Those who focus on spiritual development know that what’s beyond this reality is much more real than this world. And even more – the world that we see is actually not real, whilst what’s beyond it is the only reality there is.
I particularly want to talk about problems. We don’t have many problems. We have only one problem – the false belief that we are separate from God, living in these mortal bodies being separate from one another.
Problems are bound to happen, no matter how much you work to keep your life in order. Things seemingly out of your control must happen, like people close to you getting sick or dying, all kinds of accidents plaguing your body or the bodies of those you love, and other things in your life going wrong, like your phone getting stolen, your car breaking down, some natural calamity affecting your property, or any other problem out of million of them.
It seems, at first, that there are countless different problems. But again, the problem is actually one – a false belief in separation from God, which made us hide within our own projection—the world we see—and become so dissociated from the memory of that projection that we forgot it entirely.
That memory is there, but we are so dissociated from it that it’s almost impossible to remember.
The substance of this world—because it was not created together with God—is not love, but fear. And that’s why problems are bound to occur, no matter how ideal your life seems to be. Because eventually fear shows its ugly face in everything in this world, though sometimes that may take time. Things wear out, break down, get old, get sick, and die or disappear into the nothingness from which they came.
This is very unsettling for us as children of God, because we are immortal spirits. Having trapped ourselves in these dying bodies in this dying universe, it distresses us to see things changing, getting broken or sick, and dying or disappearing.
Because we are so deeply dissociated from the creation of this universe, thinking ourselves to be these small, feeble, helpless bodies in this vast universe, it is impossible for us to wake up from this dream.
But God, being unconditionally loving, already saved us from this nightmare – yet many of us simply don’t know about it.
We were given one tool, which, if used always, would wake us up, like how Jesus was able to wake up from this dream. And that tool is LOVE.
If we stop attacking, and this way sustaining this mortal universe, the fuel for its maintenance would be gone. And that means no longer attacking anyone or anything—not even what appear to be problems—either in your mind or through your words.
That means becoming completely defenseless, and fully relying – as a little child – on God, as Jesus did. It means no longer acting through fear and defenses, including constant planning for the future and worry about protecting or sustaining your body. Instead, it means fully trusting God for your provision and protection, and leaving all your cares to this Divine Force.
Now, how do we deal with problems, knowing that they will continue arising and troubling us? The ego tends to focus on each detail of the problem, and according to a Course in Miracles, this cannot solve it. Sometimes it looks like the problem is solved, but then with time, another will arise, because its cause was not removed.
To deal with problems according to the Will of God, which is Your Will also, because you are the extension of God, they should be approached with love and understanding. You should know that problems are there as a result of your belief in separation.
However, in truth, no separation happened, because we could not exist without God. We simply put ourselves in a deep hypnosis and are dreaming that this world exists. So because this world and its problems have no real cause, they do not actually exist. And when you act with love instead of fear, irritation, or hatred toward any problem, this will become evident to you.
So when any problem comes your way, don’t give into the ego habit of focusing on its details. Instead, zoom out of it, so to speak, ask the Holy Spirit to show you the truth about this situation – allow yourself to entertain a thought that maybe there is no problem at all. Maybe you’re misperceiving.
Very frequently, we misperceive things. You probably can come up with quite a few examples where you thought you were absolutely right, but you were actually totally wrong. When we perceive through judgment, our perception gets distorted.
So, to deal with problems in the right way, drop any judgment and realize—like a child—that you don’t truly know anything about the situation. You could only assess it correctly if you knew all its aspects, causes, and future outcomes—and that is something only the Spirit can do.
Because we believe ourselves to be bodies, we need the help God sent us for our freedom—the Holy Spirit—to see for us.
So step back, remind yourself that you may be perceiving this in a distorted way, and invite the Holy Spirit to see it for you.
Sometimes, the ego will so want to focus on the problem, that it would be very hard to zoom back out of the problem and give it to the Holy Spirit. But even if you are only slightly willing to do this, the Holy Spirit can use that brief opening of your mind to shift the illusion and give you an idea that, when acted on, may show you that the problem doesn’t exist—or point you to the simple step that resolves it quickly.
In my life, applying this for maybe 95% of cases shows me that the problem doesn’t even exist. So grievances are replaced by miracles, in the language of A Course in Miracles.
Here are two examples of how I thought I had a problem, but, after inviting the Holy Spirit to look at the situation through my eyes, I realized there was no problem.
As I was leaving Vilnius to go to my homestead, I had to send two large boxes through the postal locker facility to my farm. And when I tried to track the parcels, only one was shown as on its way. The other wasn’t even shown as put in the locker – it was shown that only the postage label was created.
I was so stressed about it, because that box contained the most important items. But I remembered, for a moment, instead of dwelling on the problem and feeling bad about it, to invite the Holy Spirit to see it through me. So I did, only for a moment.
Very shortly after, I got an idea to describe my situation to Perplexity, which is an AI powered conversational search engine. It said that the notification that only the postage label was created is a common problem for that postal service, and that it’s very likely in the locker. But the two parcels could be sent at different times, because the courier doesn’t always pick all the parcels from one locker facility.
This put me at ease. After some time, both of my parcels arrived. So there wasn’t a problem in the first place.
Another was a really incredible miracle that made me very happy. You may or may not know, depending on how much you keep up with my updates, that this beautiful land that I bought a few years ago, maybe four years now, is an archeologically protected land. Which means I can’t dig it. I specifically confirmed this by calling to the relevant governing body and was told that no, there are no ways about it – I can’t dig it, unless I hire an archeologist to do the digging first, to make sure nothing is found on that land. And that’s expensive – I did it before, to dig a well.
So it’s quite a big limitation, but I loved the land so much that I bought it anyway.
A few days ago, two people from the department of cultural heritage showed up on my land to discuss a new law that applies to my land. Whilst we were talking, I remembered that my neighbor told me that it’s possible to plow and dig the two fields connected to my property. So I thought I’d ask about it, though these very people, whilst I was buying the land, told me that it’s not possible to dig or plow those fields.
And now, their opinion has changed – they checked the data, and yes, those two fields connected to my property can be used for any agricultural purpose. I couldn’t believe my ears! Once they left, I went to their website to confirm—because I had checked the map before, and the entire area appeared protected.
But now, the map shows those fields not being included in the protection zone. So this means I’m free to do anything I wish with those two fields, rather than having it as a lawn which I have to continuously cut.
So again, this is an example of how a problem magically disappeared.
Now let me give you an example of how the problem can be still there but it’s very easy to fix.
The battery of my main lawnmower wouldn’t charge, and that’s the lawnmower that I use to cut the largest plots on my land. To replace the battery is quite expensive, and I still had the warranty for I think two or less than two months, so I wrote the online store I bought it from about it. They said that in order for them to fix the battery, I’d have to take the entire lawnmower to the nearest fixing point, which is too far from my land. It would be impossible for me to take it because I don’t own a car, and when I asked over the phone if I could order a courier, the call center worker told me that it’s not likely to be possible.
I left this problem with the Holy Spirit and, instead of being negative or forcing the situation, I got an idea to write to them explaining my circumstances. I wrote that I live on a remote piece of land, far from any of their service centers, and that I only own a bicycle, which makes it impossible to transport the entire lawnmower.
Soon enough, I got a call from the online company telling me that they considered my situation and that they themselves will send a courier, and all I had to do is to pack the entire lawnmower set, and that they’ll fix it within a month and send it back to me, and if they can’t fix it, they’ll send me a new lawnmower.
So here we see that the battery didn’t fix itself, yet I needed to take a few simple steps in order to resolve the situation.
Another way to deal with any problem is with love. See how you can shift your perspective so that you feel love, hope, or inner lightness. Then think in this way for as long as you can.
Then it’s no longer a problem but it can become an opportunity, something you look forward to. This happens because if you side with love, you side with God, because God is love, and then you are shown the truth about the situation, and not its illusions.
Here’s an example from my life of how a situation was transformed through love.
I love my land, but it’s very remote. I was happy that last year my neighbor cut my grass with his company’s tractor, but he no longer works there. So it would cost me a lot to get the fields cut because there’s no one else for many kilometers around my village that could do the job.
It’s very tough to cut it myself, because of the size of my land and for the certain grasses that grow there. The tall fescue grass (or maybe something similar) covered most of my two fields, making it almost impossible to cut it myself, and I attempted to do it not on my own but with my partner last year. Both of us gave up, until my neighbor came to our rescue with a tractor.
So now, as the option to hire someone to cut it with a tractor is non-existent because it’s too expensive, I was getting stressed about what to do. Because without a tractor, certainly I cannot plow it, and cutting it on my own, whilst my partner is now in his home country, is impossible.
But, again, I remembered how to deal with problems according to A Course in Miracles, so I started thinking how I would see it in a positive way. I imagined how nice it would be to slowly turn those two fields full of stubborn grass into beautiful gardens. I envisioned lovely shrubs, trees and flowers growing there, with winding paths that are perfectly mulched.
As I reminded myself that there was no need to rush, and that I could work on this project with love, I began to relax and feel genuinely excited. It was no longer a problem, but an opportunity, a possibility.
Now, as I was thinking this way, a memory arose of one of my neighbors suggesting to spray the field with weed killer and start anew, as those grasses are very hard to manage. And spraying the field, if done non-excessively, only kills the grass without much affecting the land. And it’s definitely doable for me, as it takes almost no effort to spray the field with proper sprayer instead of laboring with a lawnmower or grass trimmer.
(It’s also important to understand that I cannot simply leave those grasses as they are because of the EU regulations in Lithuania. If you keep your lawn over 10 cm tall, you are very likely to get a fine, and I almost did last year. That’s why there’s so much obsession over the lawn upkeep by Lithuanian house owners. )
So this was an eureka moment for me, as it removed the problem of dealing with hard-to-manage grass.
And then, another miracle happened. Since last autumn’s grass cutting, I didn’t clearly inspect those fields. So I decided to go and check them out. It turns out, the fields are not fully overgrown with the tall fescue, but much more easy to manage and benign grasses grow in one field, and even shorter grasses which are even easier to cut grow on another one.
And those difficult‑to‑manage grasses covered only about 30 percent of the two fields! Which means I don’t even need to spray entire fields but just selectively on certain places. That was an incredible find which I attribute to the willingness to look at the problem with love.
Another amazing thing was finding out that the weed killer would cost very little, nothing compared to paying for the tractor to arrive from a far off place and for the grass cutting itself.
Now, another way to deal with problems is to know that only God’s reality exists, nothing else. And because God is love, there are no problems in truth. Behind every seeming problem in this world of illusion, therefore, is its solution.
In ACIM it’s also told that the ego tries to take away the problem from its solution by focusing only on certain details and running with them. But the solution is where the problem is. The problem is in your mind. You think you are seeing it, but it’s not true.
If you can truly believe that behind every problem there is a miracle, affirm it, and then let it go, you may discover that when you return to the situation, the problem is no longer there.
Here’s an example from today, and this is the last example I’ll give here, but know that if you live from love, these seeming miracles keep happening to you. ACIM actually says that it should be normal to daily experience miracles and not it’s natural if they don’t occur.
So today’s lesson review for me was “Let miracles replace all grievances” theme. As I finished cutting grass around my house with my small trimmer after it ran out of its battery, I took it home to charge it.
Unfortunately, as I connected it with a charger, I saw the dreaded solid green light, showing that it’s fully charged, when it wasn’t. That was the same problem with the battery of my main lawnmower. I kept connecting and disconnecting, with the same result. So I just left it with a solid green light on, and went to continue cutting grass with a manual lawnmower.
As I was cutting the grass, I remembered today’s ACIM lesson review: “Let miracles replace all grievances”. The lesson also stated that beyond any grievance is a miracle. So that’s what I affirmed. Beyond this problem is a miracle, and I focus on that. And, after affirming this, I continued cutting the grass.
When I finished, I went to check that battery. To my absolute amazement, it was flashing, which means it was being charged. I couldn’t believe my eyes, but I should get used to it, because living with love causes problems to be replaced by miracles.
So I encourage you to go about any problem in your life in this new way – with love, or by being willing to forget your judgment about it, and look at it again, with the Holy Spirit. You might be surprised what miracles await you, and you will get gradually convinced that you are safe in God’s hands, and that no matter how threatening or bad the situation might look, beyond it, is its solution.
ACIM says that this world of separation ended a long time ago – it was healed the moment this dream came about. This was replaced by a happy dream – a world with no problems and full of joy and love, that serves as a bridge to God.
You can begin to live in that world by always siding with love, doing things with love, thinking with love, and relating to others with love—so that your split mind is healed and you become whole, unified with God.