[acimlessons_list] Lesson 068--March 9

Allen Watson allen at circleofa.com
Tue Mar 8 13:39:21 EST 2005 

    COMMENTARIES ON LESSONS FROM THE WORKBOOK OF A COURSE IN MIRACLES
    by Allen Watson, with Practice Summaries by Robert Perry
    The Circle of Atonement--Visit our website at <http://www.circleofa.com>

Lesson 68-March 9

COMMENTARY

This lesson is a powerful teaching on the effect that holding grievances has
on our minds and our thinking.

To hold a grievance is to wish harm on someone; it is, whether we think of
it that way or not, to "dream of hatred" (2:5). Some of us-perhaps most of
us-have, at times, literally dreamed of revenge on someone we perceive as a
victimizer. We have, possibly, consciously wished someone were dead.
Probably, however, we have repressed conscious awareness of such thoughts
and have deliberately forgotten we had them. Yet even "minor" grievances are
the same thing, just in milder form. To hold a grievance is to feel you have
been wronged, and the victimizer deserves to be punished for his or her
wrong-doing. To wish someone would "get what s/he deserves" is no less
hatred than to wish them dead.

"Love holds no grievances." Holding a grievance is the converse of love;
love and grievances are mutually exclusive. Yesterday's lesson taught us
that "Love created me like Itself." To hold a grievance, then, is to claim
that this is <not> the truth about me; it is an assertion that I am
something other than love. Holding a grievance thus blots out our awareness
of our true Self as Love, because holding a grievance is teaching us the
exact opposite.

The painful mental effects of holding grievances are far greater than we
imagine (1:5). The teaching in the lines following 1:5 is meaty. Our Source
is Love, and as extensions of that Source, we too are Love. When we hold a
grievance, we <seem> to be different from our Source, and therefore seem to
be cut off from Him (1:6). We are not Love, and God is; we <must> be
separate.

However, the mind cannot quite conceive of a source and its effect as being
totally different; therefore, to cope with the logical dilemma, our mind
conceives of God in our own imagined image (1:7, 3:1). We think God holds
grievances, and dream up religions that speak of "sinners in the hands of an
angry God." We make an image of a vengeful, punitive God, and cower in
terror away from His presence, fearful of our very existence.

The effects of grievances do not stop with our apparent separation from God,
and our remaking of God Himself into a terrifying, vindictive demon. Within
us, our true Self seems to fall asleep and thus to disappear from active
participation, while our false self-image "appears to be awake" (2:1). We
lose sight of our Self and imagine we are something else, a
grievance-holding, petty "self," angry at the world.

All of this is the grim truth about holding grievances (2:2-3). We have
replaced the true God of Love with the cruel god of the ego. We suffer
guilt. We no longer know that we are Love. All of this was inevitable once
we made the choice to deny Love and cherish grievances instead.

It is <our own minds> that have been harmed by our grievances. This is what
we are failing to see, and this what this lesson is trying to get us to see.
This is why the Course teaches that forgiveness is not something we do for
the sake of others; we do it for our own well-being.

It may not seem possible to give up all grievances; that's understood by the
lesson (4:2). It isn't really a matter of possible or impossible, however;
it's just a matter of motivation. We <can> give up any grievance; the
question is, do we <want> to? So this lesson sets out to increase our
motivation by asking us to perform an experiment. Basically, it asks us to
"try to find out how you would feel without them" (4:4). The idea is, quite
simply, that if we can get a taste of what it feels like when we lift our
minds briefly beyond their ordinary, grievance-ridden state, we will prefer
the new feeling. "Try it; you'll like it!" as the commercial says. And once
we are motivated, once we <want> to let grievances go-we will. Our minds
have that much power.

Notice the use of the words "trying" and "try" in paragraph 6. We are
basically doing an exercise in imagination here. Imagine being in a state of
perfect, unshakeable peace. Imagine feeling completely safe, surrounded by
love and loving all that surrounds you. Imagine-even just for an
instant-that nothing can harm you; that you are invulnerable and totally
secure, and that what's more, there is nothing that wants to harm you even
if it could.

Once you get a taste of what this state of mind feels like you are going to
<want> it. Because it feels <really> good! You are going to become willing
to do whatever it takes to experience this more and more, for longer and
longer, until it becomes permanent.

I want to emphasize that today's lesson isn't telling us, "Get rid of all
your grievances." It isn't laying down a law and making us guilty for having
grievances. It is simply trying to <motivate> us to <want> to let them go,
first by showing us how much pain (illusory harm, but real in our
experience) our grievances are bringing to our minds, and then by getting us
to experience what a mind without grievances feels like. It is getting us to
recognize that holding a grievance is a betrayal-not of God, not of anyone
else, but a betrayal of <ourselves> as Love. Grievances make us believe we
are something we are not, and that we are not what we really are.

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, and
the book entitled A Course in Miracles, are responsible for the information
and teaching herein.

Portions from A Course in Miracles (r)(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.

The Workbook Commentaries are Copyright 1995, 2001, 2002 by The Circle of
Atonement, P.O. Box 4238, W. Sedona, AZ 86340. All rights reserved. Please
notify us of any intent to use them beyond the scope of this email list;
write to info at circleofa.com.




    COMMENTARIES ON LESSONS FROM THE WORKBOOK OF A COURSE IN MIRACLES
    by Allen Watson, with Practice Summaries by Robert Perry
    The Circle of Atonement--Visit our website at <http://www.circleofa.com>

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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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