[acimlessons_list] Introduction to Part II

[Sue Roth]

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.