[acimlessons_list] Part II Introduction & practice instructions

[Allen Watson]

SAVE THIS! The practice instructions apply for the rest of the year, except
the last week!

Part II, Introduction

Commentary

The Introduction to Part II of the Workbook is the last set of practice
instructions we will receive for the next 140 days. The final instructions
will be for the last five lessons, and do not really change much. So, since
we will be following this set of instructions every day for the next five
months, we need to pay close attention and fix them in our minds. I will
mail out this set of comments from time to time, just to remind us all.

Remember that the Workbook is designed to train us in practicing, and to
help us form a habit of daily practice that will endure until engaging with
God in our lives has become a moment-to-moment way of life, with no need for
any further practice. For a very few, this happy habit might be formed in a
single year of doing the Workbook, although I know of no one for whom this
is true. For most people, it seems, the pattern of practice being taught is
still poorly formed and sporadically practiced after only one pass through
the Workbook, and many find repeating the Workbook very beneficial, and its
clear structure a necessary support in continuing to develop the desired
habits.

Before we go over what the desired pattern of practice is, though, let me
encourage you with a few observations from my own practice and that of
several friends. Do not be discouraged if, on reading over the description
of the daily practice, you realize that you are still far from "matching up"
to the pattern. The form of daily practice described in this Introduction is
the <goal>; being distressed because you don't match up to it right now is
like being upset that you can't play Tchaikovsky's First Concerto after only
a few weeks of practice. Forming habits takes a lot of time. Just do the
best you can each day, and practice forgiving yourself when you don't
measure up to your intentions. Whatever you do, keep at it! Don't allow the
ego to kill your motivation to practice by pointing out how poorly you are
doing it. Failure to follow the instructions fully is not a reason to stop
practicing; it is a reason to return to practice with renewed vigor, as soon
as you realize you have slipped.

The goal of our practice is to completely retrain our minds. It is to become
so habituated to listening to the Voice for God that it becomes natural,
something we do without even thinking about it, the first response to every
temptation. The goal is to respond to every ego thought without fear, and
instantly bring it into the holy place where we meet with God in our minds.
The long-term goal of our practice is to arrive at the place where life
becomes one continuous holy instant, in which our minds are always focused
on God. The short-term goal of Workbook practice is to form the habit of
daily practicing that will take us to that long-term goal.

What, then, is the pattern of daily practice that is set forth for the next
140 days?



1. Spending time with God each morning and night, "as long as makes us
happy" (2:6). The result we are aiming for is expressed in a number of ways
(see, for instance, 1:3, 3:1, 4:1, and 4:6), but in essence our aim is to
enter the holy instant. Indeed, this Introduction twice refers to our
morning and evening practice times as "holy instants" (3:2, 11:4). These
experiences of holy instants are the goal the Workbook has been shooting for
all along, and indeed the goal of the entire Course (1:5).

So every morning and evening practice period is meant to bring us to the
holy instant. The time is flexible (2:8), perhaps even a half hour or longer
if we need or want that much time.

2. Hourly remembrance (2:9). Once each hour during the day we will pause to
remind ourselves of the lesson for the day. But the hourly remembrance is
not simply a repeating of the words; it is a brief time in which we "expect
our Father to reveal Himself, as He has promised" (3:3). Ideally this will
be two or three minutes in which we can be quiet, perhaps closing our eyes,
to refocus on our goal and regroup our thoughts, bringing any grievance or
upset of the past hour to the Holy Spirit for healing (see W-pI.153.17 and
W-pI.193.12). When such an extended pause is impossible, briefly turning our
thoughts to God and reaffirming our goal is sufficient.

3. Frequent reminders in between the hours, although not specifically
mentioned in this introduction to Part II, were singled out in the
Introduction to the review period we have just completed, and we can assume
they are meant to be continued.

4. Response to temptation. Whenever "we are tempted to forget our goal"
(2:9), we need to call to God. The specific temptation mentioned here
implies that all the rest of the time <we are remembering our goal>! So any
time we notice our minds are about to wander from our goal, or have
wandered, we call to God to help us return our minds to Him.



This is a rigorous spiritual practice. It demands considerable effort to
form such habits. But the results are more than worth it. The goal of the
Course, the whole purpose of Workbook practice, has been to bring us to a
profound, living experience of God and His truth. Without such experience,
the concepts of the Text will be nothing more than empty concepts.

We are offered a little more detail about how to spend our extended morning
and evening times. The specific words of the day's lesson, as it appears in
the Workbook, are of diminishing importance. This is reflected in the fact
that no more than a half page is given to them. The words of the lesson are
not the focus any more (1:1-2). The primary goal is direct experience of the
truth, or the holy instant. Once we have used the words of the daily lesson
to focus our minds, we spend our time waiting for God to come to us (3:3,
4:6). These times are called "periods of wordless, deep experience" (11:2).
The bulk of our morning and evening times should be spent thus, in silent
waiting and receptivity, without verbal thought.

If you look ahead at the lessons in Part II you will see that every one
contains a short prayer to God the Father. There is no specific mention of
these prayers nor how to use them, but I believe 3:3 and 4:6 give such
instruction. 3:3 refers to saying "simple words of welcome," and 4:6 refers
to saying "the words of invitation that His Voice suggests." Finally, the
Introduction itself shifts into prayer with a sort of un-self-conscious
naturalness, in 6:2-7:8; in 6:5 our prayers are called "little gifts of
thanks" to God.

The "words" referred to in 3:3 and 4:6 are, I believe, the prayers given to
us in each day's lesson. They are words intended for our use, to invite God
to speak to us, to offer welcome to Him. Actually speaking these prayers,
praying them, can be a powerful tool in bringing us the direct experiences
with God these lessons intend for us.

The essence of how we are to spend our morning and evening quiet times is
given in 10:3-5. These lines suggest that our morning and evening times are
not intended to be spent in thinking about the concepts of the Course, nor
in saying prayers for ourselves or for others, nor in making decisions about
what to do or making judgments of how to solve our problems. They are meant
to be times of <experience> and not thought. The experience of His Love. The
experience of our relationship with Him, reflected in the Name we share with
Him. The experience of stillness, letting go, <letting> all things be
healed, like a patient lying still as the Healer does His work.

There are words of encouragement in this Introduction, assuring us that it
truly is our will to experience the Presence of God. This is Jesus'
assurance to us, in case we are having any doubts, or looking at what is
being asked of us and questioning whether or not we want it deeply enough.
We do.

Jesus says, "I am so close to you we cannot fail" (6:1). In 9:1-4, he
reviews just how far have come. The end is near, he tells us (9:6-7). I
think it is important to realize that he is speaking in the context of eons
of time; "near" is a relative term, and probably is not referring to days or
weeks or months. He says here that "the need for practice [is] almost done"
(10:1). Yet in the Manual (Chapter 16) he makes it clear that some kind of
practice is part of the life-long habit of the teacher of God. "Almost
done," as well, is relative to the billions of years we have spent in
separation. We <are> very near the goal, in that context!

One last item about our daily practice for the next five months, which
should be carefully noted: we are supposed to read one of the "What is"
sections <every day>, preceding either our morning or evening quiet time
(paragraph 11). Thus, each section will be read ten times.

Going along with this instruction, therefore, in the daily lesson comments
that follow I will include my thoughts for that day about the current "What
Is" section. I plan to comment, usually, on just a few sentences from the
"What Is" section each day, covering the entire page over the period of ten
days.


-- 
The opinions expressed in this commentary are the personal interpretation
and understanding of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the
copyright holder of A Course in Miracles(r).  The author, Allen Watson,
while acknowledging the inspiration of the Course, takes full responsibility
for the information and teaching herein.

Portions from Clarification of Terms (c) Copyright 1975, Psychotherapy:
Purpose, Process and Practice, (c) 1976, The Song of Prayer, (c) 1978, are
used by permission of the copyright holder, The Foundation for "A Course in
Miracles," 41397 Buecking Drive, Temecula, CA 92590.

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