[acimlessons_list] Notes on Part II Introduction

[Allen Watson]

THE INTRODUCTION TO PART II

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.

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.
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 Piano 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 (W-pI.135.19:1), in which we never cease to think of God
(W-pI.153.18:1). The short-term goal of Workbook practice is to form
the habit of daily practicing that will take us to that long-term
goal (W-pI.rIII.In.11:2; W-pI.194.6:2).

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 desire is "direct experience of truth
alone" (1:3), or an experience of "rest" and "calm" (3:1), or
experiencing the presence of God (4:1; 4:6). In sum, we desire to
enter the holy instant; indeed, this introduction twice refers to our
morning and evening practice times as "holy instants" (3:2; 11:4), or
"times in which we leave the world of pain, and go to enter peace"
(1:4). These experiences of holy instants are called "the goal this
course has set" and "the end toward which our practicing was always
geared" (1:5).

So, every morning and evening practice period is meant to bring us to
the holy instant, and "we will use as much [time] as we will need for
the result that we desire" (2:8). The time is flexible, 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, using the thought
for the day to "calm our minds at need" (3:1). 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. That the temptation mentioned is
"to forget our goal" implies that all the rest of the time <we are
remembering it>! 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 this kind of direct experience of the truth. Without such
direct 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); they are
"but...guides on which we do not now depend" (1:2). The primary goal
is direct experience of the truth, or the holy instant. Reading the
daily lesson and repeating its main thought is only the beginning
(2:1); having used the words 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 the
following words give such instruction:

"We say some simple words of welcome, and expect our Father to reveal
Himself, as He has promised" (3:3). "So our times with Him will now be
spent. We say <the words of invitation that His Voice suggests>, and
then we wait for Him to come to us" (4:5-6, my emphasis). 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" from us to God.

Those "words of invitation" suggested to us by God's Voice are, I
believe, the prayers given to us in each day's lesson. They are words
suggested 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.

Instead of words, we need but feel His love. Instead of prayers, we
need but call His Name. Instead of judging, we need but be still and
let all things be healed. (10:3-5)

So the 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. Simply feeling God's Love.
Simply repeating His Name in our awareness of relationship with Him.
Simply being still, letting go, <letting> all things be healed, like
a patient lying still as the Healer does His work. "Sit silently and
wait upon your Father" (5:5).

There are words of encouragement in this introduction, assuring us
that we couldn't have come this far if the goal were not our true
will; if, in our hearts, we did not want God to come to us and reveal
Himself. This <is> our will, 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). "For now we
cannot fail" (5:4). He reviews the way we have come, from our insane
wish that God would fail to have the Son He created, to our
recognition that illusions are not true. The end is near, he tells
us. 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 (Section 16)
he makes it clear that some kind of practice is part of the lifelong
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. Thus, each section will be read ten times. And
each time we read it, we are asked to read it "slowly" and to think
about it for a while (11:4).

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 will comment, usually, on just a few
sentences from the "What Is" section each day, covering the entire
page over the period of ten days.

-- 
Your companion on the journey,
Allen Watson

The Circle of Atonement, P.O. Box 4238, W. Sedona, AZ 86340
<http://www.circleofa.org/index.php>
"You cannot enter into real relationships with any of God's Sons unless you
love them all and equally. Love is not special" (A Course in Miracles,
T-13.X.11:1-2).