Question: What is Enlightenment?

Thanks for asking the questions that come to the mind, even though they appear "rather peculiar" to you. In Enlightenment all perceived pain has vanished, for what but wrong-mindedness seemed to make the misperception called pain.

Pain was the illusion that Christ could leave a Loving Creator's Mind. "If pain is real there's no God. If God is real there's no pain."(W-190.3) The latter holds true because God has no opposite. Enlightenment entails no pain or displeasure about ANYTHING, for Enlightenment is Pure, Constant Happiness, Peace, Freedom, and Joy. Being Constant, Enlightenment knows not of change. The illusion of vulnerability and fluctuating emotions has gone as well. acim  There's no ego to fall "back into." Spirit Abides in gentle Love. All pain is finished Now and nothing remains but an advantage of Stillness.

The Holy Spirit may be the reminder that Life is Eternal. The Present Moment may be the gateway to Eternity. The planet of images was a world of illusion. Images are therefore neutral to the Holy Spirit. They were "neutralized" the instant they appeared to arise.

What does this mean with regards to the second question? You can't kill what's never lived, and in the Holy Spirit's Perspective of forgiveness harm is impossible. Bodies were never born and never die because the planet of images may be the past. It's impossible to locate beginnings and endings in a script that is already written and over long ago. There's no life in images. This is the meaning of "Hold no graven images prior to the Lord Thy God." All images were built to obscure the Truth from awareness, and they can only be forgiven together illusion. If illusions might be divided up into living and dead, organic and inorganic, animate and inanimate Enlightenment would be impossible.

For what's Enlightenment but Pure Oneness, far beyond the possibility of division of all kinds? The split mind was the illusion. Seek not to project the split mind to forms and call some forms alive and some forms dead. God knows not form. The split mind appeared to be the "killer" illusion, yet the Holy Spirit reminds the sleeping mind that what's whole and unified cannot BE split. In Heaven Mind is One Spirit, and even regarding this world forgiveness reflects this Oneness. The forgiven world recognizes the unity of the healed mind and sees that there surely is nothing "outside" of this single mind which dreams softly a pleased, gentle dream. The goal of ACIM is always to dream softly of a sinless world. This goal is a lot more than possible, it's inevitable!

In terms of my seeming diet, "eat what's served" may be the Guidance I was handed from the Holy Spirit a long time ago. Join together with your brother and let no concept come involving the Love you share. This Guidance hasn't changed. "Dinner" is always a backdrop for sharing the Joy of the Living Moment. What the planet calls "breathing" and "eating" and "drinking" and "sleeping" are very the same in the Enlightened State. The Healed Perspective sees the sameness of everything because each of them share the exact same Purpose: forgiveness. This Perspective is not "personal," for in unified perception nothing is personal. God isn't any respecter of persons. I literally cannot "take" an animal's "life" because Life is Spirit and can only just be extended or Given as God Gives. "Take" has no meaning within my mind and since animals haven't "lived" it's impossible that they may "die." The belief expressed in the idea "personally take an animal's life" has many underlying assumptions which can be false. In right-mindedness it's obvious that ideas are strengthened because they are given away or shared, and "taking" a "life" or anything more has no meaning.

All that I give is given to mySelf, and in giving there's no loss, no sacrifice, and nothing is ever taken away from wholeness and unity. The teacher of God does not need something that can not be given away. Such may be the Joy of miracles! The thought seeds seem to be flung everywhere, yet there's never even a glance back once again to see where in fact the seeds land. The seeds are never for an "other," and since giving and receiving are the exact same your head receives the gifts it gives. This really is truly the feast you seek for within the ego's questions.

The only question that require be asked is just a question that is not really silly at all: Am I ready to understand that God's Will and My Own are the Same? God's Will for Me is for Perfect Happiness. And what but this Will may be the Will of Christ? Happily, nothing can alter Eternal Love. Thank You God!