Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Danielle Boonstra on August 8, 2012 at 10:46am

Hi Steve,

For me, the voice of the Holy Spirit is subtle.  It waits.  My ego is louder, more desperate and tries to justify and convince.  The Holy Spirit just is.  It feels calm, compassionate and unconditional.  The Holy Spirit will tell me, perhaps, what I don't want to hear but not until I'm ready to hear it.

I hope that makes sense.  I know that different people interpret it differently.  

I'll also say that it took a lot of practice at listening...through meditation or just being silent in order to start to see the difference between the HS and the ego.

Much Love, Danielle

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Permalink Reply by Steve Goodman on August 8, 2012 at 3:25pm

Thanks Danielle That does help. But wow that's really going to be a learning process for me. My ego is loud and gets so much airtime that I personally don't hear the Holy Spirt, I don't think I do but I do get hunches, feelings and intuition. Maybe that's what you're saying to be still and listen for that more. That's the type of thing they don't teach you in school or at home...I guess it's learned thru trial and error. Go with God and trust your gut or listen to everyone else and fall on your face a few times

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Permalink Reply by Lloyd on August 21, 2012 at 5:38pm

Never listen to your gut as that can mislead you.The gut is part of the body, therefore part of the ego. Listen for inspired thuoght or in other words in Spirit.Also be aware of things in your environment, like a song on the radio or a license plate as you are looking for an answer to something. There is nothing that HS can not use to communicate with you. Just be careful because the ego can take the same thing and runn you in circles. It takes practice. Love & Light   Lloyd Lapp

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Permalink Reply by Corinne Zupko on August 23, 2012 at 12:12am

I like how you said that Lloyd, about the gut being part of the body. For me, the Holy Spirit's voice is really quiet, so I have to get quiet to listen.  The "ego always speaks first" and like Danielle said, it is loud and desperate.  So my "gut" might feel that loud/desperation, BUT at the same time, I feel like we can easily get caught up in semantics when we might be describing the same thing.  

Steve, one of the ways I sometimes "practice" listening to the Holy Spirit is by playing Solitaire (sounds crazy, I know!) :)  I go through the game and practice differentiating between my knee jerk reaction move versus stopping and getting quiet and listening first. It is hard to put into words, but the Holy Spirit's guidance feels "lighter" than my ego's decisions.  A key piece for practicing this way is to LET GO of winning... the purpose of the game is to listen, not to win, so the "outcome" of the game doesn't "prove" whether I was listening or not.  I just wrote a blog on this which might be helpful! 

:)

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Permalink Reply by Steve Goodman on August 23, 2012 at 3:19am

Maybe gut is not the right way to describe it but sometimes I get a light feeling in my solar plexis but it feels like joy. And it makes me happy when I think about moving in that direction regardless of the immediate outcome because often there's some kind of more immediate resistance then say the final outcome?  And it's usually something selfless and beneficial to others.  It's hard to explain.  Does that make sense?

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Permalink Reply by Lloyd on August 24, 2012 at 1:29pm

Absolutley, when it leads to something selfless it is coming from the heart or right Mind. One of my daily prayers is that what ever happens to me that it will benefit the all & that I have no personal agenda. My only agenda is the Love of GOD & to return Home to where I have never really left. Through my own personal experience ACIM is the fast track to that result. Keep in touch Steve.We can't go Home alone. Love, Light & Laughter, your Brother   Lloyd

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Permalink Reply by Irene Cohen on August 21, 2012 at 5:08pm

For myself, I learned to hear the Holy Spirit clearly after taking a one-year course of study called The Voice for Love. This is not meant to be an advertisement for them but I guess I am like a walking advertisement! They teach a simple 5 step process for hearing HS and embodying the answer you receive. (There are books & DVDs, etc.) I guess I was ready for it.

The biggest obstacle is the ego thoughts that come up. Just extend love to them.

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Permalink Reply by Daliah on August 25, 2012 at 10:11am

Here's one way to know, Steve. Notice if your mind is cranking like a computer on the subject? "is this the ego or the Holy Spirit?" for example. Trying to figure it out. Analyzing, calculating, not sure, fearful, uncomfortable, or hectic wanting to know. That is the ego. You can after a while, actually feel yourself in your head and you won't be so much aware of your body or a sense of peace or knowing.

When I am in connection, Holy Spirit, Higher Self, in the flow, I KNOW. There is peace. There is no question. I can quietly nod. The information comes through in a way where there don't have to be words, just an understanding.

I went through that struggle of not knowing which was which and it was painful for me. After awhile I learned to stop listening to my active thoughts and be still. You'll get the hang of it. It comes with practice. If you are actively trying to figure it out, it is the ego.

Take care,

Daliah

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Permalink Reply by Steve Goodman on August 25, 2012 at 10:44am

Wow that's interesting from what you described its seems like its my ego that wants to learn more about what ACIM is all about when my Spirit already knows. And then Um struck with the idea - why would my ego want to learn how to undo itself?

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Permalink Reply by Daliah on August 25, 2012 at 10:48am

That's a great question, Steve. I'm going to let it sink in and get back to you when something comes through for me. The ego wants peace, too, it's just its own worst enemy. We think when the ego is undone, we will die, so it can get painful and confusing (although we can practice consciously easing that fear). It's not the case, though. Talk to you later. :)

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Permalink Reply by Daliah on August 25, 2012 at 10:56am

In my limited view as Daliah, the smaller part of me, in my daily existence, I want peace. I am functioning through my ego. I live through my ego when I am not aware of God and the Holy Spirit, the larger part of me. The vastness of who I actually am. A child of God. Part of the whole. When I am blind to that, which I am most of the time, I am in my ego, and I still want peace. My ego is telling me it is hurting and unhappy. Somewhere, I start searching for better answers, and once in awhile at first, I find real peace, and my ego gets quiet for a few minutes, and the process gets deeper as I continue, because I and my ego want more of that feeling. The undoing is something the ego struggles against, but it is an illusion (the ego), and its undoing is also an illusion. Ultimately, I am already my biggest self. I just can't see it. Remembering the Holy Spirit. Remembering to Be still and Listen, is how we can practice. The more we be still and listen to or for (not actively,  but openly) the Voice for God (your inner voice), the more we come to know what that feels like and recognize it. Ego relaxes, but it also fights. We learn how to balance even with those storms, and in fact using them as the practice.

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Permalink Reply by Pat Kammer on September 3, 2012 at 9:00am

I have learned to pay attention to how I feel. If the ego is talking versus the Holy Spirit the feelings I have are totally different.

The ego has me judging, wanting to be right, anxious and defensive and even frustrated and angry with 'what is.'

The Holy Spirit has me in total certainty of my safety. I am at peace with no need to attack or be right. I am relaxed and in joy that all is as it 's supposed to be. The feelings are so vastly different it becomes easy to know which one I am following.  I meditate and ask questions and have gotten used to hearing the answers the way Holy Spirit answers vs the ego.

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