots in my mind that are projecting the world I see. That's why every master in one way or another have said, "Everything is perfect in my world." Because they are not seeing a world through the eyes of the ego, they are seeing a world through the eyes of Spirit, from the love that they are, not from the false sense of most of us believe ourselves to be.

So when it comes to money, the fear is not about charging money, the fears is about thinking that there is not enough to go around and when I charge someone, I think I am taking something away from them. But once again, the REAL issue is that we think that our source comes from the world, when in reality, it comes from Spirit. Once you are grounded on Spirit, then the money shows up from wherever it is at the moment.

Sometimes may show up from people compensating you for services rendered. Sometimes it will be from a business you started, or from a friend or stranger offering you a gift, from a sell of a product, from having money mysteriously showing up in your bank account, from having a gut feeling to play a lottery ticket, who knows. So if you want to teach EFT, just remember that even when the money seems to be coming from your clients, the real "Cause" behind the transaction is God, Spirit, whatever you want to call it. Always, always, ALWAYS, align yourself with Spirit FIRST! And whatever it is you end up doing, you can't go wrong. It's that simple!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

All questions asked within this world are but a way of looking, not a question asked.” -A Course in Miracles

2009-05-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

“A problem set in conflict has no answer, for it is seen in different ways. And what would be an answer from one point of view is not an answer in another light. You are in conflict. Thus it must be clear you cannot answer anything at all, for conflict has no limited effects. Yet if God gave an answer there must be a way in which your problems are resolved, for what He wills already has been done. Thus it must be that time is not involved and every problem can be answered now.” -A Course in Miracles

Let’s take a look at the very first sentence. “A problem set in conflict has no answer, for it is seen in different ways.” What is conflict? It refers to our present state of human consciousness. The fact that we see duality suggest that we are in conflict. For in Heaven, there is no conflict, there are no opposites, only oneness. In Heaven, there is only peace.

So from a place of duality (conflict) no real answers are possible, only different points of view. Because as the Course states, “one point of view is not an answer in another light.”

So where can we find answers? First of all, there are no such thing as multiple answers, only multiple imagined problems, each requiring a seeming different answer. Yet, the only answer is I AM. With that answer, all seeming questions disappear. And where is the I AM answer found? In the present moment, or as the Course also refers to as the Holy Instant.

Every problem we seem to have is either rooted in fear or worry of an illusory future or guilt and pain based on a illusory past. And they are both in illusory sense of time. But as we surrender each moment to God, keeping our attention in the present moment, times ceases to exist, all worries and concerns are gone and we are in the midst of the experience of our oneness with God.

I know this sounds very appealing but because we have so much guilt deep in our unconscious, which is what is projecting the world that we see, or I should say, all of our seeming problems, we need to remove that guilt so that the experience of our oneness with God can reveal itself through us. And the way we do so is through practicing forgiveness. Forgiveness removes the guilt that is blocking us for the full experience of the now moment (the Holy Instant).

From that space, all of our problems resolve themselves! Either that, or we are not longer affected by our seeming circumstances, from which ideas can then surface that could be the answer to any seeming challenge we seem to be dealing with at the moment. Not that we are trying to solve anything, but if we are going to ask for guidance, why not ask the Holy Spirit first. At least His one answer, out of all the millions and zillions of points of view and choice we seem to have, will always be the perfect answer to every seeming challenge we may be faced at any given time.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

This is an insane world, and do not underestimate the extent of its insanity.

2009-04-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

"This is an insane world, and do not underestimate the extent of its insanity. There is no area of your perception that it has not touched, and your dream is sacred to you. That is why God placed the Holy Spirit in you, where you placed the dream.” -A Course in Miracles

Sometimes the Course can use pretty strong words to get make a point. In the first sentence we could say, “This world is not your home, and do no underestimate your belief in thinking it is so.” But what is important is what the Course is helping us realize, and that is, because I created this illusion, every area of my perception is influence by this belief in the illusion, by my belief in separation.

So the way God answered is by placing the Holy Spirit in the same place where I placed the dream, which is in my mind. So in essence, what the Holy Spirit does is having a continuous conversation with the part of my mind that remember Who I really am. The purpose of our forgiveness process is to allow the Holy Spirit to continue this conversation until His voice becomes more clear than the one of the ego, which is nothing more than a belief.

It is pretty much like having a conversation with oneself. When I talk to myself out loud for example, it seems as if there are two people talking, but in reality, it is just me talking to me. Or I could say, one illusory part of me talking to another illusory part of me. That is the conversation most of us have in our heads when we try to convince ourselves of anything we believe to be true for us.

Many times I have made decisions that were not very wise, because although my feelings were warning me about it, my intellect, my perception, is what I used to justify what I was thought to be true. As a result I ended up suffering the consequences. So the more I practice listening to the Holy Spirit, His guidance always will lead me to truth. And all I need to do, is to simply practice being still and listen. There is nothing for me to do. I just need to hand over to Him every seeming concerned to be reinterpreted by Him, and if there is something for me to do, I’ll be led to it. How simple that is!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

What is temptation but...

2009-04-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

"What is temptation but the wish to stay in hell and misery?" -A Course in Miracles (Original Version)

What is hell? It is the physical experience we find ourselves having, also known as the world? And what is this physical world filled with? Misery. So temptation is referred to wanting to stay in the world, in worshiping the things of this world. This statement raise numerous questions such as, Is there’s anything wrong with moving in the direction of my desires while I am experiencing myself in this world? Can I not have dreams and goals while I’m here? Is there’s anything wrong with having things and wanting to be in relationships or having experiences that feel good and so on?

The answer is simple, yet tricky for many. While having this experience, all that we are asked is to not attach ourselves to any of our desires for in doing so we are worshiping the things of this world. While having this experience, it is okay to move in the direction of our dreams and having things of this world as long as we are clear that they are meaningless and not important, as long as we are clear that God is all we want above all else. That puts us in a position where we are not putting any Gods (things of this world) before Him.

But as long as we continue to do so, putting Gods before Him by wanting and wishing things of this world, in other words, by allowing temptation to lead us, all we will experience is more hell, more misery, even when at times we may have the pseudo moments of seeming contentment. We must remember that in this world, everything is temporary. In the Kingdom, which is our Real home, our joy, happiness, peace, and abundance is permanent!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Once you have developed a thought system of any kind, you live by it and...

2009-04-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

"Once you have developed a thought system of any kind, you live by it and teach it. Your capacity for allegiance to a thought system may be misplaced, but it is still a form of faith and can be redirected." -A Course in Miracles

Let’s look at this carefully. “Once you have developed a thought system of any kind, you live by it and teach it.” The thought system of any kind the Course is referring to is our beliefs. So once I believe in something, that’s what I teach. The challenge with that approach is, all beliefs are based on separation, on fear. It does not matter if they seem like positive beliefs. The reason being is because beliefs can be changed, and all beliefs have an opposite. Truth on the other hand has no opposite. So if we went to experience Truth, we must let go of everything we think we know; of every belief we have. In other words, we must let go of the “thought system” we have developed on our own.

That is a very simple thing to do, but not necessarily easy. It is simple because all we have to do is let go, but it is not easy because deep in our unconscious we have attached ourselves to those beliefs. So they need to be released gradually. That’s what the Holy Spirit is for, to help us release ourselves from every belief we have. But in order for us to do so, we first have to be willing to relinquish them to the Holy Spirit because we are the ones hanging on to them. We are the ones who have developed our own thought system the moment we chose the ego as our guide. The tool the Course offers us is the forgiveness process. We are not forgiving ourselves for being guilty because we have not done anything. We are innocent. However, we are forgiving ourselves for continuing to project an illusion that is not real, and in that forgiveness we release ourselves from our own chains. In that sense, the Course is not to be studied it is to be practiced.

The studying is the preparation, but the practice leads us to the experience. So the question is, How long do we want to delay the experience of remembering Who we really are? It is only a matter of when we want to let go of our own thought system (beliefs) and replace them with the Holy Spirit’s. It is that simple!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

The ego seeks to ‘resolve’ its problems, not at their source, but...

2009-04-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

"The ego seeks to ‘resolve’ its problems, not at their source, but where they were not made. And thus it seeks to guarantee there will be no solution." -A Course in Miracles (Original Version)

Where is the source of all our problems? It is in the mind because the mind projects what we see out into the illusory world, it projects an effect that although it is not real in nature, it seems very real to us. Now, where is the ego trying to solve our problems? It tries to do so at the level of the effect. In other words, it tries to solve them at the level of the illusion. So if what I am seeing is really a projection that comes from a mind that appears to be split; that believe to be separate from its Source, the real solution is not to try to change the projection (effect) but to change the mind that is projecting the illusion in the first place.

So the ego keeps our attention in the illusion because that is its source of life. The Holy Spirit on the other hand keeps our attention in the mind, for in healing the mind all illusions disappear. That’s why the Course reminds us to “seek not to change the world but to change your mind about the world.” The beauty of it all is, in order to change our mind we need do nothing. All we have to do is, hand over all of our problems and seeming concerns to the Holy Spirit so that It can undo what we have mistakenly made. That’s why the Course says, “Give the past to Him who can change your mind about it for you.”

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Be willing to forgive the Son of God for what he did not do.

2009-04-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

"Be willing to forgive the Son of God for what he did not do. The shadow figures are the witnesses you bring with you to demonstrate he did what he did not. Because you brought them, you will hear them. And you who kept them by your won selection do not understand how they came into your minds and what their purpose is." -A Course in Miracles (Original Version)

In a sense, everything we are seeing is a projection from a mind that is filled with guilt. Our idea of separation is what we project in order to convince ourselves that what we are seeing is real; that there are “others” out there. And since we are the ones who are projecting what we see, we get to hear our own voice, see our own images, we get to interpret our own perception of what is taking place. As a result we find ourselves blaming, judging, justifying ourselves, therefore solidifying in our minds this idea that what is happening in the world is real; that what we are perceiving with our physical senses is real.

So when we perceive ourselves as attacked by another for example, in reality, we are the ones who launched the attack on ourselves for there is really not another one out there. And if we choose to blame those who seem to be attacking us, all we are doing is blaming ourselves. And keep in mind that there is no such this as “ourselves,” it is really “our self.”

That’s why forgiveness is so important because the only “one” we are forgiving is really our self. So you are forgiving you for having created the illusion you are experiencing and in that sense you are forgiving your brother for what he did not do. Because how could something you have created can do anything to you? It is impossible, unless you believe that that something is really out there. So in forgiving your brother you forgive yourself, in forgiving yourself you forgive your brother for there is only one of us here. Once forgiveness is complete, you are free! Free to remember Who you really are.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

I will direct you to wherever you can be truly helpful and...

2009-04-08T11:01:00.000-07:00

"I will direct you to wherever you can be truly helpful and to whoever can follow my guidance through you." -A Course in Miracles (Original Version)

In understanding that every encounter is a holy encounter, allows us to realize that we are here to help bring healing to others. Not because there are such thing as others, but because they are helping us see areas within ourselves that needs healing.

So wherever we are guided to go, it is simply an opportunity for us to deepening our healing so we can experience our true nature. That’s why I resist nothing for resisting anything is what the ego wants us to do so that we can remain in the darkness. And that is because if we heal, the ego dies. The line “and to whoever can follow my guidance through you” helps me understand that I am not here to manipulate or persuade others to listen to me, but that if I stay on purpose, those who need to hear what I have to say will be drawn to me.

I was asked in a radio interview how could I justify telling others to trust their inner guidance when I have a book to sell and a website to advertise. My response to the radio host was, “As I let go and let God, I find myself inspired to create websites and write books, however, the key is, I don’t need to manipulate others or persuade them into thinking that I have any answers. I simply trust that whoever is guided to me, it is because of divine intervention, and once they find me, which is simply me talking to me, for there is only one of us in the room, I simply remind them that all the answers they have been seeking are within.”

And by the way, why do I remind them that all the answers are within? Because according to the Course, I am what I teach. So in reminding them that the answers are within I am reminding myself that the answers are within.

In truth, don’t see myself as a teacher but as a pointer; pointing people (myself) in the direction to where the answers are, which is within. In regards to the radio host’s question, there is nothing wrong with advertising or with promoting. What we must realize however is that as long as we know that God is our real Source and Supply, there is no need to manipulate or persuade anyone. That’s the difference between been on purpose as opposed to outcome. Only when we are on purpose can we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Who Are You Really Giving To?

2009-04-07T11:13:00.000-07:00

"God, who encompasses all being, nevertheless created beings who have everything individually but who want to share it to increase their joy. Nothing that is real can be increased except by sharing. That’s why God Himself created you. Divine abstraction takes joy in application, and that is what creation means. ‘How,’ ‘what,’ and ‘to whom’ are irrelevant because real creation gives everything since it can create only like itself." -A Course in Miracles (Original Version)

As created in the image and likeness of God, individually we have everything, and the only way for us to experience the joy of knowing that we have it all is by sharing it. But the sharing has been distorted by this notion of giving and receiving because it suggests that there is a giver and that there is a receiver. But how can there be a giver and a receiver in oneness? It is not possible.

However, in choosing to see the world through the ego’s perception, I have convinced myself that I am a separate unit, alone and helpless, who’s existence is dependent on what I can get from the world and from what I can accumulated. That keeps me rooted in fear for all I am experiencing is my distorted idea of separation from my Source.

In oneness however, I recognize that all that I have is extended freely to everything and everyone for in reality, the only one I am giving to is myself. So nothing is lost or given away, it is simply God experiencing the joy of extending His love back to Himself. That’s why it is said that what I give to others I give to myself, and what I fail to give to others I fail to give to myself, because we are all One!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

You have very little trust in me as yet, but it will increase as you...

2009-04-06T14:02:00.000-07:00

"You have very little trust in me as yet, but it will increase as you turn more and more often to me instead of your egos for guidance." -A Course in Miracles (Original Version)

I have spent my whole life looking at the world through my physical eyes, therefore, believing in what I see. But as I practice turning within, little by little the veil that covers my eyes is being lifted so that I can really see because in reality my eyes see nothing. All they do is, they simply perceive what my mind is projecting.

By turning within, and healing the mind, I will still be projecting, but this time my projections will be grounded in love and not fear until I awaken. The reason I will continue to project for a bit longer before awakening is so that the mind can get use to embracing love before I am ready to truly open my eyes.

Because if I were to awaken from the place I am right now to who I really am, the sudden shift can be very overwhelming and scary. So the gift of turning within is that I can experience a happy dream while appearing to be in a body before I experience myself at Home; in Heaven, the place where I am right now, even when it appears not to be so in my present illusory experience.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

All things work together for your good. There are no exceptions except...

2009-04-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

"All things work together for your good. There are no exceptions except in the ego’s judgment." -A Course in Miracles

Everything that is taking place in our lives, every single event is part of the perfection of an unfolding plan that is leading us back home, or in Course's terms, helping us awaken from a dream of separation. The challenge is, the ego judges everything as less than perfect. If we simply allow ourselves the opportunity to trust, without having to question, we give ourselves an opportunity to relax and experience how Spirit is always handling everything flawlessly.

How many times in the past you went through experience that might have seem less than perfect, just so that maybe few hours later, or few months later, or even years later, you realize that they were the best things that could have even happen to you? Remember that the ego judges based on past experiences, or fear of future concerns, therefore infecting our present moment awareness.

Why is the ego so afraid of the present moment? Because in that instant, which the Course refers to as the Holy Instant, the ego loses its imaginary power over you, and you are now able to listen to the still voice within that is always reminding you to open your eyes and see the truth, which is, that the ego does not exist. In that moment, the ego dies.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Why Not Listening Instead?

2009-04-04T23:48:00.000-07:00

My three favorite lessons from ACIM are, lesson 50, lesson 135 and lesson 189 paragraph 7.

That will keep you busy reading. In the meantime, before my next posting, I did a radio interview on Sunday, April 4, 2009.

To listen to me on radio, the actual mp3 link is:
http://www.successandmiracles.com/mp3-new/tell_me_your_story_radio.mp3

To listen from my website the link would be:
http://www.successandmiracles.com/service.html

Hope you all enjoy it! And here is today's post:

"To teach is do demonstrate. There are only two thought systems, and you demonstrate that you believe one or the other is true all the time. From your demonstrations others learn, and so do you." -A Course in Miracles

What is that suggesting? Well, if what I am seeing out there, is really myself, then what I am teaching to "others" is really what I am teaching to myself, or in this case, what I am reminding myself of. So what is it that i want to remind myself always? That I am love or that I am fear?

I may not have to attempt to walk on water to demonstrate my greatness, but I can practice being loving, and form that space, my greatness shines in a different from. In one that not only transforms me, but indirectly, it affects others as well. How, you may ask? Because the only one I am affecting is me, for there is only One of us here.

So what am I demonstrating? That I love myself or that I don't?

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

A healed mind does not plan. It carries out...

2009-04-04T14:26:00.000-07:00

“A healed mind does not plan. It carries out the plans that it receives through listening to wisdom that is not its own. It waits until it has been taught what should be done, and then proceeds to do it.” –A Course in Miracles (Lesson 135)

The reason why a healed mind does not need to plan it is because it is not fooled by illusions. The world of form (illusion) is simply projecting our present state of consciousness. If my mind is filled with fear, that’s what it will project, and in my own ignorance I would set out to change, plan, fix, or react, to that which I am projecting.

But if I simply practice being present, trusting that what I am seeing is not real, I experience peace. From that space I open myself to true guidance; one that will provide the perfect answer to any seeming challenge I may be faced with. And if I am not facing a challenge, that guidance, which is not the pseudo wisdom of my intellect, but my real Self’s, will lead me through my life experience while taking care of all of my needs without me having to struggle and strive, until I open my eyes and remember Who I really am.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

The mind engaged in planning for itself is occupied in setting up control of future happenings. It does not think...

2009-04-03T07:48:00.000-07:00

“The mind engaged in planning for itself is occupied in setting up control of future happenings. It does not think that it will be provided for, unless it makes its own provisions.” –A Course in Miracles (Lesson 135)

My favorite quote from the Scriptures have always been, “Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls.” [Luke 12:24].

In a world filled with goals, planning, and agendas, people get so lost in their own false sense of control that they don’t allow for the development of faith. They think their source and supply comes from the world, as a result they live a life in fear.

But what if they knew that there is a Power that is eager to guide them, protect them and take care of them? A Course in Miracles reminds me, “If you knew Who walks beside you on the way that you have chosen, fear would be impossible.” The challenge is, most people think that God is here to help them make their dreams come true when in reality, God is not even aware of the dream we are dreaming. All God want is for us to remember who we really are so that we can experience a life that is far much more amazing than anything we can possible think of. That’s why The Course says, “O my child, if you knew what God wills for you, your joy would be complete!”

However, while we are having this experience of being in a world of form, by allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us, through developing trust and faith, we can have a very peaceful and joyful life before is time for us to release the body and experience ourselves in our Real Home, which is Heaven. We also give ourselves an opportunity to live a purposeful life, for the body now is used as a tool to help awaken others.

Althought there are no others per se, we remind ourselves through the illusion of teaching others what we need to be reminded of: what we need to learn. And that is because as The Course reminds us, we are what we teach. If we teach oneness, we are oneness, but if we teach separation, we are separation. And how do we teach separation? We do so by believing in the world we perceive with our senses, by trying to be in control.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

A second fallacy is the idea the you can get rid of something...

2009-03-31T08:10:00.000-07:00

“A second fallacy is the idea the you can get rid of something you do not want by giving it away. Giving it is how you keep it. The belief that by giving it out you have excluded it from within is a complete distortion of the power of extension.” –A Course in Miracles (Original Version)

That which you give, you get to keep, is because since there is only one, you are not really giving anything away to anyone, you are simply giving it back to yourself. So if you give love, that’s how you keep it. If you give hate, that’s how you keep it.

Now, for the sake of language, let’s talk about exchanging what could be referred to as “external things” such as money for example. When I give money away, in reality, all I did was extending myself. So the money never left the Source, however because of my belief in separation, I have distorted the power of my own extension. So I have created the illusion of another person whom I am giving something that has left me and was passed on to someone out there. So I hide what I give to myself from myself.

Once I am clear of Who I really am, everything I seem to give is given unconditionally because nothing was really given, it was being extended from one part of me to another part of me. But since there is no such thing as one part of me to another part of me, for there is only One, it could be said that I simply gave to myself. That’s why ideas never leave their source. Nothing has ever left the Source. Nothing has ever left You.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Self esteem in ego terms means nothing more than...

2009-03-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

“’Self esteem’ in ego terms means nothing more than that the ego has deluded itself into accepting its reality and is therefore temporarily less predatory. This ‘self esteem’ is always vulnerable to stress, a term which actually refers to a condition in which the delusion of the ego’s reality is threatened. This produces either ego deflation or ego inflation, resulting in either withdrawal or attack.” –A Course in Miracles (Original Version)

Our self esteem, in ego terms, is dependent on how we feel about ourselves based on how we see the world, one that does not exist. This world that is none existent is what gives life to our false sense of self (the ego). The term self esteem, in spiritual terms does not exist at all because who we are has nothing to do with how we feel about ourselves, or the world that we see. Who we are is the “I Am” presence that is beyond this world.

The ego is less predatory when we keep our attention in the world because it has no need to defend itself. Although our lives could be very chaotic, to the ego’s eyes, everything is going wonderfully, because our attention is out into the world. So as along as we keep our attention outside of ourselves, if things seem to be going well, in other words, our self esteem seems to be high, the ego withdraw. In essence it seems to deflate. It does not mean that the ego is not there, it simply means that it has no need to attack because its life is not threatened.

However, the world is going to change because what ego wants to do, ultimately, is to kill us. So is a no-win situation. So when we begin the process of undoing the ego, by withdrawing our attention from the world that we see, the ego’s life is being threatened. As a result, the ego will do whatever it takes to get our attention. These times, which brings a great deal of discomfort is what is experienced as “the dark night of the soul.” And all that is asked of us, is to simply ask for peace of mind above all else, to practice being present. The reason being is, what’s really happening is not real, is just another twist of the illusion so that we can continue believing that what our physical senses are telling us is real.

That’s why when our lives seem to be falling apart, nothing is really going wrong. We are being asked to trust the process so we can experience peace. From that space we allow the Holy Spirit to work the details in our life for a grandeur purpose, which is to help us awaken from this illusion so that we can experience the true nature of our being; so that we can experience the kingdom, our real home.

In the meantime, while we are having this seeming earthly experience, once we have attained the peace the passeth understanding, which is the ultimate goal on earth, we set ourselves up for experiences that are beyond what we could possibly imagine. We are not asked to suffer or sacrifice our lives, we are simply asked to trust. And the Holy Spirit will work out the details of our life in ways that will suit us best. Some may start businesses, some may find themselves loving their career more, some may find themselves creating music, or painting, or traveling more, or writing books, some may just simply make life changing decisions, some may let go of lots of the things they once thought they needed, whatever it is we end up doing, we will do it with love and non-attachment. Because ultimately, if it has to do with this world, you can rest assure that it is not important. And on a much deeper level, our work will serve to teach others, or prepare them for their own awakening. The truth is, there is no need for self esteem once we have come to realize who we really are.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

“Put not your faith in illusions.” –A Course in Miracles

2009-03-26T09:37:00.000-07:00

Lesson 50, which along with lesson 189.7 are my two favorites, lesson 50 talk about illusions and idols which can confuse students who are not clear about what The Course is talking about. So I am going to take that same paragraph 4 from Lesson 50 and will substitute the words “illusions” and “idols” with “the things of this world” to see how easily the paragraph can be understood. But first let’s start by quoting Jesus from the Scriptures:

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
-Bible [1 John: chapter 2, verse 15]

Now let’s read lesson 50, paragraph 4 with the words being substituted:

Put not your faith in the things of this world. They will fail you. Put all your faith in the Love of God within you; eternal, changeless and forever unfailing. This is the answer to whatever confronts you today. Through the Love of God within you, you can resolve all seeming difficulties without effort and in sure confidence. Tell yourself this often today. It is a declaration of release from the belief in the things of this world. It is your acknowledgment of the truth about yourself.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Shortest Post Ever!

2009-03-23T11:14:00.001-07:00

“The body cannot know. And while you limit your awareness to its tiny sense, you will not see the grandeur that surrounds you.” –A Course in Miracles

I feel that sentence says it all!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

If you perceive a teacher as merely a “larger ego” you will be afraid because...

2009-03-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

“If you perceive a teacher as merely a “larger ego” you will be afraid because to enlarge an ego is to increase separation anxiety. I will teach with you and live with you if you will think with me, but my goal will always be to absolve you finally from the need for a teacher.” –A Course in Miracles (Original Version)

Many students often look for a guru or teacher not realizing that the only teacher is the one within. But to listen to our inner teacher it requires practice and most importantly, patience. People look up to other teachers, thinking that they knew something.

This is a very dangerous place to be because someone who is vulnerable will fall for any teacher that can promise some kind of salvation. We must remember that the ego can disguise itself in the form of a priest, guru, rabbi, healer, teacher, expert and as some refers themselves to, as enlightened masters. Gary Renard once said, "Next time you meet a self-proclaimed enlightened masters, offer to have a nail drill through his/her risk, and see how well he/she deals with that."

The reason being is, most "self proclaimed" enlightened masters still have a body identification, not realizing that the body is the reason we experience our separation from Spirit. Most refer to as the body temple, not realizing that the body is actually a prison. As A Course in Miracles reminds me: “The body is a fence the Son of God imagines he has built, to separate parts of his Self from other parts. It is within this fence he thinks he lives, to die as it decays and crumbles. For within this fence he thinks that he is safe from love. Identifying with his safety, he regards himself as what his safety is. How else could he be certain he remains within the body, keeping love outside?”

Real teachers are not ones who make people dependent on them but ones who remind others that the teacher is within them. The way I see my life is but to help people remember that their real source is Spirit. But in order for me to teach that I have to practice it. For A Course in Miracles always reminds me that I am what I teach.

Now let’s turn what I just said around. We are always teaching, for the teacher and the student is one and the same. Since I am what I teach, the question I must ask myself is, am I teaching separation or am I teaching oneness? If I look up to another teacher, the separation anxiety the course is referring to, is because I am making myself believe that I am separate from my Source, therefore the teacher I see out there, who I am putting my faith and trust in, becomes a symbol of separation for me. But since there is no one out there, no teacher can actually teach me anything other than where my present state of consciousness is for I am the one projecting what I am seeing.

So the message is to remind myself always to be careful where do I place my faith in, and to continue practicing listening to the Holy Sprit, otherwise, I will simply be experiencing the illusion of a delaying my remembrance of who I really am.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Everyone who follows the world’s curriculum, and everyone here does follow it until...

2009-03-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

“Everyone who follows the world’s curriculum, and everyone here does follow it until he changes his mind, teaches solely to convince himself that he is what he is not.” -A Course in Miracles

This ties up with another Course's lesson stating that I am what I teach. So if I teach separation I am separation, however, if I teach oneness, I am oneness. But how do I teach oneness when I am experiencing separation? The answer would be by denying the illusion. Denying the illusion is my willingness to at least acknowledge that there is something more than what my physical senses are telling me.

I can see myself as a body, while acknowledging that my body is not who I am, that it is an illusion. I have been taught how to think and what to believe, that in order for me to undo my ego (present thought system) I need to start thinking differently along the lines of the Holy Spirit.

The key to remember is that I am not the one undoing the ego, the Holy Spirit is. Therefore every time I am willing to practice forgiveness, all I am doing is inviting the Holy Spirit to take over my present thought system and replace it with the Holy Spirit’s. That’s why I need to remind myself constantly that “i,” yes the small “i,” need do nothing.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Love waits on welcome, not on time,...

2009-03-19T07:09:00.000-07:00

"Love waits on welcome, not on time, and the real world is but your welcome of what always was." -A Course in Miracles

It is interesting how we often think that we have to find, look or work towards remembering who we are, when in reality, all that is need of us is the willingness to surrender everything that we are attached to. All of our attachments, i.e. illusions, are the blocks that prevents us from revealing the love that is us.

I was sharing in A Course in Miracle's study group, one of the participants said that it is so difficult to let go of what we know, and to surrender. I responded to her that I could understand where she was coming from, but in hindsight, at least from personal experience in many areas of my life, I have discovered that once I let go of everything I thought I knew, once I felt comfortable with not knowing, it was actually far much easier than holding on the everything I thought I knew.

So in reality, letting go is far much easier than hanging on. But for that, we have to be ready. And the readiness usually comes as a result of trying to hang on for so long to our ways of living and doing things, until our grip loosens. And that, unfortunately, happens when we face a major breakdown. Not for everyone, but for most people. That's why Jesus reminds us that we don't have to go through the crucifixion, we can experience the resurrection, today, if we are willing to welcome the love that is within so that we can recognize the real world, the one that always was.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

You who want peace can find it only by...

2009-03-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

"You who want peace can find it only by complete forgiveness. You never wanted peace before, so there was no point in being told how to achieve it." - A Course in Miracles (Original Version)

What the statement is saying to me is that the only way I will make myself open to experience peace is by really wanting God more than anything else. I can say that I want peace, but as long as I still have some kind of attachment to illusions I will not give myself the opportunity to be open to the experience of peace in my life. That’s why the line says that there is not point in being told how to achieve it because in reality, I am not really ready to listen.

That does not mean I cannot go for things I may desire, but once I am clear that this world has nothing important to offer me and that my happiness and joy is derived only from God, it is like building my house on rock as opposed to sand. As Gary Renard once said, “You can build your house on rock, but that does not mean you cannot play with a little sand.”

But to finish my point, in order for me to achieve complete forgiveness, I have to be willing and open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, trusting that It knows what is best for me, regardless of what my present circumstances may seem to look like. This take practice and willingness, and as A Course in Miracles says, “Faith beyond you.”

Remember, it is easy to have faith when the bank account seems full, or when things seems to be going my way, but what happens when the account is empty and my life seems to be falling apart? That’s when I am asked to truly surrender and to let go. Yet, at those critical moments, what is it that the ego is asking me to do? "TO HANG ON FOR MY LIFE!!!" And yet, what is The Course asking me to do, at those moments when everything seems to be falling apart? With a subtle whisper it reminds me, “I need to nothing.” And why that is? Because even when at the surface it may seem as if my life is falling apart, if I could just sit back and become the observer of my experience, I can see that my life is actually falling together for the very first time!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

"Whatever is true is eternal, and cannot changed or be changed." - A Course in Miracles

2009-03-17T06:38:00.000-07:00

It is fascinating how spiritual teachers are so caught up in this “energy” idea, equating God with energy. Seminars on spirituality and metaphysics worship the word energy as if it has anything to do with God. Yet, what is scientists telling us about energy? That although it cannot be destroyed, it can be changed, or transformed.

So if God is eternal, never changing, how could we possible equate energy with God? Some spiritual teachers would suggest that God evolves. That is a very scary thought because it suggests that God is not perfect to begin with. For in order for something to evolve, it must have room for improvement. The truth is that God Is, and there is nothing else to say.

Some then suggest that God is perfect but that we are the ones who are evolving. Yet, if we are created in the image and likeness of God, that is an oxymoron. We are not really evolving, we are remembering. And the way we remember is not by evolving but by removing every block that is in the way of our recognition of our True Self. If I am God, there is not place for me to go to, or look for, in order to have the experience of myself. I just need to go deep enough, past all the self-imposed ideas about myself until I get to the “I Am” as opposed to the “I will evolve to.”

But as long as we attempt to understand, describe, or find ways to intellectually explain the nature of God, the truth of God will continue to elude us because God is not intellectually understood, God is an experience. And that experience can come about only when we are willing to let go of everything that God is not. And one thing is for certain, God is not of this world!

We can never find God within the experience of this world. We must remove our distorted perception of ourselves by allowing Christ’s vision to see for us in order to experience our oneness with God (Our Self). So let’s stop worshiping energy and all these intellectual distractions and let’s remind ourselves that in order to know God, we must be out of our mind!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Those Who Remember Always That They Know Nothing...

2009-03-16T08:31:00.000-07:00

"Those who remember always that they know nothing, and who have become willing to learn everything, will learn it. But whenever they trust themselves, they will not learn. They have destroyed their motivation for learning by thinking they already know. Think not you understand anything until you pass the test of perfect peace, for peace and understanding go together and never can be found alone." - A Course in Miracles

A friend asked me a question expecting a definite answer, especially since I seemed to understand what A Course in Miracles is about. So my answer to her was;

"Let me start by saying that A Course in Miracles is not the only path and I don't want you to turn it into a God in itself. The second thing is, I see you asking me questions when in reality, the ultimate goal is for you to cultivate your own communication with your inner guide. That's why I have mentioned to you before to be careful not to attach yourself to teachers because God's answers are within you. But that takes courage because when your inner voice says to make a right turn, all these other voices would suggest you turn left.

And these voices I am talking about are every teacher you put your faith in, even me if you think that I have answers. Yes, you can love the work they do and enjoy them, but be careful not to get caught up in thinking they know something because if they are part of this illusion, just like you and I are, you can rest assure that they, just as me, know nothing.

One thing I love about A Course in Miracles is that it never gave me answers, just simple exercises so that I can continue strengthening my communication with my true Self. As for me, all I choose is God. In the meantime, as I continue to surrender my will to God's, if I feel inspired to write a book I do so. Then I might feel inspired to write a song so I do so. I may feel inspired to call a friend so I do so. I may feel inspired to visit a different place and I trust that the resources will be provide for me. And I may be also guided to do nothing when my intellect suggests I should be doing something, so I do nothing.

That's how I have developed and strengthen my faith. I am simply allowing myself to be guided as to what to do at all times, trusting that God knows best."

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

A body needs no healing. But the mind that thinks it is a body is sick indeed!

2009-03-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

"A body needs no healing. But the mind that thinks it is a body is sick indeed! And it is here that Jesus sets forth the remedy." - A Course in Miracles

Jesus never saw a sick body. He only perceived a mind what was fearful. As result, he never prescribed or told anyone what to do, He simply asked, "Do you have faith?" In that moment, because of Jesus' strong faith, their mind was able to be at peace, and the healing took place. In other words, Jesus' faith was strong enough to influence the mind of the person who thought it needed healing. But in order for Jesus to do that, Jesus needed to be healed first. His healed mind is what led to the healing of the illusion that is referred to as others.

Speaking in worldly terms, that's the problem with healers out there. They see bodies that are sick and set out to heal them, not realizing that what they are seeing is their own unhealed minds projected as others. So it could be concluded that this world is filled with unhealed healers. So instead of focusing on healing others, we need to focus on healing ourselves from our false sense of separation from God. Once we heal, the world heals. Or we could say, the illusion disappears. Why? Because there is only one of us in the room!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

You are not making use of the course if...

2009-03-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

"You are not making use of the course if you insist on using means which have served others well, neglecting what is made for you". –A Course in Miracles

That line I use as a reminder to help me be still and to listen. The reason being is, all the answers I have always been seeking, which in reality, it is just one answer, is within. And the answer is God Is! But as long as I continue to look for others to give me answers such as gurus, teachers, healers, ministers, experts, theologians, etc., the answer that is right for me will elude me.

The reason being is because I am in what could be considered a labyrinth. And those who are inside the labyrinth with me, regardless of how much knowledge they seem to have, they are seeing the same walls I am seeing, for they are bound by the same limitations I am, i.e. their physical body. However, if I practice turning within, and strengthening my own communication with my inner Self, the Holy Spirit, that part of me that can see the labyrinth from the top, I will be led to freedom, even when the means for me might be different from the ones that might have worked for others.

So the Holy Spirit, by not being bound by the limitations of being in the labyrinth, and being able to see the whole picture, it can direct me as to where to go, where to turn, and also when to turn. The reason being, any particular turn may be the right one, but not at that particular moment because of the obstacles that I may encounter on the other side. But once that obstacle is removed, then I will be instructed to proceed.

That’s why The Course reminds me that “I need do nothing” meaning, that on my own, I don’t have to do anything. But as I allow myself to be led, my actions are inspired by my inner guidance as opposed to my ego, leading me gently to my experience of the Kingdom, my real Home, the place I never left.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

I Am Done With A Course In Miracles

2009-03-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

Today, Friday March 13, 2009 I finished my last lesson from The Course’ Workbook for Students. After starting to study The Course for a little over a year ago, beginning by reading the text, and then doing the workbook lessons, A Course in Miracles is a very simple course. It repeats itself over and over and over again. As a matter of fact, I like to quote these words by Dr. Kenneth Wapnick:

“Because it is so simple, it is so threatening. All you have to do is look. You don’t have to do anything, you don’t have to practice anything else. All the workbook exercises, if you really understand the content underneath them, it’s all about looking at your ego. And understanding that there are two ways of looking, one is the ego, which is not looking, that’s judging, and the other is the Holy Spirit, which is looking with that gentle smile. It’s all you have to do. People want to make this easier, which means they want to make it more complicated. What could be easier than this? ‘I need do nothing.’”

As for me, the two lessons that stuck the most are lesson 50 and lesson 189. Lesson 50, paragraphs 1-4 states:

“I am sustained by the Love of God.

Here is the answer to every problem that will confront you, today and tomorrow and throughout time. In this world, you believe you are sustained by everything but God. Your faith is placed in the most trivial and insane symbols; pills, money, "protective" clothing, influence, prestige, being liked, knowing the "right" people, and an endless list of forms of nothingness that you endow with magical powers.

All these things are your replacements for the Love of God. All these things are cherished to ensure a body identification. They are songs of praise to the ego. Do not put your faith in the worthless. It will not sustain you.

Only the Love of God will protect you in all circumstances. It will lift you out of every trial, and raise you high above all the perceived dangers of this world into a climate of perfect peace and safety. It will transport you into a state of mind that nothing can threaten, nothing can disturb, and where nothing can intrude upon the eternal calm of the Son of God.

Put not your faith in illusions. They will fail you. Put all your faith in the Love of God within you; eternal, changeless and forever unfailing. This is the answer to whatever confronts you today. Through the Love of God within you, you can resolve all seeming difficulties without effort and in sure confidence. Tell yourself this often today. It is a declaration of release from the belief in idols. It is your acknowledgment of the truth about yourself.”

And lesson 189, paragraph 7 states:

“Simply do this: Be still, and lay aside all thoughts of what you are and what God is; all concepts you have learned about the world; all images you hold about yourself. Empty your mind of everything it thinks is either true or false, or good or bad, of every thought it judges worthy, and all the ideas of which it is ashamed. Hold onto nothing. Do not bring with you one thought the past has taught, nor one belief you ever learned before from anything. Forget this world, forget this course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God.”

As a matter of fact, if we look at lesson 189, and just practice that paragraph, there is nothing else to do, or to learn, or to figure out. It is that simple! I love what the Beatles once said:

“When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be.”

But what is the ego saying?

“When I find myself in times of trouble, the ego comes to me, speaking words of fear, DO SOMETHING!”

Yes, I can read the text every day, study it, dissect it, attempt to understand it, intellectualize it, in other words, learn the theology, but that is not going to get me to the experience. That’s just going to keep me stuck in the dream FOREVER!!! Actually, that’s not the case because we have already awaken, all that it will do is, making us feel separate for a longer period of time, which could be thousands of lifetimes.

So as I put the Course on the shelf, and leave it alone, here is how I have been practicing the teachings of the Course, and will continue to do so, unless Spirit guides me otherwise;

1) If I find myself being disturbed by an image, a comment, anything that is in field of awareness that triggers me, all I do is to forgive myself for having created that illusion that is not real, and to offer it to the Holy Spirit.

2) In that moment, I ask the Holy Spirit to help me see this differently. In other words I invite the Holy Spirit to help me see the truth as opposed to what I am seeing, i.e. projecting. In doing so, I am simply humbling myself and recognizing that I know nothing.

3) And finally, or first, because there is really no specific order in which I practice what I am sharing, I simply ask for peace of mind, and not for specifics. In peace of mind I trust that it is all happening in divine order and because I am clear that I don’t know, I simply trust and resist nothing. From that space, if there is something I need to do, I trust that it will be revealed to me. And if I am still confused, I just simply make a decision, always inviting the Holy Spirit while being open. I bring that up because many students become paralyzed, thinking that they need to hear a voice, or that they need to be certain of specific instructions. I would like to share an email I sent to a friend of mine who was caught up in trying to figure out if Spirit was guiding her or if it was her ego:

“Here you go again, wanting to be "certain." That's how the ego gets you. Just do what you are inspired to do and don't give it a second thought. Because within that fear is your greatest opportunity to practice forgiveness. What is it to be certain or uncertain of if nothing in this world is real?”

Before finishing this post, here is one thing I want you to be aware of, which I share with Course’s students at my speaking engagements. When we find ourselves dealing with painful situation, we tend to forgive. But when we seem to be having lots of pleasure, we tend to forget. Forget what, you may ask? Forget that whatever it is that is bringing us pleasure, it is also an illusion. And since the ego’s life is at stake, if the ego cannot manipulate us through pain, it will do it through pleasure.

That’s why we need to be very vigilant. That does not mean we cannot have a wonderful time. What I am saying is, as we are enjoying our pleasurable times, to offer them to God, just so that we are clear that we are not putting anything of this world before our God.

And finally, how do I start each and every day? Aside from the fact that I intend to love everything and everyone, for that which I am seeing out there, which is not really out there, is really me, I say these words upon awakening;

“This morning I open my heart to Your Divine guidance. I surrender all my thoughts and decisions to You, trusting that You will lead me in the right direction. All I ask of You, is to tell me where to go, what do to, what to say, and to who. Because today, the only thing I want, is to do Your Will. In surrendering my will to Yours, I experience peace.”

As I continue to practice, I trust that the time will come, hopefully sooner than later, when I’ll be opening my eyes gradually, and remember who I really am.

I will continue to post since it is something I enjoy doing. The way I do so in case you ask, I open The Course, and in whatever page it lands, I look for a quote, a sentence or even a paragraph that jumps at me, and then I elaborate a bit on it. And that’s it. I hope what I just shared helped and remember that I love you unconditionally!

As for me, I’m done with The Course, meaning, “the theology.” As lesson 189 suggested: “..,forget this course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God.”

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com

Put not your faith in illusions. They will fail you.

2009-03-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

"Put not your faith in illusions. They will fail you. Put all your faith in the Love of God within you; eternal, changeless and forever unfailing. This is the answer to whatever confronts you today. Through the Love of God within you, you can resolve all seeming difficulties without effort and in sure confidence." –A Course in Miracles, Lesson 50

Look at everything in your life you think it is your source of love, or happiness, or wealth, and you can rest assured that sooner or later it will fail you. It will not sustain you. This is the equivalent of becoming a children of a lesser god. Because that which we endow with magical powers, as the lesson says, it has become our god.

Yet, if we are willing to practice remembering that we are sustained by the love of God, and not the things of this world, our faith in our true Self is strengthened. And the way we practice is by surrendering our will to God’s, by not resisting anything, for in resisting all we are doing is solidifying in our conscious awareness the idea, belief, that we know what is best, and that whatever challenge we are confronted with has any power over us.

Remember that we will not be presented with anything we cannot handle. Although we are the ones projecting our own illusions, still, whatever it is we seemed to be confronted with, if we practice surrendering to what is, then there is no suffering, there is only peace. From that space, with clarity of thought, we will be guided as to what to do, if there is something that needs to be done. As the last sentence of the Course’s paragraph above stated, “Through the Love of God within you, you can resolve all seeming difficulties without effort and in sure confidence.”

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Denial of Illusion Versus Denial of Experience

2009-03-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

Many Course’s students get confuse when the text talks about the denial of the illusion as opposed to the experience. So I’ll elaborate briefly.

DENIAL OF ILLUSION:
“2 The acceptance of peace is the denial of illusion, and sickness is an illusion. 3 Yet every Son of God has the power to deny illusions anywhere in the Kingdom, merely by denying them completely in himself.” [T-10.III.7. Sentences 2-3]

DENIAL OF EXPERIENCE:
“8 The body is merely part of your experience in the physical world. 9 Its abilities can be and frequently are overevaluated. 10 However, it is almost impossible to deny its existence in this world. 11 Those who do so are engaging in a particularly unworthy form of denial. 12 The term "unworthy" here implies only that it is not necessary to protect the mind by denying the unmindful. 13 If one denies this unfortunate aspect of the mind's power, one is also denying the power itself.” [T-2.IV.3. Sentences 8-13]

While having the experience of being in a body, I can see illusions for what they are and deny their existence. That’s how I allow truth to reveal itself through me. The way I deny their existence is through my forgiveness practice. However, while being in a seeming physical body, denying my experience would be foolish.

An example would be, if someone is dealing with a physical condition, his experience may be that the body is sick. So while he may be prompted to take the medicine, or as The Course reffers to as, “special agents”, he can continue practicing the forgiveness process while denying the illusion. In that sense, he sets himself up to experience the peace that passeth understanding. If on the other hand, he denies the experience by pretending that he is not in a body and that the body is not real, he may have to deal with the consequences of a choice that was not made by Spirit but by his own ego.

I know I am not a body, but that does not mean I am going to run in front of a moving truck. As we practice our forgiveness process, and continue on our way to achieving enlightenment, one of two things will take place. One, we could get to a place where Jesus the Christ was able to get to, where he could dispose of the body and return to it by choice, which by the way, I don’t know of any master that have achieve that kind of state of enlightenment. Or two, we could simply live a normal life, which is probably the way it will be, except that our love and sense of who we are is so predominant that no matter what happens around us, our peace is unshaken. In that sense, after we have left the body, there is no need for us to incarnate, or should I say, return to the dream again. And our cycle of birth and death has come to an end.

So the question is, do we want to perpetuate this dream? Or do we want to awaken from it? If we do, how long do want for that process to take place? The answer lies in our willingness to practice forgiveness. As The Course reminds us, "The miracle substitutes for learning that might have taken thousands of years."

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

He has not greater difficulty in resolving some than others. Every problem is...

2009-03-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

“He has not greater difficulty in resolving some than others. Every problem is the same to Him, because each one is solved in just the same respect and through the same approach... It serves no purpose to attempt to solve it in a special form. It will recur and then recur again and yet again, until it has been answered for all time and will not rise again in any form.” -A Course in Miracles

What The Course is referring to here is that we spend our efforts trying to solve our problems with the same mind that created them. We don’t realize that every problem, although it may seem different in form, in reality it is the same. It is guilt that is projected outward, and the only way to resolve that guilt is through practicing forgiveness. That’s why The Course says that there are no order of difficulty in miracles. And that is because whether we are dealing with a cold or with cancer, they are both illusions. So one illusion looking more difficult to solve than another makes no difference. When we restore ourselves back to oneness, all illusions disappear.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Forgiveness separates the dreamer from the evil dream...

2009-03-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

“Forgiveness separates the dreamer from the evil dream, and thus releases him.” -A Course in Miracles

You could say that forgiveness is the tool we have been given in order to open our eyes, it is the instruction’s manual. The simplicity of this manual is that it does not contain multiple pages filled with thousand of instructions. It only contains one instruction consisting of one word, forgiveness.

But if that is all it takes, why is it seems so difficult to apply it? Why is it seems so complicated? The answer is because of our own attachments to how we think things should be, or look. In reality, all that is asked of us is to simply let go. If we can get to a place where we can surrender our will completely to God, where we can surrender all of our attachments and beliefs, where we resist nothing, what would be left? Peace. There would be no suffering whatsoever. From that space we have clarity of thought and our day will unfold naturally while we do as we are guided. But as The Course reminds us, although spirituality is very simple, the ego is very complicated and it has to be undone gradually.

During this undoing process, from personal experience, I would say that the best thing we could do for ourselves, as we practice forgiveness, is to be compassionate with ourselves. Because undoing the ego requires trust and faith, “faith beyond you,” as The Course’s states. One of the students in A Course in Miracles’ study group share these words; “God wants me to just be happy. And for me to have that experience, all I need to do is to practice forgiveness. As I forgive, I get to experience my happiness.” So as the old song says, “Don’t worry, be happy! :o)

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Depression or assault must be the theme of every dream, for they are made of fear.

2009-03-08T09:15:00.000-07:00

“Depression or assault must be the theme of every dream, for they are made of fear. The thin disguise of pleasure and of joy in which they may be wrapped but slightly veils the heavy lump of fear that is their core.” -A Course in Miracles

This is the danger when letting our emotions dictate what is true for us. It is said by some of the most popular psychologist and motivational speaker that the quality of our emotions determines the quality of our life. Yet, according to the teachings of The Course, the opposite is true. The reason being is, our emotions do not determine the quality of our life they simply determine the kind of roller coaster we are going to be riding, for what goes up must come down. The quality of our lives is determined by the degree to which we can be at peace regardless of what the roller coaster is doing.

So we project illusions, i.e. the physical world, and then let our emotions determine if what we are projecting is good or bad, in other words, if it is making us feel pain or pleasure. Obviously, who would not want to feel pleasure? The challenge is, behind every pleasure there is going to be pain and vise versa. Also if our projections (illusions) are the determining factor on how we feel, then we are at the mercy of the world as opposed to at the cause of it. Since the world is always changing, then so will be our emotions.

Some would argue that their world is good and tolerable, yet, what The Course is warning us is that if we choose the world, our illusions, in other words, the ego as our savior, we will have to deal with consequences that eventually will force us to get down on our knees. As The Course reminds us, “Tolerance for pain may be high, but it is not without limit.” So the key is to choose peace above all else and to keep vigilance of the ego, because it will do whatever it takes to keep our attention wrapped up in illusions for if the world no longer exist, the life of the ego is terminated. This reminds me of what someone once said to me at A Course in Miracles’ study group. She said, “What the ego says to us is, ‘if you were not my only mode of transportation, I would have killed you long time ago.’”

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com

“God’s answer is some form of peace.” -A Course in Miracles, Lesson 359

2009-03-07T09:19:00.000-08:00

A challenging thing for most people to understand is that the answer that God gives us is the peace that passeth understanding. But we have been taught that an answered prayer means that things are going our way. That would be the equivalent as to ask for specifics. The Song of Prayer, which is an addendum to A Course in Miracles states: “The secret of true prayer is to forget the things you think you need. To ask for the specific is much the same as to look on sin and then forgive it.”

Asking for specifics is the same as assuming that the world, or for that matter, our needs are real. Peace of mind, on the other hand overlooks what seems to be taking place front of us and replace it with vision, it help us see clearly. So in reality, the best form of prayer is to ask for peace of mind always. The benefits of that prayer is that from a peaceful state of mind, we get clarity of thought. This allows us to open up to ideas that could be the answer to any problem we may be faced with.

Keep in mind that by being peaceful, learning to see things differently by allowing the Holy Spirit’s vision replace our own judgment, that which was considered a seeming problem may now be seen as an opportunity or just a passing experience. At times, the challenge may even resolve itself without us having to do anything. That’s why The Course reminds us, “You need do nothing.” Meaning, that on my own, I need to nothing, but through the grace of God, whatever I do, if I am led to, is guided by Divine inspiration. That’s the simplicity of prayer.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

You Who remember what I really am alone remember what I really want.

2009-03-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

“You Who remember what I really am alone remember what I really want. You speak for God, and so You speak for me. And what You give me comes from God Himself. Your Voice, my Father, then is mine as well, and all I want is what You offer me, in just the form You choose that it be mine. Let me remember all I do not know, and let my voice be still, remembering. But let me not forget Your Love and care, keeping Your promise to Your Son in my awareness always. Let me not forget myself is nothing, but my Self is all.” -A Course in Miracles, Lesson 358

Sometimes when students are not clear about what A Course in Miracles is about, the language may seem a bit confusing and hard to understand. I am going to take the paragraph from lesson 358 to illustrate how simple The Course is. Before doing so, however, let me clarify some terms.

God is who we are. God is, and there is nothing else to say. The Holy Spirit is the Voice that speaks for God. The reason being is, God does not speak to us in the dream because if God were to do so, it would be acknowledging that the dream exists. However, the Holy Spirit, although, It can see our dreams, it does not believe in them. That’s how It can guide us to salvation. Once we awaken from the dream, the Holy Spirit as well as the ego, disappear for we are now experiencing our oneness with God, with Our Self. So let’s read the paragraph, and this time I am going to add words in parenthesis to see if it helps.

You (God) Who remember what I really am alone remember what I really want. (What I really want is salvation). You (Holy Spirit) speak for God, and so You (Holy Spirit) speak for me. And what You (Holy Spirit) give me comes from God Himself. Your Voice, my Father, (The voice of the Holy Spirit, which is the voice of God) then is mine as well, and all I want is what You (God) offer me, in just the form You (God) choose that it be mine. Let me remember all I do not know, and let my voice (Ego, chattered mind) be still, remembering. But let me not forget Your (God) Love and care, keeping Your (God) promise to Your (God) Son in my awareness always. Let me not forget myself (myself not capitalized meaning, human experience, ego, false sense of self) is nothing, but my Self (my Self, capitalized meaning, true self, oneness with God) is all.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

“Behold his sinlessness, and you be healed.” -A Course in Miracles, Lesson 357

2009-03-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

If people where to truly understand what the line suggest, their seeming troubles would dissipate almost immediately. The difference between what The Course teaches compared to what is being taught by most spiritual and self-improvement programs is that most suggest that things are happening in the world, and therefore they provide tools in order to help us deal with what is happening around us.

However, since The Course makes it clear that everything we are experiencing is a projection from deep within, by seeing our brothers as innocent, we are simply recognizing our own innocence. Once the guilt is eradicated from our unconscious, there is no need to project anything that would reflect back at us any guilt.

But as long as we believe that the world we are seeing is real, and that things are happening to us, using a movie theater as a metaphor, we will continue to react to the images on the screen as opposed to address the real problem, which is in the projector that is projecting the images on the screen. The way we handle the projector is not by us trying to change the movie, but by allowing the Holy Spirit to replace the movie of fear with the movie of love through peace.

Only then, a new movie is being played, or we get to see things on the screen as they really are opposed to the way we think they are. Slowly but surely, the time comes when the Holy Spirit turns off the projector and we are ready to walk out of the movie theater. In other words, the time comes when we open our eyes and wake up from our dream of seeming separation.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

My Experience With A Course In Miracles

2009-03-02T16:36:00.000-08:00

I know who I am intellectually. Experientially however, I feel I am a body, with an identity, who thinks it is separate from the whole. After studying the Course, I came to the awareness that studying it was not doing anything for me except to make me feel good at times.

Practicing it, however, it is what started to lead me to answers and to strengthen my trust. That being said, undoing the ego is not a bed of roses, not because it is painful but because of our attachments. As The Course reminds me: “The giving up of judgement (attachment), the obvious prerequisite for hearing God’s Voice, is usually a fairly slow process, not because it is difficult, but because it is apt to be perceived as personally insulting.” Personally insulting because it forces us to give up every single idea, concept, belief that we think it’s true or false, good, bad, and so on. If we were willing to let go of all of our attachments, which is really very simple, I did not say easy, I said, simple to do, the process would not be difficult at all.

Lesson 189 paragraph 7 from the workbook for students reminds us: “Simply do this: Be still, and lay aside all thoughts of what you are and what God is; all concepts you have learned about the world; all images you hold about yourself. Empty your mind of everything it thinks is either true or false, or good or bad, of every thought it judges worthy, and all the ideas of which it is ashamed. Hold onto nothing. Do not bring with you one thought the past has taught, nor one belief you ever learned before from anything. Forget this world, forget this course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God.”

So what I have experienced is that undoing the ego, is simply letting go of attachments so that in due time, not on my time, but in due time, the true nature of my being can reveal itself. But if I keep trying to think of what the experience is supposed to look like, I am caught in the intellect and will never give myself the opportunity to have the experience of my oneness with God because it is beyond intellectual reasoning.

So my daily practice is to simply ask the Holy Spirit to take over my day. To make sure that I am as kind and as loving as I can to everything and everyone. And to notice that if something seems to disturb me, to simply practice the forgiveness process, knowing that that which I see in front of me is not real, it is my creation. And of course, to ask the Holy Spirit to help me see it differently by asking for peace of mind always.

That's the simplicity of the practice. However, since the ego is so complicated, as the course says, it will keep raising one question, which raises another question, therefore leaving the previous one unanswered. So as one becomes more comfortable with saying "I don't know anything," speaking from my own experience, first I experience peace, and second, I trust that whatever it is I need to know will reveal itself.

In the meantime, I just go on with life as I have in the past, and do whatever it is I feel moved to do. It is really that simple. But again, in order for me to get to that space, I had to battle and tried to intellectualize and understand the understandable until I got tired of trying to figure anything out. All I can say is, wherever we are, it is exactly where we need to be. The Holy Spirit knows what It's doing. So it is all good. And I love you all!

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
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We look on everyone as brother, and perceive all things as kindly and as good. We do not seek...

2009-03-02T10:07:00.000-08:00

“We look on everyone as brother, and perceive all things as kindly and as good. We do not seek a function that is past the gate of Heaven. Knowledge will return when we have done our part. We are concerned only with giving welcome to the truth.” -A Course in Miracles

I would like to brake down each sentence in order to better understand what it says. Of course, keep in mind that I am only answering based on my understandings of the Course. What I share is from my heart, not “expertise.” Because if there is one thing I am clear of, is that I don’t know anything. As A Course in Miracles reminds me: “Those who remember always that they know nothing, and who have become willing to learn everything, will learn it. But whenever they trust themselves, they will not learn. They have destroyed their motivation for learning by thinking they already know.” T:14:XI:12:1-3. Let’s see what came up for me.

"We look on everyone as brother, and perceive all things as kindly and as good." To me, this shows my willingness to allow the Holy Spirit to see things as they really are as opposed to the way I am seeing them.

"We do not seek a function that is past the gate of Heaven." Since, “i”, and I mean the little “i” (ego) cannot possible see the truth, it is not possible for me to see perfection while projecting anything other that perfection. However, by my willingness to practice forgiveness, by my willingness to allow the Holy Spirit help me see with vision, with truth, I then open myself up to being able to see beyond that I am perceiving.

"Knowledge will return when we have done our part." As we do our part, once again, as we practice our forgiveness process, the knowledge of who we really are will reveal itself.

"We are concerned only with giving welcome to the truth." To me that statement suggest that I am not here to try to figure anything out, nor to discover the truth, but to welcome it. And I do so, not by understanding what A Course In Miracles’ teaches, but by applying the principles taught in The Course. Through my active practice of forgiveness, through choosing the Holy Spirit thought system through peace, the truth that is Who I really am will reveal itself.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
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God does not teach. To teach is to imply a lack, which God knows is not there.

2009-02-28T21:24:00.000-08:00

"God does not teach. To teach is to imply a lack, which God knows is not there. God is not conflicted. Teaching aims at change, but God created only the changeless.” -A Course in Miracles

If you knew what you are, would there be a need for anyone to teach you what you are? The answer would be no. So in order for anyone to teach you what you are, you first have to assume that you are not what you are. But here is the thing, you can assume that you are not what you are, but that does not affect the fact that you are what you are. And since God does not even acknowledge your forgetfulness, for that would be the same as to agree with you that you can be anything other than what you are, God simply hold the space waiting for you to remember.

Let’s take the previous paragraph and fill in the blank with any word that suits you. Let’s use the word love for example. If you knew that you are love, would there be a need for anyone to teach you that you are love? The answer would be no. So in order for anyone to teach you that you are love, you first have to assume that you are not love. But here is the thing, you can assume that you are not love, but that does not affect the fact that you are love. And since God does not even acknowledge your forgetfulness, for that would be the same as to agree with you that you can be anything other than love, God simply hold the space waiting for you to remember.

The memory of who you are returns the moment you let go of everything you are not. And the way to let go of everything you are not, or I should say, everything you believe that is who you are, is through practicing forgiveness while offering all your thoughts to the Holy Spirit for reinterpretation, trusting that you don’t know. This is not an intellectual process it is a willingness process because it requires faith and trust.

As you practice letting go and letting God, as the blocks to the awareness of your true self are removed, the true nature of your being start to reveal itself. As you can see, you are not taught how to be love, you are removing the blocks that are not allowing you to experience the fact that you are love.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
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The truth will save you. It has not left you, to go out into the mad world and so depart from you.

2009-02-27T10:43:00.000-08:00

"The truth will save you. It has not left you, to go out into the mad world and so depart from you. Inward is sanity; insanity is outside you.”-A Course in Miracles

The message is very clear and in plain English. Insanity has to do with looking for answers were they can never be found, out into the world of illusion. The only answer that we seek is found within. Notice I did not say the answers that we seek, but the “only” answer that we seek is found within.

Because although we seem to experience what may appear to be as many problems, in reality, the only problem we are experiencing is the idea that we and God are separate. The moment the awareness of our oneness with God is restored, every single problem dissipates.

That’s why The Course reminds us that there are no order of difficulty in miracles. The reason being is, although a chronic health challenge may seem more difficult than a mere splinter in the thumb, both of them are a part of the same illusion. When the illusion is dissolved, so is every image that is a part of the illusion. It is that simple. Not necessarily easy, but simple. Not easy because our emotions would dictate that what we are experiencing is true. Simple because in the midst of whatever experiences we are having, all that is asked of us is to do nothing; to ask for peace of mind as we let the Holy Spirit undo whatever it is that is permeating our present state of consciousness.

As The Course reminds us, “The Holy Spirit takes you gently by the hand, and retraces with you your mad journey outside yourself, leading you gently back to the truth and safety within. He brings all your insane projections and the wild substitutions that you have placed outside you to the truth. Thus He reverses the course of insanity and restores you to reason.”

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
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Your part is very simple. You need only recognise that everything you learned you do not want.

2009-02-26T22:15:00.000-08:00

"Your part is very simple. You need only recognise that everything you learned you do not want. Ask to be taught, and do not use your experiences to confirm what you have learned.” -A Course in Miracles

If you want to experience the true nature of your being, all you need to do is being willing to recognize that you don’t know. Because everything you know, or I should say, you think you know, comes from experiences based on illusions. The memories that are running in your minds are blocks to the awareness of Who you really are.

But if you are open, recognizing that nothing you have learned in the past has served you, therefore allowing the Holy Spirit to teach you, you are now setting yourself up for real learning. The kind of learning, or I should say, remembering, that is going to lead you to experience your own perfection.

The reason your part is very simple is because you are not ask to figure anything out, nor to do anything. All that is asked of you is to relinquish all your thoughts, ideas, beliefs, concepts and opinions to the Holy Spirit. And what should you do in the meantime? Be still and listen. Continue on with your life as you have in the past, trusting that whatever decision(s) you make will be the right one for you because this time you have invited the Holy Spirit as your guide. Drop all your expectations and just watch how the transformation occurs without any effort on our part.

Remember, you are not trying to transform or change any illusion, you are simply allowing the Holy Spirit to help you see it differently. God is not interested in exchanging illusions, all that God wants is for you to experience yourself in the Kingdom, we you really are. However, when you start seeing things differently, therefore allowing your true joy to reveal itself, it is very likely that your illusions are replaced by what most would refer to as pleasant ones.

Be careful here because I am not suggesting that some illusions are better than others, for that would be judging. It just so happens that when we are in a state of joy, we set ourselves up for seeing the beauty in everything, and the new images tend to be congruent with the beauty we are projecting. So practice remembering these simple words, “I don’t know.” And that’s all there is to know.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
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When you have been caught in the world of perception you are caught in a dream. You cannot escape without help, because...

2009-02-26T09:14:00.000-08:00

"When you have been caught in the world of perception you are caught in a dream. You cannot escape without help, because everything your senses show merely witnesses to the reality of the dream.” -A Course in Miracles

As I am typing these words you could say that I am actually typing and that what I am seeing, feeling, hearing, everything that my senses show, is real to me. But if in reality I am dreaming, then whatever is taking place right this moment is not true. But how can I tell? From an ego frame of mind, in other words, intellectually, it is impossible for me to comprehend or to grasp the reality of what is really taking place.

So for me, it is impossible to awaken from this dream, which I am experiencing as real because as the sentence suggests, “...everything your senses show merely witnesses to the reality of the dream.” However, there is a way out. And that is to listen to the one outside of the dream, which according to The Course would be the voice of the Holy Spirit. And the only way I can have access to that small voice is through practicing being still.

The Holy Spirit uses illusions in order to lead me back to my Source. Illusions, or symbols such as words printed in a book that reminds me constantly to be still and listen, or to practice forgiveness. However, unless I am willing to put the words I am reading into practice, I wont be able to experience the true nature of my being because my sense will continue to witness the seeming reality of what I am experiencing. That’s why The Course emphasizes application rather than theory.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
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Be willing, for an instant, to leave your altars free of what you placed upon them, and what is really there...

2009-02-25T10:10:00.000-08:00

"Be willing, for an instant, to leave your altars free of what you placed upon them, and what is really there you cannot fail to see.” -A Course in Miracles

What the line is suggesting is that if we are willing to let go of judgment, in other words, to let go of everything we think we know, we then open ourselves to seeing things how they really are. The gift within each moment is hidden by the dark cloud of our own perception. And we are not asked to perceive things differently in order to intellectually attempt to change what we see, but to stay in the present moment, asking the Holy Spirit for right mindedness; for real vision, so that the truth can reveal itself.

Within the same paragraph taken from The Course, the following line reads, “The holy instant is not an instant of creation, but of recognition. For recognition comes of vision and suspended judgement.” So we are not trying to create anything, all we are doing is opening ourselves up to seeing what seems to be in front of us differently through the aid of the Holy Spirit, the One Who can see things righteously. We are recognizing what is already true about ourselves. And we do so by staying in the present moment, (holy instant). Because when we are not in the present we are projecting a future event or remembering a past experience, none of them being real, but seeming real to us.

The next line says, “Then only it is possible to look within and see what must be there, plainly in sight, and wholly independent of inference and judgement.” When the illusion of future and present are no longer interfering, we open ourselves up to seeing the Truth. In other words, when the fear is removed, what is left? Everything unlike it, which in our case would be love.

And the last line reads, “Undoing is not your task, but it is up to you to welcome it or not. Faith and desire go hand in hand, for everyone believes in what he wants.” This line is reassuring of the fact that we are not the ones trying to undo our ego or to replace images that will lead us to truth, all that is asked of us is to simply be open and willing by welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives. He then will do the necessary work so that our seeming sense of separation can be restored to oneness.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
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Your memory depends on his forgiveness. What he is, is unaffected by his thoughts. But...

2009-02-25T01:22:00.000-08:00

"Your memory depends on his forgiveness. What he is, is unaffected by his thoughts. But what he looks upon is their direct result. Therefore, my Father, I would turn to You. Only Your memory will set me free.”-A Course in Miracles, Workbook, Lesson 350

Let’s break down this excerpt from lesson 350. Your memory depends on his forgiveness. What he is, is unaffected by his thoughts. The he The Course is referring to is ourselves. And since we are extensions of God, we are already perfect, whole and complete. Therefore our real essence is not affected by our thoughts, or you could also say by our beliefs. So as we forgive, the memory of our true Self emerges. That’s why it says that “Your memory”, meaning the memory of God as us, depends on our forgiveness (our remembering).

But what he looks upon is their direct results. Since who we are is God, our thoughts or beliefs, as already stated cannot affect us. However, by choosing not to remember, we use our thoughts to project a world that seem real. In other words, we project a belief that makes us feel as if we are separate from God, even when in truth we are one with God. So what we are looking upon is the direct result of our belief in separation.

The last line, Therefore, my Father, I would turn to You. Only Your memory will set me free, simply means that instead of putting our attention on the world we are projecting, to turn to God, or you could say to turn within. From that space the memory of our true nature is gradually restored. And that remembrance of our truth is the key that will set us free. As it is said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” [John 8:32]

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
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Your faith is placed in the most trivial and insane symbols; pills, money,...

2009-02-24T19:25:00.000-08:00

"Your faith is placed in the most trivial and insane symbols; pills, money, "protective" clothing, influence, prestige, being liked, knowing the "right" people, and an endless list of forms of nothingness that you endow with magical powers. All these things are your replacements for the Love of God.” -A Course in Miracles, Workbook, Lesson 50

These are probably some of the most inspiring words you could ever hear. The question is, do you trust in them? That’s the practice we must commit to, if we want to have the experience of the love of God taking care of us. Most of us lived our whole life filled with all kinds or beliefs about ourselves. We then reinforce them with our experiences.

What we must understand is, just because we have experiences, that does not make them true. So what must we do, if we want to experience the love of God working in our lives? We have to develop our faith through the practice of trust. In relinquishing complete control of our lives, we give ourselves the opportunity to experience God in action.

The key to remember is, we are not relinquishing our desires to God so that God can fulfill them, for that is to say that we know what is best for us, or that we know what we want. What we are asked is to give up our idea of what we think we want, trusting that God knows what is best for us. From that place, we get inspired, and the desires we seem to go after, and God’s, will becomes one and the same.

We are not asked to give up our talents, gifts and dreams, we are simply asked to surrender them to God so that we can add to our lives a sense of purpose. And if we still want to pursue a particular dream, we do so knowing that it is serving a greater purpose. That’s how we get to experience real fulfillment, while also doing something we love.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
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The truth of what we are is not for words to speak of nor describe. Yet we can realize...

2009-02-24T08:37:00.000-08:00

"The truth of what we are is not for words to speak of nor describe. Yet we can realize our function here, and words can speak of this and teach it, too, if we exemplify the words in us.” -A Course in Miracles

What makes A Course in Miracles challenging for must is that it is not a self study program in spirituality, it is actually asking us to become the teachings as opposed to know about them, or to simply teach them. It is asking us to become the love, which is Who we really are as opposed to simply talk about it.

And for us to remember the true nature of our being, we have to remove all the blocks that are preventing us from experiencing the love that is Who we really are. And what are these blocks? They are every single belief, concept, notion, idea that we have about ourselves, and the world. In other words, we need to let go of everything we think we know in order for True knowledge to emerge.

This is simple but not easy because we have what is called an ego, which is a belief in separation, that tenaciously guards our individual sense of identity. As long as I believe that I am anything other than perfect love, the child of God, or should I say, an extension of God, until I come to that realization, and live from that space, I wont be able to embody the true nature of my being, and therefore wont be able to teach it. Because as The Course reminds me, I am what I teach. So if I think I am a separate, I teach that I am separate. But if I know I am a spirit perfect, whole and complete, that’s exactly what I’ll teach, even when I appear to be in a body.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
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"You are in an impossible situation because you think it is possible to be in one." -A Course in Miracles

2009-02-23T17:13:00.000-08:00

What is this impossible situation The Course is referring to? The impossible situation is our idea that we can be separate from our Source; that we can be separate from God. And yet, here we are, having such experience. When Jesus says to seek ye first the kingdom of Heaven and Its righteousness and all these things will be added on to you, He is asking us to turn within. As we recognize the true nature of our being, all of these things are not really added on to us, they are more like a recognition that we already have everything.

So the impossible situation I think I am in cannot be possible. Yet strong enough is my belief, that I have convinced myself that I am outside of heaven experiencing the total opposite of my true nature, when in actuality, I am in Heaven, just dreaming that I am somewhere else.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
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"The Holy Spirit does not speak first, but He always answers." -A Course in Miracles

2009-02-23T06:11:00.000-08:00

This statement from The Course can be confusing unless we understand what it is trying to say. Who we are is not our body, and for that matter our physical experience. However, we let our body, our physical senses dictate what we should do. That’s what it is meant by the Holy Spirit does not speak first. In other words, the ego always speaks first, for it is our emotions that get our attention faster.

As we learn to be still through practice, we then give ourselves the opportunity to listen to the Holy Spirit, which always have the right answer. In other words, if we practice becoming the observer of our experiences as opposed to reacting to them, it is like letting the ego say what it wants to say first without having to get caught up in the drama, without giving it attention. Then, by having the direct experience of seeing how our life unfold perfectly, we develop trust in that invisible part of our Self, making it easier each time to be still an listen as opposed to react and act on impulse, which is really fear. So when the senses try to get our attention, all we need to remember is, “Be still and know that I am God.” [Psalm:46:10]

That’s why lesson 342 from the Course’s workbook states: “I thank You, Father, for Your plan to save me from the hell I made.”

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
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Guilt makes you blind, for while you see one spot of guilt within you, you will not see the light. -A Course in Miracles

2009-02-20T23:23:00.000-08:00

The line from The Course reminds me in a way of the one from the scriptures where Jesus says: "Why do you squint at the splinter in your brother's eye, and fail to see the log in your own eye?" -[Matthew 7:3]. So I am going to take a look at both, beginning with The Course’s.

Whatever spot of guilt we have within will prevent us from seeing the truth. And that spot of guilt is the one projecting the world of illusions. For as long as there is guilt within us, we will continue to project a world, an illusion of separation, just so that we can justify our judgment.

The line in the scriptures is also talking about judgment by reminding us how easy it is for us to point fingers at others, forgetting that we also make mistakes. So by keeping our attention on blame, looking at others as guilty, we don’t take the time to look at our own judgment, therefore postponing our own healing.

Judgment is the scapegoat that we use in order for us to avoid taking a closer look within. The spot of guilt, just like the log in our own eye, are the blinders we have placed before us, which will not allow us the experience the true nature of our being.

And in order for us to remove the log in our own eye, the spot of guilt that is within us, all we need to do is to practice forgiveness. In forgiving the world we see, we remove the spot of guilt (judgment) from us. And in that sense, in forgiving our sisters and brothers, we remove the log from our own eye (judgment), helping us see the truth about them, which is love and perfect innocence. Of course, we must remember that if everything we see, including our brothers and sisters, is a projection from within, all we are forgiving is ourselves.

So the beauty of being able to see the perfection in everyone is that it remind us of our own perfection, because in reality, there is only one of us appearing as many. So the sooner we get the log of our own eye, the spot of guilt from within, the sooner we get to experience our own perfection.

So we either forgive, or we are doomed to continue experiencing a world filled with fear, for it is the one we are making anyway. That’s why lesson 342 from the Course’s workbook states: “I thank You, Father, for Your plan to save me from the hell I made.”

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
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Perception seems to teach you what you see. Yet it but witnesses to what you taught.

2009-02-20T10:14:00.000-08:00

"Perception seems to teach you what you see. Yet it but witnesses to what you taught. It is the outward picture of a wish; an image that you wanted to be true." -A Course in Miracles

We have been taught by many teachers that perception makes projection. In other words, that first we have to perceive a situation in order to change it. Here The Course is reminds us that it is the other way around; that first we project an illusion, which we then perceive as real.

That’s why it says that, perception seems to teach you what you see. Yet it but witnesses to what you taught. What we are perceiving as real, a world that does not exist, simply reiterate our desire for seeing that which is in front of us. It is the outward wish; and image that you wanted to be true.

And although that would be what many teachers would want you to believe, for in believing so you get to choose the images you would want to see, what The Course is reminding us is that what we are seeing, all of it, is our projection. So the seeming good as well as its opposite is our projection.

So to release ourselves from “all” projections, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us see with vision; to help us see things differently. By doing so, we get to see the real world where we live in, a world filled with perfect peace, permanent joy, happiness and love, as opposed to the illusion of duality we experience in our present state of consciousness.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
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For giving and receiving are the same. And to accept the limits of a body...

2009-02-19T09:28:00.000-08:00

For giving and receiving are the same. And to accept the limits of a body is to impose these limits on each brother whom you see. For you must see him as you see yourself. –A Course in Miracles

When you perceive yourself as a separate body, you think that what you give away you now don’t have. Yet, when you remember that we are all one, then that which you give, has not left. You are simply giving it to yourself. In that sense, giving and receiving are one and the same.

The practice here is not so much as to give what we have but as to see each and everyone of our brothers and sisters as extensions of ourselves. Instead of seeing them as bodies that are limited, to see them as infinite and immortal Spirits. As you practice seeing the perfection in them, you begin to recognize it in yourself, for you must see him as you see yourself.

That’s how we can practice unconditional giving as opposed to the “what is in it for me” attitude taught by many teachers. For that which I give to others I give to myself, and what I deprive others from, I am simply depriving myself. This is not to say that you are obligated to give, it simply suggest that every time you give, you do it unconditionally, without expecting anything in return for you are clear that whatever it is you give, you simply offer it to yourself, therefore the gift never left.

The best way to practice this unconditional giving is by giving our love away to everyone we see and meet. That’s the fastest way to recognize and experience the love within.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
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Denial of errors is a strong defense of truth, but denial of truth results in miscreation, the projections of the ego. –A Course in Miracles

2009-02-18T23:40:00.000-08:00

This is a very powerful statement if properly understood. The world that we see with our physical eyes, one filled with separation is considered error for the truth is oneness. In our willingness to allow the Holy Spirit to fill our mind with vision, we open ourselves to seeing the truth of who we are.

If on the other hand we choose to deny the truth about ourselves, and instead choose to believe that the world we see is real, all we are doing is continuing to project illusions that will support our belief in separation.

Joel S. Goldsmith in his book The Infinite Way states, “There is nothing from which we can suffer but the acceptance of illusion as reality.” As long as we accept our illusions as reality, the idea of lack, sickness and death will always be present in our consciousness. But by denying error, i.e., illusions, we open ourselves to experiencing the permanency of infinite love, peace, joy, abundance and health.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
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And so I give all judgment to the One You gave to me to judge for me.

2009-02-18T09:49:00.000-08:00

“And so I give all judgment to the One You gave to me to judge for me. He sees what I behold, and yet He knows the truth. He looks on pain, and yet He understands it is not real, and in His understanding it is healed.” –A Course in Miracles, Lesson 347, Workbook

Let’s brake down the lesson by starting with the first sentence, “And so I give all judgment to the One You gave to me to judge for me.” In releasing our judgments to the Holy Spirit, which is the One God gave us to judge for us, all we are doing is allowing that part of ourselves to fill our mind with peace by not engaging our intellect.

The second line reads, “He sees what I behold, and yet He knows the truth.” Meaning that what we see with our physical eyes is always judgment based on either past experience, or some kind of fear-based reasoning that always lead us to suffering. Yet, since the Holy Spirit knows the truth, by inviting Him to see what we think it is real or true, we give ourselves the opportunity to relinquish judgment through acceptance and trust, knowing that He knows best.

That’s why I often say that if we look back at all our past experiences, in hindsight we can see the gift or the lesson they had in store for us. However, while having the experience, most people find themselves suffering because they do not know any better. So by inviting the Holy Spirit to look at things for us, we give ourselves the opportunity trust, that although we may now know the gift within it, that there is one which will be revealed in due time. And of course, as we develop more and more trust in the Holy Spirit, we can go through experiences without having to suffer. That’s the gift of being able to trust.

Then the last line reads, “He looks on pain, and yet He understands it is not real, and in His understanding it is healed.” In His understanding means, that if we are willing to accept and trust the Holy Spirit ways of looking at our illusions, by not being affected by them, we experience peace. And in that moment healing occurs. And the healing we are talking about is the healing of the mind. Because we must remember that pain is never in the body, for the body is an illusion. Pain is always in the mind. We just happen to experience it as a bodily condition. Remover the pain from the mind, and the body cannot feel anything for the body is neutral. Although this particular lesson 347 focuses on the fact that Anger comes from judgment, I felt moved to write about pain. But ultimately, the goal is the same, to release all of our thoughts and judgments to the Holy Spirit so we can experience peace.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

It is your thoughts alone that cause you pain. Nothing external to your mind can hurt or injure you in any way.

2009-02-17T14:11:00.000-08:00

It is your thoughts alone that cause you pain. Nothing external to your mind can hurt or injure you in any way. There is no cause beyond yourself that can reach down and bring oppression. No one but yourself affects you. There is nothing in the world that has the power to make you ill or sad, or weak or frail. But it is you who have the power to dominate all things you see by merely recognizing what you are. –A Course In Miracles, Lesson 190, Workbook

Lessons like these are often misinterpreted by teachers thinking that it is about us having the power to create what we want. The fact that we create everything we see, is simply helping us understand that the world is not doing anything to us, but that whatever we think it is done to us, it is actually done by us through us.

That simple understanding help us realize that nothing in the world has the power to hurt us, or affect us in any way, shape or form. With the line: "But it is you who have the power to dominate all things you see by merely recognizing what you are," we are simply being reminded that once we recognize the truth about ourselves, in other words, once we come to the understanding that we are not our bodies, and that the world we see is not real, we are no longer at the effect of our illusions. In that sense, we have the power to dominate all things because that which is not real cannot hurt us. But as long as we believe that we are a body, and the everything we see is real, and that we are the victims of the world we see, then everything seems to be having power over us, even when in reality, that cannot be so. It is impossible because we are children of the Creator, created in the image and likeness of God.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

What you project you disown, and therefore do not believe is yours.

2009-02-16T08:18:00.000-08:00

What you project you disown, and therefore do not believe is yours. You are excluding yourself by the very judgment that you are different from the one on whom you project. –A Course in Miracles

In simple terms, whatever it is you are seeing out in the seeming world, it is really you. But because you think it is not you, or not a part you, you disown. That which you are seeing is a projection from your unconscious. So by reacting to your own projections, you make yourself believe that things are happening to you, which is the perfect “logical reason” for justifying feeling like a victim.

However, if you come to the understanding that everything you are seeing is of your own creation, and that each person you see is imply you appearing as others, wouldn’t you be more likely to treat them with love and respect? Logically, you would answer yes. Here is the catch however, if you do not treat yourself with love and respect, then your projections will reflect the lack of love you feel for yourself, therefore giving you something to react to in order to justify lack of love in the world. But in reality, the lack of love begins with you.

Remember that the world is simply a mirror reflecting back our own state of consciousness. Although the Course is not interested in the world, for the world is not real, but at least, by being willing to embodied the qualities of love, through practicing forgiving ourselves for what we haven’t done as well as forgiving others for what they have not done either, in that recognition of our innocence, we open ourselves to experience the true nature of our being. That’s when we realize that there are no victims. As the course reminds me, “The secret to salvation is but this, that you are doing it to yourself.”

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

The dreams you think you like would hold you back...

2009-02-15T10:14:00.000-08:00

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. – A Course in Miracles

This statement is not very welcomed by most because it suggests that no matter what it is we are asking for as long as it comes from this world it is rooted in fear.
Living in a world of illusion where most believe the world to be real and that who we are is really a body filled with needs and desires, amongst many teachings, a predominant one seems to be that human beings are here to avoid pain and to seek pleasure.

The challenge is that a life filled with pain and pleasure is rooted in duality, fear. The nature of who we really are, being Spirit, it is rooted in oneness. So in order for us to have that experience of oneness we need to be willing to let go of anything that would suggest we are anything other than oneness.

That is not possible for us to do at the level of form, or to intellectually understand, for we are the ones projecting whatever it is we see. However, we have the power to choose peace by asking the Holy Spirit to help us see things differently. That’s why The Course reminds us to seek not to change the world but the change our mind about the world.

By letting the Holy Spirit interpretation take charge of our thoughts, the first thing we experience is that is called the peace that passeth understanding. As a result, we open ourselves to what is referred to as vision, which allows for this illusion of seeming separation being gradually undone. We must remember that what we see with eyesight is an illusion, and what we see with vision is reality.

I like to share an excerpt from my book, What Happens When You Let God:

“So people go to teachers and apply illusory laws and techniques in order to experience what in this case The Course refer to as the impossible, which are illusions. So why would The Course refer to illusions as the impossible? Because what you are seeing is not real. So you are trying to make the unreal, real. And that is exactly what you have been able to pull off by believing in a world that does not really exist. So if you want to know what you think is true or real, take a close look at what you think you see. The Course reminds me that if I see a world that is made out of transitory things, people who are born and die, then I think I am a transitory thing that is mortal. Yet the Reality is that Who I am is immortal, permanent. That’s why eyesight shows what is there, while insight (vision) shows what is really there, which is nothing.”

So instead of wasting our time trying to replace one illusion for another, i.e. one dream for another, therefore perpetuating the illusion of feeling separate from our Source, why not instead continue to remind ourselves of the true nature of our being by practicing forgiveness? That way we can experience the permanency of the joy, peace, love, happiness and infinite wealth that is Who we really are. And what can we do in the meantime? Just continue on with life as usual. The difference is, as we learn to see things differently, we give ourselves the opportunity to live a more peaceful and joyful life as opposed to most who feel as if though they are at the effect of life.

Using myself as example, I still write my books, and continue to pursue what I feel guided to do while doing things that are fun for me. The difference is, I am not attached to any outcome. I simply trust each and every day wherever I am it is exactly the place where I need to be. And that my circumstances are the way they are supposed to be. That does not mean that I don’t do things to change a circumstance that may not feel right for me. What I mean is that I don’t question, complain, or argue with what is. I simply trust as I continue to let go and let God. As The Course reminds me, I never know what’s for my best interest. I may think I do, when in reality, I don’t.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

This quiet centre, in which you do nothing...

2009-02-14T22:05:00.000-08:00

This quiet centre, in which you do nothing, will remain with you, giving you rest in the midst of every busy doing on which you are sent. For from this centre will you be directed how to use the body sinlessly. – A Course in Miracles

Many people confuse doing nothing with sitting around, hoping for something to happen. What The Course is talking about is that when we develop the habit of choosing peace above all else, we have access to a space deep within where no matter what we are doing we feel calm and peaceful.

Also the line, “From this centre will you be directed how to use the body sinlessly,” means that when our mind is not disturbed, or operating from past memories or future projections, we open ourselves to receive the appropriate guidance that will serve us best at each particular moment. But for us to be open to that guidance we need to develop trust.

With practice, instead of using our bodies for purposes that eventually end up harming us, it is used to help us awaken. Using the body sinfully is the equivalent of using it for the purpose of perpetuating the dream we find ourselves in. And yes, we can have amazing experiences while we are experiencing ourselves as part of this dream, the key is to always remember that it is only a dream.

When people identify themselves with the dream, then they become victims of whatever drama is taking place in the illusory world around them. Those who know who they really are, simply observe the drama without having to become affected by it.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

He will answer in proportion to your willingness to hear His Voice. – A Course in Miracles

2009-02-14T09:21:00.000-08:00

That is such a powerful statement, only if we understand what it is referring to. His answer is not about us telling Him what to do for us. And our willingness to listen has nothing to do with us waiting for an answer on a specific request. It is talking about being willing to surrender our personal will, trusting that the right answer to every situation will be given to us.

We must understand that the whole purpose of God’s will is for us to experience the true nature of our being, not for us to continue experiencing our false sense of self, our seeming separation from God. This world of form in which duality is our experience can never bring us the permanency of joy, peace, happiness and abundance. However, by surrendering our individual will to the Most High, we set ourselves up to having experiences that are far much fulfilling than anything we could possible imagine within our limited intellectual perception.

And that is because our lives begin to have a sense of purpose. Our talents and gifts are shared for a greater vision, filled with the unconditional love that pours from our hearts. As we continue to flow with life, we have the direct experience of seeing all of our needs being met. That’s when we come to the realization that as we let go and let God, there is never a reason to worry for before we asked, our Father knows what we need, and we will always be provided for.

For this experience to take place however, a paradigm shift in thinking needs to take place first. All we are asked to do is to be still and listen.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

Today I learn the law of love; that what I give my brother is my gift to me. -A Course in Miracles

2009-02-13T11:42:00.000-08:00

How simple, yet how deceiving. The reason why everything I give to my brother I give to me is because we are all one.

The challenge is that the ego is making me believe that what I see out there is really “out there.” What The Course is helping people understand is that if what I am seeing out there is really a projection from within, then that which I give to others I am giving to myself because all that I am seeing is me.

This cannot be grasped intellectually because the intellect is the realm of the ego. Spirit operates from the recognition that we are one. The ego, on the other hand, operates from the belief that we are separate.

And what is it that am projecting out into the illusion called the physical realm? That which is in me that needs to be healed. That’s the gift I am giving to myself, the opportunity to see in form what I believe to be real so that I can heal it through forgiveness. The sooner I forgive, the faster I can experience the True nature of my being. In other words, my oneness with God.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

What is a miracle?

2009-02-12T21:44:00.000-08:00

“A miracle is a correction. It does not create, nor really change at all. It merely looks on devastation, and reminds the mind that what it sees is false.” – A Course in Miracles

It is interesting how most teachers define a miracle as opposed to how The Course defines it. Most people equate a miracle with an event or circumstance that seems to provide a positive or good outcome not realizing that anything that is labeled good or bad, positive or negative and so on is simply a judgment.

In reality, the word miracle has to do with right perception. Not ego perception but Spirits’. The reason been, since the world we live in is not real, everything being an illusion, to see beyond the illusion is what is considered to be a miracle. As the quote from The Course says: “It merely looks on devastation, and reminds the mind that what it sees is false.”

What every enlightened master such as Jesus, Buddha and the like were able to do, they were able to see the world, not with eyesight but with vision. They knew the world was not real therefore they were not disturbed by the illusion they saw. They were constantly in a state of remembrance about the truth of who they truly are. That’s why Jesus kept reminding us that we are in the world but not of this world. The moment we recognize that in ourselves, that’s when a miracle has taken place.

Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com

You Must Know What You Want - True or False?

2009-02-11T08:24:00.000-08:00

This is an excerpt from Nick's book What Happens When You Let God.

A Course in Miracles reminds me: “Your function here is only to decide against deciding what you want, in recognition that you do not know. How then can you decide what you should do? Leave all decisions to the One Who speaks for God, and for your function as He knows it.”

This one is the core of every self-help program on the market. False idols have all sorts of tools to help you get what you want, but you must first know what that is. But what if you don’t know what you want? For that, there are all sorts of help being created in order to help you find what that is. Once you have found what that is, or you think you have, then, the coaches are there to make sure you follow through. It is a no-win situation.

I would like to share with you a quote, which I think you’ll appreciate. It is by licensed practitioner, Ron D. Blair, who once said: “When you let go of what you think you want, what you really want reveals itself to you.” Think about this for a moment. What is it that you think you want? Most people would say, that which will bring them happiness. And what could this be? More money, a romantic relationship, more friends, a new car, a new house, more sex, toys to play with, the freedom to do what they want? According to A Course in Miracles, these are the little things this world has to offer. These are what The Course refers to as the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence, which is your natural inheritance.

So in order for you to open yourself up so that what you really want reveals itself to you, or to be more specific, through you, you must learn to be okay with not knowing what you want. You may think you know what you want but that is impossible because what you truly want, at a much deeper level is to remember Who you really are. The things of this world of illusion simply keep us wanting one thing after another, leaving us never satisfied, always chasing. They are nothing more than ego’s distractions. Some may say that they love the chase, but what happens before and after the chase? What choices do they have when they are not chasing something? Boredom, depression, unhappiness, distress, uneasiness, there is one word to describe that type of living. It’s called hell!

Does that mean that there is anything wrong with going after things that bring excitement and joy to us? Absolutely not! You can enjoy moving toward something you feel naturally inspired toward; the key is to be able to enjoy the process without any attachment to any particular outcome. The irony as mentioned earlier, is that when you are coming from that space, the outcome is pretty much guaranteed. And I mean “the” outcome not “your” outcome. Or to put it in different words you could exchange the word “the” for the word “perfect.” So you do not have to worry about “the” outcome because when you leave everything in the hands of the Holy Spirit, you can rest assure that what you will experience is the “perfect” outcome. So, enjoy the process of moving towards your desires, appreciate them and see them for what they are; illusions that you are having fun playing with while letting your life in the meantime unfold naturally, without any concerns, trusting that whatever you are led to do you’ll do.

I enjoy the process of creating this book. And when I am not creating it, I am perfectly fine with just being. No goals, no pressure, no agendas. Just being. Interestingly enough, the more I am being, the more creative I get, and the more the universe supports me without me having to do anything. Money shows up when it is needed, resources needed to finish whatever project or task I am inspired to do naturally manifest. So by me not knowing what I want, you could say that I do know what I want. Whatever that is reveals itself to me in divine timing.

In a nutshell, you don’t need to know what you want, that is revealed to you once you let go and let God. Remember that at your current level of awareness, even when you are greatness, the experience is eluding you because you are looking for it outside. The things you think you want are the very reason why you cannot experience your True nature. A Course in Miracles reminds me: “The children of God are entitled to the perfect comfort that comes from perfect trust. Until they achieve this, they waste themselves and their true creative powers on useless attempts to make themselves more comfortable by inappropriate means.” Inappropriate means refers to all the tools and techniques we employ in order to manifest whatever it is we think will make us happy. In other words, telling God our plans.

To order your copy of What Happens When You Let God visit: www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com

NOTE: Any posts below this one were made before I became A Course in Miracles' student.

(True Story) by Nick Arandes

2006-03-31T10:55:00.000-08:00

Many times we wonder why things happen the way they do. Specially when people find themselves in very tight situation. I like to take this opportunity and share with you one of many events in my life that serve as proof of the fact that the Universe orchestrates events and circumstances far much more perfectly than we can think of. And if we learn to trust this Divine process, our lives can be filled with peace as the process of divine creation takes place.

Around mid July 2003 I was facing major financial challenges and didn't know what was in store for me since my calendar for future dates as a stand up comedian was pretty much empty. Although I could have filled my life with lots of stress, I decided to do what I usually do when finding myself in times of uncertainty. And that is, to go within, remind myself of the fact that the Presence and Power of the Creator lies within, and therefore I can manifest whatever I need.

If however, whatever I desire is not in my best interest, or I find myself finding some resistance, then I trust the process like I have done in the past, and things will take care of themselves because although we live in a world where it seems like what we can perceive with our physical senses is ultimate reality, there is a Power within that can manifest whatever we need and more, if we simply let it express Itself through us by not getting in Her/His way.

So my finances at the time were getting low, and I didn't know if I could have made it another week when all of the sudden, a call out of the blue comes to me by the Comedy Zone letting me know that there was a fall out in Charleston, SC. That was my first blessing. With what I made there, I was able to cover rent, few expenses, and have some extra cash to eat. But after that, then what? August was empty. I continued trusting and few calls came again from fall outs which took care of that months. By the way, what I mean by fall outs, is that, that same week, or the week before, the comedian booked on that week could not make it. And keep in mind that clubs book almost 6 to 8 months, even a year in advance. So if there is nothing in my calendar within that range of time, it is very difficult to find work.

Anyway, here is when it gets better. September rolls in, and I get a call from TSM booking me for three full weeks in Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana and Kentucky. Then I get a call from another club booking me the last week of September in Clearwater, FL. So I am on the roll! Guess what. I get a call from the club in FL letting me know that they have to move my date further because they have a special engagement coming up. Well, the truth is, it wasn't that much money, but still, it is money I could use to cover some expenses and still get a little ahead. So instead of getting upset, I figured, the Universe must have a plan which I can't see. So I need to trust!

Well, let me backtrack a little before continuing with the story. Aside from doing stand up comedy for a living, I am also a musician/producer/singer/songwriter and took some of the time off to finish my music CD to be released by mid 2004, which by the way, you can listen to audio clips on my music website: CheckMyMusic.com. So while this FL booking falls out, I get an email from Armand and Angelina who are recording artists who tour nationwide letting me know that a dear friend told them about my studio and they would like to put a project together. So I replied back and said that my fees were 25/hr since my music studio is mostly for personal use. I never though of myself as an independent engineer. Ready for this? He replies back saying, we have decided to upgrade your fees to $50/hr because we are very successful musicians and we haven't paid any studio 25/hr. What can I say. I agreed and we decided to meet on the week that the FL cancellation took place which by the way, was the only week they had open before heading for the road again.

At this point you may be saying to yourself, "Oh well, I guess you wont have any more challenges here and that takes care of it!" WRONG! Take a look at what happened next. As I am driving from Louisville, KY through Lexington on my way to Greensboro, SC, the main radiator hose from my car brakes loose and since I was doing 65mpr on the interstate and not knowing what was going on, I ended up blowing the engine. My AAA membership was expired and the towing expense plus hotel, plus the fact that I need a car or I will be loosing the money for the dates I have book the following week which amounted to around $910 + whatever comedy CD's I sell would have been lost.

Aside from all that, the fact is, I still need mobility. All this seeming challenges would have brought my finances back down to "zero" or more. Did I worry? Believe it or not, I just felt a sense of calmness as I was sitting at the edge of the HWY reminding myself to focus on peace and that everything will work itself out. Oh, by the way. This happened on September 16. One day after my birthday!

So what is the first thing I did? I renewed my AAA membership over the phone using my credit card. Now, pay attention to this. When you become a member or renew your membership, it takes 48 hours for membership activation. In my case, the system registered the membership as if it was active so I was able to use the service. Otherwise, I would have had to pay for towing and you know how expensive that can turn out to be, specially if you are not close to wherever you need to go in order to get the car fix. Is there's more? Oh yes! Since it was pretty late, all the shops approved by AAA were closed, "AND", since I was in an unfamiliar town, I didn't know where to take it.

The truck driver told me about this friend of his who owns a little mechanic shop and maybe he could help me out. Now, keep in mind that I didn't know I blew the engine. I thought that all I needed to do was to replace the hose and that's all. This little old man was gracious enough to work on the car and put the hose. Me being a type "A" personality, thought that it was done, and is was time for me to move on. I just wanted to get on the car and hit the road. But this little old man was very patience and continue testing the car after the work was done. It seems like he was taking forever. Meanwhile I was also thinking, if this guy is charging me by the hour, this is going to be ridiculous. I was getting very impatient.

Sure enough, even when it seems like everything was fine, heavy smoke started to come out out of the engine. That's when we realized that the engine has been heavily affected by the incident and the only thing we could think of was to put another engine. A used one off course. That is a $850 job in itself if he would do it. How much did he charged me after having the car in his shop and test the radiator thinking that that was the problem and putting a new hose, and trying to glue areas that were cracked etc? Only the parts which was about $15 and $25 for labor. He even took me to the airport to get a rental car. What a wonderful angel I encountered. Imagine what would have happened if I would have taken the car to any other shop? Either I would have to pay a big chunk out of my pocket, and if I would have driven away, I would have found myself stranded in the middle of nowhere at night in KY.

OK, now I am going to share something with you that is a little embarrassing, but I have to be honest. I have manifest many things in my file but for some reason I never manage to manifest a car I liked because my thinking was, "why spent 10K on a car or putting myself through car payments when I can use the money and invest it in my music studio and career? So when we had the choice fix the car by putting a new engine, something in my stomach was telling me not to do it. So we decided to wait till the next day to see if he can find the engine and we can go from there. In the meantime like I said, I rented a car and something happened within me. I felt GREAT! Driving that rental car I felt like I was in heaven! I was listening to CD's about empowerment and some services and I knew deep in my soul that I needed to upgrade my car. I needed to really pay attention to that aspect of my life which I have been ignoring for such a long time. Not only so, I needed to proof to the Universe that I can manifest whatever I want if I truly believe in myself!

So here is what happened next. The next day I called him up and he said that he found the engine so he asked me what do I wanted to do. Fear began to creep in again. Although my intuition was telling me NO, my mind was trying to justify it again. Saying things like; "Well, if you fix the car, you'll still have mobility, or you can return this rental one and save some money since you need it, or why be concerned about looking for a car right now since you are facing financial challenges, and on and on and on... The mechanic said to me, I think you are better of getting rid of the car, and me without thinking twice I said, OK! I felt a sense of peace and liberation because although I didn't know what would happen next, I knew it was the right thing for me to do. It is time for me to continue growing and proving to myself that I can make things happen if I truly trust and surrender to Divinity that resides within.

So I returned home with around $500 less than what I could have if I didn't have the car challenge. So on that week I meet with Armand and Angelina and within that week most of the recording was done and I made around $3,000. Do you remember when I said that that week I could have played the club in FL? Guess how much I would have made if I had done that gig instead of the recording session? $400. See how the universe have always a better way to make things happen? Well, let's continue with the story because it gets better!

So here I am looking for a car and not knowing which car to have. The truth is, $3000 may not be much for the kind of car I was looking for. I can find all kinds of deals but this time, I didn't want to settle. As I tested cars, I was drawn to this Camaro. I felt in love with the car. I loved the shape, the feel, everything about it. I didn't care much for the color, but at least I knew that that was the vehicle I wanted.

Even though I had made around $3,000, I had expenses to take care of, and since I didn't have a car, my finances would fluctuate. So at this point, financially I was going down and it was getting to the point where I need a car but I didn't want to settle. And I still remember what I wrote back on September 27, 2003.

* My Car is:
* Chevrolet Camaro Black or White
* 5-speeds
* Model and shape I like.
* Simple
* Perfect mechanical conditions
* Great Air Conditioning
* Cassette and CD player (Nice Stereo System)
* Body is in perfect conditions and beautiful
* At a price which I can easily afford

As I was doing some research online, a friend of mine sent to me a link about one particular black Camaro. The only thing was, the price was above what I could afford and as time keep going by, my finances continue to decline so I needed to act fast. I continue my prayers of "gratitude." Please pay close attention because this is important. I was not praying to the Creator saying I want that car. I was "GRATEFUL" for the fact that I already had the car, even when I didn't know how I was going to afford it!

Here is how a transformation took place. As I was going through some of these challenges and frustrations, to the point that I was ready to give in and maybe get an different car, I started to walk on my living room floor and visualizing myself speaking at congregations and spiritual centers which is something I have been wanting to do. That is something that kept coming to me very naturally in most of my meditations. Besides, I have been a stand up comedian for over 10 years so it was like that was the natural step for me to take. It is almost as if the Universe was preparing me for my ultimate, or just the next step in my career path without letting me know about it. Also if you take a look at my work in the past and the writings such as this one and the ones on my spiritual site FulfillYourDreams.com, it is pretty obvious that for years I have been ignoring one of my callings.

So as I was talking to myself imagining as if I am speaking, something within me awakened and I looked up to the ceiling and with honesty and sincerity said; "OK God, if you want me to speak, if this is what I am supposed to do, then, that's what I will do." At that moment, I went to my computer and started to create a bio so that I can present it to Unity Churches, Science of Mind Churches and any spiritual venue that would allow me to speak and share the principles of truth which I have seen manifesting in my life as my spiritual journey continues to unfold.

Within 5 minutes I get a call from Armand, the one I recorded his CD in my studio wanting to say hi and getting ready to set up more studio time. He asked me how I was doing. I said everything was fine. Then he asked; "How is your car situation?" I said to him that I haven't found one yet and since I had to rent another one to get to another gig, my finances started to drop. But I guess things will work out." He then said to me; "Well Nick. You need a car! So here is what I would like to do, I'll give you $1,000 for studio time in advance, that way you can bring your finances up so you can get the car you want."

Remember the car I told you earlier that my friend sent me the link? Apparently it was sitting there waiting for me to take a look at it because it has been on sale for over three weeks an those cars, specially with low mileage and that kind of condition are sold within days!. Well, I bought it for a price less than what I had intended. Would you like to take a look at it? Then click here. If you have any difficulties with the link, then visit the following link: http://www.TheRadicalKid.com/articles/Camaro.html. So what am I doing now? You guessed it! Aside from my comedy and music, I am also speaking.

As you can see, notice how everything worked out for the best and in such divine precision, without me having to make a single phone call! It goes to show you that living the present moment is all you need to do. The past is gone and the future takes care of itself if you learn to listen to the voice within and trust the process of life itself. That is not to say that you do nothing at all. It means, that you do what you are guided to. So move in the direction of your dreams always remembering that the present moment is all we have, and the future will take care of itself!

Do You Think Like Hitler? by TheRadicalKid.com

2006-03-18T22:59:00.000-08:00

Hitler was an individual who had a very distorted view of reality. However, in his mind, he though that he was doing the right thing. Today many people and religions observe the same distorted view, except that they wont take actions to the extreme that he did.

Here is what I mean. He thought that he was creating a perfect raze. The mistake he was making was in thinking that some people were perfect because of either the way they look, their believe, their heritage, etc. Yet, isn't that what most religions do today? Thinking that they are better than others, or the chosen ones?

Now some may say, "but the scriptures say so." Well, I would challenge that statement by saying that religion's "interpretation" of the scriptures may lead people to justify their behaviors which is pretty much what a hitler or a saddam hussein would do.

If you look at all the great teachers such as, Jesus, Sai Baba, Mohammed, Buddha, and the like, they all have the same message. To love one another. That we are all one. That we are all children of the same Creator.

Any scripture or religion claiming that they are better, superior, or chosen than any another human being just because of skin color, beliefs, sexual orientation, demographic area, etc., is pretty much operating from the same hitler mentality.

Religion Kills, Spirituality Heals by TheRadicalKid.com

2006-03-17T19:19:00.000-08:00

If you look at religion for example, religion serves a divine purpose in the right context. It is intended to helps us establish a closer relationship with our Creator. All the great masters who have walked among us carried the same message. Love one another, serve one another, respect one another. It is all about bringing love, peace and harmony.

Yet, more acts of violence have been committed in the name of god than anything else in this world. People kill each other, hate one another, separate themselves from the rest, countries fighting against each other for the sake of justifying some religious beliefs.

An Episcopalian new thought minister once said; "religion separates people by labeling us as Catholic, Jews, Episcopalians, Christians, etc., while spirituality tries to bring us all together."

So why is it that people feel the way they do regarding their particular doctrines, therefore allowing violent and unloving acts to take place? Because people are afraid to question things. To question dogma. Let's face it. If ultimate truth is what has been written from the very beginning, then, ultimate truth would prevail today without question. Yet, have you seen how many changes have taken place with the Catholic church throughout the years?

Why do you think all kinds of rules are constantly being questioned to the point where new religions and new rules are being created? Because humanity is always searching for answers. Answers that cannot be found in books. Answers that can only be found within! Where the real truth lies. It is being said: "and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." -John 7:32

The bible for example was written by humans who never even met Jesus the Christ! These are stories that have been passed on for centuries, and for the most part, "organized religion" definitely revised the document in order to make sure that they have control over their followers, otherwise they would lose their power.

That does not mean that because a document was written long ago there is no truth in it. The truth will always remain the same. However the "interpretation" of the teachings is what gets us in trouble. Because, believe it or not, the same spiritual book that is being used by well meaning spiritual leaders to bring us closer to one another, is the same one that organizations who promote prejudice and racism are using to justify their ungodly behavior.

Religions who have invested time and money in making people believe that they have to go through them in order to reach God -- what do you think would happen if they were forced to recognized that the power of God lies within each one of us? They would lose control, they would lose their power. And in this day and age, their business!

Yet, what all masters have taught us, including Jesus the Christ, when he said things like; "This is the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you , and he will be in you." -John 14:17, is that the power of God lies within you!" So because religion has not been questioned, what we are trying to do here, is to run a brand new computer using an outdated software.

The truth is, people fear questioning their so called "holy texts" because by doing so they think they are questioning God. I don't know about you but as far as I am concerned, I would never question God!" However, I do question the things written by human beings that have been passed on from generation to generation for the sake of either maintaining a religion, or a philosophy.

Look at sex for example. How many people are dealing with psychological issues around a simple act of communion with someone else, just because of the rules created around it? And what are the consequences? More sexual addicts, rapists, etc. As a matter of fact, one of the reasons why programs such as AA and NA and the like exist, is because of the void that needs to be filled by human beings who are disconnected from their true source, their Higher power. And why is it that many people feel that sense of void, a disconnection from their source? Because organized religions have invested time and energy to keep people in fear.

Before going any further, I do want you to understand what I am saying. Jesus the Christ as well as many great master teachers, all of them have spoken ultimate truth. So I am not questioning any of their teachings. Once again, what I am questioning however, is the human interpretation of those teachings. See the difference? Someone once said, "I practice the teaching of Jesus the Christ, not necessarily Christianity as it is taught."