I’m Britney Shawley—spiritual therapist and A Course in Miracles teacher—and I’m so grateful that you’ve joined me today.
Recently, a student of A Course In Miracles named WildSacredGrace left a question in the comments of my YouTube video on anger.
🎧Click here to hear the audio version.
Here is what she asked:
QUESTION:
“How do I look upon my holiness? ..What does that even mean?”
Her question is not a sign of confusion. It’s a sign of readiness.
Because the moment you begin to wonder how to see your holiness, it means you’ve already sensed that the way you’ve been seeing yourself currently isn’t the truth.
And that’s what A Course In Miracles is here to heal.
When someone asks a question like this, what they’re really saying is:
I want to see myself the way that God sees me, but I don’t know how.
That humility opens the door to healing.
How Do I look Upon My Holiness?
MY ANSWER:
Okay, so before I dive into the specific answer to this, I really want to mention something.
Most of us… well, we were not raised to believe that we are holy.
We were raised to believe the opposite.
For many, religion taught us that:
- God is separate from us.
- God is above and far away.
- God is perfect while we’re flawed.
- We are sinners trying to earn our way back into his favor.
When you grow up in a framework where God’s holiness is opposed to your nature instead of shared with you, it becomes almost impossible to even ask to see your holiness.
Because you were taught you’re not allowed to have any — that you don’t have holiness.
It’s reserved for God or for Jesus.
What Is the Truth About Your Holiness in A Course in Miracles?
Even traditional religion contains the seed of A Course In Miracle’s message.
The Bible says, God created us in his image and likeness. This means if God is holy, which he is
Then what does that say about you?:
- You cannot be created in holiness and be unholy.
- You cannot come from God and be separate from him.
- You cannot be made in his image and likeness, but also be a sinner by nature.
The confusion comes from centuries of old conditioning that says:
You are not like God and therefore you’re unworthy of his love and his mind.
But, A Course in Miracles corrects this with gentleness and supreme clarity.
It says things like:
You share the mind of God because you were created by him and like him.
Your holiness is not arrogance. It is inheritance.
It is remembering the truth and releasing the false education that taught you otherwise.
So when someone asks, how do I look upon my holiness? It is not a naive question. It is a courageous one.
Because it challenges generations of belief that said:
You are not what God created you to be.
And my friends we’re not trying to become holy here.
We’re not allowing ourself to reclaim something that is not our own. We are simply saying yes and allowing what is true to always be true.
And to remember that just because your holiness is simply covered over by:
- fear
- guilt
- shame
- old religious conditioning
…doesn’t mean that your holiness is not your reality.
This awareness that your holiness is still there, softens the whole process.
Holiness isn’t something that we need to earn. Something we need to allow.
Why Does the Ego Fear My Holiness?
So why does the ego fear holiness? And why does the ego try and prevent us from seeing our own holiness?
Well, looking upon your holiness is simple, but the ego makes it feel impossible and complicated.
Why?
Because if you truly saw your holiness — if you saw the innocence, the purity, and the unbroken wholeness of your real self — the ego would dissolve into the nothingness that it is.
The ego, in all its chirps of:
- your unworthiness
- your not good enoughness
- you’re not yet ready for the holiness
…is what stands in the way of the awareness that you are holy because you are made by God.
Our holiness shows us that you are not what you made yourself to be:
- You are not your mistakes.
- You are not your past.
- You are not separate.
- You are not guilty.
The ego survives on guilt and separation, though.
This is why holiness seems to be “vulnerable” to ego — because it exposes those illusions of guilt and separation and says:
This need not be.
Lay them down at the feet of Jesus so you can be healed and return to your holiness knowing that you belong to him.
Whenever you try to look upon your holiness, the ego automatically sends up resistance.
The ego says:
- I don’t deserve this.
- It can’t be true.
- I haven’t forgiven enough yet.
- I still get angry.
- It feels arrogant to think I’m holy.
Understanding the tricks of the ego makes this practice easier because now you know that if you feel resistance, you’re actually doing it right.
It means you’re touching the edge of truth.
You’re stepping outside your comfort zone.
And that means that your experience of your own holiness is right around the corner. So just keep going.
My Holiness Has Been True All Along?
My friends, I wanted to also remind us of lesson 35 because it gives us the direct correction to this problem of not seeing our holiness.
We’re not feeling we’re worthy of holiness, and that lesson says:
My mind is part of God’s. I’m very holy.
This statement doesn’t create your holiness — it reveals it.
It reminds you that your mind is not private, personal, or separate.
You share a mind with God.
This is the key, my friends.
To look upon your holiness you must look from the mind that knows it’s holy.
You cannot use ego perception to see divine truth. You shift to the part of your mind that already knows.
Lesson 35 is training you to stop looking at the false self and begin looking from the true self.
By knowing this true self, you can see and know your own holiness.
What Does Looking Upon Holiness Actually Mean?
Well, it doesn’t mean feeling holy.
It doesn’t mean having a mystical experience necessarily.
It doesn’t even mean being emotionally elevated or spiritually perfected.
To look upon your own holiness simply means:
To look at yourself without the filters of guilt, judgment, and fear.
It is the willingness to see:
- innocence instead of attack
- softness instead of harshness
- truth instead of a made up story about yourself
Holiness appears naturally when the blocks to love are removed.
Holiness is not reserved for some special holy people, like a Mother Teresa. Holiness is reserved for those who are willing to say yes to being as God created them to be.
What Should I Do When the Ego Says I’m Not Enough?
So there’s one thing that I want you to do going forward.
I want you to notice when the ego voice inside of you says:
- you’re not enough
- or that you failed
- or you can’t possibly be holy
…and I want you to pause.
Not with shame. Not to analyze anything.
But to remind yourself of the truth.
You must say to yourself:
This thought is not my real mind.
This thought is not my real thought.
That is you taking responsibility and choosing the thoughts that you think, and choosing who you be, who you show up as in this life.
And then remind yourself that your mind is part of God’s and your very holy.
My mind is part of God’s and I am very holy.
You do not have to believe this just yet, but you do have to apply the mind training.
So if you can just remember that when the ego thought chirps, you can say:
This thought is not my real thoughts.
This thought is not from my real mind.
And then say:
My mind is part of God’s I’m very holy.
And just be still and just listen and hold that space.
You are going to experience the shift that the miracles in A Course In Miracles promise us that they will be.
Are My Friends and Family Holy Too?
But the last things here, my friends, is that to see your holiness is helpful when you can see holiness in others.
Seeing holiness in others strengthens your ability to see it in yourself.
You cannot condemn another and hope to see your own innocence. Our minds are one.
Use others as opportunities to choose to see holiness beyond their body. And as you see them, you’ll see yourself.
As you come to know them, you will come to know yourself.
So we have holiness mind training every day–both inside of your mind to choose love, to choose holiness as being what you are.
You have a choice to practice seeing that innocence and that holiness and that love in others.
Is Seeing My Holiness Really This Simple?
So I invite you beautiful soul to take a moment of pause with me and let’s remember in the quiet of our hearts the answer to the question, how do I look upon my holiness?
You look upon your holiness by gently shifting from the ego’s fearful perception of you to the holy mind you share with God.
Lesson 35 says, “My mind is part of God’s I’m very holy”, which means your holiness is already present.
You only need to remove the self judgments that block your sight.
Practically this means pausing when you notice guilt or self attack and saying:
This thought is not my real mind.
and then affirming:
My mind is part of God. I’m very holy.
Look at yourself with softness and a willingness to see innocence instead.
Holiness is something you let yourself remember.
So as you walk away from this teaching today, my friends, remember that you are not being asked to create something new.
You’re simply being asked to recognize what is already true of you and for you for eternity.
Your holiness is not fragile.
It’s not earned. It’s not up for debate. It’s not a belief system.
It is a quiet, unchanging fact of your creation.
Every time you pause, every time you soften, every time you ask to see things differently, you’re being returned to your holiness within.
And so you don’t have to strive for this.
You have to soften into this. You have to ask for this.
And so I leave you with this blessing.
May the remembrance of your holiness rise gently in your mind today. May every fearful thought fall away from you effortlessly.
May the truth of your innocence comfort you, guide you and restore your peace.
May you recognize the holiness in every brother, and in doing so, see it shining even more clearly in yourself.
You are as God created you. You are holy because He is.
And nothing you have ever believed about yourself can change this fact.
So go with this knowing, my friends.
Let its light lead you home.
Feeling Called to Go Deeper With This Work?
Now, my friends, if this teaching has stirred something inside you — a desire to understand yourself more deeply, to see differently, to walk this path with support — I want you to know there is a space where we do this work together every week.
It’s my A Course in Miracles Text Study Group.
This space is especially meaningful for open-minded Course students and for two groups of people I see over and over again on this path:
One, those who are deconstructing old religious beliefs who still have Jesus, but want a relationship with him rooted in healing, innocence, and a life free from guilt and shame.
Or two, those who’ve been on the spiritual path for years — who’ve done the workshops, read the books, tried all the things — and now know the answer isn’t “out there,” it’s within. They’re finally ready for lasting peace, happiness, and a genuine sense of purpose in God’s plan.
Every Tuesday we meet live for what I call live-action spiritual therapy.
Together, we work directly with A Course in Miracles to shift perception, uncover hidden unforgiveness, and step into our true role as Miracle Workers.
When you join me on Tuesdays, you’ll also get first access to my 18-month workbook journey that begins again in 2026. It is a deeply structured, lesson-by-lesson mind-training experience based on the Workbook of A Course in Miracles.
But your healing begins the moment you say yes to your own healing.
So it has already started.
And I’m just so grateful to be part of this journey with you.
If you feel willing to join us for our weekly text and spiritual therapy class, there is a link below, and I look forward to seeing you.
📖 Order A Course In Miracles Here
Wishing you a beautiful, blessed weekend and week ahead.
May peace and love guide you on your journey. 💖
If this message resonated with you, feel free to share it with others.
Much love to you, Beautiful Soul. ✌️
Britney
>>> If you find this topic interesting, click here, to watch this YouTube video I posted!
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